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>>45674529
"There's a reason 3E is the standard," Max says. "Take it from someone without it. The forehead lens handles all the balance calculations from the rangefinding data and leaves complex signal intake to the main pair."

"I've got 2E too," you point out, still testing out your new OPAL system (and feeling a combination of wonder and dismay at the new world of invisible signals and scanner lines everywhere on the hunter grounds).

"You're a custom job, dingus," Em replies. "Max is using tech built for economy of scale over ten years ago. Testbed pre-generation-one shit." He takes a sip of his beer and pauses. "Well, I guess I'm a custom job too. I've got 4E--two compound lenses in each optic, paired to one on the other side."

You snort. "Em, nobody likes 4E."

"I like 4E," he mutters.

"I'm hearing they're up to 5E now," Max says. "Lots of mixed reviews."

"Enh, there's always mixed reviews," Em observes, waving his hand fifty-fifty.

>Get caught up with Em on things.
>Just relax, you need to unwind.
>Other?

>>45674532
>Get caught up with Em on things.
>Just relax, you need to unwind.

It is technically possible to do, just one after the other.

Also, welcome back!

>>45674532
>unwind, with a side of catching up

>>45674529
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UvBX3REqSY

BUT I AM A ROBOT

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Holy shit it's actually happening.

>>45674532
>Do both
Good to see you Command

>>45674574
http://www.4chan.org/flash?file=sagemangame.swf&title=Sage+Man+Game

>>45674532
>Just relax, you need to unwind.

>>45674651
http://dagobah.net/flash/monaman3.swf And finally

>>45674532
>Why not both?

>>45674568
Seconding this, just casual chatting.

Nice to see you back!

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>>45674568
>>45674586
>>45674589
>>45674721
Aw, thanks, guys.

Sorry about the delays (you know, as always), but ho-lee fuck, the last few weeks have been brutal.

Also, I may have undersold the joke in the OP, but damn it, I've been sitting on that one for ages.

>>45674532
Get caught up with Em on things.

We do still need some lessons in not sucking at melee and hey, we can shoot the breeze while talking about us dealing with the biggest nerd.

>>45674885
Don't worry HC, I got it

>>45674989
Pretty sure people who don't even play it got it.

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>>45674568
>>45674569
>>45674589
>>45674713
>>45674721
“So how’re things on your end?” you ask. You give Em a look over--a bit dinged, clearly fresh from the field, but clearly in good working order.

He shrugs. “First ops went well enough, I guess. Made it in right before the close-off.”

“The what?”

Max turns back to your conversation. “Right after you got in, Halcyon ordered the base closed. No traffic in or out, aside from hunters returning from mission.”

“Yeah, something about ‘protecting assets’ and warding off a potential counterstrike.”

Max snorts. “I was here for Sigma. We’ve dealt with insider traitors, yes, but a full-out assault on Maverick Hunter Headquarters? That was only ever going to happen once.”

“It does seem kind of off,” Em agrees. “We were on high alert already.”

You shrug. “Way over my head, I guess. So, you didn’t need repairs?”

“Not yet, anyway, they rated my damage as light now that they’re doing that triage process shit. I hope I get that one guy who kept ragging on me about not going in as soon as I get back on base, rub it in his face a bit.”

“Em, has anyone ever told you that you have no sense of self-preservation?” You ask.

“Has anyone ever told you that fuuuuuuck yoooooooooou?” Em retorts.

“Gentlemen, please,” Max replies, setting down another pint for each of you. “You’re both idiots.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Em agrees, before pausing. “Oh--that reminds me. Anode, we’re gonna throw a farewell party for Frog. Can you sing?”

>No, but that’s not gonna stop me.
>Yes. But I won’t.
>Hell yeah I can.
>Other?

>>45675202
>No, but that’s not gonna stop me.

>>45675202
Hell yeah I can.

Even if it's a lie we should totally sing 'it's not easy being green'.

>>45675202
>>No, but that’s not gonna stop me.

>>45675202
>Hell yeah I can.
What movie theme songs do we know by heart?

>>45674532
"So how weird is OPAL? What do I look like through it?"

>>45675202
>Hell yeah I can.

>>45675202
>No, but that’s not gonna stop me.

>>45675256
Seconding

>>45675202
>Is It's Not Easy Being Green okay?

>>45675202
Hell yeah I can. Had a lot of showtunes in my parents' "must watch" list.

>>45675256
And get Anode's jaw dislocated?

>>45675256
Damn, you got there before I did.

>>45675202
>>No, but that’s not gonna stop me.
Sup HC, when I saw thread I immediately yelled " this makes my dick yes!" I missed you

>>45674532
....I got all the way through the jargon before I realized

>>45675202
Did they get a hint on the new virus that travels through air?

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>>45675449
Thank... you?

>>45675458
to be fair, I've played about 4 sessions of 4E, 1 session of 5E, and only what /tg/ says about the other editions.

Still had a longer chuckle than I'm comfortable with when I got the joke.

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>>45675479
I actually misquoted, I was aiming for >>45675338. My bad.

Stand by, writing. Just got a bit sidetracked washing glassware.

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>>45675492
you have crushed my hopes

>>45675458
>>45675492
It's ok to be confused, just enjoy it

>>45675202
>No, but that’s not gonna stop me.

3E may be the standard, but in practice most models add on a half-decent aftermarket lightsensor and a viewfinder.

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>>45675234
>>45675256
>>45675261
>>45675263
>>45675277
>>45675279
>>45675287
>>45675319
>>45675338
"Probably," you reply. "Do you care?"

"Not especially."

"What about if I sing 'It's Not Easy Being Green?'"

"I was actually gonna do that," he says with a smirk. "But if you're volunteering..."

"I'll fetch a paint roller," Max offers helpfully.

"But seriously, what's the plan?"

"I'll send you the info," Em says, pulling up a small datapad and tapping something in. "Nothing special, just wanted to send the old guy--hold on...Well, shit."

"What?"

"Jesus, that was quick. They're already setting up temporary quarters closer to base, big ring of interconnected prefabs. We're picking up sticks and moving tomorrow."

"Think that's why they closed base?"

"Not likely. And--hold on, Max, change the channel."

He turns the channel over to the news, Halcyon’s big, shiny mug smiling knowingly down from the corner of the screen as the volume ticker creeps up, the news anchor’s voice rising.

“--Funding Council of Nations has finally put the matter to rest, formally confirming their nomination for the position of Maverick Hunter Commander, confirming rumors earlier this week that prominent officer and Weissritter Chairman Halcyon has been appointed General. Also considered for the position were Rama, protege of the departing Commander Rhodes, and the newest model out of the Greek Division, Psi. The new Commander’s words on the topic, earlier today.”

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>>45676161
Halcyon is a smile with a Reploid plastered up behind it. “I’m sure with time and experience, Rama would have made a fine Hunter Commander,” he says, voice every inch as smug as his face. “But of course, after the injuries sustained during the attack--well, it would have been wrong to place the duties of this office upon him while he was in no position to discharge them. I’m sure Psi was also an excellent contender, though I’ve never seen reports of his capabilities. But as I understand it, there are those who are simply not comfortable under the leadership of Greek division projects, given prior disasters.” He’s silent for a moment, drinking in the pause. “I of course refer to Commanders Alpha and Sigma,” he adds lightly after the fact.

“Meet the new boss,” mutters Em.

You frown, thinking back to the one and only face-to-face meeting you ever had with Rhodes--calmly and decisively shutting down that blowhard emissary and protecting you from accusations of going kill-crazy for defending your life, and that of Grach. Stoic and never even seen in the same room as a smile, Rhodes is a far cry from Halcyon’s much more public, grandiose air.

“With my appointment, and upon my request, I am also happy to inform you all now that we have secured the return of eight of our most decorated, veteran officers, the personal honor guard of former Commander Valdivieso herself. In light of the dire situation, and the mistakes of my predecessors, the Special Task Group--more widely known as Los Mortales--have agreed to return to active duty after many years away.”

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>>45676179
Photos flash on the screen, hastily pulled from news archives, showing names and faces of stark, militant Reploids, their expressions torn somewhere between a barely-restrained snarl and open, withering disdain. Looking like nothing so much as a prison mugshot, you recognize the the face of that mantis clown you ran into in the halls.

“General, congratulations first on your appointment,” comes a voice--someone in the media. “But even given the circumstances, the return of such controversial figures at a time with tensions as high as they are…”

The volume drops low, subsumed below the general din of the bar. Max plunks the remote back down. “So the rumors were true,” he mutters darkly.

>?

>>45676195
"Fuck 'im. Let's see how the professional douchebag carries his weight around here."

>>45676195
>'What rumors? How bad are they?'
Why do I have a feeling Halcyon made a PR decision that will bite us in the ass?

>>45676248
The Zero division (not counting the black coats or whoever) have been the de-facto badasses of the Hunters. Now we have to deal with the recommission of an honest-to-God black ops division.

Which begs the question: why do the Hunters need a black ops division?

>>45676195
Think they're about to make some very distasteful orders, and would prefer if nobody is "too far away to follow them"?

>>45676195
>What rumors?
>Are they ALL assholes, or what?

>>45676283
Considering the fact that it can be hard to find mavericks, those who can sniff them out and catch them are pretty valuable if Schwarz is an example. Still, from the flashback these guys are a bit too good at it.

>>45676334
A mix of that, short leashes, and the fact that putting them close together makes hearing what the rabble say much easier. I would not be surprised if Halcyon has a secret police for the situation.

>>45676195
"I met the mantis, sort of. Are they all like him?"

>>45676402
On the bright side, it'll be easier for us to hunt down and traumatize Cath's boyfriend.

>>45676455
Perhaps.. if it wasn't for the fact that Halcyon is probably more 'no fun allowed' than Rhodes was. Got to keep up images!

>>45676455
I could get on board with this.

>>45676195
>Explore rumors
>Develop plan to hit Halcyon with a Rhodes-sized cream pie on international news

>>45676195

>On a scale of 1 to Seven, how bad are these guys?

>>45676486
We could probably get by with 'It was training, sir, I swear!'. Maybe.

>>45676195
Seconding the following.

>>45676248
>"I met the mantis, sort of. Are they all like him?"

>>45676394
>What rumors?
>Are they ALL assholes, or what?

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Stand by, writing now. I got sidetracked by BLINDING RAGE.

And rum.

>>45677320
yeah I can see how that face can fill someone with rage and drive them to drink

>>45677320
Did the glassware return and insult your mother?

>>45677320
So does our OPAL system contain all the editions or what?

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>>45677402
NOT FOR LONG, IT DIDN'T.

>>45677440
>image
I want one. No, two. Then we can use them for inter-unit duels!

>Do what Schwartz would. Go to areas of the base under construction and either set up a hidden room, or hide a cache of supplies in a wall.

>>45677533
That's... either really stupid or really brilliant.

>>45677597
depends of it works or not

>>45677533
What kind of supplies do we need to hide?

>>45677768
Porn, a copy of our will, more porn and a ride chaser. They're thick walls.

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>>45676195
Should we check up on the berets after we finish drinking? That seems like a good use of time if we can't port out yet.

>>45677883
We should do some training with them. The sooner we're a functional team rather than just some officer and a few Berets, the better.

>>45677883
I will +1 that.

>>45677768
Exactly enough to look cool in a montage.

>>45677840
Well that's a relief. In that case, I'd like to suggest setting up the cache near large sources of electromagnetic noise, like heating units. The interference should help make it more radio opaque.

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>>45676195
"Man, fuck that guy," you mutter, letting the buzz of nanites speak for you. "Pro douche. Am I the only one who gets that skeevy feeling off him?"

"We already established you're not the only one with eyes around here, Anode," Em growls. "Can't wait to see how hard he fucks up."

"Max, what rumors?" You ask.

"That they'd come back," he explains. "When they left, it was pretty clear they were only going to accept a leader they respected."

"They respect H--"

"Of course not. What they meant is someone who would let them do what they saw as 'necessary.' If they wouldn't come back for Sigma, and they're here now, that means they were probably given carte blanche to execute their duties however they feel fit."

"THAT sounds great," you grumble. "I already met the mantis there."

"Rezador? Worst of the bunch," Max says. "You know, back when I was in service--when Axe Maxes were still in production, the line had a high maverick incidence rate. People chalked it up to being a test generation, but there was no getting around it. Rezador would order us to our deaths, if he had any use for us at all. He called us all 'mavericks waiting to happen' and told us to endeavor to die before that happened."

"Wow, FUCK that guy," Em spits.

"That's how they see things," Max continues. "There are mavericks, and there are Reploids that will become mavericks. Relics of a very ugly time in our history."

"Are they all like that?" you ask, faintly disbelieving.

"Mostly," Max says. "I've heard one or two of them are different. I know one has a nanite problem, and another sort of acts as their spokesman, but from everything I've seen, Rey is the worst of the bunch. I had the pleasure of meeting him myself, years ago."

“Do tell,” you say, sitting up straight.

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>>45678036
He sighs, voice flange modulating the exasperation into a tinny synth. “When the word was coming that our class was being decommed, I elected to resign early, on my own terms. I had money. I was still a lifer, though. That was when I proposed opening the Wallow.”

“Right, before it was the Pond,” Em nods.

“Rey happened to get wind of that proposal and said something to the tune of ‘a decommissioned Axe Max should go to the scrapheap, not be kept loitering on base waiting for a chance to turn.’”

“FUCK that guy,” Em repeats vehemently.

“I can’t say I was his biggest fan, no,” Max says. “If you asked him, we were a ‘flawed design anyway.’”

"And now we’ve got him here," you note. "Terrific."

"I'll do you one better. I'm being deployed with him on my next mission," Em says. "I'll let you know how bad he is."

You scoff. "What do we even need them for, anyway?"

"Good question," Max says dourly. "I can't say I missed them. They're all good at what they do, no mistake. I guess this is the best time they could come back, at least."

“Why?” Em asks.

“Because they’re killing machines in the truest sense of the term, and we’re in our first real shooting war since Sigma,” Max replies grimly. “There are going to be a lot of mavericks to put down.”

>Keep shooting the shit. Sometimes you just need to vent. (Specify?)
>Enh, you’re a little buzzed, you should stop here. Go find someone/something. (Specify?)
>Other?

>>45678036
HC, I know the Dodo is technically an officer's bar, but why are there always infantry in there? Does everyone just ignore the 'officer's' part?

>>45678072
>>Enh, you’re a little buzzed, you should stop here. Go find someone/something. (Specify?)
find the bravely broken and see how they're dealing with this mess, if we're stuck on base and so are they we could get some training in.

>>45678072
>Enh, you’re a little buzzed, you should stop here. Go find someone/something. (Specify?)
>Em, want to come play 'scare the Berets'?
Let's get some training in.

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>>45678084
Yep. "Hammer Frog" and "tight ship" never once went together. At this point, after this long, it's an OC in name only.

>>45678072
>Enh, you're a little buzzed, you should stop here. Go find someone/something to do.

Training with Em and the berets. We'll need to get everyone working as a team asap.

>>45678116
If Mantis tries to crack down on this, I say we kill him and hide his body in the foundations of the new building works.

Actually, let's just do that anyway.

>>45678226
If the man was easy to kill, someone would've done it already. Wait for a joint deployment, so we can chalk it up to enemy fire.

>>45678072
>Enh, you’re a little buzzed, you should stop here.
Time to check in on the the firing range. Get your men ready for the next deployment.

>>45678072
>Enh, you’re a little buzzed, you should stop here.
>Em, want to come play 'scare the Berets'?

>Other
Fuck it, let's do the wall candy plan.

>>45678434
In our current base, or the new pre-fab housing?

>>45678434
what would we hide right now anyways? I mean all our weapons are built into us or we keep them on our person at all times so we'd either have to buy or raid some more from somewhere.

>>45678575
>steal everyone else's weapons
>hide them in the walls
>they beat us to death, fueled by vengeful fury
Goals.

>>45678072
>Enh, you’re a little buzzed, you should stop here. Go find someone/something.

If we don't go see the Berets, it might be nice to check in with the other new members of the Fourth and see how they're doing. Best to know how the newer members are anyways.

When Em's less upset over Schwarz, we're going to have to get that wingman story.

>>45678072
These seem good.
>>45678114
>>45678109
Much as I love shenanigans I have this feeling that now might not be the time.

>>45678931
Might not be the time ... for training?

>>45678968
No, I mean might not be the time to hide everyone's shit in the walls. Hilarious as that would be.

>>45678986
Based on the links, it sounded like you were disagreeing with them rather than supporting them.

>>45678986
That gave me an idea; hide Berets in the walls.
>Mavericks rampaging through HQ, all seems lost
>Suddenly Berets
>Thousands of them
>Coming out of the walls
>Anode saves the world

>>45679018
I could see how you might get that impression. Sorry for my poor formatting.
>>45679082
Oh fuck yes. Let's go acquire "volunteers".

>>45679082
>Suddenly Metts
>Millions of them
Fixed that for you.

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>>45678109
>>45678114
>>45678153
>>45678277
>>45678391
You stand up, shaking your head. “Okay, now that the edge is off, I guess I had better get to doing the other part of my job.”

“Lucky you,” Em says. “With the hold on supplies the shipment I was waiting to inventory was turned back at the gates. I’ll have to double up next time, before the party.”

“In that case, you wanna come with?” You ask. “I got my ass handed to me--you know, again--and I really need to learn how to sword.”

“Saber,” Em corrects. “And I could probably arrange that. You talking about training your squad, or yourself?”

“Both,” you admit. “I mostly want to check up on them and make sure they’re fine, but if they’re going to be tagging along with me…”

“Gentlemen,” Max says with a nod, as the two of you turn to go. “Be safe. See you tomorrow.”

“So what wrecked you, anyway?” Em asks.

You grimace. “A lot of well-placed mechaniloids and a fucking nerd. Did you know your combat data is on the black market?”

“The fuck?” He asks, his expression very clearly indicating he did not.

“Some kind of cyberspace thing. Used one of your moves to combo the shit out of me with her knife.”

“That’d be the dirk. Jesus, man, what happened?”

“About what it sounds like. Carved me up pretty good with it. Still managed to capture her alive.”

“Man, now I want to kill her,” he glowers. “That’s fucked up.”

You shrug. “She’s dealt with, at any rate. And apparently she had something valuable.”

“If you say so. Okay, so seriously, are we just going to spar, or are we going to drill the Berets?”
>Squad-based. I really don’t want to lead anyone to their deaths.
>Honestly? I think I need the help. Let’s just spar.
>Bravely Broken isn’t the only group. We’ll do general training for anyone on hand.

>>45679289
>Bravely Broken isn’t the only group. We’ll do general training for anyone on hand.
With Anode as the training dummy. Literally.

>>45679289
Can we talk to Grach if he's there, see about arranging some hand-to-hand training for Anode and maybe the team? We really need it.

>>45679289
>Honestly? I think I need the help. Let’s just spar.
>Bravely Broken isn’t the only group. We’ll do general training for anyone on hand.

>>45679289
>>Honestly? I think I need the help. Let’s just spar.
We can do beret training later. Anode is a much more valuable asset.

>>45679289
>Squad-based. I really don’t want to lead anyone to their deaths.

Much as I love altruism, I love being alive more. Let's narrow our field of focus a bit on the off chance that it actually has an effect on the quality of the training.

>>45679289
>Squad Based. I really don't want to lead anyone to their deaths.
>Honestly? I think I need the help. Let's just spar.
Reason: The berets can serve as supporters/ harrassers and learn some kiting tactics while we learn how to handle a tougher foe and work on both our offense and defense.

>>45679289
>Squad-based. I really don’t want to lead anyone to their deaths.

>>45679289
>Squad-based. I really don’t want to lead anyone to their deaths.
>Honestly? I think I need the help. Let’s just spar.

Either of these two options could benefit us greatly.

>>45679289
Squad-based. They'll need it more than us at the moment.

>>45679289
>Squad-based. I really don’t want to lead anyone to their deaths.

>>45679289

>Squad-based. I really don’t want to lead anyone to their deaths.

We need a sense of community more than ever. Last thing we need is our company support staff going ideologically maverick.

>>45679116
I like the way you think anon

>>45679289
>Squad-based. I really don’t want to lead anyone to their deaths.
we need to learn how to lead better. I mean the only real time we lead a bunch of barets was against wallaby and we didn't do to bad but then again when we finally fought the guy he did pull his punches when he fought the barets going for head shots when there brain is in their chest.

>>45679289
>Squad-based. I really don’t want to lead anyone to their deaths.
Also, we should try to learn from Em how to get more power from our strikes. Our melee is on the lower end of the spectrum and we should work to improve it.

Shit - if we're moving quarters, we're going to have to set up our entertainment system again. Damn you, Halcyon!

HC, based on standard Hunter construction times, how long before Emerald's new sibling is built and turned on?

>>45680277
Depends. If they had just received the contract, a year and a half to two years. If they had the word or another existing project to turn around, it could be sooner.

>>45679289
>Squad based
We should work on team melee formations. Or effective formations using a mix of melee and ranged. With Anode present in the formation of course.

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>>45679449
>>45679465
>>45679475
>>45679499
>>45679525
>>45679572
>>45679576
>>45679613
>>45679674
“If these poor bastards are trusting me with their lives, the least I can do is be ready to risk them,” you decide. “I mean, I could really--REALLY--use the help, but…”

Em sighs. “Yeah, I get you. I wasn’t always king shit of saber tag. I just don’t know how much help I’ll be.”

“Well, let’s just start by talking shop with the crew, and see how things go.”

The training facility is neat, orderly, and all things considered, fairly quiet, considering the range is hot right now. LT watches intently as a line of Berets shoulder their weapons, sight, and fire by turns, sending plasma shots downrange at the metal figures. You think you can pick out the score marks from Seven’s fancy cannon, when you were side by side in the booths.

Your team is off in the corner, by the table with the range techs. Flak is disassembling what looks like a giant shoulder-mount rocket. Nearby, Susan is lifting what look like shoulderplates from a heavy-looking case, face open on a bench. He looks up and nudges Flak, who looks up and throws a big grin and a wave.

“Christmas came early, I take it?” you ask.

Susan salutes. “First shipment of the gear you ordered came in just before the lockdown. Flak got his launcher, and we’ve got the first shipment of this ablative armor.” He shoots you a quizzical look. “You know we’re supposed to survive by NOT getting shot, right?”

You snort. “Yeah, and when’s the last time that happened?”

“Last mission, actually,” he offers.

“And when do you think the next time that’s going to happen following ME around?”

“Your point’s well-seen, sir,” he replies, breaking into a grin.

“How’s the team?” you ask. “How are the Berets?”

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>>45680691
“Could be better, but could be a whole lot worse,” Susan admits. “Honestly, the range is pretty empty lately. A lot of the regulars took the human crew leaving pretty personally. Haven’t seen a few faces in here for a while.”

“Maybe we should find a few more,” you suggest.

“Maybe. I think what they need most is time.”

“How about missions?”

“We’re kind of up in the air on that. They’re almost afraid to use us. With most of the unit trashed and Command trying to protect what’s left, they haven’t had us deploy to occupy territory. We usually just tag along after an officer, and they handle most of the dirty work. I’m gonna guess that’s gonna change.”

You think back to Rey and his reputation, and grimace. “Yeah, probably. Which brings me here.”

“You’re going to consign us to our deaths?” Susan asks cheerfully. Flak lets the back end of the rocket launcher fall on his head with a clunk.

“Trying to do the opposite. Em here is gonna help.”

“Just as soon as I figure out how,” Em offers with a shrug. “Though… ablative armor you said, right?”

“Yessir,” Flak chimes in.

“So that’ll be outside the shielding bubble?”

“By design, yeah,” Susan adds. “Idea is to try to keep from taxing our shields at all.”

“Yeah, okay,” Em says, nodding. “Sabers eat ablative armor for breakfast. I mean, they eat shields for breakfast, too, but anything designed to be consumed is not going to hold up to more than one hit, if that. I could probably incapacitate someone on a good swing through it, probably kill with the bigger ones.”

“So, we’re back to where we started,” Susan offers drily. “Don’t get hit? Sir?”

“No sir, never ever sir,” Em insists. “And yeah. Maybe that’s where we can start. Berets take their playbook from the LTBs, right?”

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>>45680725
Susan nods. “Adapted, but yes, they’ve been developing tactics since the original generation Lanceteamers. Move as a team, fight as a team, take superior ground first and hold it.”

“Terrain first, I can respect that. What about close to melee?”

“We’ve got basic equipment, but generally we try to fall back if we can.”

“Okay, well, let’s see--you have any grenades?”

“Me, personally? No, but I could order some. Why?”

“Because you need fallback options. If you get stuck in with a melee specialist, nothing’s going to save you, but if it’s just an opportunity attacker, you could drop one at your feet and scram.”

“I am highly interested in your ideas,” Flak interjects, “and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.”

Susan scoffs. “It’s the ‘nothing’s going to save you’ I’m worried about.”

Em nods. “Yeah, sorry. I can teach you some footwork, at least. If the rest of the squad is staggered out, they could pour some fire in to help ward off the aggressor while you disengage.”

“That’s SOP, yeah,” the Beret says with a nod. “Most of the time it comes down to hoping you’re not in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

You frown. “Don’t suppose we could get you guys EAS systems.”

“Probably, in theory,” Flak offers. “But in practice, that’d be a tall order. We’re not built for it, they’d need to do a major legwork rehaul to make that happen. Probably faster to just pile on more disposable equipment.”

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>>45680759
“What, like a booster pack?” Em asks, incredulous.

“Yes. Exactly like that,” Susan replies drily, stonefaced.

“YES. EXACTLY LIKE THAT,” Flak exclaims enthusiastically over his partner. Susan sighs.

“So, what’s your diagnosis?” You ask Em. “Just don’t get them stuck into melee at all?”

“I mean, if you can help it, yes,” Em says. “But right now all we could really do is drill on safely breaking away from an engagement.”

>Screw that. The mavericks aren’t going to play by our rules, let’s get some offense training.
>We may as well play defensive, we’re trying to conserve what we have left.
>Other?

>>45678226
Rezzy is a strong and mean sonovabitch. From what is known, he could possibly take Tanker and Schwarz on at the same time and have good odds.

>>45680793
>We may as well play defensive, we’re trying to conserve what we have left.

So what would be the price for booster packs?

>>45680815
Thanks for clearing up the blatantly obvious fact that he's a G-rank.

>>45680793
>We may as well play defensive, we’re trying to conserve what we have left.

>>45680793
>We may as well play defensive, we’re trying to conserve what we have left.
if we can keep the alive long enough then they can learn how to hit people really really hard.

>>45680793
>We may as well play defensive, we’re trying to conserve what we have left.

Best to keep hold of good men while we have them.

>>45680793
>We may as well play defensive, we’re trying to conserve what we have left.
Anode could stand some lessons on how to get a clean breakaway as well honestly.

>>45680793
So, what I'm seeing is that we need to turn our Berets into a squad of Batmen, with belts covered in gadgets for all sorts of scenarios.

>We may as well play defensive, we’re trying to conserve what we have left.

>>45680979
Let's dress them all up as Robin.

>>45680793
>We may as well play defensive, we’re trying to conserve what we have left.

I also approve of Beret belts, persay >>45680979

>>45680793
Go for defense. Learning footwork, defensive fighting and ways to delay can help both us and the berets. If anything, the small things can help us deal with foes who try and pull a Em sim on us again.

>>45680998
this reminds me, did we ever give Cath her utility belt? I'm half expecting her to go on her next mission wearing a cape or something once she finds out that the belt is actually functional.

>>45681048
Shit, we never did. And we never got a present from her, either!

>>45680793
>We may as well play defensive, we’re trying to conserve what we have left.

The "My defense is an agressive offense" tactic works for Annode because he has armor. A Lot of armor. Me-thinks it will be less successful for our Berets.

>>45680998
Yes.

>>45680793
Play defensive. It'll be more useful for weaker units like them.

Give each of them 2 or 3 single-use items that let them hit well-outside their weight class.

Exploit the overconfidence of custom model mavs, basically.

>>45681802
That'd be great if we can afford it, but I have a feeling we can't.

>>45681962
Plus there's the whole lockdown thing that prevents any supply shipments from coming into base

>>45682009
Yeah, well, I'm thinking that it'd be more of a long-term/future thing. It's not like anyone's gonna deploy before the lockdown ends.

>>45681802
I like it, but we need to be defensive as well.

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>>45680835
>>45680912
>>45680915
>>45680926
>>45680936
>>45680979
>>45681013
>>45681027
>>45681122
>>45681190

It’s an easy decision. “No sense learning how to literally fall on our swords,” you note.

“Sabers,” he corrects again.

“Yeah, yeah. It’s a saying. Either way, let’s learn defense.”

Em nods. “Okay, whatever you’ve got for standard issue, let’s start there. Clear a space. I’m going to hit you. You’re going to try to dodge and I’m gonna tell you where you fucked up.”

He’s… not wrong. The Berets are good--Susan in particular has more than a few tricky moves you suspect he picked up from LT--but no one, least of all you, can get more than two steps from Emerald before he has a blade to their side or his leg behind theirs, sending them sprawling.

“Better,” he says, each time he throws someone for a loop.

Your personal takeaway is somewhat more painful.

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>>45682615
>45682615
“You have all this cool shit, man,” Em says, clearly exasperated. “Why in the hell don’t you use it?”

Slow, medium, and fast engagement, options to break away if you leave them open, a robust, augmented dash that can take you out of danger fast, the jump jets doubling as a defensive offense to ward off attack while moving… you hate to admit it, but he’s right. You’ve been so focused on either being in melee or being at range, you haven’t really learned to meter out your resources.

“Like, okay, take that jump jet,” Em says. “Come in with that, right? But then jump right back out on a dash. Hit and run, use your momentum and then get back out if you can’t stand up and fight. Or do it the other way around. Just don’t stay there if you don’t wanna be there.”

Some humility and education beaten into you, and the Berets able to make it at least one step without taking a hit, if not two, the squad breaks off to take care of their own duties--and start trying to adjust to this ablative armor they’ll be strapping on.

>Get some one-on-one practice in. You very clearly need it.
>Go see someone/do something else. Specify.

>>45682638
>Get some one-on-one practice in. You very clearly need it.
We really, really do.

>Get some one-on-one practice in. You very clearly need it.

Anything that'll keep us alive is good.

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>>45682638
>Get some one-on-one practice in. You very clearly need it.
It is high time we git gud

>>45682638
>Get some one-on-one practice in. You very clearly need it.

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>>45682638
>>Get some one-on-one practice in. You very clearly need it.
And how.

>>45682638

>Get some one-on-one practice in. You very clearly need it.

>>45682638
>Get some one-on-one practice in. You very clearly need it.

>>45682638
>>Get some one-on-one practice in. You very clearly need it.
time to stop sucking

>>45682638

>Get some one-on-one practice in. You very clearly need it.

Use our unparalleled mobility as mobility? Curious ideas. How and or why are we still alive?

>>45682638
>Get some one-on-one practice in. You very clearly need it.

We just got our ass handed to us preeeeetty by nerdbot 2000. We need all of the practice.

>>45682920
First season plot armor, mostly.

>>45683056
Yeah I'd say it's pretty clear that we very much can die here. I mean given how much of a beating foxie-loxie gave us despite being... what, a low-end B?

>>45683181
Soulfire, while a B, was not a good match up for us. We are not good at handling tricks, we are not that skilled with nimble foes, and for the most part she whittled us down with those fake mavs.

Besides, while it does offer a general look, we really shouldn't rely on the threat level. A good match up goes much smoother than a poor one.

>>45682638
>>Get some one-on-one practice in. You very clearly need it.

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The food coma is real. Stand by.

>>45682638
>Get some one-on-one practice in. You very clearly need it.

Food first of course though.

>>45683494
HC, how much of a big deal was it to get a personal letter from Rhodes and a lifetime pension? 'That's nice' level or 'holy crap' level?

>>45683318
Yeah I know ranks are really only a guideline at best, I'm just saying that she got us with good planning. Imagine someone who's tougher than her and just as smart.

>>45683750
Good planning, great terrain, access to information on our previous enemies AND we had shit sensors. I'm surprised we didn't die.

>>45683788
Yeah, she was the info-queen, that's for sure.

>>45683697
In terms of decommission? Standard.

So I have a question about booster packs, it says there disposable but does that just mean they can be taken off and refueled once they run out of juice or that they're made in mass to be used then dumped once they're spent? Because something like that sounds reusable but everyone is talking like they like our batteries we once we use them they're done unless we buy another one.

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>>45682667
>>45682696
>>45682722
>>45682726
>>45682734
>>45682763
>>45682782
>>45682788
>>45682920
>>45682954
“So, what, straight up spar now?” you ask.

“Wouldn’t do either of us any good,” Em says, heading over to a rack of long pole sparring weapons and tossing one up overhead, catching it between his fingers. He tosses it to you and grabs another, shorter one for himself. “Actually, that reminds me--you’ve got that ex-Seventh on your list, right?”

“Wren,” you say. “Yeah. I’m not looking forward to that one.”

Em’s voice falls. “Diamond told me about her. He didn’t do much work with her, and Albatross said she was out in the air when he--when he would’ve been killed. So I know it wasn’t her, but...”

“But she might know something?” You ask. He nods.

“More than that… she’s good, Anode. Really good.” He chuckles darkly. “Diamond was thinking of trying to set us up together.”

Oof. “I’ll be careful. And I’ll try to get some info out of her, but it sounds like--”

“She’s pretty well gone, yeah. Don’t risk your life for it. It’s not worth it, but if you can…”

You nod. “I will. Promise.”

“Thanks, man. In the meantime!” He rolls the stick over his forearm and catches it in a reverse grip, flipping it back up between his fingers and repeating. “I’m gonna try to teach you some not die.”

In an eyeblink, he’s rushing you down, weapon low and aiming for a jab at your ribs. “Don’t get hit,” Em growls.

>SCHWARZHUND SAYS WHAT YOU TINY FUCK?
>OH SURE LET ME GET RIGHT ON THAT.

>>45684897
>>OH SURE LET ME GET RIGHT ON THAT.
We both know we're getting hit, no sense trying to pretend otherwise. Lets make sure we try and learn from our beating.

>>45684897
>SCHWARZHUND SAYS WHAT YOU TINY FUCK?
YOU LIMA BEAN PIECE O' SHIT

>>45684897
>Curl up in a ball and cry

>>45684897
>SCHWARZHUND SAYS WHAT YOU TINY FUCK?
Focus on dodging (obviously), but if we can I'd love to rap Em on the helmet at least once when he's not expecting it. If nothing else, pull the "I let myself be killed so that I could kill you" tactic right at the very end so that we at least hit him.

>>45685002
EDAMAME-LOOKIN' MOTHERFUCKER

>>45684897
>>OH SURE LET ME GET RIGHT ON THAT.
can we boost ourselves up and then use our flaming tackle to slam into the ground to try and knock him off balance? I mean he did say we should use our cool shit more.

>>45684897
>Footwork, dash out of the way

>>45685209
Seconding this. Surprise him.

>>45685345
So long as we're confident we can avoid hitting him I totally third.

>>45684897

>SCHWARZHUND SAYS WHAT YOU TINY FUCK?

WWSHD? What would Schwarzhund do?

>>45685440
Get killed/captured by Mavericks, apparently.

>>45685479

I find your lack of faith...disturbing.

>>45685479
Uncalled for

>>45685432
Fourth on this.

>>45684897
>Become Batdog.

>>45684897

>SCHWARZHUND SAYS WHAT YOU TINY FUCK?
use some cheap moves to trick him. Be cheap and try using the new systems to their best. However, this is a learning experience. 'Lose here, win there.'. Be sure to learn from every swat to the eye.

>>45685523
Considering the hints that The Dark One keeps dropping... it doesn't seem all that unlikely.

so what were all the upgrades we gave to the bravely broken again? I know we gave them
-blackout missile luncher
-better armor
-shields
but what else do they get? I could have sworn we gave them a better blaster as well.

>>45686187
They didn't get shields. Think they got a toolkit each.

>>45686187
The team received ablative armor and improved buster rifles, along with a beam saber and a general utility toolkit. You also ordered one four-shot blackout rocket launcher, which is going to Flak as the heavy weapons expert.

>>45686350
>>45686391
ah thank you.

Also how many barets do we have in the bravely broken? I know at least 3 but I want to say 5

>>45686425
4 Berets, no barets.

>>45686425
Team of four. Susan is the unofficial lead, with Flak as the heavy gunner. Two more Berets you don't know as well named Marx and DerbY (he sometimes goes by either Derby or Y) round out the rest.

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>>45685970
Hello... friends...

>>45686541
GAH!!! AND I TOOK SUCH CARE NOT TO INVOKE THE SUMMONS!

>>45686541
wow you're late, glad you got here just in time to see our duel with em. So you going to hope we get our canned asses handed to us or going to be on the "laugh as we accidentally take the spar a little to far" train of thought tonight?

>>45686689
>duel
You mean one-sided ass-kicking, right?

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>>45686541
>>45686689

>>45686689
Well, I wasn't needed here. No bloodshed, you see. I assure you I was watching from afar.

>>45686755
you know if you ever find yourself with some free time you should write up the fight em did against the sigma sim while drunk so we can all laugh at him.

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>>45686813
>HC
>free time

You're a card, anon.

To be honest, it'd be a whole lot of nothing on account of how long it didn't last. It basically went as follows:

"This was the best idea!"

>5 seconds pass

>"THIS WAS THE WORST IDEA."

>>45686871
see you already did and and I can't find my sides anymore.

>>45686871
The pizza reminds me: once they start allowing deliveries again, we should order takeout for everyone, maybe for movie night. Get Emerald some nutrition other than nuts and booze.

>>45686922
Yeah, and it'd be nice to get people's minds off of all the recent unpleasantness, if only for a little while.

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>>45684979
>>45685209
>>45685238
>>45685345
>>45685432
>>45685590
"Oh fuck this shit to the moon and back," you mutter, leaping backwards as he surges ahead.

"Sides, not straight back!" He calls. "And too far, takes too long to land and adjust! Again!"

He lunges, this time with the stick low and swings up and around. You move with it, leaping skyward--sure enough, you see him winding up for the punishing counterstrike--


And you plunge back down rather abruptly, streaking fiery pinions from your jump jets, leading with your knee.

Emerald is, perhaps unsurprisingly, nowhere near as you kick up a plume of smoke in your landing. You feel like you’ve barely weathered the impact as you feel his sword clock you, hard, from the back and side of the head, actually sending you flying. You tumble end-over-end, skidding a good thirty feet or so before you grind to an undignified halt.

“Points for the idea, but you gave me way too long to see it coming. I was already moving before you turned on the boosters.”

“What? Why?”

“Because I just got done lecturing you on overcommitting to your moves, and you chose the actual worst direction. You were clearly up to something.”

“Damn your common sense,” you mutter.

“Okay, next time, use your little zipline-y things.”

“You mean my ziplines?”

“Ask me if I’m above mollywopping you with the stick until your sister has to pull me off you, Anode.”

You dust yourself off with a grimace. “Yeah, yeah. Ziplines?”

“Right--if you’re going to go get airborne, control your descent or know where your enemy is going to be.”

Em is waiting for you to step back in within the marked circle of the Designated Asskicking Zone. You don’t doubt he’ll sprint you down again the second you cross it.
>Pick a trick and try it.

>>45687132
uh, take points from fox bitch and try to use your dash and boost to out speed him and never attack him head on and whenever he it seems like he's going to catch us pull back and use cables to lay down a trip wire to try and trip him down our slow him down so we can reposition and attack again from anywhere that isn't his front?

>>45687132
Get to dashing and zig-zagging, but use our EAS to stop short on a zag. Continue trying to stagger motions like this.

>>45687132
>Dash thrice, normal dash to charge, electric dash backwards to force us to stop just outside of Em's range, fire booster to charge again
An attack trick, right?

>>45687280
More or less this. In theory I'm pretty sure we're actually more mobile than Em, it's just that he's predicting damn near everything we do, so let's quit being so predictable. Focus almost entirely on speed and controlling the distance, forget attacks for now.

>>45687132
Our lines are more usfful than you think. If we use them to anchor something, we can either clothsline him, or alter our course. Using multiple zip lines could keep us airborne and our dash can assist in suddenly changing directions. Don't attack head on, but be willing to discard a path for a better angle as well.

>>45687132
Try a sidestep, but then as were about to come to a stop, boost past and around him and hit him from the side, then jump back

Get up to speed, then use a zipline anchored to the ground to rapidly change directions while maintaining superfast speed.

>>45687132
>Ask him how you should ask out Sapphire

>>45687132
>Tell him you got to break in India's new nethers, attack while the mental image sears.

>>45687980
speaking of india we should get her down here some time as well. We did say we'd turn her into a ground pounder one day.

>Ask him what we should have done with the Saetos data

Then, when he's paralyzed by internal debate, attack.

>>45687947
No, we need to make sword innuendos! Sword innuendos up the wazoo!

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>>45687132
>“Ask me if I’m above mollywopping you with the stick until your sister has to pull me off you, Anode.”

>>45688355
Sword innuendoes AND suggest hitting on his sister AND hit on him for good measure.

>>45688446
Bring forth the confusion!

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Okay, so I'm gonna pause the thread for tonight in the hopes of getting some blissful shuteye. I know where the next post is going (I wrote myself some entertaining and cryptic shorthand notes so I don't forget; have fun with that, morning me), but man, I'm wiped.

The good news is that this latest shit at work I keep alluding vaguely to has finally been sorted out and it's a huge load off my mind. It also coincidentally helped me vastly re-engineer my schedule, mostly along the Fuck This axis. TL;DR, I should be able to run somewhat more frequently--sure as hell more frequently than once every month and a half.

For this thread, if it explodes, no big deal, if it survives, I'll try to update it, but it's always slow the second day, and I need to get some other weekend-y stuff done. It'll probably be only a couple posts, if that.

For now, good night, and as always, thank you for reading.

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>>45689260
Godspeed, Hunter Command

Well if anyone's still around and interested I could throw up a little something I wrote a while back. I'm a player in one of the games which got started up thanks to HC, and it's a backstory for a character. You guys might find it mildly interesting.

>>45689260
I'm also around briefly for Q&A

>>45689260
'Nite. Hope you sleep well.

>>45689735
Hm. Well here's a thing I've sort of wondered about for a while: How does Reploid pain work? I'd assume the stimulus to cause it is essentially the same as with humans, i.e. any injury will cause some and it will proportional to the severity of the wound, but my main question is whether it can be turned on/off or varied consciously and how that effect would be achieved medically.

>>45689899
Oh it can absolutely be turned off; "pain" is just a cocktail of surprise, dismay and system alerts caused by stimuli that have been detected as harmful. It's a utility more than anything.

Now in terms of being tortured, well, you can try and turn if off, but odds are that whoever's jacked you into a Reploid Iron Maiden has the means and the desire to make sure that you experience a massive amount of pain.

At any rate, Reploids can't typically be crippled by their nociception systems; without specialized software to screw with them, it really is just a subsystem that exists for threat identification and rapid reaction. So when Anode gets whacked with a stick by Em, what he's "feeling" is his nociception algorithms detecting an external hit with force = X correlating to active attacker Y.

>>45690065
Intriguing. Thank you for putting forth such a thorough answer.

>>45690065
Is it safe to say an EM Pulse would fuck with all all of those feelings and possibly feel more akin to torture for most unshielded reploids, in the sense of the small shotgun slug type deal?

>>45690603
It's likely it would interfere with the kinds of signals being sent and interpreted by various systems, which depending on backups might be experienced as pain, nausea, any number of things.

And with that, I'm out of here.

>>45687132
Use the fiery trails of the Saetos dash to mask a zipline aimed either behind us to quickly jerk us back, or towards the enemy for a punch/missericorde.

wonder if we can mix this up with some VWES tricks.

>>45687132
Electrified ziplines to with the enemy directly between them to zone out one plane of movement, while slingshotting forward with the lance out to cover a backward evasion.

Fire a slow travelling VWES weapon beforehand to cut off one more direction, and if/when they dodge in the last direction, use the Electric/Saetos dash.

>>45687132
Use the ziplines in perpendicular angles to become a spinning electric lance-top.

>>45692934
Bump

>>45696454
Just let this die guys. It'll sage out in the middle of tomorrow if we don't.

Do we have any stories of people trying to fight sim data of Zero?

schwarz died for your sins

>>45697443
He lives goddammit!

>>45697453
your faith is admirable, if misplaced.

hail sigma!

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>>45687279
>>45687280
>>45687296
>>45687466
>>45687476
>>45687732
>>45687823
All right, he wants some cables, the little bastard can have some cables. You throw a pair of coils, one high and one low, anchoring in to the ground at the edge of the circle. Pulling them both taut, you put yourself in the middle of the lines and let them both reel you in with a sharp jerk of motion. You cut the lines on an upward arc and let yourself sail free as they fall slack, launching another at the ground and yanking yourself back to earth fast.

Em advances to hit, but you anticipated that--rather than try to land on your feet, you tuck and roll as you land, rolling with the impact and preserving your speed as you feel his swing overhead. The move carries you clear, and before you lose momentum, you plant another cable at the center of the ring and trigger a dash, rocketing off. You feed weapon energy into the line for a moment before letting it go taut and sling you around.

Not content to sit there and let you style on him, however, Emerald’s drawn a beam knife and hacked through your line. You fire two more on either side of him and retract both at once, lurching forward--and as it comes off cooldown, hit your booster pack again, the braided lines taking on a dull red glow as they heat.

You still have some lateral motion from the first line, swinging you around fast and furious on a slingshot intercept. The world moves in a stuttering slideshow as you come in for impact, your own weapon almost an afterthought after your inertia.

Then with a sick snap, you impact. You slam to a halt almost instantly, Em blocking your strike with his own weapon, backed by a shimmering field from his off-hand, bracing the “blade” of his stick against it. The two of you skid back to the edge of the circle, Em’s heels digging shallow scratches all the way across.

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>>45698274
“Boop,” he says lightly, at the very end, rolling backwards and kicking you over his head to land ungracefully behind him. “That was good! Telegraphed to hell and way too much setup time, but you might have something there.”

“Didn’t really work, I thought,” you reply, pulling yourself up by the coil you left anchored to the ceiling like a rope.

Em shrugs, shaking out his hand (and the overheating repulsor gauntlet on it). “If you’re going to maneuver like that, you need to be good at it. Be able to adjust your trajectory on the fly and come in from any angle. And you fell a bit short on the attack itself, you need to get better about engaging. On your left.”

You look to your side just in time to catch Looey’s boots to your face as he drop-kicks you back across the table. “UNANNOUNCED DISCHARGE OF LIVE WEAPONS IS AN ARTICLE FOUR CATEGORY SEVEN-THREE DOOOOOOOON’T DO THAT!” he booms.

“Ow,” you mutter blankly, facedown to the earth.

“Confirmed, sierra november lima whiskey niner-niner,” LT says, “we have an oopsie. Tower, acknowledge.”

Em snickers and pulls you back up. “All good, man. You okay?”

“I hate you and I hate everyone on this base,” you reply brightly.

“Lima lima delta six thrombosis two-seven actual,” LT opines.

Flak’s comms ping in your ear, still bearing the faint traces of mirth from where your team was almost assuredly laughing their asses off at you. “He, uh, wants you to police all those lines you were firing.”

>When we're done. I got more to try.
>Yeah, all right, let's give it a rest.

>>45698286
>Yeah, all right, let's give it a rest.

>>45698286
>When we're done. I got more to try.
but really, I'm just spitballing the craziest stuff I can because I've already forgotten Anode's loadout beyond ziplines, lance, missericorde, and saetos dash.

>>45698286
>Yeah, all right, let's give it a rest.

>>45698286
>When we're done. I got more to try.

>>45698344
I was not expecting the T-Coil to be Anode's most-used VWES weapon.

>>45698286
>yeah, all right, let's give it a rest.
We should look into setting up a obstacle course for high maneuvering and thruster control. A safe place to practice our wires and a good spot for others to train their wall jumps. Maybe with LT throwing wrenches at people to serve as a dodge ball thing?

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>Yeah, all right, lets give it a rest.

>>45698286
>When we're done. I got more to try.
Also, Command, can we invite LT to be part of the Bravely Broken?

>>45698667
You could try, yeah.

>>45698286
>Let's give it a rest

>>45698286
>Yeah, all right, let's give it a rest.
Think up mobility exercises, reaction time training, shit like that. We are fast but we ain't using it. That's a problem.

>>45698667
I wouldn't recommend it. Looey is more useful on the range coordinating the berets and teaching them than on the battlefield. I'd rather not risk him.

Random question: we've like 4 kinds of boost, right? How far could we potentially move if we switched from one to another? Also how fast could we go if we activated all of them at the same time?

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>>45699078
Depends on your capacitor charge and how much of it you used for the raikousen.

Also, yeah, you actually do have four total.
1: T. Coil ziplines (after extensive data upgrading)
2: Improved EAS (optimized for better distance and shorter turnaround for re-use on the ground)
3: Saetos jump-jets (tuned offensive, flaming tackle that can be used in the air, roughly the same as another dash)
4: Raikousen (fastest option, requires you to bleed capacitor charge)

Note that doing all of those to get max speed and distance will overheat the living hell out of your dash systems, so it's not something you can make a habit of doing all the time. In terms of pure ground coverage, though, man, it can take you places.

>>45699168
>>45699078
Oh, and to answer your second question, you couldn't really use them all together. Raikousen IS an evolution of your existing dash system, so firing one precludes the other. The jump-jets would either outstrip or be outstripped by the raikousen, and your zipline speed is limited by how fast they can retract. If you're moving faster than they can pull line in, you're not going to get any benefit from it.

TL;DR you could move from one to the other, but not all of them at a time.

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>>45698310
>>45698365
>>45698397
>>45698496
>>45698995
>>45699011
You sigh. "Yeah, we're done here. Thanks, Em. I think."

He grins. "Hey, no problem. Next time maybe we can actually get some work in on your engaging and disengaging. That’s the last big thing. In the meantime, just keep those options open. With all that move and zoom, you should be entering and leaving melee at will."

Em helps you collect and remove the stray coils; after a moment, so does Flak, perhaps feeling a little chagrined for laughing. You grimace as you hold on to the rafters with one arm, reaching for the last coil left, one you put in the ceiling. Grabbing it by the base, you tug at the anchor until it finally pulls free, then drop back down after it as it falls.

The Berets promise to drill on melee defense further over the next few days--Flak in particular is having a rougher time of it with his heavy weapons. Susan reminds him that he still has to adjust to their ablative armor kits, which will definitely trip them up even further. Still, even with the adjustments necessary, better armor and training will pay dividends in the long run. You hope.

You killed a good few hours, and between the hunt, the repairs, the training, and your drinks at the Pond--the Dodo, now, you guess, still not used to that--you’re feeling pretty tired. The second leg of your repairs is still a ways out. You could go crash, or see if you can find someone. Em’s gone off on that mission with Rezador, no small amount of grim expectation on his face.

>Look for Grach.
>Look for India.
>Other?

>>45699641
>Look for Grach.
Let's talk to everyone's favorite POW.

>>45699641
>Look for Grach.

>>45699641
>Look for Grach.

Seek his knowledge to defeat the Green Menace.

>>45699641
>Graaaaaaaach

>>45699641
>Look for Grach
now to get good some more.Once things are not shut down, I think we should see India to start work on the fighters.

>>45699641
>Look for Grach.
Quiz him on Los Mortales while we're there.

>>45699641

> Look for Grach

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>>45699684
>>45699693
>>45699714
>>45699737
>>45699759
>>45700216
>>45700295
You decide to keep your self-improvement spree up by going to see your favorite ex-deathsquad soldier.

Grach proves to be a little difficult to find, perhaps unsurprisingly. He wasn’t at the range and you haven’t seen his handlers anywhere. You have to put in a request with Gopher to track the guy down. No sooner do you do that, of course, do you manage to run into him just returning to base. Mike throws a wave as you approach.

“What, you sneak off?” you ask.

Grach smiles. “No, something far more sinister is afoot.”

“You… got traded to the Russians for three baseball cards and a handful of Cracker Jack?”

“Four baseball cards, thank you. One was foil,” He replies. “No, I’m afraid I went and got myself a job.”

“Beg pardon?”.

“I was already in talks to prolong my ‘arrest’ with the hunters. For my own protection, of course, it’s interesting where having no legal rights in any country will take you. With the change in leadership, and his announcement about reinstating the Tenth unit...”

“You’re a hunter?”

He chuckles. “I’m a contractor.”

“We--well, he--just got finished meeting the General,” Mike explains. “He was already past ‘find the best candidate’ and into hand-picking the first roster.”

“Halcyon may, in fact, be the antichrist,” Grach declares cheerfully. “But we wound up tapping a few production lines for the pilot, and pulling together a class from the enlisted of several units.”

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>>45700685
“He got some of his own homework, too,” Mike says. “Turns out the hunters aren’t really keen on the War Crime Special as a primary weapon for their collateral specialists.”

“Well, shit. Congratulations? Consolations?” You offer with a shrug.

“More the former, I think. Though I suppose this also means the end of Mike’s time as my minder. I’ll be given a full pardon.”

“Sounds too good to be true, with everything else going on lately,” you note. “Watch your back.”

“Of course.”

“Not as though this is goodbye, mind you,” Mike says. “I went ahead and volunteered for the 10th training. Assuming this lasts, they’ll have new lines for the job, but until then I can at least help make the playbook.”

“What then? What if he just burns the first generation and throws you all out when he’s done?”

“Well then, I go back to the 4th and act as a liaison for joint ops with 10th, or I resign and go head up civilian law enforcement somewhere,” Mike says cheerfully. “Maybe security consultant, help design the next generation of civic combat models.”

Grach nods. “It doesn’t really matter much what I do or where I go, in the end. I’ll find myself doing the same things.”

>That’s good.
>That’s… kinda fucked, really.

>>45700703
>That’s… kinda fucked, really.
Damn, no more training with Grach, then.

>>45700703
>That's good.
... I think. Was that meant to sound good or bad?

>>45700703
>That’s… kinda fucked, really.

>>45700820
Grach and Mike are both tapped for the first draft of the reestablished 10th civic division. Mike has a safety net of sorts, but Grach commented that even though he has a job now, he's stil a professional killer.

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>>45700845
Right but better killing Mavericks in an all out war than shady assassinations.

>>45700703
>That's good.
If he's going to kill, then at least he is helping people and teaching others the basics to save lives. Not much can be said about that really.

>>45700912
But 10th Civic is all about an absolute minimum of collateral damage.

>>45700942
Not any more.

>>45700942
the best assassinations are the ones with zero collateral damage.
not to be confused with Zero collateral damage

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>>45700942
>>45700981
The new 10th's motto will be "Our demolitions are controlled." obviously.

>>45700703
>That’s good.
Unfortunate implications aside, he's got a safety net himself, right?

>>45700942
That is true. If the target is taken down quickly, it can't really make a mess. Assassinations require there to be very little mess.

>>45700703
"That's rough, buddy."

>>45700703
>"Getting betrayed by your employers and having hit-teams sent after you, or trolling people with porn?"

Why has no-one died in this thread yet?

0/10 not what I came here for.

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>>45702358

>>45702408
Keeping the inevitable slaughter all to yourself? Nice try, but I'm onto you.

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Stand by, I just got massacred by housework. I might be dead.

>>45702848
One death already. It begins.

Belated birthday presents when? Emerald gets let off due to Dead Brother Syndrome.

bump

>>45703443
Well, Cath gave us ours already, Seven and Shark are mavs, Dodo and Conda are dead, Schwarz is MIA, India gave us a new capacitor so she's good, and Gibbon probably got lost in the mail.

>>45704635
Cath never gave us a gift.

>>45704701
Entertainment system that we watched movies with plus movies. It's how we realized our birthdays were coming up.

>>45704701
She did, our entertainment system

>>45704741
weren't we trying to oneup each other?

>>45704902
Yeah. We were trying to one up her gift. Hence the batman belt that works like the actual thing. She already gave us her gift so we'd have to give her ours. Unless it was given while we were out.

>>45703443
Speaking of Cath, considering we're getting moved in so that all the divisions are in closer contact, think we'll end up moving in with our sister?

>>45705061
Leeeeet's just shoot for "close to" if it comes up. I think it'd be best if we didn't actually share a room if that's at all possible.

>>45705061
Speaking as a middle child, the first thing you dream of growing up is getting your own room away from your siblings.

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>>45705130
What, don't want to walk in on Blitz?

Trying to write now that all my shit's sorted for the day, but it's slow (read: no) going. It's always rough to get things started again after long delays.

>>45705130
So what you mean is, we should find her room, move all our stuff in, wait for her to come in and excitedly tell her 'Isn't it great we've been assigned to share until they get enough quarters?'.

They'll hear her screaming all the way over in our hometown.

>>45705213
Now that I can get behind.

>>45705130
>>45705162
It was more "how bad do you think Halcyon will handle everything" than desire to be in the same quarters, though it would be nicer to be near her. On that note, every time Halcyon comes up, I am more and more convinced X4 is all his fault because he pissed off a contingent of hunters so much they said fuck it, they'll make their own just to not deal with that asshole.

>>45705610
Halcyon couldn't really complain, it's exactly what he did himself.

>>45705610
I thought the justification for the Repliforce was that there was a need for a more standard Reploid army separate from the hunters?

Been a while since I played X4, and in this quest at least, the Hunters seem much more militarized than they are in the games.

>>45705865
judging from the heightened number of not-virused mavericks in X5/6, I wonder if maybe Repliforce was made with the intention of countering attempts to use the Hunters as a political tool. As an organization that is more independent and runs on a strict hierarchy, it'd be harder to mobilize kill orders on just anyone.

Except Sigma fucks that all up.

>>45705990
Maybe by the time they roll around, we'll have had enough effect on the plot to change things for the better.

... Nah.

>>45706151
Hey, you never know. Gibbon could be that fateful mission Wolfang gets shot on, after all. Or maybe if we meet Dragoon we could give him other things to focus on than X and Zero, and maybe he could teach us a few more things that we are trying to learn sparring with Em.

>>45706571
We meet Dragoon, and he tells India that Repiforce has an air force. That's the last we see of her, except for the cartoon run-away smoke cloud.

>>45706753
>Implying she'd leave her husbando
She spent all her hero money on keeping us around, it'll take more than an air force to make her give us up.

>>45706753
He's still in the Grapplers though.

>>45706793
But anon, we're not the Tomcat or Crossmore. How can we be her husbando?

But more seriously, you telling me that if the positions were switched, and one of our bros was about to be decommissioned and we had the chance to prevent it, Anode wouldn't out of sheer bro love?

>>45706793
That reminds me, we need to look up her girlfriend. And troll her.

>>45706793
Air -and- space force. And funding. And respect. She'd be tempted at least.

>>45706867
True, but that does imply that Repliforce poached high-ranking operatives from the Hunters. Getting India would be a PR coup.

Somebody sidles up to her one day, "Hey, you want a job flying? i know a guy."

>>45700703
>>That’s good.

we are just as much of a killing machine as grach, no need to be angsty about our lack of life choices.

>>45707102
Yeah, but he pretty much just said he's never not going to be an assassin. That's a little different from us who could potentially work in a military or training civilian security forces if we were ever to retire from the hunters.

>>45707351
>who could potentially work in a military or training civilian security forces
Screw that, let's go to Hollywood!

aaaaaannnd we're over the bump limit. Still got aways to go before we fall off, but we're on a timer now.

>>45707610
bump limit is 310

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>>45707610
At this point I'm thoroughly out of it. Odds are good thread's done. Sorry, folks.

>>45708107
Das ok. it was nice while it lasted, thanks for another awesome weekend HC.

>>45708107
Thanks for running! Go get some sleep.

>>45708107
Aw... Still, thanks for the thread Command, good night

Thanks for the thread HC. You should probably get to bed now.

>>45708107
till next time then

>>45708107
thanks for running. these threads always make my week.