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

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes recognized; talking a walk to the shrine.

521

Reaching the top of the island, you just stand there, in the shadow of the great arch, as you contemplate all that has befallen you this fateful day; the destruction of Ako Base at the claws of the kaiju, and the deaths of the rest of Phoenix Squad – your fellow Samurai. Your friends.

Drawing your katana from its sheath, you kneel at the foot of the Shinto shrine. You swear upon your blade, glimmering in the blood-red light of the setting sun, that you will avenge the deaths of everyone who died so needlessly this day.

Alone with your thoughts, and exhausted by your adventures, you soon fall into a deep asleep.

Add 1 point to your Endurance score, then turn to 561.

561

You wake to the feeling of warmth on one side of your face and the coolness of moisture on the other, as the rising sun rouses you gently with its restorative rays.

You come to quickly, with a renewed sense of purpose and a plan. You will rise like a phoenix from the flames to avenge the deaths of your fellow warriors and all those who perished within Ako Base yesterday by slaying every kaiju you encounter. But before you set off on your hunt, you have another quarry to run to ground first – the traitor Kira.

Your master, Director Asano, is dead, which means that you are now a masterless samurai.

Taking a welding torch from the mech’s tool kit, you burn two kanji characters onto the hull of your mech – rou, meaning ‘wandering’, and nin, meaning ‘person’ – for you are now ronin.

Climbing back into the cockpit of the renamed Ronin 47, you realise that you are too far away for your mech’s scanners to track the stolen Shogun-mech, but you are sure that it was heading north, when it left Tokugawa Island.

If you are going to have to go toe-to-toe with the Shogun, you are going to need all the help you can get. Checking the map database contained within the mech’s memory banks, you confirm your location 500 clicks north of Tokugawa Island.

Three hundred kilometres northwest of your current position lies the Vault, a secret Ako armoury operated by a skeleton staff. Hopefully the team based there are still loyal to Director Asano and, if so, might be persuaded to help you in your mission of vengeance.

You also know that the research vessel Gojira patrols the Pacific Rim. The prime directive of the scientific team aboard the converted aircraft carrier is to search for a way to reverse the mutagenic effects of the K-Compound and thereby destroy the kaiju that are steadily overrunning the planet.

Checking your mech’s status, you see that the Spider droid has made the repairs you requested. However, you also see that the Samurai’s jump-jets are offline. The Spider’s energy reserves have been completely exhausted. Usually, having completed its task, the Spider would retire to its own recharge bay within the Guardian hangar, but seeing as it is unable to do that now, it is as good as dead.

Wherever you intend to go now, you will have to travel by sea, piloting Ronin 47 as if it were a submersible, skimming along like a torpedo underneath the waves.

In which direction do you want to travel?

Northwest towards the Vault?     Turn to 583.

Northeast in the hope of intercepting the Gojira?     Turn to 114.

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

Commander Oishi’s Adventure Sheet
Agility: 11
Combat: 11
Endurance: 21
Equipment:
Bodyglove
Blaster
Katana
Ration Packs: 5
Medi-Packs: 5
Notes and Code Words:
(None)

Ronin 47’s Adventure Sheet
Speed: 3
Armour: 4
Melee: 5
Artillery: 3
Integrity: 55
Reactor: 1
Upgrades:
Electro-Katana
Enhanced Scanners (-1 from opponent’s Armour in close combat)
Upgraded Hull (+1 Armour, +5 Integrity)
Depth Charges: 2
Drones: 0
Flares: 0

[Beroli]

Northeast to intercept the Gojira.

[deaddmwalking]

I like upgrades and would prefer to seek out the vault.

[JourneymanN00b]

Thank you for voting. I will break the 1-1 tie by having Commander Oishi travel northeast in the hope of intercepting the Gojira.

114

Several hours later, you reach the last recorded position of the Gojira that is stored in your mech’s databanks, but there is no sign of the research vessel. There is nothing but empty sea as far as Ronin 47 can scan.

But then a thought strikes you. Perhaps Kira had covert operatives working aboard the Gojira too, who might have triggered a similar kaiju beacon in order to put it out of action. Or maybe the ship simply fell foul of a kaiju attack that was nothing to do with Kira’s betrayal. Either way, the ship could be at the bottom of the ocean.

If your mech is fitted with Enhanced Scanners, turn to 171. If not, turn to 126.

Ronin 47 is fitted with Enhanced Scanners.

171

Ronin 47’s scanners soon locate the Gojira. As you feared, it is three hundred metres down on the sea-floor and you can detect no signs of life on board. But then a ping on the oscilloscope readout on the screen in front of you reveals that there is something down there other than the sunken vessel, and it is most definitely alive.

If you want to take your mech to the bottom of the ocean to investigate the shipwreck, even at the risk of coming face to face with whatever it is the scanners have detected, turn to 218. If you think that if the ship has already sunk there is nothing to be gained by boarding it now, turn to 195.

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

[deaddmwalking]

Kill it!

[Beroli]

Investigate the shipwreck.

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes acknowledged; taking the mech to the bottom of the ocean to investigate the shipwreck.

218

As you descend, the light penetrating the sea from above fades and the shadowy silhouette of the Gojira comes into view. The ship must be four hundred metres long! It is currently lying on its starboard side at the edge of an abyssal cliff.

And then the reason for the oscilloscope return makes its presence felt, as something powers up from the black depths of the ocean towards you with one twist of its massive tail, and proximity alarms inside the helm-cockpit start to sound. But you are ready for it.

Turn to 120.

120

The monster has the distinctive, elongated profile of a shark, but one that is thirty metres long, with two dorsal fins, rather than just one, and its hide is covered with an array of vicious-looking spines.

It is an Isonade, a class of kaiju that developed from sharks and manta rays, although it looks like some sea-urchin DNA entered the mix somewhere along the line.

As it makes its attack run, the monstrous shark-kaiju opens its jaws wide and you see a second set of jaws emerge from within.

ISONADE
SPEED	ARMOUR	MELEE	ARTILLERY	INTEGRITY
5	2	4	1	20

If you are still alive after 5 Combat Rounds, or you reduce the Isonade’s Integrity score to 15 points or fewer, whichever is sooner, turn to 253.



The fight:
Round 1: Ronin 47’s Combat Rating: 3+6+5+3=17, Isonade’s Combat Rating: 5+3+4+1+1=14;
Damage Rolls: 6, 1, 2, 5, 5; five dice scored 1 or higher
Ronin 47’s Integrity: 55, Isonade’s Integrity: 10
Isonade’s Integrity is fewer than 15 points

To nobody’s surprise, Ronin 47 flawlessly damages the Isonade to a critical level.

253

The gigantic shark suddenly breaks off from the fight and, as quickly as it appeared, vanishes back into the black depths of the pelagic abyss. Your dogged determination not to be beaten has driven it off.

You turn your attention to the wrecked ship and complete your descent to where it is resting at the edge of the crumbling precipice. Coming alongside the vessel, you can see that the keel of the former aircraft carrier has been torn open in several places, the great gouges in the metal looking like nothing less than huge claw marks. Whatever caused such damage, and sank the Gojira, it was something bigger than any other kaiju you’ve ever encountered, and it certainly can’t have been the Isonade. You only hope that whatever it was, the Gojira’s doom isn’t lurking nearby.

If you want to enter the shipwreck, possibly in the hope of finding out more about what befell it, turn to 277. If you think you have discovered enough already, turn to 195.

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

[Beroli]

Enter the shipwreck.

[deaddmwalking]

Let's go in. I'm a little worried about us shifting the weight and falling down the precipice causing us to implode as the depth increases, but I think we would be careful of that possibility so surely it won't be an auto-death.

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes registered; entering the shipwreck.

277

Because the aircraft carrier is lying on its side, the access port in the bottom of its keel – from where submersible vehicles could be easily deployed – is not only visible but accessible.

However, as you soon discover, while the flooded dock is big enough to accommodate your mech, Ronin 47 is far too big to progress any further and enter the hold of the ship.

You are either going to have to exit the mech, in order to enter the sunken wreck (turn to 451), try to force a way in (turn to 308), or give up on this whole enterprise and abandon the Gojira here, on the seabed (turn to 8).

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

[Beroli]

Leave the Gojira here.

[deaddmwalking]

There may be things to find here, but I don't feel comfortable leaving our mech at this depth. Under the circumstances I prefer to leave and hopefully try the arsenal.

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes recognized; giving up on this whole enterprise and abandoning the Gojira.

8

Having checked that your seat-harness is secure, you power up the mech’s engines and set off for the surface.

If you have the code word Hunted recorded on your Adventure Sheet, turn to 29. If not, turn to 55.

Commander Oishi does not have the code word Hunted recorded.

55

As you are pulling away from the spot where the Gojira sank, something rockets up out of the pelagic abyss, taking you completely by surprise, its blunt nose smashing into your mech with savage force. (Deduct 5 Integrity points.)

The shark-kaiju is clearly not done with you yet. Conclude your battle with the Isonade, and if you manage to slay the beast, turn to 132.

The fight:
Round 1: Ronin 47’s Combat Rating: 2+3+5+3=13, Isonade’s Combat Rating: 6+6+4+1+1=18;
Damage Rolls: 5, 6, 3, 1; two dice scored 4 or higher
Ronin 47’s Integrity: 46, Isonade’s Integrity: 10
Round 2: Ronin 47’s Combat Rating: 3+6+5+3=17; Isonade’s Combat Rating: 1+3+4+1+1=10;
Damage Rolls: 1, 6, 1, 4, 2; five dice scored 1 or higher
Ronin 47’s Integrity: 46, Isonade’s Integrity: 0

Thanks to some rather unlucky rolls, Ronin 47 takes 4 more Integrity damage before killing the Isonade.

132

The scourge of the deep dead at last, its huge carcass slowly sinks into the depths, thousands of small fish and other submarine creatures emerging from the preternatural gloom to feast on the tyrant’s flesh.

Returning to the surface, it is a relief to see clear blue skies through the HUD once more. But there’s no time to lose, and so you set off northwards again, in pursuit of the stolen Shogun.

Turn to 141.

141

Nine hundred kilometres north of Tokugawa Island, a smudge of green appears on the horizon, and steadily grows to become a craggy mountain peak, poking up from the North Pacific, its flanks smothered with dense tropical jungle. Rising from the summit of the island is a colossal construction of metal and concrete, and a vast parabolic dish.

It is from this location that the Tengu Satellite Array is managed and directed, and it could be your route to tracking down Kira and the stolen Shogun-mech.

In no time, Ronin 47 is striding out of the sea and up onto the island. All that stands between you and access to the Tengu Satellite Array is two thousand metres of jungle and one hundred metres of climbing over topography that could generously be described as ‘rugged terrain.’ And then there will be the facility’s defences to neutralise as well.

If your mech is equipped with Enhanced Scanners, turn to 187. If not, turn to 269.

Ronin 47 is equipped with Enhanced Scanners.

187

As Ronin 47’s sensors sweep the jungle around you, forever on the lookout for danger, they detect movement close to the parabolic antenna. Something is descending from the summit on an intercept course.

If you want to deploy a flight of Drones, to gather more information about this potential threat, and are able to do so, turn to 207. If not, turn to 313.

Ronin 47 does not have any Drones.

313

If Deputy Director Kira’s betrayal has taught you anything, it is to trust no one. Fearing the worst, but hoping you will soon be proved wrong, you prime the mech’s weapons as the foliage ahead of you starts to shake and shiver. Something is closing on your position at speed.

Turn to 159.

159

You must engage both sentry-droids in battle. (Fight the Ogumo-mechs at the same time.)

First OGUMO-MECH
SPEED	ARMOUR	MELEE	ARTILLERY	INTEGRITY
2	4	2	3	15

OGUMO-MECH
SPEED	ARMOUR	MELEE	ARTILLERY	INTEGRITY
2	4	2	3	12

If Ronin 47 destroys the automatons, turn to 111.



The fight:
Round 1: Ronin 47’s Combat Rating: 1+5+5+3=14, First Ogumo-Mech’s Combat Rating: 1+5+2+3=11, Ogumo-Mech’s Combat Rating: 6+3+2+3=14;
Die Roll: 2, Ronin 47’s Damage Rolls: 3, 4, 3, 2, 5; four dice scored 3 or higher; Ogumo-Mech’s Damage Rolls: 6, 3; one die scored 4 or higher
Ronin 47’s Integrity: 44, First Ogumo-Mech’s Integrity: 7, Ogumo-Mech’s Integrity: 4
Round 2: Ronin 47’s Combat Rating: 5+3+5+3=16, First Ogumo-Mech’s Combat Rating: 4+6+2+3=15, Ogumo-Mech’s Combat Rating: 6+6+2+3=17;
Ronin 47’s Damage Rolls: 1, 3, 2, 1, 2; one die scored 3 or higher; Ogumo-Mech’s Damage Rolls: 1, 1; no dice scored 4 or higher
Ronin 47’s Integrity: 44, First Ogumo-Mech’s Integrity: 5, Ogumo-Mech’s Integrity: 4
Round 3: Ronin 47’s Combat Rating: 5+2+5+3=15, First Ogumo-Mech’s Combat Rating: 1+3+2+3=9, Ogumo-Mech’s Combat Rating: 6+2+2+3=13;
Ronin 47’s Damage Rolls: 6, 4, 6, 6, 4; five dice scored 3 or higher
Ronin 47’s Integrity: 44, First Ogumo-Mech’s Integrity: -5, Ogumo-Mech’s Integrity: -6

Ronin 47 takes 2 more Integrity damage before it takes out the two Ogumo-Mechs.

111

The tarantula-like defence droids eliminated, you continue your ascent of the central peak until you reach the highest point of the island and bring Ronin 47 to a halt at the foot of the satellite dish.

You are perturbed to find that the defences appear to be down, and your presence here goes unchallenged as well.

However, it turns out you are not alone, when your mech’s scanners detect human life-signs inside the facility. You hope it is the facility staff, but you would have thought there would be more than four of them working here.

But what you find upon reaching the summit has your guard up in an instant. Bodies litter the ground in front of the facility, and they are all wearing the uniforms of technical staff. There are also scorch-marks in the turf, as if a landing craft touched down here, while the walls of the building bear the marks of gunfire. The doors leading to the interior of the facility have been blown off their hinges.

Disembarking from Ronin 47, having set the Combat AI to overwatch mode, you approach the building, your katana and blaster already in your hands. Stealthily making your way inside, sounds of gunfire draw you to the main control room. Peering through a broken glass panel, you are horrified to see four figures, dressed entirely in black, firing upon the computer consoles and data-screens with their energy blasters. How are you supposed to access the Tengu Array now?

You can only assume that these blackguards are agents of the traitor Kira. Honour demands that you take vengeance on them for what they have done. But will you charge in with weapons in hand and a war-cry of retribution on your lips (turn to 91), or will you sneak into the control room and try to take down as many of them as you can before they even realise they are in peril for their lives (turn to 72)?

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: 3
Armour: 4
Melee: 5
Artillery: 3
Integrity: 44
Reactor: 1
Upgrades:
Electro-Katana
Enhanced Scanners (-1 from opponent’s Armour in close combat)
Upgraded Hull (+1 Armour, +5 Integrity)
Depth Charges: 2
Drones: 0
Flares: 0

[Beroli]

Sneak into the control room.

[deaddmwalking]

I don't think being stupod is part of bushido. Sneak.

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes registered; sneaking into the control room.

72

Tightening your grip on your katana and keeping low, you creep into the devastated control room.

Take an Agility test. If you pass the test, turn to 49. If you fail the test, turn to 33.

Rolling the dice yielded a 9, so Commander Oishi passes the Agility test.

49

The black-robed figures are too busy indulging their destructive urges to notice your arrival. They don’t even know your mech is standing right outside, since they’ve already destroyed the facility’s scanner displays and data readout screens.

The first one dies with your sword in his back; the second, a moment later when you slice open his throat with one deft sweep of your katana. Hearing the gargling cry he makes as he falls, the other two stop firing and turn to face you. But it’s already too late for the one on the right, as the tip of your blade plunges into his stomach. That leaves just one. (In this battle, you have the initiative.)

TRAITOR AGENT     COMBAT 8     ENDURANCE 8

If you kill the last of Kira’s lackeys, turn to 13.

With Commander Oishi having the initiative, he will fire his blaster. Rolling the dice yields a 5, so he passes the Combat Test and deals 3 Endurance points of damage to the Traitor Agent. Rolling the dice for the second Combat Test yields a 6, so Commander Oishi deals another 3 Endurance points to the Traitor Agent before beginning the fight.

The fight:
Round 1: Commander Oishi’s Combat Rating: 6+11+1=18, Traitor Agent’s Combat Rating: 11+8=19;
Commander Oishi’s Endurance: 19, Traitor Agent’s Endurance: 2
Round 2: Commander Oishi’s Combat Rating: 4+11=15, Traitor Agent’s Combat Rating: 7+8+1=16;
Commander Oishi’s Endurance: 17, Traitor Agent’s Endurance: 2
Round 3: Commander Oishi’s Combat Rating: 9+11=20, Traitor Agent’s Combat Rating: 8+8+1=17;
Commander Oishi’s Endurance: 17, Traitor Agent’s Endurance: 0

Due to some rather unlucky dice rolls, Commander Oishi takes some damage to the tune of 4 Endurance before killing the Traitor Agent.

13

The men dead, you turn your attention to the control room. As you realised as soon as you entered the building, the traitors have successfully destroyed every terminal and screen that could have given you access to the array or seen what the satellites can see.

The most frustrating thing is that the array is still there, two thousand kilometres above the surface of the Earth, and operational, it’s just that there is no way for you to access the data it has acquired... or is there?

The control room might be gone, but the traitors didn’t think to destroy the satellite dish itself. You could use Ronin 47’s computer to download the data from the Tengu Array, but only if the uplink is working, of course.

If you have the code word Connected recorded on your Adventure Sheet, turn to 594. If not, turn to 568.

The code word Connected is not recorded on the Adventure Sheet.

568

Without access to the array, you have no hope of locating the traitor, Kira. And if you cannot find Kira, then you cannot avenge Director Asano and everyone else who died in the kaiju assault on Ako Base.

Exiting the building in despair, you kneel down on the ground in the shadow of the colossus. Taking your katana in hand once more, you select the wakizashi setting – the blade partially retracting into the hilt in response – and do the only honourable thing you can do; you commit seppuku, as a final atonement for failing to honour the memories of your beloved comrades, using the blade that still bears the blood of your enemies to disembowel yourself.

THE END

Well, that was a pathetic end for our hero.

If there are at least 3 players that show interest in continuing this adventure, I will do so and rewind it back to a winnable state. Those that wish to continue should also vote on how many resurrections, additional upgrades, or attribute boosts to either Commander or Ronin 47 (a single attribute point increase per boost) to assign our hero. To make things fair, I will provide up to 8 of any combination of resurrections, additional upgrades, or attribute boosts.

If there is not enough interest, I will end this Let’s Play and take a break from hosting while I settle some work issues. In that case, thank you to everyone who participated in this Let’s Play.

Commander Oishi’s Adventure Sheet
Agility: 11
Combat: 11
Endurance: 17
Equipment:
Bodyglove
Blaster
Katana
Ration Packs: 5
Medi-Packs: 5
Notes and Code Words:
(None)

Ronin 47’s Adventure Sheet
Speed: 3
Armour: 4
Melee: 5
Artillery: 3
Integrity: 44
Reactor: 1
Upgrades:
Electro-Katana
Enhanced Scanners (-1 from opponent’s Armour in close combat)
Upgraded Hull (+1 Armour, +5 Integrity)
Depth Charges: 2
Drones: 0
Flares: 0

[deaddmwalking]

I'm disappointed as well. I'm guessing that they weren't as keen on our physics and we could have explored the Gojira without being crushed. Still, I think that the arsenal might have been a better choice - since we couldn't seem to go there after exploring the sunken ship.

I think we should use half of the upgrades for continues (4) and use 2 for increasing our own Agility and Combat and the other two to increase Ronin's Melee and Speed.