Stray Cat Strut

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Stray Cat Strut (A cyberpunk system apocalypse!) - Ongoing

Fluff (A superheroic LitRPG about cute girls doing cute things!) - Ongoing

Love Crafted (Interactive story about an eldritch abomination tentacle-ing things!) - Completed!

Dreamer's Ten-Tea-Cle Café (An insane Crossover about cute people and tentacles) - Hiatus

Cinnamon Bun (A wholesome LitRPG!) - Ongoing

The Agartha Loop (A Magical-Girl drama!) - Volume Two Complete!

Lever Action (A fantasy western with mecha!) - Volume One Complete!

Heart of Dorkness (A wholesome progression fantasy) - Completed!

Dead Tired (A comedy about a Lich in a Wuxia world doing Science!) - Ongoing

Sporemageddon (A fantasy story about a mushroom lover exploding the industrial revolution!) - Ongoing

Past the Redline (A girl goes too fast, then she does it again) - Completed!

Magical Girl Crystal Genocide (Magical Girls accidentally the planet, and then try to fix it) - Completed!

Magical Girl Rending Nightmare (A sequel to Crystal Genocide! Cute girls in a soviet dystopia having a picnic on the roadside) - Volume Two Completed!

Noblebright (A shipcore AI works to avenge humanity) - Completed!

The Complicated Love Life of Ivil Antagonist (The Empress of Mars finds love) - Completed!

Pokebun (Broccoli Bunch in the world of Pokemon) - Hiatus

Queen Violence (An Assassin Reborn as a Kitten) - Completed!

No Strings Attached (An Elden Ring/Bloodborne inspired progression fantasy) - Ongoing

Save Scumming (A time-looping system apocalypse) - Ongoing

Chapter Fifty-Six - New Sorts of Cats

"And in biology news today, seventeen new species of dog have been introduced to Earth!

Beloved Samurai Dogbreath of New Hampshire has unveiled a full set of new dog species, some of which combine non-Antithesis alien DNA into their genomes, creating a whole set of interesting canines. Oh, here we have some footage! Oh, look at them! Very cute. I never though about a two legged dog before, but that's... very interesting and sweet.

In other news..."

--NHN News in the Morning, news segment, Oct 2049

***

Lunch finished rather rapidly, and then there was a long, awkward moment that I absolutely didn't want to mess with. So, I slapped the table and stood up. "Okay. I need to check over my gear. I have to reload the guns on the Bastion. Might borrow some engineers for that. Ah, are we determined to fly over?"

"It would be the wisest choice," Hedgehog said. "I've gathered enough points just today to purchase a flying vehicle."

"I haven't!" Princess said cheerfully. "I can ride with someone."

"Sure," I said. "Gomorrah, your Fury sits two, right?"

She stared at me, but nodded all the same. "I would love to have your company, Princess," she said. "Catherine, can your ship serve as a launching off point?"

"Yeah," I replied.

I think the vague plan, so far, was to fly over to where the hive was, land, then mess it up in person. We could also just nuke it from above, but I had been strongly discouraged from using nuclear devices over sovereign land.

Besides, I had some ideas for my next mecha, and hitting a hive with a half-dozen samurai around was probably the safest time to test something out while also still being in actual combat.

"Twenty minutes?" Gomorrah asked.

That sounded like enough for me. I stood, then made my way over to the Bastion, I did notice Shy slowly picking up my tray where I left it. Maybe I should have taken care of that? Ah, well, whatever.

The transport was waiting for me where I'd parked it. "Myalis, first, ammo check for the Bastion. We're going to want to reload all of the launchers and guns. Don't want to walk into... fly into a mess with no ammo."

That seems logical enough. The ship's reserves are at around 30%. Total cost of replenishment, assuming you simply want more of the same, is 280 Points.

Yeah, that seemed pretty reasonable. I was going to be launching a whole lot of dumbfire rockets and the ship had multiple fast-firing guns on it. I didn't need the Bastion running out of munitions halfway through the mission.

"Alright, that seems fair," I said.

New Purchase: Ammunition resupply

Points Reduced to: 17,560

What appeared next to me was three large crates, all of them mounted atop bases that looked designed for forklifts to grab onto. They were mostly black, though each box had that cat-like emblem on the side, and one of the pallets was loaded up with missiles held down by thick straps and mounted onto a purpose-built carrier.

"Huh," I said as I looked it over. Those missiles were longer than my leg, more or less, and they looked heavy as fuck.

Fortunately, I had a whole gaggle of volunteers. There were some of Tinwhistle's engineers nearby, and when I waved them over and explained--by pointing to the missiles and then the mech carrier--that those explosives went into that thing, they were happy to help.

I stepped back and let the boys have their fun. They were oohing and ahhing as they stepped into the Bastion. For some reason they were really impressed with the way some of the ship's metal armour plates were joined together? There was talk of crumple zones and then I tuned it all out when someone brought up metallurgy and material densities and alloys.

Whatever. I'd double-check their work after, but for now, I think I could trust them not to fuck up. Besides, I don't think the rockets armed themselves until they were launched, so they were unlikely to accidentally blow us all up.

"Okay... I'm thinking it's time for another mecha," I said.

Fantastic! I'm glad to hear that. What sort of mechanized vehicle are you looking for? Last time, we were discussing the Cybernetic High-Efficiency Exploration and Tactical Assault Hybrid.

"Wait, that's the CHEETAH? I think that was a scout mech, right?"

Indeed. A fast-moving, relatively light exploration and assault chassis. It's designed to move rapidly and strike relatively hard for its size and speed. It's very well suited to a specific task. Though that may not be the task you're looking for.

"Yeah," I said.

What kind of mecha did I even want for this situation?

I supposed it came down to what I was fighting. If I compared the mecha I had to the tanks in the strike group, the CHEETAH was more of a Wolverine than something tankier.

"No, that's not what I need right now," I said with a shake of my head. "We're not going out to scout. We're more... clearing out the area. The MEOW is more of a big, beefy tank. I need something that's more focused on dealing damage?"

I see. In that case, I have two additional suggestions. The Combat-Optimized Urban Ground Assault Robot, or the Ballistic Offense/Battlefield Combat AssaultTank.

I closed my eyes. "The cougar and the bobcat? Did you spend more time coming up with the names than finding the mecha?"

Surprisingly, yes. These are both pre-engineered models. The difference in those I'm offering you as opposed to the originals mostly comes down to a full retooling of the interiors.

"The interiors?" I asked.

"You are unfortunately bipedal, whereas the species that originally designed and used these mechanized units were quadrupedal. You wouldn't fit in their original cockpits.

Okay, so that was actually kind of neat, but I wasn't going to admit it aloud. "Okay. Sell me on these? I don't have infinite points to spend. So what's special about the COUGAR?"

The Combat-Optimized Urban Ground Assault Robot is a melee-focused close-combat mecha. It is designed to move rapidly, and focuses on closer-ranged weapons. It is equipped with two shoulder-mounted sprayers that can project flammable or acidic liquids, as well as a set of flank-mounted deployable missile launchers. Its claws, thagomizer, and head all have decent weapons as well. Mostly, however, it is extremely agile in close quarters and very fast and flexible while also providing a fair amount of protection.

Huh... yeah, Gomorrah would like something like that. Myalis sent me a wireframe video of the mecha in question. The COUGAR was a little taller than the Nyanzerfaust and MEOW, but it was also much more lithe, with longer limbs but a thinner waist. It had two tails for some reason, and when its weapons deployed, it revealed a set of triple-tubed launchers on the flank and two rounded devices on the shoulders that had to be those sprayers.

The claws looked longer than what I was used to, and the mouth and head had more flex to it. The cockpit was jammed up in the barrel of the COUGAR's chest. I was definitely going to be tight in there.

"Alright," I said. "What about the other option, the BOBCAT?"

The Ballistic Offense/Battlefield Combat AssaultTank takes an entirely different approach. It is a more heavily armoured, less maneuverable mecha, but it has two twin-barreled 90mm guns on a set rear-mounted turrets with snub barrels, as well as a single 30mm back-mounted railgun. The mech also has two side-ventral mounted gimballed machine guns with 160 degree arcs of fire, as well as two forward mounted guns with a much wider arc. All four guns use standard 12.7x99mm rounds, for ease of replacement. There is also a set of smoke and mortar launchers built into the frame able to launch standard 60mm light mortars.

The BOBCAT was a fat little guy. It was a little shorter than the MEOW, and not nearly as armoured.

It made up for that by being covered in guns. The two forward machine guns looked hefty within their turretted shells, then there were two on spindly arms linked to the mecha's 'stomach' and then the two large guns at the rear. Finally, the railgun, which had a similar setup than the MEOW's 155mm gun, but it was sleeker, more high-tech.

So, the option was between something faster, which would probably serve as a much better scout, or something a little slower but armed to the teeth.

"I think... the BOBCAT looks like the better option for now," I said. "We're going into a melee, sure, but we'll have allies. I think providing fire-support will be better overall."

So, you've decided what you're going for?

"Yeah," I said, then I raised a hand in a 'one-moment' gesture that Myalis must have caught onto. Gomorrah was walking over, with some of the others behind her, but she was very much approaching me. "Hey," I said.

"Cat," she said. "Do you have room in your Bastion for an extra mecha?"

"I... do," I said. "Is Princess buying something big? Shy?"

"No, I am," Gomorrah said. "I've been looking at it for a while and I've made the points for it today. Question is, can I have it ride in your Bastion all the way to the battlefield."

I blinked. "Sure? As long as it's not too large. Does it have four legs?"

"No. I'm not... like you."

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"Thank you, I appreciate you helping me with this. It would be unfortunate to purchase something new and not be able to use it."

"No, no, go back, I want to know about the four legged comment."

***

A note from RavensDagger

<3

Been reading Melia the Magnificent recently, mostly because the premise is close to my own new fic, Max Level Archmaid. Anyway, it's not bad? The writing at the start is a bit... blah, but it gets better 20-ish chapters in? The characters are very lovable!

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/142229/melia-the-magnificent

To be clear, this isn't a shout trade, I just happen to be reading this one and thought to share! <3