[LP CYOA] Epic

[GreyViper]

A
B although Damn if im not tempted to go C because the backlash if it would go our way would be quite something. And I suspect we could pull it off with the new upgrade we get from A and seeing how mobility seems to be enemy's weakness + if we use the drug.

BUT there is the nagging suspicion we are going to have a final fight with Dunamis piloting the latest prototypes and ending with CQC duel. The problem being the second occupant, who brings in the unknown factor and basically screwing us over. Hell it might even be Erika more the drama.

 

[Bloodshifter]

Doubtful in many accounts here but one since it pertains to our mecha
First choice
B-Senya won due to speed pure reaction time here nothing else Sniper Rifle sounds fun but not for us.Armor throws away Speed Advantage. Our Shroud limits guns which we used to a Violent degree (Ean lovers your vote is here). The self controlled guns are most Senya like for his Persona (At least before you went and Ean'd him.)

Abstaining 2nd Choice - non mecha stuff.
A-Dumias Pilots no doubt new prototype best Pilots Prep the drugs.
B-Limits Econ sure but are we willing to suffer the White Fangs if we do this they will come for us. Edit maybe I am not Clear here if we succeed in taking out their Space Economy they will put a Bounty on us and we will have Mercs on our tail very VERY bad Mercs. Like Shulgi!
C-Ean Choice Nuff said. In case for you new guys... stupid, Brilliant, Most likely to get us killed, Badassery will ensue, and causing us to lose Brain Cells but if we win more M points and Love points then I am willing to count.

WAAGH Tally​

1st​

A- Smashing Axe , Kipeci , Zwist , TOME , GreyViper , ScubaV ,​

B- m4davis , Bloodshifter​

C-​

D- Azira , Baltika9 ,​

​

2nd​

A- m4davis , Azira ,​

B- Smashing Axe , Kipeci , Zwist , TOME , GreyViper , ScubaV ,​

C- Baltika9 ,​

Holy Cow hate Smart Phones

 

[Baltika9]

I just realized that there is another aspect we must consider when we plot our next course of action

“When we meet again, Kyrie,” she continues, “I will help get rid of all the parasites and hanger-ons that will latch on to you... or already have.” The Empress gives me a murderous look.

I don't think our next meeting will go very well.

That is, the Empress now considers us an "enemy" of a sorts and, as the update said, the next meeting won't go well. Like, we seriously pissed her off. And considering that she will take over the reins of the ISC, she's an important person.
Hence, our we must also secure our own position in addition to the Empire's. Sure, stealing a mech or raiding a mining base will do good for the war effort, but we personally won't benefit much from it in terms of reputation, since these are kind-of low-key operations.

On the other hand, if we humiliate the Indus/UNS alliance on live television with nothing but four warships and one CF, plus maybe the re-purposed Vizala II's, we will both become un-fucking-touchable and demoralize the enemy, pretty much breaking their backs.
Based on that, I'm flopping to DC.
After all, the easiest war is against an enemy that is too afraid to fight.

Edit: and while we're at it, since Senya is an officer, will he get and officer's sword an a snazzy uniform? A military that existed for four thousand years and has such a storied history is bound to have extreme amounts of bling on their uniforms, including at least one redundantly decorated sword.

 

[ScubaV]

I'll go with the AB consensus.

1A works well with our mobility. If they can't detect us by radar easily and can't shoot well if they do see us then we will be able to dart around the battlefield slicing enemies with our melee and using fault lines if necessary. And 2B I think will have the biggest effect on the war. It won't look good if the UNS/Indus are dicking around and showboating while a big mining facility gets trashed. I suspect elements of this war were orchestrated or encouraged by people who would oppose us. The sooner this ends the better it will be for Senya/Kyrie/ISC/Earth.

AA

 

[Bloodshifter]

Phew okay Tally is done damned Smart Phone if anyone Flops and just wants to change their Original Post PM me and I'll Update it.

On here till around 6PM PST the latest

 

[treave]

To explain the barrier further, it just renders too many artifacts on current radar. If scattered that way it doesn't weaken beams. Basically, everyone has to paint their target with eyeballs. Bear in mind that this technology isn't limited to CF use. The barrier in particular was designed to be used on Indus carriers to multiply their CF advantage, just that the Anhur has a reactor powerful enough to run a miniaturized version. It's useful tactically.

A misconception here about evading lasers and beams. You can dodge those by dodging the aim, not giving them the chance to point the barrel at you. Hard but possible. It'll become clear when you have your first actual duel with an enemy ace. This also means if you are out of visual range, a well aimed beam on an enemy far away is nigh unavoidable.

Warships generally use ECM liberally to avoid locks. They try not to fire unless they're sure they'll hit. If they miss and give their position away, the returning salvo might be fatal as they can't dodge like a frame.

Hence everything happening in convenient and cinematic medium-close range.

The ISC is probably producing MP versions based on the preliminary data from before the attack. First batches should appear soon; they already had the plans for a cut down MP version. Less powerful, cheaper to crank out, at least on par with Vizala IIs.

Yeah, Empire has ludicrously blinged ceremonial outfits which it usually doesn't trot out, preferring the plain ISC suits. Now that war is upon them, though...

You won't be able to take any leaves while behind enemy lines.

Also next update is scheduled for Tuesday. Let me know if you have any other things about the current choices you want clarified.

 

[Baltika9]

Oh, so the cloacking device will allow us to practice "tactical genius," eh?
I'm tempted.

Just so the situation is clear: we only get to do one of these raids during the current operation, or can we do one after the other?

 

[treave]

It's not cloaking. More like a multi purpose jammer that acts as a force field if in condensed form. These extra upgrades won't come into play for until the mission after the next. In terms of sheer tactical flexibility I'd give it to the remote guns. You can set up traps, take out enemies hiding behind obstacles, or use them as throwaway shields to block shots.

But being able to fuck up everyone's radar wherever you go is pretty useful if you want to maximize your mobility advantage.

You only get to pick one mission. If you hit the mining facility the other events will expire before you can reach those locations. If you do A or C, you'd have to backtrack to get to the mines and that is a risk even Grimrock won't take, given the amount of ships trying to find you. At any rate B won't go so far as to cripple the entire Indus war machine if successful. They do have a lot more than one mining facility. Space is big. But the one you're about to hit will certainly hurt them if destroyed.

 

[Bloodshifter]

how many Remote Guns do we have?

 

[aleam iacis]

A. A barrier made of scattered particles that can diffuse ranged beam weaponry, lowering their lethality by a significant amount. The particles also act as radar-jamming particles, heavily reducing effective combat range if scattered over a wide area. This could help me in situations where I need to close in to the enemy.
Seems useful at range and in melee. Versatile and strong.


B. Prototype remote weaponry mounted on a combat frame. These consist of small and highly mobile particle beam platforms that are semi-autonomous under computer control and can be directed from within a CF. I might even be able to control them manually if I use my ability.
This seems the one with the possibility of the greatest gain for us in certain situations(depending on how many/hard to hit/strong attack/long ranged/good sensors they are). If we can set them up to maximum advantage (with or without our ability) we should be able to utterly destroy a vastly superior force without any danger to us.

C. An ultra-long range particle rifle. As particles lose their potency very slowly over a distance and have little deviation in their trajectory, the rifle's main advancement is in the sensor accuracy that it packs, rather than its power or range. Sniping targets from long range should be easy for me with this.
Works well with our ability, BUT it only hits single targets, and maybe it fires slowly or has other drawbacks such as bulk/close range use/speed at drawing. All the other options are better.

D. Reactive armor parts. They have anti-beam coating and are also functional against explosives and other solid weaponry. They reduce mobility by a bit, but provide plenty of protection as a trade-off. As the Anhur has plenty of mobility as it is, this would make my frame more well-rounded.
This could save our lives, especially as we will definitely take damage, and it should be pretty useful in EVERY battle situation... but it's not as awesome as A or B.


Adapting these schematics for Anhur and producing them would probably take quite some time, however.

***

There are three particular points of interest for our next destination on this pillaging spree across UNS and Indus space.

A. The combat frame that was supposed to have been developed at this facility is being tested in an asteroid field. The fragments of data we manage to retrieve indicates that it appears to be a two-pilot frame, which will be brought to the front-lines for practical testing in a matter of weeks. We might be able to ambush the frame and capture or destroy it if we head there.
If we do this, do we prevent the Indus from using it later? Well even if thats the case, it seems sucky for us unless we start producing it as our mainline fighter as well, and even then it seems to lack the potential as B or C. Why? Because who the hell would Senya pilot this with? Senya is going to be the deciding factor in this war, so forget this stupid thing unless it can transform and Naim becomes a super bro, both of which are unlikely.


B. There is a vital Indus asteroid mining facility in one of the many asteroid fields that dot the area. Raiding and destroying it would do a great deal to hamper war efforts on the part of the Indus – they have little resources on Earth and rely mostly on space to provide what they need.
Boring but practical. But boring.

C. UNS and the Indus are conducting a joint CF training exercise that will be televised live in a show of the military superiority of their frames over the ISC and the Higashi. Over 50 frames are supposed to be taking part. Perhaps we should come up with a plan to crash the party...
YEAAAAAAHHH! Time for Senya to become a super well known hero, the propaganda around us can win the war on its own. Plus we will be set for being the Emperor or at least respected and listened to consort after this. Not to mention, we will get more volunteers for the military, and the idolization of these new military men and women(who may someday have to obey and be inspired by us).

I vote AC.

 

[CaptainAwesome]

AC.

Becoming a war hero is pretty much required to co opt a nation for your own ends.

 

[treave]

Re: Barrier

You could conceivably adjust the barrier to protect against even solid weaponry and beam sabers, or the mega particles of a battleship cannon, if you know where you should concentrate the shield's particles with the exact timing to intercept the hit. This would require use of your ability to perform the calculations needed in time to use the barrier in such a way. Yua is not able to obtain or analyse the information required at such a level yet, so you have to do it yourself. Given the drain of the field on your reactor, you will not be able to have it on all the time - it needs to be switched on and off as the situation requires. Yua can handle it for you automatically when she spots incoming attacks that you missed. A field created by dispersing the particles for jamming will last for up to three hours and has a diameter of about 5 km from the point of origin. You will also need three hours to regenerate enough particles for a second field.


Re: Remote guns

The engineers can probably cobble together four remote guns for the Anhur. It's not designed to fit on the Anhur so it'll look awkward and you probably can't have more than that for the moment.

Yua can coordinate and control up to 20 remotes for you - this means she will oversee the maneuvering and firing of each separate remote simultaneously. If you program the remotes to just move in preset patterns you could conceivably increase the number Yua can monitor up to a hundred or more even with current technology. You don't know how many you'll be able to control manually, but that should depend on how much your powers develop. More processing capability = more drones. It also syncs with your ability to take in more information and detect targets.

Each remote packs a particle beam gun, so for all intents and purposes it's a miniature version of your own beam rifle. The range of the beam matches any proper rifle or battleship particle cannon, though it has less sheer power in it. The range of the remotes themselves are limited by communications and fuel - perhaps about out to 3 km for practical combat. They are about 3 meters long, so they do add considerable bulk to your frame though it shouldn't impact mobility. Miniaturization technology will improve this eventually.


Re: Long-range rifle

The sensor dome on it allows you to engage from beyond visual range. This will allow you to pick off CFs and even battleships before they even see you. Most people won't have the fine motor control required to fire it effectively, as even the slightest deviation will send the beam off by metres by the time it reaches its target. It was made primarily as long-range fire support to suppress the enemy's movement; a role currently occupied by battleships.


Re: Armour parts

Not much to say here; it's just armour, but you can purge pieces of them as needed. A smart pilot can use this function as a distraction.


Re: Going after the enemy prototype

If you succeed you'll prevent them from deploying it on the front-lines. Whether that's worth not going after other targets, you don't know. After all, the prototype could turn out to be an impractical dud weapon. You don't have enough details to be sure.


Re: Mining facility

It does seem the most straightforward and simple mission, doesn't it? Nothing much to say here, there's always a safe option. The facility is lightly guarded by one warship and ten first-gen Vizalas. They aren't expecting anyone to come knocking.


Re: Gatecrashing the live maneuver exercise

As with the other paths, there'll be more choices on how you approach the mission and how visible you make yourself. There will be a mix of Indus and UNS mechs, as well as a mock Higashi/ISC force consisting of construction mechs and fighters. They might also showcase new models that have passed the prototype stage and will be entering production soon. It is not as suicidal as it sounds; most of the mechs participating in the exercise are using dummy solid ammunition to prevent unwanted accidents. Once you make your appearance, though, expect a switch to live ammo quickly and the beams to start coming out.

 

[Esquilax]

It seems to me that this war, more than anything, will hinge on CF's:

CFs are extremely effective against warships once they close in simply because a warship can't hit what's on it. That's why they need escorts like fighters or other mechs. The danger to warships will multiply many-fold once CF-held beam weapons become common, as there is no real effective armor against particle beams right now unless you want to pile up decametres worth of plating.

Once things get going, who has the most and highest quality CF's will likely be the victor. Normally, I'd advise hitting the enemy's industrial capacity, but in this case, I think we ought to take out the prototypes and steal the knowledge for our own benefit. I see a lot of comparisons here to Pearl Harbor in this situation - the Japanese made a big mistake in going after American battleships instead of carriers, which proved to be the real difference-makers in the Pacific Theater. If we're going to launch our own Pearl Harbor, we really ought to take out the enemy's ability to carry out war in the future. I don't think that B is the crippling blow we need to start this thing.

Not sure about the first choice yet, leaning towards A.

Voting AA, though 2C is very tempting.

 

[Kayerts]

AC. 1A for synergy with our ability.

Not 2B; I don't know how Robot Economics work, but it seems unrealistic to think that a single mining facility makes such a massive contribution to the enemy's economy that the loss of it will cripple their war effort, rather than e.g. diverting some material away from making rad robot vacuum cleaners. Not 2A, as bromantic as it'd be to have Naim as our copilot in some future mission. 2C because it's the ballsiest choice, and balls are needed to avert a future in which Senya continues to flop around flaccidly whenever anyone implies that he and Kyrie might be holding hands.

 

[Baltika9]

Re: Mining facility

It does seem the most straightforward and simple mission, doesn't it? Nothing much to say here, there's always a safe option. The facility is lightly guarded by one warship and ten first-gen Vizalas. They aren't expecting anyone to come knocking.

You've just summed up why I don't consider this our best option. It's safe, gets us a moderate payoff, something a regular tactician would do. Ordinary. Being ordinary won't get us far.
Trouble is, in our situation being ordinary is far worse than being extraordinary: we already made an enemy of the Empress , we cut off our paths into other organizations since we went full Kyrie and Kyrie's rivals won't take too kindly to us influencing instead of them.
The best that can happen to us if we play our shit safe is that we'll end up a simple officer and advance through the career ladder, but will be marginalized in the highest echelons of power; the worst is that we just may end up on an operating table in some top-secret lab.

Contrast that with going Full Napoleon: the man knew to take risks and make sure they succeed and he knew the power of propaganda. Only unlike old Bonnie, Senya isn't a schizophrenic megalomaniac chasing after a high-class divorced prostitute, we have the future Empress of the Shinar on our side; if we play our cards right, we really may end up as (possibly God) Emperor.
Edit: plus, it's much easier to fight a demoralized enemy with a full stomach than a bunch of angry nationalists.

Re: Barrier

You could conceivably adjust the barrier to protect against even solid weaponry and beam sabers, or the mega particles of a battleship cannon, if you know where you should concentrate the shield's particles with the exact timing to intercept the hit. This would require use of your ability to perform the calculations needed in time to use the barrier in such a way. Yua is not able to obtain or analyse the information required at such a level yet, so you have to do it yourself. Given the drain of the field on your reactor, you will not be able to have it on all the time - it needs to be switched on and off as the situation requires. Yua can handle it for you automatically when she spots incoming attacks that you missed. A field created by dispersing the particles for jamming will last for up to three hours and has a diameter of about 5 km from the point of origin. You will also need three hours to regenerate enough particles for a second field.

I foresee much

in the future.

As for Kyrie, I'm glad to see that I misinterpreted the character, she seems to even kinda-sorta trust and rely on Senya(and I sense a wonderful opportunity here to pull off a political stunt that would make even Dio nod approvingly, ask me how ), and she's kind of like an inexperienced Sek specializing in politics instead of science, which makes missing out on an Ean 2.0 that much more regrettable. Although, who knows, Senya is kind of starting to remind me of him.

You won't be able to take any leaves while behind enemy lines.

I meant after this, because we really do need to investigate the Cult and discover what's what. Our sister wants to meet us, might as well use the invitation at our earliest convenience. So, will they or won't they give us one?
Edit:

2C because it's the ballsiest choice, and balls are needed to avert a future in which Senya continues to flop around flaccidly whenever anyone implies that he and Kyrie might be holding hands.

...that too.

 

[treave]

Robot economics probably works the same.

Something along the lines of raw materials -> factories -> assembly -> product. The aim of B isn't to cripple the entire Indus war machine, it will however slow it down as they have to divert resources to maintain their rate of production. The Indus itself has much inferior industrial capability compared to any of the three powers. They're unwilling to rely on the UNS to produce their (superior) machines, but that might change if the tide of war turns against them.

As for going out to investigate the cult, that really depends on how this war ends. Let's just say that you missed out by not going to the asteroid. You might have cause to regret that in the future.

 

[Smashing Axe]

I'm flopping to AC since I agree with Baltika that we need to try and secure ours' and Kyrie's position and reputation. If we do C and succeed our position in the ISC should be much more secure which will then allow us more of a role in the war to come.

 

[Baltika9]

Fuck, Zwist was right! We should've went with a hot-pink mecha equipped with crotch bombs that are fired by pelvic thrusts. Coupled with 2C that would've been something to see, we wouldn't just demoralize the enemy, we would utterly humiliate them.

That being said, what are we doing/planning to do with the Vizala II's?

 

[treave]

Naim will have recovered by the time the next mission starts, and there'll be simulation and compatibility tests for all the fighter pilots on the Kaguya-hime and the other two cruisers. Best one will be picked for the other Vizala. We could paint those in pink.

Whether they sortie or not will be up to your plan. It's possible to have Anhur go solo again especially if you don't want the warships in any danger. Its high speed allows you to beat a retreat more reliably than a lumbering warship. Of course, you might want the fire support lest you find yourself surrounded because you underestimated the enemy.

 

[CaptainAwesome]

An attack on an enemy, especially in such a highly publicized event with such valuable items at risk, must be all or nothing.

A total commitment is what we need, otherwise they could spin our retreat as being a great victory, and an opportunity will have been lost.

Thus, we should attack with all we have, in a single, focused strike to disperse them and put them to flight.

We cannot hope to surround and destroy them, so we will have to settle for soundly defeating and routing them before the eyes of the world.

 

[Baltika9]

Off-topic question: what kind of language is Shinar? I had assumed it was modernized Semitic-Akkadian, but the names of Kyrie and "Sargone" (the real one would be spinning in his grave) lead me to believe that it has become a, for want of a better expression, bastardized soup of every language the Empire has assimilated.

Ooh, and what do the different mechas look like (I'm assuming Supreme Commander, with the UNS as the UEF, Indus as Seraphim and Higashi/NSE as Cybran/Aeon hybrids) and, more importantly, the ships themselves?

Meta question: does Senya have a long-lost twin somewhere out there?

 

[treave]

Off-topic question: what kind of language is Shinar? I had assumed it was modernized Semitic-Akkadian, but the names of Kyrie and "Sargone" (the real one would be spinning in his grave) lead me to believe that it has become a, for want of a better expression, bastardized soup of every language the Empire has assimilated.

Pretty much this. It's also got the same lingua franca status that English has in our world.

Ooh, and what do the different mechas look like (I'm assuming Supreme Commander, with the UNS as the UEF, Indus as Seraphim and Higashi/NSE as Cybran/Aeon hybrids) and, more importantly, the ships themselves?

I'm debating whether to sketch them out myself, or get someone better at line-art and design to do it for me. As for twins, who knows. Perhaps his cult sister?

 

[Bloodshifter]

Bros for the last time I will attempt to stop this Unholy creature your creating we already said we are not a Hero yet you guys constantly railroad him into Ean stupid risk. You want out of the Government then go straight to the fighting your creating a weapon not any weapon but a sword one wielded by his sick Adrelaine fueled Master who is purposely avoiding the throne and using us as a excuse. Letting the Military see his super ace skills and expecting not to get bit in the ass. Congratulations...
.
.
.
Shiro Emiya
This is what you have wrought bask in its Infernal Glory damned Anti-Hero.

 

[Kipeci]

As for going out to investigate the cult, that really depends on how this war ends. Let's just say that you missed out by not going to the asteroid. You might have cause to regret that in the future.

That's what we get for giving up tentacle orgies.

 

[Baltika9]

Bros for the last time I will attempt to stop this Unholy creature your creating we already said we are not a Hero yet you guys constantly railroad him into Ean stupid risk.

But you see, that is what being a true bro hero is all about. Consider Ean: he never wanted to do any of his deeds in the first place, but when shit hit the fan big time and duty called, he acted not because he considered himself a hero or wanted to be God-Emperor, it's just that someone had to get shit done. And he was the only one picking up the phone.

I wonder, what is the Shinar word for Planet Earth(and please don't let it be Gaia.)