[LP CYOA] Epic

[Baltika9]

Then again, maybe he'll get the hots for Rei and defect!

 

[Storyfag]

This went much better than I dared to hope for.

Now why does Adrahasis need to meet us in person? Can't we negotiate over the comm?

 

[treave]

A is an over the comm meeting. B can't be, for obvious reasons. As for why anyone would pick B, consider that this could be a trap to delay you so they can capture the mech, yet the chance at negotiation might be too good to pass up. After all, you do still have the Star League to contend with.

Then again, who knows what Adrahasis is thinking.

 

[Azira]

Senya stuffed a spacedragon up Uranus, and now you want to negotiate? I'm not surprised.

 

[Tigranes]

Can we be reasonably sure that the Emperor won't reform behind our back as we speak to Adrahasis, Buu-style?

Adrahasis reminds me a lot of Edem, and my bet is that although he could try and capture/kill us now he knows it's in his own interests to manipulate this new entity that can apparently kill the Dragon Emperor with a bit more luck/help/information...

We could kill Adrahasis via lines if necessary, right?

 

[Baltika9]

treave, can Rei effctively operate the mech without a co-pilot in combat, or does she absolutely have to have one to use all the systems?

Edit: also, can we view/hear the actual transmition from Arahanis?

 

[Kayerts]

Awesome update.

We could kill Adrahasis via lines if necessary, right?

The type of things that I cannot yet kill all reside in the realm of the metaphysical. If I were to pick what exactly, I would hazard a guess that this Emperor is somehow possessed by a concept, given what I have heard about him.

The imperial deities represent "aspects of imperial life," so it's unclear--I don't know whether "bitchin' tactics*" is a card-carrying concept.
___
*Bitchin' tactic #1: "Lose a 100,000:1 engagement. It'll make your enemies overconfident."

My soldiers will lay down their lives for me, as it should be.

“Perfect. That saves me a lot of time. I was worried I would have to hunt them down after skinning you.”

I don't know whether Adrahasis is on the level here, but the above makes me at least think it's possible. It seems plausible that Marduk hasn't gotten any better at instilling loyalty in his subordinates. On our side, I'm not sure we really want the war to end with the Empire decapitated; it seems like the League could easily swoop in and crush us, in that instance.

On the other hand, Senya and Rei are mentally exhausted--treave, any indication on whether Senya's too tired to quickly sever Adrahasis's tracking mechanism, if he tries that?

 

[Anabanana]

I'm tentatively going to put in a vote for A for now... can we start making jump preparations while we negotiate, in case we need to make a quick getaway?

 

[Azira]

I think the Star League is pretty impressed as is. Senya and Rei just used some pretty impressive tech to maul their singularly greatest threat. That should put Earth at the top of their shit list, no matter what.

Whether that means we should negotiate with Bel'A or not is a different matter though. If Marduk is right about his subjects being willing to lay down their lives for him, then Bel'A is surely just buying time here, and we'd be better off back at Earth.
If he's wrong though, we could shift the allegiance of his fleet nimbly, a fleet we'd need to stand against the League when they come gunning for Earth.

I'm undecided. Senya and Rei's CF seems more than a match for anything less than a spacedragon, so I'm not overly worried about the League either.

Tentative C.

 

[Anabanana]

See, now that Marduk's out of the way, we might not get another chance to do something like this in the future. Thing is, even if we negotiate with Adrahssis, can we really trust anything he says? We are certain of the fact that the CF is capable of handling an entire fleet on its own, so the League might not be that much of an issue? Thinking of flopping to C...

Amazing update btw, treave. Smashing a spacedragon through planets, hot damn.

 

[TOME]

Awesome update, just awesome.

I have no clue what to vote. Marduk might just devour the whole planet when he comes back or the League might absorb the Empire and send a fleet of millions toward Earth, in which case meeting with Adrahasis is the best course. Or Marduk realized he can't beat us in a straight fight and the message is a trap. I need to sleep on this.

 

[Kipeci]

I'm not sure what the problem with A is. It could be a trap, sure, but couldn't we just pop in through a wormhole if they try to pull any tricks or the dwagon emprah manages to slip back out from Uranus?

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

“He says that he wants to negotiate with you, and quickly, before the Emperor returns. He claims that he can assuage the Emperor’s anger and will ensure your safety. Apparently the devastation you wreaked upon the fleet has convinced him that it is not a good idea to approach Earth. Also, he has sent out ten thousand ships to spread out across the solar system as insurance - he will recall them after you speak with him.”

C - I would want to meet with him had he not just blatantly lied to us. Bel'A has a pattern of lying to his enemy before he attacks. He did it before and said he only had 2 cruisers just out of sensor range when in reality he had a crap load of them. He also has a pattern of using delays to spring traps, as we learned from the same encounter.

He has zero reason to want to switch sides right now. We may have humiliated the Emperor, but not killed him. Only after Bel'A sees the dragon die its final death will he switch sides.

edit: My only worry is that we might miss out on some vital information - like Marduk's true intentions. I rather wonder if Marduk's real goal has less to do with Earth and more to do with Earth's second moon.... Still, this is too fishy and is almost definitely a trap.

 

[treave]

Adrahasis is a run of the mill immortal and will most definitely die to you if you get close enough, have the opportunity, and the inclination. The actual transmission won't contain any useful information to help you determine if he's lying. Though he never promised to switch sides. Cutting his tracking strings won't be an issue, it's just that you don't have the stamina to take out the rest of the fleet. As for making a quick getaway, the long jump procedure necessitates that you open a sizeable wormhole, so it's not going to be an instant process no matter what. They'll see it coming. What you'll do is probably make a short jump and hide somewhere, perhaps in the ruins of one of the moons, then make the trip home. The longer you dally around, the higher the chances are of you getting caught if Adrahasis is indeed preparing a trap. You could try to leave your options open, or you could commit yourself to sate your curiosity, allowing the mech to leave first, or just leg it. Rei won't be able to use the advanced weapons systems alone, though Yua can help somewhat with the normal ones. Combat efficiency won't be very high.

As for how long it'll take for the Emperor to return, you don't know. Adrahasis might have an idea.

 

[Anabanana]

How would we leave if we met with him alone?

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Adrahasis is a run of the mill immortal and will most definitely die to you if you get close enough, have the opportunity, and the inclination. The actual transmission won't contain any useful information to help you determine if he's lying. Though he never promised to switch sides.

The lie was that he could calm Marduk down. Ain't gonna happen and he knows it. Killing Bel'A is useless at this point. Marduk is the real threat.

And yes, he never promised to switch sides, but that's exactly what everyone is hopping for - don't hold your breath, bros.

As for how long it'll take for the Emperor to return, you don't know. Adrahasis might have an idea.

*cough*that's why he wants to delay us *cough*

 

[treave]

Possibly you could hitch a ride back to Earth on their ship. Or commandeer a cruiser, if things go sour. I'm sure there's some naive, impressionable immortal maidens of war that you could gently persuade.

 

[Kipeci]

Ah. I'll vote B, then.

 

[ScubaV]

I'll vote B. I'm too curious about what he has to say. I believe Senya can handle himself; I'm sure he'll recover his strength before the Emperor does, and can plan an escape if need be. And if worse comes to worst, Rei will have gotten the CF away safely and Ean may soon be available to mount a rescue.

The Emperor certainly seems emotional, while I don't think our dear Prince Bel-A is. We know that the Star League is striking the Empire's core, perhaps that could be used to convince Bel-A to at least leave if he won't join us.

 

[Baltika9]

The Emperor certainly seems emotional, while I don't think our dear Prince Bel-A is. We know that the Star League is striking the Empire's core, perhaps that could be used to convince Bel-A to at least leave if he won't join us.

Exactly what I was going to say. The Prince of Bel-Air is the brains of this operation. Even if he declines all our offers, killing him will cripple the Empire tactically. And if we do get captured, well, that will just encourage Sek and Rei to get Ean back so that he can rescue our ass. There are worse way to be rescued.

Possibly you could hitch a ride back to Earth on their ship. Or commandeer a cruiser, if things go sour. I'm sure there's some naive, impressionable immortal maidens of war that you could gently persuade.

Yep, sign me up for B, this should be hilarious.

 

[Smashing Axe]

C's the right choice, but B's the entertaining one. I'm torn on what to vote for.

A hesitant B for now

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Possibly you could hitch a ride back to Earth on their ship. Or commandeer a cruiser, if things go sour. I'm sure there's some naive, impressionable immortal maidens of war that you could gently persuade.

I suppose it would give us an opportunity to use our

B for now. But I stand by the points I made for C and may flop back to it.

 

[Esquilax]

Finally caught up.

“He says that he wants to negotiate with you, and quickly, before the Emperor returns. He claims that he can assuage the Emperor’s anger and will ensure your safety. Apparently the devastation you wreaked upon the fleet has convinced him that it is not a good idea to approach Earth. Also, he has sent out ten thousand ships to spread out across the solar system as insurance - he will recall them after you speak with him.”

I assume from Adrahasis' tone that Emperor will come back very quickly, so if we want to talk, we gotta talk now. I think he's on the level about this - and I think that negotiating with him without having any way back home is a terrifying prospect if it means that Marduk will return in very short order again (i.e. a matter of hours, though this is just speculation). Being stranded here on the other side of the galaxy as Marduk reforms sounds pretty dicey to me.

Maybe this is a simple ploy to take our kickass toy away from us, and although I'm sure they'd want the sort of weapon that could wipe out nearly 50,000 warships, Adrahasis strikes me as far more clever when it comes to deception. And, as Lambchop mentioned, Marduk has a history of trusting the wrong people.

Still, I gotta go with A on this one, although C is a safe and understandable choice given our success (don't push your luck).

A

 

[Baltika9]

And an even more terrifying prospect would be facing fifty-five thousand ships that actually adapted countermeasures to our single CF and are directed by the Prince of Bel-Air. With a giant space dwaggon backing them up.

The Tactician has to be removed, one way or the other and A doesn't really put us in a position to do that. Hell, he may really be considering defection, Adrahanis doesn't strike me as a retard. A bit idealistic maybe, but not retarded.

If he doesn't provide passage, we'll commandeer something on the spot (better yet, get one of those War Maidens to help; about time we used our tentacles for their intended purpose); or play hostage and wait for Rei and Ean (seriously, if Dio was Shulgi with balls, then Senya is Ean with brains). I'm sure they'll have questions.

Good to finally have you back, man.

 

[Anabanana]

What if Marduk reforms and then just swallows us in his rage, Adrahasis and all? We'd have no way of escaping in that case; even if we take control of Adrahasis's ship, I don't think anything short of our CF will be able to dodge that monster of a spacedragon.