[LP CYOA] Epic

[Azira]

Flopped on the first part of this vote. Remote controlled guns seem so impressively über, we need those...

 

[Ghaad]

Well, i've been following this for 282 pages, guess it's time for my first post.

Concerning voting, i'd go for AC. I do have two questions though: could any of those techs be applied to warships? I'm thinking mostly of A and D, as far as i understand currently ships have no such defenses - if they're feasible for CFs, they should be practical for ships, right?

For the second question, i think that while the mech and the mine are interesting, there's also the problem of what is the enemy doing right now. They will act and try to anticipate our actions - the base was unguarded because they assumed we'd hurry for Earth. Now i'm wiling to bet that they'll be reinforcing obvious targets that we might go for, and a training exercise ain't one. While the first two might seem easy, that's precisely why any enemy commander looking at a map with our movement so far would try to reinforce their defenses. For C, we might not have to go all the way - is it possible to just show up, fire a salvo or two, then get the hell out of Dodge?

One final note - i'm a bit concerned about what the Empress said as she left:

Then, she gives a haughty sniff. It seems to run in the family... or is it some acquired tick? Would I start sniffing haughtily if I hung around Kyrie long enough? “So be it. I will not change your stubborn mind, I know that. Let us not waste any more time arguing. Do come out of this alive, my dear daughter... surely you can do that much at least? You still have the transponder I gave you, right? Don't hesitate to abandon the ship if it means you survive. You are the most important thing here.”

Does that mean we have a beacon that could start flashing on every UNS/Indus radar should the Empress (or anyone else with the codes) decides to mess with the line of succession? That could be... BAD.

 

[treave]

The barrier is scaled down experimental technology the Indus are already beginning to fit on their carriers. As for the armor, the UNS version's cost is too prohibitive to cover an entire warship, but the ISC is looking into laminar ablation armor themselves.

You'll have a chance to plan out your attack for the second batch of choices.

The transponder shouldn't be detected except by ISC ships, but it can be picked up by chance.

 

[Azira]

The Indus have some neat toys. We should get our hands on as many of them as possible..

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

A - We picked mobility, so we might as well maximize it. Robots are neat, but judging from this battle, our attacking ability is high enough. Time to focus on defense. (The rifle would make more sense if we picked armored, but since medium range is were we can do our best dodging, we should focus on closing the gap as soon as possible.)

A - This is a tough choice. Hitting the Indus mining op sounds good, but ultimately (per treave's comment about the Indus not currently sharing mech data with their ally) I think it could backfire and cause the Indus so seek UNS production aid sooner - meaning more advanced mechs on the field while the ISC barely has their first gen up and running. C would be awesome for morale, but it provides little tactical benefit. Further, it would expose the superiority of our prototype to the enemy - if we succeed, that is. We'd be on film as well. They could simply watch us in action and analyze for any weaknesses. Lastly, even if we succeed, it would alert the entirety of our enemies' forces as to our location and identity.

A is the most consistent choice with the choices we've made so far. The whole reason base 43 was a target to begin with was this prototype frame. Capturing or destroying an enemy prototype would look good on both Kyrie's and our resume. It's likely the this mech and any forces guarding it may be on the alert after base 43 though.

Willing to flop to C (as it sounds freaking badass in spite of being really stupid), if you can give me a convincing enough argument. Right now it looks like we stand a 50-50 chance of either becoming a hero or an hero, with not much to gain beyond a spiffy rep, an ego boost, and more enemies on our tail. Also, why is it that every time I picture Senya flying a mech in C I hear this song in my head:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV7I7t9fmbI

edit:
Remote guns won't help us at long range, Azira - which is our mech's greatest weakness right now. At medium and close range we're fine - as this update proves - but at long range we can be picked off because we can't see the enemy in order to dodge their beam attacks - a problem made even worse by our low armor.


Also, wtf? Kyrie still hasn't slept with us, treave?! Screw this. I knew we should have gone to the cult! Down with princess! Up with tentacle! Down with princess! Up with tentacle!

Spoiler

I'm kidding.

 

[Storyfag]

A - I also want a version that will protect warships. It'll reduce the impact of beam-armed CFs somewhat.
C - because why not?

 

[GreyViper]

Fliping to
A
C for maximum Chaos.

 

[Azira]

Remote guns won't help us at long range, Azira - which is our mech's greatest weakness right now. At medium and close range we're fine - as this update proves - but at long range we can be picked off because we can't see the enemy in order to dodge their beam attacks - a problem made even worse by our low armor.

Are you kidding me? These guns seemingly come with sensors of their own, they're mobile, semi-autonomous turrets. We could use them to lay traps, scout ahead, and coordinate attacks from multiple angles.. We could also move them in such a way as to block incoming shots.

Yes, shielding tech is awesome. I just see an even bigger potential in the turrets, especially when considering we have the best and brightest AI fielded so far. She's basically R2D2, just cooler and with less bleeps, and the ability to coordinate up towards 100 of these bad boys, should we ever be able to field that many..

 

[Baltika9]

Willing to flop to C (as it sounds freaking badass in spite of being really stupid), if you can give me a convincing enough argument. Right now it looks like we stand a 50-50 chance of either becoming a hero or an hero, with not much to gain beyond a spiffy rep, an ego boost, and more enemies on our tail.

It seems no one reads what I write (not that I can blame you in the majority of cases)

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 (i.e pissed her off), 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 pissed-off nationalists.

My argument is thus: we pull off 2C and we become too big a figure to simply marginalize, plus we'll get a boost in experience and maybe will finally be given the opportunity to create "The Sons of Ean" mecha division. The only thing I see going for 2A now is that this tech will get us that much closer to creating Avatars of Ean and prevent the Indus/UNS from widening the technological gap. It will not have the sheer propaganda impact of 2C, though.

I knew we should have gone to the cult! Down with princess! Up with tentacle! Down with princess! Up with tentacle!

No my brother! I have seen the truth! The Golden Womb preaches lies! The MHD they prophesie is the false MHD, it does not even posses one tentacle!
The true MHD is within, deep within, our Earth (seriously, what is the Shinar word for the planet Earth?) and within these depths, in it's home, it waits, dreaming...

 

[treave]

Oh no a hundred is if you use preset patterns. They'd be sitting ducks for any halfway competent pilot then. With Yua controlling then they'll dodge and move better individually. If you're controlling them yourself they'll be like your tendrils in a sense, agile and fast moving extensions moving entirely to your will. But only with the ability active.

 

[Azira]

Yeah, was getting over-excited there. But still, having extensions of yourself (or Yua) in the field sounds great. Especially as they are much more disposable than Anhur itself...

The 100 drones, all controlled by Senya/Yua will remain a wet dream for a while yet.

Just a clarification, will the other options in this choice perchance pop up later, or are we ruling them out forevermore in this choice?

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

I did read what you wrote, Baltika and agree with it, in theory. It's just that...well, I don't think the Codex can pull this off. Even if we do, it's basically like waving our arms and shouting "here we are! high value target that you're all pissed at!" *sigh* I really want to pick it though...then again, I also really wanted to see what was in that rift and what that sphere had to say...

No my brother! I have seen the truth! The Golden Womb preaches lies! The MHD they prophesie is the false MHD, it does not even posses one tentacle!
The true MHD is within, deep within, our Earth (seriously, what is the Shinar word for the planet Earth?) and within these depths, in it's home, it waits, dreaming...

I know this, my brother! Verily, it was not the cult of the Golden Womb I spoke of joining, but the Cult of the Golden Jar! Lo, it is written, "And in the year of the weeaboo, the true queen of the first Emperor shall be reborn. And her head shalt be removed from the body that imprisons it and placed in a Jar of perfect form. And in that day a hole shall be drilled in said Jar and many lulz will be had by all." So sayeth the wise Alaundo.

 

[treave]

Tech choices will arise again. You can expect the Indus and UNS are working on all of this, though you only get access to one for now. ISC and Higashi have other toys too. As for Kyrie,

 

[Baltika9]

I did read what you wrote, Baltika and agree with it, in theory. It's just that...well, I don't think the Codex can pull this off. Even if we do, it's basically like waving our arms and shouting "here we are! high value target that you're all pissed at!"

Oh ye of little faith! This is not a "all or nothing, one choice fucks us up." We will get to plan and maneuver, we will get to call in backup, we will get to decide tactics (yes, the field jammer will allow us to pull of a "Sneaking four warships behind enemy lines, raiding a research base and ambushing a live-firing excercise? Only a tactical genius could pull this- SENYAAAA!")
Success is a possibility and a distinct one if we don't go full retard (which we've done a decent job of so far; a real shame we didn't get to investigate the cult, but I stand by my words, it was too dangerous for our passengers); as for attracting too much attention, it works both ways. Yes, the enemy will consider us a priority target, but the NSI/Higashi alliance will consider us too important a resource to lose, at worst, or The Second First Coming of Shepardz, which will pretty much guarantee us from any moves made by the Empress against us, who knows, she may even start considering Senya "worthy."
Still curious about, the name for our planet in Shinar, treave.

I know this, my brother! Verily, it was not the cult of the Golden Womb I spoke of joining, but the Cult of the Golden Jar! Lo, it is written, "And in the year of the weeaboo, the true queen of the first Emperor shall be reborn. And her head shalt be removed from the body that imprisons it and placed in a Jar of perfect form. And in that day a hole shall be drilled in said Jar and many lulz will be had by all." So sayeth the wise Alaundo.

Alaundo isn't even of this setting, his words are false!
Nay, say I! The True MHD shall rise from within Us! We shall take up the mantle of the slumbering Champion of Diversity, we shall take up His great sword Excalibur and through his great wisdom ( ) we shall remove the worst Masters from these premises and bring about his resurrection!

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Thou doth not speak falsely concerning the Champion's return...but to deny the prophesy of Alaundo?! Was it not he who foretold of the Time Of Troubles, when the Successors almost destroyed our world? Blasphemer! Very well. Thou shalt have no pleasure in the Golden Jar, nor in it's hole of glory! Away with thee!

 

[Azira]

See, root is also voting for the drones. When has root last led us astray? M:

 

[Azira]

We will get to plan and maneuver, we will get to call in backup, we will get to decide tactics (yes, the field jammer will allow us to pull of a "Sneaking four warships behind enemy lines, raiding a research base and ambushing a live-firing excercise? Only a tactical genius could pull this- SENYAAAA!")

I got the distinct impression from treave, that the upgrade to Anhur that we get to pick here, it won't be ready for a while yet. So the barrier would not be a possibility in any of the three combat scenarios, nor would rifle, drones or extra armour.
Take this into consideration when voting, please.

 

[Azira]

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.

 

[Baltika9]

But how can the Champion's Bride be placed into a jar when her conscience is within us!? Unless... we ARE the Golden Jar! Rejoice, my brother, for I have broken the fifth circle of Ean's Mystery!

Thou shalt have no pleasure in the Golden Jar, nor in it's hole of glory! Away with thee!

I just can't read that with a straight face.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

And in knowing the teaching of Ean you have become *stronger*. Fare thee well, Baltika.

 

[Baltika9]

We will get to plan and maneuver, we will get to call in backup, we will get to decide tactics (yes, the field jammer will allow us to pull of a "Sneaking four warships behind enemy lines, raiding a research base and ambushing a live-firing excercise? Only a tactical genius could pull this- SENYAAAA!")

I got the distinct impression from treave, that the upgrade to Anhur that we get to pick here, it won't be ready for a while yet. So the barrier would not be a possibility in any of the three combat scenarios, nor would rifle, drones or extra armour.
Take this into consideration when voting, please.

You've got the wrong number, I'm voting for the armor. Why? You can never go wrong with extra protection, especially when it does little to hamper our mobility, which is at this point is getting into the territory of redundancy.
Plus, hey, it can also distract our enemies

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.

Rather useful, no?

And in knowing the teaching of Ean you have become *stronger*. Fare thee well, Baltika.

And to ye, my brother of The Way.

 

[Bloodshifter]

WAAAAAAAAGH UPDATEHING! Tally​

Edit: now with NUMBAHS Also check your Perma Link to ensure I got you vote right PM if its wrong​

1st
A-11 Smashing Axe , Kipeci , TOME , GreyViper , ScubaV , Aleam iacis , Captain Awesome , Esquilax , Kayerts , Lambchop19 , Storyfag ,
B-5 m4davis , Bloodshifter , Azira , root , Zwist
C-0
D-1 Baltika9 ,

​

2nd
A-9 m4davis , Azira , Esquilax , Lambchop19 , ScubaV , TOME , Zwist , Kipeci , Alem Aicis
B-0
C-7 Baltika9 , Smashing Axe , Captain Awesome , Kayerts , Storyfag , root , GreyViper ,
Holy Cow hate Smart Phones

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

*sigh* If we're gonna do this, guys, we need to plan carefully. Let's try thinking really hard about our votes this time...

Poor Senya.

 

[ScubaV]

I'll flop to AA. There were good points made about not having our upgrade choice available as well as putting out film on us that can be studied and analyzed to determine our weaknesses for future battles. Not to mention, with 50:1 odds we can't afford to screw up at all.

 

[GreyViper]

B-5 Kipeci , Zwist , TOME , ScubaV ,

C-7 Baltika9 , Smashing Axe , Aleam iacis , Captain Awesome , Kayerts , Storyfag , root ,GreyViper​

Holy Cow hate Smart Phones

I flopped for AC choice.