Missions and enemies
Apr. 17th, 2014 09:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
abugslifeMissions and events:
Prologue event - Hetepheres arrives at a UG base to give a warning about the AEP. The PEP already did some behind-the-scenes secret negotiations with ESUN, and Hetepheres establishes an embassy at one of the bases. Her role as an ambassador is mostly a title, the real reason she is around is to fight against AEP invasions. The knowledge of Gebians, and the fact that some of them are on our side, is slowly and gradually released to the public.
Scaraber doesn't use the Scarab Frame yet, because it's not ready. It will be ready soon.
1. Dance of Death
A Gebian Anti-Earthling Party invasion force attacks some place, but we find out about it in time and are there to meet them. The AEP are led by General Onuris. Hetepheres makes a speech and demands the AEP to leave or be destroyed, Onuris mocks her for being a peacenik and challenging him without even using a combat frame.
A fight starts, but Onuris is a pretty strong opponent... At first. After 1-2 actions, Hetepheres calls in the beetle frame for Scaraber - it's ready for combat now. With the combat frame, Scaraber can easily match Onuris' Lucanidas. When Onuris suffers lots of damage or loses most of his soldiers, he orders his force to retreat.
Enemies: General Onuris with Lucanidas, Gebian Levies
After this mission, occassionally events will happen, where various dignitaties from the Gebian High Council are visiting and we have to impress them, usually by displays of Earth's culture - this can range from showing them around museums and art galleries to staging a play, with lots of shenanigan potential. Impressing the dignitaries will make them vote for cooperating with earthlings during the Grand Vote, and is therefore very important! Those events will always come with enough time to prepare for them, and are obviously not mandatory to participate in.
2. Love on the Battlefield
This time, the AEP attack is sudden and unexpected, and we learn about it when it's already in progress. Hetepheres has her suspicions who might be the leader... When we arrive at the place (military base or some other important installation), the human defenders are destroyed or in the process of being decimated, and the buildings may be partially or completely destroyed. It's important that people die here.
General Mukantagara is the enemy leader, and it's obvious she and Hetepheres know each other very well. The former is bitter and angry, feels betrayed that the latter disappeared from her life and later chose to side with aliens instead of her own people. Heph is regretful but serious, tries to call her opponent "Mukan", only to be told not to call her that. The relationship between those two should remain a mystery until the very end of the mission - the other people might think they were good friends, or more than just good friends, and they shouldn't be corrected.
The battle goes normally, up until a certain point, when one of the Gebian generals fires a huge laser at the other, and the other counters with her own beam, in a DBZ-style beam tug-of-war (either Mukan has a silver barrier at this point while Heph has gold, or both have the same color). While the two beams struggle, Hetepheres asks her opponent to change her mind, give up or retreat. Mukan lashes out and calls her crazy - she'd never do that! Then, this happens:
Hetepheres: "I see... I'm sorry. I know you won't believe me, but all this time, I always loved you."
At this point, the Noble Barrier of one or both of them shifts to Mukan being gold and Heph being either - giving Hetepheres an advantage as she predicted. Regretfully, Hetepheres powers up her beam, overpowering Mukan and annihilating her Mantilani. As she dies, Mukan only yells one word:
"Mooooom!"
The only remaining part of Mantilani is the electro-whip, thrown away in the confrontation, which Hetepheres takes as a memento of the daughter she was forced to kill. Without their leader, the remaining AEP forces flee.
Enemies: General Mukantagara with Mantilani, Gebian Levies
After this mission, Hetepheres is grieving, but tries not to show it. She can share some info about her past with others. Long ago, when she was still a young and naive soldier, she fell in love with an incredibly talented rising star of an officer. He returned it, and after a while, they got married. This relationship quickly gave them a child, but it didn't last long, and soon things got sour. When the initial infatuation passed, Hetepheres realized that her husband is much less noble than she thought. They separated, on less than good terms, and Hetepheres, having much less political pull and authority, couldn't take custody of Mukan and had to leave her with her ex - something she always regretted horribly.
Hetepheres' ex-husband, by the way? His name is Teremun. And he's the leader of the Anti-Earthling Party.
3. I Am a Man!
This mission is a breather after the depressing previous one. Onuris returns, in pretty much the same circumstances as during the first mission (the location can be different of course), but this time, Lucanidas has been upgraded to Lucanidas Y! Which is exactly the same machine, but it also has a large, heavy shield - a literal, physical slab of metal. If people ask Lucanidas why Y or not X, he will respond by saying that Y is the male chromosome, X is the female one, and he is a man!
Soon it turns out that Lucanidas Y is not a joke, because it can use its shield to block any incoming attack, physical or energy, and suffer barely any or no damage. The best way to handle it is attacking simultaneously from several sides, which means Onuris cannot block all the incoming attacks at once. Hetepheres' new weapon helps here a lot - her support crew was working on the Bitles for some time, and during this mission, they are finally complete!
Onuris dies here, yelling in indignation about being beaten by traitors and pitiful Earthlings as his mech explodes. When he's dead, the other Gebian forces escape as usual.
Enemies: General Onuris with Lucanidas Y, Gebian Levies, 2-4 Gebian Guardians (depending on number of players and enemies from the other canon)
4. Forgiveness
Again, Gebian Anti-Earthling Party invasion force attacks some place, but we find out about it in time and are there to meet them. The enemy leader is Nekhbet, or at least so it seems at first. Because when she gets damaged enough (her Aposniper is rather fragile so it shouldn't be that hard), suddenly another unit enters the fray (possibly as a defensive support on Aposniper).
It's Teremun with his personal machine, Emperor Scaraber. He orders the AEP to stand back, for he wants to talk to Hetepheres. He expresses his (genuine) regret in Mukat's death, and asks why did she have to kill her. Despite this, he's willing to regret Hetepheres, under one condition - that she returns to her senses, stops fighting for such a foolish cause against her people, joins the AEP, and returns to him. Hetepheres refuses, obviously, which makes him decide that very well, maybe she will change her mind after he beats some sense into her.
The rest of the AEP leaves the battlefield as ordered here, so only Teremun is the enemy. But he's very powerful, fast, and tough. He focuses the majority of his offense on Hetepheres, and Scaraber can only take so much punishment before it goes down. At this point, Teremun repeats his plight, asking her to reconsider and return to her senses, and leaves, hoping that this gave her something to think about. All the invading Gebians retreat as usual.
Enemies, phase 1: General Nekhbet with Aposniper, Gebian Levies, several Gebian Guardians (similar numbers to before)
Enemies, phase 2: High Commander Teremun with Emperor Scaraber
Shortly before the next mission, an archeological expedition in Egypt discovers a previously unknown artifact - a building made from stone and metal, using alien technologies and impossible to entry. Hetepheres knows what this is - it's an ancient Gebian vault, and a tomb of one of the expedition members from thousands of years ago, who died on Earth. He was a powerful warrior, and took his weapons with him to his grave, the location of which wasn't known - until now. The tomb's door is locked, and it opens only during specific times of the year - and one of them is coming soon...
5. Ancient Warrior Awakens
The time of the tomb's opening is coming, and Hetepheres suspects the AEP heard about it and will try to recover the ancient weapons - which is why we set up a defense force to guard it, her included. She turns out to be correct, and a Gebian invasion force attacks the place - there's not just one, but three leaders! There's Nekhbet from before, but also Khaldun and Sagira, whose mecha have synchronized Noble Barriers - when one has the silver phase, the other has the gold one, and the opposite. They fight together and use defensive supports as needed (silver against energy, gold against physical), making them very tough enemies.
Soon after the battle starts, the tomb's door opens, and Hetepheres enters, the door slamming shut after Scaraber gets inside. The best way to fight Khaldun and Sagira is to use attacks that combine energy and physical damage, or something that attacks both at once in a way that's impossible to fully intercept by one of them - separating them from each other can work, but is really hard. In any case, after more or less a round after Hetepheres entered the tomb, the door opens again...
And out rushes Scaraber with the Crab Frame equipped, grabbing Khaldun with one claw, Sagira the other, and crushing them! This attack completely destroys the mech that had a silver barrier at the time (and deals light damage to the other), and from this point on the battle is much easier.
There are three conditions under which the battle is over: Khaldun or Nekhbet are the only generals remaining, both Khaldun and Nekhbet are alive but their mecha are heavily damaged, all three generals are killed. At that point, the remaining general/s (if there's one) order a retreat, or the remaining mooks flee themselves if there's no leaders left.
Enemies: General Khaldun with Araneonheir, General Sagira with Queen Bombard, General Nekhbet with Aposniper, Gebian Levies
6. The Grand Vote
The time for the Grand Vote has some. Teremun knows it's over - the sympathies of Gebians have shifted since the start of the invasions, and now most of the Council wants to cooperate with earthlings. Because of that, he launches a desperate invasion during the Vote - maybe he will be able to change their mind if he conquers a chunk of Earth in the meantime!
This is the biggest Gebian invasion yet - Teremun uses all the soldiers he could amass, and there are at least 3 ships transporting them. The location of the battle doesn't matter (Earth preferred over space, but not necessary), and it's one huge slugfest, with lots of banter between Teremun and Hetepheres - he still hopes she will return back to the good old times when they were together, she won't be having any of it!
There are many, many enemies, but we're not supposed to kill all of them - after the fight has been going on for long enough, suddenly all Gebians receive a message. The Grand Vote has passed, and their race shall cooperate with earthlings from this point on! All the Gebian soldiers on the field stand down, and help fight the other enemies during the mission if there are any. Teremun is oddly quiet. Sounds like everything is solved, right?
No. Hetepheres calls out Teremun on this whole final invasion, wasting lives on a cause he knows is pointless. He tries to defend himself, but this only makes her angrier. They both reach the conclusion that in this new world, there is no place for both of them. There's only one way to settle this - a final duel.
The duel is but a single strike. Both of the participants' barriers should be silver at this point, and in a flash, they attack simultaneously. The mecha stab into each other with their blades violently, and then electric currents start to crawl over them, signs of damage. This exchange happens:
Teremun: "I see... I'm sorry. I know you won't believe me, but all this time, I always loved you."
Hetepheres: "...I don't think I ever did. Not for real."
Emperor Scaraber explodes. Scaraber is damaged but whole, and Hetepheres is alive, unlike Teremun. The AEP gets disbanded, and its remaining members (including Khaldun and/or Nekhbet, if they're still alive) are willing to make amends. Cooperation between Earthlings and Gebians slowly starts. Where will it end, it's up to other canons to decide.
Enemies: High Commander Teremun with Emperor Scaraber, General Khaldun with Araneonheir (if alive), General Nekhbet with Aposniper (if alive), Gebian Levies, Gebian Guardians
Enemy list:
General info
All Gebian units are piloted using a full motion system (not counting extra limbs, installed weapons, etc), and they look very similar to their pilots, only 10 times bigger (which means around 20 meters tall for most mecha) and slightly more robotic. They are heavily ornate and very Egyptian-looking, and color-wise, they usually have black "bodies" and golden "armor", with splashes of other colors here and there. Elite units all resemble humanoid versions of various insects, with visored faces - Scaraber is a scarab, for example.
Elite Gebian mecha have the Noble Barrier, a special force field that periodically shifts on its own between two states (during mission this usually happens at the start of each round): when it's gold, it offers very good protection against physical attacks, when it's silver, against energy attacks. It's perfectly okay if all enemies with the Noble Barrier have it in the same phase at the same time (or if bosses have it in one phase and guardians in the other), except the special case of mission 5, but make sure that the barriers actually shift and always make it clear which enemy has which color barrier.
Normal Gebians don't speak in any Earth language, just insect clicks. The leaders do, however, and many of them like to chew the scenery. Gebians never call us "humans", instead using the word "Earthlings". From their point of view, it's them who are humans!
Gebian Levy
The standard unit of Gebian military, is not humanoid but resembles a large, 10-meter long beetle. It can fly (obviously), stab enemies with its sharp legs, fire two laser guns mounted on its underbelly, or simply charge enemies and body slam them. Despite its small size, it's pretty strong physically. Levies are roughly on the level of mass produced Mobile Suits, from Gundam shows where flight and beam weapons are common even for mooks. They don't have Noble Barriers.
Gebian Guardian
Guardians are humanoid but don't resemble any specific insect, just insects in general. Their heads look like hoods that completely obscure their faces, and they have insectoid wings. Guardians are equipped with long spears that have a large blade on one side and a laser gun (with much more power than what Levies use) on the other. They also have Noble Barriers. These mecha are the elite Gebian units, much more powerful and tougher than Levies. They are almost at a miniboss level, though they can be downed in a few hts if one pays attention to their Barriers and uses the right attacks.
General Onuris and Lucanidas
Lucanidas is a heavy, male-looking unit that resembles a humanoid stag beetle. It can fly and has a Noble Barrier. In combat, it wields a two-handed, crescent-shaped sickle, which is a heavy and sharp weapon - and it can also make a blade-like wave of cutting energy when swung, possibly hitting several targets. Lucanidas can also gore enemies with its horn, usually done while charging. It's a tough, but rather straightforward boss enemy.
Onuris is a pompous, arrogant asshole with an over-inflated ego. He loves to boast and mock his enemies, and looks down on puny Earthlings, who disgust him. He's nowhere near as smart as he thinks, and reacts with shock and anger when he starts to lose or gets outsmarted.
General Mukantagara and Mantilani
Mantilani, an obviously female mecha, resembles a combination of a humanoid mantis and a belly dancer. It can fly and has a Noble Barrier. It's a fast, agile (but still decently tough, being a boss and all) unit, with tactics that focus on disrupting the enemy and quick, punishing counterattacks. Mantilani's main weapon is an electro whip, which can be used to entangle and trip enemies (Scaraber's weakness!), hit them with blunt force, zap them with electric charges - or all of the above! It can also be swung around rapidly to create a powerful electric tornado, either around Mantilani or in front of it, to be sent flying towards some distant enemies - though this is an energy-intense attack that can't be used too often. Mantilani has claws resembling those of a mantis over its wrists, which can be used to catch, parry and rend enemies - usually used as a counterattack to melee strikes. Finally, it has a scepter which can shoot lasers and be used as a bludgeon in a pinch. The lasers can either be used as a beamspam or as one single big beam - though not as powerful as Scaraber's in Scarab Power mode...
Mukantagara is a young, enthusiastic officer - she got her position partially thanks to her talent, partially because her father is the leader of AEP. The age of Gebians is a bit hard to judge by humans, so while it's easy to see she's younger than Hetepheres, the age difference doesn't appear to be so large at a first glance - the fact that they're mother and daughter is a bit surprise! When we fight her, Mukan is more than a bit angry - from her point of view, she's the young, brave heroine, whose mother ran away, leaving her behind, became evil, and joined forces with evil aliens. Nevertheless, she does quip and pose from time to time when fighting and killing earthlings - like an enthusiastic heroine fighting monsters.
High Commander Teremun and Emperor Scaraber
Emperor Scaraber is quite similar to Scaraber with the Scarab Frame equipped, also being based on a scarab, and also having 4 arms.scarab scaraba scarab It is, however, obviously male, and wears pharaoh-like clothes, complete with the characteristic headgear and a beard. It can fly and has a Noble Barrier, and is a ridiculously powerful machine - it has Scarab Power just like Scaraber, but Emperor Scaraber's Scarab Power is turned on all the time instead of being a super mode! Its main weapons are four crescent-shaped sickles, very sharp and capable of ultrasonic vibration like Scaraber's swords - they can also be thrown like boomerangs. The alternate weapons are four scepters, exactly the same as Mantilani's - but in addition to shooting lasers, they can also form laser blades, turning into beam sabers. Currently unused weapons are stored in the beetle shell and easily accesable.
At a first glance, Teremun appears to be a noble leader - he's always respectful and polite, doesn't boast or mock his opponents. But in reality, this comes from his inherent sense of superiority and always being right; such actions are simply below him. He's a huge, condescending douchebag who doesn't even realize he's a douchebag. He doesn't hate humans, he just genuinely believes they are an inferior species that would be better off under the enlightened rule of Gebians - and if some of them have to die to make it happen, oh well, sacrifices for the greater good. He doesn't understand why Hetepheres left him, and thinks she just has moods and does unreasonable things like women sometimes do (guy is a bit of a sexist ass, yeah), but will eventually return to her senses, realize her mistakes, and go back to him. But, despite this, Teremun is a brilliant tactician, leader and warrior - which makes him a deadly enemy.
General Nekhbet and Aposniper
Aposniper resembles a humanoid wasp or bee, and looks female. It can fly (and unlike other bosses, prefers staying in air over fighting on the ground) and has a Noble Barrier. It's a long-range unit, and while fairly agile, it's not much tougher than Guardians. Its main and only weapon is a bow that can be used to fire a variety of arrows - armor-piercing physical arrows, energy arrows, a giant energy arrow, and a huge swarm of both kinds of arrows at once!
Nekhbet is not very talkative. She's a professional, honorable soldier, devoted to her planet and her people, and while she holds nothing against humans, if it's within Gebian interest to attack Earth, it's her duty to follow her leader. She takes losing very personally, taking it as a sign that she's unfitting of her high position, and tries to prove herself the more the more we beat her.
General Khaldun and Araneonheir
Araneonheir resembles a male-looking humanoid spider (hey, that's not an insect!) and has whopping 6 arms. It has a Noble Barrier, but unlike most Gebian units, cannot fly. It wields a different weapon in each hand - a khopesh, a sickle, an axe, a spear, a mace, and the last hand is empty but can punch hard - and can attack with them in a ferocious flurry. For short periods of time, it can even attack so fast it looks like it has 12 arms! This mech's only ranged attack are laser strings which it can shoot from its hands - they can be used to entangle enemies, burn them, or to swing around (which is almost as good as flying).
Khaldun is a jovial, carefree guy, an older warrior who has seen a lot and is just looking for a good fight. He bears no ill will towards humans, though he doesn't pull his punches - people die during a war, this is just how it goes. Still, he tries to engage his enemies in a bit of friendly banter, just to show he doesn't hate them - especially Hetepheres, whom he knows pretty well. He and Sagira are old comrades, and he'll be sad if she dies - but still won't hold it against those who killed her, stuff like that happens and at least she died a warrior's death.
General Sagira with Queen Bombard
Queen Bombard resembles a heavily-armored, humanoid beetle - female, though it's hard to tell under that armor. It can fly and has a Noble Barrier, yadda yadda. It's a heavy assault unit, equipped with a huge axe, which can smash and cleave through almost anything - and to make it worse, it can make shockwaves by being slammed into the ground. Queen Bombard also has two very heavy laser canons mounted on its shoulders - as usual for Gebian weapons, they can spam smaller beams or fire huge, concentrated ones. The canons can turn around on their own, to fire at enemies to the sides and behind.
General Sagira is a psycho. She loves to see her enemies suffer and die, to trample them under her heel - and she absolutely hates humans, thinking they're both weak and disgusting. She is prone to anger and easy to provoke, but smarter than she seems at a first glance. Still, she can get along with people who are not her enemies decently enough, as shown by her friendship with Khaldun. If he dies, she will fly into berserker rage.
Gebian Long-Distance Transport Ship
This is not a combat unit, just something for flavour. These ships resemble a cross between classic spaceships and Egyptian river boats. They're used to transport mecha over long distances - thanks to their fast propulsion drives, they can reach Earth from Geb in just a few days. They are unarmed and don't participate in combat, instead floating far, far away from the battlefield - all Gebian units tend to deploy at once, so there's no risk in further reinforcements. When Gebians retreat, they return to their ship, which then goes back to Geb. There are civilians on board of those ships, and attacking them is against Gebian rules of warfare - Hetepheres will make it very clear if someone even mentions the idea. Not that it's viable, because they stay far away from the battle.
During each mission there's one of them far in the distance, except the final one when there are three. Hetepheres also has one of those (this is how she arrived on Earth), but it's much smaller - most ships can transport a whole invasion force, this one only has room for Scaraber and maybe a few more mecha.
Prologue event - Hetepheres arrives at a UG base to give a warning about the AEP. The PEP already did some behind-the-scenes secret negotiations with ESUN, and Hetepheres establishes an embassy at one of the bases. Her role as an ambassador is mostly a title, the real reason she is around is to fight against AEP invasions. The knowledge of Gebians, and the fact that some of them are on our side, is slowly and gradually released to the public.
Scaraber doesn't use the Scarab Frame yet, because it's not ready. It will be ready soon.
1. Dance of Death
A Gebian Anti-Earthling Party invasion force attacks some place, but we find out about it in time and are there to meet them. The AEP are led by General Onuris. Hetepheres makes a speech and demands the AEP to leave or be destroyed, Onuris mocks her for being a peacenik and challenging him without even using a combat frame.
A fight starts, but Onuris is a pretty strong opponent... At first. After 1-2 actions, Hetepheres calls in the beetle frame for Scaraber - it's ready for combat now. With the combat frame, Scaraber can easily match Onuris' Lucanidas. When Onuris suffers lots of damage or loses most of his soldiers, he orders his force to retreat.
Enemies: General Onuris with Lucanidas, Gebian Levies
After this mission, occassionally events will happen, where various dignitaties from the Gebian High Council are visiting and we have to impress them, usually by displays of Earth's culture - this can range from showing them around museums and art galleries to staging a play, with lots of shenanigan potential. Impressing the dignitaries will make them vote for cooperating with earthlings during the Grand Vote, and is therefore very important! Those events will always come with enough time to prepare for them, and are obviously not mandatory to participate in.
2. Love on the Battlefield
This time, the AEP attack is sudden and unexpected, and we learn about it when it's already in progress. Hetepheres has her suspicions who might be the leader... When we arrive at the place (military base or some other important installation), the human defenders are destroyed or in the process of being decimated, and the buildings may be partially or completely destroyed. It's important that people die here.
General Mukantagara is the enemy leader, and it's obvious she and Hetepheres know each other very well. The former is bitter and angry, feels betrayed that the latter disappeared from her life and later chose to side with aliens instead of her own people. Heph is regretful but serious, tries to call her opponent "Mukan", only to be told not to call her that. The relationship between those two should remain a mystery until the very end of the mission - the other people might think they were good friends, or more than just good friends, and they shouldn't be corrected.
The battle goes normally, up until a certain point, when one of the Gebian generals fires a huge laser at the other, and the other counters with her own beam, in a DBZ-style beam tug-of-war (either Mukan has a silver barrier at this point while Heph has gold, or both have the same color). While the two beams struggle, Hetepheres asks her opponent to change her mind, give up or retreat. Mukan lashes out and calls her crazy - she'd never do that! Then, this happens:
Hetepheres: "I see... I'm sorry. I know you won't believe me, but all this time, I always loved you."
At this point, the Noble Barrier of one or both of them shifts to Mukan being gold and Heph being either - giving Hetepheres an advantage as she predicted. Regretfully, Hetepheres powers up her beam, overpowering Mukan and annihilating her Mantilani. As she dies, Mukan only yells one word:
"Mooooom!"
The only remaining part of Mantilani is the electro-whip, thrown away in the confrontation, which Hetepheres takes as a memento of the daughter she was forced to kill. Without their leader, the remaining AEP forces flee.
Enemies: General Mukantagara with Mantilani, Gebian Levies
After this mission, Hetepheres is grieving, but tries not to show it. She can share some info about her past with others. Long ago, when she was still a young and naive soldier, she fell in love with an incredibly talented rising star of an officer. He returned it, and after a while, they got married. This relationship quickly gave them a child, but it didn't last long, and soon things got sour. When the initial infatuation passed, Hetepheres realized that her husband is much less noble than she thought. They separated, on less than good terms, and Hetepheres, having much less political pull and authority, couldn't take custody of Mukan and had to leave her with her ex - something she always regretted horribly.
Hetepheres' ex-husband, by the way? His name is Teremun. And he's the leader of the Anti-Earthling Party.
3. I Am a Man!
This mission is a breather after the depressing previous one. Onuris returns, in pretty much the same circumstances as during the first mission (the location can be different of course), but this time, Lucanidas has been upgraded to Lucanidas Y! Which is exactly the same machine, but it also has a large, heavy shield - a literal, physical slab of metal. If people ask Lucanidas why Y or not X, he will respond by saying that Y is the male chromosome, X is the female one, and he is a man!
Soon it turns out that Lucanidas Y is not a joke, because it can use its shield to block any incoming attack, physical or energy, and suffer barely any or no damage. The best way to handle it is attacking simultaneously from several sides, which means Onuris cannot block all the incoming attacks at once. Hetepheres' new weapon helps here a lot - her support crew was working on the Bitles for some time, and during this mission, they are finally complete!
Onuris dies here, yelling in indignation about being beaten by traitors and pitiful Earthlings as his mech explodes. When he's dead, the other Gebian forces escape as usual.
Enemies: General Onuris with Lucanidas Y, Gebian Levies, 2-4 Gebian Guardians (depending on number of players and enemies from the other canon)
4. Forgiveness
Again, Gebian Anti-Earthling Party invasion force attacks some place, but we find out about it in time and are there to meet them. The enemy leader is Nekhbet, or at least so it seems at first. Because when she gets damaged enough (her Aposniper is rather fragile so it shouldn't be that hard), suddenly another unit enters the fray (possibly as a defensive support on Aposniper).
It's Teremun with his personal machine, Emperor Scaraber. He orders the AEP to stand back, for he wants to talk to Hetepheres. He expresses his (genuine) regret in Mukat's death, and asks why did she have to kill her. Despite this, he's willing to regret Hetepheres, under one condition - that she returns to her senses, stops fighting for such a foolish cause against her people, joins the AEP, and returns to him. Hetepheres refuses, obviously, which makes him decide that very well, maybe she will change her mind after he beats some sense into her.
The rest of the AEP leaves the battlefield as ordered here, so only Teremun is the enemy. But he's very powerful, fast, and tough. He focuses the majority of his offense on Hetepheres, and Scaraber can only take so much punishment before it goes down. At this point, Teremun repeats his plight, asking her to reconsider and return to her senses, and leaves, hoping that this gave her something to think about. All the invading Gebians retreat as usual.
Enemies, phase 1: General Nekhbet with Aposniper, Gebian Levies, several Gebian Guardians (similar numbers to before)
Enemies, phase 2: High Commander Teremun with Emperor Scaraber
Shortly before the next mission, an archeological expedition in Egypt discovers a previously unknown artifact - a building made from stone and metal, using alien technologies and impossible to entry. Hetepheres knows what this is - it's an ancient Gebian vault, and a tomb of one of the expedition members from thousands of years ago, who died on Earth. He was a powerful warrior, and took his weapons with him to his grave, the location of which wasn't known - until now. The tomb's door is locked, and it opens only during specific times of the year - and one of them is coming soon...
5. Ancient Warrior Awakens
The time of the tomb's opening is coming, and Hetepheres suspects the AEP heard about it and will try to recover the ancient weapons - which is why we set up a defense force to guard it, her included. She turns out to be correct, and a Gebian invasion force attacks the place - there's not just one, but three leaders! There's Nekhbet from before, but also Khaldun and Sagira, whose mecha have synchronized Noble Barriers - when one has the silver phase, the other has the gold one, and the opposite. They fight together and use defensive supports as needed (silver against energy, gold against physical), making them very tough enemies.
Soon after the battle starts, the tomb's door opens, and Hetepheres enters, the door slamming shut after Scaraber gets inside. The best way to fight Khaldun and Sagira is to use attacks that combine energy and physical damage, or something that attacks both at once in a way that's impossible to fully intercept by one of them - separating them from each other can work, but is really hard. In any case, after more or less a round after Hetepheres entered the tomb, the door opens again...
And out rushes Scaraber with the Crab Frame equipped, grabbing Khaldun with one claw, Sagira the other, and crushing them! This attack completely destroys the mech that had a silver barrier at the time (and deals light damage to the other), and from this point on the battle is much easier.
There are three conditions under which the battle is over: Khaldun or Nekhbet are the only generals remaining, both Khaldun and Nekhbet are alive but their mecha are heavily damaged, all three generals are killed. At that point, the remaining general/s (if there's one) order a retreat, or the remaining mooks flee themselves if there's no leaders left.
Enemies: General Khaldun with Araneonheir, General Sagira with Queen Bombard, General Nekhbet with Aposniper, Gebian Levies
6. The Grand Vote
The time for the Grand Vote has some. Teremun knows it's over - the sympathies of Gebians have shifted since the start of the invasions, and now most of the Council wants to cooperate with earthlings. Because of that, he launches a desperate invasion during the Vote - maybe he will be able to change their mind if he conquers a chunk of Earth in the meantime!
This is the biggest Gebian invasion yet - Teremun uses all the soldiers he could amass, and there are at least 3 ships transporting them. The location of the battle doesn't matter (Earth preferred over space, but not necessary), and it's one huge slugfest, with lots of banter between Teremun and Hetepheres - he still hopes she will return back to the good old times when they were together, she won't be having any of it!
There are many, many enemies, but we're not supposed to kill all of them - after the fight has been going on for long enough, suddenly all Gebians receive a message. The Grand Vote has passed, and their race shall cooperate with earthlings from this point on! All the Gebian soldiers on the field stand down, and help fight the other enemies during the mission if there are any. Teremun is oddly quiet. Sounds like everything is solved, right?
No. Hetepheres calls out Teremun on this whole final invasion, wasting lives on a cause he knows is pointless. He tries to defend himself, but this only makes her angrier. They both reach the conclusion that in this new world, there is no place for both of them. There's only one way to settle this - a final duel.
The duel is but a single strike. Both of the participants' barriers should be silver at this point, and in a flash, they attack simultaneously. The mecha stab into each other with their blades violently, and then electric currents start to crawl over them, signs of damage. This exchange happens:
Teremun: "I see... I'm sorry. I know you won't believe me, but all this time, I always loved you."
Hetepheres: "...I don't think I ever did. Not for real."
Emperor Scaraber explodes. Scaraber is damaged but whole, and Hetepheres is alive, unlike Teremun. The AEP gets disbanded, and its remaining members (including Khaldun and/or Nekhbet, if they're still alive) are willing to make amends. Cooperation between Earthlings and Gebians slowly starts. Where will it end, it's up to other canons to decide.
Enemies: High Commander Teremun with Emperor Scaraber, General Khaldun with Araneonheir (if alive), General Nekhbet with Aposniper (if alive), Gebian Levies, Gebian Guardians
Enemy list:
General info
All Gebian units are piloted using a full motion system (not counting extra limbs, installed weapons, etc), and they look very similar to their pilots, only 10 times bigger (which means around 20 meters tall for most mecha) and slightly more robotic. They are heavily ornate and very Egyptian-looking, and color-wise, they usually have black "bodies" and golden "armor", with splashes of other colors here and there. Elite units all resemble humanoid versions of various insects, with visored faces - Scaraber is a scarab, for example.
Elite Gebian mecha have the Noble Barrier, a special force field that periodically shifts on its own between two states (during mission this usually happens at the start of each round): when it's gold, it offers very good protection against physical attacks, when it's silver, against energy attacks. It's perfectly okay if all enemies with the Noble Barrier have it in the same phase at the same time (or if bosses have it in one phase and guardians in the other), except the special case of mission 5, but make sure that the barriers actually shift and always make it clear which enemy has which color barrier.
Normal Gebians don't speak in any Earth language, just insect clicks. The leaders do, however, and many of them like to chew the scenery. Gebians never call us "humans", instead using the word "Earthlings". From their point of view, it's them who are humans!
Gebian Levy
The standard unit of Gebian military, is not humanoid but resembles a large, 10-meter long beetle. It can fly (obviously), stab enemies with its sharp legs, fire two laser guns mounted on its underbelly, or simply charge enemies and body slam them. Despite its small size, it's pretty strong physically. Levies are roughly on the level of mass produced Mobile Suits, from Gundam shows where flight and beam weapons are common even for mooks. They don't have Noble Barriers.
Gebian Guardian
Guardians are humanoid but don't resemble any specific insect, just insects in general. Their heads look like hoods that completely obscure their faces, and they have insectoid wings. Guardians are equipped with long spears that have a large blade on one side and a laser gun (with much more power than what Levies use) on the other. They also have Noble Barriers. These mecha are the elite Gebian units, much more powerful and tougher than Levies. They are almost at a miniboss level, though they can be downed in a few hts if one pays attention to their Barriers and uses the right attacks.
General Onuris and Lucanidas
Lucanidas is a heavy, male-looking unit that resembles a humanoid stag beetle. It can fly and has a Noble Barrier. In combat, it wields a two-handed, crescent-shaped sickle, which is a heavy and sharp weapon - and it can also make a blade-like wave of cutting energy when swung, possibly hitting several targets. Lucanidas can also gore enemies with its horn, usually done while charging. It's a tough, but rather straightforward boss enemy.
Onuris is a pompous, arrogant asshole with an over-inflated ego. He loves to boast and mock his enemies, and looks down on puny Earthlings, who disgust him. He's nowhere near as smart as he thinks, and reacts with shock and anger when he starts to lose or gets outsmarted.
General Mukantagara and Mantilani
Mantilani, an obviously female mecha, resembles a combination of a humanoid mantis and a belly dancer. It can fly and has a Noble Barrier. It's a fast, agile (but still decently tough, being a boss and all) unit, with tactics that focus on disrupting the enemy and quick, punishing counterattacks. Mantilani's main weapon is an electro whip, which can be used to entangle and trip enemies (Scaraber's weakness!), hit them with blunt force, zap them with electric charges - or all of the above! It can also be swung around rapidly to create a powerful electric tornado, either around Mantilani or in front of it, to be sent flying towards some distant enemies - though this is an energy-intense attack that can't be used too often. Mantilani has claws resembling those of a mantis over its wrists, which can be used to catch, parry and rend enemies - usually used as a counterattack to melee strikes. Finally, it has a scepter which can shoot lasers and be used as a bludgeon in a pinch. The lasers can either be used as a beamspam or as one single big beam - though not as powerful as Scaraber's in Scarab Power mode...
Mukantagara is a young, enthusiastic officer - she got her position partially thanks to her talent, partially because her father is the leader of AEP. The age of Gebians is a bit hard to judge by humans, so while it's easy to see she's younger than Hetepheres, the age difference doesn't appear to be so large at a first glance - the fact that they're mother and daughter is a bit surprise! When we fight her, Mukan is more than a bit angry - from her point of view, she's the young, brave heroine, whose mother ran away, leaving her behind, became evil, and joined forces with evil aliens. Nevertheless, she does quip and pose from time to time when fighting and killing earthlings - like an enthusiastic heroine fighting monsters.
High Commander Teremun and Emperor Scaraber
Emperor Scaraber is quite similar to Scaraber with the Scarab Frame equipped, also being based on a scarab, and also having 4 arms.
At a first glance, Teremun appears to be a noble leader - he's always respectful and polite, doesn't boast or mock his opponents. But in reality, this comes from his inherent sense of superiority and always being right; such actions are simply below him. He's a huge, condescending douchebag who doesn't even realize he's a douchebag. He doesn't hate humans, he just genuinely believes they are an inferior species that would be better off under the enlightened rule of Gebians - and if some of them have to die to make it happen, oh well, sacrifices for the greater good. He doesn't understand why Hetepheres left him, and thinks she just has moods and does unreasonable things like women sometimes do (guy is a bit of a sexist ass, yeah), but will eventually return to her senses, realize her mistakes, and go back to him. But, despite this, Teremun is a brilliant tactician, leader and warrior - which makes him a deadly enemy.
General Nekhbet and Aposniper
Aposniper resembles a humanoid wasp or bee, and looks female. It can fly (and unlike other bosses, prefers staying in air over fighting on the ground) and has a Noble Barrier. It's a long-range unit, and while fairly agile, it's not much tougher than Guardians. Its main and only weapon is a bow that can be used to fire a variety of arrows - armor-piercing physical arrows, energy arrows, a giant energy arrow, and a huge swarm of both kinds of arrows at once!
Nekhbet is not very talkative. She's a professional, honorable soldier, devoted to her planet and her people, and while she holds nothing against humans, if it's within Gebian interest to attack Earth, it's her duty to follow her leader. She takes losing very personally, taking it as a sign that she's unfitting of her high position, and tries to prove herself the more the more we beat her.
General Khaldun and Araneonheir
Araneonheir resembles a male-looking humanoid spider (hey, that's not an insect!) and has whopping 6 arms. It has a Noble Barrier, but unlike most Gebian units, cannot fly. It wields a different weapon in each hand - a khopesh, a sickle, an axe, a spear, a mace, and the last hand is empty but can punch hard - and can attack with them in a ferocious flurry. For short periods of time, it can even attack so fast it looks like it has 12 arms! This mech's only ranged attack are laser strings which it can shoot from its hands - they can be used to entangle enemies, burn them, or to swing around (which is almost as good as flying).
Khaldun is a jovial, carefree guy, an older warrior who has seen a lot and is just looking for a good fight. He bears no ill will towards humans, though he doesn't pull his punches - people die during a war, this is just how it goes. Still, he tries to engage his enemies in a bit of friendly banter, just to show he doesn't hate them - especially Hetepheres, whom he knows pretty well. He and Sagira are old comrades, and he'll be sad if she dies - but still won't hold it against those who killed her, stuff like that happens and at least she died a warrior's death.
General Sagira with Queen Bombard
Queen Bombard resembles a heavily-armored, humanoid beetle - female, though it's hard to tell under that armor. It can fly and has a Noble Barrier, yadda yadda. It's a heavy assault unit, equipped with a huge axe, which can smash and cleave through almost anything - and to make it worse, it can make shockwaves by being slammed into the ground. Queen Bombard also has two very heavy laser canons mounted on its shoulders - as usual for Gebian weapons, they can spam smaller beams or fire huge, concentrated ones. The canons can turn around on their own, to fire at enemies to the sides and behind.
General Sagira is a psycho. She loves to see her enemies suffer and die, to trample them under her heel - and she absolutely hates humans, thinking they're both weak and disgusting. She is prone to anger and easy to provoke, but smarter than she seems at a first glance. Still, she can get along with people who are not her enemies decently enough, as shown by her friendship with Khaldun. If he dies, she will fly into berserker rage.
Gebian Long-Distance Transport Ship
This is not a combat unit, just something for flavour. These ships resemble a cross between classic spaceships and Egyptian river boats. They're used to transport mecha over long distances - thanks to their fast propulsion drives, they can reach Earth from Geb in just a few days. They are unarmed and don't participate in combat, instead floating far, far away from the battlefield - all Gebian units tend to deploy at once, so there's no risk in further reinforcements. When Gebians retreat, they return to their ship, which then goes back to Geb. There are civilians on board of those ships, and attacking them is against Gebian rules of warfare - Hetepheres will make it very clear if someone even mentions the idea. Not that it's viable, because they stay far away from the battle.
During each mission there's one of them far in the distance, except the final one when there are three. Hetepheres also has one of those (this is how she arrived on Earth), but it's much smaller - most ships can transport a whole invasion force, this one only has room for Scaraber and maybe a few more mecha.
