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Slaan posted:3, 4 get in and out quick and chaotic Yeah, this plan.
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Jul 21, 2021 07:18
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1, 3 as per Otherkinsey Scale Edge as per Hbar
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Jul 21, 2021 15:35
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1 & 5. If we are to be a distraction, then explosives and heavy weapons seem like a gloriously unsubtle way of doing so. And combining the Goofy One and the Serious One is a comedy classic! As for our Edge, I agree with HBar.
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Jul 21, 2021 20:42
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Cloud Potato posted:1 & 5. If we are to be a distraction, then explosives and heavy weapons seem like a gloriously unsubtle way of doing so. And combining the Goofy One and the Serious One is a comedy classic! I applaud this idea: combining the goofy one, the serious one, and the obvious Protagonist is a surefire way to boost ratings!
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Jul 21, 2021 21:08
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1, 3, lots of boom and no intel on it. Edge as per Hbar.
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Jul 22, 2021 10:58
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Definitely 3, under the rationale that while we are a distraction, and want OpFor's central command to think our main thrust is where we are, we also don't want the forces at our attack to decide to abandon it and reinforce the main garrison. After that, we want chaos and threat, and explosions seems the best and quickest way to do that, so taking 1 neatly sews up that aspect. Sure, if we have to have our Man O Wars actually enter facilities, we're probably taking point, but for flying around and being a flashy threat? Dog's gonna provide great accompaniment to that
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Jul 22, 2021 12:35
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Can we try and pull all power to our lances for a few seconds to try and bait the limpet mines to bombard the facilities? That should make for a good distraction.
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Jul 22, 2021 13:06
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I shook off my jitters and nodded (not that anyone could see). I shifted configurations and set off towards the new coordinates, bracing for Gravbank penetration. ABSOLUTE-02: “DOG, SQUIRREL, you’re with me.” DOG-03:”Yessiree, ma’am.” SQUIRREL-05: “Acknowledged, 02.” ABSOLUTE-02: “Good. Let’s go crack this nut and see if we can make some noise.” I fell towards the surface, braking in the artificial atmosphere of the ‘bank. It wasn’t quite Human Standard Atmospherics, judging by my readings, but that was hardly a surprise given the twin disruption of mining and warfare on the planetoid. It was enough, however, to destabilize my flight, and a jarring contrast to the void. Operations: 1d2 2 ...But one I’d trained for, exhaustively. In this configuration, the rarified air streamed off me aerodynamically, even as I brought my MOW’s limbs out for showtime. The facility (by all accounts a non-spectacular holding facility for industrial MOW-Elements) lit up on my screen, filling in with details as SQUIRREL’s EM array swept over it. It looked hardy enough, dug into the surface and well armored, but it wasn’t a military facility by any means, and its meagre electronic defenses were no match for her probes. SQUIRREL-05: “Okay, I’me in, 02. Whoever they’ve got running anti-intrusion down there isn’t… very good. They see us coming, but I’ve got their communications in a stranglehold. They’re only going to be able to call out when - and to who - we want them to.” DOG-03:”Hell, don’t we want everyone to know we’re here? Crank up the volume!” SQUIRREL-05: “We need to be careful here - we outgun them, maybe, but we’re outnumbered. We can’t afford to get bogged down!” DOG-03:”That’s why we keep them occupied putting out fires!” SQUIRREL-05: “Not everything can be solved by arson!” DOG-03:”Name one thing that can’t!” ABSOLUTE-02: “Look alive, guys!” Locked down or not, military or not, the Six Moon Strike hadn’t gotten this far by any of their facilities lying down in the face of a sudden raid. They scrambled jury-rigged fighters, sending a half dozen winging our way. Upjumped mining rigs, they weren’t top of the line by any means, but they could take a beating. I entered combat posture and brought my LANCES to bear. I’d have time for a few good shots before they got into range, and I intended to- SQUIRREL-05: “poo poo, Ma- Check your six, 02!” Operations: 1d2 1 A sudden impact sent me spinning, MOW blaring alerts. I took control immediately, righting myself and scanning the area. I felt the damage through the relays in my suit, a deep score along Shirley’s thigh and rear verniers. A graze, but an unwelcome surprise all the same. 05 flagged the source, and I wheeled to face it - a ground-based mass driver, repurposed on the fly to fling the equivalent of a handful of scrap metal at me. And it wheeled to track me as I watched, bracing for evasion. DOG-03:”I’ve got this one, boss! BARK BARK BARK!” I jetted down and out of trajectory as he took position, launching a pair of heavy canisters from his own modified LANCES. Arcing lines of power snapped between the two of them as they fell to earth and the driver frantically sought to track them. DOG pulled way back and I followed suit, reorienting to close in on the (much closer now) fighters. The canisters suddenly revectored, slamming violently into one another a brief instant before an incandscently violet explosion rocked the entire facility. Sirius-62, codename “DogStar”, binary explosive and 03’s namesake. Perfectly safe while separate, perfectly lethal when combined. It took a certain kind of personality to willingly carry both elements on a single tiny MOW - and I brought him on my team. DOG-03:”I never get tired of watching that.” COLLATERAL posted:There are certain crazy people that say the Six Moon Strike forces are human beings and should be treated with respect. What do you think? Do you minimize collateral damage, even when doing so could jeapordize your mission? I, however, did not have the luxury of watching. The driver may have been attempting to take me down outright or just distract me, but either way they’d wasted my time enough for the fighters to close and spread out. Three of us, six of them. Probably more on their way, and me in a lightly-damaged MOW. I felt excitement building in my gut, the thrill of life and death, even without the neon to supplement it. SMS-01: “Unknown White Star MOW - you are in Six Moon Striker space, but you know that drat well. Let’s cut to the chase: why don’t you just gently caress off before we blow you out of the sky?” DO TWO THINGS posted:
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Aug 5, 2021 15:53
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3, 6.
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Aug 5, 2021 19:32
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3, 8
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Aug 5, 2021 20:04
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2;8 Yes, at the same time. Ain't no better cover than explosions. Also, for collateral? Protagonism usually shields us against moral quandries. (Because we are always right). But with these Antagonol pills? Morals are a dangerous distraction that is, sadly, very distracting. If we can afford it, we try to aim away from personnel who look cute or fresh or just sympathetic in some manner, but we absolutely do not minimize structural damage. Infra or otherwise.
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Aug 5, 2021 20:19
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6, 7. Let's not micromanage our wingmates. Besides, this is the battlefield! The one place where we can take center stage and make as big of a mess as we can! Let's go nuts.
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Aug 6, 2021 00:28
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6, 8
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Aug 6, 2021 00:42
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3, 6. Keep them pinned down and don’t let them hear any orders to redeploy. Of course we always try to protect the innocent, on missions where there are any around. It’s the right thing to do, even though it’s never enough to stop our enemies from making up lies about us.
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Aug 6, 2021 00:51
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6, 7
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Aug 9, 2021 20:36
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ABSOLUTE-02: “SQUIRREL, keep their communications clamped down. DOG, you and I are going on the offensive - then we’re all breaking in there to steal crap.” SQUIRREL-05: “Ac-acknowledged… steal what?” ABSOLUTE-02: “That’s for them to know and us to find out. Keep them blind and deaf here until we fight off these units - we want them coming for us on our way out, you dig? We’re here as a distraction, but that doesn’t mean we can’t pull some real intel off this place. DOG, you in?” DOG-03:”BARK BARK!” ABSOLUTE-02: “Good enough!” SQUIRREL said nothing further, but reconfigured her MOW to grip a radio mast with all four limbs. A tiny display set into my tactical readout displayed her specialized systems physically interfacing with their comparatively primitive set-up, extruded MOW-elements worming into the cabling. She’d have them locked down, probably have their whole network in her pocket if we gave her time. SMS-01: “Unknown White Star MOW - say goodbye, I guess. The last thing you'll see is my-” Operations: 1d2 2 I braced my LANCES for atmospheric conditions and took a shot that rattled off it's fore armor plating. The message trailed off into curses as I let off another pair of shots that sent the fighter wheeling away, their formation scattering as we charged. DOG launched a cluster of explosives that spread and littered the sky with burning chaff, confusing their already addled systems, then managed to somehow maneuver onto one of the crafts as it began to falter. Borne down by his weight and his counter-thrust, the fighter slammed into an embankment shortly after he leapt free. DOG-03:”One down!” ABSOLUTE-02: “Show off!” It felt good to stretch my muscles like this, even against this riff raff. Not to be outdone, I widened my LANCES field and drew up level with another of the fighters and they looped around to make another pass. Their primitive slug projectiles I slapped away, redirecting their vectors just enough to avoid my MOW. The pilot must have panicked, because he just kept on firing and advancing on me - sloppy. I upped the power to the field, halting the projectiles in their tracks - and allowing the hapless pilot to fly through them, the relative difference in their speeds driving them through their armour easily. The fighter began to fall out of the sky, but I wasn’t done yet. With its guidance systems compromised, it was little more than a falling chunk of scrap. Convenient, for my purposes. I seized the doomed ship in my field, and - grunting with the translated effort of controlling such a mass - threw it hurtling through the sky to smash into another. I captured the gratifying explosion and broadcast it to DOG. ABSOLUTE-02: “Two more down, by my count.” DOG-03:”Yes, yes. You’re very cool.” SQUIRREL-05: “What are you messing around for out there? This place is locked up, but orbital cameras are going to notice something’s up! We need to control our exposure here! We want to draw attention, not get the whole Strike on our asses!” She wasn’t wrong, but I gritted my teeth that she thought she needed to jump in. This was, more or less, part of the plan. If we just grazed this place, they’d sense a feint. They were smarter than we gave them credit for - you couldn’t pull off what the Strike had without someone with brains running things. On the other other hand, I’d brought her on because of her faculty with signal dynamics and data processing, so if she said we were in danger of cause too big a commotion, I’d trust her. ABSOLUTE-02: “Let’s scuttle two of the others, then penetrate the facility. SQUIRREL, get ready to allow the distress signals out on my mark. See what you can do about the orbital cameras until I give it - and if you have a shot against a fighter, take it.” DOG had fallen silent and serious. There was something between him and SQUIRREL I’d never really followed up on - I’d never been very close to the others, anyhow - but it was enough to get him working a little more serious. He dove in towards another fighter, peeling away before a missile intercepted his course, then seized the loose end of a damaged gantry and swung it like a bat to swat at his target. A glancing blow, but enough to cause it to spin end over end as it flew into the distance. G-forces like that weren’t kind on the best of pilots, and these guys were far from the best. Call it another down, then. The last target was on the edge of my range, launching guided missiles at my position. These could be dealt with like their slug projectiles, but they were shielded against LANCE interference. Better to shoot them down than get fancy. I locked onto the missiles and the distant fighter and gave it a shot. Operations: 1d2 2 Two spears of reactive metal flitted out, neatly spearing the twin missiles coming my way. Emboldened, I took another shot, upping the juice a bit. Seconds later, the fighter detonated. Astonished at my own luck (skill, baby) I immediately dove for the open gates to the facility. Both DOG and SQUIRREL had priority congratulations messages flashing on my screen, but I wiped them away. ABSOLUTE-02: “Save it for later, folks, we have a job to do.” Curling my MOW up as tight as she would go, I dropped down into a loading dock and slammed to earth. It was nice to be on solid ground, despite the artificial gravity, and my MOW’s claws scraped the metal floor in relayed appreciation. People ran here and there, but I wasn’t here for them. I didn’t want to hurt these mooks any more than I needed to, but neither was I going to let the opportunity go to waste. I crawled down the halls, four-limbed, and grabbed a nearby conveyor belt covered in industrial bits. I pulled, and my vast strength sent the whole thing unspooling. I dragged it behind me like some skinned beast, surveying the area. True to KESTRAL’s word, there wasn’t much of anything here, but I found my way to the database center anyhow. I cracked their system open and found little of value besides some minor technical specs that I copied for later use. On a whim, I perused some intra-planetoid communiques. Operations: 1d2 2 ...And found something big. The ‘Bellon Ampumetr’ figured heavily in their discussions, but by a brief computer-aided assay of the data it was clear the prototype was far less advanced than we feared, with side-effects that were far beyond the intended effect. That in and of itself was something to be thankful for - only that’s not what our informants had relayed to us. Somewhere along the line, misinformation had entered our datascape. Someone we trusted was lying to us, wanted us to over extend, wanted us to come down here… ABSOLUTE-02: “SQUIRREL, mark! Let the signal go out! Hell, amplify it! The others are walking into a damned trap!” DO A THING posted:
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Aug 18, 2021 04:10
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How far away are we? Can't we relay the information back to base while heading towards the other team?
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Aug 18, 2021 04:43
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Toughy posted:How far away are we? A signal strong enough to reach your handlers is going to take a while, be detected and possibly affect the deployment of whatever trap the baddies have in play. You are far enough away that hauling rear end over there 'in time' will require you to focus on that.
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Aug 18, 2021 05:00
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Ok order Squirrel to relay the message while Dog and Absolute get close enough to radio the other team and possibly help
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Aug 18, 2021 06:23
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Squirrel should radio the other team first, then HQ, while we travel as a group to the other team. Nobody should be left isolated in a potential ambush situation, and HQ needs to know what happened if we don't make it back.
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Aug 18, 2021 07:04
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HBar posted:Squirrel should radio the other team first, then HQ, while we travel as a group to the other team. Nobody should be left isolated in a potential ambush situation, and HQ needs to know what happened if we don't make it back.
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Aug 18, 2021 14:34
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We'll make stuff work!
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Aug 18, 2021 15:24
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It sounds to me like it might be a better call to commit ourselves as immediate backup with Squirrel and Dog coming up as eventual reinforcements once they get a message clear to HQ. It's easier for a moving target to dodge incoming problems than a sitting duck, so it's smarter for Dog to back up Squirrel. It's also faster for a single unit to dash off than a group. If we can't relay info to HQ on the fly I would say. 3, with Squirrel and Dog proceeding with 4 until they're free to reinforce/escape as necessary.
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Aug 18, 2021 19:33
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3
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Aug 18, 2021 20:06
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3. Ambush the ambushers!
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Aug 19, 2021 00:54
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3: rush over, and bring the limpet field with us with our Lances to saturation bomb the ambush.
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Aug 19, 2021 11:51
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3: Rush over, Have Squirrel get through to them.
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Aug 21, 2021 03:00
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SQUIRREL-05: “A trap? What do you mean!?” But I was already running, my MOW tearing up the concrete floor as I ran quadruped through the cramped tunnels. The few workers brave or foolish enough to stick around and try to stop me I crushed heedlessly - people needed to know what I knew. Kestral needed to know. It was impossible to tell whether the SMS knew we, specifically, were coming, but they knew White Star would send their best in if they talked up the prototype’s capabilities. A working, MOW-scale FTL intercessor would give them unparalleled control over the battlefield - and entrenched as they were in the planetoid ring, even White Star’s superior technology would only do so much to even the scales. Leak something like that, leak some implications to our logistics division, and that alone would be enough to attract attention… but someone had provided us the exact position of a lab where, miraculously, the prototype would be easily snatched away by a small, swift team. And who would they send on such a team? No two ways about it, this trap had been set for the aces, and it had just about snagged us. I only hoped I’d be fast enough. SQUIRREL-05: “ABSOLUTE, talk to me. What’s going on?” ABSOLUTE-02: “Damned Sixers planted the data about their prototype. It’s bunk, the thing barely works. They wanted us to come down here.” SQUIRREL-05: “Sh-poo poo! What do we do? HQ needs to know about this, but...” ABSOLUTE-02: “I’m going over there. You and DOG are to get a signal to HQ and then meet up with me.” DOG-03:”Dude, are you sure about that?” Operations: 1d2 2 ABSOLUTE-02: “ABSOLUTEly.” I expected some groans or chuckles or something, but they just acknowledged my order and went about it. Clearly they trusted in my judgement and skills, just as I trusted in theirs. Just as expected from the Aces of White Star. With a final round of a corner, I erupted from the flaming maw of the loading dock I’d busted in through only minutes ago. Gritted my teeth as I gained altitude, I shifted Shirley into a configuration more suitable for atmospheric flight. I kept my eyes on my readouts, but our stellar takedown of the facility, its defenders, and its communications kept the outlook clear. In one corner of my readout an abstracted clock counted down to DOG and SQUIRREL’s signal release and subsequent availability for backup, but right now… I was alone. I felt good. Loose. The fear and disconnect I’d felt floating dark through the Limpet field was gone now, or at least tamped down by my largely successful raid. I was doing it - with the medication. I could do this, without leaning on… that condition. I swept an arm across my brow, pushing back neon locks that hung down into my face. Now all I needed to do was to keep doing it. Operations: 1d2 1 As I flew, I kept an eye out for something - anything - from the other team. They were intending to keep it slow, counting on the confusion we’d caused to approach. Well, by now our very-tightly curated confusion should be out on the channels, along with the high powered signal to White Star forces beyond the asteroid’s orbit. In theory, that should have been enough to pull some heat off the strike team… except if my stolen info was correct, they’d be expecting something like this. They’d send some forces over to react, but even that reaction would be to lull the strike force into a false sense of security. I went over and over the possibilities in my head, driving myself into a frustrated lather that I just couldn’t get there any faster. And still out of comms range. And then suddenly, blessedly, a signal. FROST-04, out on the outskirts of the operation, as I knew she would be. She always held back, striking from afar with her modified LANCES. I flitted her a quick message, tightband and encrypted. ABSOLUTE-02: “FROST, it’s a trap. Tell the others to pull out immediately and regroup at Waypoint Al-” FROST-04: “Too late, drat it! Get in here and back us up - they’ve already taken down-” TAKEN DOWN? posted:Who is down? As a reminder, you’ve got these guys out there: ABSOLUTE-02: “poo poo! Who, FROST? What’s out there?” OPPONENT posted:Taking down a White Star MOW is no mean feat - what have they got? A big enemy tank? A slaved space wyrm? A squadron of mercenary MOWs? A singular, tough opponent? Or just a lot of guns? Or who knows, something weirder?
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Sep 7, 2021 22:10
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Vicious-06 has succumbed to an assimilation virus, taking over the MOW and slaving it to a Sixer AI construct. Doesn’t fight as well as a human and the pilot is doing their damnedest to override from the inside, but forcing your enemies to fight themselves, especially if you can convert more as you go, is a highly cost efficient way to wage war.
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Sep 7, 2021 22:19
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No one should ever need or want to rescue someone with a callsign like CLOWNSHOE and someone named VICIOUS should never expect to be given quarter by the enemy. It has to be KESTREL who is captured, and they are Lux Anima fucked around with this message at 00:56 on Sep 9, 2021 |
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Sep 7, 2021 22:22
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AJ_Impy posted:Vicious-06 has succumbed to an assimilation virus, taking over the MOW and slaving it to a Sixer AI construct. Doesn’t fight as well as a human and the pilot is doing their damnedest to override from the inside, but forcing your enemies to fight themselves, especially if you can convert more as you go, is a highly cost efficient way to wage war. This one.
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Sep 7, 2021 23:01
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Arcanuse fucked around with this message at 01:54 on Sep 8, 2021 |
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Sep 7, 2021 23:09
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Clownshoe has been turned by the enemy because of a MOW scale 3D projection showing that the enemy have taken their children hostage
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Sep 8, 2021 02:29
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AJ_Impy posted:Vicious-06 has succumbed to an assimilation virus, taking over the MOW and slaving it to a Sixer AI construct. Doesn’t fight as well as a human and the pilot is doing their damnedest to override from the inside, but forcing your enemies to fight themselves, especially if you can convert more as you go, is a highly cost efficient way to wage war. HBar fucked around with this message at 05:30 on Sep 9, 2021 |
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Sep 8, 2021 02:47
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Dog Kisser posted:a slaved spacewyrm? Now that you mention it, The Wyrm was the first and only evidence of alien life we've come across. Discovered frozen among the rings of Saturn, tightly curled in a ball, it was among early White Star talking points as the Strike began - you know, 'they don't need amenities, they've got a frozen wyrm!!' Well. Turns out they can ride it now too. It's got a little base on there! And a contingent of MOW riders!
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Sep 8, 2021 11:35
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I press F to pay respects to VICIOUS-06. and vorebane posted:Now that you mention it, The Wyrm was the first and only evidence of alien life we've come across. Discovered frozen among the rings of Saturn, tightly curled in a ball, it was among early White Star talking points as the Strike began - you know, 'they don't need amenities, they've got a frozen wyrm!!' Well. Turns out they can ride it now too. It's got a little base on there! And a contingent of MOW riders! wave my fist angrily at this lousy unionising space wyrm!
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Sep 8, 2021 14:40
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Taken Down: Vicious-06 Opponent: Looks like they're getting serious. They've managed to grab the attention and allegiance of the Resurrected Red Army (or R2 for short). An authoritarian communist sect with a real foothold in a nearby system. They've got their own team of aces, and they're here in force.
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Sep 8, 2021 22:29
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The Wandering Mage posted:Taken Down: Vicious-06 +1
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Sep 8, 2021 23:23
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I propose we maintain the three way tie we've got.The Wandering Mage posted:Taken Down: Vicious-06 AJ_Impy posted:Vicious-06 has succumbed to an assimilation virus, taking over the MOW and slaving it to a Sixer AI construct. Doesn’t fight as well as a human and the pilot is doing their damnedest to override from the inside, but forcing your enemies to fight themselves, especially if you can convert more as you go, is a highly cost efficient way to wage war. vorebane posted:Now that you mention it, The Wyrm was the first and only evidence of alien life we've come across. Discovered frozen among the rings of Saturn, tightly curled in a ball, it was among early White Star talking points as the Strike began - you know, 'they don't need amenities, they've got a frozen wyrm!!' Well. Turns out they can ride it now too. It's got a little base on there! And a contingent of MOW riders!
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Sep 8, 2021 23:53
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Lux Animus posted:No one should ever need or want to rescue someone with a callsign like CLOWNSHOE and someone named VICIOUS should never expect to be given quarter by the enemy. vorebane posted:I propose we maintain the three way tie we've got. In reaction, I'm changing my vote to a synthesis of: Resurrected Red Army and Ride-able Wyrm because I don't want to vote for space communists with a mind-assimilation theme  sorry
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Sep 9, 2021 00:56
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