"Alise, I know you are a fierce fighter who believes a warrior's honor and cunning are his 2 greatest assets, but we are now talking about the fate of our planet. If the USA just stood back and let us destroy ourselves, then our puny planet wouldn't have a chance against these invaders. And suppose they sent their troops to engage in conventional warfare, they would still kick the crap out of everyone else. But afterwards their man power would be as depleted as everyone elses, rendering our entire planet totally defensless. So please stop thinking like a warrior and start thinking in general." Radchenko is clearly fed up with the bickering among the once-members of Alpha Phalanxe "Plus, why in the world wouldn't they re-build your mechs if they needed yopu to fight for them. Also, if we're going to be fighting a race that is clearly more advanced than ours, wouldn't they also upgrade your mechs? The holes and fallacies in your logic are horrendous." Radchenko has lost all patience for this group, "I need a solid answer now."

OOC: This rp is not based on Robotech. It may take an idea or two but that's all. The only reason I used a picture of the SDF 1 is because it's the coolest looking ship I've ever seen. There is no alien tech either, these ships were developed by the USA while the rest of the world destroyed itself.

And yes, they will fix your mechs.

Milo sighed. "Despite how distasteful as the idea sounds, and how much I feel like I'm walking into a trap, I'll fight."

Again, Zwei sounded like some sort of automated message as she spoke. "There are problems, but no ways to rectify them. Under Master's orders, I am to do what commander Radchenko says, unless, one, they would absolutely guarentee my demise, two, they are simply outlandish, or three, they are personal in nature, such as a sexual favor or having me fight in some arena so that you can make money. This situation is at least in violation of one of these, if not all three, but there simply are no other options. At least I know that I may actually have a chance to see my Master again if I continue to serve under you, commander, and thus, I will continue to serve under you."

((I know, I merely *hate* being railroaded by the deus-ex machine, and was proposing an alternative plan.))

Much to Alise' chagrin, Radchenko was her superior officer, and she had pledged to fight under him for the Russian cause and the Russian's money. Unfortunately, despite Radchenko's freeborn logic, Alise was compelled to comply, even if she didn't like it.

"Yes... sir." she replied in a steely rasp from behind clinched teeth, continuing to stand perfectly at attention.

Radchenko looks from face to face, then smiles, "Glad to hear it, now follow me." Radchenko gets up adn walks through the door, without unlocking it. He leads the small group down a ladde then into a large romm filled with various VR machines, intended for the use of simulation. "Find a machine then use it to find the specs you want for your new mech." He then promptly seats himself at one of the machines, leaving the rest of the group to do the same.

Zwei was quick about her work. She knew her specs top to bottom. Hell, they were practically programmed into her head so she could probably remember them even if amnesia took the rest of her mind away.

However, there were many new options to consider. American technology offered much more technological advances. There were engines that offered quicker charges for the PPC, the possibility of a cloaking device, though it would grant true invisibility if she kept her mech completely still. There were even paint jobs and logos. A spike of emotion wanted her to model the mech to her liking, but the other things set her back on track. The drugs and the hypnosis...and the imagery! My god, the imagery!. Zwei then quickly went through all the options and selected the best options, given what little she knew about the situation.

When Zed sat down and started to pick out stats, he was amased at the specs of some of the models specific for sniping. "Is there anything this head unit can't do." As he read it, he noticed it's power consumption was ungodly, but for what it could do, he could deal with it. "Let's see here, cloaking check. Weak point identifier, check. Rifle ammunition modifer? Hell yes check." Zed went on reading more stats, checking each one for his mech. He did give up some mobility and got the least power consuming boosters, and grabbed the strongest engine he could get. "Alright then, if this is a simulation, let's start it."

Angel type mechs were a new thing, even in the americas. He picked more advanced and lighter weight alloys for armoring the newest ion jets to help increase his speed. The american laser technology was years ahead of the russians. He'd actually be able to recharge directly It will be nice to have more than 10 shots. Advanced ECM, Cloaking device, and a Power sword?

Specialized blade formed by a jet of plasma. the computer sword. Oooh! a light saber. John slected that option to replace his sword. and an energy shield to complete the package.

"We can rebuild him, we have the technology, better, stronger, faster. nananannannananana."

OOC: nice squishy, alright, we'll wait for everyone to finnish then we can start the sim.

"All specifications confirmed. Please choose if you would like to send the specs for the mech to be built or if you would like to respec."

Zwei checked the mech stats. On the old mech, the machine guns had to be mounted on the arms, but with the technology here, Zwei was able to have them placed on the torso, Allowing her to add additional weaponry. The PPC was switched out for a Gravity Cannon, and the left arm, left free, was fitted with an Electro-Magnetic Pulse Grenade Cannon. This was only possible because stronger, more durable parts were to compose the mech body instead of the best that Japan could produce. The Cloaking Device was still available, but Zwei decided to go for a Nullify Signature Module, which prevented radar from picking up her mech signature. Zwei nodded to herself and chose to accept the new configuration.

"Specifications saved and sent to mech depot for construction. Please note that this is the first time these specifications have been used, so we do not have any information regarding possible tactics. Would you like to name the machine?"

Zwei knew the answer to that question before it was asked.

"Ein."

Milo looked things over carefully. He was clearly impressed with the American technology, but didn't want to admit it. Scrolling through options, selecting weapons and equipment, he more or less recreated the Mammoth Tusk. Including some minor changes, of course... "Energy shield? That would've been useful two missions ago. Cloaker? No... it wouldn't help much. Plasma blade? How about plasma spear? Weak-point scanner? Interesting. Hmm... this is good, I think."

OOC: New mech creation data at the discussion thread, it's at the bottom of my last post. Where's PF? Waiting on her customizations, then we can get started.

Alise climbed into the simulator last, and took a good long hard look at the modifications she could get for her Stormcrow. In space, Alise knew she wanted armor and firepower, and on the ground, they'd still be good assets in combat. Besides, the Amercians were footing the bill.

She didn't like any of them. The specs she was looking at required a heavy mech.

"Computer... Search the Chassis database for Assault-class superheavy frames."

"Working."

Alise still didn't see anything she liked.

"Search Keyword. Warhammer IIC."

"No match."

"Warhawk?"

"No Match."

Alise particularly wanted a Warhawk, and there was a reason for this. Fortunately, Americans had funny names for other nation's mechs.

"Masakari?"

"Match. Uploading."

The Warhawk's data flowed onto the screen, and Alise toyed with the Prime configuration to her liking. 4 ER-PPCs, an LRM 10 rack, slow, ponderous, and hunched over, but very powerful. Alise loved the Warhawk for it's uniquely destructive quality.

Fiddling with a few American weapons upgrades, she pieced together a suitable loadout, and played with it in the simulator. When she came out, she was wearing a rather large grin.

A mechanized voice rings out into the area occupied by the remnants of Alpha Phalanxe. "All mech pilots in the staging area please step into their simulator cockpits". The words are Russian, then the message is repeated in English, then Russian once more before ending. On the far side of the room, 10 black tubes open up, revealing complex machinery within each one. Markings on the floor light up, indicating that those in the staging area should head towards the strange tubes.

Zwei was just fluent enough in Russian, but she knew English well. She moved and took her place, working with the HUD display. To Zwei, calibrating the mech to her liking was just as important, if not more, than remodeling it.

Alise filed into the simulator pods right behind Zwei, taking the nearest one. Once inside the VR simulator, Alise' new mech's HUD popped up, and the cockpit materialized into a close approximation of it's real-life counterpart.

She went through the startup sequence, with a familiar computer voice rattling off the details. As the right arm came online, Alise took her right joystick and toyed with the servos. They were slower than what she was used to, but after pulling the primary trigger and vaporizing a large tree, she began to appreciate the CaPPCs that the Warhawk was outfitted with.

Zed sat down into a simulator pod and activated the simulation. His new mech virtualized around him, and he was amazed. This mech had everything, and he was about to hit the button when the mech turned on itself.

Good Morning Zed, Self start-up initiating. While you wait, would you like a cup of coffee? A feminim voice sad softly over what seemed to be everywhere.

"I assume you are the computer? And I'll have to deny that coffee. Though why have a coffe machine in a mech?"

This mech was built in mind for the sniper, so it was equipped so that the pilot could stay in this for days comfortable. Boot up sequence is complete. We have realized that you cut off all aim assistance in your old mech so we have a specially desigened aiming system installed. Would you like to try it out?

"Alright then, wow me." And boy did it wow him. Suddenly from the top, an exact replica of the rifle the mech was holding was lowered down. There was plenty of room to stand so Zed did, and a ring of lights surrounded his feet. He turned to look to his left, and the mech followed. "Now this is nice." He took the rifle and looked through the scope. The scope seemed to automatically zoom on moving targets, and no matter what angel he looked at it, it was a crystal clear picture. "Ok, you've wowwed me."

As the Russians came towards the simulators, they may of noticed one thing:

One of the pods was already occupied.

In it, Sargent Jared Greyhall sat in the simulated cockpit of his mech, Knight. However, he wasn't paying attention to simulation, but to a list he had brought up on his display.

"Not cheating, Sarge." A voice came over the raido.

"I'm not cheating." Jared replied. "We're all on the same team now, remember. I just wanted to see what the ruskies picked up."

As he scrolled through the list, Jared became more and more impressed. The Russians know what they're doing. he thought to himself. And they sure didn't spare any expense to upgrade their mechs, either. A few of them even completely redesigned them.

Jared looked up and over at the Russians as they climbed into their simulator pods. I hope they're worth the price we're paying to outfit them like this.

"Computer, switch pod to simulator mode. Let's see what command has in store for us today."

John hoped in the simulator and watched it load.

"I wonder what they're polygon count is?" he said marveling at the near photo realistic simulation.

OOC: new thread