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Sally smiles proudly, putting her hand-stubs on her hips.

Sally: "Aye! Me and me crew loaded up the cannons, and-

Kelly: "Wasted fourty-eight HE shells on a completely nonaggressive entity, until it decided to stroll out of range. She then declared herself victorious and bragged about her 'fierce battle' for months.

It IS too much to ask for an uneventful, productive season around here, as you can see. For your own sakes, you better hope you're as competent as you say."


Molly's torso wiggles a little bit, in a motion that somehow reminds you of a person smiling and clapping their hands.

Molly: "Well! We're all in agreement now, right? So! How about, you guys continue doing, whatever it is you're doing, and I take Rosa here for dissection? Goodness, I can barely wait to know what makes her tick. We're going to make AMAZING PROGRESS together, my oversized friend!"

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Kelly: "Hm. Molly, settle down. Your experiments can wait. We still have much to discuss. I'd rather you be present.

As it stands - We have substantial long-range weaponry, as well as patrols and static defenses, but our forces are ill-suited to close combat or a war of attrition. Sally, give me a plan of attack."

Sally's punchable face suddenly becomes serious, and she sits down, analyzing the map. You can see she's in her element, now, and even drops her pirate persona for a moment.

Sally: "The thing's coming from the seawall, which is not really an area we've had to defend before. On the best case scenario, the mud kings will damage it, but that's unlikely considered it passed through the Factory mostly unscathed.

Setting up the precision guns is not really an option - We were only able to do that to the Pillar Man because it was such a big target. The weather's been bad, lately, so aiming might be hard. I'm thinking... Post mechanized sentries along the road, do an organized retreat as the blob approaches, blanket firing with the frag mortars and incendiaries. Once we get a clear visual, switch to the roof cannon, prrrrrobably HE shells, considering it seems to be large and unarmored. How long would it take you to set up a swivel mount on the southern edge of the platform?"

Kelly: "Hm. Two days, at most. Will have to reduce productivity to free up the workforce, though."

Sally: "You do that, and make sure we have enough mortar ammo. Now, assuming we destroy the main body, we'll still need to do a sweep for surviving detached Parts. Scrambling a few flamer teams should be enough, and the landlubbers can help, too. And, if it survives the bombardment, we can still use-"

Molly: "AHEM."

Sally: "Uh. It, probably won't survive the bombardment, so there's little sense in considering that. So, that's how I'd do it."



Kelly: "Hm. Do you, have anything to add, outsiders? If you know anything else about the enemy, you are to tell us. In detail."

Molly: "Oh, yes! It seems, like their societal structure is exceedingly complex, especially considering how they're otherwise mostly territorial and instinctive. We've observed peculiar, almost ritual-like behaviours in which mudkings trade their mudmen forces, and occasionally what could only be described as courtship dances.

On the rare occasion that a mud emperor does appear, they also seem to communicate with the mudmen around in directing their attacks, but that's a much less well-documented phenomenon. Oh! Do you believe, perhaps, that the creatures would recognise the meatblob as one of their own? Possible, very possible! This bears INVESTIGATING!

Quick, Rosa, let's throw parts of you at a mudking and see if they attack them!"

Kelly: "...Hmm. If that's true, it definitely is something to consider. A massed mudman attack could make it very difficult to do the post-bombardment sweep. We might need to preemptively firebomb the mud flats, to at least drive them underground for a while.

Molly: "If you will investigate, so will I! I couldn't possibly leave my assistant to fend for herself outside the Rig!

Also Kelly we DO have spare parts for her, right? You might want to grow a few into new copies. Just, in case."

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Kelly shrugs sadly.

Kelly: "As long as you're outside my rig, do as you will. Hm. Molly, you might want to install some tank threads on her. I doubt walking on her hands will be much use out in the mud."

Molly: "Oh, oh yes! Tank threads, or perhaps wide tyres? Or- Are you familiar with hovercrafts? Cushioning the underside of her neck, then adding a few propellers, could make for a very useful bio-vehicle! Or, I could fuse a few dozen zombie legs with her spinal cord - I've been dying to study the feasibility of a human centipede as a method of transportation!~"

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Sally grins somewhat evily.

Sally: "Well, landlubbers... Seeing as it's already prepared to carry such a load - Ye might get to ride in MY new truck. Don't scratch the paint, though!"