[LP CYOA] Epic

[Smashing Axe]

By the way, does this chapter remind anyone else of the Homeworld games?

 

[Baltika9]

Space is a bit messy, with nations just building willy-nilly around the L points with little regard for boundaries. We need a world government of some sort...

Yes, I suppose a centralized Imperial Government would do wonders here. Speaking of which, how does Senya currently feel about nationalism?

 

[treave]

He's currently doing what he does because he's the only one who can do it, not out of any sense of national pride for Higashi or any desire to be known as a hero. To him the concept of nationalism is frankly silly. Humans are humans. Thankfully we've been avoiding most of the "AN HERO" choices so far in this chapter. It would, however, be a lie to say that he does not feel excited about this little adventure. So his reasons are selfish in part, but the choices made have kept the hero complex in check to a reasonable extent. This will be important down the road.

As for the Empire, he doesn't really care about it. Why should he? It's not even his country.

 

[Baltika9]

I'll have to be on the lookout for opportunities to turn him into a jingoistic nationalist (al-la Waffen SS). The best dictators were those that, to some extent, believed in their own nonsense.

As for the Empire, he doesn't really care about it. Why should he? It's not even his country.

This just won't do. Oh no, not at all.

By the way, do we get a shiny prize for avoiding BAD ENDS?

 

[Bloodshifter]

I'll have to be on the lookout for opportunities to turn him into a jingoistic nationalist (al-la Waffen SS). The best dictators were those that, to some extent, believed in their own nonsense.

As for the Empire, he doesn't really care about it. Why should he? It's not even his country.

This just won't do. Oh no, not at all.

By the way, do we get a shiny prize for avoiding BAD ENDS?

The continued Misadventures of Shulgi\Dio Jr. Isn't enough?

I'd like to add that my pushing Idea would have worked should it have been done.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Hmm. Could have sworn there was another post here earlier. Must have been my imagination...

 

[treave]

Next update should be out Monday. I'll do a state of the war update today instead.

 

[Baltika9]

Hmm. Could have sworn there was another post here earlier. Must have been my imagination...

Fucking Shulgi, man.

 

[treave]

Interlude: War Timeline

03.07.4025
The Skirmish of Kawamura - Indus combat frames launch a surprise attack on Kawamura Colony and destroy the Higashi fleet stationed there. The Higashi lose 30 fighters and 2 battleships, with no casualties on the Indus side.

04.07.4025
The Higashi declare war on the Indus Confederation.

11.07.4025
Mobilized Higashi forces invade the Indus Confederation. They face heavy resistance and make little headway.

13.07.4025
The ISC moves its combat frame design and testing facilities to Neo Heliopolis.

16.07.4025
Higashi battleships accidentally destroy the Mooklot, a UNS residential colony, killing three million people. The UNS declares war hours later.

21.07.4025
UNS ground troops begin supporting the Indus Confederation in the Eastern Front. The surge of manpower and equipment begins pushing the Higashi war effort back as they steadily lose ground.

07.08.4025
Battle of Shenzhen - Higashi ground forces manage to make a stand under the command of General Kawamori Takeda, repelling a combined UNS-Indus force nearly six times their number.

15.08.4025
The ISC approaches the Higashi to jointly research combat frames. Neo Heliopolis is selected as the site of research.

19.08.4025
The Inanna flower testing field near Shangjing is burnt to ashes by occupying Indus forces.

30.08.4025
Indus forces attempt to detain a Higashi refugee fleet near Moon L3, but the ISC cruiser Shahan under the command of Captain Grimrock intervenes. The conflict is resolved without a shot fired.

09.09.4025
Battle of G344 - Higashi forces score their first victory in space as they manage to ambush and shoot down the Indus carrier Bharata.

25.09.4025
The UNS fields their first second generation CF - the Xolotl and Centeotl designs.

19.10.4025
Battle of Kamabharata - The first large scale space battle, involving more than 20 warships on both sides and a hundred fighters and CFs. The Scarlet Lightning makes her name here, destroying 16 fighters and 5 ships in a single engagement. The Higashi is forced to retreat from its holdings near the moon.

24.10.4025
Indus forces burn the Inanna flowers growing on the moon.

04.11.4025
Battle of Canaria - Twenty five Higashi fighters and two cruisers ambush the Indus carrier Mehrgarh. The Scarlet Lightning destroys eighteen fighters before they manage to retreat from their disastrous assault.

14.11.4025
The UNS ace Blue Streak comes into prominence for destroying ten Higashi fighters in a single engagement.

21.11.4025
Neo Heliopolis comes under attack from the UNS's White Fang mercenary group. The prototype combat frame Anhur sees its first deployment, destroying a single Xolotl. The jointly-designed cruiser Kaguya-hime makes its escape two hours later, forcing the White Fangs' Ghostlot cruiser to retreat in a daring display of tactical acumen.

22.11.4025
The Neo Shinar Empire and the UNS-Indus alliance make a mutual declaration of war on each other. An official alliance treaty is signed between the Higashi and the Empire. Mobilization on the western border of the Indus is swift, indicating that they have prepared for this scenario beforehand.

25.11.4025
The Kaguya-hime is joined by the Kalai, Sarmatia and the Gudean.

26.11.4025
The Gudean departs for Earth carrying the Empress.

29.11.4025
The Kaguya-hime assaults UNS Base 43 together with the Kalai and the Sarmatia. The Anhur singlehandedly destroys the entire enemy CF force of six Centeotls and damages the two UNS cruisers present.

01.12.4025
The UNS and Indus conduct a successful live-maneuver exercise telecast worldwide showcasing the superiority of their frames, led by the Blue Streak.

02.12.4025
The Kaguya-hime ambushes the enemy testbed prototype at K-5571. Although the prototype is defeated by the Anhur, the intervention of the Scarlet Lightning forces the Kaguya-hime to escape. The Kaguya-hime successfully retreats by baiting the enemy frames into over-extending themselves. Rumours of a shadowy black frame that had singlehandedly defeated a UNS base, destroyed a powerful prototype and more unbelievably, damaged the Scarlet Lightning's CF, begin to spread amongst enemy forces.

04.12.4025
The Kaguya-hime begins its escort of The Spirit of Adventure.

10.12.4025
The Shulgi super heavy carrier-battleship, accompanied by the UNS Second Fleet, attacks Marduk's Navel and destroys the Imperial Third Fleet.

13.12.4025
The Mehrgahr joins the Kaguya-hime as a friendly escort.

17.12.4025
The Mehrgahr leaves the escort as the ships are two days away from the Imperial forward base at Moon L4.

24.12.4025
Operation Lothal is carried out by the Indus forces. The colony is redirected by the efforts of the Anhur and the Kaguya-hime, breaking up in the atmosphere after a nuclear strike from Imperial command on the ground. The fragments cause widespread devastation across the world, inflaming further tensions between the warring nations. Initial casualties are projected to be at about 8 million. At the same time, the Battle for Sin's Eye occurs, ending in the Empire-Higashi successfully defending the moon base. This marks the first time that a battle between two CF-using forces have taken place. The star of the battle, however, turned out to be the fighter veteran Major Vic Gradius Camna, who destroyed 10 CFs in an aerospace fighter. The media promptly nickname him the Framekiller.

25.12.4025
The peace treaty is called off after some deliberation, as each nation begins to see peace as being untenable.

27.12.4025
Imperial forces use a nuclear weapon on the Indus megalopolis of Karna, killing 4 million inhabitants.

28.12.4025
A Higashi bomber manages to slip past the UNS defense grid and unloads incendiary bombs over Shulgipolis, killing 300,000 and causing damages that are estimated to run into the millions.

31.12.4025
The involvement of the Apostles of the Golden Womb in the colony drop are leaked to the world. The Empire and Higashi blame the cult for the plot.

01.01.4026
Major Rei Wakayama attempts to call for peace, using her military standing as a platform, but the prior day's events cause her speech to backfire.

03.01.4026
The resources branch of the ISC declare their neutrality and agree to continue supplying helium-3 to all warring nations. Stock prices soar.

05.01.4026
Contact is lost with the Jupiter helium mining operation and its helium transport fleet. Stock prices drop.

10.01.4026
The land war intensifies as the Higashi begin pushing back the Indus forces with their new Onuris frames. Meanwhile, the Empire begins planning a sea and air invasion of the UNS even as they press deeper into Indus Confederation territory.

11.01.4026
Contact is re-established. The colony workers say that a storm on Jupiter affected their systems. Stock prices begin rising again.

19.01.4026
The Indus and UNS push back and contain Imperial and Higashi space forces near the Earth to only Moon L2 and Moon L3. They have managed to secure orbital superiority. A variety of new weapons, including multiple crab-like frames and the gigantic super-heavy battleship Shulgi, have turned the tide in space against the Empire-Higashi alliance. However, the war on the ground is not going well for the Indus.

24.01.4026
A small UNS detachment of 4 cruisers vanishes near the vicinity of the Gate of Ean. Imperial forces currently occupying the Gate are mystified.

02.02.4026
The Crown Princess of the Empire, Kyrie Francesca de Shinar, is shot in the village of Lagat.

05.02.4026
Princess Kyrie's death is announced by the Empress of the Shinar, who blames the cult and takes the opportunity to call for all nations to band together against it.

06.02.4026
A massive purge of the Imperial and Higashi militaries begin to rid themselves of cultist influence. The UNS government starts peace negotiations.

12.02.4026
The Neo Shinar Empire is dissolved and replaced by the Shinar Republic, with former Empress Julia becoming its first president.

16.02.4026
Most of the Indus leaders and the Apostles of Hiranyagarbha flee into space, breaking through a Shinar-Higashi blockade in near-Earth orbit.

01.03.4026
The last line of defense in the Indus Confederation falls; enemy troops are only a week away from the capital. The UNS are the only major power remaining on Earth opposed to the Shinar and the Higashi.

03.03.4026
The treaty to form the United Federation of Nations is signed by the Shinar Republic, the Higashi, the UNS and most of the other nations. The Indus remains the only power that refuses to participate.

05.03.4026
UNS General Cualli Natles attempts a coup d'etat against the civilian government. They occupy a significant portion of Northern Shulgiland and take over all UNS space forces.

06.03.4026
General Natles declares his army for the Indus cause. New battle-lines are drawn in the conflict as the Federation now occupies most of Earth while the Indus still maintain their control in space.

08.03.4026
The war begins to take on a new tone as the Apostles begin to preach overtly in the colonies, calling for the evolution of a new mankind by fleeing the grasp of Earth. In the meantime, the Federation begins to root out cultist cells still hidden in their member states, while consolidating their power by dealing with various insurgency movements that have sprung up in remote regions of the world.

 

[Azira]

19.08.4025
The Inanna flower testing field near Shangjing is burnt to ashes by occupying Indus forces.

24.10.4025
Indus forces burn the Inanna flowers growing on the moon.

The Indus really don't like the Inanna flowers eh? Interesting...

 

[Baltika9]

19.08.4025
The Inanna flower testing field near Shangjing is burnt to ashes by occupying Indus forces.

24.10.4025
Indus forces burn the Inanna flowers growing on the moon.

Those fuckers are siphoning life energy from the Innana flowers to create an Avatar, just like they sacrificed human lives for the exact same reason before. ...aw shit, they're going to burn down Ean's grove too, huh?
That, or goddamn stoners, man. They never change.

As for the war itself, something tells me the nations are nervously prancing about and tooting their own horns, waiting nervously for their opponents to engage in total war; knowing that they can't be the first, but that eventually someone will. We have to win this thing very quickly, unless we want the planet to be turned into the blasted warzone.

Say, treave, was this war preventable by us, or was it a forgone conclusion with us only being able to pick the side we'd be on.

 

[Baltika9]

Baltika9: considering the war started between higashi and indus, it seems like a foregone conclusion?

Stupid question, true, but our capability to making Bad Things happen considered, a fair one.

 

[treave]

Root is correct.
Well, perhaps we should spend this updateless weekend thinking of names the enemy pilots are going to give Anhur and its pilot...

 

[Baltika9]

Well, since the nicknames are fully theatrical, here goes: The Black Plague, Black Blade of the Empire (see what I did there?Speaking of swords and Emperors, I'm starting to get a vague outline of the GLORY we shall receive).
Legendary Ten-Minutes Boy.
Zippy?

...dare I hope for Doomraider, or do I have to beg for it?

 

[treave]

If you guys had picked melee, you'd probably get called names like blade or knight. Ranged, perhaps marksman, sniper, deadeye. If it's a mix, we could look at fighting style. Mobility could be stuff like meteor, comet, lightning, blitz, whirlwind. Armor might get giant, tank, undying, that sort of thing. Unfortunately we're not an idealist sort that tries to make non-lethal attacks meant only to disable, so the saint is probably out.

I mean, it's got to make a bit of sense at least. Doomraider sounds more like a berserker known for slaughtering civilians and pillaging. It'd be a good mercenary name.

Zippy is good though. I like the idea of the enemy screaming about Zippy appearing on the battlefield in earnest horror.

 

[Baltika9]

Doomraider sounds more like a berserker known for slaughtering civilians and pillaging. It'd be a good mercenary name.

Or a hardcore guerrilla raider specializing in rapid, overpowering "what just happened?" assaults. You know, the kinds we were doing. That, and we were on drugs.
Mercenary name?


As for combat style, Senya was relying mostly on his daggers and saber (see his first Xolotl kill, the assault on base 34 and fighting Crimson Lightning halfway-decently in melee) with some marksmanship thrown into the mix. Hence, I would think his nickname by all means should have something to do with swords or otherwise large, pointy objects of obscure purpose.
Then again, the Plague could work well: we creep up when no one expects us (and considering the upgrade we picked, that just supports it) and decimate the area, after which we calmly float away in search of other victims.

Wait, I got it: Marduk's Bane.

 

[treave]

We can be called that if we destroy Marduk's Navel. Perhaps I should just list down names and roll.

 

[treave]

Good idea. Next upgrade: bat wings for assisted atmospheric flight. Makes zero perfect weeaboo sense but if the enemy is making giant crabs...

 

[Azira]

The enemy's got crabs!

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

24.10.4025
Indus forces burn the Inanna flowers growing on the moon.

 

[Zwist]

B
Inbefore there are cultists on board of the fleingg vessel, carying Inanna flowers, and the Indus being so hellbent on destroying them that they attack anyway. And the flowers being the actual target of the war of course.
Could also be an old fashioned trap.
By the way, apparently listening to me is a good way to die

 

[aleam iacis]

The Black Disaster, Black Tornado, Prince of Darkness (like the Martian Successor Nadesico character), Doomblade, Haunter, the Black Khopesh, Knife of Ean, Deathwhisper, Dark Dream, the Demon King...

Are we going to prey on our enemies fears and use tricks and deceit to make them less effective against us? Perhaps we should choose a symbol that strikes fear into the hearts of our enemies? After all, soldiers are a superstitious, cowardly lot. We must be a creature of the night, black, terrible...

 

[Baltika9]

Are we going to prey on our enemies fears and use tricks and deceit to make them less effective against us? Perhaps we should choose a symbol that strikes fear into the hearts of our enemies? After all, soldiers are a superstitious, cowardly lot. We must be a creature of the night, black, terrible...

Actually, Senya's character and demeanor considered, something simpler and straightforward would suit him best, since he isn't driven by glory or honor, rather by

He's currently doing what he does because he's the only one who can do it, not out of any sense of national pride for Higashi or any desire to be known as a hero. To him the concept of nationalism is frankly silly.

so all these "Lord of Grimdark" and "Black Lightning of disaster-ousness" are rather, ah, uncharacteristic.
Something simpler, like "The Emperor's Fist" or "Empire's Sword" would fit more. I would love "Doomraider", though.

Or Zippy. Hearing their terror at Zippy's arrival should be something: "I-I think that's Zippy."
"OH SHI-"
"Why have you abandoned us, Krishna (or whomever they worship)?"
"Have mercy on us, Zippy!"

Yeah, if I can't have Doomraider, I'll take Zippy.

 

[treave]

Other people give you nicknames.You don't just declare a title by yourself so Senya's personality or what he would prefer to call himself has nothing to do with it, unless he's known for making patriotic speeches in public which would get him the title of Empire's Whatever. Bulldog, perhaps. Or Terrier.

 

[Baltika9]

"Empire's Bulldog" has a nice ring to it. Then that would be my third choice, as I think that different pilots will give him different names.

Or, y'know, don't give him one at all; imagine fighting a nameless pilot with a brutal reputation. There his CF stands: black, featureless and impersonal. You are nothing but another faceless enemy to him, another statistic he will read about in the news. Just another number to his score.

Edit: If "Bulldog" wins, then Senya's catchphrase should be "woof."