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>>928652
“It certainly is possible,” Rossweisse acknowledges in a similarly low tone. “The MS-18E was specifically designed to be smuggled behind Federation lines in parts.”

“Are you saying he's piloting a Kämpfer?” you ask incredulously. “You know, that'd sound crazy if it didn't make so much sense.”

The real question in your mind is not whether your mystery man could have smuggled a mobile weapon into Von Braun and gotten it working... you've seen a man restore a massive mobile armor here with none of his neighbors ever the wiser, so a single mobile suit assembled somewhere down in the maintenance levels is absolutely believable. No, the real question is how many mobile suits have been smuggled in on that mystery man's orders. It could be one ace custom machine, or it could just as easily be a squad or more. You personally have no doubt that the goal must have been to mount a sufficient force to contest control of the city, so if you had to place a bet you'd say there was at least one squad waiting for orders.

“You're thinking he brought a squad?” Artesia guesses.

You nod grimly. “Doesn't make sense to take that risk exactly once, at least not to us. Especially not if he's proven it can work once.”

“So you really believe his goal was a military buildup?”

“Why else would he smuggle weapons into the city?” Rossweisse asks.

You shrug. “We're not completely sold on this even being Char. There's no theatricality to it, it's not like watching a soap opera at all. Which would be surprising if it were him.”

“My brother does have that tendency, and I do find it strange that he would have waited this long to make his presence public,” Artesia admits quietly to herself. “Is it strange that I was hoping it really was him?”

“He's your brother,” you remind your old friend, “and he disappeared without a word to you. Even if you weren't especially close... no, it's not weird.”

“If it is him we'll know,” Rossweisse reassures Artesia.

“How are you going to handle this?”

>We're going to pay a visit to the Luna Space Defense Forces office, tap their intelligence apparatus.
>We'll arrange to conduct a scan of the lower levels, try and locate their staging area.
>If we make a big enough noise, we may be able to draw him out... the only question is how?
>Other?

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>>928665
>If we make a big enough noise, we may be able to draw him out... the only question is how?

>>928665
>>If we make a big enough noise, we may be able to draw him out... the only question is how?

>giving it a few more minutes for possible stragglers

>>928665
>If we make a big enough noise, we may be able to draw him out... the only question is how?
>Other?
We need bait. Something that draws Char in at an emotional level.

>>928665
>If we make a big enough noise, we may be able to draw him out... the only question is how?

>writing

>>928719
Underage girls?

>>928652
Good to see you KoH, I have some other stuff to do now, but I will join you later.

>>928719
Well we could try what we did the last time we had to drag him out and threaten to broadcast over every com line his most embarrassing secrets.

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>>928728

>>928719
I do wonder if he cut ties with Apolly or if he'd attempt to rope him in.

>>928734
...Now I'm going to look for pictures of Haman with cat ears.

>>928734
That... wasn't the image of Haman laughing menacingly that I thought it was.

>>928744
If it makes you feel better, I can't find any pictures of Haman with cat ears...

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“We need to find something that can draw him out,” you muse to yourself. “Something important, something that'd play on the real Char's emotions. What do we know about Char?”

“He uses increasingly weird pseudonyms,” Artesia offers.

“Passionate hatred towards the Zabis,” Rossweisse adds.

You nod quietly, processing the two suggestions. “And a terrible history of breaking young women's hearts. Particularly girls who would go on to display potent newtype abilities.”

“Haman is on Mars at the moment, isn't she?” Artesia asks.

You shake your head. “We asked her to advise Lady Mineva, she's somewhat committed at the moment.”

“The phrase “re-baiting the hook” may apply?” Rossweisse suggests with a sly grin.

It takes a few moments for you to get her meaning. “You mean... use a young girl with newtype abilities as bait?”

Artesia rests her forehead against her palm. “Dammit, that might actually work. He still has some bizarre complexes about this girl he picked up back during the war.”

“We can't believe we're suggesting this, but maybe we could find a list of nascent newtypes and find one that fits the bill?”

“It's also possible that we could track down female scientists,” Rossweisse adds, coming up with another viable plan. “He would likely need technical assistance and support.”

“That's a fair point too,” Artesia agrees. “Casval was always a pilot first... though he held strong views on how a mobile suit should be used, he had no real talent for design and no practical skills for construction.”

>Let's try and find some live bait for the Char, then.
>Anaheim probably has a list of scientific talent in the city.
>We should at least check the official immigration records.
>Other?

>>928757
>Let's try and find some live bait for the Char, then.
Welp, we're pretty much one of the few capable of sensing dem Newtype pressure.
>inb4, in a shocking twist, it's Judau instead

ALICE could probably sift through the staff and immigration records.

>>928757
>>Let's try and find some live bait for the Char, then.
>We should at least check the official immigration records.
I don't think these are mutually exclusive?

>>928770
They're not necessarily. Votes like this determine priorities.

>>928757
>Let's try and find some live bait for the Char, then.

>>928814
>writing

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>>928824
“We feel like we can agree that the idea of live bait is the most likely to succeed,” you declare, “though granted, that could be due in part to the fact that neither of us is much of a fan of Char and would gladly think the worst of him.”

“It's a point to consider,” Rossweisse agrees with a frown. “Our opinions of the man's character and his ability should be kept separate.”

You touch your phone to your ear, putting in a call to the Sericea that ALICE fields, since nobody is on the bridge at the moment. “ALICE? We want you to use your credentials to get through the red tape at Lunar Customs, Immigration, and Citizenship, find their records from the last... six months?”

“The rumors started about four months ago, so yes,” Artesia nods. “That would be a safe margin.”

“Six months then,” you continue. “Artesia believes that a certain Char Aznable might've snuck into the Lunar Sphere. Construct a facial recognition algorithm and calibrate based on his file photo from the old Principality's data.”

“Ooh!” ALICE exclaims excitedly. “I already have the algorithm ready, I have just been waiting for the occasion to try it out!”

“ALICE,” you scold the AI. “What have we said about unauthorized biometrics analysis and privacy?”

“I have never used it before, honest!” ALICE insists. “Well, aside from the calibration tests, but that was only on your file photo... and Lady Haman's... and half of the Nagato's crew...”

“... your point is taken.”

“Good girl. Let us know what you find.”

You end the call to find Artesia staring at you. “Oh, don't start that with us.”

“We should get going,” Artesia suggests, standing to leave.

“What about the check?” Rossweisse asks.

“Someone else will handle it,” she insists as the majority of the patrons of this small restaurant stand with her and file out the door, leaving one couple sitting awkwardly at their table in the corner with wide eyes.

Artesia notices that you're the one staring at her now. “Oh, don't start with me. With a name like mine you can't be too careful.”
>1/2

>>928852
>majority of the patrons of this small restaurant stand with her and file out the door
Dayum Artesia. Did she pick up some pointers from Cima before she ended up on the pirate asteroid base?

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>>928852
“This is the best place to try and locate a suitable candidate,” Artesia tells you several minutes later as you step out of her armored car and into a fancy lobby, complete with electric chandeliers and a marble floor. “The Office of Human Resources and Development for the city of Von Braun offers a variety of medical services, and is the only bureau with official permission to conduct Newtype research of any kind... strictly non-invasive of course.”

“What sort of research are we talking about here?” you ask, watching Rossweisse's reactions very carefully. Her posture, her breathing, her eye movements... all seem a little too mechanical, too measured. You can tell that the notion of returning to a facility like this is unsettling to her, and admittedly it's not pleasant for you either.

“Mostly early detection and screening,” Artesia explains. “Originally response times were the only real indicator of newtype ability, but that only worked as abilities were already in the process of developing, which is when many newtypes are already at risk. So instead this facility has been working on re-defining cognitive testing. Mostly they focus on visual-spatial awareness, logical-mathematical reasoning, and interpersonal and intrapersonal skills.”

“So not just coordination and reasoning, but social skills,” you muse. “A more thorough assessment of the main points where Newtypes tend to stand out.”

“If we can't actually assess those differences we can't have a scientific understanding of them,” Rossweisse agrees. “What their predecessors were doing wasn't science at all, from a certain perspective.”

“That's exactly right,” Artesia nods. “We may be able to find someone here with some of those traits... this is the only way to do that I could come up with.”

>Check with the front desk, see if anyone has checked in recently for Newtype screening.
>Ask to see old records, then visit a likely candidate. You'll need parental permission of course.
>Just go for a walk. You'll know the right person for the job when you see them.
>Other?

>>928961
>>Just go for a walk. You'll know the right person for the job when you see them.
Poor Rosse.
Also I keep having to mentally switch myself between /qst/-mode and akun-mode because I'm following a quest there too, keep trying to use commands here that only work there, looking for the chatbox and shit.

>>928961
>Just go for a walk. You'll know the right person for the job when you see them.

>>928961
>Ask to see old records, then visit a likely candidate. You'll need parental permission of course.
Hmm. If I were a Char though, I'd probably check a personality profile that would make it easier to recruit said Newtype. Young and impressionable is a common occurrence... probably with family issues too.

Of course, there's no need to fill out the entire checklist. Maybe just enough on the surface to pique some interest to lure Char in? With the way Newtypes are and how they react to one another emotionally, it'd be pretty difficult to fake a personality. He/She would have to be almost blank in that regard, and that would hit way too close to Cyber-Newtype territory and reconditioning and all that nasty stuff.

Eh, whatever. I'm rambling at this point.

>dice+3d10
>best of 3
>DC 16, Crit 21

Rolled 5, 2, 1 = 8 (3d10)

>>929051

Rolled 3, 3, 6 = 12 (3d10)

>>929051
>no random encounter style roll taking 2nd/3rd roll
This worries me for some reason.

>>929039
>young and impressionable
>family issues
So in other words he's looking for himself at about age nine or so?

Rolled 1, 2, 6 = 9 (3d10)

>>929051

Rolled 3, 9, 2 = 14 (3d10)

>>929051

...These rolls, hory sheit.

>>929074
I know, none of them would have passed in any system, and even allowing the fourth for cooperation wouldn't have helped.

Roll me a single d10, taking the second.

Rolled 1 (1d10)

>>929078

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>929069
TBF, those seems to be Amuro's common MO too.

And pretty much everyone else from Zeta to Victory, but they aren't relevant in this quest, so...

Also, feels bad about these rolls man. Looks like I blew all my luck in that SSQ crit.

>>929078
Eyy, a chance at redemption.

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>>929080
y tho.

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King, why are we using this die?

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>>929078
“Well, there's one way we know to double-check their work,” you suggest, tilting your head towards the stairs. “What floor do they do these examinations on?”

You plod up three flights to the hallway where Luna government-funded doctors are apparently figuring out how to test kids for newype talents, following a series of blue markings on the floors and walls until you find the right place. As you head down the hall you notice two men in business suits at the far end, carrying suitcases. Something strikes you as distinctly off about them, which is why by the time one of them has readied his suitcase gun to open fire on you Rossweisse has tackled Artesia out of the way and into an unused examination room while you've taken up a position in an equipment recess across the hall. You have to kick a crash cart out of the way, but it'll do.

Plaster and vinyl spray all around you as bullets chew up the hallway, one of the banks of overhead lighting comes crashing down in a shower of sparks and shattered glass bulbs.

“Something tells me we're onto something!” Catrina quips as you draw your concealed sidearm and return fire as the man reloads. You can see his partner sheltering someone with his own suitcase, leading them out of a nearby room... it seems to be a young girl with the most ridiculous shade of aquamarine hair you've ever seen, done up in twintails.

You can also tell that she's got serious potential as a newtype, though right now she seems to be squealing in fright.

>Chase after them when they move down the hallway, it looks to be a T-intersection
>Withdraw, try and block their escape at the garage exit downstairs
>Withdraw, file a report with the cops downstairs and try to figure out what just happened
>Other

>>929133
Fuckin' Quess.

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>>929140

maybe if we get our hands on her, she won't be such a shit. Anyway
>>929133
>Chase after them when they move down the hallway, it looks to be a T-intersection

>>929133
Oh, it's Quess. Or is it?

>Chase after them when they move down the hallway, it looks to be a T-intersection
>Other
Make the call to have the garage exits sealed against vehicles. Limits the chase on foot at least.

Unless they have a rooftop helicopter or something. Or an MS. That's invisible.

Oh.

>>929166
This is also good.

Just so I'm not getting ahead of myself, Smart Paint's stealth only applies in outer space, right?

It doesn't actually confer total invisibility or blends a painted object in the surroundings entirely?

>>929181
That is correct, though that's only one possible application of it.

>dice+3d10, DC 16, Crit 20

Rolled 4, 5, 5 = 14 (3d10)

>>929223

Rolled 10, 1, 8 = 19 (3d10)

>>929223

>>929236
WEW LAD
please take this as a crit, King ;_;

Gonna need one more roll. Gives me time to paint.

Rolled 3, 5, 4 = 12 (3d10)

>>929254
>>929223

>>928674
... What's this from?

>>929282
google reverse image says gundam zz, but I don't trust it.

>>929236
Well, here's to hoping a pass would mean either us or Rossweisse would still be able to keep the kidnapped girl within our sensing range.

Hard failure would probably involve chloroform and a couple of MS crashing through the city skylight. Just typical UC things.

>>929236
Okay, going with this.

>>929282
>>929287
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGjZdyTplGk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2McOZQaKwTU

>>929304
Japan pls.

Yes, I am back in action. First proper live thread after marathoning SoZ. Good to see /k/ripple here.

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>>929293
“Rossweisse, move up with Artesia on our mark. Artesia, get ready to call this in,” you order, every instinct you possess driving you to take command of the situation. “Three... two...”

As you count off you sneak a peek around the corner just in time to watch the gunman retreat around the corner at the end of the hallway, and you sense your opportunity. “Mark!”

Rushing forward in a low crouch you take off down the hallway, pistol held in a low ready position in front of you. It only takes a few seconds to reach the intersection where you slide on one knee into cover by the corner, and peek around. The two intruders and their captive are still fleeing and so you fire off a pair of frangible rounds into the ceiling above them where they'll ideally fragment harmlessly, but even suppressed the sound of the shots forces the gunman to turn his attention back onto you which slows their progress.

When you duck back into cover you see Rossweisse escort Artesia into the room the men came out of.

“Man down!” Rossweisse shouts over the sound of incoming rounds. “Artesia's on the line!”

You sense a slack in the fire that could indicate a reload, and peek around the corner a second time to find that only the gunman remains visible. Three rounds downrange and the gunman falls with wounds in his shoulder and chest, his weapon clattering to the tile floor.

“Shooter down! Rossweisse, take care of Artesia,” you shout, “we're moving again!”

“Affirmative!” Rossweisse replies, throwing you a thumbs-up from just inside the doorframe.

“We'll be back!”

“We'll be here!”

Turning back down the hallway you advance on the fallen gunman, kicking his weapon clear with your toe more out of force of habit than actual need. This man's dead, but his partner has escaped down the stairs with the girl and has a lead on you.

“This stairwell accesses the basement,” your sister observes. “He must have a car waiting.”

“Then we're going after him,” you reply, vaulting down the first flight with a clattering of heavy boots.

You reach the basement just in time to see a black car reverse into a truck parked on the other side of the aisle and peel out in a cloud of smoke, turning to face you.

The powerful eight-cylinder engine revs menacingly.

>Shoot the tires out before it gets to you
>Shoot the engine bay and hope to hit something important
>Take cover and leave it to the cops
>Do something crazy with your future-seeing eye

>>929402
I'm famous? :o
>>929403
>>Do something crazy with your future-seeing eye
Why no option to shoot the driver?

>Shoot the engine bay and hope to hit something important
>Do something crazy with your future-seeing eye

Important situation, really wouldn't want to use it now, but we just cannot let him to get away. So just shoot at the engine bay. Tires might be bulletproof ones as this is future after all.

>>929421
Well while tripfagging is for fags, it is good to see that at least one of those who read SoZ back in the day are still here.

>>929403
>Take cover and leave it to the cops
Dammit. I don't trust the rolls right now to go for the risky options.

Have ALICE tap into the camera feeds of this parking bay to identify the truck. Then on the roads it'll be passing through so we at least have eyes on where it's going. And hopefully, we got enough on the black car to identify it, if they try to ditch the truck.

>>929428
SoZ is the only reason why I still tripfag anymore...And one of the few why I still come to 4chan period.

>>929441
Oh yes this. If they get away have ALICE try to follow them to her best skill.

>>929403
It's rare to see an old-fashioned internal combustion engine these days, and it almost hurts to do it... but you need to stop this car, and there's one way you can think of to do that for certain.

With your left hand you remove your eyepatch and in your right you hit the magazine release, inserting a fresh magazine of FMJ rounds into your sidearm and racking the slide to get the last of the frangible rounds out of the way. Even as the driver peels out, his tires spinning as they struggle to find traction, you start narrowing down your focus. Engine block, fan belt, piston, a different piston, and... the fuel rail.

You pull the trigger.

The car only just manages to find traction before the bullet strikes the fuel rail, essentially killing the engine's entire fuel injection system in a single well-placed shot. Without fuel the engine sputters and dies, and the black car it once powered rolls slowly into a parked electric car with a crunch of deforming metal and splintering carbon fiber.

After taking a moment to kneel and retrieve the half-empty magazine of frangible rounds you release your magazine again, catching the FMJ and replacing it with the much 'safer' rounds in the same hand and racking the slide to load the correct type of round. Then as you approach the stopped car you stow the spare ammunition, weapon still trained on the driver.

He has other plans, and opens fire with a machine pistol that spiderwebs and then shatters his own bulletproof glass windshield. You duck behind the engine block of another car as he opens the door of his vehicle and crouches low behind it, firing a few more rounds into your cover.

“Why are you even here!?” he shouts angrily as you keep your left eye closed to save your strength. “This doesn't concern you!”

>Try and reason with him
>Flank him to negate his cover and take him down
>Shoot under the door and hit his ankles, take him into custody
>Wait for the cops to surround him... assuming they show

>>929496
>>Shoot under the door and hit his ankles, take him into custody

>>929496
>>Shoot under the door and hit his ankles, take him into custody

>>929496
>Shoot under the door and hit his ankles, take him into custody

>"This doesn't concern you!"
Seriously?
He shoots first and then tries the "This isn't your problem" excuse?

Switching to mobile, internet died

So it seems we're in agreement:
>Take a peek with the eye, take one shot
>Don't use the eye and roll for it normally

>>929540
>Don't use the eye and roll for it normally

>Shoot under the door and hit his ankles, take him into custody
>Try and reason with him

Not great fan of shooting him, but try to get him to surrender before taking the shot.

"Doesn't concern me. Of fucking course it concerns me. You have a terrified girl with you and I cannot let it slide! She is a newtype, I am a newtype. I am involved because who I am. You know that with me you can get through this in one piece. If you decide to do anything funny I will chase you to other side of the galaxy if needed."
Try to get that newtype mentality feeling into her words.

>>929540
>Don't use the eye and roll for it normally

I don't want to tax the eye so going without it.

>>929540
>>Take a peek with the eye, take one shot

Here's hoping for a tiebreaker... or you could discuss it and someone could change their vote.

Giving it a few more minutes.

>>929576
>Don't use the eye and roll for it normally
Vote change, but I sure ain't rolling early now.

>>929576
I'm fine with nullifying my vote and letting the other choice win, can't delete it, though.

Okay then give me a roll, 3d10, DC is 18 and since you can essentially dump the magazine you get best of four.

Rolled 7, 9, 3 = 19 (3d10)

>>929590

Rolled 6, 3, 1 = 10 (3d10)

>>929590
Yay, now I can fuck up my rolls! ;_;

>>929600
Wew lad?

Rolled 10, 7, 3 = 20 (3d10)

>>929590

I'll use all four to determine how many rounds Carrina uses, but it looks pretty good as of >>929610

So where were these rolls earlier??

>>929621
Hopefully, with rolls this good he's left alive for interrogation

Rolled 1, 7, 4 = 12 (3d10)

>>929590

>>929621
You get a sudden stroke of inspiration, lifted straight out of a movie. Instead of abusing your eye again you pull the patch back on and hit the concrete floor, aiming underneath the car you've sheltered behind, and pull the trigger several times in quick succession. The muzzle climb isn't too bad on this sidearm by design but it is enough that when you're shooting on your side like this you can use it to sweep along the floor until a round connects with the shooter's ankle in a cloud of blood and bone. Even as he shouts in pain you push yourself back up and cross the distance between you, shooting the man in the hand as he tries to aim his weapon at you from the ground and slamming your knee into his face.

That knocks him unconscious, leaving you with the teal-haired girl in the back seat and four rounds in your sidearm.

“Are you okay?” you ask, reaching around to unlock the door and opening it from the outside. “Are you hurt anywhere?”

The girl simply stares at you with wide eyes, stunned at the amount of violence she's seen in the last few moments after what was probably promised to be a simple visit to some specialized doctors. You can hear sirens as the police finally start to arrive outside the garage.

Finally the girl speaks. “You... you're strange. It's like you're two different people? Does that make sense?”

“After all this that's what freaks you out?” you raise your eyebrow. “Sorry to press you on this, but did these guys say what they were after? Who they were?”

She shakes her head. “No. My father thought they were doctors at first, but something was wrong. He started yelling at them, and then one of them had a knife...”

So her father was probably the one upstairs, then? Damn. That's not great news.

>Let's go upstairs, our friend has secured a room where you'll be safe.
>We'll talk with the police when they arrive, then we'll go upstairs.
>We'll need to talk with the police, then they'll look after you.
>Other?

>>929750
>>Let's go upstairs, our friend has secured a room where you'll be safe.

>>929750
>Let's go upstairs, our friend has secured a room where you'll be safe.
>Other?
Try to comfort her as much as possible.

>>929750
>Let's go upstairs, our friend has secured a room where you'll be safe.
Copying and pasting text on a tablet is hard as hell

>Let's go upstairs, our friend has secured a room where you'll be safe.

Newtype bonding go!

>>929768
Try playing a quest on a cell phone.

>>929777
You want hell? Try using anonkun on a tablet

>>929781
I regularly play anonkun on my cellphone. One up that!

>>929818
Akun and /qst/ on mobile is surprisingly slightly more tolerable than on tablet.

>>929818
I do it in my calculator!
>>929828
Might be better on my phone (nexus 6) vs my nexus 10 tablet, which is significantly less powerful...

>>929750
>We'll talk with the police when they arrive, then we'll go upstairs.

Give me one last round of 3d10, DC 16 Crit 19.

Rolled 3, 9, 4 = 16 (3d10)

>>929839

Rolled 5, 9, 10 = 24 (3d10)

>>929839
You're my dice padding now, /k/ripple.

Rolled 9, 9, 5 = 23 (3d10)

>>929839

>>929847
Uhh....I need an adult...?

>>929847
fucking ouch.

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>>929847
You take a moment to strip the bolt out of the machine pistol and pocket it, then search the downed shooter just to make sure he's not hiding anything on his person. The cops are only seconds away by the time you've finished.

“Our friend upstairs secured a room,” you tell the girl, holding out your hand and turning to lead her away from the scene. “You'll be safe there, we promise.”

“You keep speaking in the plural...” she frowns, tentatively taking your hand. “Why is that?”

“It's a long story,” you sigh, leading her along behind you. “What's your name?”

“Quess,” the girl offers quietly. “Quess Paraya.”

“Follow my instructions, Quess,” you tell her in a soft but insistent tone. “You'll be fine. We'll take care of this mess as best we can.”

Upstairs you guide the surviving girl to the room next to the one where her father lies dead on the floor, and you sit her down in a chair. She doesn't question why you picked this room, seeming to understand the situation without being told despite the fact that her face shows little emotion. Inside though, you can tell she has conflicting feelings about her father's passing. There's some sadness there of course, an acute sense of loss, but that's not all there is. You wouldn't expect it, but there's also a sense of relief which borders on satisfaction. It leaves you ill at ease, causing her to glance at you questioningly. Rossweisse stands with Artesia as the latter explains to the police why you're here in the first place.

“Sorry, ma'am, but I'll need to collect statements from the two of them as well,” one of the cops insists stepping into the room. “Captain... O'Hara, is it?”

“Close enough,” you nod. “You need a statement?”

“Yes, ma'am,” he tells you.

In your mind, Catrina offers some words of advice. “Use the singular form. I won't mind.”

“Then ask away.”

“You came here to find a newtype who could help you lure Char Aznable out of hiding... is that correct?”

“That's right,” you nod.

“And you found the kidnapping of miss Paraya already in progress?”

“Based on what she told me, and the fact that he was already down when we took cover at that corner outside, yes. That's my understanding.”

“And you fired your weapon in response?”

“That's correct,” you nod again. “Since they were moving a hostage several of my shots were aimed at the ceiling, just to try and slow them down. I was using frangible ammunition.”
>1/2

>>929909
Haah, I smell some incoming planted evidence.

>>929909
“And how many rounds did you fire?”

You cock your eyebrow, having anticipated what's traditionally used as a “trap” question by cops in plenty of different jurisdictions. “Ten frangible rounds fired in total, one frangible lost on the floor of the garage when I swapped to FMJ to stop the getaway vehicle, one round of FMJ into the car and one more onto the floor.”

“That was quick.”

“I kept a running tally,” you respond carefully. “I am after all a trained soldier, I'm not gonna run dry in the middle of a firefight. You wanna know how many rounds they fired back at me too? Because I also kept count of that.”

“Let's hear it,” the cop replies, a smirk on his face.

“The suitcase gun's magazine was thirty rounds and he reloaded twice, that means sixty rounds... or sixty-one if he carried it with one in the chamber. The second shooter reloaded twice as well with a twenty-five round magazine, meaning fifty or fifty-one. He had thirteen left in the magazine and one chambered when he went down. So that's somewhere between 122 and 124 rounds, all nine millimeter, on top of my eleven brass and two rounds lost.”

The cop simply stares at you for a moment, processing the information you've supplied. “Wait, you only fired one FMJ at the car?”

“Newtype,” you tell him. “My exact abilities are confidential of course, but a thorough examination of the car will reveal that I'm telling the truth. I hit it in the fuel rail with one shot and the engine died.”

“Well, I think that about answers all the questions we had for you,” the cop nods thoughtfully, apparently impressed by your recall abilities. “One final question though, for miss Deikun here. Will you be willing to take temporary custody of the child until her legal guardian can be located? Precinct isn't exactly a great place for a kid to spend any amount of time, especially if she's done nothing wrong.”

“The next step depends on young miss Paraya here,” Artesia responds carefully. “Quess, do you want to help us catch the men responsible for your father's murder? The ones who tried to kidnap you?”

The girl leans out the doorway as a policeman in uniform carries a forensics kit into the room nextdoor, presumably to begin examining her father's body for any evidence the gunmen may have left that could corroborate and supplement your own story.

“What do I have to do?”

>>929994
And that's all for the weekend! Archive is up and thanks for playing, hope you enjoyed Quess' introduction... and don't worry, she won't be as intolerable as in CCA. Mostly because Amuro, Gyunei, and Hathaway are nowhere even remotely close to the situation.

I'll see what I can figure out about next weekend, but expect an update to the SoZ pastebin about the same time I get around to SSQ's. Probably no omakes for SoZ though, sorry.

Feel free to chat, I may be online a bit later to answer any questions.

>>930026
Thanks KoH for running.

One benefit /qst/s slowness has are omakes. In /tg/ they would be impossible and basically require twitter pastebins

Thanks for running, boss. Wish you'd pay the same attention to this as SSQ

>>930026
Nice. That went rather well. Looks like my initial fears were unfounded. Thanks for running!

Did you have a pool of characters to choose from for the Newtype? I'm guessing one of the rolls kinda ended up landing on Quess in this instance. And depending on the info we can gain from the gunman, I reckon there might no longer be a need to lure out our mystery Char using her?

>>930026
thanks for running. Today was a pretty decent day.

>>930057
well all you need to do is provide some omake prompts.