[LP CYOA] Epic

[treave]

Yes, it still has the nuclear missiles equipped, though that's supposed to be meta-knowledge.

As for salvaging, in A you're trying to destroy or chase the Indus away so that you can do the hauling in peace. No point doing it now when there's more enemies to kill.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Don't expect any help towing the thing. Naim and Jean are trained soldiers that will follow their orders, and so are the crew of the ships. Pushing that thing would take up valuable time that would be better spent getting back to cover the warships. They might decide to join in if you turn the tide single-handedly, but before that they'll be focused on retreating rather than supporting you even if you dive deep into enemy lines. You're banking on the captain changing his mind once you show your heroism by destroying the enemy's ace in particular, making him think it's viable to fight instead of fleeing. It seems that the Scarlet Lightning is the one the captain fears, as you can outperform mundane Vizala IIs any day.

Figured as much. Still, I think that either of the Bs, if successful, will merely increase the number of our pursuers and make reaching earth that much more difficult in the long run.

Baltika9, wtf? You thought we could take out an entire fleet while putting Kyrie and all 3 of our ships in mortal danger, but now one little carrier is too much? Wake up. B2 is the trap here, bro. It's the "safe" option that get's us captured or killed. We'll run out of juice while battling the Ace (who will come after us, whether we like it or not, so fuck the captain's orders) and Naim will ditch us like the bitter Theseus non-bro he is (Lose his respect? What respect? we just saved his ass AGAIN and he's still bitter). If you want to run, I'm afraid B1 is the option.

Also, nukes don't have near as lethal an effect in space - the radiation burst is the main hazard, provided it doesn't impact the hull. And all our other ships and mechs will be fleeing at first as the captain ordered, so the main thing we're risking in A1 is our own safety. The Captain and the others are just scared of the enemy Ace - that's why the captain ordered us not to engage him (as if we can help it if he attacks us or not).

 

[Baltika9]

Yeah, engaging the Princess' carrier against an Indus battleship armed with nukes?


We, sadly, missed our chance for glory now. Let's hope Shulgi figures something out for later ...I hope the last choice wasn't it.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Yes, it still has the nuclear missiles equipped, though that's supposed to be meta-knowledge.

Ah, wait... Are our ships insulated from Electo-Magnetics?

 

[treave]

Most military hardware is EMP hardened. There's somewhat of a taboo against using nukes on the ground, but it's always been fair game in space. At any rate we're dealing with garden-variety kiloton nukes here.

edit: Kilotons can range from 1 - 999, so to be exact it's in the 500 kiloton range.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Ah, good. Nothing I'd want to hit by, mind you, but it's still possible to deal with.

To be perfectly frank, I don't think B2 has a chance of working. A is going to be about speed and attack - 2 things we're very good at. A1 should be a win. A2 might do enough damage to them to where they have to flee even if we run out of juice and are unable to destroy them, but in B we'll be buying time for our ships to get away. "Time" is the key word there. Time we don't have unless we use the serum and if we are going to do that, we might as well kick the everliving shit out of them while we're at it.

This is the situation that calls for balls, bros.

 

[treave]

Something to think about (since Senya's supposed to be a thinker):

If the enemy ace goes after you, the worst case scenario is that you're defeated handily. The best case scenario is one where you defeat the Scarlet Lightning. The two of you might also end up in a stalemate. It might be worth considering these three possibilities, their respective chances of happening and how these scenarios would play out in the battlefield. Given that the Major is taking charge of the surrender personally, you can expect the red frame to be present from the start of the battle. It could be a chance to rout the enemy instantly by destroying their most hyped ace, thereby adding to your own personal legend, or it could turn out to be plain bad news for you.

edit: Also, if you had gone to the mining facility the White Fangs would be waiting for you there. The enemy isn't entirely dumb. They'll try to predict and track your movements, unless you do something utterly insane like crashing a live exercise.

 

[Baltika9]

Look, I'm not being a something-something "cunt," as you put it (seriously, could you re-write that? I'll want to use it from now on, that was funny as hell), but

Baltika9, wtf? You thought we could take out an entire fleet while putting Kyrie and all 3 of our ships in mortal danger, but now one little carrier is too much? Wake up. B2 is the trap here, bro. It's the "safe" option that get's us captured or killed. We'll run out of juice while battling the Ace (who will come after us, whether we like it or not, so fuck the captain's orders) and Naim will ditch us like the bitter Theseus non-bro he is (Lose his respect? What respect? we just saved his ass AGAIN and he's still bitter). If you want to run, I'm afraid B1 is the option.

that was when we had the element of surprise on our side (which is now on theirs by the way), and I didn't want to put pwincess' carriage at risk, at least not after Azira's second plan. As for Naim, no shit. He's a soldier/pilot/whatever and will follow his goddamned orders, if someone wants to be a dumbass then that's not on him. And, yeah, if the Ace wants to come after Senya, let him argue with three warships' worth of ordnance. And we're skilled enough by ourselves to retreat without the elixir, the covering fire should be enough.

Also, nukes don't have near as lethal an effect in space - the radiation burst is the main hazard, provided it doesn't impact the hull.

Yeah, I'm sure the Empress will be glad to hear that her daughter was killed by the blast, not the radiation. Grimrock seems the "leave no man behind" type that will try to pull our ass out of the fire, even if the rest will go full "lol, nothing to do here"; yeah, he'll probably hit us with a court-marshal or dishonorable discharge after, but he doesn't seem the type to straight-up abandon his own men. Guess whose ship pwincess is still on?

All-in-all, we forfeited the chance to be an extraordinary soldier/HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!!!1! in the last update. Instead, we whose to be a rank-and-file and conventional, even if extremely skilled, pilot. Act like one.

This is the situation that calls for balls, bros.

No, I don't think so, there is a time and place for everything. This is a situation that calls for complete teamwork and skillful coordination, every cog playing it's part in the plan. Grimrock is counting on us to cover their retreat and will lay down suppressive fire to help us; if we suddenly start acting up, his plan will fall apart and then we're all fucked. I don't give two shits about Naim, Kyrie, Senya or the CFs. The Crown Princess' survival is top priority (dumb broad, where would she be if not for Senya? Jumping on Relius' lap? Jesus Tittyfucking Christ, what civilian willingly goes on a guerrilla raid? She truly is Ean's progeny, isn't she?
)

Although catching the nuke in our hands and tossing it back at the Scarlet Lightning sounds like a good idea ...shit, I may flop.

 

[Smashing Axe]

After some thought on this my order of preference is B1, A1, B2, A2. I think this guy is our equal, and going on the offense will go bad for us. Since he's our opposite he probably has the fire based powers, so defense is optimal for us whilst we observe his combat pattern (We get power from analysis so jumping right into the fray will not go well for us if we encounter a superior unexpected force). That said I don't think we'll last without injecting the formula, so A1 is preferable over A2.

That and I don't like going against the orders of our bro captain. You don't go directly against orders as a damn ensign. Even if we do succeed in recovering the crab, we need Grimrock's support in the time to come, and you don't get that by directly disobeying him in a life or death situation, at least when by disobeying him you increase the risk. I'm all for taking gambles in combat, but not by being a maverick dick.

 

[Kipeci]

Is there a chance for us to take the drug later and be able to restart our powers? Or do we need to take it now to keep any effect going?

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Look, I'm not being a something-something "cunt," as you put it (seriously, could you re-write that? I'll want to use it from now on, that was funny as hell),

a blistered bleeding vagina, actually. I erased it because I realized this was the internet and there was a chance you could get butthurt rather than understand that I was just bro'n with you, bro.

 

[Baltika9]

Look, I'm not being a something-something "cunt," as you put it (seriously, could you re-write that? I'll want to use it from now on, that was funny as hell),

a blistered bleeding vagina, actually. I erased it because I realized this was the internet and there was a chance you could get butthurt rather than understand that I was just bro'n with you, bro.

Naw, there was one more adjective that completed the package. Hypocritical, was it?
An inebriated gentleman getting offended by something obviously meant as humor, what are the odds? Although I am more curious to hear critiques as to my arguments.

 

[Bloodshifter]

If we take out the Carrier its GG anyways we can see the damn thing and making it explode isn't that hard we could do it while avoiding the Ace hopefully without a Carrier they will surrender if they don't we then get his Buds then they should if not then we get the Ace by then either Grimrock ran or they decided to help Crazy Super Tentacle Kid.

I am Greed and Greed wants Crab Legs, Mini Crabs, Crab Shell, and Crab Cannon

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Look, I'm not being a something-something "cunt," as you put it (seriously, could you re-write that? I'll want to use it from now on, that was funny as hell),

a blistered bleeding vagina, actually. I erased it because I realized this was the internet and there was a chance you could get butthurt rather than understand that I was just bro'n with you, bro.

Naw, there was one more adjective that completed the package. Hypocritical, was it?

Yeah, but that was another reason I deleted it. "Hypocritical" didn't really fit and was kind of lazy of me. "Inconsistent" would have been better there, but I'm picky like that.

Well, this is a tough choice. I'm thinking of flopping to B1 or B2 as I've been running through the scenarios treave gave and victory and/or survival is more likely in the B choices. (How's that for being inconsistent, eh?) Still, what do we get out of the B's? The prototype's destruction? In B1 we might still have a chance of defeating the Ace, but we'll probably have the carrier and whatever reinforcements they call in following us until we reach earth.

Thing is, I hadn't considered the stalemate option. According to the stats, if the red frame is 3x faster than a visala 2, then it's equally as fast as Anhur... And if we're caught in a stalemate, then we'll have to run and get laughed at by Naim and punished by the captain.

Need more time to think....

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Like treave said, there are 3 possibilities when confronted by the Ace (which is almost certain to happen no matter what we pick):
Victory
Defeat
Stalemate - our powers are so evenly matched we shoot each other's bullets out of the sky...

Victory in A1 or A2: We fly in fast and attack/defeat the ass ace - either she didn't have any powers, or she didn't activate them fast enough. The captain see's this and finds his balls again. We win and have crab legs for dinner. We get yelled at for not following orders, but are generally loved.
Defeat in A1 or A2: We're fucked. Naim won't and can't rescue us and we, Anhur, and the Mother Crab, become the property of the enemy. Of the A's defeat is most likely in A2.
Stalemate in A1 or A2 - In A1 we have to run. The captain won't provide support because he's a red frame fearing faggot. We get yelled at for not following orders. In A2 our juice runs out and it's the same as a defeat. Enemy has recovery of the prototype as SA mentioned, in either case.

Victory in B1 or B2: We win against the Ace, but have to pull out anyway. The enemy chases us and calls for backup. There may be some chance of somehow turning back and fighting against the enemy after we take the ace, but it's especially not likely in B2.
Defeat in B1 or B2: Naim either abandons us or is ordered to rescue us. Probably the latter. (Though he might not actually be able to under fire from the red mech.) We come back with egg on our face, but perhaps our engineers will have tooled up the upgrade for us by the time we have the Anhur repaired. The comeback. Very weeaboo. Of the B's, defeat is most likely in B2.
Stalemate: We are ordered to pull out or the enemy withdraws. Not really shameful the way a withdraw in A would be. Still the enemy would definitely pursue us and call for backup.

 

[Smashing Axe]

Don't forget, stalemate in A1/A2 also means the enemy recovers the prototype.

 

[treave]

You already started using your powers and taking the drug after it ends won't allow you to refresh the cooldown. Doing it now will prolong the ability's time, and you can switch it on and off as needed for up to an hour or more. As long as you don't hit the total cap you have on the ability's active period you can ration it carefully.

 

[Baltika9]

Victory in B1 or B2: We win against the Ace, but have to pull out anyway. The enemy chases us and calls for backup. There may be some chance of somehow turning back and fighting against the enemy after we take the ace, but it's especially not likely in B2.

I disagree. They will most likely not be able to chase after us, because

More information about the battlefield: the Crab Frame's particles are jamming a pretty wide area. The respective ships aren't in it yet, but the captain plans to flee through it.

Grimrock will be able to lose them through the jamming field. This will most likely lead them to call in reinforcements to scout a wider area. Thing is, Grimrock is an unorthodox commander and I have absolute faith he can pull us out of the deep shit we're in, so the enemy will be searching quadrants 1-4, while we'll be in quadrants 5-8 making our escape and lololo-ing and boozing up our merry way through space (seriously, old enough to get shot for your country, old enough to take a shot for it) until those dumbfucks catch on to what's happening. Sure, their fighters and CFs may follow us for a while, but I don't think they're good enough to weave through the suppressive fire Grimrock will provide us with three battleships' worth.

Stalemate: We are ordered to pull out or the enemy withdraws. Not really shameful the way a withdraw in A would be. Still the enemy would definitely pursue us.

Only we'll get chewed out, and plausibly court-marshaled, for insubordination twice.
Edit:

Don't forget, stalemate in A1/A2 also means the enemy recovers the prototype.

that's something we hadn't considered.

 

[Kipeci]

Surely something like a giant enemy crab must come with a self-destruct switch somewhere?

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Flopping to B1 for now. Sorry, bros.

Given that the pilot is of our race and that the specs match Anhur, I'd say a stalemate is most likely in A1. (Not to mention the court martial and prototype recovery.) Defeat in A2 & B2. If we can defeat the Scarlet Lightning in jammer space, then perhaps we can turn around and fight the remaining enemies given that we could turn off our powers until needed as treave says. (Though the one thing no one has brought up is that we have Yua on our side. She'd be useless in the field, but if we picked A1 she might give us an edge. Vote how you will though.)

Ve vill just have to follow our ordahs! [/gunther]

 

[Baltika9]

As a final note, I don't think using the elixir now is a good idea. Grimrock will provide three ships' worth of suppressive fire (given that the NSI has the most powerful conventional navy, that's a lot), our natural capabilities should be enough to keep the attackers at bay. Thing is, this is not the last time we'll have to fight our way to Earth (goddammit treave, what is Earth in Shin'Ar) and I am fairly certain they will call in for reinforcements to intercept us. We will need that last bit of juice to get everyone out of this shit alive.

In before steroids enable us to play ping-pong with the nuke for MAXIMUM lolz.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

As a final note, I don't think using the elixir now is a good idea. Grimrock will provide three ships' worth of suppressive fire (given that the NSI has the most powerful conventional navy, that's a lot), our natural capabilities should be enough to keep the attackers at bay. Thing is, this is not the last time we'll have to fight our way to Earth (goddammit treave, what is Earth in Shin'Ar) and I am fairly certain they will call in for reinforcements to intercept us. We will need that last bit of juice to get everyone out of this shit alive.

In before steroids enable us to play ping-pong with the nuke for MAXIMUM lolz.

Consider that in the field, our ships won't have targeting either.

 

[treave]

Just call it Earth, I haven't thought of anything. >_>

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

How about Ean's World? Or Hamster Land? Or Baltika 3? Or...

 

[Baltika9]

Consider that in the field, our ships won't have targeting either.

Yeah, but none of them are within the distortion field as of yet, Grimrock is planning to retreat through it

More information about the battlefield: the Crab Frame's particles are jamming a pretty wide area. The respective ships aren't in it yet, but the captain plans to flee through it.

So we will have enough concentrated covering fire to escape into it.

Or Baltika 3?

Baltika 3 tastes like absolute shit. At least Baltika 8.

I'm just going to pretend Earth is Mundus, since it's the proper Latin term for "earth" and "creation." Although I'd still prefer "Ean's Left Nut."

By being on his side it means they weren't not on his side. Things usually end messily for those not on his side, one way or another.

Edit: I know Sek was initially treating her contact Ean as a business associate, but what made her stick around with him? Much as I like to entertain the idea that at least someone genuinely cared for the guy (maybe even loved him as a person, not a God Emperor/tool/bodyguard crush), that just didn't seem to be the case, more like she was trying to hitch an easy ride off the planet.

Not that I'm complaining or anything (after all, we brought this on ourselves) but damn, no one cared for the best guy that ever lived (TM); Karma is a bitch.

In before Karma is the Master in charge of Earth.