Rising Phoenix Gaming

As of today I am putting this on permanent hold. we gave it a shot but to be honest I'm not the best person to run a giant robot vs monster game. Think i will leave that for the experts next time. Thanks for the attempt guys

Around and around we go. Katarina broke Hot Potato left bracing against her combat couch. The quick little mech chewed up ground, sensors peeled for any surprises beyond scattered demi-kaiju. She kept her hands from squeezing the charging triggers on her weapons, not her role, not yet. Let her teamates draw all the hate for now, and once the swarm broke, *then* she'd let Hot Potato burn her targets Until then, eyes open, keep an eye open for new C+C signals, and... Around and around we go.

With the mines laid out, the trap was fully set, Delaney shot forward on her mission to stir up the hive. Max was set in firing position, and just as Delaney reached the center of the hive, having drawn the attention of dozens of demikaiju, causing them to turn and close ranks, The Tesseract opened up with its main gun. The whine of it spinning up could be heard in the other mecha, and then the ripsaw-like roar as it put out a prodigious volume of fire, well over two thousand rounds a minute. This wasn't the max rate of fire, Max had dialed it back since he didn't know what else was in the hive, but as he swept the stream of shells across the exposed backs of the demi kaiju it was like a reaper's scythe in a wheat field, as many died to the surprise assault. Max was quite satisfied, it worked exactly as it did in the prototype model, so his gauging of the recoil was perfect.

Melvin began using the data sent by the drones to compute the target zones for two of his shock mine missiles right outside the entrance to the front of the building. The zones would be short-side connected so it forms a 400 long x 200 wide minefield. He also trained his phased array laser on the front, to cover anyone that made it past the minefield. He pressed a button on his armrest and a small chuff was heard as the missiles were ejected, and then their rocket motors took over and pushed the missiles down range. When passing over the target area, the missiles seemingly disintegrated one after the other, and their payloads were delivered, almost pinpoint on target. Sage seemed to settle a bit after the launch and didn't even sway from the back blast. Melvin checked that he was strapped in fully, and smiled as the missiles did their job.

Max gave the order and the mechs executed. Using stealth that was hard to imagine in machines of that size the combat Mechs moved into their assigned positions, acquired their targets, armed their weapons and prepared for the order to engage. As hard as it was to believe the demi- kaiju seemed to not have detected them at all and were not showing any sense of altered alertness. The enemy were sitting ducks! Max waited until everyone showed that they had aquired targets and then gave the word... "Attack!"

Max shook his head. "Keep monitoring it, if it stops, or the direction shifts, be sure to let me know, now, let's execute the plan and clear them out." He set the Tesseract into firing position, covering the approach with his main gun. It was perhaps overkill, but it allowed him to put out an obscene volume of fire, and they had alot of demis to deal with. "Gonna need something anti personnel if we're gonna keep fighting demis on this." It was too quiet. "Alright, let's go."

Harvard waited for the order from Croft and continued his scanning, in a few moments he managed to fine tune his readings to better pinpoint he seismic disturbance. It was directly underneath the market building at a dept. of six hundred and twenty meters. The onboard AI assessment of the readings was that there was a ninety-four percent certainty that the cause was artificial digging.

Harvard resumed his "scouting" work by downloading the footage from the drones to the computer core on his mecha, and then began analyzing it through some of the sensory interpretation software on board his computer. He then began comparing the analysis of the computer to his seismic sensors and cross-referenced the video info with the seismic data. Once the computer analysis was done, he scanned the results and tried to interpret the amounts he was seeing. Once the analysis was done, Harvard looked at the screen askance. He realized that there were a massive amount of DK activity. "Sage has found approximately 200 DK including the market area. I'm also unable to account for some of the seismic readings. Seems like there may be more things than just the DK we're seeing. I propose laying down Taser mines and trying to lure them in that direction. Or I can drop one just outside the main building as well. I'm going to keep trying to lock down the seismic activity until you give the fire order."

Max knew the limits of the Tesseract, while it had advanced LOS targeting with this weapon package, it didn't have the most advanced sensors of a dedicated scout. Still he scanned the approach to the hive, and nodded. "Alright, everyone run a full sensor sweep, one last time, once we get near, things are probably going to get very busy. We'll proceed after everyone checks in."

The Mech force covered the distance with zero opposition. The loss of the Kaiju scouts seemed to have gone unnoticed by those under drone surveillance. Of course it could be a trap and Croft had weighed that possibility but while planning for it had not let it deter him. After orders were issued the mechs moved into position and began their in person observations. The drones to remain hidden had stayed at altitude and relied on long distance camera work which while good was still limited. The demi-Kaiju where spread through out the dilapidated building is a rough series of concentric circles with one large building at its center. This building appeared to have been a large indoor market if the signage translations were accurate. its walls and roof were still intact but the windows and doors were all gone and the front of the building had been opened even further to allow the DKs to move in and out. The Dks for the most part seemed to be resting at there posts throughout the village and didn't even appear to be very alert. The only activity to be seen was at the center building where the DKs were constantly moving in and out.

"Negative, Boss," the Russian offered with a cocky salute from her seat, before visibly changing her mind. "Actually, before he jammed it," she continued, jerking a thumb at Melvin with both annoyance and appreciation, "Something I judge to be very very big was communicating with the ones we killed using a continuous, kaiju command and control if I ever heard it. With that signal being jammed all this time, the source has to be getting pissed. I've seen no sign of big kaiju at all on my hunts. Nothing. Nichego. So if they haven't all moved onto the fronts, they're deep deep down hiding in stuff Hot Potato can't sense. It's going to be a dog's breakfast when it decides to move anyway or we stop jamming." She let the Australianism ride, smiling again, "Aside from that? Negative, Boss. I'll chase down your stragglers."

The hive wasn't really that far, and the lack of larger Kaiju made max wonder just what was going on. "Okay, we're to go investigate the hive the drones found. I want everyone saddled up, and make sure you've got your antipersonnel gear ready. That looks to be what most of the beasts are, though we will be ready for something more. Sage, you're free to procure a sample as you can, but do not endanger yourself to do so. Call out and maybe we can help once we thin the numbers. We'll go with the same formation as before, with one change. Paladin, you're gonna rush them. I don't mean for you to stick around and fight, but the way I read the specs on your Claymore system, it really does work like a giant claymore mine. That should be damn useful against these little ones too. I want you to speed through, using the flamer and your claymore system, and back out. It'll be like very destructively stirring an ant hill. You'll lead them back to the rest of us, and we'll be ready to mow them down. Once you get past us, return and reengage at your discretion. I want eyes in the sky watching our backs, and the perimeter. Hot Potato, you're on corral duty. Any stragglers you take down. If you need it, call in for drone support, or direct fire support." He smiled, "Be on the lookout, I do expect company, but there's enough of these little ones to really be a problem. I don't want them scattered, but we need to draw them out. Once we clear this large body out, we'll investigate further. Anyone have questions, recommendations, or comments, now's the time to speak up."

The man made lightning lashed out and curled around the beast Katarina had targeted locking its muscles in electric rigor causing it to tumble end over end as it was literally cooked to death. The remaining demi-kaiju turned it's charge into a retreat as it peeled away to begin a race back toward the river, only to be cut down in a hail of fire from the remaining mechs. Silence descended on the field of battle, sensors reached out scanning for more enemies. In time issued the all clear and called for the supply drop. while that part of the operation was under way the mechs took up a perimeter watch and Hot Potato advance beyond the river to scout. By mid morning the next day the Mech outpost had been erected and and the defenses set. It was time for Croft and company to earn their pay. Drones launched by Cazatino had located what appeared to be a hive of demi-kaiju of the standard bipedal type they were all familiar with, in an abandoned village some twenty kilometers away. The drone counted forty-two Demi-kaiju and no larger Kaiju which was unusual. That number of DK would usually accompany two of the full sized Kaiju, the creatures Mechs had been built to fight, but the drones turned up no evidence of the larger monsters.

Hot Potato all-but-waltzed into a turn as tracers whipped past her and into the first kaiju, a three point turn The 'kiskis' signal went into purring overdrive as the violence erupted, but she didn't have time to play with that yet, adrenaline surging in her veins. Safeties off. Left Tesla coil charging and up with a twist of her articulated couch arm. Argus ringing one of the kaiju in targeting reticules with a single cursed 'Right Target!'. A grin as 'charging' changed to 'charged' on her HUD, and Katarina, Future Rich and Famous Ace Mech Pilot, fired for the first time in anger on a hostile kaiju. Lightning roared, flinging towards her target like one of Zeus's own throws from the glowing coils of her weapon!

Melvin's hands shot to his ears as the strange demi-kaiju began wailing, and after a second, he realized he was hearing an echoing of the wail. He stopped cringing and got to work, determining that the kaiju wail was being carried by soundwaves and Radio waves. The echo was the double tone. After that discovery, Harvard had a moment of inspired terror. 'Damnit, what if they are calling other Kaiju here? There has to be a way to stop that signal,' he thought. He began his work of isolating the radio frequencies used in the wails, and then managed to convince Sage's on-board computer to produce a counter tone over the radio frequencies used with as much power behind it as Sage's radio could muster. "All units be advised, Sage is attempting to jam the radio frequencies used by those kaiju transmissions. Be aware radio use may be impacted. Harvard, out." Melvin then activated the counter-tone.

The center demi-kaiju seemed to evaporate into a cloud of dark green mist as the storm of flechettes ripped it to shreds. The other two beats swerved away in different directions and both began to emit a keening wail that was not only auditory but also radio!

Iron Knight Tactical combat VARG Health 2 bruised, 3 maimed Size2 Speed 2 hard/soft armor 4 environmental armor 1 Tolerance 2 strength Scale 3 tags- additional Armor 2 weapon x4, enhanced environmental 1 (heat), jump jets, Wheels, Super science 3 Weapons- pile Bunker -charge, destructive 2, hardpoint 2, melee, pushing, VARG scale VARG scale vibroblade- brutal, deadly, destructive 2, melee, two handed, varg scale Plasma Thrower- Area 3 hardpoint 2 Incendiary 2, Range, VARG scale Claymore system- Area 3, brutal, deadly, short range 3 shots fires large ball bearings just like the mine of the same name from twin mounts on the shoulders. has enough for three firings. strong enough to damage large foes and utterly devastating to smaller ones. Superscience-2 Thruster Cape- While not capable of actual flight, The Iron Knight has an impressive experimental booster system. this triples it's jumping ability, and can boost the ground speed to 6 for short periods when used in conjunction with the retractible wheels on the feet. This makes the suit easily able to close distance with the enemy and get into and out of melee combat at will. Continuous usage puts incredible strain on the pilot, due to forces involved Super Science 1- Reinforced musculature- The new myomer fibers used in the muscles are from a new compound that increases physical strength, (+1 str scale) and adding additional toughness (+1 Maimed health level)

Lining up his shot with the Flechette cannon, Max exhaled and pulled the trigger to fire the mech-scale shotgun. There was a loud crack, and the air was filled with a cloud of flesh shredding metal and fire as the weapon discharged, all moving in line with the center most of the three kaiju, looking to break the formation they were running in.

David fell back to cover Delany and Harvard, who were stationed to the rear, while Croft moved up to flank the incoming Demi Kaiju, if that's what they were. The three beasts stay equidistant and move rapidly after Hot Potato, the drone keeping pace and offering targeting information as well as visuals. within moment the three had entered the designated kill zone but seemed oblivious to any danger, they were fixated on Hot Potato.

"On it, Boss," Katarina shot back over the radio, driving her mech forward on it's retrograde legs in a curving arch towards the trio of caterpillar kaiju. She settled into the back and forth pumping of her footpedals, the genius of modern engineering translating the motion into a loping run that had her bounding forward at a rate that'd have a respectable car put to shame. She barely felt the impact of steel feet on turf, deep in her HUD-lined cocoon, hands clenched in her pistol grip arm controls, safeties firmly off. She trusted Hot Potato's senses to deal with anything known, but all she had to do was glance at the low visual indicator of The Purr from the corner of her right eye to see that not everything was known about these monsters. She made it to about half a kill out before the Kaiju reacted, freezing in place. At the same time, the Purr stopped. Interesting, but not worrying yet. Get more info. Katarina cut as little speed as she could get away with going into a turn back towards the group, churning small craters in her wake. A pensive three heartbeat pause ensued before the kaiju took the bait and began following, spliting up at the same time. The Purr was back, too. "Woke up our guests and heading back to the nest," she radioed out the unit, grinning.

"They're pretty small for kaiju-scale weaponry," Delany opined over the comms. "Seems like a good chance to try the Bughunter out. Sage, I'm keeping the sky-eye over the engagement area to make sure we get them all. If you'd keep an eye on our behinds, I'd be much obliged. Can't help but feel a little like we're getting baited here." The largest 'blister' of them all was along the Beast's spine. When it cracked open, what emerged was a sleek gunmetal grey and black machine that was about man-sized, and looked a little like an oblong coffin with lift rotors bulging its sides. A trained eye would note as well that the thing was bristling with weaponry. Not the giant-scale artillery that were used against full size kaiju, but rather squad-support level guns and rockets. The 'Bughunter' Forward Fire Support Unit made an angry, droning buzz as it lifted away from the Great Metal Beast and took up a position just overhead from the advancing mecha. From there, it would go after these small targets when and if they tried to use the size of the mechs against them, slipping into areas outside their fields of fire or climbing onto their bodies. And if they went to ground, in combination with the recon drone, it would hunt them in their burrows until none were left. Back in the Beast, Del shook her head, flicking through sensor data for the fifth time. "Sage, you've got seismic sensors right?"

Max frowned. They were already being investigated. "Alright they're already here, so Hot Potato, draw them in, Paladin, you and I will play midfield. Sage and Wizard, you're in the back, on overwatch. I don't really want any more surprises, especially from the rear. You're free to engage at your discretion if they make it past us." Max gave quick orders, even as he began moving further up, bringing up the flechette canon, which was better for dealing with smaller targets. "If we can, we'll save you a sample Sage."

The drone took flight and using vectors from the scout mechs audio sensors closed in on the targets. It took only a few minutes to find the targets, three of them between the mechs and the river about a klick out. The targets were hard to see at first, standard infrared was useless as they appeared to be the same temperature as the surrounding, but the drone cycled through it's dozens of visual filters until one gave it a solid image. the three beast were small as far as Kaiju went, being barely two meters long and rising less than a meter above the ground. Rarer still they were not bipedal but rather moved on multiple legs, a dozen or more , like a centipede. The body was long and slim and looked vaguely shark like with a mouth full of teeth at one end and a tapered tail at the other. It had eyes like a sharks as well, two large black orbs on either side of it's head. The kaiju were separated by about ten meters between them and were creeping slowly toward the landing zone. They did not seem to notice the drone.

Delaney frowned as she panned her view around the field. Ambush could come from just about any quarter with these creatures. Maybe a different perspective would help. "I'm sending a recon drone up and patching the telemetry into the second data channel," she reported as her fingers danced over the 'Hive' control system to program a circular search pattern overhead, then launch the drone. "Keep those ears sharp though. If they're coming underground, aerial recon might not catch it." One of the smooth metal 'blisters' on the Great Metal Beast cracked open with a hiss and a puff of steam and dust as the overpressurized chamber was exposed to the outside air. The aerial recon drone was small, nimble, and designed to be damn hard to spot. It soared skyward, taking on a blue-white shade that would let it blend in seamlessly when viewed from below.

It took a moment for Katarina to become aware Max's call. one eyebrow rising higher and higher on her brow as she refined her audio scan, not quite believing what she was hearing, and came up with clear as day... purring. The kind of pleasant purring you'd get from a cat quite content to let you pet them for at least the next 15 seconds. That was new. Was new bad? The fortress was still standing after all... "Kisa?" she muttered aloud as she saved the filters to make sure she could spin up that scan quicker next time, blinking as she belatedly processed her squad leader's orders, "I mean, rgr. Say the word and let us walk."