Eberron With Giant Robots 00

[Lord Iames Osari]

Zephyr begins examining the Regal. Is there a partiular reason why it's equipped with a morningstar?

[Nerd-o-rama]

On the Wraith: "Oh, it's bulky, but it's a stealthy one: magical active camouflage. I heard it was originally designed for amphibious first strikes across Scion's Sound into Thrane before the whole Invader thing happened."

On the Aether: "Of course I brought one of both. Variability is the whole point. You'll just need to make sure you are very careful when altering the configuration. The Khyber shards can be crushed if they're not installed properly, and escaped elementals hate technicians."

On the Steel Wolf: (Iron Wolf is perfectly reasonable and maintains the obscure reference if you prefer that) "Priority went to the melee weapon systems when arming that Mobile Suit...but I'll see what I can do about acquiring some specialized ammunition in the future."

On the Regal III: "Well, it's there because Cannith cheaped out on the proficiency enchantments for melee weapons on a ranged unit, and went with a weapon everyone knows how to use anyway."

"I am right here, you know."

On the Fernia Soul: "I love it! I'll want to deploy straightaway for a test run!"
"Commander...the briefing? And weren't you just doing the final systems check in it yesterday?"
"Yes...well...that's not the same, now is it?"
Sigh. "After the briefing, Commander."


"Speaking of which," Mina continues, "If everyone's done getting acquainted with his or her new unit for the moment, why don't we head inside for breakfast and a mission assignment?"

[Lord Iames Osari]

((Too many people using Navy or similar colors. Switching to RoyalBlue))

That sounds like an excellent idea, Captain.

[Elvith Jars]

"Mission briefing?" That got Crowbar's attention.

[Winged One]

"Volker, it's your job to change my Khyber shards." Nozomi says immediately after she learns that it is potentially dangerous to do so. When the captain mentions Cannith cheaping out, she says "It's a specialized unit, it's not like he should be going into melee in situations when that morningstar wouldn't be enough anyway. In fact, Crowbar was just saying that the unarmed attacks are the most- wait, we have a mission? Let's not waste time then." She manages to shift tracks very quickly when she hears that there's work to be done. "Father, are you coming with us to the briefing?"

[The_Snark]

Shiali nods. "I'm interested to see how we'll perform with specialized suits, but I'm actually more curious what we're going to be doing." She also hasn't eaten yet, but she doesn't mention that.

[Nerd-o-rama]

Minutes later

Back in the base, in a large chamber high in the main tower, the group (including Mina, Zoren, and Merrix) sits around a large, formal table as Mina organizes a thick stack of notes and a somewhat disgruntled-looking Lieutenant Vedner directs a couple of servants in serving the group a sizeable breakfast, including eggs to order, sausage, pastries, and surprisingly good coffee - obviously officer fare, or possibly VIP fare for the Baron.

"Now," the captain begins, as soon as everyone's food is roughly settled and she's got her papers in order, "as those of you who are local probably know, there is a sizeable Invader presence established in the King's Forest, lying on a direct line between here and Wroat. The Brelish army has to date contained the enemy within the forest, but it is still an unacceptable threat to the capital. With the commissioning of the Green Dragon and this new Mobile Suit Team, it has been decided that now is the appropriate time to launch an offensive to clear out the Invader beachhead."

"We're attacking them?" asks Vedner from over a tray of Commander Deneith's scrambled eggs being brought up from the kitchens. "I thought this team was to stay here and defend Sharn?"

"The area of operations is at the outer edge of our official zone of operations, true, but the order to counterattack the Invaders comes straight from His Majesty. If there's an emergency back here, the Green Dragon is fast enough to get everyone home to defend the city."

Commander Deneith swallows his food hurriedly and pipes up. "That reminds me. How did she get here so fast? Did Merrix paint the hull red or something?"

"Don't be an idiot, commander," Merrix says dismissively. "I painted the fire elemental red."

[Elvith Jars]

While the team eats breakfast, Crowbar hunches over his paper placemat and doodles on it with crayons. Every now and then he stares at each team member in an effort to draw them. He makes stick figures of everybody, a sun with a happy face, and a green airship with a squiggly red fire elemental ring. Next to each team members' "likeness" are stick figures of the new Mobile Suits. Off to the side Iron Wolf looks like it has teeth, and "GRRR" above its head. Stick Figure Crowbar/Iron Wolf is flying around and blasting all the Invaders with beams coming out of his hands. There's a big arrow with the words "Me" above it. It looks like fifth-grader art.

He looks up once the meeting starts, listening intently.

"You also have the Spirit Mobile Suit to defend the base with, I'm sure you can train some guards to use them."

[Lucid_Archon]

Volker brings up a piece of omelet to his mouth a moment before Merrix makes his comment. A moment after Volker is rolling on the floor with a large piece of egg lodged in his throat. As he writhes in agony, he wonders if it its for the best.

[ExHunterEmerald]

Dencamp serenely leaves his seat, wiping the edge of his mouth with a handkerchief, strides over to the gasping Volker, and punches the ailing engineer in the stomach once, projectile-launching the omelet high into the air. With his free hand, he grabs the skillet from a passing cook and neatly catches the errant egg in the center of the pan at the extent of his reach, one leg extended behind him to balance. After setting it down he offers Volker a hand up.

(It struck me as the anime thing to do.)

[Winged One]

Nozomi devours the food appreciatively even though she already had breakfast, glad for the opportunity to eat food like what she's used to. "They should be able to hold off Invaders until we get there as long as they don't do anything stupid at least." Nozomi says when Crowbar speaks up. As Volker chokes on the omelet, she smiles a bit and watches him, and when Dencamp intervenes, she mutters "Dammit."

---

* post roll count doesn't match database

[The_Snark]

Shiali listens attentively, giving the general impression that she is taking notes despite lacking an actual notepad. "I don't know much about this," she begins, in case anybody forgot overnight, "but wouldn't applying a liquid to a fire elemental be, well... bad?" She watches Volker with concern, but the others seem to have it in hand.

[Lucid_Archon]

Volker looks immensely angry. He grabs Dencamp by his shirt, his face red from oxygen deprivation.

"WHY DID YOU SAVE ME?"

When Nozomi makes he comment, Volker turns his hateful gaze to her and away from Dencamp.

"Do you still have that bit of omelet?"

[ExHunterEmerald]

Dencamp wordlessly hands the skillet to Volker.

I am going to die.

[Lucid_Archon]

Volker smiles with a malice rivaling the most vicious of the Lords of Dust.

"I'll hang on to this...."

He slips the egg into one of his pockets.

[The_Snark]

Shiali watches him with bafflement and a touch of worry, coughing into the moment of perplexed silence. "... anyway. Going back to the mission, what do we know about the Invaders in the forest? Numbers? Are they mostly controlled animals like the ones we saw here?"

[Elvith Jars]

"And have the techs learned anything from the Invader constructs?" Crowbar watches Dencamp's deft display of darring dogooding, and draws the scene on his placemat. "I wonder if this qualifies as a hobby," He mutters, "It has no battlefield usefulness except maybe for noting enemy locations."

[Winged One]

Nozomi blinks at Volker's latest display. This would be endearing if he didn't keep saying things about my family, she muses. "Yes, those drawings would count as a hobby." she says to Crowbar.

[ooc]Is he going to use those drawings to explain things?[/ooc]

[Elvith Jars]

Crowbar nods and starts doodling what he hears on the enemy intel.

[ooc]Possibly, though at the time I was thinking of what kids do in restaurants.[/ooc]

[Nerd-o-rama]

"Anyway," the captain continues after everyone's done choking, "We are unsure of the enemy's numbers. We believe there to be on the order of a hundred or two massive living constructs in total, plus whatever wildlife they've brought with them or recruited. In addition, the forest itself is rather dangerous outside of a mobile suit or an airship; it was kept mainly as a preserve for dangerous game by King Boranel before the invasion, and the Invaders have largely driven out the rangers tasked with keeping the peace there. We're not sure of the fate of the various bandit gangs that lived there before either."

She unfolds a large map of Breland over her end of the table, gesturing with a pointer at various points in the clearly-marked King's Forest. "At the time of operation, a segment of the Royal Army will sally out of Wroat and move into the forest, engaging the main force of the enemy, with air support from the Navy and our sister ship, Ivy Castle." Sweeping a line from Sharn into the forest, she continues, "The Green Dragon will move into the forest in a flanking manuever, meant to engage and eliminate any command and control elements, or at least engage their reserves. The bulk of the enemy should be concentrated on the Wroat front; we'll be moving in and eliminating smaller groups of targets, hence the small size of the group."

[Elvith Jars]

"Cut off the nuts head of the snake, and the body dies. Unless it's a hydra. If the Invader constructs are indeed controlling the animals, then they'd become prime targets of opportunity. Aside from the crab-like constructs we fought, what other constructs has the King's Army and Navy encountered?"

[Lord Iames Osari]

Zephyr pays close attention, although he doesn't ask any questions yet.

[Lucid_Archon]

Volker glances at Merrix.

"Do we know anything about the constructs?"

[Nerd-o-rama]

"We know very little about the constructs. What we can say for sure is they are living constructs like Warforged - composed of ironwood, steel, and adamantine, with some mineral reinforcement - but with animal-level intelligence," Merrix says. "Obviously, they don't act like animals; there are a few competing theories as to why this is, but the one that's not idiotic is that they are being magically controlled from a distance, or perhaps with built-in compulsions to act according to humanoid tactics. We can assume the 'Invaders' we've seen so far are the vanguard of a more intelligent--"

Mina chimes in with a sigh. "Your Grace, we went into this in the briefing with Their Majesties. All Cannith has is speculation right now."

Merrix fixes her with a level glare; she doesn't flinch, but he continues anyway. "Anyway, what we can say is that these things were made with a creation forge or an eldritch device of a similar nature, just based on their composition and numbers. As for other models, aside from the Bugs you fought yesterday, we have only unreliable reports of other constructs in use by the enemy. The Bugs appear to be the main shock troops, 'commanding', if that's the right word, various fauna as light infantry. There've been reports of smaller units used for armed reconnaisance, and heavier ones used as artillery or auto-mobile battering rams."

"Any further questions?" Mina asks, after appearing to consider rebuking the Baron again and deciding against it.

[Elvith Jars]

"Has the Brelish Army engaged the crab constructs directly before? If so, what happens once they're defeated? Do the animals lose unit cohesion?"

[ExHunterEmerald]

(I just want you guys to know that this is very out of character for Dencamp, but I had to do it.)
"It doesn't matter," Dencamp says, patting the crossed sheathes at his back.
"If they have giant crabs, I'll just hit the weak point."
(I'm so sorry.)

[Nerd-o-rama]

The officers and Merrix stare at Dencamp for several seconds. If the GM were into cheap, overused visual gags, sweatdrops would be involved. But he's not.

"I think that concludes the briefing, then," Mina says eventually. "The operation is due to begin in two days, which means even with Baron d'Cannith's modifications, we'll need to leave this afternoon. Everyone, pack up and be on board the Green Dragon by 1300. You're all free until then."

"Except me, you mean," Merrix adds. "I'm heading into the city as soon as I talk with my daughter for a moment. Nozomi?"

Merrix, Mina, and Zoren all stand, the latter two heading off in the direction of the landing field as the former gestures for Nozomi to join him in the nearest convenient empty hallway.

[Elvith Jars]

Crowbar takes the time to obtain any additional mission briefings and intel data he can gather, gets aquainted with the Iron Wolf and its capabilities, invents a miniaturized arc reactor in a cave with a box of scraps, and then goes exploring the airship.

[Winged One]

Nozomi looks at Dencamp, then a nearby tableknife, then Dencamp again, and then takes a deep breath to avoid murderating him. He is so lucky he's useful enough to get away with that... She follows her father when he asks her to and ducks into the empty hallway without comment.

[ooc]PM sent[/ooc]

[The_Snark]

Shiali looks politely confused. It's an expression she's been getting a good bit of practice with lately.

She nods, standing, as the captain dismisses them. "Yes, sir." She then returns to her quarters, although given her very meager equipment one might wonder what she's actually retrieving.