Mid-Range Game 35: Final Flight

[+Ark1002]

I'm going with Fura. He hasn't been cleared (I don't think), and I don't really have enough ideas for what he is in this game.

3 minutes ago, Elandera said:

Not a clue what happened to M-Bot. I assume it had something to do with Doomslug being with me as we were in imminent danger, but I'm just as confused as everyone else.

My vote is going on Ark. I successfully shot him, but Poco 11's shields are still active. 

Edit: Also, Fura. Did you forget about your action, or get busy? (I understand both, just curious.)

Maybe it was something to do with losing M-Bot? cause nothing happened to me.

[Furamirionind]

10 minutes ago, Elandera said:

Edit: Also, Fura. Did you forget about your action, or get busy? (I understand both, just curious.)

A mixture of both. I forgot in the morning, and I was going to after my show, but my mother had to take my sister to her Into the Woods rehearsal, and as someone had to put everything away, they left me... so I had to walk home. When I got home, i was basically dead as that was way too much work while having a fever... I am still trying not to be upset that they made me do that for a single rehearsal. :/

Someone is lying about someone. @Young Bard you claimed to be in poco-1 iirc. Elandera, you were in m-bot? Is someone going to counter claim Elandera for SK? Someone is lying, possibly 2 people, and it could honestly be any of you three. (Though Elandera is the least likely at this point)

Edit: who was in largo 2?

Edited June 10, 2019 by Furamirionind

[Elandera]

2 minutes ago, Furamirionind said:

A mixture of both. I forgot in the morning, and I was going to after my show, but my mother had to take my sister to her Into the Woods rehearsal, and as someone had to put everything away, they left me... so I had to walk home. When I got home, i was basically dead as that was way too much work while having a fever... I am still trying not to be upset that they made me do that for a single rehearsal. :/

Someone is lying about someone. @Young Bard you claimed to be in poco-1 iirc. Elandera, you were in m-bot? Is someone going to counter claim Elandera for SK? Someone is lying, possibly 2 people, and it could honestly be any of you three. (Though Elandera is the least likely at this point)

Yeah. Something isn't adding up here. Bard, did you not lightlance the lifebuster as we had agreed? From my understanding of my GM PM, the only reason it didn't destroy us all was incredibly lucky RNG chances of having Doomslug with M-Bot at the time.

@Steeldancer are Largo 2's shields down because that was the ship I had been in before M-Bot? 

@Ax's Boyfriend, M-Bot came first in OOA, and there was no indication my actions failed for any reason. Just that I no longer have M-Bot. 

[Furamirionind]

5 minutes ago, Elandera said:

Yeah. Something isn't adding up here. Bard, did you not lightlance the lifebuster as we had agreed? From my understanding of my GM PM, the only reason it didn't destroy us all was incredibly lucky RNG chances of having Doomslug with M-Bot at the time.

@Steeldancer are Largo 2's shields down because that was the ship I had been in before M-Bot? 

@Ax's Boyfriend, M-Bot came first in OOA, and there was no indication my actions failed for any reason. Just that I no longer have M-Bot. 

Bard asked Ark to RB the lifebuster for him, on the off chance you roleblocked Bard.

Thinking about it, I think it makes more sense for bard to ask me to RB the lifebuster though.

Edit

@Elandera largo 2 had shields D7

Edited June 10, 2019 by Furamirionind

[Steeldancer]

4 minutes ago, Elandera said:

are Largo 2's shields down because that was the ship I had been in before M-Bot? 

PAFO. 

[Elandera]

10 minutes ago, Furamirionind said:

Bard asked Ark to RB the lifebuster for him, on the off chance you roleblocked Bard.

Thinking about it, I think it makes more sense for bard to ask me to RB the lifebuster though.

Edit

@Elandera largo 2 had shields D7

It was more a question if the damage I took was applied to the Largo 2 since MBot went missing and Largo 2 was the last ship I was in (clear back on N1). But PAFO. 

On a side note, I think this is the most PAFOs I've generated so far in my SE career. I don't tend to ask questions.

[Young Bard]

OK, I can clear up a couple things - I was in Largo-2 last cycle. I shot the Lifebuster last cycle, with the expectation that Ark would lightlance the Lifebuster in my place. I decided, mostly on a whim when claiming last cycle, that it would be better to be incredibly overly paranoid safe, and claim a Poco, since if I claimed a Largo it would seem like a waste to be light-lancing the ship while Fura shot it.

I have a suspicion about what happened with the Lifebuster, but it involves major Skyward spoilers - those that read the book will know what I'm talking about. For this discussion, it's fair to say that it's highly unlikely that Elandera has activated their SK win con, and it's also likely that if it hadn't been for this hidden ability the Lifebuster would have blown up the base last cycle, which means Ark didn't light-lance the Lifebuster last night as we agreed.

[Furamirionind]

25 minutes ago, Young Bard said:

I have a suspicion about what happened with the Lifebuster, but it involves major Skyward spoilers - those that read the book will know what I'm talking about. For this discussion, it's fair to say that it's highly unlikely that Elandera has activated their SK win con, and it's also likely that if it hadn't been for this hidden ability the Lifebuster would have blown up the base last cycle, which means Ark didn't light-lance the Lifebuster last night as we agreed.

I 100% agree, however before I voted, I wanted to know why you lied... I still don't see the reasoning behind it, but, as we have 2 people without shields, neither of which are Ark, that seems to suggest one of bard/me was hit by the Krell, and the other was hit by Ark, while the ship wasn't lightlanced, and Village!elandera saved us through (likely) a passive ability.

Ark

[Elandera]

Brenna Rose sat somewhat despondent outside the mess hall of Alta. M-Bot was just gone. She fought back tears, though unsuccessfully. A few drops rolled down her cheeks, and she buried her head in her arms, wrapped around her knees.

She had felt so free while flying M-Bot. No one could catch her. No one could stop her. Bad Wolf belonged in the sky.

But could Brenna return? That feeling when M-Bot and Doomslug disappeared...

Falling. Her stomach feeling like it was compressing her lungs. Empty sky with nothing around her. Nothing to catch her.

Brenna shuddered and a few more tears fell. Thankfully Steel had caught her, and she'd only gotten a few bumps and bruises. She should have been dead. Everyone should have been dead. Though she didn't understand still what happened, she knew Doomslug and M-Bot had saved Alta. They had saved her flight.

It was her turn to pay back the favor. She let a few more tears roll down before she wiped them away and stood. This would not stop her. Yet. She had to find the rebel first. They were the last to blame for the whole mess. They were to blame for her losing M-Bot. If they had focused on the Lifebuster...

Bad Wolf would find them, and Bad Wolf would end them. For everything must come to dust.

---

Edit: I hit send too early.

@Ax's Boyfriend, what action did you take last night that you believed would have stopped the lifebuster?

Edit 2: Because I'm apparently too eager to post.

By my count, the Lifebuster received 4 damage from me and 4 damage from Bard in the Largo. Fura's inaction makes sense, but she shouldn't have been shot, considering the escorts only shoot at those who deal damage to the Lifebuster. This tells me someone (probably Ark), shot at Fura.

Edited June 10, 2019 by Elandera
All the edits...

[+Ark1002]

21 minutes ago, Elandera said:

@Ax's Boyfriend, what action did you take last night that you believed would have stopped the lifebuster?

 

I lightlanced the lifebuster

[+Ark1002]

I'm just gonna come right out and say it.

Good game everyone! I am the final elim, and I really enjoyed the game!

I'd also like to note that due to one problem in game mechanics, I was unable to win.

The shields. 

You see, Steel expected Joe to survive. That didn't happen, at all.

So we couldn't use his IMP, which meant elim kills almost never worked.

All three of you would be dead if it did

[Elandera]

3 minutes ago, Ax's Boyfriend said:

I'm just gonna come right out and say it.

Good game everyone! I am the final elim, and I really enjoyed the game!

I'd also like to note that due to one problem in game mechanics, I was unable to win.

The shields. 

You see, Steel expected Joe to survive. That didn't happen, at all.

So we couldn't use his IMP, which meant elim kills almost never worked.

All three of you would be dead if it did

Very good job, Ark. I didn't really suspect you until these last few rounds, though I suppose it's my fault we didn't lynch you last day turn.

The shields were a bit complicated, which is why I was surprised at the beginning that the turret damage didn't just cut through it. It made more sense when Joe flipped elim, but he did die very early.

I'll wait to say more thoughts until the final writeup. Good game!

[Furamirionind]

Good game. I was going to say more, but Elandera, you are right, I should wait until the aftermath.

[+Ark1002]

7 minutes ago, Elandera said:

Very good job, Ark. I didn't really suspect you until these last few rounds, though I suppose it's my fault we didn't lynch you last day turn.

The shields were a bit complicated, which is why I was surprised at the beginning that the turret damage didn't just cut through it. It made more sense when Joe flipped elim, but he did die very early.

I'll wait to say more thoughts until the final writeup. Good game!

Thank you!

[Furamirionind]

Wait a second! Here is the player list:

1. Snipexe, "Scissors" Pilot, Wingmate to Joe
2. Xinoehp512, "Llerk" Pilot
3. Elandera "Bad Wolf" Brenna - SK
4. Mailliw73, Millis “Storm” Stromberg Rebel Gunner
5. Devotary, “Yaw(n)” Yafrion Pilot
6. Ark1002, Bard "Bastard" Dominion Rebel Gunner
7. Furamirionind, Julis "Junior" Elliot SeCrEt Mechanic
8. Lumgol "Preciousss" Pilot
9. StrikerEZ, Seth "Striker" Johnson Ace Pilot
10. Young Bard, Rivelda "Topsy-Turvy" Kline Pilot
11. Sart, Sarah "Seraph" Potts Pilot
12. Darkness Ascendent, Noel "Skinny Ship" Miller Pilot, Wingmate to Walin
13. Walin, Ildem "Isekai Inbred" Pilot, Wingmate to DA
14. XXGaea, Iradesca "Paradise Song" Aleh Rebel Gunner
15. A Joe in the Bush, Knowstoo "Number 4" Much Rebel Pilot, Snipexe's Wingmate
16. _Stick_, Stick "somethingcool" stick Pilot
17. Drake "" Marshall Sniper Pilot

Sooo... Did we never have a squad leader? We went through all this trouble and RP, trying to figure out who the squad leader was... and there wasn't one!

---

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmAaGifEZ6Y&list=OLAK5uy_noI4z7TD42N3MH6qjoDjU7sJlEPL6Nluc&index=2

---

Junior watched in horror as M-bot flew towards the Lifebuster. He knew if he had managed to attack it, there wouldn't be a problem, however, BadWolf was forced to cover for his lack of... Wait... BadWolf was falling! in a Flash, Steel was there to catch her. He looked back, but M-bot was still flying towards the Lifebuster.  That made no sense! Ships couldn't fly without a pilot!

As Julis thought this, m-bot swerved to the right, meaning it wasn't flying aimlessly.
Grabbing a pair of binoculars, he looked into the cockpit, and saw a yellow slug with blue spikes staring determinedly ahead at the Lifebuster.
There was a blinding flash; Lifebuster, M-Bot, and Doomslug were all gone.

Junior raised his hand in a salute, but right then, he was hit. He saw the last Krell chasing Topsy, so who could have hit him?
He accelerated to Mag-4, and then quickly decelerated while pulling the nose upwards. The grav caps flared in protest. The ship shuddered as another destructer blast took off his own destructers.
He kept decelerating until the nose of the ship reached 65° relative to the ground. He felt himself losing control of the ship as it reached Mag-0.25. Then he rolled left, pointing the nose back down at the ground and accelerated. Once he felt the contol again, he pulled up.

He saw Bastard's ship behind him, having fired those shots. Having found the final traitor, Junior fired his destructers at the traitor.
Nothing happened.

Not being able to do anything to attack Bastard, Junior flew to the Hanger as fast as he could, where the rest of his flight had gone to report what he had learned.

Once Junior arrived, he saw Bastard had beaten him.

Looking around himself, he saw Bastard, Bad Wolf, and Topsy-Turvy. The last surviving members of the flight.
One Pilot
One Pilot who had her own ship
One Mechanic
And finally, one Traitor.

It seemed so obvious now. The reason no one came forward to lead, the reason no one had claimed the Flight Leader position, was because one was never assigned in the first place.
Junior looked back at his friends with a sad smile. One filled with the relief of survival and victory, yet the sadness of remembering all his fallen flight-mates. "We never needed a squad leader in the first place. We all are our squad leaders."

"Speaking of which, I still don't think we have a flight name!"

[Elandera]

51 minutes ago, Furamirionind said:

One Pilot
One Pilot who had her own ship
One Mechanic
And finally, one Traitor.

I was slightly confused by this. First I read Traitor (because I'm terrible about skimming and skipping) and thought "But I'm not the Traito-- oh wait. Rebel. Ark. Got it." Then I finally went up and read "Pilot who had her own ship" and had to mentally put the sad asterisk of **used to have.

I mean, I'm grateful for Doomslug and M-Bot... But I miss him.

Edit: As for flight name, Steel had been calling us Ski flight. But I'm inclined towards Wolf Pack.

Edited June 11, 2019 by Elandera

[Steeldancer]

And the game is (finally) OVER. I’ll get the results up soon. 

[Steeldancer]

Aftermath- I Will Return
Bastard had long been frustrated. He had been the leader of this rebellion. He had personally shot down many pilots. But ironically, his guns just weren't strong enough. He had failed too many times to shoot down a ship, simply because they hadn't been damaged beforehand. But now, he was caught. 
They had finally kicked him out, depriving him of any way of overthrowing their tyranny. 
He sighed, and looked behind him. And there, also waiting to get on the elevator to go down into the caverns, was Steel. Except, well, he wasn't wearing handcuffs, and wasn't surrounded by guards. Steel was alone. 
He had no way to talk to the man, only a few feet away. But he did look at him. And met his eyes briefly. 
They were both from the same cavern. Bastard knew that Steel had kept his conflicts out of the situation. But he was still from Bountiful cavern, and had felt guilty fighting against the rebellion that originated from where his family lived. Steel broke the eye contact, passing where Bastard was being held. He would be taken down separately under armed guard, to be put in prison along with the rest of the dissidents. More evidence of the tyranny of Ironsides. 
But still, despite Steel's betrayal, Bastard respected the man. He nodded in his direction, even though he was no longer looking. 

Bad Wolf sat on the roof of the hangar. The krell weren't coming back. The lifebuster wasn't coming back. It was probably just a brief respite. And she missed M-Bot. Where had he gone with Doomslug? What had happened? 
She had been waiting there for a while, when someone else climbed up to join her. Junior. 
Junior didn't say anything, but also looked over the surface. It was dreadfully boring, pocketed with blast holes and rocks. 
"Are you going to choose a new ship?" Junior finally asked. 
"I don't know. I don't know that I want to. We have no leader, I lost my friend, and what for?" Bad Wolf replied despondently. 
"I don't know either. We'll probably be folded into a new Flight, I guess." Junior shrugged. 
Bad Wolf just shook her head. Junior left the roof, and Bad Wolf continued to watch. And was watching as M-Bot appeared out of nowhere just outside of the base. 
The ship appeared midair, and bounced on the ground several times. She gasped in shock, and then jumped off the roof. It was a long jump, but she stuck the landing well, then took off running. 
M-Bot was not looking good. But Bad Wolf was more than willing to fix him again. And Doomslug was inside, fluting exultantly next to a pile of blue and yellow mushrooms. Mushrooms colored like her? What in the world? But Bad Wolf didn't question it as she embraced Doomslug. Doomslug fluted awkwardly in return. 

Steel descended into the caverns, as Alta base disappeared above him. It would be a long while before he saw it again. But he promised himself he would return. Even if his medical procedure left him without being able to fly, he could at least be on the ground directing ships. Continuing to resist the Krell. 
In the crowded elevator, he held up what he had been given by Ironsides. A gold DDF pin. To remember. He smiled, and put it in his pocket. 
Indeed. He would be back. 
___________________
The Pilots have won the game! (barely)
Master Sheet
Dead Doc
Rebel Doc
1. Snipexe, "Scissors" Pilot, Wingmate to Joe
2. Xinoehp512, "Llerk" Pilot
3. Elandera "Bad Wolf" Brenna Defected/proto-Traitor
4. Mailliw73, Millis “Storm” Stromberg Rebel Gunner
5. Devotary, “Yaw(n)” Yafrion Pilot
6. Ark1002, Bard "Bastard" Dominion Squadron Leader Rebel Gunner
7. Furamirionind, Julis "Junior" Elliot Pilot, Secret Mechanic
8. Lumgol "Preciousss" Pilot
9. StrikerEZ, Seth "Striker" Johnson Ace Pilot
10. Young Bard, Rivelda "Topsy-Turvy" Kline Pilot
11. Sart, Sarah "Seraph" Potts Pilot
12. Darkness Ascendent, Noel "Skinny Ship" Miller Pilot, Wingmate to Walin
13. Walin, Ildem "Isekai Inbred" Pilot, Wingmate to DA
14. XXGaea, Iradesca "Paradise Song" Aleh Rebel Gunner
15. A Joe in the Bush, Knowstoo "Number 4" Much Rebel Pilot, Snipexe's Wingmate
16. _Stick_, Stick "somethingcool" stick Pilot
17. Drake "" Marshall Sniper Pilot

I'll get my GM thoughts up soon, but I want to give a shout out to Ark. He probably should have won this game, if the elim kill had been guaranteed. I'll reveal all the secrets then too. Till then, congrats to the village who barely pulled off a win there. 

Edited June 11, 2019 by Steeldancer

[Stick.]

GG. Between the other on-going games and me being the first lynch, I couldn't really follow the game as closely as I would've liked to after my death. But good job village! also the elims for coming super close.

@Steeldancer Thanks for running the game. You'll be missed. I mainly joined this game cuz it's your last time GMing  I should probably still read skyward though. 

[StrikerEZ]

@Steeldancer Thank you so much for running this game! I'm really sad that my first game back is your last game before you leave, but it was really fun! Sorry about attempting to perform animal cruelty on Doomslug.  I wasn't sure what to do with her, and I figured I'd get the one shot to use her before she left, so I just wanted to try out everything. XD

Anyway, this was a really fun, but sometimes stressful, game! I don't think I've ever played a game that had the common enemy mechanic like this one did, and that was pretty cool.

[+Ark1002]

Good game everyone. I have to say, even though I didn't get to win (though I should have) this was my favorite game I've ever played.

Good job Steel!

[Young Bard]

May I ask, what did Doomslug do mechanically, anyway? Or was it always just a red herring?

Thanks, Steel, for running this game. It was great fun to play - I can't wait for your return in two years.

Edited June 11, 2019 by Young Bard

[Steeldancer]

22 minutes ago, Young Bard said:

May I ask, what did Doomslug do mechanically, anyway? Or was it always just a red herring?

Thanks, Steel, for running this game. It was great fun to play - I can't wait for your return in two years.

I have a few minutes during my break, so I’ll explain doomslug. 

Doomslug was primarily just a red herring, meant to cause confusion. It just RNG chose a new person each turn to be with. Other than that, it wasn’t really supposed to do much.

However, from the very beginning of the game, Elandera received the PM “you do not know where doomslug is,” and after she received doomslug, she was told who doomslug was with. 

On that last turn, Elandera happened to have doomslug and M-Bot, and the lifebuster was dropping the bomb. I decided I didn’t want the game to end like that after all the effort poured into that. So I made an executive decision and reintroduced the cut spoiler mechanic, making it so then Elandera would lose M-Bot and doomslug in sacrifice for that. As I had originally been considering that mechanic in the first place, and given the circumstances I decided that was a fair decision to make. Plus it made for a great writeup. 

Also looks like I totally forgot about Furas role. That has been added in. 

Edited June 11, 2019 by Steeldancer

[Furamirionind]

46 minutes ago, Steeldancer said:

On that last turn, Elandera happened to have doomslug and M-Bot, and the lifebuster was dropping the bomb. I decided I didn’t want the game to end like that after all the effort poured into that. So I made an executive decision and reintroduced the cut spoiler mechanic, making it so then Elandera would lose M-Bot and doomslug in sacrifice for that. As I had originally been considering that mechanic in the first place, and given the circumstances I decided that was a fair decision to make. Plus it made for a great writeup. 

Lol, had you not made that decision, it would have been a game where everybody lost. Has there been a game like that before?

[Elandera]

Steel, this was a great game! And yay, I have M-Bot and Doomslug back! Definitely adding them to my SE inventory.

I was sooo excited when I saw I got the Defected/Traitor role. I had been looking forward to getting the SK win-con, and even while taking actions for the village, I was desperately trying to get lynched. So unaccommodating . I can't tell you how exasperated I was when, after I announced my role, the Lifebuster appeared. The one thing that would have allowed me to win as an SK... and my chances of being lynched were gone. 

However, the amazing write-up and incredibly random chance of having Doomslug and M-Bot save us was worth staying as a pilot. I'm glad you decided to use that mechanic. The odds of all that happening at the same time, though. The Gods of Luck and Chance seemed to be with me this game... maybe it was the animal crackers...

@Ax's Boyfriend, again, great job! You deserve an honorary win for that game. As Steel said, if the mechanics had been slightly different, you likely would have won. As it was, getting rid of villagers was mostly a matter of luck.

I apologize to @StrikerEZ. I feel slightly responsible for you getting shot down, as I light-lanced you that night turn. I was down to just a few points of health and was really paranoid I was going to get shot down. I couldn't let M-Bot get destroyed though.