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[RAM]

Sit down in a cross legged position. Ask the humans about the Zartral. Attempt to show that you oppose the Zartral.

I would try to avoid indicating my position on Zartral without giving them a chance to indicate theirs. At the moment they still do not know what we are and should have little reason to lie about their affiliations.

[Flying Dice]

If your systems are inaccessible remotely, how are you terminated for breaking mission parameter 0?

In the event of Mission Parameter 0 failure, MIU units may be terminated using [REDACTED: LEVEL 16 SECURITY REQUIRED]. After detection of unit termination, [REDACTED:LEVEL 25 SECURITY REQUIRED] will dispatch next MIU unit in 34C sequence.

((Joking aside, kill-charges implanted in your personality center and in your backup memory, strong enough to render you nonfunctional without damaging your core reactor, and not removable without substantial damage to your personality and memories. Let's say that the entity which created your primary set of mission parameters does not want you killing free humans for no reason.))

____________________

You turn to face the humans. Aside from the child holding your hand, there are three in close proximity to you; all are armed. One has a medium-output UV laser capable of damaging your nonorganic body, while the other two carry flechette rifles. None appear hostile at the moment, though they do not relax their stance. One repeatedly glances toward the west. You can see movement to the north; at least four more humans are near the fence line.

You sit, and begin to speak, asking the humans who and what the Zartrali are, without revealing Mission Parameters 2b or 3b. Two of the adults and the child speak, each expressing a degree of distrust and anger. None are familiar with the origins of the Zartrali; after another question, it appears that all of these humans were born at least several dozen years after the invasion, and that neither they nor their comrades have had any contact with Zartrali forces beyond periodic raids on patrols and supply transports. They indicate that while the Zartrali have slightly superior technology and (to their knowledge) near-total control over the majority of the planet and human population, they show little willingness or desire to expand beyond human population centers any more than is necessary to maintain major transport routes and prevent incursions into cities and towns. When speaking in reference to the cities, the humans appear to be subconsciously fearful and angry, though they do not seem to notice this, nor do they mention it in their short explanation.

One of the humans asks you, "There, fair and fair about, strange one. Now who are you, and what is your affiliation with the Zarts?"

What do you do?

[Angle]

Answer the question honestly.

[RAM]

Answer the question honestly.

[Flying Dice]

You respond honestly, stating, "I am MIU-34C-001. Known data indicates that my relationship with Zartrali forces is to act as the agent of their destruction."

One of the humans quirks an eyebrow, responding, "Uh, 'Mew', is it? I don't know what sort of name that is, but if you're trying to kill Zarts, we were on our way to hit a supply convoy heading along the highway..."

Another of the humans pulls a crudely drawn map from his pack; it appears to provide the locations of local landmarks. You use it to estimate your position.



He briefly explain it. The green-banded zones are areas with significant tree cover; the blue line is a minor river; the grey line is the highway; the deltas are hills; and the crimson X is the location of a Zartrali outpost. He says that it supports somewhere around 55 Zartrali, including a pair of atmospheric strikecraft, one helicopter gunship, and a pair of IFVs, along with a number of light vehicles. Apparently, they occasionally scout the local area, but rarely deploy in force unless a convoy or patrol is attacked. You mark the map at your current position (the golden X). Another of the humans interjects, saying that their home is farther north than you currently are from the Zartrali base. He indicates that the base is roughly 2.3 miles from your current position.

The child waves to the other humans near the fence line, and they advance, weapons lowered. Several turn to watch the sky to the west. The humans collectively agree to provide shelter and more information if you help them raid the convoy. They say that their scout to the southeast reported that the convoy is approaching at normal speed and will reach the base in approximately 11 hours. The humans estimate that they can reach the highway and prepare a position for an ambush in 7 hours, provided you can keep up.

What do you do?

Note to MIU-34C-001: Mission Parameter 2a Accomplished. Well done!

[ComradeGafarov]

Get the humans towed through some haggard corn.

[Spinal_Taper]

What are our numbers. Also, set up the ambush, with us waiting later than the humans to attack. When the humans have their attention, use the railgun on their vehicles, lasering the infantry in the back at the same time, once they are focused on us, do the lightning pace sprint at them, then start slicing them to pieces.

[Angle]

What are our numbers. Also, set up the ambush, with us waiting later than the humans to attack. When the humans have their attention, use the railgun on their vehicles, lasering the infantry in the back at the same time, once they are focused on us, do the lightning pace sprint at them, then start slicing them to pieces.

Steal anything of value from the zartal while you're at it. We might need to arm our comrades better.

[Flying Dice]

The group of humans consists of 8 adults and one juvenile. They are armed primarily with flechette rifles and pistols, though they also have a UV laser rifle and an old-fashioned antimaterial rifle. You agree to assist them; you travel to the highway nearest the small hill marked on the map. The humans dig a pair of shallow foxholes slightly above the base of the hill; the human with the antimaterial rifle sets up on the far side of the hill in defilade. You wait.

__

It is 12:23 AM local time. You see the lights of a number of vehicles approaching from the east-southeast. One of the humans nearby runs a quick talley, estimating it at 4 cargo haulers and 3 aircushion scout cars. The humans wait until the vehicles are directly below them; at that point, you hear the report of the antimaterial rifle behind and above you. You switch to IR vision. You can see that the slug has penetrated the engine block of the first truck; the scout car ahead of it has halted and the infantry on board the trucks are dismounting. You count 3 Zartrali infantry in each truck, not counting the drivers, as well as two in each scout car. The other humans have begun firing, using the lights of the vehicles to adjust their fire. They are achieving poor accuracy; only one Zartrali has been hit. The Zartrali return fire, mostly towards the crest of the hill, as the flechette rifles have no muzzle flash and are virtually silent at beyond five or ten feet.

The human with the antimaterial rifle fires again, killing the driver of the rearmost truck. You presume that she has some sort of low-light vision device, given the marked difference in accuracy. You notice a scout car going off-road to the right of your position and deploy your railgun. Your first shot overpenetrates, apparently destroying one of the fan intakes, causing the left rim of the car's skirt to dig into the ground, flipping it. The driver appears to be dead; the gunner has taken cover behind the overturned vehicle.

It appears that your railgun accelerates rounds to a velocity significant enough to ignite the oxygen in the space through which it passes; a flaming contrail briefly appears, leading from the barrel of your railgun to the scout car. Six of the soldiers redirect their fire towards you, as does one of the scout cars. Two flechettes penetrate your biological layer over your stomach and detonate, causing repairable cosmetic damage. Moments later, a bolt of plasma from the mounted gun on the scout car impacts several feet behind you.

You leave the position, charging towards the scout car, firing your railgun and laser at the infantry in cover behind the trucks. Your first railgun shot punches through the cargo bed, the second through the forward pair of wheels. You cannot tell if either hit enemy forces. The laser discharge lasts for 2 seconds, burning a line through the side of the cargo bed. You deactivate it, as it would take sustained fire to penetrate the entire vehicle. You have now closed the distance to the scout car which has been targetting you. The gunner is frantically attempting to traverse his turret towards your new position. Towards the hill, you hear one human cry of pain, and more shots from the antimaterial rifle. A truck further down the line bursts into flame, presumably from extended firing of the human UV laser.

You are now 1.5 feet from the scout car. The gunner will take approximately 2.3 seconds to traverse his turret far enough to hit you. What do you do?

[Angle]

jump forward, engage in melee with sharp stuff.

[Spinal_Taper]

railgun the turretman.

[Aklyon]

railgun the turretman.

[Doomblade187]

railgun the turretman.

[Flying Dice]

You jump forward, firing your railgun at the turret gunner. The shot rips through the grip of his weapon, tearing off his left arm, and continues through his torso, nearly cutting him in half. Blood sprays across you, the driver, and most of the interior of the scout car. You land on top of the vehicle, beginning to deploy your nanite blade as you punch towards the driver in an attempt to stab him. However, the nanites do not have sufficient time to create a coherent form. Your punch connects, pulping the driver's skull.

There is one Zartrali behind the wrecked scout car which you destroyed earlier, and at most 14 dismounted infantry and truck drivers taking cover behind the stalled line of trucks and in the slight dip on the far side of the highway. There is a high probability that fewer than that are still alive, but you have not confirmed any kills beyond your attacks on the first two scout cars and the single infantry and driver killed by the human with the antimaterial rifle.

The third scout car continues to fire towards the hill.

What do you do?

______

Additional information:



Consider this to be a summation of your current knowledge of the tactical situation. Key:
-Crimson rectangles: Trucks
-Crimson ovals: scout cars
-Vehicles with black 'x': disabled (or uncrewed, in the case of the second scout car).
-Red 'x': Known dead Zartrali
-Blue 'x': Human firing position
-Blue arrow: direction human with antimaterial rifle is firing from
-Red polygon: suspected location of surviving Zartrali personnel
-Red dot: known location of dismounted Zartrali gunner
-Gold dot: your location

[Angle]

Shoot that lone zartrali gunner, then look for surviving zartrali.