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[Radio Controlled]

Are you a mech? Or at least a pilot? No? Not even the gm?

Spoiler: Then you better not click this spoiler! (click to show/hide)

1) Do we know how far the savanna stretches? Could we circumvent possible ambushes by going along the savanna until we're close to the FOB and then run through the forest over there, maybe using a weapon of some sorts to burn ourselves a path through? I made a small map to illustrate the idea (blue lines are the path we would be using):



2) How long would it take us to walk to the FOB from the base, assuming we use the existing forest path and that all mechs are in low power? Since the FOB is about 13 km away, and a human adult can easily walk at 6 km/h, I'm guessing about 2 hours-ish?
3) Same, but with all mechs on high power and going as fast as we can?
4) Assuming we don't get attacked in a turn of such traveling, how much time does 1 turn take (to calculate how much arcane we'll need and such).
5) Assuming we'd use it for clearing a new path through the forest to go through, what is the max range of the Devastator Lance? What about the Plasma cannon?
6) How will you deal with issues of a turn of combat (presumably) not covering as much in-game time as a turn of traveling? Are we looking at fluid time here?

[Parisbre56]

Spoiler: Action (click to show/hide)

((Hm, guess that flaw I took limits the amount of control (or even interaction) I can have with my teammates. Oh well, at least I got some good bonuses out of it.))

If it's not too much trouble, I'd like a bit more detailed description of the FOB and the surrounding area. Has the jungle been cleared? If so, how much? Do wild animals come near the FOB or are they scared of the FOB? Does the FOB have any walls/barbed wire fences/sandbags/whatever surrounding the camp? If it does then what's the entrance like? Does it turn on lights/searchlights during the night? Are we living in personal tents or containers or one large communal room? Do we have doors, do the doors have locks? Do we keep our supplies out in the open, in containers, under camouflage nets, in tents? Have we done anything to protect our supplies from the local wildlife, do they have a habit of stealing our supplies or sucking us dry? Do we have constant radio contact, do we receive messengers or are we mostly cut off and worried?

I don't need it to be too detailed nor do I need answers for all those questions, just anything that would give me a better feel of the setting and what I have to work with. Because there's a big difference between a modern military base and some conquistadors camping in the jungle.

Second, I assume we're not constantly in our mechs, wasting fuel, unless we're on guard duty or using the mechs to move stuff around. So in that case my mech is parked wherever commander Isabel says we do so, probably some well defended spot.

Third, would the base benefit from me installing some alarms in the surrounding area or does it already have appropriate fortifications/security systems? Or is the local wildlife too likely to trigger them, making them useless due to the amount of possible false alarms?

If yes, go ahead and set some simple alarms up, it should be a quick and easy addition to our security. You know, things like tripwires linked to cans/flareguns/grenades placed between trees or broken glass on entrances. Unless the commander sees what I'm doing and orders me not to.

If no, then instead I will find a good vantage point/hiding place (maybe some nook on my mech?) and try to tune my senses to the noises of the forest and the movement of its wildlife. An approaching enemy (or friend) will be detected by the forest long before I do.

Spoiler: Character Sheet (click to show/hide)

Parisbre56
Name: Eshu Quaermius
Appearance: Pale and thin. Shiny long dark hair. Thick beard obscures most of his face. Wears his uniform but doesn't really take care of it, leaving it crumpled and slightly torn. Should his uniform ever be removed, one could see the traditional tribal tattoos marking his body and some scars that remind him of past hunts.
Personality: Quiet, focused, direct, sticks to himself, prone to anger, quick to violence. ((27: Don't be afraid to be the first to resort to violence.))
XP: 0
Health: Fine.
Traits:
   Hunter's Aim
   Strong-willed
   Antisocial
Inventory:
   Ceremonial Knife
   Bone flute
   Standard survival kit
   Infantry Rifle (60/180)

Titan "Gidaia"
      Appearance: Painted an intimidating matte black. Lights on head change color depending on emotion. Emits distorted mechanical noises instead of speech.

      Arcane: 100/100
         Low-power (3A)
         Combat mode (10A)
      Integrity:
         Torso: 100/100
         RArm: 25/25
         LArm: 25/25
         RLeg: 40/40
         LLeg: 40/40
      Hardpoints: ((Refer to Armory section of OP for farther information))
         Heavy weaponR: Vulcan Cannon (800) ((You better believe that these mech suits count stuff by the bullet.))
         Heavy weaponL: MacroFlamer FR3 (1/8)
         Heavy weaponB: Devastator Lance (13A) (1/3) ((37: There is no 'overkill.' There is only 'open fire' and 'reload.'))
      
4th Rose Exo
Leader: Isabel Harstall
   Custom Exo
      20A
   Gauss Revolver
   Micro-Plasma
Morale: Weary
3x Exo Scout
   Light Exo
      10A
   Special Rifle (silenced bullpup)
   Binoculars
   First-aid kit
2x Exo Assault
   Jump Exo
      15A
   Double-Barrel hybrid shotgun
   Satchel Charge
   First-aid kit
1x Exo Superheavy
   Heavy Exo
      15A
   Minigun

[Yottawhat]

Spoiler: Mage Action (click to show/hide)

"ALRIGHT! Listen up you bunch of maggots! Command has gracefully sent your raggedy ass settlement the glorious firepower of three high class magi. I'm Niko the leader of this squad, the older foxy lady to my left is Tanya. She our very special scout and animal lover.  To my right is the group medic Donnell. He's as tough as stone, strong enough shatter stone with his bare hands but apparently lacks the stones to off a guy. Now that the introductions are out of the way, here's the plan I concocted on the way here to take out the alien convey, and by extension, their base.   
No thanks necessary.
-Have Konna Judge, Tanya, and a hunter scout the forest with an eye to tracking
-The remaining troops will start cutting into the larger trees near the supply root, so that Donnell can kick/throw them on a moment notice.
-As the convey is moving through, the remaining militia and any mages that opts to help out will open fire at the front of the convey, aiming to distract rather than dealing any damage.
-The remaining mages will then precede to flank from the rear, aiming to destroy the supply vehicles.


((Mage players are free to disagree or change the plan. I just wanted to throw something out there so Egan doesn't have to wait for us.))

[Egan_BW]

The sky is overcast, it seems likely that it'll rain today or tonight. The birds in the forest seem quiet, and people are a little less energized than usual.

Spoiler: mech stuffs (click to show/hide)

1.Can we choose what Aux equipment the logistics mechs get?
2.Can we choose when what gets shipped?
3.Can our mechs carry any significant amount of supplies, or are multiple runs required?  We've got four logistics mechs, but six loads to deliver.

4.Can those of us with ammo-using weapons/drones get extra ammo from the supplies?
5.Can Jag get fireproof inferno drones, which just spray lots of fire all around them indiscriminately?
6.Do both bases have repair facilities, equivalent or better than repair drones?

7.If Jag just fired six Heavy Napalm missiles into the forest on the first day, would that be enough to start a massive wildfire, or are those missiles just depressingly weak?
8.Is all terrain within seven kilometers (~the maximum range of modern man-portable mortars) of the supply route and FOB itself forested, or is some of that savannah?
9.Have we done any aeriel scouting of the AO, and if so, are there any large, obvious clearings in the forest?

Here's a fun video you should watch, which certainly isn't related to the game in any way and has no ulterior motives behind it.  I just thought you'd like to watch something neat after answering nine bullet points.

1: No. I'll include those loadouts in this turn. Probably.
2: That's up to Jarn. You can talk to him, you know.
3: You could carry 2 additional tons on a Stalker or Battle Gear, 3 on a Titan. Hardsuits can't carry enough to matter. Mounting cargo on your mechs will naturally make them heavier, which could be a small issue over hard terrain. You could dismount your weapons to decrease weight, but this will not allow you to carry more cargo.

4: Yes. Might require a (low-risk) roll to find the right stuff, and any major expenditure of those supplies will result in partial failure. But it's possible.
5: Tinker it, tinkermaster.
6: Better than repair drones. The FOB isn't as good as the main base, though.

7: This is a leading question so I won't answer~
8: The supply route starts at the base, which is in the treeline between forest and savanna. So if they sat in the savanna near the base, they could fire over the base and into the forest. Is that what you mean?
9: Scout drones indicate no large clearings.

10: Congrats, L Missile now has a misfire chance!

1) Do we know how far the savanna stretches? Could we circumvent possible ambushes by going along the savanna until we're close to the FOB and then run through the forest over there, maybe using a weapon of some sorts to burn ourselves a path through? I made a small map to illustrate the idea (blue lines are the path we would be using):



2) How long would it take us to walk to the FOB from the base, assuming we use the existing forest path and that all mechs are in low power? Since the FOB is about 13 km away, and a human adult can easily walk at 6 km/h, I'm guessing about 2 hours-ish?
3) Same, but with all mechs on high power and going as fast as we can?
4) Assuming we don't get attacked in a turn of such traveling, how much time does 1 turn take (to calculate how much arcane we'll need and such).
5) Assuming we'd use it for clearing a new path through the forest to go through, what is the max range of the Devastator Lance? What about the Plasma cannon?
6) How will you deal with issues of a turn of combat (presumably) not covering as much in-game time as a turn of traveling? Are we looking at fluid time here?

1: The base is the closest point to the FOB. You could maybe circumvent an ambush by traveling through the savanna, but it would involve a longer trip through the forest.

2: 2 hours-ish sounds about right, but it takes as long as narratively convenient. AKA whatever's convenient to get you into a fight, because this is a game about fights I dunno if you noticed.
3: 30 minutes? Stalker is faster than the others, but probably wouldn't make it that far on combat power.
4: A turn takes exactly 1 turn. Because you're asking how many to get there, I'll say 8 turns of arcane consumption.
5: Not nearly far enough.
6: The flow of time is fucking convoluted in lordran okay

((Hm, guess that flaw I took limits the amount of control (or even interaction) I can have with my teammates. Oh well, at least I got some good bonuses out of it.))

If it's not too much trouble, I'd like a bit more detailed description of the FOB and the surrounding area. Has the jungle been cleared? If so, how much? Do wild animals come near the FOB or are they scared of the FOB? Does the FOB have any walls/barbed wire fences/sandbags/whatever surrounding the camp? If it does then what's the entrance like? Does it turn on lights/searchlights during the night? Are we living in personal tents or containers or one large communal room? Do we have doors, do the doors have locks? Do we keep our supplies out in the open, in containers, under camouflage nets, in tents? Have we done anything to protect our supplies from the local wildlife, do they have a habit of stealing our supplies or sucking us dry? Do we have constant radio contact, do we receive messengers or are we mostly cut off and worried?

I don't need it to be too detailed nor do I need answers for all those questions, just anything that would give me a better feel of the setting and what I have to work with. Because there's a big difference between a modern military base and some conquistadors camping in the jungle.

Second, I assume we're not constantly in our mechs, wasting fuel, unless we're on guard duty or using the mechs to move stuff around. So in that case my mech is parked wherever commander Isabel says we do so, probably some well defended spot.

Third, would the base benefit from me installing some alarms in the surrounding area or does it already have appropriate fortifications/security systems? Or is the local wildlife too likely to trigger them, making them useless due to the amount of possible false alarms?

If yes, go ahead and set some simple alarms up, it should be a quick and easy addition to our security. You know, things like tripwires linked to cans/flareguns/grenades placed between trees or broken glass on entrances. Unless the commander sees what I'm doing and orders me not to.

If no, then instead I will find a good vantage point/hiding place (maybe some nook on my mech?) and try to tune my senses to the noises of the forest and the movement of its wildlife. An approaching enemy (or friend) will be detected by the forest long before I do.

The FOB is mostly tents, with a single metal command bunker. Laid out in the open is the main arcane generator, a radio tower for communication with the base, and floodlights mounted on poles to illuminate the woods at night. Your titan, of course, is parked near the generator, with the cockpit open and a wheeled set of stairs leading up to it, so that you can get in quickly. The perimeter of the FOB is a simple barbed wire fence, past which is a few feet of cleared ground, then jungle. You haven't noticed any animals getting near the base, save for rats, and high-circling hawks, probably looking for an easy snack in the more open area of the camp. Supplies are kept in the same metal crates that they arrived in; mostly sealed food and water.
There's a fair amount of large wildlife around, but to really know if they'd set off alarms too much you'd have to try.
You sit up on the shoulder of your mech (The one not taken up by a particle beam. Even if the power's off, you don't feel like getting too close to the thing.) and wait. And watch. And listen. Despite the base only being inhabited by the 4th Rose, yourself, and a handful of techs, this place is just as noisy as on the ship. Birds, bugs, chittering barbed squirrels. Hissing lizards... It occurs to you that where you were from, lizards kept growing for their whole life. Back there, they only got as long as your forearm, at maximum. But around here you've seen none smaller than a housecat.


syvarris
Name: Jag Laer
Appearance: A perpetually smiling young man, with altogether too much muscle on him.  Many mech pilots may tend towards the small size, but Jag is downright musclebound.  Despite that, he's softspoken and calm, and usually manages to look like one of the least threatening fellows around.
Personality: Friendly and happy-go-lucky, Jag is a likable fellow.  He largely only has one mood--serenely happy--and is famously lazy, which is the reason there's so many rumors that he's got a painkiller problem, but it's still near impossible to dislike the guy.  At least, up until you see him butcher creatures in combat, the only time his calm exterior is replaced by manic excitement.  Most mech pilots enjoy their job to some extent, but Jag is far, far too into messily butchering his victims.
XP: 15
Health: Fine, presumably
Traits:
   Close Combat Specialist ((Grants an advantage when attacking aggressively in melee. Leaves you open.))
   Lightning Reflexes ((Advantage to initiative.))
   Bloodthirsty
Inventory:
   Basic Survival Gear
   Knives for days
   Canned tuna (and other preserved food)

"Sasha", Jag Laer's Stalker
   Description: Muted cream, with black spots, emulating the look of predatory felines from the old world.  The claws and front of the 'head' have a chaotic and patchwork rainbow of colors covering them, mostly dried blood from a wide assortment of magical creatures Jag has killed in melee combat; he considers the blood a mark of glory, and has come to blows when maintenance personnel have tried to wash it away in the past.
   Arcane: 0/100
      Low-power (3A)
      Combat mode (12A)
   Integrity:
      Torso: 25/25
      FLLeg: 15/15
      FRLeg: 15/15
      BLLeg: 20/20
      BRLeg: 20/20
   Hardpoints:
      Heavy weapon: H Missile Launcher [Narcissus Marie / Silene / Spider / Aigresaur]
      Auxiliary system: Cloaking system  (8A)
      Drone dock: Repair drones (5A for 5) [Nyars STB 75/75 / Lulu STB 25/75 / Yog STB 25/75 / Shubby STB 25/75]


Radio Controlled
Name: Silene Silvers
Appearance: A young woman with short brown hair and a fair face. Shorter than the average, she compensates for any lack of height with an abundance of glaring.
Personality: Daughter of Lana Silvers, a woman of some notoriety within the first Expeditionary Marine Corps. Always standing in the shadow of her mother, who herself had been a distant presence in her life at the best of times, Silene constantly felt like she had to prove herself. This led to her spending hours upon hours in the simulator. What her mother did pass on to her daughter however, was a deep and burning hatred for all things wizard.
XP: 8
Health: Fine ‘n dandy cap’n.
Traits:
   Muscle memory ((Advantage to initiative in combat only, and to dodge on the first turn of combat.))
   Vigilant ((Advantage to spot things.))
   Burn the Witch
Inventory:
   Backup revolver (6/30) ((You're pretty good!))
   Combat knife
   Standard survival kit
   First aid supplies
   Flashbang ((Is it a good idea to apply sentimental value to something that goes off once with mildly explosive force?))
   
Support Hardsuit
   Appearance: Painted in configurable camouflage that can change to fit the environment, like an octopus. On both sides of the suit, under the armpits, is a poorly written erotic fanfiction about mechs written in subtle silver text. Every once in a while this text updates with spelling corrections and new chapters. (Removing earlier chapters, of course, so that the text will never expand to cover the whole suit. That would be bad for camouflage!)
   Arcane: 0/100
      Low-power (1A)
      Combat mode (3A)
   Integrity:
      Torso: 20/20
   Hardpoints:
      Silent flight system (6A)
      Personnel weapon: grenade launcher (2A) [3 Frag / 1 Smoke / 1 Flash / 1 Paint]
         10 high-ex fragmentation
         2 incendiary
         3 smoke (does not block infrared, so as to not interfere with thermal vision)
         2 flashbang
         1 paint nade (Does no damage, but splatters paint in a very large area)
      Auxiliary system: Thermal Vision (1A)
      Adaptive camouflage (1A)
      

Parisbre56
Name: Eshu Quaermius
Appearance: Pale and thin. Shiny long dark hair. Thick beard obscures most of his face. Wears his uniform but doesn't really take care of it, leaving it crumpled and slightly torn. Should his uniform ever be removed, one could see the traditional tribal tattoos marking his body and some scars that remind him of past hunts.
Personality: Quiet, focused, direct, sticks to himself, prone to anger, quick to violence. ((27: Don't be afraid to be the first to resort to violence.))
XP: 0
Health: Fine.
Traits:
   Hunter's Aim
   Strong-willed
   Antisocial
Inventory:
   Ceremonial Knife
   Bone flute
   Standard survival kit
   Infantry Rifle (60/180)

Titan "Gidaia"
      Appearance: Painted an intimidating matte black. Lights on head change color depending on emotion. Emits distorted mechanical noises instead of speech.

      Arcane: 100/100
         Low-power (3A)
         Combat mode (10A)
      Integrity:
         Torso: 100/100
         RArm: 25/25
         LArm: 25/25
         RLeg: 40/40
         LLeg: 40/40
      Hardpoints: ((Refer to Armory section of OP for farther information))
         Heavy weaponR: Vulcan Cannon (800) ((You better believe that these mech suits count stuff by the bullet.))
         Heavy weaponL: MacroFlamer FR3 (1/8)
         Heavy weaponB: Devastator Lance (13A) (1/3) ((37: There is no 'overkill.' There is only 'open fire' and 'reload.'))
      
46th Lavender Infantry
Leader: Captain James Jarn
Morale: Focused
8x Riflemen
   Infantry Rifle
   Infantry Sidearm
   1x Frag Grenade
   First-aid kit
2x Marksmen
   Special Rifle (scoped)
   Infantry Sidearm
   First-aid kit
3x Exo Heavies
   Infantry Exo
      10A
   Special Rifle (LMG)
   Exo Rocket
1x Platoon Medic
   Infantry Sidearm
   Medical kit

4th Rose Exo
Leader: Isabel Harstall
   Custom Exo
      20A
   Gauss Revolver
   Micro-Plasma
Morale: Weary
3x Exo Scout
   Light Exo
      10A
   Special Rifle (silenced bullpup)
   Binoculars
   First-aid kit
2x Exo Assault
   Jump Exo
      15A
   Double-Barrel hybrid shotgun
   Satchel Charge
   First-aid kit
1x Exo Superheavy
   Heavy Exo
      15A
   Minigun

Mech Trainee detachment a2
Name: Nathon Grana
Name: Lizbeth Fraye
Name: Donathert Himcastein
Name: Ned UnFormed
Name: Haslena Grantina
Name: Linda Steward

Assigned Logistics
500 Arcane ((Assuming you want the titan fueled up))
Logistics Rig (Painted matte black, Equipped with Cloak)
Logistics Rig (Painted in forest camo, Equipped with Shield Gen)
Logistics Rig (Painted green, Equipped with AFRS)
Logistics Rig (Painted green, Equipped with AFRS)

Spoiler: mage stuffs (click to show/hide)

"ALRIGHT! Listen up you bunch of maggots! Command has gracefully sent your raggedy ass settlement the glorious firepower of three high class magi. I'm Niko the leader of this squad, the older foxy lady to my left is Tanya. She our very special scout and animal lover.  To my right is the group medic Donnell. He's as tough as stone, strong enough shatter stone with his bare hands but apparently lacks the stones to off a guy. Now that the introductions are out of the way, here's the plan I concocted on the way here to take out the alien convoy, and by extension, their base.   
No thanks necessary."
-Have Konna Judge, Tanya, and a hunter scout the forest with an eye to tracking
-The remaining troops will start cutting into the larger trees near the supply route, so that Donnell can kick/throw them on a moment notice.
-As the convoy is moving through, the remaining militia and any mages that opts to help out will open fire at the front of the convey, aiming to distract rather than dealing any damage.
-The remaining mages will then proceed to flank from the rear, aiming to destroy the supply vehicles.


((Mage players are free to disagree or change the plan. I just wanted to throw something out there so Egan doesn't have to wait for us.))

Konna does not seem immediately impressed by your dramatic introduction. She crosses her arms and measures you carefully.
"Am I supposed to believe that you're in charge here?"

Do you plan to cut trees randomly all along the length of the trail, or concentrated all in one specific spot?

Lenglon
Name: Tanya Xelcarostia
Appearance: Green eyes, tan skin, brown hair bound in a ponytail,  with moderately angular facial features. Short but strong, with splotchy brown leather clothing.
Personality: Quiet, shy, cautious, sneaky, alert, cunning. She doesn't talk a whole lot to people she doesn't know, but will open up after she's had a chance to get to know you.
XP: 12
Health: Okay.
Traits:
   Nopain ((Takes no negative effects from pain. Ever.))
   Flaming Blood ((Your blood catches fire when it leaves your body, and burns hot. You take no damage from this fire.))
   Lifeline ((Advantage to selfshape fox-like features. However, you cannot go more than 30 meters from you familiar, and if she dies, you die))
   Otherworldly
Inventory:

Mana: 3/3
Push: 4/2
Tether: Familiar (Swift Fox)
Powers:
   Selfshifting
   Lightshifting
   Pockets
   Breakbolt (Rolls against Push when cast, but does not increase Push. Otherwise acts like Elebolt. Breaks things.)


Dustan Hache
Name: Donnell Adderson
Appearance: Thin, with man with brown hair and greenish eyes
Personality: Reclusive, yet compassionate to the point of a fault.
XP: 4
Health: Healthy
Traits:
   Hard ((A certain toughness of the flesh makes minor injuries less problematic from a purely physical point of view.))
   Tough ((Pain and discomfort have less of an effect.))
   Unkilling ((You won't kill, even out of mercy.))
Inventory:
   Steel capped quarterstaff
   Bag of medical supplies
   Medic bag
   
Mana: 3/3
Push: 0/0
Mana Tether: Weapon (Razor buckler)
Powers:
   Mobility
   Power
   Regeneration
   Heatbending


Yottawhat
Name: Niko Tessa
Appearance: A 16 year old girl, with short electric blue hair wearing a over-sized military long, the sleeves covering her hands and the back of the coat reaching all the way down to her knees.
Personality: Short-tempered, Niko is abrasive and quick to flew off the handle when dealing with people who she believed are not as smart as her (hint: Everyone)
XP: 7
Health: Alright
Traits:
   Quick ((Zoom zoom.))
   Smart ((Advantage to figuring stuff out, provided you make an action of it. Not passive.))
   Conceited
Inventory:
   Azurite Striker (Ivory focus)
   Notepad and pen
   Drawstring bag of batteries

Mana: 3/3
Push: 0/0
Mana Terther: Focus (Ivory baton)
Powers:
   Elecending
   Elecbolt
   Mobility
   Blink


Impromptu Native Force
Leader: Konna Judge
Morale: Disorganized
4x Hunter
   Bolt-action rifle
   Bear trap
2x Warrior
   Light Machine Gun
   2x Molotov cocktail
1x Warrior Doctor
   Submachine Gun
   Medical Kit

[Parisbre56]

Spoiler: Action (click to show/hide)

Eshu couldn't help but stay alert. This was a completely foreign environment. He felt the urge to notice everything, process everything. But he knew doing so would only tire him out. He wasn't stalking hares nor was he intimidating mammoths. This was a different kind of hunt, a strange kind of hunt where he was both hunter and prey. He didn't have too much experience with this sort of thing, even the hunts he had after joining the Hunters of Men were mostly one-sided affairs. The closest analogy would be hunting a snow tiger out in the open ice-fields but nobody had been crazy enough to do that. The one time he did fight one of those majestic and terrifying creatures it was a fight for his life, a fight he did not seek.

Still, he imagined the same principles as seal hunting applied. To succeed he'd have to leave himself open without being vulnerable, to be attentive without being tense. In short, he needed to relax but remain focused on his environment. Which was easier said than done.

Eshu took out his flute and held it in his hands, using its familiar presence to help him relax. He positioned his fingers over the holes but did not actually start playing. Instead he focused on something else. The other pilots walking around the camp. He still felt distant from his new tribe, but he couldn't help but watch them with some curiosity, still trying to get used to their ways. He still remembered his surprise when he found the Homeworlders took women to hunt alongside men. But (as he discovered when one of them bested him) the women of this tribe could be just as capable hunters as men, especially when piloting a Mech. Would their strange prey also be bringing women to its hunt? It's possible. After all, it appeared that his former tribes' ways was the exception, rather than the rule in this galaxy.

Hmm... Perhaps he was looking at it all wrong. A tiger might be a fearsome hunter out on the fields but it rarely approaches a tribe's home, not unless it's really desperate. Perhaps in this analogy he was the tiger, not the hunter. A tiger with its cubs caught unprepared in its den, while a fearsome and desperate fighter, is still easy prey for the skilled and well-prepared hunter. So if he was to survive in this fight, he'd have to consider the tiger's perspective.

The World Song had a huge segment devoted to all animals of the world, all the "cousins" of man, who they were and how they fit into the world. He tried to recall the part about tigers, silently moving his fingers over the holes of his flute, following the melody in his mind. Eventually he relented, blowing into the instrument, hoping the sound would help him think and remember. Maybe something useful would come to him.

Consider commander Isabel and her special forces. Does she look experienced or is she a relatively new mech warrior, like me? Would I consider her a capable commander? Is she responding well to our current situation? What about the other troops? Are they cocky, careful, scared? Any other interesting observations I can make about them?

Also consider the techs. Do they look like they could be of any use in a fight, do they have any basic training and a will to fight? Can the enemy easily tell them apart from the pilots?

Edit: Of course, if the commander has any orders, I will follow them.

[Radio Controlled]

Spoiler: Why yes, mech action, how'd you guess (click to show/hide)

Ring up the FOB. Talk to the commander and suggest to him to clear some more of the area around the FOB so mages won't be able to sneak right up to the base. Or, alternatively, to have his men set up some traps or early warning systems (thin wire with cans if nothing else) in the woods directly around the FOB.

Secondly, as explained on the discord, we'll be dividing the 13km path into 6 parts. Ask the FOB commander to have Eshu start burning away the 6th part of the forest path using his flamer.


I'll be taking the spare battle gear. Spend 2 xp to restore it to normal functionality. Goona go for light missiles (6 incendiary missiles designed for forest clearing) and vulcan cannon (with every 2nd round an incendiary round if possible).

Tell logi mechs to get ready to form out. Request that the logi mech with the shield has at least 200 arcane to ensure it has the juice to use it. Also request we get at least 1 ton of ammo in the first shipment in case we need to reload.

Fire my incendiary missiles at the forest around the 3rd, 4th and 5th parts of the path, aiming to clear as much of the forest as possible.

[Lenglon]

Spoiler: mage action (click to show/hide)

"No, she's not. All of us are equally ranked, and the rest of us would appreciate it if she didn't scream at our allies or call them names without a good reason."
"Anyways, we're here largely to be the muscle for this operation. I assume you've already got a pretty good idea of what we're looking at. Do you mind sending a sentry to watch the exits from the enemy FOB to see when the convoy leaves and signal us as soon as it does, meanwhile that should free up the rest of us to prepare without worrying about being out of position when the convoy approaches our positions."
"Now, considering that these machines are legged, they're going to probably be pretty good at handling rough terrain. I'm not sure a couple toppled logs will be able to hold the convoy in place, however I brought along a lot of toys specifically for this operation that should help. Do any of your people have practice placing landmines or firing mortars?"
Intent is to set up a series of ambush points. first one will be a couple pre-toppled logs across the road, with mortar positions pre-sighted on them / before them and lanemines planted after them in case they try to sprint past the point. the intent being to shell them when they are slowed and cautious because of the obstacle. once they pass or go to hunt the mortar positions, the crew are to imediately leave, arming a few mines in the middle of their old position next to any leftover shells (or if the crew is feeling ballsy they can place a shell on the mine's pressure sensor, so it'll go off if the shell is disturbed), abandoning the mortars, and move on to their next point.

next point will be nothing but a single, very large bomb hidden under the road with a (buried) wire manual detonator going off a ways to the side of the road and completely out of line of sight / line of fire of the bomb. plus another mortar position pre-sighted on the area for when they stop after the bomb goes off or see something and to provide cover for the fleeing triggerman. again, trap the mortar position and leave the equipment behind when we leave, but this time also have a second position sighted on the first one in case they try to cautiously investigate it and avoid setting off the mines.

third point will be when we finally get fully serious, using the nastiest chokepoint we can with lots of natural hazards around, again do not obstruct the path, just have a minefield in it, and absolutely surround the area off the path before and alongside the minefield with additional mines, mortars sighted on the killzone as well, and individual fighting positions dug out to provide cover with disposible rocket launchers weatherized inside them to provide armament for everyone.

there will also be a fourth minefield in the road after the third one to slow the convoy if they manage to handle the third point, giving us one last chance to recover in case of failure at the primary killzone. it won't have much anything else to support it, but it'll have the mines to let us catch up and maybe get lucky.

Because POCKETS.

[Dustan Hache]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Donnel works in tandem with lenglon to set up the ambush, and also attempts to set up some trees on the verge of dropping so as to try and crush and incapacitate the metal monsters.

[Yottawhat]

Spoiler: Mage action (click to show/hide)

Niko mutters under her breathe_{"Yeah, sure. Just completely ignore my plan ya bunch of dirty peasants. Not like I'm at the same magical capacity as the rest of you but a quarter of the age."}

Niko begrudgingly goes along with Tanya's plan.

[syvarris]

Spoiler: Mech (click to show/hide)

Okay, Jag's loadout for this mission is four incendiary missiles, and two cloak missiles.  He's going to fire the four incendiaries at the forests beside the path; the first pair will be fired at both sides of the path, and will be targeted to hit 33% of the way down.  The second pair will also be fired at both sides, and will be targeted 66% of the way down.

...Wait until the signal or whatever is given, though.  I'm not sure if we're heading out this turn or waiting for the NPCs to tell us no or something, so only fire the incendiaries if someone says to do so, or starts setting fires themselves.

Oh.  And Jag's keeping his repair drones.  They're really just too damn useful; repair means we can recover from mobility kills, and SMGs are plenty of firepower against mages.

[Egan_BW]

Bah. Looking at where this is right now, it is not the game I want to be GMing. Lots of busywork for not much payoff at the end. So I'm strongly considering abandoning this for something more entertaining for myself, right now.

[randomgenericusername]

Bah. Looking at where this is right now, it is not the game I want to be GMing. Lots of busywork for not much payoff at the end. So I'm strongly considering abandoning this for something more entertaining for myself, right now.

Maybe you should have said this earlier...

[Egan_BW]

I said it when I noticed it.

[Radio Controlled]

Really unfortunate after all the hype and talk we invested in it, but if you feel like it's not working out for you then so be it. I do appreciate it that you updated us on how things stand instead of just ignoring it until it died and became forgotten.

[syvarris]

(syvarris) I'm tempted to update Power and Pulse myself as a way to procrastinate about updating my own game. 
(Egan_BW) that would be... acceptable
(Egan_BW) I was thinking about requesting that someone else take it over, but I don't know if that would seem presumptuous.

FUCK IT WHY NOT.

Spoiler: ENTIRELY unbiased MECH actions (click to show/hide)

Eshu couldn't help but stay alert. This was a completely foreign environment. He felt the urge to notice everything, process everything. But he knew doing so would only tire him out. He wasn't stalking hares nor was he intimidating mammoths. This was a different kind of hunt, a strange kind of hunt where he was both hunter and prey. He didn't have too much experience with this sort of thing, even the hunts he had after joining the Hunters of Men were mostly one-sided affairs. The closest analogy would be hunting a snow tiger out in the open ice-fields but nobody had been crazy enough to do that. The one time he did fight one of those majestic and terrifying creatures it was a fight for his life, a fight he did not seek.

Still, he imagined the same principles as seal hunting applied. To succeed he'd have to leave himself open without being vulnerable, to be attentive without being tense. In short, he needed to relax but remain focused on his environment. Which was easier said than done.

Eshu took out his flute and held it in his hands, using its familiar presence to help him relax. He positioned his fingers over the holes but did not actually start playing. Instead he focused on something else. The other pilots walking around the camp. He still felt distant from his new tribe, but he couldn't help but watch them with some curiosity, still trying to get used to their ways. He still remembered his surprise when he found the Homeworlders took women to hunt alongside men. But (as he discovered when one of them bested him) the women of this tribe could be just as capable hunters as men, especially when piloting a Mech. Would their strange prey also be bringing women to its hunt? It's possible. After all, it appeared that his former tribes' ways was the exception, rather than the rule in this galaxy.

Hmm... Perhaps he was looking at it all wrong. A tiger might be a fearsome hunter out on the fields but it rarely approaches a tribe's home, not unless it's really desperate. Perhaps in this analogy he was the tiger, not the hunter. A tiger with its cubs caught unprepared in its den, while a fearsome and desperate fighter, is still easy prey for the skilled and well-prepared hunter. So if he was to survive in this fight, he'd have to consider the tiger's perspective.

The World Song had a huge segment devoted to all animals of the world, all the "cousins" of man, who they were and how they fit into the world. He tried to recall the part about tigers, silently moving his fingers over the holes of his flute, following the melody in his mind. Eventually he relented, blowing into the instrument, hoping the sound would help him think and remember. Maybe something useful would come to him.

Consider commander Isabel and her special forces. Does she look experienced or is she a relatively new mech warrior, like me? Would I consider her a capable commander? Is she responding well to our current situation? What about the other troops? Are they cocky, careful, scared? Any other interesting observations I can make about them?

Also consider the techs. Do they look like they could be of any use in a fight, do they have any basic training and a will to fight? Can the enemy easily tell them apart from the pilots?

Edit: Of course, if the commander has any orders, I will follow them.

I didn't read any of that fluff this time.  Pretty sure I read it in the past, unless it was editted in, but I don't feel like bothering now.

Isabel looks experienced as a warrior, but not as a mech warrior, because she's just wearing an exoskeleton.  Also she's obviously sorta-kinda lower in standing than you, as she's infantry, rather than an AWESOME MECH KNIGHT YEAH.  Totally capable though.  She's responding with disinterest to the current situation, lazing around with the other exo troops in the rec room.  Rec tent.  Whatever.

The exo troops largely strike you as disinterested and lazy, only two are ever even IN their exoskeletons at any point in time.  They're a bit unhappy too.  The techs are panicky and nervous, and it's pretty clear they don't interact with the exo troops.  They seem scared of the soldiers.

The techs look utterly useless in every way.  In fact you're pretty sure they're no better at technical work than you are, though maybe they could do something in a fight if they had the balls to pick up a gun.  You consider checking whether any of them have balls but think better of it.  You have no idea whether the enemies can tell the difference between a soldier and a tech, everyone has their own uniforms, but they're all about the same colors.

Isabel calls you up and says that some other mech jocky wanted you to set the woods on fire, and says that she'll personally blow a hole in your skull if you endanger the base or her men.  You're... getting mixed signals from this, you're not sure whether that's an order to do nothing, or an order to set the woods on fire.

[spoiler=Why yes, mech action, how'd you guess]
Ring up the FOB. Talk to the commander and suggest to him to clear some more of the area around the FOB so mages won't be able to sneak right up to the base. Or, alternatively, to have his men set up some traps or early warning systems (thin wire with cans if nothing else) in the woods directly around the FOB.

Secondly, as explained on the discord, we'll be dividing the 13km path into 6 parts. Ask the FOB commander to have Eshu start burning away the 6th part of the forest path using his flamer.


I'll be taking the spare battle gear. Spend 2 xp to restore it to normal functionality. Goona go for light missiles (6 incendiary missiles designed for forest clearing) and vulcan cannon (with every 2nd round an incendiary round if possible).

Tell logi mechs to get ready to form out. Request that the logi mech with the shield has at least 200 arcane to ensure it has the juice to use it. Also request we get at least 1 ton of ammo in the first shipment in case we need to reload.

Fire my incendiary missiles at the forest around the 3rd, 4th and 5th parts of the path, aiming to clear as much of the forest as possible.
[/spoiler]

You ring up commander Isabel, and after stating your name, rank, and how you technically have authority over her, explain what she should do.

She tells you to fuck off in the most heartwarmingly polite way possible, then hangs up.  How sweet.

You take the spare battlegear and put some odd guns on it.  Repost it for me, pretty please radman?

The logi mechs line up.  What order do you want them to line up in?

You start firing missiles, in concert with Jag.  They fly away, out of sight.

Jarn comes over and starts yelling at you both, then bangs on top of Jag's mech, screaming at him to cease his fuckery and climb out.  Jag opens the cockpit and [6][3] stabs Jarn in the face.  Jarn falls over dead, Jag closes his cockpit, and the infantry spaced around the edges of the FOB start scrambling around and screaming chaotically at each other.

[spoiler=Mech]
Okay, Jag's loadout for this mission is four incendiary missiles, and two cloak missiles.  He's going to fire the four incendiaries at the forests beside the path; the first pair will be fired at both sides of the path, and will be targeted to hit 33% of the way down.  The second pair will also be fired at both sides, and will be targeted 66% of the way down.

...Wait until the signal or whatever is given, though.  I'm not sure if we're heading out this turn or waiting for the NPCs to tell us no or something, so only fire the incendiaries if someone says to do so, or starts setting fires themselves.

Oh.  And Jag's keeping his repair drones.  They're really just too damn useful; repair means we can recover from mobility kills, and SMGs are plenty of firepower against mages.[/spoiler]

Why hello, you handsome genius~!  You fire your missiles, and they leave your sight, though I'm sure they all went precisely where you wanted them to go!

Wise decisions you've made, about your equipment, as expected.  Verywise.  Mostwise, even~

Spoiler: You mages are certainly not screwed, I swear, I can be impartial when I want to.  And I totally want to.  Honest! (click to show/hide)

[spoiler=mage action]"No, she's not. All of us are equally ranked, and the rest of us would appreciate it if she didn't scream at our allies or call them names without a good reason."
"Anyways, we're here largely to be the muscle for this operation. I assume you've already got a pretty good idea of what we're looking at. Do you mind sending a sentry to watch the exits from the enemy FOB to see when the convoy leaves and signal us as soon as it does, meanwhile that should free up the rest of us to prepare without worrying about being out of position when the convoy approaches our positions."
"Now, considering that these machines are legged, they're going to probably be pretty good at handling rough terrain. I'm not sure a couple toppled logs will be able to hold the convoy in place, however I brought along a lot of toys specifically for this operation that should help. Do any of your people have practice placing landmines or firing mortars?"
Intent is to set up a series of ambush points. first one will be a couple pre-toppled logs across the road, with mortar positions pre-sighted on them / before them and lanemines planted after them in case they try to sprint past the point. the intent being to shell them when they are slowed and cautious because of the obstacle. once they pass or go to hunt the mortar positions, the crew are to imediately leave, arming a few mines in the middle of their old position next to any leftover shells (or if the crew is feeling ballsy they can place a shell on the mine's pressure sensor, so it'll go off if the shell is disturbed), abandoning the mortars, and move on to their next point.

next point will be nothing but a single, very large bomb hidden under the road with a (buried) wire manual detonator going off a ways to the side of the road and completely out of line of sight / line of fire of the bomb. plus another mortar position pre-sighted on the area for when they stop after the bomb goes off or see something and to provide cover for the fleeing triggerman. again, trap the mortar position and leave the equipment behind when we leave, but this time also have a second position sighted on the first one in case they try to cautiously investigate it and avoid setting off the mines.

third point will be when we finally get fully serious, using the nastiest chokepoint we can with lots of natural hazards around, again do not obstruct the path, just have a minefield in it, and absolutely surround the area off the path before and alongside the minefield with additional mines, mortars sighted on the killzone as well, and individual fighting positions dug out to provide cover with disposible rocket launchers weatherized inside them to provide armament for everyone.

there will also be a fourth minefield in the road after the third one to slow the convoy if they manage to handle the third point, giving us one last chance to recover in case of failure at the primary killzone. it won't have much anything else to support it, but it'll have the mines to let us catch up and maybe get lucky.

Because POCKETS.[/spoiler]

Holy shit you write a lot.  I like it!

Also Egan didn't say whether you guys got here earlier than the mechs, far as I can tell, but I'm gonna say you did since you've got plenty of stuff to pad out that time with.

None of your anything says you have mines.  I'mma say you have four landmines, instead of the hunters' useless beartraps.  You get a toppled log traps, at the 40% mark of the path.  This place has been pre-shelled, and there's two landmines a short distance after it.  The other two are given to the mortar crew.

Do you have a "Single, very large bomb" for some reason?  If so, sure, it's buried under the path wherever you want it to be buried.  And the mortar's sighted in on it.  Do you guys have multiple mortars?  Looks like you do, okay, one landmine per mortar, two mortars.  Both already sighted on all three positions.  You can pre-sight mortars on multiple positions, right?  Just gotta get the numbers written down or something?  I think that's only for advanced mortars, which y'all prolly don't have, but whatever.  Mages, it's magic or something.

You don't fucking have the mortars sighted in on each other though, I mean come on.  Accurately sighting in mortars involves firing them!  It totally makes sense that there'd be positions that you have exact adjustments for already (beyond wind, which come to think of it prolly screws any old adjustments, but eh), since the people've been shelling the mech faction for awhile, but you don't have anything better than the basic calculations for them shelling each other.  And they aren't accurate.

Third point doesn't exist because I have no idea where you're getting all these mines.  Did the bearman carry a crate of forty mines in with him?  The local hunters certainly don't have any.  If you want foxholes, they can be wherever, but you've gotta have rocket launchers before you can bury rocket launchers...

...Fucking pockets, fine, you have all that.  At... [4] [6] [7] [10] 40% of the path for the log trap, 60% for the big buried bomb, 70% for the final defensive positions (the trees here are particularly dense, and the path tightens a bit), and your final minefield was put within sight of the FOB, under the cover of night.  You're pretty sure no sentries saw.  Hopefully.  They didn't go clear them, at any rate.

I'm gonna say that you need to state everything that's in your pockets before every mission, though.  And you need to state everything else that's in your pockets now, if you want there to be anything else.

[spoiler]Donnel works in tandem with lenglon to set up the ambush, and also attempts to set up some trees on the verge of dropping so as to try and crush and incapacitate the metal monsters.[/spoiler]

I mean sure, you do this.  Good job?

Collapsible trees are at the third position, at 70% of the path.

[spoiler=Mage action]
Niko mutters under her breathe_{"Yeah, sure. Just completely ignore my plan ya bunch of dirty peasants. Not like I'm at the same magical capacity as the rest of you but a quarter of the age."}

Niko begrudgingly goes along with Tanya's plan.
[/spoiler]

You follow orders with flying colors!


SO.  Y'all're resting the day after all your prep is completed, in the highest-quality hovel around, when some local hunter comes screaming through the doorway, gibbering about fire and death and horror.  Apparently the mechs launched some missiles and now there's a bunch of fires all along the path.  Big fires, you think, it's kinda hard to understand the guy.  You take this as a sign that the mechs are moving out, but he--and Konna, once she stumbles in and figures out what he's yelling about--both seem to be more concerned with the fact that there's now several wildfires just a few kilometers south of their town, which is built to be hidden under, and among, the trees.

Also there's kinda the problem that there's fires around your unmanned defensive positions, though the mortar peeps radio in that they can't see any fires near them.

Lotta smoke though.