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They usually shuffled low level people between stations to make sure nobody got too friendly with local governments. You only get to stay at one post a long time once you're high up in the ranks and your loyalty is considered absolute.
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BattleTech: Restoration Campaign – Episode 10: Take the Bull by the Long Tom Artillery Cannon. I mean Horns.  Wow. I can work with that. Just not yet, we don’t need an assault ‘Mech yet. Mission 56: Weakest Link (Assassination, No Commentary) Rewards: 296,625 c-bills Reputation: Capellan Confederation +8, Taurian Concordat -6 Noteworthy Salvage: 3 CPLT-C1 Catapult parts (‘Mech complete), 1 SRM-6++ (+4 damage)   Gym’s done! Time for a medbay upgrade.    Medbay’s done! Hydroponics!    Yes, Lady Arano. I grew up on Nassau Heights—one of the orbital hab stations above the planet's surface. Nobody makes landfall except for the surface mining teams, and they stay only for month-long shifts. It's too dangerous for permanent habitation. I remember an old folk story that originated with those mining teams... my father shared it with me when I was young. "The Locura," I think it was called? If memory serves, it was about an ill wind that would howl through the canyons, killing engines and scrambling computers. The stuff of nightmares for such an inhospitable world. Sounds like the EWAR gear on our Cataphract. Yes, Lady Arano. It's a gremlin story, something the miners can blame when they pass out drunk with the headlights running. "The Locura killed my engine, I barely got out alive!" Not our proudest achievement as a culture, but apparently it gets around. Are there any real threats down there that we need to worry about? Not unless you get out of your BattleMech. I wouldn't recommend that, by the way. How likely are we to run into the surface miners you were talking about? Don't worry—you won't. Not where you'll be dropping. Surface teams tend to cluster around the rocky outcrops that ring the planet's equator. That's where you find all the really good stuff—the platinum, the ruthenium, the rarer exotics. You'll be well clear of the mining zones. Not a great vacation Got it. Let's continue on. House Karosas has provided us with five supply ships to carry whatever we find on the surface. Captain Grigas of the ARS Delfinas will serve as our point of contact for the fleet. After Dr. Murad's finished interfacing with the Castle's computer, she'll pop the doors and we'll run a threat assessment. Then, if everything looks clear, we'll have Sumire set you down on the ground.  Hey, guys... I hate to interrupt, but I've got a sensor blip on my screen. It's a DropShip, can't make out what kind. She's heading for the planet's surface. Looks like her point of origin was Artru's second moon. That's... strange. Artru's moons are uninhabited. Is it a Directorate ship? Still too far out to say. At their current rate of speed, it'll be at least an hour before I can give you a positive ID. If it is the Directorate, I'll be really curious about how they knew to find us here. We have no evidence that they know we're here at all, whoever they are. But if we drop now, hopefully it won't matter... we'll be able to get in and out clean before they even make planetfall. They’re only a few hours behind us. Even less if they hellburn. We don't have time to play this safe, so we're dropping now. I want our 'Mechs on the ground when the doors open. I'll inform Captain Grigas of the change.  You can't go down there in person, Kamea... and certainly not before we're sure it's safe. You're the leader of the Restoration. We can't afford to lose you on a salvage operation. [Say nothing.] This isn't just about the salvage. Not to me. My father spent the last half of his life dreaming of the Argo and her secrets. This is one of those secrets. I will see this through—for him, and for myself. Now. It will take time and expertise to get whatever BattleMechs we find in the Castle's armory up and running again. Lord Karosas sent us a recovery team, and I want our best Mech Tech on the ground leading them. That's you, Mr. Virtanen. You'll be riding with me.  Guess I'll go warm up the rumble seat. Y'know, the only other time I've sat in one of those things was on St. Loris, and I got my arm blown clean off for my trouble. Here's hoping you don't go two for two. I won’t let that happen on my watch. Good luck down there, all. I'll be keeping an eye on you from up here. PTN’s note: We’re stuck with Kamea on this one. She kinda sucks. Mission 57: Raising the Dead (Story, Commentary) Rewards: 2,215,200 c-bills Reputation: Arano Restoration +9 Noteworthy Salvage: SRM-6+++ (+4 damage, +2 stability damage), PPC+ (+2 accuracy), Medium Laser++ (+3 accuracy), a bog-standard PPC (salvage on this mission is awful)          The Argo's main drive is still off-line! I'm working on it in Engineering... I think I've got the malicious code isolated, but it's already done a lot of damage. [static] What's your status, Lady Arano? She’s totally screwed. We're on the move! Taurian marines have taken the Outpost Castle—most of our salvage team is dead. Yang's sealed the Mech Bay doors, but they won't hold for long. There are only five of us left: me, Yang, and three of the MechWarriors from the Delfinas. [static] We're on our way to the surface in the few 'Mechs that Yang managed to get running. Heads up, Lady Arano—when you reach the surface, you're gonna have company. I'm picking up a Taurian recon lance standing just outside the main doors. Acknowledged, Ms. Meyer. The recon lance doesn't worry me. When they see what we're piloting, they'll wish they'd stayed home. Good job getting those 'Mechs running, Yang. Drinks are on me when you get home. I'll take you up on that, Boss... I'm gonna need it. [static] Believe it or not, I've had better days. Hey, can anybody tell me why the Taurians are fighting for Espinosa? And what this Ostergaard guy has against us, specifically? [static] 'Cause this is some grade-A bullshit right here. [Ancestry. Deep Periphery] I dunno, Yang. Out where my ancestors came from in the Deep Periphery, we didn't have these problems. Yeah, well, if you go back someday, make sure to take me along with you. [static] 'Cause right now, that sounds like a really nice change of pace. My people shouldn't be fighting us, drat it. They shouldn't even be here at all. Aside from us and Karosas, nobody should know anything about Castle Nautilus. So how the hell did they know to where to find us? Someone’s sus. Best guess? The Taurians were tipped off by Espinosa—and that means we've got ourselves a mole. I'll bet you anything I know who it is, too. Otto Karosas. Remember what Lord Karosas told us—his son returned from Weldry a different person. The Directorate played with his mind and broke him somehow. Or they killed him and replaced him with a body double. That’s impossible. You’ve been reading too many tabloids. ‘Hanse Davion’ replaced by Capellan body double indeed. You think they brainwashed him. It's plausible. I'll send warning to Smithon as soon as I'm able, but right now, the only things that matter are fixing this ship and getting Kamea away from the Taurian border. The Restoration dies if she's captured. Don't worry, Lord Madeira. We'll have Sumire pick them up directly. Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the Argo's docking clamps are locked tight. Damned things won’t budge. Until Farah fixes whatever that thing did to the ship, the Leopard is out of commission. I'm working on it! If I can get the doors to Engineering open, we can manually release the clamps. Let us know if we can do anything to help. Will do! [static] Please, Lady Arano... keep yourself alive. I'll fix this—I promise! [static] Roger that, Farah—we'll hold out for as long as we can. This elevator is accelerating—we're almost at the surface. Any second now these doors are going to open, and we'll need someplace to go. Darius, what are our options? Best bet? The Delfinas. Lord Karosas's other support ships have either fled or been destroyed, but the Delfinas is still on the planet's surface, and she's within sprinting distance of the Castle gates. She's currently powered down... I don't think the Taurians have detected her yet. If you can make it out there, Captain Grigas and his crew should be able to extract you. That's the plan, then. Dr. Murad will have until we get there to fix the Argo—any longer and we're all dead. [static] Five Aces, I need you to stay on the comms and guide us through this. That's what you're paying me for.  Mission 58: Escape (Story, Commentary) Rewards: 1,700,400 c-bills Reputation: Arano Restoration +9, Taurian Concordate -7 [Loathed (we can’t shop with them anymore)] Noteworthy Salvage: 1 AWS-8Q Awesome part, 1 BLR-1G BattleMaster part, 1 ZEU-6S Zeus part, 1 LRM-15+++ (+50% crit, +2 Stability Damage), Arm Mod+ (+40 stability damage), 1 FS9-H Firestarter part, 1 PNT-9R Panther part  Seraphic Neoman posted:why do we hate the Taurians?   PTN’s note: The game tries to make it look like this matters, but it really doesn’t.   The malicious code from Nautilus. That's what I'm calling it now—"the Locura," like Lady Arano's story. It needed a name, and this seemed as appropriate as anything else. Any objections? I don't care what we call it, Doc. I just want to know what we're gonna do with it. What we're going to do is leave it alone. Secondary storage is now officially off-limits. That means no more Star League maps, no more hidden archive—nothing. Put some yellow tape around it if you need to—whatever you have to do to remind yourselves. Just... don't touch it. Nobody will touch anything, or they'll have me to answer to. Sumire was right... this entire sorry episode was a terrible mistake. It is what it is. All that matters now is getting this ship out of here in one piece. The Taurians would’ve been coming after us, cache or no cache, so I’d say we still came out ahead. drat right. Are you sure that the rest of the Argo's systems are secure, Farah? I mean, really sure? If they weren't, we wouldn't be having this conversation. I'm about ninety percent certain that the code was trying to detonate our fuel reserves. If it were still doing damage, the Argo probably would've exploded by now. This "Locura," this code—what the hell is it? It's a research project, I think. Some kind of experiment. The file was housed in a research archive labeled "SDS M-2." It seemed to have something to do with an old space defense program that used robot drones to shoot down WarShips. Great, you’re telling me the SLDF was experimenting with Skynet? I know, it sounds ridiculous—like some kind of Periphery campfire story. But it's the best I've got to go on. From what I can put together, they were researching something that'd gone wrong with the drones—the M-2 models. It seems that there was an accident, and the drones malfunctioned, and they killed a lot of people. The scientists at Nautilus were tearing the code apart, trying to isolate what had happened—until they stopped for some reason, sealed up the whole archive in quarantine, and never touched it again. Yeah. That sounds like Skynet. That's the best I can give you. Like I said, I don't have a complete picture; there were hundreds of variants of the file sealed away in the Nautilus Memory Core, and I only opened the one. ...And all things considered, that's probably for the best. All right, you all heard the Doc—hands off of secondary storage. Let's move on—we have other problems to discuss. Like the fact that we're fighting the Taurians now? Sure, let's talk about that. How the hell did that happen? I mean, I get that we killed the Commodore's son, but people die every day. Nations usually don't go to war over them. I think that the Directorate has been in bed with the Taurians for a while now, Yang. That's where their weapons have been coming from. If ships like the Newgrange have been running weapons to the Directorate since our victory on Weldry, and the Newgrange was a Taurian vessel, it stands to reason that Espinosa and Protector Calderon have been doing business on the sly ever since the war started. Right now, the "why" of it doesn't matter. The Taurians have just declared war on the Restoration, and that changes everything. Alexander, I need you to contact Lady Centrella and arrange a war council... maybe she can help us dig ourselves out of this. I'll need you there as well, Commander—be ready to set a course for Weldry. From one frozen hellhole to another. I can't wait. Here’s hoping Lady Centrella doesn’t just sever ties with us so the Magistracy doesn’t get dragged into a war. You have bigger things to worry about than the weather, Five Aces. We all do. I must return to our people... in the face of the Taurian war machine, I fear that our systems may begin to abandon us. The Founding Houses that we've already liberated need to see that our cause isn't lost. You sure about that? 'Cause from where I'm standing, things aren't looking good. In thanks for your help on Artru, I offer you this Star League-era Highlander, Five Aces. May it carry you to victory in the days to come. The Highlander 732B is an ancient model from the Star League days! Its Gauss Rifle was a terrifying weapon that gave it a huge punch at almost any range—but you can't find those anymore. And of course, it still has the jump capability it's always been known for. Thanks! I won’t be using it!PTN’s note: The SLDF Highlander is ok. I’ve just never been a fan of the Highlander. I’ll be dumping it into storage and taking its double heat sinks. We're deep in Directorate space, Commander. There won't be any work for us out here, so we'll need to plot a course back to the Restoration. Come to Navigation when you're ready. Training Results: Five Aces: 10 in all stats, he’s our first 10-10-10-10 Glitch: 10-10-10-10 Yang, we’ve got some travel ahead. You know what that means! More work.     You know ships, and you grew up in the Concordat. I need to know what we're up against. A world of hurt, Commander. A world of hurt. Commodore Ostergaard's command Ship, the Iberia, is a Fortress-class DropShip. They don't call 'em that for nothing. DO you have any idea how many weapons one of those things comes equipped with? About as many as an Ovelord. First, there's the Long Tom Ill artillery cannon... you've already seen what that can do. If you somehow survive that, you've got six PPCs, four LRM-20s, four LRM-10s, and eight Large Lasers to deal with. If, through some miraculous twist Of fate, you manage to live through all of that, then the Fortress still has five AC/5s, six SRM-6s, sixteen Medium Lasers, and a pair of AC/20s to murder you with. Long story short, Commander? Nothing gets close to a Fortress and lives. It can run its guns all day long without overheating or running out of ammo, and it can obliterate any 'Mech you throw at it without breaking a sweat. Oh, and it also carries a full combined-arms battalion of infantry, vehicles, and 'Mechs. How many guns does the Argo have again? None. It’s a glorified cargo hauler. I guess what I'm saying is, if the Iberia wants you dead, you're dead. Your only real option is to be where it isn't. End of story. I’ve gotta get back to it. Talk to you later, Sumire.   Hydroponic garden is done! Power systems!  Mission 59: Carrier (Recovery, No Commentary) Rewards: 141,750 c-bills Reputation: Taurian Concordat -10 Noteworthy Salvage: 1 BL-6-KNT Black Knight part, 1 CTF-1X Cataphract part, 2 Medium Laser+++ (+3 Acc, +50% Crit), 1 SLDF Wargear (+1 Initiative, +1 injury resist), 1 QKD-5A Quickdraw part, 1 TDR-5SS Thunderbolt part  All work orders com— Bad news, Yang. More travel!      Careful, Commander. This drop looks like it might require more firepower than that. I recommend that we field some heavier 'Mechs, or hold off on this mission until we can find some. Haha, no.Mission 60: Drop Interception (Battle, Commentary) Rewards: 338,450 c-bills Reputation: Restoration vs. Directorate doesn’t matter Noteworthy Salvage: 1 COR-6R Corsair part, 1 VTR-9S Victor part, 1 CT Computer (+Called Shot), 1 Autocannon/20++ (+4 Acc) Lady Centrella is ready to meet us on Weldry, Commander. I have filed a contract in the Command Center. Training Results: Dekker: 10-10-10-10  Careful, Commander. This drop— Nah.Mission 61: Drop Interception (Battle, Commentary) Rewards: 368,900 c-bills Reputation: Doesn’t matter Noteworthy Salvage: 1 AWS-8Q Awesome part, 1 HGN-733 Highlander part, SLDF Wargear (+1 Initiative, +1 Injury Resist) Man. We are getting a lot of SLDF Wargear. Miiiight be time to retire the Orion and see what I can do with that Nightstar… That’ll do, Yang. That’ll do. At least until my pirate pals give me Black Market access. Where my skull-and-crossbones at?!
PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 02:27 on May 14, 2021 |
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May 13, 2021 23:29
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Gun Jam posted:IIRC, one does not "just" put guns into orbital platforms. And drones are expansive, pilot are cheap... you mean modern, real-life drones, not AI-piloted mech? Sorry I was too vague. I meant modern flying drones. I fully accept the "because it's not a cool as hell walking 'mech" as reason for not having them  IMJack posted:Long story short, that's not what BattleTech is about. In a game about giant fighting robots, there's going to be some story fig-leaf over any technology or approach that obliviates the giant fighting robots. Mutant Headcrab posted:The in-universe reason is kind of complicated, but boils down to a lot of hobbled industry, gentlemen's agreements between noble houses (because unrestricted orbital bombardments made up the majority of the Amaris Civil War and the first couple of Succession Wars and it wasn't pretty), and Space AT&T (ComStar) disappearing folks who come up with ideas like "what if we designed a warship with the tech we do have."  This was more or less what I was expecting. Obviously it'd ruin the fun of throwing hilariously oversized guns on walking tanks, but I wasn't 100% sure on the in-universe reason for that. 
fennesz fucked around with this message at 23:35 on May 13, 2021 |
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May 13, 2021 23:33
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fennesz posted:Sorry I was too vague. I meant modern flying drones. I fully accept the "because it's not a cool as hell walking 'mech" as reason for not having them BattleTech is a universe where technology went in a different direction. Computers are big and inefficient, power generation and storage are tiny and incredibly powerful. That kind of miniaturized computer control doesn't exist.
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May 13, 2021 23:44
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Computers in BattleTech are simultaneously near sapient and dumb as a sack of rocks.
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May 13, 2021 23:52
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Oh hi Jensen, didn't expect to run into you. Also Ep 59 is marked as having commentary but doesn't have it.
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May 14, 2021 00:44
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The commentary in video 60 seems to be out of sync- you mention something happening before it happens at least three times that I noticed.
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May 14, 2021 01:51
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So uh what if you were stupid enough to become an SLDF vaulthunter and kept up the codebreaking on an isolated system? Cause that sounds like a plan for a roleplay campaign and riches if I ever heard one.
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May 14, 2021 02:25
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VolticSurge posted:The commentary in video 60 seems to be out of sync- you mention something happening before it happens at least three times that I noticed. poo poo, that's going to be hard to fix. I'll see what I can do. 
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May 14, 2021 02:27
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I hate that escape mission. Even knowing what happens to the mechs doesn't actually matter, it still feels really bad, especially if you get lovely RNG and start losing weapons and limbs.
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May 14, 2021 04:02
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Seraphic Neoman posted:So uh what if you were stupid enough to become an SLDF vaulthunter and kept up the codebreaking on an isolated system? Cause that sounds like a plan for a roleplay campaign and riches if I ever heard one. Plays Battletech RPG Rolls Character Creation Goes LosTech Hunting Rolls "0"! Decides to try again. Rolls "0"! Looks at GM. "So, I hit the motherlode, right?" GM: "You might have broke the Campaign." Me: "Tell you what, the rest of the party is my crew, and we have our own Dropship under my ownership. I'll use my success here to make sure we're solvent." GM: "But the mech combat! You'll have nothing to do!" Me: "How about I pick a Dropship with Aerospace assets and Artillery and act as fire support for the team?" GM: "That works." Campaign: Dies three sessions in when the GM fails to realize that in the chosen time, 3022, ComStar was still openly seen as neutral and trustworthy and they aren't WoB asshats from top to bottom. I made a decision perfectly in line with what my character knew, and not what I as the Player knew, and the GM folded.[
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May 14, 2021 04:11
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Were I the GM in that situation, I would have had ComStar come and buy you out, like they did with Brion's Legion, rather than stick to my guns and kill the party. Since you were clearly interested in using Star League tech to crush outmatched units, 1st Division would have been a great fit for that team.
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May 14, 2021 04:18
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ComStar recruited mercs all the time until 3048. Anyone who seemed even remotely pliable got to be a shiny new Acolyte inside a year.
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May 14, 2021 04:22
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To be fair, the price of my dropship was the party having limited access to SLDF stuff, like a couple ERPPCs and a half dozen DHS's and the like in exchange for a reliable base of operations. We would have had to carefully ration the good stuff, just in case. We did have a single SLDF non-Royal Heavy, but it had parts replaced due to age and the like. The GM ... was inexperienced at the time, but passionate. The plot thread they had in mind was that the party would be given incredible and incontrovertible evidence that the Jumpship they were on was (memory fails) stolen or Pirate or something that we would be Totally Justified in taking it for ourselves. I, being more detail oriented in terms of doing my background research and testing my limits vis a vis the plot, instead, on our next trip to a planet to look for jobs on the MRB, went over to C* and handed over copies of all our evidence and said "Hey, this isn't a Merc Problem, this is a C*/House problem, right?" The GM metaphorically Bluescreened, and couldn't adapt. I told him afterward while we were in a different setting/system/campaign that I half expected him to roll with it, and have us be basically "ComStar Mercs" with his same plot, but our backers changed. He told me that C* was going to be the enemy thanks to my stupidly lucky rolls. So yeah, you and I were on the same wavelength there, but my luck, plus my adherence to character over player, doomed the campaign.
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May 14, 2021 04:28
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That's a shame. It's the Inner Sphere, just flip-flop the protagonists and antagonists and play out the same story except now the players are having to hunt down some other plucky group of LosTech finders. 
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May 14, 2021 04:32
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Have Primus Tiepolo show up and say things like "Prepare the battlefield... FOR MASSACRE!!!"
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May 14, 2021 04:48
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Nice callback/foreshadowing to the Lyran Fortress dropship squadron Evidner in the 4th Succession War that gave the Draconis Combine a bloody nose.
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May 14, 2021 05:28
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Not sure what rules they are using for those long tom barrages here, is it representing multiple rounds coming down and instant kills whatever us under its template?
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May 14, 2021 06:10
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I have to say I always loved the reaction of that Taurian scout when facing a lance of SLDF 'mechs, especially one containing some real heavy hitters. I kinda wish the enemy had spent the first turn just running away at full speed, both to sell how scary that stuff is to face and also because it's not fun being on the receiving end of the enemy attack without being able to act until they've all fired :vv:
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May 15, 2021 01:39
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Ostergaard's voice actor is a pretty big name but he was in both Battletech and Mechwarrior 5. I wonder if PGI & HBS sought him out specifically for something, or if he's a fan of the franchise - sometimes big names get involved with smaller titles because they like the IP. It's good to have missions with Glitch again after the story missions' glum pilots, too. Yes Glitch, we can go make snowmen after the murder. What a delight she is.
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May 15, 2021 09:13
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Reynard was probably the best of that lot, at least he sounded he was enjoying himself.
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May 15, 2021 11:14
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aniviron posted:Ostergaard's voice actor is a pretty big name but he was in both Battletech and Mechwarrior 5. I wonder if PGI & HBS sought him out specifically for something, or if he's a fan of the franchise - sometimes big names get involved with smaller titles because they like the IP. That's Elias Toufexis I think, and he's a huge Battletech fan that really wanted to be in the games.
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May 15, 2021 17:52
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He was also the second choice to play Amos Burton on the Expanse, and since he didn't get that part he had some extra time.
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May 15, 2021 18:12
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aniviron posted:Yes Glitch, we can go make snowmen after the murder. What a delight she is. 
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May 15, 2021 18:17
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Ostergaard is pretty much everything Victoria should have been. He's a great antagonist who has a real. personal. beef. with Kamea and her pet Mercenaries. Edit: He's also short, so he's got a bit of a Victor Steiner-Davion complex
PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 19:06 on May 15, 2021 |
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May 15, 2021 18:59
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I wonder if it was this "malicious code" that caused the argo to crash in the first place. Maybe not though. Incidentally, I actually enjoy reading the between mission text more than watching the videos, I'm not sure what that says about me.
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May 15, 2021 19:46
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The Locura was something Dr. Murad downloaded from Nautilus, the Castle Brian on Artru. It's explicitly part of the Star League's Space Defense System (SDS), which was used to protect Terra with a massive fleet of drone warships. Whether the Locura is an early version of the Terran SDS or an experimental upgrade that got mothballed before it entered production remains to be seen, but the TLDR is: The Locura is a semi-sentient computer program that has been taught to kill. If that sounds like an immensely stupid idea to you, congratulations! You're smarter than House Cameron.
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May 15, 2021 19:53
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Everyone is smarter than House Cameron. Those idiots were just lucky Albert Marik existed. brb working on new AU, no Albert Marik
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May 15, 2021 20:06
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PoptartsNinja posted:The Locura was something Dr. Murad downloaded from Nautilus, the Castle Brian on Artru. It could just be the original SDS code that they managed to recover after a jump. I know they tried to make fully autonomous stuff, but as soon as it went through a jump it went crazy, Event Horizon style so they always had to shut it down when jumping. That's what I always thought it was, the AI was stuck on an air-gapped computer and jumped so that it could be isolated and studied afterwards to try and fix the problem.
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May 15, 2021 20:24
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The malicious code from Nautilus. That's what I'm calling it now—"the Locura," like Lady Arano's story. It needed a name, and this seemed as appropriate as anything else. Edit: the real conspiracy is that the Nautilus code is probably Moderbjorn, which was deactivated after an "accident" wiped out the city it was put in place to "protect." PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 20:53 on May 15, 2021 |
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May 15, 2021 20:42
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PoptartsNinja posted:
Love the LP, it's entertaining so see the missions I struggled with getting handled like this, turns out I'm just a bad mech pilot.
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May 15, 2021 23:45
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Trenchdeep posted:I request elaboration! There is a large distance between "bad mech pilot" and what PTN is doing in this LP. A lot of it is down to mech design, too. E: You could be a mediocre or even decent mech commander and still struggle with these missions if you didn't design amazing murderbots. pun pundit fucked around with this message at 06:24 on May 16, 2021 |
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May 16, 2021 06:22
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Knowing what triggers events in the campaign, what 'mechs you can expect and when to find them is an absolutely massive part of being able to clown on the story missions. I wouldn't take it too hard if you struggle
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May 16, 2021 09:11
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Trenchdeep posted:I request elaboration! All I know is that I would switch the order of those two words that make up that name.
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May 16, 2021 12:28
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Trenchdeep posted:I request elaboration! Ok, so, first up: this is all behind-the-scenes theory / spoilers for the "Of Unknown Origin" flashpoint. MB (whose name was chosen for the initials, I'm certain, and who I will refer to with feminine pronouns) was created to "protect" a certain city, which was later nuked (presumably during the 1st succession war but really, who nukes a rando planet in the periphery?). Mother Brain then got to sit and stew for 300 years with nothing to do, and eventually got so bored that she decided to try to drone control an SLDF WarShip, the Dobrev, which had been abandoned in the periphery by parties unknown Clan Wolverine. The Dobrev was intercepted, so the supposedly non-sapient MB came to the completely logical conclusion to hire the first group of mercenaries capable of beating her limited supply of drones to help her find the Dobrev so that she could ??? --> profit! To say the ability to drone control WarShips was heavily restricted by the SLDF would be an understatement (they were dumb, but not that dumb!). Even if she could only give the Dobrev basic commands--which may be more due to the Dobrev's damage than any actual limitation on MB--the fact that MB could control the ship at all is remarkable and terrifying because it implies that: A) MB was aware of her surroundings B) MB was equipped with an HPG C) MB was designed to supplement (or control) an SLDF Space Defense System D) MB's SDS code was viral and capable of seizing control of ships. That's what the Locura tried to do to the Argo when Dr. Murad downloaded it. Presumably when Dr. Murad attempted to prevent the Locura from gaining control, the Locura attempted to scuttle the Argo. E) The Dobrev was abandoned for "reasons unknown." MB claims it then "drifted into range" but that's not how interstellar travel works in BattleTech. This means the Dobrev actually entered MB's range and was then abandoned for "reasons unknown." F) The Locura code actively sabotaged the Argo, killing power and threatening to destroy the entire ship. The Dobrev is in similar condition when it turns up. So, here's our timeline: 1) The SLDF was experimenting with SDS systems at Nautilus. With some promising data, they built MB and deployed a prototype. This prototype kept in contact w/ Nautilus via HPG, but was stationed far enough away that Nautilus was not within range of a direct transmission. 1a) The Argo, a failed survery vessel with huge industrial capacity, was likely used to construct, deploy, or directly monitor MB as part of its normal duties. 2) MB went full Skynet and wiped out the population of the city it was protecting. 2a) The Argo was in MB's HPG range, and MB attempted to seize control. When the crew worked to prevent this, MB crippled the Argo which crashed into a moon. 3) Nautilus remotely deactivated MB, and copied its code for study. This copy becomes the Locura. 3a) The Locura was deemed too hostile and dangerous and was quarantined (but not isolated) in Nautilus's files. 4) Time passes 4a) MB reactivates at some point, but has nothing to do. MB is only interested in the SLDF and too limited in scope to rampage. MB becomes aware that the SLDF has left the Inner Sphere. 5) The CWS Dobrev jumped into a system within MB's range. 5a) MB infects the Dobrev and attempts to seize control. When the crew of the Dobrev resists, MB attempts to scuttle the Dobrev. 5b) The Dobrev is abandoned. MB achieves full control but the ship is too badly damaged. MB manages to get its jump drives charging at a minimum level, but it will take years before the Dobrev can jump. [Campaign timeline] 6) The Argo is repaired 7) The Argo returns to Nautilus, Dr. Murad downloads some files she really shouldn't have. 7a) Locura attempts to seize control of the Argo (again?). When the crew resists, Locura attempts to scuttle the Argo. [Career timeline] 6) The Argo is repaired 7) The Argo discovers MB. MB has either mellowed or grown considerably more cunning. 7a) MB convinces the crew of the Argo to load her aboard. 7b) MB leads the Argo to the Dobrev. She really wants that ship, because she would like to know where Kerensky took the SLDF. 7c) For revenge? [Post-game timeline] 8) ComStar gets their hands on the Argo and either gets Locura or MB in the process. 9) ComStar (Word of Blake) reactivates Terra's SDS using MB's code. PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 14:41 on May 16, 2021 |
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May 16, 2021 14:38
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If we're getting into speculation/conspiracy, did anything ever come up about why that ship from a few plotmissions back was *secretly special*?
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May 16, 2021 16:04
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The Newgrange? We found out last update. It was a Taurian Concordat gun runner captained by the son of the antagonist who was just introduced.
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May 16, 2021 16:28
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Negative_Earth posted:If we're getting into speculation/conspiracy, did anything ever come up about why that ship from a few plotmissions back was *secretly special*? The one we blew up? I'm pretty sure that it wasn't, and the information that it was hauling weapons or whatever was planted because Ostergaaard's son was the captain and his death would secure the alliance between the Directorate and the Taurians.
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May 16, 2021 16:31
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The evidence wasn't planted, it really was a gun runner. The Newgrange was just part of an arms deal sanctioned by the Concord Navy rather than the clandestine smuggling ring that Angry Noble thought it was. Angry Noble just wanted the Newgrange hit because he thought it'd make Espinosa angry and possibly throw a wrench in the Directorate's talks with the Concordat. He had no way of knowing Espinosa had already secured an alliance with the Concordat who would view the destruction of the Newgrage as a declaration of war. PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 16:38 on May 16, 2021 |
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May 16, 2021 16:35
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I think it's the way she storms in going "You have no idea what you've just done!". I guess that's just her talking about the war with the Taurians going public and hot, but it sounds a lot like a "forces beyond our ken will be unleashed!" line. Like you just blew up a ship full of proto-wobbies who'd been using that prison camp to test out neural interface technologies, hence the people with broken brains.
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May 16, 2021 19:18
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