>>2341424
Not sure what to go with yet, but I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE, KING
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwO9PSe-uG4

>>2341424
>>Contact Sericea, arrange a rendezvous. But don't commit to a fight just yet.

>I'll try and work out a way to split the middle here, since it seems like we're not getting a tie breaker

>>2341424
>>Contact Sericea, arrange a rendezvous. But don't commit to a fight just yet.
We got 3 hours or so 'til they catch up, right?
I guess that's enough time to take measures not to put the civvie ship in the line of fire.

>>2341515
I will have to agree with this.

>>2341424
“We need to get in touch with Sericea,” you declare. “We don't exactly have weapons here.”

“Sis, can you handle it at this range?”

For a simple, short message? Yes. I think so.

“Alright then,” you nod, taking a seat on the corner of the bar. “Give me a few seconds to focus.”

It takes a while to zero in on the Sericea's massive psychoframe at this distance, but you do manage to communicate a single concept. And that concept is “meet us”. That much should make it obvious enough to Rossweisse what needs to happen, and so you spring from the bar and out the door, heading for the bridge. Which is easy, because you know the internal layout of the Musai class like the back of your hand... even if this one is oddly upside-down. That means the bridge is bizarrely located near the lowest deck beneath the Komusai's docking point... or rather where that would be on a Musai, at least.

“Who are you?” one of the bridge crew demands.

“I need to warn the Captain,” you insist. “We're being followed.”

“Captain Ikaros?” the crewman calls out.

“Mobile suits,” you pre-empt Ikaros' question.

“Mobile suits? From where?”

“From the Magellanica,” you explain. “Adjust your sensors to sweep for localized minovsky disturbances.”

“Do it,” Ikaros orders immediately.

After a few seconds an alarm blares. “Yeah, looks like we're being followed at extreme range, sir.”

“We're going to need to come up with a plan,” you tell them.

“And?” Ikaros asks. “You may have noticed this isn't actually an upside-down Musai. We have no guns.”

>We'll bail out and have our ship launch our mobile suits to meet us in space.
>We'll arrange a flyby with our ship and jump across with contact wires.
>We'll need to dock with our ship. Then we'll cover your withdrawal.
>Other?

>>2341608
>>We'll arrange a flyby with our ship and jump across with contact wires.

>>2341608
>>We'll arrange a flyby with our ship and jump across with contact wires.

>>2341608
>>We'll arrange a flyby with our ship and jump across with contact wires.

Curious whether it's the ship's signature being tracked, or if it's Alpha that is being sniffed out by a cyber fellow newtype. Was thinking of asking for decoys, but if the latter's a factor, it might be a moot point.

>3d10, taking the best of three

Rolled 3, 8, 9 = 20 (3d10)

>>2341669

Rolled 3, 3, 8 = 14 (3d10)

>>2341669

Rolled 3, 5, 7 = 15 (3d10)

>>2341669

>working on it

Rolled 3, 8, 7 = 18 (3d10)

>>2341669

>>2341696
“We're going to arrange a rendezvous with our ship,” you decide. “Use contact wires to cross over, then we'll go our separate ways. Think you can match a course for a short time?”

“How short a time?” Ikaros asks.

“Well, depends on the proximity,” you admit, rubbing the back of your neck. “Get us close and maybe we can make the transfer in fifteen seconds.”

“I don't think we can keep station for much more than twenty,” Ikaros informs you with a sigh. “We'll perform the calculations.”

You spend fifteen minutes waiting as the crew of the Moonlight works on their side of the issue, and when the Sericea finally starts to close the distance a little you share the plan with Rossweisse.

It sounds risky, but I understand the need. I can have ALICE fly a set course, so if the Moonlight can match that course station keeping will be entirely on them.

That sounds like the best case scenario to your ears. We'll let them know. Give us your coordinates and vector?

Having been given the information you need, you reach over and start entering the details into the Moonlight's navigational computer. “This is where our ship will be, and how fast it'll be going. How long can you give us?”

“Twenty seconds,” Ikaros tells you.

“So you'll need to get within fifty meters,” you declare. “Can you do it?”

“Yes,” the Captain nods. “We can...”

“Captain!” one of the deck officers interrupts. “Telemetry is showing something unusual going on.”

“What is it?”

“There's been a course deviation,” he explains. “Not sure whether they're even following us anymore.”

>Then good for us. Maintain course and speed.
>Can you estimate their new course?
>We need to make the rendezvous earlier.
>Other?

>>2341761
>>Can you estimate their new course?

>>2341761
>>Then good for us. Maintain course and speed.
>>Can you estimate their new course?

>3d10, best of three again

Rolled 3, 3, 8 = 14 (3d10)

>>2341816

Rolled 3, 4, 1 = 8 (3d10)

>>2341816

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

>>2341816
Oh fuck

>>2341846
Well then.

>>2341816
“Can you extrapolate a new course?”

“We can,” the officer declares, tapping in a quick sequence of commends. “With a wide degree of error of course.”

After several minutes of computations, the results are displayed on the main viewer. “They're... moving into empty space.”

“No, they're not,” you realize. “This could put them on a course to cross L2. Account for the time difference.”

The new image places the Republic of Zeon firmly inside the estimated probable course the following AI are taking. But it also places Luna within a lower probability radius from the mean... where the hell are these AI trying to go?

“Why would they go towards the Republic?” Captain Ikaros wonders aloud. “That doesn't make sense. Is your ship there?”

You shake your head. “Not at all.”

Um... sis?

“Yeah?” you ask your sister.

I've been thinking... this ship is basically the same hull design as the Musai class, right?

“Yeah, it is,” you nod in agreement. “What of it?”

The AI targeting system can't be that sophisticated, Carya. There are too many variations of the same basic design in service, and if a ship sustained sufficient damage the AI might not identify it as the sort of ship it's trying to target.

“All good guesses,” you admit. “And why would that explain the AI deciding on a new course?”

Well... the Republic's self-defense force is built around Musais from back during the war. And the Moonlight is essentially an upside-down Musai... so what if the AI can't tell the difference?

“Oh...” you realize. “Oh, shit.”
>1/2

>>2341904
Welp, not even under combat yet and these AI are already fucking up.

On the other hand, the possibility that the AI might actually be calculating enough (plus without any moral qualms) to provoke us with this move can't be discounted yet. Maybe the Vists unlocked ZERO System while they were at it.

>>2341904
“What is it?” Ikaros asks nervously.

You turn to face him, your expression grim. “The AI may be trying to target all Musai-class ships that aren't broadcasting the right FOF tag... since the ship the Vists sent them after are basically a Musai hull. They may not be able to differentiate.”

“You're saying that these mobile suits are going to attack the Republic of Zeon?” Ikaros realizes. “What... what sort of damage are we looking at here?”

“Whatever machines they loaded onto those subflight systems will be capable of maneuvering in ways no human could survive,” you tell the Captain, “programmed with combat data from a cyber-Newtype. I don't know that the Republic has a pilot and mobile suit that can deal with that sort of threat... and the second they try they'll probably be added to the AI's targeting parameters.”

“They'll wipe out any Republic forces they encounter until they run out of fuel,” you conclude. “We don't even wanna think about the chances for collateral damage.”

“How many?”

You shut your good eye. “Thousands, at the least.”

“We can't let that happen!”

>Change of plans. We'll recover one of our mobile suits in space, we'll get there faster that way.
>The plan stays the same, we need to get all three of us on our ship, safe and sound.
>We'll rendezvous as planned, but I'll be sortieing alone this time. This is going to be a real mess.
>Other?

>>2341928
>>Change of plans. We'll recover one of our mobile suits in space, we'll get there faster that way.

>>2341928
>>Change of plans. We'll recover one of our mobile suits in space, we'll get there faster that way.

>>2341928
>>Change of plans. We'll recover one of our mobile suits in space, we'll get there faster that way.

>>2341928
>Change of plans. We'll recover one of our mobile suits in space, we'll get there faster that way.

>>2341928
“Change of plans,” you report to Bianca and Alpha, several minutes later. “The Moonlight is changing course to intercept the Viola. We'll pick it up in space.”

“Does this viola have a cockpit large enough for three, Master?” Alpha enquires.

You shake your head. “It doesn't, but that's fine... because you're staying here.”

“It's better this way,” Bianca assures her. “We're the trained pilots after all.”

“You're staying here too,” you tell her.

For a moment Bianca's at a loss. “I.. what?”

“This is too risky a maneuver for anyone else,” you sigh, “and that's even considering my unfair advantage. I can literally be in two places at once, meaning I actually stand a chance of pulling this off... the two of you would be in too much danger.”

“I want the two of you to stay here and rendezvous with Sericea as planned,” you order. And to make it clear...

“That's an order.”

“I can...” Bianca challenges you one more time, but you immediately interrupt.

“If I don't pull this off, I need you to look after Alpha,” you insist. “Do you understand?”

“So that's it then?” she demands angrily. “You don't intend to come back, do you?”

“I don't plan to die,” you reassure them both. “But it's a very real possibility this time.”

“Good luck, master,” Alpha nods quietly. Is it understanding there... or simply acceptance?

You thank her, then spare Bianca a glance.

“Don't die.”

“Understood,” you nod, before heading down to the airlock.
>1/2

>>2341994
The pressure suit is a bit bulkier than you're used to, but when you get to the Viola that won't be a problem since there's a pilot suit waiting for you.

That is, if you get to the Viola.

“Airlock depressurization sequence primed, Captain,” Captain Ikaros' voice crackles over the speakers inside the airlock. “You're doing a very noble thing, you know.”

“A very stupid thing,” you counter, testing your suit's microphone. “But it's the only thing I can do. Literally can't help it.”

“Godspeed, Captain.”

“Same to you, Captain.”

With a powerful rush of air, the doors open and you kick off into space, using the explosive force of the depressurization to add to your momentum.

>3d10, best of four.

Rolled 1, 10, 6 = 17 (3d10)

>>2342005

Rolled 1, 7, 10 = 18 (3d10)

>>2342005

Rolled 7, 7, 3 = 17 (3d10)

>>2342005

Rolled 3, 4, 2 = 9 (3d10)

>>2342005
Really threading the needle here.

>>2342005
You don't have much propellant to spare...

You have to correct your course soon after being blown out the Moonlight's forward airlock, but so long as you're 'close enough' your sister can handle the rest of it from there.

“Fifteen minutes,” you mutter, more to yourself than anything else. “You ready for your part, sis?”

Always.

“Good,” you sigh, shutting your good eye for a short rest. “Lemme know when we're close enough.”

You... try not to think too much about what you're doing in the time it takes you to approach the Viola's vector. But eventually you hear your sister's voice calling your attention back to the task at hand.

I have the Viola's AI storage matrix at extreme range.

“How long?”

Thirty seconds.

“Alright then, deep breaths,” you mutter under your breath. “Deep breaths, nice and relaxed. This isn't the hardest thing you've had to do.”

But, it is one of the riskiest.

Ten seconds, matching velocity.

A few seconds later you crash into the chest of your gundam, bouncing off hard. “Shit!”

You manage to snag the edge of the cockpit hatch and swing yourself inside, where you crash into the seat. “Aw... man that hurts...”

You okay sis?

“My wrist is sprained,” you grunt, reorienting yourself as your sister re-pressurizes the inside of the cockpit with a little bit of the emergency air supply. “I'll be fine.”

You don't tell her that you've just had to reset one of your fingers. Once there's air you pull off your pressure suit and stuff it under the seat, before pulling on the pilot suit you had Cima load into the cockpit for you.
>1/2

>>2342097
“I'm alive,” you report, a hint of relief in your own voice. “I was right... that really was a stupid idea. Can anyone tell me where we are?”

“You'll need to do a correction burn with the subflight system,” Rossweisse tells you. “ALICE has supplied the vector you need to insert into the right Lunar orbit to reach Zeon.”

“Well then,” you chuckle. “Guess we had to go home at some point.”

Ready for burn.

You nod. “Hit it, sis.”

The subflight base, the only one Sericea came equipped with, accelerates and gradually changes its course ever so slightly as you angle it into a new vector.

Orbital injection complete. More speed?

“Always,” you agree, throttling up to 100% and holding it there for several seconds. “Cutting forward thrust, let's reorient the base.”

Planning a deceleration burn?

“That's the idea.”

>Attack at high speed and overshoot, then use the subflight base to decelerate.
>Decelerate first, scope out the situation at a reasonable velocity.
>Decelerate first, then release your remote weapons. Go in guns blazing.
>Other?

>>2342109
>>Decelerate first, scope out the situation at a reasonable velocity.

>>2342109
>>Decelerate first, scope out the situation at a reasonable velocity.

>>2342109
>Attack at high speed and overshoot, then use the subflight base to decelerate.

Well, we're kinda tied here.
>>2342136
I'm ruling that decelerating the funnels separately would require so much of their propellant that it would be an unreasonable plan.

>>2342153
>>Decelerate first, then release your remote weapons. Go in guns blazing.
Change to this then

>>2342156
You... do realize that means attacking at speed then decelerating wins, right?

>>2342163
whoops, I copied the wrong thing. I meant to choose attack at speed.

>>2342196
Alright then, same effect either way really.

>>2342109
>>Decelerate first, scope out the situation at a reasonable velocity.

>>2342153
Ah, I thought I had a plan in mind that might click together. Deleted and changing vote then.

>3d10, DC 17, critical 20

Rolled 2, 4, 2 = 8 (3d10)

>>2342222

Rolled 9, 6, 8 = 23 (3d10)

>>2342222

Rolled 6, 6, 2 = 14 (3d10)

>>2342222

>>2342231
Noice.

>>2342222
We're closing in!

You can see the action has already started without you. Tracers flash through the darkness, but though the battle is still in progress a lot of damage has already been done. At least three Musais are wrecks, stricken with holes through them ringed with glowing slag and illuminated with burning gasses leaking from the torn welds in their hulls.

“How many?”

Tagging all the hostiles I can pick up from here.

“That's... a lot,” you realize. Those must not have been regular flight bases... or if they were there were a lot of them, with their mobile suits doubled up. You count twenty hostile mobile suits, all of the same configuration, currently facing off against a larger number of Hizacks and Marasais.

The AI are winning.

“Incoming!” you pick up a live pilot's communications. “Unknown configuration at high speed!”

“More enemies!?” a second pilot growls. “Who the hell are they!?”

Patching us through.

“Republic forces, this is Captain Marseille,” you introduce yourself. “I'm your backup.”

To prove the point, you open fire at extreme range with your beam machine gun, a sustained burst ripping through a tight formation of pilotless dolls. Two of them explode, showering your subflight system with fragments as you fire the reverse thrusters. Then, you light the thrusters on your gundam.

“It's a gundam!?” one of the Marasai pilots exclaims, before his comm system cuts out with a brief scream.

“Lay off those poor bastards,” you declare, despite knowing that the dolls can't hear you. “Your target is right here.”

>See if these dolls can beat a live human in a top-end machine at the deflection shooting game.
>Close in with the dolls. There's no way an AI can match human creativity and instinct in melee.
>Release your remote weapons. Increase the number of targets the dolls have to choose between.
>Other?

>>2342300
>>Close in with the dolls. There's no way an AI can match human creativity and instinct in melee.

>>2342300
>>Release your remote weapons. Increase the number of targets the dolls have to choose between.

>“It's a gundam!?”
>his comm system cuts out with a brief scream
Just can't catch a break with that phrase, even if it's an allied gundam.

>>2342300
>>Release your remote weapons. Increase the number of targets the dolls have to choose between.

>>2342300
>Close in with the dolls. There's no way an AI can match human creativity and instinct in melee.

>3d10, DC 19, critical 23
>best of four

Rolled 5, 3, 7 = 15 (3d10)

>>2342367

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

>>2342367

Rolled 9, 7, 8 = 24 (3d10)

>>2342367

File: Carrina_concept_codec_view.png (377 KB, 637x634)

377 KB PNG

>>2342372
>>2342373
Time to get shit done.

>>2342380
You release your funnels, immediately handing them off to your sister.

“Take these over, keep 'em moving,” you tell her. “Let's see if these stupid things can prioritize.”

I'll bet you they can't.

“I'm not taking that bet,” you shake your head. “Let's do it.”

The funnels dart across your viewscreens, coordinated by Catrina's silent finesse. Several of the nearby dolls fire back, but they can't seem to land a hit.

Their weapons fire at too slow a rate, your sister realizes. And they can't really manage deflection shooting on this small a target. They can't anticipate my movements.

“Then let's see if they can hold up in melee,” you suggest, throttling up and pouncing on a squad of the dolls.

You finally get a good look at them, strangely angular and small designs that clearly were never meant to support a pilot. Their faces are just squareish planes of visor material, with cameras presumably behind them, and their limbs are vastly simplified. They try their hardest to keep you out of melee, but with the hail of fire your machine gun can spit out it's not hard to damage one of their thrusters.

“Gotcha,” you smirk, releasing the safeties on your heat whip and slashing through the first doll's torso. It puts up no resistance, like there's not even a serious layer of armor there.

“They're weak in melee,” you report over the open frequency. “If you can get close you can beat 'em!”

A second doll, far too close to you for a beam rifle, draws a beam saber only to take a powerful blast from behind. Your whip sword crashes through its fist and cuts its beam saber in half, blowing most of its arm off before the weapon retracts and you raise it as a shield to block a pair of powerful missiles that shake your whole machine.

“Gonna have to do better!” you roar, spinning in place and spraying down the third doll as it tries to hit you with its beam rifle, then following through and dragging your whip through the doll whose arm you've already blown off.

Sis, a squad of the dolls is moving towards the closest colony!

Shit... that's the worst case scenario. Your beam weapons will be a huge problem in there... but then again so will the dolls' weapons. Do they mean to destroy the bases the Republic's mobile suits sortied from?

>That's not the fight you're equipped for. Intervening will only make things worse.
>Head over there. “Appropriate” a weapon on your way, and do what you can to avoid collateral.
>CARRINA CALL FOR AID!
>Other?

>>2342428
>>CARRINA CALL FOR AID!

>>2342428
>>CARRINA CALL FOR AID!

>>2342428
>>CARRINA CALL FOR AID!

>>2342428
>CARRINA CALL FOR AID!

>3d10, best of four
>let's see who's listening

Rolled 6, 9, 8 = 23 (3d10)

>>2342454

Rolled 10, 3, 8 = 21 (3d10)

>>2342454

Rolled 1, 3, 9 = 13 (3d10)

>>2342454

>>2342457
>This special delivery is yours

>>2342477
“I do not have the right weapon for this!” you declare across an open channel. “If I go after those dolls with my loadout calling it a 'bull in a china shop' would be unfair to bulls.”

“I need a different weapon!”

Hey sis... check this shit out!

“What?”

It's like a missile, pushing a bigass payload.

“It's a present from La Vie en Rose,” Rossweisse's voice informs you. “Pick it up.”

You chase the payload down, and shoot it open with your head vulcans. Inside is just what you need...”

>A pair of mobile-suit sized shotguns
>One bigass machine gun, plus ammo.
>A pair of grenade launchers.
>Other?

>>2342508
>>A pair of mobile-suit sized shotguns
BOOMSTICK

>>2342508
>>A pair of mobile-suit sized shotguns

>>2342508
>>A pair of mobile-suit sized shotguns

>>2342508
>>A pair of mobile-suit sized shotguns
street sweepers

>>2342508
Inside are a pair of mobile-suit sized shotguns, the perfect tools for hunting down these lightly-armored dolls inside a fragile space colony.

“Apparently those chamber experimental shells,” Rossweisse explains. “Particle charges with a failsafe detonator that'll burst them before they hit a colony wall.”

“I'll take 'em!” you declare, mounting your standard beam machine gun on its usual shoulder hardpoint and grasping a shotgun. The second you mount low across the back of the Viola's waist, where there's another hardpoint for the purpose.

“Let's go!”

You rush after the dolls, slicing through anything that gets in your way and leaving the fight outside behind you.

When you arrive you realize that the dolls haven't just attacked the colony... they've already blown their way into the airlocks. The emergency doors have since been sealed behind them.

That's good, at least.

“I need to get in there!” you insist to the dockmaster, basically spamming all the normal civilian frequencies hoping for a response. “Is there anyone out here still alive?”

In response you see the outer airlock's emergency door roll open about halfway.

“Good enough.”

You wait several seconds for the emergency barriers to finish cycling, and eventually the inside of the colony greets you. The air is full of smoke and dispensed fire retardant chemicals.

“This is bad,” you mutter. “Sis, what're the conditions out there?”

Oxygen levels are low, but the air's breathable... barely.

“Good,” you nod. “At least the colony walls are intact, for now.”

These AI-pioted suits... they should never have existed.

“No,” you sigh. “No, they shouldn't. You're right about that... but it's our job to set this right.”

[I]... agreed. Let's do it.

>>2342587
And with that, I have to call it quits for the evening. Thanks for stopping by, and damn those crits though.

Keep an eye on Twitter for updates, but barring any unexpected complications see you all same time next weekend!

>>2342592
Shit got weird on my end, trying to recall what my old tripcode was.

Will continue in this thread, since I doubt we'll fall off the board in six hours. And on the off chance we do, I'll simply pick up next week where we fell off.

>>2359179
>I doubt we'll fall off the board in six hours
Page 9 is like the new page 6-8, I feel. There's 19 other threads ahead buffering this one from oblivion.

>>2359179
You're now inside a space colony, which is a lousy place for a mobile suit battle. It's not your job to worry about it, nor can you really afford to, but you sincerely hope the colony had plans in place for such an emergency and that the colony citizens are following those plans. A single poorly-judged beam rifle shot here could lead to massive casualties otherwise.

Low oxygen levels and high particulate matter suggest there's already been significant internal damage, but nothing that can't be repaired. The fact that there's any air in here at all also suggests that the dolls have a protocol for fighting inside colonies that de-prioritizes beam weapons.

What I can't tell is what they'll do when they run low on conventional munitions.

“Two options,” you reason, moving down the end of the colony cylinder towards the habitable inner walls. “First is they procure new weapons from any mobile-suits stationed inside the colony. Second, they switch to beam weapons.”

They may also try and force melee combat.

“Depends on how the priorities are set,” you admit. “If it were me? I'd have them avoid melee, they just can't hold up.”

But would Martha Vist think so little of her own toys?

“Would any engineer worth hiring listen to that awful bitch?”

Depends on their priorities.

>Disperse as much M-particle radiation as you can, try and disguise your approach until you're right on top of them.
>The Kämpfer had a similar loadout as you do now: borrow its “One Strike” style and attack at maximum speed.
>Try and lure the dolls into close combat with you, preferably in the colony's limited green spaces or over their reservoirs.
>Other?

>>2359278
Hmm. 2 seems urban and collateral heavy while 3 might leave repurcussions environment wise.

>Try and lure the dolls into close combat with you, preferably in the colony's limited green spaces or over their reservoirs.
Eh, it's long term and down the line which can be taken care of. Minimizing possible casualties first here.

>>2359278
>>Try and lure the dolls into close combat with you, preferably in the colony's limited green spaces or over their reservoirs.

>>2359278
>>Try and lure the dolls into close combat with you, preferably in the colony's limited green spaces or over their reservoirs.

>3d10, best of four
>DC 18, critical 23

Rolled 9, 4, 8 = 21 (3d10)

>>2359377

Rolled 5, 2, 6 = 13 (3d10)

>>2359377

Rolled 1, 8, 7 = 16 (3d10)

>>2359377

Rolled 10, 10, 9 = 29 (3d10)

>>2359377

>>2359411
...Holy shit.

>>2359377
“I'm luring them out of the built-up areas,” you declare, making a powerful leap through the air towards a spot several hundred meters downspin and several hundred more deeper into the colony cylinder where you're willing to bet you'll pick up the attention of the dolls.

Sure enough you spot them with the Viola's long distance zoom, and make a second leap through the air, even further from the colony walls this time, to attract their attention. They seem to have already neutralized whatever forces were left inside this colony: you count two mobile suits down in the open, burning visibly from where you are. Their hangars are in flames as well, contributing the the massive amount of smoke in what's left of the air.

Looks like you've got it! your sister observes. Six mobile dolls, on an intercept course.

“Good,” you smirk as your machine reaches a green field around a little lake. “Let 'em come.”

The mobile dolls take a more direct approach through the center axis of the colony, as your course has taken you almost to the opposite side from the base they've just attacked.

Who in their right mind even put a mobile suit base inside a colony cylinder?

“Someone who was counting on a human pilot's unwillingness to risk innocent lives,” you reply grimly. “At least if I were to hazard a guess... be a dear, sis, and paint our guests for me?”

You got it.

Six markers wink into view on your cockpit monitors, giving you a visual on the attackers as three of them fire rocket bazookas at you from moderate range. They're easy enough to avoid, using Viola's massive thrust to skirt just a few meters off the ground. You keep moving downspin for now, letting the colony's own rotation help you move faster relative to your attackers.

“They're not fast enough to completely adjust,” you realize as the bazooka blasts excavate massive craters in the dirt and raise palls of water where they hit the reservoir. “Man, what a cornucopia of failure these things are turning out to be...”

Can't blame Alpha. This has gotta be a form of latency.

“They're processing too many variables,” you realize, spinning as you hover to lash your heat rod through a doll that tries to close range with you. It explodes in midair, sending powerful waves across the surface of the reservoir below you. “Even if it's a fraction of a second, they're slower then they could be.”
>1/2

>>2359466
Contrast with us: responding even before stimulus while these dumb AI are stuck waiting around to process the stimuli.

“It's just a mismatch,” you agree, turning a shotgun on a second mobile doll. The individual submunitions tear into the machine's armor and explode. It would have been enough to kill any human pilot right there, but it takes a roundhouse kick to send the stricken machine crashing into the reservoir.

>Turn to the attack, finish off as many suits as you can as quickly as you can in close quarters. You may just be quick enough and efficient enough to pull it off.
>These things must be running low on ammo... you've gotta come up with an answer to their beam rifles before they put a hole in the colony wall.
>If you use your shotguns, you may be able to damage their beam weapons before their AI resort to them... though with how quickly they're darting about it might actually be a challenge.
>Other?

>>2359500
>>If you use your shotguns, you may be able to damage their beam weapons before their AI resort to them... though with how quickly they're darting about it might actually be a challenge.

>>2359500
>>If you use your shotguns, you may be able to damage their beam weapons before their AI resort to them... though with how quickly they're darting about it might actually be a challenge.

>>2359500
>>If you use your shotguns, you may be able to damage their beam weapons before their AI resort to them... though with how quickly they're darting about it might actually be a challenge.

Just a lucky nick on the beam weapons will hopefully do the trick. PULL!

>3d10, best of 4
>DC 18, crit 23

Rolled 8, 1, 2 = 11 (3d10)

>>2359563

Rolled 10, 1, 7 = 18 (3d10)

>>2359563

Rolled 9, 10, 1 = 20 (3d10)

>>2359563

Rolled 10, 5, 5 = 20 (3d10)

>>2359563
Rolling for another one if there's no other takers.

>>2359563
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaYk-lmysEc
A round from your shotgun blasts the arm off a mobile doll... and in the same shot manages to knock the beam rifle mounted to its right shoulder on a hardpoint free. The weapon falls into the reservoir, and you deftly snag the bazooka out of midair in your gundam's own left hand as you get around the doll's side, your own weaponized shield thrown back and clear on its movable mount.

The damaged doll manages to rotate in place to turn its shield around towards you, so the rocket you fire is aimed at one of its unmanned peers instead. The doll turns its own shield immediately, taking the full force of the rocket as you ditch the empty launcher, but at the same time blocking its line of sight... creating a massive blind spot where the round slab of metal is held out in front of it.

And that's where you attack.

Your own shield crashes against the edge, pushing it downwards as you slam the butt of the shotgun against Viola's right shoulder hardpoint and ignite the beam saber still mounted in your machine's right wrist, impaling the head where the AI's storage matrix should be then pulling it out through the torso. The machine collapses in a pall of steam as the reservoir extinguishes the raging flames of the fallen doll's burning propellant, and shreds of titanium armor and circuitry rain down all around as your eyes dart across the interior screens, already looking for your next target.

Steam... your sister muses thoughtfully before something else catches her attention. That one's going for its rifle!

Shit... it must be out of ammunition already!

“On it!” you shout, aiming as much thrust down and behind you as possible and dropping low, skimming so close to the surface of the reservoir the tips of your gundam's feet may actually be dragging through the water. But that's the point.

You even let the superheated blade of your heat rod trail through the water, adding even more spray and steam to the massive trail you're leaving in your wake.

Then you retract the blade at the last second, and slam your shield into the water's surface at an insane speed.

The doll fires a round from its beam rifle, but misses high over Viola's back as the world tumbles several times around your viewscreens in a second. The beam passes straight through the water in the air even as you right the Viola and the braking thrust nearly cracks your teeth as you slow yourself.

The shotgun's back in your hand already, having been released into your hand an instant before your extreme braking maneuver.

One shot in the back is all it takes for the doll to explode.
>1/2

>>2359661
>One shot in the back is all it takes for the doll to explode.
Ah, a Leo.

>>2359661
The beam you were forced to avoid scatters badly thanks to the water in the air, flashing whatever wasn't already steam into a scalding cloud as some of the particles can't help but interact with the denser medium. By the time what's left of the beam hits the far wall at the end of the colony most of the power has dissipated, either transferred into the water or scattered by the atmosphere itself. It only slags a small area of the colony wall, failing to even penetrate the thick innermost layer of the barrier.

With three of the dolls down and one damaged the risk has diminished... but with that first one having clearly run out of non-beam ammunition the concern is growing in your mind.

“Whoever's in charge of the environmental systems,” you roar over an open mic, “if you were ever gonna make it rain now's the time!”

Moments later, probably because the very technician you were shouting at was watching your stunt with the colony's water supply, the central axis of the colony begins to release a deluge of recycled and purified water, which builds first as a heavy mist before the rotation of the colony and the initial velocity from the spraying heads causes it to fall as a heavy rain.

It's not perfect... but every little bit counts.

“We need to keep them contained here,” you declare as two of the remaining dolls follow the last one's example and discard their rocket bazookas. “Keep them near the water.”

Understood... but I'm not sure it'll work that way again even if we keep moving along the center axis.

“It's our best shot,” you grumble.

>Try and get in close to one of the beam-rifle suits, take one out while making it hard for the other to get a clean shot.
>Stay defensive at longer range, use your remaining shotgun shells to help counter the beam weapons if you have to.
>Try and lead the mobile dolls back towards the exterior of the colony.
>Other?

>>2359689
Actually, not too far off. By UC standards the Leos were actually fairly nimble, and the Tallgeese was pure rocket-propelled madness.

>>2359700
>>Try and get in close to one of the beam-rifle suits, take one out while making it hard for the other to get a clean shot.

>>2359700
>>Try and get in close to one of the beam-rifle suits, take one out while making it hard for the other to get a clean shot.
Human... er... AI shield option? Would an allied AI come to the conclusion that shooting its own team mate is an optimal outcome?

>3d10, best of four
>DC 19, critical 24

Rolled 10, 9, 7 = 26 (3d10)

>>2359801

Rolled 7, 10, 6 = 23 (3d10)

>>2359808
Damn.
>>2359801

Rolled 8, 5, 8 = 21 (3d10)

>>2359801

Rolls in this thread are pretty surprising

>>2359808
You have to wonder... what would these mobile suits do if you were in such close proximity to one of them that the rest couldn't get a clean shot. Thankfully you have a damaged machine right here, ready to be used.

What are you... your sister wonders as you charge down the damaged mobile doll and slam your shield into its damaged side. The impact sets off one of the clear airbags in front of you to keep you from slamming into the viewscreen, but despite the whiplash you're already pushing your improvised shield towards the next suit.

There's a moment of hesitation, which is all you need. Your blast your shotgun through the back of your shield, then use the explosion to hide a swift maneuver behind the second doll. As it turns your shield slams into this machine as well, pulling the same exact maneuver a second time. The last mobile doll finally shoots, hitting its own ally and blasting it apart against your shield... but the beam itself is mostly absorbed by the torso in front of you, so what little penetrates dissipates harmlessly against the anti-beam coat on your own defenses.

“And then there were none,” you grin wickedly, putting three shotgun rounds into the last doll. One blasts apart its right arm and shoulder, knocking its beam rifle out of alignment, then the next two tear its torso apart and set off its propellant stores in a fireball.

>Take a few moments to recover any weapons you can from the downed dolls. You may need them.
>No time, gotta get out of the colony and back into the battle. Gotta go fast, gotta fight, gotta win.
>Other?

>>2359864
Surprising indeed. And here I was even theorizing that AI operated MS would have a shot at hard countering Newtypes, since there's no emotion or killing intent to read, plus the ability to pull insane maneuvers that'll leave meatbag pilots mush.

Considering Carya's unique Newtype ability though, maybe those points aren't even a factor at all.

>>2359903
>Take a few moments to recover any weapons you can from the downed dolls. You may need them.

>>2359903
>>Take a few moments to recover any weapons you can from the downed dolls. You may need them.
>>Other?
Maybe whatever's recording within the AI mobile suit too? As evidence or something for ALICE to crack into, see what makes it tick.

>>2359903
>>Take a few moments to recover any weapons you can from the downed dolls. You may need them.

>3d10, best of three this time
>DC 16, Critical 22

Rolled 5, 3, 6 = 14 (3d10)

>>2359957

Rolled 6, 9, 2 = 17 (3d10)

>>2359957

Rolled 3, 4, 6 = 13 (3d10)

>>2359957

>>2359957
Taking a few moments... and just a few moments... to survey the wreckage yields an intact beam rifle from one of the fallen dolls. It's hard to tell how many shots it has left in its e-pac, but it's better than nothing. And since Sericea's probably already picked up your beam machine gun, which you had to leave behind when you changed your loadout to charge into the colony like this, you're inclined to take what you can get.

Pushing your way through the rain which is starting to let up already, you eventually reach the colony's end and your thrusters carry you back to the airlock.

“I need it opened again,” you declare over the mic. “Situation's secure in here.”

You can see a man inside one of the offices overlooking the lock showing you a thumbs-up gesture, before the pressure mechanisms begin to cycle.

>3d10, taking the third roll only

Rolled 10, 5, 3 = 18 (3d10)

>>2360000

Rolled 4, 2, 2 = 8 (3d10)

>>2360000

Rolled 2, 6, 2 = 10 (3d10)

>>2360000

>>2360023
Rip

>>2342005
Outside... the situation that greets you is grim. It's immediately evident that one of the nearby colonies in this cluster has suffered a partial decompression, even more severe than the minor penetration suffered by the one you were just in before. The gas and crystallized water droplets shimmering in a large plume tell you as much... though it seems to have been closed by emergency bulkheads.

It seems you were right to be concerned.

Damn it all... why does this kind of shit keep happening when we're around?

The mobile dolls seem to have been mostly mopped up by the Republic's defense forces, but at a cost. Musais drift aimlessly, some on fire and venting atmosphere while others are in pieces. Most of the mobile suits stationed in this Bunch are in too many tiny pieces for them to even register on your sensors.

“The battle's already over,” you realize as Sericea comes into view, firing her forward thrusters to decelerate from flank speed. “Did we...”

“Sericea to Viola, you reading us?”

The transmission jolts you out of your daze, and you hit the comms. “Loud and clear. Minor structural and surface damage, all ammunition expended. Funnels at full charge.”

“What happened here?” Rossweisse asks you quietly.

“The AI-controlled mobile weapons, the ones the Vists sent after us,” you explain. “They mistakenly targeted the Musais stationed here by the Republic Navy. Then they expanded their parameters to the mobile suits that came to the cruisers' defense... and the bases inside each of these colonies that sortied them.”

“How bad?”

You have to take a moment to collect yourself. “I... don't know. Damage to the inside of one colony, structural integrity is fine. But the second colony that was assaulted while we were inside the first has suffered significant damage to its walls.”

“How did they get so off target?” Rossweisse wonders aloud.

“The ship we were leaving Magellanica in was an Arcana-class liner,” you explain. “The onboard computers mistook it for a Musai. Is there... anything else we can do here?”

“Backup from the rest of the Republic is inbound,” Rossweisse tells you.

>We can still try to rescue survivors from the stricken cruisers.
>We should head towards the Republic's central colony. Speak to their officials about this.
>We need to go back to Magellanica. Place the Vists under arrest for a whole SHITLOAD of offenses.
>Other?

Rolled 5, 5, 10 = 20 (3d10)

>>2360159
>We need to go back to Magellanica. Place the Vists under arrest for a whole SHITLOAD of offenses.

>>2360159
>>We can still try to rescue survivors from the stricken cruisers.
Very critical time for the survivors lucky enough to still be hanging on.

>>2360159
>>We can still try to rescue survivors from the stricken cruisers.

>will get back to writing after taking care of something else

>>2360239
“Rossweisse, we'll dock soon,” you decide. “But we need to rescue the remaining crew from those cruisers, starting with the one that's nearest you. The one on fire.”

“Copy that,” your partner replies. “It's... good to hear your voice.”

“Thanks,” you sigh, letting your sister take over control so you can settle heavily into your seat. “It's been a long couple of days, Rossie... and looks like it's not letting up any time soon.”

The next hour passes in a daze.

Wounded Zeon crewmembers lay all over the hangar deck under the watchful eyes of your ship's compliment of marines. Two of the cruiser captains elected to abandon their vessels entirely rather than face certain death by burning or vacuum, and so their remaining crews are all jammed aboard your own small ship. The decks are slick with blood in places as your own doctor helps the surviving medical staff of the two Musais tend to their shipmates, with even unwounded engineers and a few officers lending a hand.

You turn from the scene and slump into one of the chairs in the miniscule pilots' “ready room”... basically a glorified walk-in closet for you and, for the time being at least, Bianca. Who happens to also be sitting in a chair nearby, as are Rossweisse, Cima, and Alpha.

“Miss Garahau and Lady Deikun are here as well?” one of the Musai captains asks in shock.

“Miss Garahau yes,” you clarify. “But this is a clone of Lady Artesia, created illegally and illegally altered into a cyber Newtype by the Vist Foundation.”

“The Vist Foundation?” the Captain mutters, his compatriot still sitting in silence with a distant look in his eyes... you can't blame him after the loss of his ship and most of his crew. “What do they have to do with any of this?”

“They were the ones who created that army of autonomous death robots as well,” you explain, “and sent hem after us when we rescued 'Alpha' here from, I shit you not, their basement. Everything ties back to them... the near nuclear disaster and coup on Mars, child kidnapping rings and political corruption on Luna, piracy in the Belt, and now this. It's always been them, and we have the paper trail to prove it.”
>1/2

>>2360409
“Some might say you're just as much to blame,” the second Captain finally speaks. “What would you say to that? To the families of my dead crew?”

“We did the right thing at each step of the way,” you insist sternly. “Things that, looked at objectively, no decent human being would take issue with.”

“That won't bring back the dead,” the man replies, his tone hollow.

“No, it won't,” you agree. “And neither will holding the Vist Foundation accountable for everything they've done... but you can bet your ass that's exactly what we're going to do.”

“What's with this hateboner you have for the Vists?” the first Captain mutters. “I mean when things are going this off the rails, why keep it up?”

You shut your good eye, thinking deeply.

Maybe... maybe now is the time.

You open your eye and glance at Rossweisse, who gives you a subtle nod. Cima shuts her own eyes and shrugs dismissively.

“Because their founder was the one of the terrorists who attacked Laplace. And everything that's gone wrong since then traces back to what he took from the wreckage..."

>>2360451
And with that, I need to sleep off a splitting headache I've developed. Thanks for stopping by, and see you next weekend.

Finally, in the end, it all comes back to the Box.