Purr
Kaerri's Man. =)
High Stakes - adjective. Designating a gambling game in which the stakes are high; (hence in extended use of any situation or activity) high-risk, dangerous; having the potential for very significant gains or losses. (source: high-stakes | Definition of high-stakes in US English by Oxford Dictionaries) (bold mine)
"The lock is here," Cera eagerly pointed at the computer console beside the door. Elinor drifted her Valkyrie over several piles of foamy gunk on the floor to the blast door. With
her mecha's free hand, the test pilot followed Cera's precise directions on the console, pressing a quick series of controls. Cera did not need any time to think or consider - it was as if she knew exactly how the door operated.
A moment later, a satisfying series of odds clicks along with the sounds of mechanical movements as if the door were being reinforced somehow. The blast door was locked.
(This part of the post is in response to Toph's Perception roll.)
As Toph and Mario entered the room, the half-Meltrandi took a good long look around the bay and found something out of Iris's line of sight. A great blue forcefield, some 60 feet tall and wide, stood mightily to the left of Toph's battloid Ajax. Behind this barrier was a vague and strange humanoid-like shape, shadowy and indistinct, some forty feet in height and about twenty-five feet in width.
The shimmering of the energy shield prevented all other details, but soon, the identity of the thing became a matter of lesser importance...
(Get ready, friends. This one is a doozy.)
At long last, Mario and the Wild Cards had finally, finally found the missing Veritech Hover Tank!
The young Italian-American saw the stout, undamaged mecha. It stood tall in battloid form, EU-11 rifle ready in its capable hands. Despite the harsh markings of Zentraedi hands upon her hull, the proud emblem shone still and the words upon her that never failed to bring a spring of the spirit to any member of Eglin base:
Loricatus Defensors.
"Armored Defenders."
Through adversity, tragedy, and the unknowns and uncertainties of battle against a new kind of Zentraedi, the Wild Cards and their allies had done the nigh-impossible and found the one thing in the world that would complete their mission. Corporal Mario Zuko was the one available representative from the Alpha Tactical Armored Corps to unlock her cockpit, jump inside, and bring her to life.
Iris followed Mario, seeing what he saw and transmitting it via the Polyphonic Nexus to all of the Traversers who might take the time to share in the discovery. Through technopathy, Elinor, Toph, Shirley, and MechaKitten were able to see and hear everything from Iris's point of view. She stood behind Mario as he worked and thus she saw and heard everything he did for the moment. It helped that, at her full height, Iris was almost as tall as the battloid-tank.
The lady alien watched silently and happily as Mario climbed up the VHT's hull and stood on its shoulder. She might have lent a pincer to help him up, but really, Mario did not need it. Such were the enthusiastic tanker's movements that he could have scaled the tank with his eyes closed. Instead, Iris leaned her light body up against the tank's and carefully watched Mario. In moments, the stocky tanker was up and working with the tank with an ease that only came from A.T.A.C. training.
Mario unlocked the computerized permissions required to access the two seats that would rise up and out of the tank's chest, similar to the Ajax' and Valkyrie's own vertical seating positions.
(Image credit:Mecha Journal )
Imagine two such seats coming out of the chest of the vehicle on one long pole, one seat atop the other. (Yes, I know this isn't physically possible, given the size of the mecha, but it's my game, and I want VHTs to have two seats like all of the other mecha I have in Robotech: Broadsword. Not that I think any of you are complaining. =) )
(Image credit:mechajournal.com )
With a series of beeps and the hiss of mechanical motions, Mario did without worry what the Zentraedi could not do despite their incredible physical strength. The hatch opened. The pair of chairs rose up out of the Veritech Hover Tank's chest as if greeting and inviting Mario inside.
Mario noticed instantly the top seat, the pilot/gunner's chair, was empty and waiting him. But perhaps to his great surprise, the bottom "commander's" chair was not empty at all...
The chair had something in it or rather... a pair of somethings carefully laid and strapped in it...
Iris recoiled slightly in surprise at the sight. The curious Scrath knew not what she was looking at, but Mario had a very strong idea. It did not take one with munitions specialist or weapons engineer training to recognize this.
Nor did it take training of any kind to recognize the source of the bold and powerful male voice that suddenly began to play its automated message. From a tiny computer attached to one of the devices, the following was heard:
The moment the recording ceased, a pair of high-pitched beeping sounds alerted Mario and all of his fellow Traversers watching to the devices. Each had an LED monitor. They displayed this information...
All of the Traversers paying attention to Iris's Polyphonic Nexus saw and heard what Mario had experienced.
Cera, sounding worried, asked in a small voice filled with dread. "What... are those devices? And... why do I feel as if something absolutely terrible is taking place?"
Wild Cards, what do you do?
* * *
"The lock is here," Cera eagerly pointed at the computer console beside the door. Elinor drifted her Valkyrie over several piles of foamy gunk on the floor to the blast door. With
her mecha's free hand, the test pilot followed Cera's precise directions on the console, pressing a quick series of controls. Cera did not need any time to think or consider - it was as if she knew exactly how the door operated.
A moment later, a satisfying series of odds clicks along with the sounds of mechanical movements as if the door were being reinforced somehow. The blast door was locked.
* * *
(This part of the post is in response to Toph's Perception roll.)
As Toph and Mario entered the room, the half-Meltrandi took a good long look around the bay and found something out of Iris's line of sight. A great blue forcefield, some 60 feet tall and wide, stood mightily to the left of Toph's battloid Ajax. Behind this barrier was a vague and strange humanoid-like shape, shadowy and indistinct, some forty feet in height and about twenty-five feet in width.
The shimmering of the energy shield prevented all other details, but soon, the identity of the thing became a matter of lesser importance...
* * *
(Get ready, friends. This one is a doozy.)
"God is Trying to Tell You Something" for The Color Purple (A New Musical).
At long last, Mario and the Wild Cards had finally, finally found the missing Veritech Hover Tank!
The young Italian-American saw the stout, undamaged mecha. It stood tall in battloid form, EU-11 rifle ready in its capable hands. Despite the harsh markings of Zentraedi hands upon her hull, the proud emblem shone still and the words upon her that never failed to bring a spring of the spirit to any member of Eglin base:
Loricatus Defensors.
"Armored Defenders."
Through adversity, tragedy, and the unknowns and uncertainties of battle against a new kind of Zentraedi, the Wild Cards and their allies had done the nigh-impossible and found the one thing in the world that would complete their mission. Corporal Mario Zuko was the one available representative from the Alpha Tactical Armored Corps to unlock her cockpit, jump inside, and bring her to life.
Iris followed Mario, seeing what he saw and transmitting it via the Polyphonic Nexus to all of the Traversers who might take the time to share in the discovery. Through technopathy, Elinor, Toph, Shirley, and MechaKitten were able to see and hear everything from Iris's point of view. She stood behind Mario as he worked and thus she saw and heard everything he did for the moment. It helped that, at her full height, Iris was almost as tall as the battloid-tank.
The lady alien watched silently and happily as Mario climbed up the VHT's hull and stood on its shoulder. She might have lent a pincer to help him up, but really, Mario did not need it. Such were the enthusiastic tanker's movements that he could have scaled the tank with his eyes closed. Instead, Iris leaned her light body up against the tank's and carefully watched Mario. In moments, the stocky tanker was up and working with the tank with an ease that only came from A.T.A.C. training.
Mario unlocked the computerized permissions required to access the two seats that would rise up and out of the tank's chest, similar to the Ajax' and Valkyrie's own vertical seating positions.
(Image credit:Mecha Journal )
Imagine two such seats coming out of the chest of the vehicle on one long pole, one seat atop the other. (Yes, I know this isn't physically possible, given the size of the mecha, but it's my game, and I want VHTs to have two seats like all of the other mecha I have in Robotech: Broadsword. Not that I think any of you are complaining. =) )
(Image credit:mechajournal.com )
With a series of beeps and the hiss of mechanical motions, Mario did without worry what the Zentraedi could not do despite their incredible physical strength. The hatch opened. The pair of chairs rose up out of the Veritech Hover Tank's chest as if greeting and inviting Mario inside.
Mario noticed instantly the top seat, the pilot/gunner's chair, was empty and waiting him. But perhaps to his great surprise, the bottom "commander's" chair was not empty at all...
The chair had something in it or rather... a pair of somethings carefully laid and strapped in it...
Each of the devices has a name written carefully in laser etched on its surface: "Fat Man" and "Little Boy."
(Image credit: ArtStation Adam Baines)
(Image credit: ArtStation Adam Baines)
Iris recoiled slightly in surprise at the sight. The curious Scrath knew not what she was looking at, but Mario had a very strong idea. It did not take one with munitions specialist or weapons engineer training to recognize this.
Nor did it take training of any kind to recognize the source of the bold and powerful male voice that suddenly began to play its automated message. From a tiny computer attached to one of the devices, the following was heard:
"This is General Steele speaking. Welcome, soldiers, to the second part of your mission...
"Now that you have located the VHT my people heroically deposited inside the base, it is imperative that you deliver its contents to center of this enemy compound, or as close as you can reasonably manage. From there, these two miniature nuclear devices will detonate with enough force to completely eradicate the alien threat to Eglin base and all decent humans living within her protection.
"You are that protection, soldiers. Perform your duty with alacrity and resolve. Return with the tank intact, or if this is not possible, have it destroyed when these bombs detonate. Your praise and rewards upon your return will be great.
"Also remember - the people of Eglin and all its people are all counting on you. Understand. Your failure puts them all at jeopardy and this I will not allow. Thus, failure is not an option.
"At the end of this message, you will have exactly half an hour to complete your mission and be away from the base. The clocks can have their time reduced, but not lengthened. I await word of your fruitful success.
"General Steele out."
"Now that you have located the VHT my people heroically deposited inside the base, it is imperative that you deliver its contents to center of this enemy compound, or as close as you can reasonably manage. From there, these two miniature nuclear devices will detonate with enough force to completely eradicate the alien threat to Eglin base and all decent humans living within her protection.
"You are that protection, soldiers. Perform your duty with alacrity and resolve. Return with the tank intact, or if this is not possible, have it destroyed when these bombs detonate. Your praise and rewards upon your return will be great.
"Also remember - the people of Eglin and all its people are all counting on you. Understand. Your failure puts them all at jeopardy and this I will not allow. Thus, failure is not an option.
"At the end of this message, you will have exactly half an hour to complete your mission and be away from the base. The clocks can have their time reduced, but not lengthened. I await word of your fruitful success.
"General Steele out."
The moment the recording ceased, a pair of high-pitched beeping sounds alerted Mario and all of his fellow Traversers watching to the devices. Each had an LED monitor. They displayed this information...
All of the Traversers paying attention to Iris's Polyphonic Nexus saw and heard what Mario had experienced.
Cera, sounding worried, asked in a small voice filled with dread. "What... are those devices? And... why do I feel as if something absolutely terrible is taking place?"
Wild Cards, what do you do?
