Messages

16

Forum Games / Re: ABS FIESTA REDUX

« on: November 02, 2018, 12:10:13 AM »

"Maybe. I guess. Probably." She sighs. "Do you miss him? What would you do if you saw him again?"

: I would punch him.

Jaakko nods and is silent for half a minute.
“I understand,” he says finally, “I’ve been pretty broken up about everything,”
He falls silent again.
“I wanted to check up on you... because you were close to Tippy...” Jaakko has to force the words out of his mouth.
Sadness starts burning in his chest.
“I think she would want me... to check up on you...”
A tear runs down his face. He grabs the bridge of his nose and looks at the floor.
“Sorry,” he laments.

: What do you mean?

17

Forum Games / Re: ABS FIESTA REDUX

« on: November 01, 2018, 10:59:13 PM »

"I thought you might say that." Elu had never responded well to such broad questions, she knew. But she didn't have anything more specific to ask him, really. "What if Arkhip finds us again? Or we find him?" Cualli wanted to keep telling herself that they'd see him again. Even if she was deluding herself, it was one of the things keeping her going.

: It seems unlikely.

“Hello Nagato, how are you?” he asks quietly.

His voice a weary but with hints of Jaakko trying to make his tone sound warmer.

She glances up at him and shrugs.
: Not good.

18

Forum Games / Re: ABS FIESTA REDUX

« on: November 01, 2018, 09:42:21 PM »

“I understand. Thank you,”

Jaakko steps away from Xiaomei and goes to see Nagato.

Nagato is just staring at her feet. She doesn't even look up at you as you approach.

"Elu," she says quietly, "what do you think is going to happen to us after all of this?"

: I do not know.

19

Forum Games / Re: ABS FIESTA REDUX

« on: November 01, 2018, 08:52:25 PM »

“Because if Kintharia would offer me a more certain future there’d be no reason for me not to be loyal. I don’t see the Imperium as being an opportunistic place, and the Mercanans were, at worst, complacent with Aesthia’s nuclear attack and at best, I don’t think they would be supportive if I were to declare asylum. I cannot conceive what civilian life would be like. Kintharia I think would probably be receptive of someone who helped them stop the Aesthian attack,”

Jaakko sighs.

“I trusted you and your squadron when you told us that the Imperials would violently and overwhelmingly retaliate with nukes if Aesthia struck first, which was asking me to go against Aesthia, collaborate with the Imperials, and work for Kintharia’s interests. And I did that with an awful lot of blind trust that you and your squad mates weren’t turncoat and were telling the truth,”

Xiaomei grabs Crash's collar and pulls him in, lowering her voice.
: This is not the place to discuss this topic further. I'll come find you before we leave and we can talk about it then.

At the same time a few thousand miles away, Cualli sits handcuffed with Elu on their way to an Imperial war prison. She and him, the only survivors of the Tordenskjold incident, had been picked up a few hours after the event by an Imperial submarine that saw the fireball. The next day a corvette was dispatched to take them off their hands. The day after, the corvette returned to its task force and transferred them to a destroyer. Three days of sailing later, they find themselves on board the destroyer's auxiliary VTOL, on the way to an offshore defensive installation.

20

Forum Games / Re: ABS FIESTA REDUX

« on: November 01, 2018, 03:41:45 PM »

Jaakko scowls.

“My first squadron I was assigned to was attrited leading up to Taiton, then lost the rest of its strength to the Deltans, I was not in command. And now...”

Jaakko suppresses his frustration at the insinuation that he had allowed Mjolnir to be wiped out, but he wonders if there was anything different he could have done.

“We gave up so much to stop Aesthia and the Imperials from destroying everything, and it nearly happened anyways. I don’t know why I survived when everybody else gave up everything. If you think it’s because of cowardice or some fault of my character, I’d like to know,”

: Cowardice is a strong word, but I do have my doubts that you are offering your services for any reason other than to save your own skin from Aesthian reprisal. I know you have no love for Kintharia, why should I believe you would you be willing to put yourself at risk to advance her interests?

21

Forum Games / Re: ABS FIESTA REDUX

« on: November 01, 2018, 10:56:16 AM »

"I'm a ten- or eleven-times ace, with experience in both air to air and air to surface combat, and flight leadership. Surely they're looking for pilots, the rest of Raiden got roped in to doing special operations didn't they? That's my employable skill, and what I have to offer in exchange for a future where I don't live in the Imperium, and where NAUC doesn't get ahold of me,"

She folds her arms.
: As I seem to recall, your squadrons have a history of being wiped out, and you yourself have had to bail out of your craft so many times that in a lower intensity conflict you would have been forced to retire.

22

Forum Games / Re: ABS FIESTA REDUX

« on: November 01, 2018, 12:48:45 AM »

Jaakko holds his gaze for a few seconds, then looks away and composes himself.

"I want to go to Kintharia, and I want to know if you can help me get there,"

He pauses.

"And if getting involved with the KZG buys me a more certain future, then I want to know about that too," he says quietly.

: You. Involved with the KZG. In what capacity?

23

Forum Games / Re: ABS FIESTA REDUX

« on: November 01, 2018, 12:41:06 AM »

Jaakko approaches Xiaomei.
"Xiaomei, I had-"
He stops. Jaakko felt shame for being awfully abrasive to the Kintharians at times in the past, and now they were one of the few, or rather, one of the only things that had remained mostly the same from before his world was shaken up so violently.
He forces himself to look Xiaomei in the eye.
"How are you?" he asks quietly.

Any of the other Kintharians would have probably appreciated the attempt at small-talk. Not this one.
: Out with it, Jaakko.

24

Forum Games / Re: ABS FIESTA REDUX

« on: November 01, 2018, 12:03:41 AM »

"[I was going to ask Xiaomei... what the KZG could offer... if they could take me to Kintharia,]"
Jaakko waves to Lorens, and makes eye contact with for only a moment before looking away.
"[I think they could help me.]"

Xiaomei stops staring out a window and glances at the three of you.

25

Forum Games / Re: ABS FIESTA REDUX

« on: October 31, 2018, 11:27:06 PM »

Intent on visiting the infirmary himself, Ash catches up to Jaakko in the hallway.
"Yo, Maj'!," Ash calls out, defiantly upbeat in light of what transpired over the last several days. He jogs up to his side before switching to a more mild tone of voice, "[Care to talk?]"

Jaakko looks at Ash with weary eyes.
"[What about?]" he asks flatly.

Every bed in the infirmary is occupied. Other than the nameless faceless imps, Musashi, Xiaomei, Nagato, and Ajka are all present.
-Musashi is still under heavy sedation recovering from what will definitely be a career-ending spinal injury.
-Xiaomei's right leg is in a splint, having been accidentally shot in the shin by a nervous Imperial Guard grunt after ejecting from her craft.
-Nagato's legs are both broken, a result of her chute becoming tangled upon ejection and subjecting her to a very hard landing.
-Ajka's torso, upper arms, and part of her head is wrapped in bandages, having barely survived the severe burns and blood loss that came with her narrow escape. Dozens of pieces of shrapnel embedded in her back mean her days flying are over.

26

Forum Games / Re: ABS FIESTA REDUX

« on: October 31, 2018, 09:10:22 PM »

After circling for a long time, Kobalt is granted clearance to land at Zentragothora International, Arx Cypristar fish apparently having sustained a minor bombardment during the attack which left its runways inoperable. As you roll along the taxiway, you see the Indomitus descending between two of the airport terminals. Deep hull breaches caused by heavy plasma still glow dimly around the edges, the superstructure has been reduced to a jagged mess of twisted supports, and the two large ventilation intakes to the front are illuminated in a fierce golden-orange by fires burning within. And yet still it functions well enough to make a controlled touchdown, after which it is swarmed by emergency vehicles to assist in damage control efforts and extracting casualties. The sight of the Indomitus and the other remaining airships coming in for a landing is the last thing most people remember of the night, as what follows is a blur of taxiing some more, disembarking in a large hangar, boarding a smoke-spewing bench-seat canvas truck, and drifting in and out of sleep as you ride to your new temporary home.
It is now five days after the Battle of Zentragothora. Bell, Ellie, Jaakko, and Ash wake up in an Gothic barracks; and Lorens and Ajka in the infirmary. Information about the direction the war has taken since the destruction of the Aesthian fleet has been impossible to come across, bar the predictable propaganda spin on events, and despite being issued the same grey uniforms as everyone else none of the Aesthians feel like they belong here yet. Not speaking the local language is a big part of it, and the aggressively inquisitorial debriefing didn't help either. The officer running the show seemed to be of the mindset that he was meant to interrogate Aesthian prisoners rather than receive a simple after-action report. On the bright side, all the base personnel know just who you are by now, and the awkward few days of being harassed for your IDs and talked down to by paranoid soldiers is behind you. Fresh in everyone's minds (except Ajka) are the offers they were made by the Imperium- They can continue to serve in the Imperial Air Force with a parcel of land (20 hectares) and half a million Aurei as incentive to stay in the country, or they can just accept the money and land without continuing to serve, or they can take five grand and the next plane ticket to Malanta. All of them were encouraged to continue serving.

Bell, Ellie, Jaakko, Ash, and Yamashiro are in the Barracks.
Lorens, Ajka, Musashi, Nagato, and Xiaomei are in the infirmary.
Tippy, Markus, Hilbert, and Walter were never found by search and rescue, though the latter two shouldn't be surprising.

27

Forum Games / Re: ABS FIESTA REDUX

« on: October 30, 2018, 03:08:29 PM »

“AWACS, Kobalt, is that everything? Requestion instructions,” Jaakko chatters anxiously.

: Kobalt, this is Spyglass. We aren't seeing any additional enemy contacts. You should be cleared to land at either ZAC or Arx Cypristar fish soon.

The facades on the street are lit with a bright flash from some miles away. We're doomed, Ash thinks to himself. Half a minute passes, but contrary to expectation no massive shock wave ripples through the city, no mushroom cloud towers above him.
Cautiously, Ash peers over where he took cover with the artillerymen. He scans the skies over the metropolis and tries to spot the heavy bombers, but the starry night sky is clear.
"Is it over?"
... It's over!
Lorens watches glowing remains of the Odslighet fall to the city below, his mouth agape in shock and awe. Emotion washes over him as he tries to tally the lost, to calculate their sacrifices and to figure out if it was all worth it.

Militia forces all around you begin cheering wildly at the sight of the Odslighet's destruction. The boy who first found you slumps against a wall and sinks down to the ground to fall asleep, and the man who was less than an hour ago waving a gun in your face is now shaking you by the shoulders and (you assume) praising your assistance in targeting the Vaduren.

28

Forum Games / Re: ABS FIESTA REDUX

« on: October 30, 2018, 10:23:28 AM »

Final Turn
: Approaching target area in ten, nine...

Jaakko pulls his aircraft around. The extreme G's pull him in to his seat, but he does not notice, between the terror of his situation and his fixation on the carrier. A plasma bolt rips towards the Ardea. The Tukreb swings about, and its guns fall on the aft plasma gun. Jaakko white knuckles the triggers for his EML and RAC, firing in to the gun, then climbing above and peeling away from the Obslighet.

"Ardea, fire!" he pleads into the radio.

EML accuracy 40
Experience provides bonus of  8
Point Blank provides bonus of  10
Test taken at 58
Roll: 18 - success

RAC accuracy 50
Experience provides bonus of  8
Point Blank provides bonus of  10
Test taken at 68
Roll: 63 - success
Gun disabled.

: ...eight, seven...

Ellie takes a potshot at the railgun once Jaakko has cleared her line of fire.

LCB accuracy 55
Experience provides bonus of  8
Aim provides bonus of  10
Test taken at 73
Roll: 92 - failure
The railgun remains intact, albeit still disabled.
: ...six, five...

Coming out of her evasive maneuver, Bell sees that the armor on the port engine block is heavily damaged and fires a shot from the KSM at it.

KSM accuracy 50
Experience provides bonus of  8
Point Blank provides bonus of  10
Test taken at 68
Roll: 23 - success
The point blank railgun shot penetrates all the way through the engine block, and the engines begin to sputter and die.
: ...four- stuff! We're drifting off target! CIC, can you adjust course? CIC, come in!
: [Firing spinal lance.]

The Odslighet begins lazily rolling to port, hammered from left and right by everything the defending planes still have on their pylons. Secondary explosions go off throughout the primary hull as the damage from Walter's final run continues to mount until the Ardea puts it down with a weapon not unlike a smaller version of the one used by Palisade. The area around the point of impact glows white-hot and the hull plating bulges outwards as the ship fails to contain the mounting pressure inside. Glowing patches of orange spread across the Odslighet's hull plating and bright light spills from every viewport and crack in the armor, culminating in the detonation of the entire fuselage section.

29

Forum Games / Re: ABS FIESTA REDUX

« on: October 30, 2018, 12:22:26 AM »

Final Turns

"I just wanted to make sure you were on board, Sir."

He fires the plasma cannon twice at the Odslighet's top flight deck, knowing full well that it'll critically overheat the weapon. The bolts are followed by the rest of his guns firing together at the same target, trying to maximize the damage dealt. He closes his eyes, staying the course as he hurtles straight for the flagship. He knows that he'll be killed instantly in a dazzling blaze of plasma on impact. Slowly, Walt exhales, fully at peace with and embracing his choice.

P4 accuracy 25
Experience provides bonus of  12
Aim provides bonus of  20
Airship Target provides bonus of  20
Point Blank provides bonus of  10
Test taken at 87
Roll: 75 - success
Roll: 15 - success

RAC accuracy 50
Experience provides bonus of  12
Aim provides bonus of  20
Point Blank provides bonus of  10
Test taken at 92
Roll: 15 - success
Roll: 38 - success

FLK accuracy 50
Experience provides bonus of  12
Aim provides bonus of  20
Point Blank provides bonus of  10
Test taken at 92
Roll: 26 - success
Roll: 44 - success

LAMS accuracy 95
Roll: 70 - success
Roll: 63 - success
The LAMS open fire and hit every shot, but it would take more than they've got to bring down the 90 tons of steel hurtling towards them before impact. Walter's first plasma bolt annihilates the deck gun before it can fire and punches through the rear hangar wall, blasting a path deeper into the ship. The second shot bores a second path of destruction at a more downward-facing angle, penetrating through to the lower hangar deck and detonating one of the reserve airframes hanging from the ceiling. Lastly, the collision of the Skepna against the back of the hangar wall combined with what's left of its ammunition cooking off results in an explosion powerful enough to send a plume of red-hot slag out the back of the ship.

"Does anyone have the Evig Seger's roosterpit?"
Bell asks as she deploys a chaff packet before trying to duck out of being hit by the SAM.

Blackjack base EV 68
Experience provides bonus of  8
Chaff provides bonus of  40
SAM provides penalty of  40
Test taken at 76
Roll: 86 - failure
Supermaneuverable: 8 - success
Bell survives.
: I have it.

AKM accuracy 55
Experience provides bonus of  10
Aim provides bonus of  10
Point Blank provides bonus of  10
Test taken at 85
Roll: 48 - success

RAC accuracy 50
Experience provides bonus of  8
Aim provides bonus of  10
Point Blank provides bonus of  10
Test taken at 78
Roll: 21 - success
One of Onyx's planes dives on the roosterpit and lights it up with a pair of AKSMs and rotary cannons. With noone at the helm and all four thrusters destroyed, it begins to crash.

Ellie tries dumping an LCB shot into the Odjur's damaged engine.

LCB accuracy 55
Experience provides bonus of  8
Aim provides bonus of  10
Point Blank provides bonus of 10
Test taken at 83
Roll: 46 - success
The beam laser rakes across delicate internals, further accelerating the rate at which the Odjur is going off course. Listing heavily and entering a dive, it is going to miss the target area entirely.

Jaakko disables his AOA limiter and yanks the stick. He drags the EML beam across the bridge, and follows it with a line from his RAC. He yanks the stick the other way and attempts to get away from the carrier.

Though he'd never been one for prayer, he chants at the top of his lungs a incantation in appeal to the Gods for aid.

EML accuracy 40
Experience provides bonus of  8
Aim provides bonus of  10
Test taken at 58
Roll: 36 - success

RAC accuracy 50
Experience provides bonus of  8
Point Blank provides bonus of  10
Test taken at 68
Roll: 20 - success
The EML disables the controls, and the RAC mows down anyone in the roosterpit who wasn't knocked on the floor by the calamity caused by Walter.

Imperial planes continue to lay into the Aesthian flagship, seriously damaging the left engine section. Behind the Odslighet the IAZ Ardea begins to decloak, only to be instantly shot by a plasma railgun mounted on the recovery deck.


AFS Odslighet will reach its target at the end of the next turn.

30

Forum Games / Re: ABS FIESTA REDUX

« on: October 29, 2018, 10:24:20 PM »

Final Turns

Walt grips the stick until his knuckles turn white, taking aim on the Odslighet as he maintains course straight towards it. His heart is pounding in his chest, and his jaw is tense. He can't see anything outside of his roosterpit save for the looming Odslighet before him.

He glances at the radio and opens an Aesthian channel, hailing the flagship. "Lieutenant Ashford requesting clearance to land on the AFS Odslighet," he calls, his voice eerily level.

: What the- how did you get this channel?
: Really, Lieutenant, now that the other renegades are dealt with you decide now you've had enough? You could at least try to die like an Aesthian.

“Xiaomei! stuff!”
Jaakko evades again, desperately trying to get out of the way of the railgun.

The green bolt of the last gun passes harmlessly behind you.

Bell pulls the trigger and fires the cannon with the hope that the shot will connect with the Odjur.

KSM accuracy 50
Experience provides bonus of  8
Aim provides bonus of  20
Test taken at 78
Roll: 41 - success
Target hit. The Odjur loses partial power to its left engines and begins drifting off course. It returns fire with one SAM.

Ellie fires an RGM at the Odslighet's bridge to distract the point defense.

The missile is shot down.

Yamashiro steps up and tries to knock out the last gun.
PPC accuracy 55
Experience provides bonus of  10
Aim provides bonus of  10
Test taken at 75
Roll: 84 - failure
She misses.

Now at Point Blank Range of the Odslighet and its escorts.


Aesthian Airships will reach their target in 2 turns.