[Let’s Play] ACE Gamebook 07 – Ronin 47

[JourneymanN00b]

Deploying the Depth Charges got 2 votes, so Commander Oishi will do this.

225

The depth charges sink into the sea around the mech, as the eel-monsters continue to close in. When the devices detonate, moments later, the Ikuchi are almost on top of you, but they are outside the blast radius of the explosives, and so come to no harm.

Cross off one use of the Depth Charges from your Adventure Sheet and turn to 292.

292

Four of the fiends are closing on you and so it’s time to defend yourself from the monstrously mutated eels. (Fight the Ikuchi two at a time.)

First IKUCHI
SPEED	ARMOUR	MELEE	ARTILLERY	INTEGRITY
4	1	3	1	10

Second IKUCHI
SPEED	ARMOUR	MELEE	ARTILLERY	INTEGRITY
4	1	3	1	8

Third IKUCHI
SPEED	ARMOUR	MELEE	ARTILLERY	INTEGRITY
4	1	3	1	10

Fourth IKUCHI
SPEED	ARMOUR	MELEE	ARTILLERY	INTEGRITY
4	1	3	1	8

If any of the Ikuchi make a successful strike against your mech, roll one die (or pick a card). If the number rolled is odd (or the card is red), determine the amount of damage your mech suffers in the usual way. However, if the number rolled is even (or the card is black), the mutated eel zaps Ronin 47 with ten thousand volts of electricity, which causes 5 Integrity points of damage, regardless of your mech’s Armour score, and you will have to reduce the mech’s Melee Rating by 1 point during the next Combat Round, unless the mech is fitted with EMP Shielding, in which case you may ignore this additional damage.

If you kill the kaiju-eels, you set off again – turn to 193.

Ronin 47 is not fitted with EMP Shielding.

The fight:
(Fighting the First and Second Ikuchi)
Round 1: Ronin 47’s Combat Rating: 6+4+5+3=18, First Ikuchi’s Combat Rating: 1+4+3+1=9, Second Ikuchi’s Combat Rating: 3+2+3+1=9;
Ronin 47’s Damage Rolls: 4, 5, 3, 2, 5; five dice scored 0 or higher
Ronin 47’s Integrity: 45, First Ikuchi’s Integrity: 0, Second Ikuchi’s Integrity: -2

(Fighting the Third and Fourth Ikuchi)
Round 1: Ronin 47’s Combat Rating: 1+6+5+3=15, Third Ikuchi’s Combat Rating: 2+6+3+1=12, Fourth Ikuchi’s Combat Rating: 6+1+3+1=11;
Ronin 47’s Damage Rolls: 3, 5, 2, 4, 6; five dice scored 0 or higher
Ronin 47’s Integrity: 45, Third Ikuchi’s Integrity: 0, Fourth Ikuchi’s Integrity: -2

Ronin 47 flawlessly kills all four Ikuchi to little surprise.

193

As you pilot the mech northwards, just below the waves, the war-machine’s scanners alert you to potential danger ahead. There’s a storm brewing – a tropical cyclone is gaining in power and heading in your direction.

You want to avoid running into the typhoon if at all possible; the integrity of Ronin 47’s hull could be adversely affected by the force of such a storm. The Climate Catastrophe of the early 21st century has only made such storms even more unpredictable and dangerous.

Deprived of the option of continuing directly north, for Honshu Island and Tokyo, which way do you want to go in the hope of evading the typhoon?

Do you want to set a course for the northwest (turn to 198), or northeast (turn to 318)?

Please make your votes before 9:00 AM PDT or a choice receives 2 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.

Ronin 47’s Adventure Sheet
Speed: 4
Armour: 5
Melee: 5
Artillery: 3
Integrity: 45
Reactor: 1
Upgrades:
Electro-Katana
Enhanced Scanners (-1 from opponent’s Armour in close combat)
Upgraded Hull (+1 Armour, +5 Integrity)
Depth Charges: 1
Drones: 0
Flares: 0

[Thaluikhain]

Hmmm...northern hemisphere cyclones rotate *googles* anti-clockwise, so if we travel northeast (and assuming that the cyclone is north of us), we'll be traveling with the wind, not against it...so I half vote north east.

[Beroli]

Go northeast.

[deaddmwalking]

Geographically speaking there is land to the west. I vote Northwest.

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes tallied; setting a course for the northeast won by a 1.5-1 vote.

318

The mech courses through the waves, just below the surface like a submarine, as you pilot it out of the path of the steadily worsening typhoon.

As the great bank of swirling cloud vanishes into the distance behind you, you come upon a series of half-submerged reefs, where the seabed is shallower, and bring Ronin 47 to a stop to reassess the best way to go, now that the cyclone is no longer a threat to you.

Take a Combat test. If you pass the test, turn to 294. If you fail the test, turn to 46.

With Commander Oishi’s Combat at 12, our hero has no chance of failing the test and proceeds to section 294.

294

It is just as you are pulling up information on the HUD – a combination of information from the Combat AI’s data-banks, the map downloaded from the Tengu Array, and the mech’s own real-time scans – that, ever a student of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, a part of your mind realises that this spot would make the perfect place for an ambush.

It is then that you sense something, not via the mech’s scanners, but some sixth sense that suddenly has you reaching for Ronin 47’s haptic weapon controls and firing up the colossal war-machine’s weapons.

If you have a Hunter-Killer Missile and want to launch now, turn to 264. If not, turn to 237.

Commander Oishi does not have a Hunter-Killer Missile.

237

Two matte-black mechs suddenly burst from the sea on either side of you, while Ronin 47’s proximity alarms remain stubbornly silent. Could they have developed a fault?

Where Ronin 47 is armed with a single melee weapon, the Ninjas are each armed with a pair of Electro-Wakizashi swords – mech-swords similar in design and function to the standard Electro-Katana, but with a shorter blade and packing slightly less of a punch.

You have no choice but to defend yourself against these Ninja-class mechs but, thanks to your unerring ability to sniff out danger, no matter what or where it might be, you are ready for them. (Go straight to the Close Combat phase in this battle, and fight the mechs at the same time.)

First NINJA-MECH
SPEED	ARMOUR	MELEE	ARTILLERY	INTEGRITY
5	2	5	2	20

Second NINJA-MECH
SPEED	ARMOUR	MELEE	ARTILLERY	INTEGRITY
5	2	5	2	18

If you manage to defeat both Ninjas, turn to 19.



For fights that only involve the Close Combat Phase, only the Melee scores will be added to the dice rolls when determining who wins which Combat Round.

The fight:
Round 1: Ronin 47’s Melee Rating: 4+1+5=10, First Ninja-Mech’s Melee Rating: 6+3+5=14, Second Ninja-Mech’s Melee Rating: 6+5+5=16;
First Ninja-Mech’s Damage Rolls: 2, 3, 6, 4, 2; one die scored 5 or higher, Second Ninja-Mech’s Damage Rolls: 3, 5, 3, 6, 3; two dice scored 5 or higher
Ronin 47’s Integrity: 39, First Ninja-Mech’s Integrity: 20, Second Ninja-Mech’s Integrity: 18
Round 2: Ronin 47’s Melee Rating: 3+6+5=14, First Ninja-Mech’s Melee Rating: 3+3+5=11, Second Ninja-Mech’s Melee Rating: 3+2+5=10;
Ronin 47’s Damage Rolls: 5, 1, 4, 6, 4; five dice scored 1 or higher
Ronin 47’s Integrity: 39, First Ninja-Mech’s Integrity: 10, Second Ninja-Mech’s Integrity: 9
Round 3: Ronin 47’s Melee Rating: 3+5+5=13, First Ninja-Mech’s Melee Rating: 2+4+5=11, Second Ninja-Mech’s Melee Rating: 6+3+5=14;
Ronin 47’s Damage Rolls: 5, 1, 5, 4, 4; five dice scored 1 or higher, Second Ninja-Mech’s Damage Rolls: 3, 4, 6, 1, 3; one die scored 5 or higher
Ronin 47’s Integrity: 37, First Ninja-Mech’s Integrity: 0, Second Ninja-Mech’s Integrity: 9
Round 4: Ronin 47’s Melee Rating: 2+5+5=12, Second Ninja-Mech’s Melee Rating: 2+3+5=10;
Ronin 47’s Damage Rolls: 3, 5, 1, 2, 1; five dice scored 1 or higher
Ronin 47’s Integrity: 37, Second Ninja-Mech’s Integrity: -1

Ronin 47 takes 8 Integrity damage before destroying the two Ninja-Mechs.

19

Both Ninja-mechs are now lying stricken in the shallows of the sunken reef. One of them has been utterly obliterated by your attack, but the other still has its cockpit intact, even if it is missing both its arms. Chances are the pilot is still alive inside.

Assuming your mech’s proximity alarms are fully functional, the Ninjas must have employed some kind of cloaking technology in order to remain hidden from Ronin 47’s sensors. But who would send two cloaked mechs to ambush you and take you down? Surely there can only be one answer: former Deputy Director Kira.

If you want to pull the pilot from the mech, so that you can interrogate the villain, turn to 511. If you would rather not waste your time and be on your way, seeing as how you are sure you already know the answer to your question, turn to 436.

Please make your votes before 7:00 PM PDT or a choice receives 2 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.

Ronin 47’s Adventure Sheet
Speed: 4
Armour: 5
Melee: 5
Artillery: 3
Integrity: 37
Reactor: 1
Upgrades:
Electro-Katana
Enhanced Scanners (-1 from opponent’s Armour in close combat)
Upgraded Hull (+1 Armour, +5 Integrity)
Depth Charges: 1
Drones: 0
Flares: 0

[Beroli]

Interrogate the villainous pilot.

[deaddmwalking]

I like interrogations. Let's do it.

I'm still miffed by the option to use our depth charges. I understand why it wasn't a good option, but I feel like the book shouldn't have presented it like it was - Oishi should have known better even if we didn't. While I feel like the author was right in that case, I was guessing that they would be wrong - in part because I think they were completely wrong about the submerged Gozira - our ability to withstand the pressure and how the ship was entirely flooded. Of course that's based on my ideas about watertight compartments in surface ships, which are not rated for those depths - but if the doors on an aircraft carrier wouldn't prevent the entire ship from flooding it's more evidence that our suit should have been insufficient for the pressure we faced...

Okay, rant over.

[JourneymanN00b]

Pulling the pilot from the mech got 2 votes, so Commander Oishi will do this.

511

Exiting the cockpit of your own mech, katana in hand, you jump down onto the chest-plate of the Ninja lying prone on its back, as it is lapped by the waves.

Using your katana to deactivate the locks on the cockpit hatch of the Ninja, you force it open only to find that its occupant is ready for you.

The pilot leaps out of the downed mech, his own blade in hand. Swathed from head to toe in the black uniform of those loyal to the traitor Kira, he has the appearance of a true shadow warrior.

Take a Combat test. If you pass the test, turn to 533. If you fail the test, turn to 553.

With our hero’s current Combat score, Commander Oishi automatically passes all Combat tests, as previously mentioned, so we will proceed to section 533.

533

Rapidly shifting your grip on your sword, you deflect the warrior’s first bold strike and spin his blade out of the way, ready to engage in hand-to-hand combat with your ambusher. (In this battle, you have the initiative.)

SHADOW WARRIOR     COMBAT 10     ENDURANCE 8

If you reduce the Shadow Warrior’s Endurance score to 2 points or fewer, turn to 574 at once.

Since Commander Oishi has the initiative and can pass any Combat tests, our hero deals 6 Endurance points to the Shadow Warrior from the two blaster shots. With the Shadow Warrior now at 2 Endurance, we will proceed to section 574.

574

Knocking the pilot’s blade out of his grasp and kicking his feet out from under him, you pin him down on the hull of the Ninja-mech. The tip of your katana mere millimetres from his throat, you demand that he answers your questions.

Clearly intimidated by your furious focus, under interrogation he soon gives up some useful information, by giving you one half of a set of GPS coordinates: 138.7274° E. (Record this information on your Adventure Sheet.)

However, he then tries to bargain with you, offering the other half of the set of coordinates in return for his life. As you ponder his offer for a moment, he suddenly goes for you, hoping to cut you down while you are distracted.

He thought wrong, your blade putting an end to him at last. At least one half of a set of GPS coordinates is better than none.

Before you continue on your way, you salvage a Cloaking Device from one of the Ninja-mechs and find it relatively easy to install it in your own mech.

Also record the Cloaking Device on your Adventure Sheet and then turn to 595.

595

Collating information from its current surroundings, married with data retained within its memory core and that downloaded from the Tengu Satellite Array, you see that you are almost 800 kilometres due south of what is left of the city of Tokyo. However, approximately 150 clicks to the northwest, Ronin 47 has picked up a distress signal.

Do you want to head due north towards Honshu Island and Tokyo (turn to 259), or do you want to try to pinpoint the source of the distress signal (turn to 27)?

Please make your votes before 7:00 PM PDT or a choice receives 2 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.

Commander Oishi’s Adventure Sheet
Agility: 12
Combat: 12
Endurance: 21
Equipment:
Bodyglove
Blaster
Katana
Ration Packs: 5
Medi-Packs: 5
Notes and Code Words:
Connected
Amabie affects Arachnida, Byakko affects Aves, Chochinbi affects Crustacea, and Datsue-ba affects ???
GPS coordinates: 138.7274° E
Resurrections: 4

Ronin 47’s Adventure Sheet
Speed: 4
Armour: 5
Melee: 5
Artillery: 3
Integrity: 37
Reactor: 1
Upgrades:
Electro-Katana
Enhanced Scanners (-1 from opponent’s Armour in close combat)
Upgraded Hull (+1 Armour, +5 Integrity)
Cloaking Device
Depth Charges: 1
Drones: 0
Flares: 0

[pragma]

Distress signal, that seems noble.

[deaddmwalking]

I like helping people in need. Though that's the start of the Kobayashi Maru, Star Trek's famed no-win scenario. Still, let's do it.

[JourneymanN00b]

Pinpointing the source of the distress signal got 2 votes, so Commander Oishi will do this.

27

You come at last to an atoll and what is clearly the aftermath of an epic battle. You identify the remains of three different war-machines – two Ninja-class mechs and a Daimyo war-suit. The Ninjas are painted a matte black, while the Daimyo mech – which is slightly larger than a Samurai but still significantly shorter than the prototype Shogun – is painted a bright orange with a yellow lightning bolt. You recognise the colours as those of Honjo Base, another isolated colony, independent from Ako Base, but one that is allied to it.

Ronin 47 is not reading any human life-signs on board any of the mechs and none of them are pilotable anymore. However, while the mechs might no longer be operational, that doesn’t necessarily mean that their weapons systems or other tech won’t still be in working order.

If you want to see what you can salvage from the mechs, turn to 80. If you would rather leave the atoll without further delay, turn to 2.

Please make your votes before 7:00 PM PDT or a choice receives 2 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.

[deaddmwalking]

I like upgrades. Let's try salvaging something.

[Thaluikhain]

Salvage.

[JourneymanN00b]

Seeing what can be salvaged from the mechs received 2 votes, so Commander Oishi will do this.

80

It appears that the three mechs died fighting each other, with the damage they caused each other proving fatal, so that no one was going to be walking away from this fight.

Which of the machines do you want to strip first?

The Ninja-mechs?     Turn to 113.

The Daimyo-mech?     Turn to 286.

Please make your votes before 7:00 PM PDT or a choice receives 2 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.

[Beroli]

Strip the ninja-mechs, that's what just attacked us so those are more likely to be Kira's.

[deaddmwalking]

Since we just salvaged a ninja, we're more likely to find something we already have. With one Daimyo being as good as two Ninjas, we might find something twice as good. They're an ally, so using their equipment to avenge them is appropriate. Vote for salvaging the Daimyo.

[Thaluikhain]

Yeah, the Daimyo mechs.

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes counted; stripping the Daimyo-mech first won by a 2-1 vote.

286

According to scans carried out by your mech’s own AI, the reason the Daimyo fell was because one of the electro-waisaki blades wielded by the Ninjas penetrated the cockpit, killing the pilot. There is actually little wrong with the war-suit itself, although you suspect feedback from the pilot’s death, via the pilot-mech interface, could have scrambled the mech’s machine-mind. You certainly won’t be swapping your loyal Ronin 47 for the Daimyo war-suit.

However, the titanic war-machine has been kitted out with two experimental weapons, the likes of which you have only heard rumours about, having never actually seen them for yourself before.

The first is an impressive, shoulder-mounted gun that has been given the designation ‘Raijin Cannon,’ and that is clearly an energy projectile weapon of some kind. Your Combat AI’s scans reveal the second device to be an Electromagnetic Pulse Device.

What is a Honjo mech doing with such weapons? Was the Daimyo-mech carrying out an experimental weapons test before it was ambushed? But what is most concerning is why were your allies developing weapons that are clearly intended for killing other mechs and not kaiju? What was Honjo Base planning?

Which piece of equipment do you want to try to salvage from the Daimyo-mech?

The Raijin Lightning Cannon?     Turn to 320.

The EMP Device?     Turn to 347.

Please make your votes before 9:00 AM PDT or a choice receives 2 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.

[pragma]

I pick the EMP (half vote)

Though I think the Raijin would bring me more joy over the course of the game, the EMP sound like too good an end of game trump card.

[Thaluikhain]

Yeah, the EMP device...though no reason has been given why we can't take both, which seems an oversight.

[deaddmwalking]

Agree with the logic. Take the EMP device.

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes registered; trying to salvage the EMP Device from the Damiyo-mech.

347

The EMP Device is fixed to the Daimyo’s left arm, fitting over the wrist like a vambrace. It is easy to remove from the downed Daimyo and almost just as easy to attach to Ronin 47’s non-sword arm.

It is also clear that the weapon has been fired recently and, by your reckoning, it probably only has enough juice left for one more pulse.

(Record the EMP Device in the Upgrades box on your Adventure Sheet.)

If you are done stripping the Daimyo for parts, turn to 2. If you want to try taking the Lightning Cannon as well, if you have not done so already, turn to 320.

Please make your votes before 7:00 PM PDT or a choice receives 2 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.

Ronin 47’s Adventure Sheet
Speed: 4
Armour: 5
Melee: 5
Artillery: 3
Integrity: 37
Reactor: 1
Upgrades:
Electro-Katana
Enhanced Scanners (-1 from opponent’s Armour in close combat)
Upgraded Hull (+1 Armour, +5 Integrity)
Cloaking Device
EMP Device
Depth Charges: 1
Drones: 0
Flares: 0

[Beroli]

Get the Lightning Cannon.

[pragma]

Get the lightning cannon!

I hope to have my cake and eat it too, despite the kaiju carnage it will surely provoke.

[JourneymanN00b]

Trying to take the Lightning Cannon got 2 votes, so Commander Oishi will attempt this.

320

It is easy to detach the energy weapon from the Daimyo’s shoulder mounting – partly because its shoulder mount was damaged during the giant mech’s battle with the Ninjas – but Ronin 47 will not be able to make use of it unless you can plug it into your mech’s targeting systems and power supply. Such a thing would be a straightforward matter in a fully equipped Guardian hangar – with cranes, and lifting equipment, and robotic tools – but alone, hundreds of kilometres from the nearest refit facility, without a team of technicians and engineers to aid you, it will be a nigh impossible task.

If you have a fully-charged Spider repair droid stowed away on board Ronin 47, turn to 372. If not, turn to 392.

Commander Oishi does not have a fully-charged Spider repair droid.

392

Frustrating as the situation is, you have no way of attaching the Lightning Cannon to your mech and so are forced to leave it behind on the sandy atoll.

If you are done salvaging equipment from the Honjo mech, turn to 2. If not, and you want to go after the EMP Device next, if you haven’t done so already, turn to 347.

Commander Oishi has already gone after the EMP Device.

2

Tokyo lies 500 clicks almost due north of the coral atoll, but how do you want to travel there?

If Ronin 47 is equipped with a Booster Rocket, and you want to use it to reach Honshu Island, turn to 60. If not, or you would prefer not to use the Booster Rocket at this time, you will have no choice but to travel by sea – turn to 590.

Ronin 47 is not equipped with a Booster Rocket.

590

Roll one die (or pick a card). If the number rolled is odd (or the card is red), turn to 231. If the number (rolled) is even (or the card is black), turn to 429.

Rolling the die yields a 6, so we will proceed to section 429.

429

Your mech’s sensors start to register all manner of returns and, staring at the screen before you in horror, you see a thick, rippling carpet of detritus lying on the surface of the sea that is so thick you cannot see any water at all.

In the late 20th century, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch spanned the waters from the West Coast of North America all the way to Southeast Asia, and was comprised of the Western Garbage Patch, located near the islands of Japan, and the Eastern Garbage Patch, located between the US states of Hawaii and California.

Since K-Day, the Pacific trash vortex has also collected the wrecks of drifting vessels whose crews were forced to abandon ship when they were attacked by the ever-increasing numbers of kaiju. Salvage crews are known to search these garbage-ridden seas for valuables, such as useful pieces of forgotten tech.

And then a new reading flashes up on the HUD – Ronin 47 has detected human life-signs. As the giant robot scans the debris field, you catch sight of a figure lying prone on a piece of floating wreckage, unmoving and unprotected from the blazing sun. It appears to be a young woman and if it wasn’t for the fact that you can read her vital signs on the screen in front of you, you could have easily believed that she was dead.

Do you want to disembark from Ronin 47 to help the young woman (turn to 448), or do you want to leave her to her fate (turn to 516)?

Please make your votes before 7:00 PM PDT or a choice receives 2 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.