"Yeah, that sure is a nice hardsuit. Well, good luck with that."
Randomly choose a direction and go in that direction.
You take a single step to the north and then stop, having completed your goal. Specify direction, distance, and intent. Intent can mostly cover for a lack of the other two. You may include a few if/then statements in your actions, but if you want to take a random action roll for it yourself.
If the natives are aggressive then we'll put em down like dogs. But I agree no need for everyone to get start a war without needing too. All the same we will be here to cover you kid.
Send a repair drone to cling to Malcolm's hardsuit.
You release one of your drones and it attaches to Malcolm with a clunk. Note that the drone will still use up its power while attached. Maybe a bit slower.
"Agreed. I'm the only person here with a hardsuit, I can get out fastest if things go bad, and I'm the least scary, so I'll go in alone. You all better be ready to support me if they're axe crazy though, I really don't want to be hung out to dry. Zrand, are your guys good shots? I think you should stay back, in the trees, take overwatch positions--you're all at the most risk here. The natives might not be able to crack my armor, but I'll bet a ripvid that they can crack yours, heh."
Ask Zrand to stay back in the trees. Advance ahead of my allies, and once they're in position to act if necessary, start walking towards the town. Preferably from the trees. If all possible, I don't want to fly while within line of sight of the natives.
A repair drone clunks into your back and gives you a big hug with its insect-like legs. This would probably be suffocating if not for the armor.
We shall play infantry support for the Capitan and his men. When they advance we will stomp along with them and blast at anyone shooting them.
Follow and be ready to protect Malcom.
Y'all advance through the forest at a steady pace. You've gotten most of the way there and should be able to enter the village itself next turn, provided that whatever happens next turn doesn't prevent you from doing so...
(You guys don't use up arcane while operating normally like this. Ferrus still loses some for activating his drone.)
Name: Malcolm "Romeo" Vertix
Class: Hardsuit.
Appearance: Blue eyed, blond haired, and clearly takes care of his appearance. A friendly and carefree guy who naively became a pilot purely to hook up with 'alien' chicks, and who's quick to brag about his womanizing, not that he's actually had any success. He's never been particularly good at hunting either, but most of his superiors like him and tend to give him more leeway than his peers. That's how he ended up getting selected for first contact, in fact.
Mech Appearance: Pretty basic and boring, just the standard steel gray, with the only modifications being some gold trim and three small hearts drawn on the lower right side of his helmet. The hearts have had large cracks drawn through their center, a prank by his squadmates.
Arcane: 100/100
Attributes:
Charismatic
Resistant
Merciful
Inventory:
Semi-automatic anti-materiel sniper rifle (3A)
Fully-automatic drum-fed shotgun (2A)
Smart missile launcher (5A)
Snubnose Shot Revolver
Upgrades:
Name: X4-18
Class: Titan
Appearance: A gruff and muscular man, he constantly wears combat armor and a full face helmet with gasmask except when alone.
Mech Appearance: Gunmetal grey and mechanical. An older design which can't move as fast, but is quite flexible, able to swivel the whole torso 360 degrees.
Arcane: 100/100
Attributes:
Unrelenting
Engineer
Overconfident
Inventory:
Twin Miniguns (4A each)
Missile battery (7A)
Infantry Rifle
Gas Mask
Personal Armor
Upgrades:
Name: Doctor Arturus
Class: Modified Hardsuit
Appearance: Tall, thin, with piercing black eyes encased in thin, wireframed glasses, a long sharp nose, thin lips and pointed chin. He wears white, with silver highlights. White dress uniform, white flowing cloak, white gloves
Mech Appearance: All white, with red highlights, notable among them the big red cross on the back and sleeves
Arcane: 100/100
Attributes:
Medic
Armorer
Merciful
Inventory:
Mana Absorption Shield (0A if you successfully absorb an attack, 2A if not hit)
Modified Arcane Extractor (0A)
Medical Suite (2A)
Upgrades:
Name: Ferrus Veteris
Class: Tech gear
Appearance: A grizzled man with a scar over one eye and and hair that's just beginning to go gray. A veteran of a number of battles of the mech wars, he is noted for his skill as a mechanic frequently working on his own battle gear after the battle. Recently he has also taken up working accounts of skill both his own and those of his fallen comrades into the practical camouflage of his mech. Don't taunt him about it, he doesn't take it well. While he used to have a reputation for always wanting to be on the front lines and directly covering mechs as he made rapid repairs now a days he mostly is known to hang back and use his drones to repair them.
Mech Appearance: A battle gear that bears the marks of many battles, each of which has been repaired with varying degrees of competency and care, the welding at times elegant and paint job of mottled green with subtle designs of hypogryths and manticores worked into bearing either skilled artistry or the basest of apprenticeships. It's drones are similarly marked up, kept in excellent repair but clearly bear the marks of beasts and bullets.
Arcane: 97/100
Attributes:
Engineer
Wise
Merciful
Inventory:
"Contingent" Heavy Missile System (6A)
2x SMG Repair Drones (3A activation. Remain active for 3 turns before needing to recharge. If a drone does not dock before running out of energy, it will be lost.)
Long-Range Comms
Repair Tools
Infantry SMG
Upgrades:
Name: Aigresaur
Class: Titan
Appearance: A cute nubile youth in a green dinosaur onesie. His eyes are a striking blue and his beard an impressive brown, possibly due to not being washed regularly. He seems functional as a pilot, but he believes that he is a dinosaur and doesn't talk in complete sentences.
Mech Appearance: A standard mech painted with a feather pattern reminiscent of a dinosaur. There is a rather massive cannon mounted on the back.
Arcane: 100/100
Attributes:
Unrelenting
Resistant
Blood-lusty
Inventory:
Spinal Plasma Cannon (15A)
Point Defence Cannons (4A)
Big Chompy Dinosaur Maw (4A)
Crate of Beef Jerky
Jerry can of ultra-caffeinated caramel soda
Infantry Rifle
Personal Armor
Upgrades:
"I think we should prepare the village to evacuate. Whatever made that sound is definitely capable of tearing this place to shreds."
attempt to organize some evacuation if the village chief allows it. Better safe than sorry.
Help convince the village chief to allow this.
Then, head to the West while waving a white flag of peace. What little we know about this enemy indicates that it is sapient, and thus can be reasoned with.
[Convincing - Charismatic+, one does not simply argue with chiefs:
2 6] (You get two rolls because while charismatic+ would usually grant three rolls, the Chief is particularly stubborn.)
She spends some time arguing with you before eventually agreeing.
"It will take some time, but we'll start evacuating the town. I'm staying right here myself, however."[Scrounging: 3]
You manage to gather up some semi-acceptable white flags from poles and bedsheets. You wonder is the enemy will understand the gesture...
There is definitely a lot of stomping around going on to the West.
"Me."
I disappear, going invisible and using my Mage-mobility to rapidly go see what caused the noise, selfshifting to improve my balance, mobility, and especially my awareness.
The sunlight shimmers around you for a moment before you disappear, the light now passing through your body as if it was air. A moment later, some dust is kicked up where you were standing as you dash off.
[Selfshifting - Spiritual:
3 5] (You get two rolls because you're shifting into a from matching your spirit.)
You feel your ears grow larger, as they gain the ability to turn for directional hearing. Your mouth elongates into a snout with a powerful sense of smell, and your eyes grow keener. You gain a fuzzy tail that will assist in balance, and your legs get both lighter and stronger. You feel like you've gained enlightenment.
[Scouting - Aware, improved senses... titans being noisy:
2 6 4 5]
It almost feels insulting to be looking for such obvious creatures with your improved senses. You move quickly through the treetops, and spot your targets below.
The most obvious are the two giant bipedal machines, one of which looks rather clunky and is armed with two - (
two? who needs that much firepower?) miniguns, and the other is painted in a strange feather pattern and has big metal jaws attached to the front and a massive device which you suspect to be a very irresponsible weapon mounted on its back.
Next is the two smaller machines, about the same size as a man. One of them is carrying a pair of fancy-looking firearms and has a few crude heart symbols painted on its helmet. The other carries no apparent weapons and is painted bright white with some bizarre red symbols painted which you do not recognise. The one with the guns seems to be moving at the front of the group.
At the back of the group is a machine of intermediate size, with bent-back legs like a wolf. It's carrying what appears to be a very large RPG. As you watch, a much smaller flying machine emerges from its back and attaches itself to the man-sized machine with the guns.
Finally, accompanying the group is a small group of soldiers. They seem similar to the kinds of soldiers you're used to, but carry smaller guns. A pair of them carry sniper rifles in place of the other's LMGs, and the apparent leader has a shotgun strapped to his chest alongside his LMG.
The machines exhaust a gas with a strange smell that reminds you of blood mixed with smoke. Choking, but strangely sweet.
This procession seems to be heading East, towards the village.
Name: Donnel Adderson
Class: Weaponmaster (Razor Buckler)
Appearance: Pale skinned with brown eyes tinged with sea green, and messy brown hair with a goatee. He is average sized but on the thin side muscle-wise. He typically wears a gray and tunic and trouser pair with his spirit animal, an octopus, embroidered in green on the back.
Mana: 3/3
Push: 0/0
Attributes:
Quick witted
Medic
Merciful
Inventory:
Soulbound steel buckler shield with razor sharp edges
Steel chainmail hauberk
Steel-capped quarterstaff
Medical supplies
Advancements:
Name: Tanya Xelcarostia
Class: Shifter (Selfshifter / Lightshifter)
Appearance: Brown eyes, tan skin, brown hair bound in a ponytail, with moderately angular facial features. Short ad thinly built, with splotchy brown leather clothing. Spirit animal - swift fox.
Mana: 2/3
Push: 0/0
Attributes:
Aware
Spiritual
Frail
Inventory:
Silent Marksman's Rifle
First aid kit
Travel pack with food/water/survival gear
3 harmless smoke grenades
1 white phosphorus incendiary smoke grenade
Advancements: None
Name: Thomas Blackshroud
Class: Weaponmaster (Daggermacewhip)
Appearance: Thomas Blackshroud looks every bit the weaponmaster, pitch black hair, pitch black eyes(he wears contacts, they do stop him from seeing, but that's irrelevant...), black leather armor, black boots, black gloves... His Spirit Animal is the Bat
Mana: 3/3
Push: 0/0
Attributes:
Aware
Unrelenting
Blind
Inventory:
Black Getup
Soul-Bound Daggermacewhip
3 Smoke Bombs
Advancements:
Name: Malabus
Class: Shifter (Sameshift, Fleshshift)
Appearance: A mage in dark robes. Due to a previous fleshshifting... "incident", his face and physical features are constantly, slowly, and involuntarily changing. It only takes a few minutes for his appearance to change completely.
Spirit Animal: Chimp
Mana: 3/3
Push: 0/0
Attributes:
Charismatic+
Overconfident
Inventory:
Black Robes
Wooden Staff
Rat in a Cage
Lantern
Travel pack with food/water/survival gear
Advancements: