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>>26172792
...huh. That is not anode-redesign.jpg.
I don't even own that picture.

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Right, let's try that again with less random naked monster girl. I hope.
>>26172792
You are Anode, and for the first time in a while, you're feeling a little better.

Not that it's a picnic just yet. You're still feeling a bit paranoid and strung-out, though talking to Cling, a hunter psychiatrist, seems to have helped at least a little bit. Still, your armor is mended and your psyche is... getting there, anyway. You're almost ready to return to active duty. An ugly grey bolt runs down your chestplate where it was reforged into one whole piece. And apparently, the place to go for paintwork is medical.

It's not just simple coloration, the Lifesaver on duty explains. Just like military hardware a century ago, the paint is a sealant and weatherproofing--designed to protect the material beneath. Once bonded to the armor, it helps repel particulates and foreign matter, be it harmful or benign. Everything from radioactive fallout to regular old dust comes off quickly and easily, if it even sticks on at all.

"And yes," he adds sternly after the longwinded explanation, "You do have to come back here after damage and get painted up. For medical safety." Looks like battle scars are frowned upon--not that you haven't seen everyone from Tanker to Crankshaft rocking the dinged-up look.

"Er, noted," you reply for lack of much else to say.

"Good," he nods. "Now, stand in the repainter station. I'll get the program loaded."

>Give me back my blues, doc.
>Actually, could you paint over the bare metal in... bare metal grey?

>>26172845
>>Give me back my blues, doc.

Its the principle of the thing!

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>>26172845
>Give me back my blues, doc.
I am indifferent on the subject of paint. May as well look new again.
You have this image yet command?

>>26172845
>Give me back my blues, doc.
The most exciting time of the biweek as finally come.

>>26172805
It happens occasionally.

I once got an image talking about aliens that live inside phone lines.

>>26173196
Yeah, someone told me after the fact it happens when two pictures are posted at the exact same time.

Someplace, someone posted monster girls and got Anode grinning up at them. I hope they found it as hilarious as I do.

>>26173224
Not mentioning the mental trauma anode is now suffering by interjecting into that conversation.

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>>26172974
>>26173001
>>26173173
"All right," you say, stepping into the marked square in the back of the room, "it'll be nice to look new again."

"Template is loaded," the 'saver says by way of reply. "Hold still."

A pair of robotic arms--actual, old-style robots--unfurl from the ceiling and begin to circle you with a faint whine of servos and motors. If you had to guess, they're probably designed to follow your movements if you don't stay perfectly still, but you don't push it. After a few cycles of moving up and down, back and forth, they start spraying. It doesn't take more than a few cycles, and they don't stop at the damage, giving you a quick once-over. The arms quickly retract as slats in the ceiling and floor slide open. Heat elements quickly warm up and you feel a brief, intense flash of warmth as they speed-dry your new paint job. Just as quickly as it started, the entire thing stops, winding down as the coverings are replaced.

"Material has bonded," Lifesaver replies. "You're done. Anything else?"

"I, uh," you look down at yourself, looking just like new, "Nah."

"Good." The sour old doctor leaves it at that and takes his seat at the desk again.

Well. At least that's out of the way. All in all, it only took a few minutes, and apparently you won't have to worry about wet paint or anything.

You stop by your room and see a handful of messages waiting for you. A message from Em, a reminder of the strategy meeting convening, an automated notice to recharge within the next 24 hours, and a troop assignment notice.
>Check Em's message.
>Go check in on that meeting.
>Take a nap.
>Other?

>>26173479
>>Check Em's message.
If it isn't pressing then.
>>Go check in on that meeting.

>>26173479
>Go check in on that meeting
see if there have been reports of other Hunters having compromised missions

>>26173479
Message, then meeting.

>>26173479
check Em's message, if something's not on fire then
>get to that meeting

You still there, Command?

>>26174733
Yup, sorry. This is a big post. Over 6,000 characters so far.

>>26174778
Sounds like a Robert Jordan novel.

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>>26174778

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>>26173513
>>26173550
>>26173834
>>26174422
Em's message is extremely brief--"saber done." Not even a place to go get it or a signature. Well, you'll run into him when you run into him, you guess.

For now, though, you want to check that meeting. You just hope you're not persona non grata. The signposting is fairly obvious, and all officers are invited to attend. Guess that means you. You head through the door to find a relatively full room--Frog at the front, Schwarz in the back, India splayed across two chairs, Crankshaft's adoptive granddaughter Yuzuki at the front-left, aaaaand Seven staring bleakly at you the moment you step in the door. Great.

"Anode," Frog says. "Good timing. Take a seat, we're getting started."

You do so, sliding in beside India, who (of course) doesn't move at all other than to give you a brief nod.

"Right," the Commander begins, "this is going to be a little more slapdash than usual. Normally I have Dodo here to help me keep things straight, but he's..." Sleeping off his first party in a long time. Whoops. "...indisposed." India shoots you a wry smirk, but doesn't say a word. "First thing on the boards--Maverick report."

He hits a button on the table next to him, activating a ceiling projector. The screen displays a familiar figure--you recognize the basic silhouette of a Head Gunner, but the armor is red instead of green, and a pair of auxiliary cannons have been mounted.

"First, mechaniloids. We're noticing more support out there. They're less mobile and more durable than usual. That's bad for two reasons. First, they're in greater numbers and better organized than we've seen in a long time. Second, it suggests a shift in combat doctrine from hit-and-run..."

"To occupation," Seven pipes up. "Fantastic."

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>>26175035
"We don't know that, but...yeah. It doesn't look good. All indications are that they're building up for an offensive. On top of that, we think one of the Philosophers, Brama, is working on them. We're starting to see up-armored, improved models of all sorts. They're calling them 'customers.'"

"Christ, who names these?" India asks.

"Probably not Him," Frog replies dourly. "Anyway, customers are either vastly improved or weaponized civ models, on par with military. Or better."

Or better. Yeah, that's reassuring. "Any sign of where they're getting these from?" You ask.

"None yet," Frog says. "So far they've been relatively common, no serial numbers to trace. Personally? I think they have more and better in reserve, or they will soon. I'm just waiting to hear a report of a shipment of Victoroids going missing." He sighs. "That's just speculation at this point, though. Next, damage reports. There's been a lot going on this last month." He hits the projector again, this time showing a handful of photographs--fellow hunters.

"Spike Centaurius, First Advance, went into a mission understrength and was put out of commission for three days." First--Cath's unit. "Torpedo Toro, 6th Marine, lost six men defending a convoy that turned out to be completely empty. Total embarrassment. Shock Scorpion, Tropical--MIA after he got sent out on a priority call in the Amazon. His outpost missed a shipment of Berets and 'loids, so he went with a squad of LTAs. They haven't heard word from him since. Bast, 14th, had a subtank malfunction in a major confrontation. He walked home, but without an arm."

You look around the room--Yuzuki looks concerned. Seven is looking up at the faces of the missing or injured, a studious intensity in his eyes. Schwarz, though outwardly unchanged, has leaned forward in his seat. You? You feel nervous. That unpleasant feeling that you might have just been proved right about a leak in the hunters.

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>>26175057
Frog clears his throat and continues. "Suffice to say this is an unusual number of developments. Given the--concerns--we've heard, 2nd's Commander, Longshot Koala is looking into throwing together a team or two. Knowing him, they'll get repurposed for something else, but it is what it is. Which brings me to my next note--more missing persons. First Advance lost Shieldspin Shroom at Vienna--I met Striker not half an hour after the fact. Aside from Scorpion, we've heard two more."

Click, goes the projector. "Swarm Oyster, 6th Marine. There was an attack--I'll get into it shortly--and he's been missing since. There's a possibility that he could have turned. And second..." Click. "Aegis Garm, most recently of the 14th. Aegis just... disappeared off the map, which is frightening in its own right. Garm is enormous. If he went down, there should have been a boom visible from space."

"I knew Garm," Schwarz speaks up quietly. "Most dutiful soul this side of Commander X. Saw him take four hits from Sigma defending civilians. Four."

Frog whistles. "A little before some of your times, but...Garm was a big deal. We've seen Sigma cut through two ace hoganmer, shields and all, in one swing. One uncharged shot could destroy a heavy-duty combat reploid. Punch through good, strong energy shielding and solid ceratanium underneath."

"That day, Sigma killed 53 B-ranks in three minutes before Garm got there. Weren't exactly flocking to him, either," Schwarz adds bitterly.

Frog clears his throat. "At any rate, he's MIA. That makes four now, though they're searching for Scorpion's last known position. It's raising a lot of questions we don't know the answers to. And..."

The projector shows a piece of architecture you've only seen in photographs. "This morning, mavericks invaded and destroyed the Hoover dam. The Philosopher Shiva was with them. Footage shows...well." He plays it. In one strike--some kind of energy attack you've never seen--he brings the entire thing down.

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>>26175083
"Wait," India says, ignoring the destruction. "Invaded? Are they still there?"

"As of half an hour ago, yes," Frog replies. "Command is coordinating with the US army to see about taking it back, but 17th and 0 are both preoccupied."

"Again?" Yuzuki asks.

Frog looks up at her. "Constantly."

"It's like we're in open war," Seven mutters to himself.

"Again." Schwarz adds.

"Wait, folks. It gets worse," Frog adds grimly. "I'm about to share with you some information that was declassified just today. This..." he hits a button. "Is Location S."

You look at the screen--it's under water, murky, hazy and indistinct, but it looks like a mountain. A mountain with a base built into it.

"The final resting place of Sigma's flying fortress in the ocean," Frog explains. "R&D and the 6th have been crawling all over it for years now, studying what they can. And--"

"And it's been attacked," you guess, "Right?"

"Right. That's where Oyster went missing. Another of those Philosophers there, Bisanu." Bisanu--the one you actually saw face to face, alongside Schwarz and Commander X. G-rank. Two ranks and entire orders of magnitude stronger than you. "Yeah, him," Frog continues. "Serious casualties among both R&D and Marine. This one was more of a smash and grab, except they got away with a whole lot.'

"Like what?" India asks, straightening up.

"Entire sections of the fortress. R&D had collected the bodies of various mavericks and had been studying them. DNA-resurrections. Tech, weapons, dead mavericks, dead hunters, we don't even know for sure. A lot of stuff. None of it can be good."

>>26175057
GOOD NEWS! WE'RE NOT CRAZY!

At least, mostly.

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>>26175096
"Sixth's taken a beating," Yuzuki notes quietly.

"Yes," Frog says, "it has. Eighth's still being recommissioned and 10th is on its last legs. We're busy with Vienna. Command is putting out more contracts and doubling up on orders. That's about the size of it."

The meeting continues on like that, though most of the bad news has been given--most, but not all. Frog reviews data from several missions, noting that a new technology has been found among the mavericks--sharply limiting their mobility and drawing power from their weapons systems to give them a brief, powerful burst of motion and seeming total invulnerability for a few seconds. Two separate cases of this 'desperation move' have been documented, suggesting it might be a new tool in the mavericks' collective kit.

"That's all I've got for you," Frog says. "Thank you. My standing orders are to watch your backs. Full combat compliment, every mission, every time. If a priority call comes through and we don't have the backup you need, buddy up with a partner. If you can't do that, get in touch with me and I'll get you someone from another unit. If we can't do that, we're not going until Rhodes orders us to. Clear? Good. Dismissed."

"And," Seven adds as the meeting breaks up, "if you have a problem with your detachments, you come see me. We're doing this by the book. No lone wolf stuff." You swear he shoots you a look at that. Passive-aggressive little shit.

Well. That was definitely the big boost of cheerfulness you needed.
>Go track down Em. May as well be fully equipped for whatever's coming next.
>Head to the range to maintain your gear. May as well keep it in shape.
>Go see about that troop assignment notice. May as well be on the ball.
>Sleepy time. May as well be topped up.

>>26175119
All the things. All of them.

>>26175119
Go see Em, and then head to the range.

>>26175035
>>26175057
>>26175083
>>26175096
Well, fuck.

I think it's naptime.

>>26175119
find Em, acquire weapons

>>26175119
Can we go to the range and go over the troop assignment notice at the same time? We've made a habit of going over infodumps there, and with the AMA we may as well make ourselves approachable.
After we get our blade from em of course.

First things first, go see Em. If we're gonna go to the range to keep up on gear, we'd may as well have the new bit of gear beforehand.

Generally speaking, the range invites downtime while other people spar, so it'd give us an opportunity to look over the troop assignment notice, too. Besides, if we're gonna be sitting around reading, we'd may as well do it somewhere we can be accessible to people who might need us. You know. Like the people using the area we're supposedly in charge of.

As for sleep...max stat gains, etc.

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>>26175151
>>26175178
>>26175210
>>26175354
>>26175829
The first thing you want to do is get your damn saber back. As long as you're putting your kit together, you may as well have it all.

Of course, then you have to track Em down. Not in the lab, not in the bay, not on a mission.

You find him in his room, leaning intently in on a screen as you knock on the doorframe.

"Oh, hey, Anode!" he says cheerfully. "Fuck the Leidenfrost effect."

"Yeah, I--what?"

"It--oh, hey! India! Fuck the Leidenfrost effect!"

India leans in on your shoulder. "Oh, do explain that one."

"I got his saber all made up. It was a bitch and a half, here." He reaches behind him and grabs the hilt off the table and passes it to you.

It's been heavily modified. The pommel is much larger and more cumbersome now, and four fins that seem to make up a crossguard are on the front.

"Okay, so, basically the temperature gradient's so high that the LN on the outside would evaporate before it could deliver its payload." Em taps the front. "So what I had to do was top up the magnetic part of the emitter and add stronger pressurization, keep the nitrogen from expanding. That way it can't become gas, and gets contained in the field. When you turn this on, it won't engage right away."

"No?" you ask, turning it over in your hand. India, for once, is too interested to be sarcastic.

"First activation primes the LN emitters--here and here--and fills the envelope with it. When you stab something with it, the field collapses and the envelope cycles, activating the blade. Heat transfer's near-on instant. I actually wouldn't have even been able to put this on your lance, I needed a hi-beam to get the kind of envelope pressurization to make this work." He sighs. "I was gonna ask you if you'd rather have a less cumbersome setup and limited uses without refill, or a slowly-replenishing reservoir, but the design limitations kinda made the choice for me. It had to be clunky anyway, so it's a refilling reservoir."

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>>26175945
"Yeah?"

"Yeah, I had to incorporate a lot of Wolfspider's thermal regulation data in the pommel there. Ice tech is a bitch to work with, particularly with heat, and sabers get hot. Speaking of, you're gonna wanna watch yourself with that thing. You'll probably burn your hand when you first use it. Nothing serious, it's just that the heat has to go somewhere and space was limited. That crossguard is the vents."

You carefully take the saber in your hand--it's snug, but it grips extremely well. You doubt you'll be in danger of losing it, but it'll make finesse a bit more tricky. "All right, I can deal with soot on my hand."

"What's that it's wrapped in?" India asks, prying two of your fingers off.

"Huh? Oh, uh, leather."

"Niiiice," she comments, nodding approvingly.

"Anyway, it's all yours. I'm not happy with it, but it's all I can really do. I wouldn't even really want to use it, the magnetics are strong enough that it could probably mess with my hand. You'll be fine, though."

"Thanks, man. I can tell it was a pain to make."

"Yes," he says, "yes it was. And no problem."

"So, uh, what are you watching there?"

"Briefing." You look in and realize it's a recording of the meeting you just sat in on. Em rubs the back of his head. "Yeah, uh, if I don't watch them Schwarz gets on my case. I just didn't want to be in a room with, uh..." Em gestures at India surreptitiously.

"I can see that, you know," she says.

Em gestures at her harder.

"Right," she says with a grin. "I'm off, then."

"I should get back to this," Em says. "Cheerful shit, huh?"

"And how," you reply. "Be sure not to miss Seven being a dick in the highlights reel."

"Yeah, no surprise. That's one of the reasons I just watch the recordings. I'm not a people person."

"Can't say I blame you, Em," you reply. "Thanks again."

"Take it easy," he replies, turning back to the briefing as you head for the range.

>>26175949
Wait, I don't get what Em is trying to explain here.

Is it an ice sword, or just a really hot plasma sword now?

>>26176089
Yeah, I'm so scatterbrained, I can't even remember what we wanted him to make.

>>26176089
When you engage it, the envelope fills with LN instead of igniting the blade. Once you "stab" someone with the LN, the magnetic field containing the payload is broken, releasing the nitrogen, which is flash-transferred to the victim. THEN the blade engages a fraction of a second after.

>>26176161
Oh, so it's like an instant temperature stress thing.

Neat. That should fuck up armoured opponents eight ways from sunday.

>>26176161
Right, so, the armour is shattered by the LN, and then the blade engages and automatically stabs the delicious squishy circuitry within?

>>26176206
>>26176214
Neat

Gets me thinking though - What if we attached it to the other end of our lance? Double sword style.

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>>26176206
>>26176214
Yep. It's going to be extremely effective, especially as a hi-beam blade. Just keep in mind it was never really a dueling weapon, and now it's even more difficult to maneuver. It's a specialist tool as much as a weapon, much like a real misericorde.

>>26176161
An armor-breaker of our own?

...We should call it the Gordian Nutcracker.

>>26175945
Did EM just invent the basis for Zero's Hyouretsuzan?

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>>26175949
The range is about as busy as usual, with infantry milling about doing their own respective things. A few look up when you come in, nudging and elbowing their brethren to see. One throws you a big smile and a wave, making you grin. A few turn their backs, though, either out of business or disdain. You're not sure which.

You settle in at the back--no Grach and Mike, this time--and check that message first.

TROOP ASSIGNMENT REQUEST
Two (2) enlisted, designate [Steel Berets], have requested attachment to you. Whenever time, duties, and injury permit, any such individuals would be assigned to your command.
1: Flak
2: Susan

Well huh, that's interesting. ... Susan? Wait, there's something else.

In addition, one (1) enlisted, designate [Steel Beret] has requested never being attached to you, citing concerns for safety, professionalism, and personal conflict. Whenever time, duties, and injury permit, any such individuals will never be assigned to your command.

Well, it couldn't all be rosy. Hey, 2 to 1, right?

A confirmation screen for the first two Berets opens up.
APPROVE/DENY?

Guess as the officer, it's your call in the end. It also says you could call them up to speak with them at any time.
>APPROVE
>DENY
>Other?

>>26176418
>Other: Interview candidates.

>>26176418
>Concerns for safety, professionalism, and personal conflict.
Ten to one that is that one chucklefuck from the AMA
But yeah:
>Other: Interview candidates.
May as well get some more feedback on this.

>>26176539
Seconding. Let's meet our squaddies.

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>>26176452
>>26176539
>>26176590
Well, no sense blindly accepting without finding out who's asking first. You ask the two of them to come down at their earliest convenience, which turns out to be now.

They look just like any other Beret--funny how mass production works--as they enter and climb the stands to reach you. Both salute, one with a sharp snap of the arm and a big grin. "Sir! Flak and Susan reporting for duty, sir!"

The other one--Susan, apparently--grimaces a little. "Yeah. That's us."

"At ease," You say. "I just, er, wanted to figure out who you two were, and why you requested attachment."

"Sir! After your question-answer session I wanted to sign on with you!" Flak answers brightly. "I was very impressed with your honesty. I like you."

Susan rubs his face. "Permission to speak freely, sir?"

"Granted," you reply almost immediately.

"I don't."

"...Oh."

"I don't like you, I don't trust you...but Flak insisted, and where he goes, I go. Someone has to look out for him."

"Don't be so negative! I'm the better shot an--" Flak rounds on his, er, friend, to chide.

"All right, all right, just--listen. Don't get him, or me, killed, and I'll do whatever you tell me. Just, don't ask about the name."

"What, it's not for--"

"No, it's not for Johnny Cash," he spits.

"...All right, noted." You put your hands up. "I might be a lieutenant, but I'm kind of new to things too. Let me know if you've got something to say."

"Yes, sir," Susan replies. "So are we in? I hate to say it, but it would mean a lot to him." Flak practically vibrates with enthusiasm.

>Yeah, you're in. Request approved.
>No, sorry. Gonna have to turn it down.

>>26176973
>Yeah, you're in. Request approved.

"I'll do what I can to keep the two of you safe on missions. Welcome aboard."

>>26176973
>Yeah, you're in. Request approved.
For now at least.
>Don't ask about the name
>No corollary about making puns or quips about it.

Accept.

You don't have to like your commanding officer. You don't even have to trust him. You just need to follow orders, and do the best goddamn job that you can. In fact, a lack of trust might increase his chances at survival - there's no "Anode will save us!"

There's just a man and his gun.

Or something.

Besides, we haven't gotten anyone killed yet. It'll be fine!

>>26176973
Accept.

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>>26177030
>>26177039
>>26177052
>>26177104
"All right, I'm sold," you nod. "You're in. I'll do my best to keep my 0-casualty average right where it is."

"Good luck," Susan says, "And do I ever mean that."

"Yeah, I bet. All right, thanks for dropping in on such short notice."

He nods. "Honestly, I kind of wanted to get it over with ASAP, it was kind of weighing on me." He turns to leave, almost dragging a starry-eyed Flak in tow. "Sir."

Hm. Yeah, you can understand that. He's literally trusting you with his life, his and his friend's. Hell, that weighs on you. If you mess up, they could pay the price. Hell, it's a dangerous job, they could die even if you do everything right, without the weapons or durability you have to fall back on. You'll have to do your best not to screw it up.

Which starts with taking your job seriously--your range duties aside, you came down here to maintain your gear. You scare up the range techs down at the table, and they explain there's not much to it. They disassemble your busters, one at a time--check the focusing apparatus, the generators, the various and sundry connections, the WEAPON setup, the integrity, make sure the emitter lens is properly cleaned when switching to and from your hands. It's all way over your head, but they're doing a quick rundown from a list they've done hundreds of times. It only takes a few minutes and answering a few questions.

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>>26177697
The end diagnosis is that you're lucky your builders knew what they were doing. All of your systems--the ones you've been upgrading--are functioning well with all kinds of modifications, with anticipated room to grow from your stock abilities. Your busters are made to tolerances that easily accepted the charging mechanism you opted for, and you're happy to hear your Dynamic Neural Array is integrating all of the changes easily, which is (according to range-tech Threepenny) like a human's nervous system checking out A-Okay.

They do a similar check of your EAS and lance, noting your EAS has gotten a good amount of use for its age, and cleaning it up a little. "Your systems have done most of the work themselves," they tell you. "Your auto-repair's in better shape than most."

Well, whatever the reason, you'll take it. All your systems check out, and hopefully they'll stay that way.

You're just about done with the laundry list of things you wanted to do. You need to get a recharge in, and then...

>Back to active duty and the 2 remaining mavericks.
>Find Frog and request a tour in Vienna.
>Other?

>>26177716
>>Find Frog and request a tour in Vienna.
If not, sleep. Because jesus fuck we need it before we go active.

>>26177716
>Find Frog and request a tour in Vienna.

But first, sleep, a nice long sleep.

>>26177716
Grab a nap first and then
>Find Frog and request a tour in Vienna.

>>26177716
We really do have to deal with Solstrike eventually. Also, knowing our luck, when we take our shift in Vienna is when the Mavericks will decide that they actually do want the city after all.

But first, sleep.

All right, taking a break for now. Vienna wins, obviously. Later tonight (or more probably tomorrow, I'm nothing if not lazy) I'll pick back up.

Vienna
I'm still all for doing a shakedown run with the crossmore. We do a proper full report on how it runs, and quirks noticed, how well it navigates uneven terrain, etc.

I'm available for Q&A this evening if anyone's interested.

So, remember Guns Wallaby? I want to know if he saw something specific that made him go Mav, or just had straw after straw of low-grade horrors loaded onto him until he finally broke like a camel's back.

No, I'm not going to press as to What It Was if it was the first case.

>>26178942

It was the latter.

>>26178724
There's currently no records of human Mavericks, are there? It's kinda self-defeating in its purpose, I imagine.

>>26179202
I believe they are called criminals.

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>>26179202
If it happened at all, it would probably happen to someone who was mostly machine, in which case, they'd probably be as loony as Jagwire, since there'd still be one human left in the world if they killed all of them, since they were also human.

>>26179357
So a crazy cyborg transhumanist who effectively worships reploids?

Can, say, a standard desktop computer get infected by the Maverick virus?

What would the effects be? Would it go all 'exterminate the meatbags' or would it just corrupt data?

>>26179202

By definition, a Maverick is not a human.

>>26179501

Not really. It doesn't interact with conventional software. Very high-level thinking machines can get corrupted by the Maverick virus, as well as extremely complex systems such as cyberspace interfaces (which can lead to infected/corrupted cyberspace).

>>26179501
The leading fan theory is that the maverick virus is really a mutated form of that energy Wily discovered during MM8. The energy that came out of the robot Duo was fighting when he fell to earth.

How big is that flying fortress at the bottom of the sea?

>>26179567
Another way of asking "how big was Sigma's X1 fortress?"

>>26179622
Oh, is that what that is? I guess I wasn't paying attention.

Where is the thing? I assume the location is secret IC, but OOC?

>>26179567
>>26179622

It was pretty vast. To put it in perspective, when X reached the Bospider's lair, he wasn't even at what would have been "ground level" of the flying island.

Keeping this alive

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Early morning bump.

Saving the thread from page 9.

So, while we're waiting, maybe some conversation would be good? Like what Megaman series was your favorite and why?

>>26190633
X1 but that's mostly because I played it so often at my cousins house I have it on muscle memory.

Least favorite boss fight? Hated Flame Mammoth for years, then I grabbed an emulator and he went from "don't want to fight this" to "that landing is mildly annoying"

Good news: Back and working out writing.
Bad news: Wouldn't be me without unexpected complications.

Apparently there's a surprise rehearsal for a thing at my friend's wedding tonight--and when I say surprise, I mean I learned about it at 3 AM. I'll see if I can get something started, but this thread might end up dying a premature death, in which case I apologize.

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>>26192157

So, what's happening?

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>>26193126
I'm waiting to find out (should be only a few more minutes, I hope) if I'm going to this rehearsal thing or not. If I am, I have to cut this thread short. If not, I can keep going.

In the meantime, I'm here for Q&A, but I don't want to start writing and lose momentum when I have to leave at an awkward time. Next post's nearly written, though. As an aside, this thread has had all sorts of no luck. I think I know how Deculture feels now.

>>26193298
How much of the Hunters' forces were committed to crawling aroung Sigma's now-sunken X1 fortress?

>>26193298
Do you live on the moon as well?

>>26193345
A good deal of R&D investment, with a sizable Marine presence for protection. They also take care of ferrying supplies from their own bases to keep the pool of individuals in the know down. Occasional reps from 17th and a few liaisons with the funding and leadership council. Rhodes has been there twice. He hated it.
>>26193349
No, but I can say I've done donuts around the Sea of Tranquility in a rover. Try it sometime.

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>5:50
>"Any word from Ian?"
>"No."
>"So we're probably not going?"
>"Probably not."
>"I'll wait ten more minutes before calling it."
>Three minutes later
>"Ian picked up, we're going."
Glad I waited so I didn't get your hopes up. Sorry, folks.
I've got to go, this thread is probably for the birds. It's archived, so don't worry about keeping it alive. I'll revive it if I get back in time, but GhostDivision's running tonight anyway. Go give him a read!

Next thread...I dunno, weekend? And sorry again for having to cut off early.

>>26194747
Time to keep the sumbitch alive out of spite.

>>26194747
Happens, man.

>>26194747
goddamn

bump