Foster

Ebonfort

It's probably official, reptiles are now dogs in this RP.

A Slithering Scheme (Ebonfort)

"Just a few things. I promise I'll try not to intrude too much on your time, but one of the other party members wanted someone else to follow you." Chartose said, taking a bow as he called Tricia over to feed her a lump of cheese rolled-up in a slice of meat, "I'm sure you can guess who." He said with a slight chuckle as he pulled-out and lit a candle-lantern, and hung it from his spear-point.

The light allowed Kladissa to get a better view of Tricia, a brown leathery reptile with a black strip running down its spine and large bird-like talons for feet, a large tail for balance whilst running on two legs, its short forelegs being more for the act of manipulating its prey and helping clear obstructions, while at the end of a long powerful neck stood the business-end of the carnivorous beast ended with a nose-ring to help mount a bridle without preventing it from biting any naysayers.

Resting alongside the saddle was a grapnel and a large coil of rope.

"I am however, wondering what the rush is to get back out there. More people are likely to pass through here soon, giving you a better pick of mercenaries. So I'm figuring there's some reason you want to hurry."

A Slithering Scheme (Ebonfort)

"If I'm left behind, I'll just have to follow you the hard way." Chartose huffed, amused by the threat of being punctual or being left out of the group.

Ther was a brief altercation between Kladissa and a surly fat man, which he watched from the sidelines mostly to see how she handled such things and maybe help if she somehow ended up at a disadvantage. The use of pressure-points was a new skill he hadn't really seen, mostly just rumors since the opportunity to use them in combat were so rare it was seldom taught or taken seriously. However, as she left, the Aeneshi beast-boy with a couple of cleaver-hatchets appeared to be having second-thoughts.

"If I were in her place, and came across a forboding hole... I know I'd have returned to it the next morning before journeying back here to scrounge up our sorry drunken asses, and wouldn't have come back without something to show for it. That is, if I were a silent hunter of any renown."

He walked for the door, letting the other two step aside, then faced the Aeneshi with a completely different train of thought to focus on:"That, or I'd have to just be that desperate for help. So in my opinion, I think she lost something valuable out there. And I'm willing to bet five silvers she wants it back... Also funny you aren't the one volunteering to find out for yourself what it is."

Chartose flamed the fans of mistrust, mostly just to weed-out the loads of dead-weight in the party, but also to make sure that all the others stayed on-edge with their wits about them and completely motivated to find out what they weren't being told. He also wanted to build some level of trust with them by showing signs of agreement. However, it was true he was going to follow her anyways, just because nothing she'd said had forbidden anyone from doing so; as long as they stayed out of her way.

However, what he failed to mention to the rabble still sitting cozy in the tavern, was that he wouldn't have made such a trip solo; she came back alone.

Besides, he wasn't being sneaky about it. If he was right, and she thought someone was following her back from the hole, he wanted to make sure she knew who was following her before walking into any reflexive ambush. The important part was to make it look as though one is not looking for them, just like hiding by looking as though you aren't hiding and totally belong up in the rafters just looking for a cheap place to sleep.

FRAMEs (Mech combat, political intrigue & corporate struggles)

With the cargo's departure came the arrival of a new FRAME in the hangar, an old looking desert-camouflaged Handou with "YASSIR" stenciled upon the outer-thighs in big subdued brown letters, its chest bristling with heavy machine-guns, a mortar-module strapped to its back, and a large scoped GPR-21 clipped to its shoulder like some tin-soldier at parade-rest.

The pilot however, was not present. She was elsewhere at one of the local port-side establishments; word had already reached her of the Panthers's arrival, but she wanted to see how these mercenaries handled themselves when they wouldn't think anyone on their team was watching.

To simply blend-in, the child of a farmer and soldier for as long as she could remember had worn a simple lightweight red shawl over a brown yếm and a blue denim-skirt. She tried her best not to draw too much attention to herself by sitting in a lonely looking corner and surrounding herself with junk-mail advertisements to sort through in addition to the contents of her smart-pad as she sipped coffee by herself.

FRAMEs (Mech combat, political intrigue & corporate struggles)

23mm? Will cut through it like chainsaw through log.

About 2 seconds with a one-inch diameter lance at about 150 PSI if the material can rust (scrapping titanium is particularly hilarious).
-If it gets into the cabin, there's going to be a lot of smoke to deal with.

Main limiting issue irl is that standard rod-sizes limit cutting-rate, but this is the technique used when it comes time to scrap an M1 Abrams.

Practical application: RAMMING ALWAYS WORKS (once)
-For which, the thicker-skinned MP21-AC is superior, will not get dent or ding when fist goes through bolshivesk Zaruga torso. LBG-22 will get knocked around like small-child wrapped in bubble-wrap.

I'm not sure what picking-up a car or disabled mech and thowing it would do... but I'm sure it would require an unencumbered Frame.

---

Edit: and before I forget, I'm probably going to introduce my character during the transfer of the cargo.

FRAMEs (Mech combat, political intrigue & corporate struggles)

Oxy-lance.

It's a thing that can and has been scaled-up.

It has obvious limits, though.
-Mostly in that it was designed for scrapping/maintenance applications.

However, unlike a plasma-cutter, it does not need the opponent's compliance.
*It's pretty much a thermite-powered flamethrower, and will cut wood and concrete just fine.

The Walking Dead: To Greener Pastures

"I think we're all forgetting one thing..." Chase began, finally turning away from the woman and addressing everyone in the room. "Time of day is late. The sun is beginning to set and visibility will be low. If you're all going to do this you'll either have to do it now or wait until sunrise. As for me..." He returned to Sarah, pulling the handgun from it's holster and checking to see if it was loaded. "... I can handle myself so I'm headed out. I can't stand another second trapped in this damn building..." The last part was mostly muttered to himself. "Medical supplies was one of the items on your list? I'll see what I can find." He finished, sliding the chamber shut with satisfying "click".

"I'll be back in a few hours at the most." He looked at every individual in the room and tagged a name to each face. "Hopefully I see you all back here then."

Chase moved to grab his pack, give his weapons one last look over and head out.

@Exit

Taggart sighed, with a tinge of frustration knowing the kid was absolutely right, but really not wanting to go out there, as he went over to heft-up his old Mosin to join Chase, but found someone tugging at his leg, it was Gabel.

He knelt-down, getting to the little girl's eye-level, "Where I'm going won't be very safe. You stay here with these people, and I'll be back in a couple of hours. I promise." He said, promising a safe return before leaving the girl in what he hoped was better care than had he just left her in that old house with those things.

Although he wasn't sure of everyone's specific medical-needs, he knew his own, and didn't want to make anyone think of himself as a liability by disclosing his... condition. As such, he wanted to make sure he got what he needed, and the only way to do that was to go. In the meantime, he popped a pair of asprin and chewed them down to fight-off the early signs of a migraine. He'd be able to hold it together for a few more days, no problem; his assurances to himself seemed empty.

Ebonfort

*Is still awaiting a reply*

FRAMEs (Mech combat, political intrigue & corporate struggles)

I prefer take the same approach taken by the US Army when they studied the pros and cons of either issuing gun-shields to machine-gun crews, or just fielding better and more body-armor.

_{footnote: As this study occurred during the Vietnam war, many of the casualties came from patrols getting blindsided with snipers, land-mines (grenades), and artillery (grenades). One required the operator to have a pretty good idea of where their enemy was at all times while the other did not, and since both items weighed about the same...
-You may have ran across a "for-shields" idea of "combat reform"... That's the lil tidbit Sparks left out of his essay.}

Anyways...

Placing anything that constituted "protection" between yourself and the perceived threat is commonplace.
-The various attempts to up-armor the Sherman, either just the turret-front or the hull-front (steel or sandbags), or logs alongside (steel plates covering the ammo-bins was the first 'official' upgrades, but was scrapped since the bulges provided aim-points for German gunners*) have been made.

Patton was notoriously against such practices.
*Later improvements were wet ammo-racks, and larger and thicker gun-mantlets and dedicated tank-vs-tank training from hull-down positions, plus the adoption of the 76mm High-velocity gun and getting the M36 Jackson into the field in case such measures faltered.

FRAMEs (Mech combat, political intrigue & corporate struggles)

I'd rather it were a 6 pdr autloading gun...

Here's an 82mm version, it's actually a low-pressure mortar.

Shields, er... any should capable of stopping serious firepower is going to be unwieldy.
-Real life ballistic-shields generally weigh as or twice as much as the rifle generating the threat.

At most would be something of a super-pershing's "let's take the front-plate of a Tiger II and bolt it to the front of a Pershing" story.
-And in that case, it's usually an all-or-nothing add-on, geared towards protecting the crew.
--Although it won't go into stats anytime soon, RP-wise Marlene is going to pile sandbags into her pit, because she knows what a sniper with an ATGM can do.