Date: 5:41:08 PM, November 26th, 2017.
Metal Man (GM): Recap
The Questers went to Erastia after narrowly preventing an incident on Rendar. There it was noted the nuclear robots had broken off from attacking the Outliers and were now threatening Erastia. The Questers opted to use the remnants of the anti Time Cop weapon to disable the machines, then after that is done, to fly in with the shutdown codes extracted from the Erastian scientists who had been captured to shut them down for good, with backup from ships manned by Ivan's men, and... some other to be determined ships alongside the Radiant Storm w/the Questers aboard.
The group would be going to the hangar to get ready. (And I'm gonna grab a pizza slice so one moment)
Continuation
King Demon: *And he wanders in... with pizza.*
Xavier Ridgecrest: *Walks in and glances at the Radiant Storm* "You think it'll do the job, Valron?"
King Demon: "This... is not the Wing Fortress, but it'll do."
Nonna: "It's sad, isn't it? How people's creations get the better of them, and cause problems for later generations."
Metal Man (GM): The multiple-times rebuilt Radiant Storm is featuring Dauntless-esque trim and the revitalized lightning guns, plus some other things I don't exactly remember.
King Demon: "Such is life, for better or worse. Can I call dibs on the gunner's seat?"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Up to Valron, I figure. I know it'd be hilarious, if only because the original one was supposedly Garrick's creation."
Nonna: "Just let us know where you want us."
Metal Man (GM): Xavier gets aboard and just simply takes a seat, in one of the seats that remain.
Louisoix: "Certainly. Never seen this thing before, though apparently it has history."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "It used to be the main ship used by the Alsan Questers. It was repurposed and was one of the main ships used during the first anti-Time-Cop activity of the New Questers.
And now we're going to probably use it up against these robots."
Valron: "I can't say I really feel much for those said creations got the better of in this case outside of aggravation, considering they left behind something just as bad as them. In any case..."
Louisoix: "Well, always need to clean after ourselves, don't we."
Erastian Soldier: *R* "The anti-radiation weapon is primed and ready. The only question is, what other ships should escort you. Ivan's ships, Borne's ships, the Solarians, Erastian ships, Rendarian ships? Any particular preferences?"
Valron: *Grumbles under his breath. Something about 'stupid nonsense radiation'* "Anyways... Yeah, I'd say this'll definitely do the job. Mind, I doubt much of anything can stand up to the lightning cannons this thing has. And failing that, well... I can always just have this thing turn into an MTA and throw around scaled-up versions of what I've got, if need be." *Shrugs.*
Nonna: "Never hurts to be careful."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Anyone have any preferences on what ships escort us in this mission? Otherwise I'll probably just have Ivan do it, he seems relatively safe of a choice."
Nonna: "Agreed."
Valron: "I've no objections."
Xavier Ridgecrest: *R* "Okay, Ivan, send your best ships to escort us, we'll need them to help focus on our target as opposed to fighting an endless skirmish."
Ivan: *R* "Just like old times, then... only no Void to worry about."
Louisoix: "Oh, more radiation, joy."
Nonna: "These guys like to monologue. A quick decapitation strike should do the job."
Xavier Ridgecrest: *R* "The Erastian scientists have readied the anti-radiation superweapon. That should give us about a 15 minute to 30 minute window where they will be mostly powerless."
*R* "We will have to act quickly, as once the radiation returns, most of their deadly weapons and regeneration will also return. But they are still going to be able to fight until their batteries are exhausted during that window, so we have to rip 'em to bits."
Louisoix: "So the strategy would be to say something to make them monologue, then attack them during it? I mean, maybe effective."
Valron: "Couldn't hurt."
King Demon: "Yeah... I GOTTA be on the gunner's seat; the memories!" *He looks up above the seat however, to make sure there's not a hole.*
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Up to you. I was just thinking a blitzkrieg, but if you want to taunt them into a monologue before we deploy the weapon, you can radio them right here."
Metal Man (GM): The gunner's seat, AFAIK, is in decent condition, no hole or anything.
The ship has been rather well restored, with trim more befitting Valron's style rather than what was there before, but otherwise intact.
Valron: "Hrm. Monologue, then weapon, then just go straight for the decapitating strike?"
Metal Man (GM): Ah, yes.
While there's no guarantees about that, let's just say such an action is now in your control rather than the pilot's.
Nonna: "Yeah."
Valron: "Considering how long it's been since you were hear, I had all the kinks ironed out."
Louisoix: "I'll have some fun with it once we go."
Valron: "Well, the vast majority of them anyways. At the very least, you won't have to worry about landing in the ocean."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "We can get the ship up in the air, then radio the robots, then weapon, then etc, so we can be ready if anything crazy happens."
Erastian Soldier: *R* "Weapon readied, we will fire on your mark. Standing by."
Ivan: *R* "Ships ready to launch when you give the command."
King Demon: "Ah..."
Nonna: "Everyone ready?"
King Demon takes a seat there, then, if he can.
Louisoix sits next to the radio.
Valron: "Ready as I'll ever be."
Nonna: "I'll be boosting our weapons."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "I'll man the radio. Ironic as it is, I am probably most useful there. ...As well Louisoix, I guess. Heh. I always was kind of redundant.
I'm ready, anyways."
King Demon: "Ah, nonsense, you're as good at getting us into fights as I am, if not better!"
Nonna: "Xavier, you and I can rush in and stop any sudden emergencies as they arise."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "It is true, we'll be in space and I can basically go outside without any problem. And it is also sadly true I remain a huge provocation to 3/4 of the universe."
King Demon: *Chuckles* "Indeed, your mere presence is sometimes enough to provoke a fight."
Nonna gets set up at the boosters.
Metal Man (GM): The boosters are ready; the ship is ready to fly, waiting on Valron's input.
It still has that 'launch' button.
Also the radio is ready for when you want to taunt the robots, to start it all off.
The radar screen shows the bunch of robots out in space, handily provided by a link with Erastia's wide-range radar systems.
Louisoix: *He'd reach for the radio, setting the right frequency* *R* "So, it has come to this, hasn't it? But it seems regardless of conflict, you won't lay down your arms. What drives you to fight?" *Waits for them to ramble about whatever they think is the answer.*
Valron: *And while Lou does his proclamation, he decides to get flying, though he doesn't get into range. Not yet.*
Erastian Central Authority: *R* "Who is this? What are you talking about? The Erastian Central Authority does not speak to fools!"
Metal Man (GM): The ship begins flying up closer to it, while the horde of robots up there begins to move about, obviously preparing... something.
Louisoix: *R* "Fool? The foolish one is you. Erastia does not need you, nor does anyone."
Erastian Central Authority: *R* "What? How dare you. We are all that Erastia needs! Anyone who dares challenge our superiority will be nuked!"
Erastian Soldier: *R* "I've detected a lot of radiation in the ECA's ship cluster. Shall we fire the anti-radiation weapon?"
Metal Man (GM): Speaking of that, the Radiant Storm is now in space and can clearly see what looks like... the space equivalent of monster trucks powering up what looks like a giant rocket launcher that is being handled by a 150 foot tall variant of that same ECA robot you beat up earlier.
Nonna prepares to charge up the weapons.
Valron: *R* "Oh, no, I was thinking of becoming a radioactive Christmas tr- Yes. I'd say now's the time."
Louisoix: *R* "What supremacy? Didn't seem much like supremacy when several ceilings landed on your head. How's that ego of yours?"
Erastian Soldier: *R* "Deploying the countermeasure..."
Erastian Central Authority: *R* "You cannot call ME names! Only I can call you names! Now prepare to be dest--dest--dest--dest--dest--"
Metal Man (GM): The skipping continues as you feel a weird wave of energy.
From the surface, some sort of incredibly strange beam in the shape of an Erastian Eagle flies out and completely washes over the ECA's ships.
King Demon: "Damn, and I thought I was childish..."
Metal Man (GM): They basically freeze in place, not expecting this at all.
Or should I say, they've completely malfunctioned.
Erastian Soldier: *R* "Right, we deployed it. The only warning I have is we don't fully understand how any of that just worked."
*R* "So there's no telling what other effects it might have in the target area."
Xavier Ridgecrest: *R* "Par for the course, let's clean them up before they come back online."
Nonna: *She has everything boosted.*
Kumiko: "How unfortunate. It can't process that information."
Valron: "Aye. Best to get rid of them, now that we've got the chance."
King Demon readies weapons.
Ivan: *R* "Ready to attack, on your mark."
Valron: *R* "Alright, good. We'll lead the charge, and you'll come rushing in right behind us." *And with that... he goes to fly into the fray. Best not to waste any more time.*
Nonna: "Allow them no time to even breathe."
King Demon prepares to fire when in range.
Louisoix records the "Dest" repeat for posterity.
Metal Man (GM): The Ivan ships fly in behind you. You see now...
A giant field of ships that are just like the Erastian ships, only they've been made devoid of windows.
They're also more angular, and older in design.
Their extreme right angles and obvious joints make them all look like the entire ship is a robotic clone of an Erastian one.
They also are gaudy and festooned with banners and tassels denoting they are ERASTIAN CENTRAL AUTHORITY and they mean business.
However, for the first 'round' of combat, you basically fly right in with them completely stunned.
So then, what shall y'all do? You can fire at the ships here, or try to ignore them to fly deeper into the ship-field. The ships here are mostly the vanguard of the ECA.
Valron: "Should we chance things, or do you guys want to clear some of these ships out first?"
King Demon: "Should I fire on these or wait for the others?"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "I think it's a matter of priorities. These ships will wake up, so what we leave behind might become a problem for us later. But if we spend more time on them, then we might not get to the core central player quickly enough."
Ivan: *R* "I'll have my men do their best to mop up what you leave behind."
Louisoix: "Then lets do a little of both. Shoot some down now, but on the way."
Nonna: "Blast a hole through to the core."
Metal Man (GM): Given they flank on both sides, you can just shoot one side and do half of them.
With that in mind, I'll see about the rolls... the weapons on the ship are the Lightning Guns, which have to recharge, and... hmmm... let me check the log so I don't mess it up yet again.
Hmmm, right. So I guess the way it goes, Demon can fire one set of weapons and Valron can fire another, while Nonna boosts both.
Thus the choice is which weapon to fire and where to aim it, for Demon and Valron respectively.
Nonna: "We blast through and take their heads."
King Demon: "Then let's just blast them on the way by. Don't slow down, head straight for the main ship!"
Valron: "I want to save the cannons for later. Demon, fire the lasers while I launch the torpedoes."
King Demon: *And lasers for the stunned ships.*
Valron: *And he aims the torpedoes at whichever side Demon's handling for purposes of concentrating fire.*
King Demon laughs probably a bit too much as he gets to blasting some ships.
Metal Man (GM): Rolling the weapons, one sec...
Demon's tech is rather low but the weapons on this ship are guided by computer so I'm gonna use his Normal roll instead.
Also he's aiming at... stationary objects.
And with lasers, which add an accuracy bonus of +25 due to being frickin' lasers.
The stationary objects to the left violently get blasted by the lasers, as you watch the metal turn to molten bits and pieces of ships rupture from depressurization.
The torpedoes are a bit slower and as such only have +5 to accuracy but deal more damage. Let's see what we have with Valron...
Now for Valron he has his visor and the guitar actually aids in this as well.
Thus even though the Torpedoes are less accurate than lasers, he is able to use it all rather well. For Demon's reference: The torpedoes are rather hard to aim so with a low tech score it's best to leave them to tech users to aim (not computer assisted like the lasers are)
The violent explosions clear a path through the left flank.
I'd give you another round of attacks but as noted before you're going for the 50% option.
So instead Valron: Proceeding further inwards with the rest of this turn?
King Demon: "Well, there's a hole, now..."
Nonna: "They're likely to pull something drastic when we get close. Hit and run formations may need to be used."
Valron: "Aye, that should make things less hectic in case the cleanup doesn't pan out." *And so he drives further in.*
Metal Man (GM): Once you get closer, you start to see the robots have already begun to snap out of their stunning. Specifically:
Erastian Central Authority: "Dest-dest-dest--..." *Click.*
Metal Man (GM): Also showing up to block you this time is... huh.
It looks like one of those destroyed mech units seen really long ago on Erastia in the academy.
Only it's here, and it's in one piece, and unlike the ships surrounding it on the left and right, it's blocking your way.
King Demon: "Oh, good, something else to shoot at..."
Metal Man (GM): No radio repartee either, it's just in the way. It hasn't become online enough to shoot either.
Louisoix: "Don't worry, I'll be turning this into a hot new mixtape. I'm sure Xavier might want to use it as a weapon eventually."
Metal Man (GM): No, like the mecha that were in that fogged over/dark section.
The MTA-like mecha, essentially, but Erastian-ized.
It appears to have a bunch of huge chainguns and missile launches, but its weapons are not online.
It's using its mass to sit in the way right now, since it can't shoot at you yet.
Nonna: "Do we have a drill?"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "If this has MTA amplifiers, we could have Louisoix project one out of the ship using magitek."
Louisoix: "Could do that, sure. I'll look into it." *He'd get up to find whatever he would need to look into that question.*
Metal Man (GM): As for hacking, that is possible. The risk is if you don't fully hack it, you might just help it reactivate faster instead.
Valron: "Oh, yeah. It's definitely got those."
Metal Man (GM): Louisoix would see the MTA amplifiers, which are ready to go.
Valron: "Mind, I could also just try and..." *He decides to work his computer magic and just try and well and properly hack the ECA mecha so as to turn it against its' controller. He does still also have that device meant for hacking ECA units as well, if it still happens to be relevant/useful in this case.*
Metal Man (GM): It is still relevant. As such we roll it...
Louisoix: "Yep, we got em. Ready, then? Now, lets hope for a drill and not... I dunno, a nail or something."
Metal Man (GM): You hack into it, although given the low %, what you discover is it's limited to control it. You can control its direction, order it to self destruct, or order it to shoot at something, but within a round it'll have to be re-hacked to keep it under your control.
Valron: "Hrm... I could try and press my luck, but... best not to." *And with that, he just decides to make the mecha self destruct. Sure, he won't cause any extra damage, but it's one less roadblock, in any case.*
Louisoix: *And he'd get to work on that drill* "So, something like this, perhaps?" *Would say this regardless of result.*
Metal Man (GM): The mech self destructs. However, only the insides were fried.
The husk is still floating in the way.
Demon can still do an action.
King Demon: "Damn, shoulda at least got it to MOVE first..." *He'd look to see if he can pinball the now-dead roadblock into a still functional enemy with his lasers.*
Valron: "Think you can blow its legs out and make it fall over, or...?"
Metal Man (GM): Interesting choice.
You manage to pinball it out of the way as you had in mind, as the still functional enemy tries to return to formation after crashing into it, its rockets pushing away the husk in the process (not to mention the crash)
This clears you to finally reach the center of the mess.
King Demon: "Huh, finally playing all those damn pinball games is paying off..."
Valron: *And with that, he moves on.*
Metal Man (GM): Finally, you're face to face with the monstrosity that just refuses to die.
Stunned, but coming slowly back online, the giant 150 foot tall monstrosity stares down the Radiant Storm.
He doesn't radio you--he speaks and manages to reverberate space enough you hear it metallicly echoing inside the ship.
King Demon: "Is it sad that I REALLY wanna poke its eyes out?"
Erastian Central Authority: "I may have underestimated you, but I won't go down so easily! You are nothing more than bugs. But... but... but... you have taught me a lesson. I will concentrate... on the smashing!"
Metal Man (GM): It has no illogical hell radiation, but the remaining energy it has is enough to move its fist towards you fast enough to potentially punt you back away from it if it hits you.
You can try to scan it... but preferably after you evade the giant fist coming towards you.
Valron: *Yeah, let's try and maneuver out of the way of that before anything else is done.*
Louisoix: "Well, want that drill now?"
Metal Man (GM): You have a close call, hearing the fist scrape by you.
Valron: "...Right. Demon, stand by for a moment." *With that, he wastes little time in scanning the robot, looking for any key weak spots they can abuse.*
Metal Man (GM): You determine that the robot has been restructured based on last time.
It literally has no remote-accessible computer ports to screw with this time.
However, that doesn't mean it's flawless.
Valron: "I see that he learnt not to make something that I could interface with..."
Metal Man (GM): The shoulder joints struggle to hold the MASSIVE arms on it, the bazooka it has is currently inactive due to the anti-nuke thing you did and is a liability should you blow it up...
And the central processor is buried under the chin somewhere, should you be able to get at that.
Correct, it is a nuclear bazooka.
Blowing it up... would probably result in fallout.
Demon can still do two actions, since figuring out the weaknesses takes up Valron's available ship actions.
So perhaps Valron can point out to Demon exactly what to do, based on that analysis.
King Demon: "Ok, so many places to target... what first?"
Valron: "Okay, Demon. For the record? Do not blow up the bazooka. That'd just give the ECA mech fuel. Your best bet would be to focus on shoulder joints on the arm that isn't bearing the weight of the nuclear bazooka, in case letting it drop just causes it to blow up from the shock. There's also the option of trying to get under its chin in an attempt to get at the central"
*processor.*"
King Demon checks to see how shielded the processor is.
Metal Man (GM): The chin could potentially be exposed, it just has a ton of armor, so it'll take potentially several rounds to blow it open.
King Demon: "... well, let's disable it first, then worry about destroying it." *He'd target that shoulder that's not holding the weapon... though, getting rid of the weapon DOES tempt him.*
Metal Man (GM): One of two actions is consumed; the thick armor repels the first attempt, though because it's 'blocking' that still damages it some.
The initial scan indicated the chin is just basically one big slab of steel.
Heavy enough to make the entire head of the mech always kind of point down.
It's like Jay Leno's chin.
But much more angular.
Valron: "...Hrm. Think that drill idea you guys had earlier might be good in dealing with this thing's chin?"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "It could be worth a try."
Metal Man (GM): King Demon: You can attack again, if you wish, or try to change strategy.
Valron: "Right. Let's focus on trying to bust this thing's punching arm first, though."
King Demon: *And more boxing defense: ATTACK THE PUNCHING ARM, GO!*
Metal Man (GM): The second time goes and...
So far the arm is heating up a lot but no damage yet.
It is sorta glowing with heat though.
King Demon: "Geez, well, at least I'm hitting SOMETHING..."
Metal Man (GM): Since blocking lasers isn't a 100% "No damage" situation for the defender.
That said, this would be a good time for that Drill.
Brian / Louisoix: Wish to begin summoning the Drill?
Louisoix: "Well, maybe this will help. Seems you guys need it right about now." *Attempts to summon a drill.*
Metal Man (GM): The first drill you create is a corn cob.
King Demon: "Great, now I'm hungry again..."
Metal Man (GM): Trying again?
Louisoix: "Think that'll work?" *He says, knowing fully what the answer would be.*
Xavier Ridgecrest: "It could probably feed some starving people."
Louisoix: "Lets keep that in mind as..." *He'll attempt to ditch the overly large corn cob to try again.*
Metal Man (GM): Nope. Dice say no.
Louisoix: "Seems fate wants us to fight this thing with a corn cob. How about it."
Metal Man (GM): Nonna: The others so far have tried to damage the mech, but have been having some snags.
The left arm of the mech is red hot from several laser hits.
You can try casting some spells at it, if you wish--the attempt so far is to try and dislodge that arm.
King Demon: "Whack it in the head with the damn thing!"
Metal Man (GM): Giant kernels of popcorn are created, filling the area.
Nonna: "This is a longshot, but has a better shot at working than just damaging it until it separates."
Metal Man (GM): It is both beyond ridiculous, and potentially something you can light on fire later.
Although the smell of burning popcorn is horrifying.
Nonna: *She carefully uses Plane offensively to attempt to dimensionally separate the arm from the body of the mech.*
Metal Man (GM): Its armor is thick, but it was superheated earlier, and it can hardly see what's going on thanks to that popcorn.
It doesn't even fully comprehend what happens when its left arm feels the portal close on it and the superheated metal gives way, sending its arm into literally another dimension.
For its second action it decides to basically swing its nuke bazooka as a giant stick. Nonna is still with one more action (giving each person two actions in ship mode like this) --- so Nonna can react.
Xavier can also be relied on, if you think he would be useful.
As the struggle against the evil, attack-soaking mega-machine continues.
Nonna: "Magnetize the bazooka and extract it. It'll be disarmed in more ways than one!"
Valron: "Well, I can probably use a magnet Ele and do something like... have it so that the handle and its hand repel each-other. Though, at that point, we'd probably want to carefully put it down somewhere."
Nonna: "Xavier and I will handle that part."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "That stick's comin' right at us so--ready to go n' do that? Though, I guess... I can, like, stick one of my pointy weapons through there to block that incoming arm or something."
Valron: "Alright. I'm counting on both of you."
Nonna: *She prepares another Plane.*
Valron: "...Actually, just planing the bazooka away wouldn't hurt, either."
Nonna: "Do you want it, or just want it gone? I can go either way."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Up to Valron, I think... we just gotta act a bit quickly because it's getting rather close."
Valron: "I want it gone. I'd rather not leave a food source for them to use."
Nonna: "Then support my planing it away."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Right, I'll focus on helping push it into the portal."
Metal Man (GM): Correct. So Xavier and Nonna will work on this one.
I'll roll Nonna's roll first...
Nonna: *She alters the dimensional destination to an an empty void this time, instead of the wool dimension.*
Metal Man (GM): All of that dice luck has now boomeranged into the opposite direction.
But it's a team attack, so we add in Xavier, who adds in...
His bare fist, and thus swings...
And somehow also succeeds. So basically...
That whole attack gets noped into oblivion.
The nuke stick goes into the portal, and the entire arm is parried backwards, causing it to get damaged.
Though in the background, the radiation nullification has turned off, and the ships in the background are now fighting with Ivan's forces. It's getting closer to the finish now as the ECA begins to glow more.
Erastian Central Authority: "Bah!"
Metal Man (GM): The next round beginneth.
Targets: The ECA's right arm, the heavily armored chin, or if you want somewhere else for some reason, you certainly can...
Of note is his eyes, which are now glowing rather dangerous-like, but for once, he's not taking the first action, letting Valron and Demon go first.
Louisoix: *R* "I forgot to finish what we were talking about. Also, you smell."
Metal Man (GM): In the background, a bunch of laser fire can be heard, indicating those ships you blew past are likely to turn around and give chase to you as you attack their leader, adding some time pressure to this.
Valron: "Alright, then. Lou! Keep trying to get that drill going! Demon! Focus laser fire on the chin! And, Nonna! On my mark, get ready to hit me with Inguz! I've got an idea..."
Nonna: "Mmhm."
King Demon: *And blasters to the chinny chin chin.*
Metal Man (GM): The first laserblast is absorbed. It is the true final boss of the game: Jay Leno's metallic chin.
And/or, you can tell it's important because that armor makes a really solid sound when it's hit.
You can fire again at the insanity that is RNG Force Fielded Chin From Hell (TM)
Like the arm, presumably it will eventually run out of luck.
King Demon: "Well, THAT was an epic fail... let's try that again, huh?" *Fires once more.*
Metal Man (GM): Omega Death Chin is like a coin you keep flipping and landing on the same side.
Which is, unfortunately, what happens when you're fighting something that well armored.
King Demon: "... OK, I'm gonna have to go Letterman on his ass!"
Metal Man (GM): However, there is a drill that should help with that... if it isn't a corn cob. Brian / Louisoix, making another run on that drill?
Louisoix: "Alright, if its another corn cob, we can use the popcorn kernels to get some stuck in his teeth, I'm sure that will annoy him."
Metal Man (GM): This time you create a pole.
It's not a drill, but unlike a corn cob, it might actually be useful.
Louisoix: "Whaat. But, the kernel idea!"
Valron: "...One last shot? Because if it still keeps crapping out, then I'm just gonna have to scrap the initial idea."
King Demon: "Huh... maybe go ninja on it?"
Louisoix: "Well, I can hit him with it."
Metal Man (GM): Alas, there is some degree of risk when creating objects on the fly, but, unlike an attack roll, it isn't 100% pass-fail.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Maybe poke one of his eyes out with it."
Louisoix: "Close enough to the kernel idea." *Goes to do that.*
Metal Man (GM): Using the ship to basically... 'launch' it at it with the emitter... you get the benefit of as if you attacked with it normally.
Indeed, your attacks all involve 100% accuracy, and the damage will be coming from that... I'll use the Accelerate Module since in this case it's a teamup with the ship.
The kernels are still around.
They are the size of small buildings.
And totally ridiculous looking.
Valron: "...Mind, I'm not sure if having Nonna make an impromptu meteor storm out of kernels would go especially well, but at this juncture, we may as well make the best of a hand comprised of a red 6, the rules for Poker, The Hermit, a five of clubs, and a stick of cheesy bread."
Metal Man (GM): The pole goes directly into his eye despite his active attempt to dodge it, smashing out one of the eyes and making a loud glass shattering noise.
Louisoix: "Might not be a bad idea."
Metal Man (GM): As well as the sound of the robot groaning from the damage.
King Demon: "We have cheesy bread?"
Valron: "I wish. It'd make this a lot more tolerable, that's for sure."
King Demon: "Yeah, it'd have gone great with that pizza I had... where'd that go, anyway?"
Xavier Ridgecrest: *Hands Demon the pizza* "You set it down on the table over here. No, it's not one made by Garrick."
Metal Man (GM): The table clearly says 'Made by Borne'
Meanwhile, Louisoix did his actions, and Demon did his. What shall Valron do?
Valron: "Anyways, given that things seem to be generally fizzling out... Nonna! Change of plans. Mind goin' through with that improvised idea I had? Focus on the chin. If we can't drill through it, then we may as well give it some severely humiliating burns. I'll just figure out where to go from there."
Nonna: "Meteor storm, eh."
Louisoix: "With the popcorn, apparently. Though I dunno how much damage they'll do."
Nonna: "...Okay, I'll need some help, but I have an idea."
King Demon: "Good. The pizza'd probably be ruined if Garrick had anything to do with it." *Starts eating it while trying to line up his next shot.*
Valron: "Alright, what do you need, exactly?"
Nonna: "I can encase them in diamond, and then superheat them. But you'll need to handle sending them at the thing.
Able to handle that?"
Valron: "Should be able to..."
Nonna: "Alright, let's do it!"
*She uses a diamond ele on the kernels, first.*
Metal Man (GM): Interesting choice. While Ele is normally used to destroy, the fact is they can easily be used to charge something, so you get a bunch of popcorn with diamond sticking out of it now.
Nonna: *Next, severely hot fire ele!*
Metal Man (GM): It's now burning, burning popcorn of fire. The mech stares at it, as it can't not notice the fact there's giant flaming diamond popcorn out there.
Nonna: "Now, propel it!"
Metal Man (GM): You can use the ship to carry them over but at the risk of being counter-hit (but it's more likely to actually hit), you can use the amplifier for a safer attack that is less likely to hit but you can retry, or you can try shooting them at the risk of destroying them entirely but being even less likely to have backfire.
Valron: *He'll attempt the semi-safe method. Given how consistently things have been screwing up as of late, he's a bit wary of the carry method just only serving to screw him over.*
Metal Man (GM): Semi-safe it is. Using the amplifier, you can swing at it. For extra goofiness, do you use the guitar to swing at them? :V
Here's the thing: It blocks it.
So...
The popcorn gets stuck in its chin.
It now looks like flaming popcorn chin Santa Claus.
So you can basically swing at it again.
Valron: "Of all the stupid..." *He grumbles, before going to try and drive it all through the stupid chin.*
Metal Man (GM): This time it grabs the guitar and tries to push back.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Hmmm... a pushing match."
Metal Man (GM): Xavier decides to push on your arm while you're struggling with it.
He lends the electrified barber pole baton to it.
With that additional push, both the arm and the guitar and the barber pole all hit the chin at once with the popcorn, causing an explosion.
The chinsplosion causes a bunch of metallic bits to fly about, as well as diamond pieces and popcorn.
Valron: "...Right. Now that we've gotten that idiocy out of the way..."
Metal Man (GM): It goes to try and punch the ship, angry that you damaged the chin.
Valron: *And that's his cue to try and dodge. Maybe.*
King Demon: "Uh, we pissed off Leno!"
Metal Man (GM): The ship moves to the left while the fist moves past it. It is just too lumbering on the attack to really hit you with that.
Xavier decides to throw in another random strike to help add to the chin damage.
He pokes the flaming golf club at it.
It is still gronk mountain.
However, like before, it manages to heat up the chin even more.
Which is now red hot from the previous popcorn and now the golf club strikes.
Clearly, it is a defensive powerhouse, but the laws of physics still exist.
What is much more of a problem is ships coming in from behind as the next round is about to begin.
Erastian Central Authority: "Face it. My face is more durable than all of yours put together. You won't live to see me die!"
Valron: "...Alright. Think we've heated it enough that if we were to suddenly, and rapidly cool it, that chin would just explode?"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "It's a risky move, if we fail we'll probably be swamped with ships, but we need to try something because just trying to heat it up and smack it probably won't be as fast as an antipode."
Louisoix: "Or we could do the corn cob thing again, but intentionally this time, and then see if any of the kernels get inside and explode it from within. Though... I guess I don't see a hole. Or I COULD try the drill again."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Judging from the difficulty we had trying to hit the chin with razor sharp popcorn, we'd have to set up for quite a while to get a new set of corn to destroy it. I got an idea though.
Demon! There's incoming ships. Why don't we pinball them at the chin?"
Nonna: "Sounds good to me."
Valron: "...I like where you're going with this."
King Demon: "Oh, now THAT sounds like fun!"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Bonus points for the fact he's getting hurt by his own ships."
Erastian Central Authority: "You fools have taken too long! My mighty armada will blow you to smithereens!"
Metal Man (GM): In comes some of those vanguard ships, pre-damaged thanks to Ivan, to try and get in the way of hitting the ECA.
Of course this also means you can just blast them IN to the ECA, but don't tell them that.
Kumiko: "I suppose things are getting rather interesting."
Valron: "Alright, then... Demon, if you'll do the honors?."
Metal Man (GM): You can once again try and shoot lasers at the ships, this time going to pinball them into the chin, if you're up for it, Demon--a new round has begun and you have the same two actions as before.
King Demon: "Gladly. Time to use some flipper action!" *He'd try to laser some ships into the chin.*
Metal Man (GM): The damaged ships are not the most maneuverable and are easily hit. They in turn fly at the chin, which in turn attempts to block it (whatever that's worth)
The block reduces the damage but the chin is now seriously cracked.
You may fire again, as the ECA seems to be getting increasingly outraged, metallic growls being heard from it as it shakes its fist.
King Demon: "Oh, now that's priceless!" *He does do so again.*
Metal Man (GM): Its continued blocking only saves half of its chin.
Half of the chin is blown away entirely, revealing some sort of diabolical nuclear symbol-in-a-CPU.
Pulling no more punches, it immediately fires a really powerful laser at the Radiant Storm to try and ensure it can't get any more shots off. Dodge or some other evasive action this time, Valron?
You could actually do that, yes.
It takes an action instead of being free, but you can do that.
The laser does look pretty deadly, anyways.
Valron: "...Let's see if I can't..." *BATON TOSS, GO.*
Metal Man (GM): This time the ship manages to try and dodge it... resulting in a 50-50 result.
The ship that was trying to dodge it is vaporized 50%; the Radiant Storm takes a 25% damage to shields.
However, when all is said and done, the eye has used up its charge for this round...
It is, however, now swinging its slow moving fist at the Radiant Storm now, proving it isn't playing around.
Valron: "Okay, first off. It's good that we already dealt with one of the eyes. Second, I'm glad we hadn't sustained any damage until then. Eesh."
*He anyways, dodge attempt.*
Erastian Central Authority: "You hurt me... I hurt you!" *Sound of giant fist looming towards the Radiant Storm.*
Metal Man (GM): This time it is to hit the ECA.
You watch its fist miss yet again.
Thus using its two actions.
Leaving Valron with an action to accost the now critically damaged chin.
Valron: "Right, then." *And without skipping a beat, he goes to try and crack open the chin with a torpedo!*
Metal Man (GM): It goes to block, but... that's not enough to save the chin anymore.
The rest of the chin is blasted off and some of the damage hits the CPU as well.
The block is mostly delaying the inevitable, stubborn as it is.
Erastian Central Authority: "*KZT* You... you... you are destroying your best chance to kill the Time *KZT* cops... you... ... *KZTKZT*."
Metal Man (GM): Smoke pours from the damaged area, but it is still facing you, with its radioactive chin exposed.
Valron: "...Finally. For now, if possible, focus all firepower on the chin. When I can fire off another barrage, I'll tell you what I need."""
*R* "We don't need you, you psychotic radioactive fascist load of guff."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "I know it seems rather pointless, but we can also attempt to use that code Gel found for us, although the more we fight it, the less I see why we'd want to preserve this monstrosity in shut-down form."
Valron: *R* "Nor does anyone who matters want you, for that matter."
Erastian Central Authority: "I... AM... the true Erastia... you... *KZT* you... *KZT* *KZZZT*."
Metal Man (GM): Louisoix, Nonna, and Xavier can throw in their two cents, at this stage.
Xavier himself goes to smack the thing in the chin, tired of its chinwagging.
This time he's... sticking the Sword of Light at it...
Erastian Central Authority: "You... you could never represent Eras--*KZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT*."
Nonna: "Goodbye."
*She boosts The Sword of Light.*
Metal Man (GM): The Sword of Light creates an incredibly bright light as it connects with it.
Valron: "...Pff. That sword of yours has some incredibly timing, I swear." *He can't help but grin as he glances over at the bright light.*
King Demon summons up some sunglasses.
Metal Man (GM): At this point you get a real feel for why this probably belonged to the Time Cops, since something weird about it basically disrupts the remaining circuitry, and causes all the robots and things to just... stop functioning.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "It never does show up when I expect it... it has a mind of its own."
Metal Man (GM): The ECA machine is not, surprisingly, violently exploded, but it's been burnt completely through and through.
Valron: "I can't say I'm entirely surprised..."
Metal Man (GM): All circuitry is irreversibly destroyed, all data on it annihilated...
It's basically a useless hunk of metal in the shape of the ECA now.
Valron: "Either way... I believe that's mission accomplished."
Metal Man (GM): Much like destroying a Zelda end boss, it is nothing more than a symbol of what once terrorized this area.
Louisoix: "Whew."
Metal Man (GM): Xavier carefully withdraws the sword as the light recedes, although the Sword of Light seems to get in a comment as it fades away.
Sword of Light: "This is precisely what I was created to do." *Shoomp.*
Valron: "At this juncture, we should probably just see what's left that can be salvaged, if anything."
King Demon: "Is that the end of the ECA for good?"
Valron: "Mainly expecting scrap at this point, but it could probably still be put to good use."
Ivan: *R* "Wow... that was... I mean, I've always known of the Sword of Light... and elemental temples... but I never saw it work like that..."
Valron: "Damn well sounds like it, Demon."
Erastian Soldier: *R* "Wow, you... completely erased all of it. I'm not registering any more hostile Erastian Robots on our scanners that we salvaged."
Valron: *R* "It's... a bit more complicated than that, Ivan. Though, I guess that sentence alone shouldn't be surprising, huh?"
Ivan: *R* "I never expected to see it again. I figured the rush to get all the artifacts back when had failed, and Nintendus was never fated to see its namesake artifacts used properly again."
*R* "That the world was totally broken and nothing but ridiculous glitches remained, with the occasional relics from Sonic's world showing up..."
King Demon: "Well, at least we won, I guess."
Ivan: *R* "Maybe we were just doing it wrong back then."
Metal Man (GM): And, for once, there is no sudden follow up with crazy attackers, or a new assault, or a revived enemy, or a giant explosion.
Louisoix: *R* "I'm sure you never tried popcorn before."
Ivan: *R* "Now that you mention it, Doctor Mario used the Sword of Light to cook popcorn once... maybe he broke it, and this new popcorn fixed it? ...That's too insane even by my standards."
Xavier Ridgecrest: *R* "I thought it was Professor Oak who did that."
Valron: *R* "As amusing as that was, can we all just take a moment to appreciate the fact that nothing else is immediately peeking its ugly head out to harass us after having killed off the ECA?"
Ivan: *R* "Whoever did it was out of their mind... ...though yes. This also proves the theory of Julian wrong. It seems like something actually did end, for once."
Xavier Ridgecrest: *R* "Plus the Outliers are busy being too radioactive to bother us."
*R* "And we sent that Alternate Nonna packing."
*R* "I think we earned a rest."
Valron: *R* "Yeah, this is probably the most peaceful things'll get at the moment."
King Demon: "And a feast!"
Xavier Ridgecrest: *R* "More time to investigate the code that Gelato found, anyway."
Nonna: "And that beach!"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "I guess it's time to fly back then, Valron, we can have the fleet deal with these scrap bits and bring them back. And your cargo ship can do it too."
Valron: "On it." *He calls for his cargo ship to get right on that, now that it seems this whole problem has finally died down.*
Louisoix: "Come to think of it, we haven't had a break in a while. Or ever, actually... I mean, when I showed up we were in a nice hotel room anyway..."
Valron: "Even if there's only scrap left, it should still be useful in helping to rebuild, even if we need to melt it down and remake all of it."
King Demon: "Wait, we actually get a vacation?"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Autumnus made a truce with us, actually let go of Erastia, we killed the killer robots he thought would plague us forever, and the Outliers got their butts kicked enough we can breathe some."
Valron: "About as good a time as any, Demon. We've taken out one serious threat, sent a few others packing for the moment, and the Time Cops'll probably not get on our backs for a while, given that we did them a favor."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Sure, I want to investigate what's up with the Sword of Light, but... I can probably rest for a bit."
Valron: "Add to it the whole 'truce' thing, yeah. But, still."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "What with the fact that it has proven itself to be rather random and... whatever it is it won't tell us the name of is probably like five of those chins, in one person."
King Demon: "Huh... this'll be new, usually the only vacations I get are when I get separated from the group... or frozen in time..." *Looks to Xavier after that one.*
Valron: "I'm honestly surprised I came out of this whole mission with... mild damage to my shields."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Yeah... I'll have to make that up to you, since for once, we acted as a team together, and nothing horrible happened except for those multiple near misses and difficulty blowing up the chin. Well, we planned it out and executed it carefully, leaving little to chance."
Metal Man (GM): Except for the horrific RNG Gronk from hell, but. :V
Valron: "Then again, considering the last huge fight I had in this thing was against someone who had Reversal as their attempt to get the last word in..." *Shrugs.*
Xavier Ridgecrest: "It was no Omnus. Mostly because we disarmed it before the fight even began. Can you imagine what that would have been like with its protective radiation fields and ability to fire nuclear death at us?"
Valron: "Yeah, add to it we were quick enough to ensure that it couldn't really build its' power back up."
Nonna: *She sits back and breathes out.*
Xavier Ridgecrest: "I presume the Goose Egg it wanted so badly really... is actually incredibly powerful and scary. So really, another thing we may want to investigate before we do anything that gets us in too much trouble, is how the hell past me got a hold of such a thing. ...Also those things you wanted to do, Valron, about the mech or whatever you were building."
Valron: *Follows suit in the whole 'breathing out' thing. ...He hadn't realized there was still something of a breath that he was holding, or that matter.* "I really should find a way to make it so I can more properly communicate with you lot nonverbally. Couldn't really get into a proper state of mind for this fight, even if that didn't matter too much..."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "What I have to wonder is why Lyx helped us so much and why he keeps vanishing."
Nonna: "I still have something to ask him... after the beach."
Metal Man (GM): The ship can be set to land, and, unlike before, Valron shouldn't have to worry about landing in the ocean.
Although for the laughs I will see if Gronktron3000 would give him a bad roll.
Nope. Even giving it a chance to gronk it would allow Valron to land back on Erastia.
Valron: *Either way, he goes to set it to land. All in a day's work.*
Metal Man (GM): You land, and, I'll call that finish for now. With, yes, this being an actual bet of a 'season ending'--not the usual over the top boss battle, but I figure it'd be best to update the site / system and do something unusual instead--start off the main part of the next 'season' with that and allow time to do much more low-key sessions for a while over the holiday break.
Almost everyone is here and I have the sheets open, so I'll give some EXP, it'll be bigger than usual thanks to the fact that I haven't given it in a while either.
Demon, Louisoix, Kumiko: + 25 EXP. Valron, Kit, Nonna, Xavier, Gel: +10 EXP.
Helping those on the back foot catch up a bit more so they don't feel continuously underpowered.
I may also modify or upgrade Flux, as I have been getting some ideas about what to do with failures that aren't mega-failures.
Since I feel there is an opportunity to allow both sides to interact more when it gets less certain.
Right now it has a very coinflippy behavior about it, which invokes sometimes flippant results.
I control the odds well but no matter what I control them to, this makes it feel truly random sometimes. That is actually progress because before it was a black box, however that means there's room to improve.
Also I will codify the 'spells actually have accuracy rolls' into the system as that nerfs a lot of potential cheapness away without making them useless.
They're still freakin' deadly.
Just that people now have a chance to resist them.
Debuff is a good question. It was a reaction to the previous game(s) where bad stats were everywhere.
I toned them down such that they are no longer the same bargain that just nuking somebody is these days.
Anyway, glad to cap it off with the first ever season to end with... a ship battle, heh.
I realize I created a rut by making a massive boss battle every time.
King Demon: "Yeah! We did this whole thing and I didn't get ejected!" *Suddenly accidentally hits the button, causing the seat to send him flying into the ceiling again* "... Dammit!"
Xavier Ridgecrest: *Chuckles and presses the 'ejection cancel' before anything or anyone can get actually damaged*