[M&M2e] Red Sands Chronicles

[Relique du Madde]

"They will not accept passengers or cargo on this trip?"

Lord Burroughmeister frowned. "No, since they are punishing me because I decided not to use their members of their guild for the initial caravan."

"No flying recon?"

"Not even recon. Making matters worse, the few airships this cities have that are not owned by the Transportation Guild have are refusing to aid us out of solidarity with the Transportation Guild."


"I am a competent guide, lord. Ask me and I will tell you."

"I'll take your word." Lord Burroughmeister laughed, then tapped his assistant on the shoulder. "Mark this man down as our guide."


"Water and supplies for the trip back, we should head out as light as we can."

"Alright. I'll have you check through our supplies before we leave."

«OOC: Seif would like to use his Survival skill and Knowledge(Desert) to boost our chances of success right from the planning stages. Optimize routes, supply lines, find needed equipment, make sure we're not missing any equipment, etc. I figure this is a +5 Help Another with the Vice Chairman in an effort to cut down travel time to and from the stranded caravan. Makes sense?

OOC: Makes sense. Since Seif is the guide.. everything rests on his shoulders. Mha ha ha ha!

Where *do* the people of Mars usually get their water, Relique?

OCC: In most settlements, primarily through reclamation, recycling, and distillation. Well water is considered a luxury.

In the wastes water can be found in scattered oases, permafrost, geysers, and springs. It should be noted that even in the wastes water must be distilled or filtrated since its considered to be highly acidic and almost always contains water-soluble toxins.

 

[Relique du Madde]

CHAPTER II: BON VOYAGE​

It is already mid-morning by the the time the last member of the caravan arrives at Brigsbee Plaza. Although there is a light dusting of snow on the ground, the day is relatively mild and is as ideal for travel as possible for the northern Martian latitudes.

The plaza itself covers a total area that is about a half an acre, and is flanked on all sides by a two and a half foot wall. Currently, only about half the plaza is being used by merchants. The streets that surround the plaza are being used by the caravan, which consists of four dune racers, two medium dune crawlers, and one heavy dune crawler.

As the group approaches the caravan, you quickly Lord Burroughmeister standing with two of the caravan members who are inspecting the condition of two lifters.


OOC: Dune crawlers have a visual appearance that closely resemble that of a truck with tank treads (think military transport styled). Dune racers are lightly armored dune buggies.

Deezy is piloting metal beast atm.

[SBLOCK=Equipment]
Misc. Gear
Blankets, food, water, first aid kit (one per vehicle), water purification kit, tools, binoculars (one per vehicle), topographical map (one per vehicle)

Weapons
Carbine +4 Ballistic crit 20 Range 30ft. (x2 per vehicle)

Vehicles
Dune racer x4
Dune Crawler, Heavy x1 (used to transport mecha)
Dune Crawler, Medium x2

Mecha
P.E. Lifter Unit (2 are available)

[sblock=DUNE CRAWLER, HEAVY 11 ep]
STR: 50 DEF: 6 TOUGH: 12
Type: Ground Size: Gargantuan
Handling Modifier: -4 Speed: 4
FEATURES
Armor 1, Cargo Space, Carrying Capacity 2, Environmental Adaption (Desert), Heating and Air-conditioning, Radio Receiver and Transceiver
DRAWBACKS
Noisey (auditory) -1pt, Volatile -3pt
Abilities 9 + Features 6 - Drawbacks 4 = 11 Points
[/sblock]

[sblock=DUNE CRAWLER, MEDIUM 10 EP]
STR: 40 (+) DEF: 8 TOUGH: 10
Type: Ground Size: Huge
Handling Modifier: -2 Speed: 4
FEATURES
Armor 1, Cargo Space, Carrying Capacity +2, Environmental Adaption (Desert), Heating and Air-conditioning, Radio Receiver, Radio Transmitter
DRAWBACKS
Noisey (auditory) -1pt, Volatile -3pt
Abilities 8 + Features 6 - Drawbacks 4 = 10 Points
[/sblock]

[sblock=DUNE RACER 9 EP]
STR: 25 DEF: 9 TOUGH: 8
Type: Ground Size: Large
Handling Modifier: -1 Speed: 4
FEATURES
Armor 1, Cargo Space, Carrying Capacity +1, Environmental Adaption (Desert), Heating and Air-conditioning, Radio Receiver, Radio Transceiver, Safety Harnesses
DRAWBACKS
Noisey (auditory) -1pt, Volatile -3pt
Abilities 6 + Features 6 - Drawbacks 4 = 9 Points
[/sblock]

[sblock=Powered Exo-skeletal Lifter Unit]
STR: 22 (+6) DEX: 10 (+0) TOUGH: +6 (Impervious +3)
Type: Mobile Suit Size: Large
Handling Modifier: -1 Speed: 45 ft
BASE FEATURES
Armor 4 (Impervious 3)
COMPLEMENTARY SYSTEMS
Communications 7 (radio 200 mi.), Improved Leg Actuators 1, Improved Limb Control, Universal Equipment Mount
DRAWBACKS
Activation (Computers DC 10) -3pt, Exposed Cockpit (No Cover, No Concealment) -4pt, Noisey (Auditory) -1pt, Unstable Power Source (+4 to save) -2pt, Volatile -3pt
Abilities 18 + Base Systems 7 + Complementary Systems 3 (12 ranks) - Drawbacks 13 = 15 Points (Device 5)
[/sblock]


Note: For now assume that the aether-engines on the vehicles are capable of 100 hours of continual usage.
[/sblock]

 

[Shayuri]

Since Deezy's 'metal beast' wasn't allowed within the city limits, she had take it around the perimeter to the rendezvous site the long way. This deterred Deezy not at all, but it did mean that Brian had plenty of quality time to converse with her. If by 'converse' one means 'listen to inane prattle.'

It was certain that any given sentence of hers made sense if one was of the inclination to follow it, and the technical knowledge to grasp it. She just seemed to have little discrimination between the things she said which were genuinely interesting, and the things that were only of interest to people like herself.

And all the while, the Metal Beast tromped on.

Being inside the Beast was unsettling. It was like being in a coffin. You didn't sit down, as in a crawler. You stood fully extended in a slim, oblong hollow space within the Beast's massive frame. There were two such spaces, placed back to back in the mid-torso. The controls for operation were midway down the coffin-shaped space, about where one's hands should be. The displays were projected at your eye level. According to Deezy, both could be adjusted for different pilot sizes...though the size of the chambers dictated the maximum size of the operator. It was cramped, and stuffy, and claustrophobic. The rumble of the machine was all around, creating the sensation that at any second one could be caught in massive gears and crushed. And of course, needless to say, the fluctuating bar graphs and readouts hovering in front of his face were completely useless to him.

"...so I had to tell him to keep his kids from shoveling sand in there, or of COURSE it's going to explode," Deezy was saying; capping off another anecdote about her time fixing odds and ends in her community. "Oh hey, we're here."

From the outside, the Great Metal Beast, as it had been dubbed by the elders at her village, looked like a bizarre metal cross between a gorilla and an ostrich. Its body was stocky and barrel-chested, all curves and angles to deflect and reduce incoming firepower, with a flattened spherical sensor cluster placed about where a neckless head would be. Its forearms were much thicker than its "biceps," giving it a ham-fisted look. This was necessary to support the weapon mounts though, with heavy barrels exposed behind each robotic fist. The body rode high atop a pair of digitigrade legs, heavily built with hydraulics supporting and supplementing the internal myomers. Its feet were splayed, with wide pads that could fold to downward-facing points...designed to walk on soft, shifting sands without sinking in spite of the machine's heavy weight and high ground pressure. It made grinding, clanking noises as it strode jerkily up to the rest of the caravan and as Deezy brought it to a stop it belched dark, acrid fumes from vents in its back.

Her voice crackled in some electronically amplified speaker stashed somewhere on the machine. "Deezy and Brian, reporting for duty!"

 

[Binder Fred]

Wrapping up chapter 1

"Always carry a spare," he counters after a breath to think, still slightly frowning. He hasn't taken his eyes off Deezy this time.

*She* now seems to think the exchange is over though... Strange girl.

Back to business.

"I'll take your word." Lord Burroughmeister laughed, then tapped his assistant on the shoulder. "Mark this man down as our guide."

The desert man produces a card and snaps it down on the assistant’s desk with a slight twinge of embarrassment. On the cheap pulp plastic are printed the silhouette of a camel with next to it the words: Seif al Mariam. Be safe.

"Not even recon. Making matters worse, the few airships this cities have that are not owned by the Transportation Guild have are refusing to aid us out of solidarity with the Transportation Guild."

That was... outright economic war! Seif had not realized things had gotten quite so bad between the Merchants and the Traders. It's what happenned when you spent long stretches out in the desert: you lost little bits and pieces.

"I will look to see if we can hire privately. What is our budget?" Not waiting for an answer, Seif inserts two fingers under his veil and whistles.

«Response Burroughmeister? Read OOC first though, please.

A camel comes clattering into the court, steel hydraulics winning, light gray smoke puffing out the rear. Not stopping, the dersert-man grabs a handful of thick brown fur and swing into the saddle-seat, legs crossed before him. “Gather the planners at dusk and we will plan. Yah!” And he is off, bent over the neck of his cybernetic mount.

[sblock=OOC]Seif is planning to spend a sleepless night looking for an airship and planning the trip.

PLANNING: Knowledge Desert and Survival 1d20+11=17, 1d20+11=27. +5 Help Another.

AIRSHIP: I will re-allocate one or two points into, say Danger sense UbO, PD Bulky (tied to the caravan), Easy to Loose device (Shoot down the dirigeable)? If anybody wants to contribute a point or two as well, that would make it all the better, maybe all the way to an array with Precognition(Sight) even. Hint, hint.

Does that work for you , Relique? If not I don't mind saying he found nothing available.[/Sblock]

 

[Binder Fred]

Chapter II

As the group approaches the caravan, you quickly Lord Burroughmeister standing with two of the caravan members who are inspecting the condition of two lifters.

Seif is already there as well, supervising the installation of a heavy-duty winch on the back of the biggest crawler. The eyebolt at the other end of the winch-cable is even now being spot-welded to the wiry undercarriage of a small, two-man dirigible with the numbers ‘GM1013’ stenciled on its side.

«I'll change this around if the dirigeable is a no go.

Her voice crackled in some electronically amplified speaker stashed somewhere on the machine. "Deezy and Brian, reporting for duty!"

The desert-man looked up from his discussion with a harried-looking tech and stood up, looking a little worse for wear himself... “How fast is that thing, Klatta?” he shouts. And can she even hear me when its closed-up?

[sblock=Equipment]RElique, What the state of Martian technology as far these two areas are concerned?

- Communication? Are these standard radios or aether radios or equivalent? Will they (all) reach all the way back to Victoria Town? What about Deezy’s version?
- Compasses (or equivalent for Mars?). I’m not even going to ask about GPS tech. If compass-equivalents exist (astrolabes maybe?), have one associated with each topo map. (Hmmm. Rather like the idea of navigating by the stars/sun position, now that I think about it will need a precision watch in that case though, maybe built into the astrolabe(s)?).

Add to the list:
Ropes
Heavy pull chains/Cables and metal sand-threads (for stuck vehicles, 1 per vehicle)
Spare axles and motor (To repair the stranded crawlers)
Can we get a front-mounted winch on the two medium crawlers?

Can anybody see anything else missing/that we'd need?[/sblock]

 

[Voda Vosa]

"I, The Ottoman, am reporting for duty." states Sahid, as he stands near the lord. He knew nothing of those metal beasts, the last machine he understood was a bombard back in the 14th century.
But he knew of tactics and of skirmishes and ambushes. And those were at the day's order in Mars.
"I wish to discuss tactics in case of an ambush, if we don't have a plan, we'll be eradicated soon." asks The Ottoman "I'm a master strategist, and could try to formulate our defence protocols."


OOC: Sahid has Master Plan feat, and knowledge tactics, I wanted to formulate plans for ambushes and the like, to gain the benefits of Master plan in advance.

 

[Shayuri]

Evidently there was some kind of audio pickup, because Deezy's voice buzzed over its speakers again, "It's as fast as those lifting suits," she reports happily, "But it'll actually outpace them if we have to go offroad or off rock. Sand doesn't slow him down at all."

 

[Binder Fred]

"The exos will be riding in the crawlers," he points out. "Can you keep up with the crawlers?"

[sblock=OOC]I make the Beast's top sustained speed as 9 MPH. Is this correct?

Maybe we could have a lifter in each of the medium crawler and the Beast in the Heavy? Assuming some sort of open cargo platform, of course.[/sblock]

 

[Shayuri]

(OOC - Remember that machines can Run indefinitely, also, the Beast has Direction Sense, which I believe is essentially a compass, yes?)

 

[Relique du Madde]

Post killed by Tapa Talk. Re-posting patched work reply in OOC.