#sally mechquest

[seiji-the-ice-drake]

I drew the Reliant Crew

And as a challenge for myself, everyone after Sys-Zero was drawn with some variation of the GEARS houses uniform based on headcanons from @high-voltage-rat

For the first two, we have the Captain, Sys-Zero and Starbuck!

Sys-Zero's outfit is a pain to draw in all honesty and a part of that could honestly be because of my art style. I would've colored Cysero but the space in which I drew the bust left little wrist room and just adding the bust was a bit of a chore.

I hated drawing Starbuck's hair and that's mainly because I had to figure out how to draw it at a different angle. Was I successful? I don't think so. If you can't read my shitty handwriting, it goes like this

Starbuck: "Is my hair really that hard to draw?" "Yes. It is."

Me: "You can tell my colored pencils don't have the right pigments." For context, these were all colored using Faber Castell Classic Colored Pencils (48 pack). Unfortunately, there were quite a few details in the references that I couldn't quite nail down with the colors I had. That's why Starbuck looks kinda off in my drawing

Sally and Dooder were the last ones drawn and my god the poses I chose were a mistake for my skill level. I have only myself to blame for this.

Obviously Sally's Wolfblade outfit is more in line with the SnuggleMech outfit for the Student class in Dragonfable. Because the idea that everyone else other than Starbuck having little personalized uniforms felt right for some reason. Unfortunately, Sally's looks off because of the pose.

Sally: "Me and Dooder ended up being too complicated for poor OP!" "MY HUBRIS"

Dooder's uniform is the most lax of the crew because he would do that tbh. "No one expected the Mystraven colors being switched!" (His pose is supposed to be the Hakari/Bully Maguire dance)

And lastly, we have River. Technically speaking I drew her third, but for the sake of the post she's last. She also gets the special privilege of having two different pose drawings, because Eveline held me at gunpoint. I'm also doing what the Friday the 13th events did for River and removing the visor to help separate her from Sally, even by just a little bit.

Featuring a cute little moment between Eveline and River. I have an agenda to maintain

[high-voltage-rat]

The SDF Reliant crew have lowkey just become pseudo-OCs for me at this point. That's kinda what happens when characters have so few appearances in canon, but I still find it really funny how much I've just said "my city now". I decided I want to yell about them, so here's some of the headcanons I've come up with.

In mechquest, houses are the big question all GEARS students grapple with. My HCs on this front, based on vibes and fleshed out with added headcanons:

Starbuck originally kind of just joined Wolfblade because he wanted to look badass, but then found that the house of leaders who value helping others really fit with his love of mentoring other students. It was actually Xaria that convinced him to be bold and apply for his TA position with Denara- which he is forever thankful for.

Sally tends to throw herself into everything she does 100%, burning short and bright. She's prone to hyperfixation- eating the same thing for weeks on end until she gets sick of it, investing herself in yet another hobby that will end up in the hobby graveyard, etc. She wanted people who would match her intensity, so she joined Wolfblade. Now whenever she gets into another rabbit hole she usually is able to find a fellow housemate to "yes, and" her. This is only SOMETIMES a problem.

Dooder, as a certified chill jokester, was naturally drawn to Mystraven. He firmly believes in the importance of fun, and is always finding ways to drag the rest of the crew into relaxing and enjoying themselves every now and then. Sometimes that's a mini prank war, sometimes it's "accidentally" buying too much pizza to eat by himself, sometimes it's dragging everyone to a night out at the SC Lounge.

River doesn't actually know why she felt drawn to Runehawk, at first. Sure, she's always been a bit more nerdy than some of her friends, but she's not really as intensely academic as others in the house. She ends up very glad she joined, however. While she initially didn't put much stock in the house system at all, after the crystal asteroid incidents she discovers she has latent psychic abilities that she has no idea how to regulate. With the help of fellow Runehawks' research, she eventually learns to control her powers and bolster her already impressive piloting skills via their signature mana drive.

In my fic, I also don't plan on having my hero doing 5 different careers: Ravyn is a neurologist AND actively doing another degree, they don't have time to be delivering pizza. Instead:

Dooder works for Mecharoni- he finds the actual pizza-making pretty meditative, and any time customers are assholes he just amps up his chill demeanor until it's genuinely off-putting to whoever he's dealing with. He's the kind of guy who writes jokes or does drawings on the inside of your pizza box.

Sally works alongside the SPD as a conflict meditor and harm reduction support staff. Mostly, she thinks Chief Duncan is an idiot, and decides she can do a better job herself- so she sticks herself into his business and does. She also regularly does supply runs and odd jobs for all the businesses around Soluna- she's weirdly good friends with H.A.L.

River volunteers at the hospital sometimes, but more prominently works for the museum or with Mysterious Johnson to catch ghosts. She regularly invites the others to join her on museum jobs- and they eventually start investigating dusty old ruins together as group bonding 'field trips' whenever they have the chance between missions.

Starbuck has his TA job, and he's very happy with it, but in his early years he also worked for Mecharoni, and also did a brief stint as a stockboy for the Knife and Spork.

Some additional miscellaneous HCs:

Dooder tends to "pack bond" pretty easily- he actually tends to personify his mech, telling it that he loves it and regularly polishing it up nice. Sometimes he sings to it. He cries when it gets damaged and will mourn when it is eventually destroyed. He's had the same shitty pillow since he was like 9 and it's totally flat by this point, but he can't throw it out because it's always been by his side and he doesn't want it to feel abandoned. He would absolutely create stabby the roomba.

Due to the previously mentioned hobby graveyard, Sally has a lot of hidden talents she can whip out at a moment's notice to impress people. She's taken a course in mixology, she did a brief stint in cake decorating, she can knit and crochet and embroider pretty well, she knows how to do carpentry and plumbing, she's done dance lessons in break, ballroom, swing, salsa, tap, highland, ballet- even a few niche cultural dances from other planets. You name a hobby, and there's a 50% chance she's tried it.

River was a track and field star before she attended GEARS. Her long-distance running game was always top-tier, but she also regularly placed podium in sprints and relay events. She finds running to be good for clearing her head, so it's her go-to whenever she's stressed. One can tell how hard a week she's been having based solely on how much time she's spent on the treadmill.

Starbuck really loves giving people (and their mecha) nicknames and callsigns- the second he meets someone he starts watching for inspiration for their new title. Sally's callsign is 'Apple Core' (because of her regular consumption of the fruit in question, plus insisting she's hardcore), River's is 'Bubbles' (a play on her name, plus a joke after she burped loudly over all-hands comm), Dooder's is, much to his displeasure, just 'Dude' (though not enough displeasure to accept the alternative of 'Doughboy').

Sally runs competitive arm wrestling tournaments (mostly populated by Wolfblades). She manages the betting pools, and always throws her hat in the ring, too- only to be obliterated every time. Defeat only makes her try harder next time.

Dooder doesn't like to sing in front of other people- unless he's drinking, then he just won't stop. He has a really nice voice, but gets embarrassed if anyone tries to bring up his singing to compliment it. Everyone always looks forward to him pulling up to karaoke nights at the SC lounge.

Starbuck is notoriously bad at drawing- during his tutorials, any time he attempts to draw something on the blackboard, students make a game of "guessing" what he's trying to do like a game of pictionary. He's actually considered using stencils, but "Starbucktionary" has become too beloved, and the students would riot if he did.

River is a closet foodie. She cooks really well, but is a perfectionist who finds it very stressful, so doesn't do it very often. She's often on the hunt for new places to eat, though, and will try pretty much anything once. She keeps a notebook of reviews for different dishes at the places she frequents- though they're just for her personal benefit. She's still searching for the best steak in Soluna City.

[nitroglycerin-sponge]

Crystal Asteroid Part 2

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[high-voltage-rat]

In the main hub of any planet, your lower left corner contains the "Mission Log" section, which if you then hit "Info" will give you access to the story guide and the free Golden Mechas.

Generally the enemies you fight in mechquest are scaled to the level of the mecha you're using, with some rare exceptions. This means you can generally do most quests at any level, though I believe you need to be level 5 to start the actual main quests.

In the more grind-y areas of the game, or just if you care less about the combat, I would strongly recommend using the level 5 Golden Wrapped Nubertron model you can get in this section, as you can use its head ability to reduce your enemy's level from level 5 to level 1 (which reduces its max HP and damage). Otherwise, I find that joining one of the GEARS houses and using the house mecha is a good pick.

The best source of quick XP (especially for non-Star Captains) is, in my opinion, the Hospital Career Questline. This is convenient because having finished it is also needed to advance the main storyline at a certain point. Generally, I complete the tutorial, then I advance myself to level 5 using the hospital jobs, then I equip the Golden Wrapped Nubertron, and sally forth into the rest of the game. Your XP gains in combat are scaled to the original level of your enemy, so you do tend to stagnate in level this way, but it can help to make things go much quicker.

The Story Guide gives you a pretty quick and convenient option to teleport to wherever the next main quest begins- this can be really useful if you're lost. However, I prefer to just read the blurbs that tell you what's next and then proceed there manually, because sometimes the teleporting skips triggers for cutscenes that give you context for a quest (this may also break the start of the planet Romero questline- you should access it from the starship dock's starmap).

For the first section of the main quest, the Kingadent Saga, you can generally just access the next quest in line by talking to Dean Warlic on the fifth floor of GEARS university. To complete it in full, you'll need to have finished the Hospital Questline, and purchase a van at Pontimech for 10,000 credits (these are requirements to start certain quests in the line). When you're on the moon, there will be a point where you're asked to repeat a few missions to gain reputation- this is actually totally unneeded, and you can return to Loreon at this point to continue the story.

The Westion Part 1 questline similarly seems to imply that you're required to gain reputation in Alamonia in order to proceed- this isn't the case, you can just talk to Arin-Ha and Jhaek-Ha to get the train repaired and progress things from there.

Generally beyond that, the story guide is your best friend, and will tell you what quests to do next. Any side quests outside of that are generally something you can do at any time in any order- they'll usually let you know if that's not the case. The classes at GEARS are a good choice early on for XP grinding and access to better gear, and the jobs around Soluna City are good sources of credits. The museum jobs, after the completion of the first skeleton, will unlock a new planet- however, this storyline was never completed and left us with some interesting questions. The Mysterious Emporium also has some... interesting lore going on.

Also, if it's more your speed, I'm also working on collecting screenshots of all the Mechquest storylines and side quests, which I'm periodically dumping over at @nitroglycerin-sponge, though it's slow going and I'm currently on a bit of a hiatus for work. Currently I have the tutorial, Hospital and Mecharoni careers, GEARS classes and house quests, and the Kingadent and Crystal Asteroid storylines uploaded.

this is kind of embarrassing tbh but does anyone have any advice for getting more into mechquest? i know i'm missing a lot of context for dragonfable without playing it but i don't really know where to start there in terms of which quests to do first, what level to be for what stuff, that sort of thing

[scythfi-writer]

"We Are Landing Soon," The shuttle crew announces as I board. 

"Awesome!" Tek says and we high five.

The captain is there, giving orders. I walk up to him.

"Aww man! It's been fun, but I guess I'll be seeing you around if you visit my school sometime!" I say cheekily. Hey, I've been through a lot. I deserve to deliver some sass!

The captain gives one of his mysterious smiles.

My smile drops. I'm gonna have to deal with this psycho's half assed assassination attempts all school year? NO!

"Oh no!" I say. "As soon as we get to Soluna, I'm going straight to the authorities!"

"Oh...are you getting a job there?" He says.

"Wha-No! I'm hauling your ass to jail!" I say. "Pitting me up 'gainst some scary ass mechs...aliens...radiation Vents..."

I'm sputtering now and not making much sense. The man just sighs.

"Look, I know I've put you through a lot. You probably don't like me very well." YEAH NO SHIT, SHERLOCK!

"But you can give it a rest," he says. "You won't be seeing or hearing from me for a while, most likely."

"Huh?" I say.

More like getting called back by his superiors! But he seems to be telling the truth about leaving me be, at least...if only I could see through those goggles of his

But that doesn't really matter.

We begin to land.

I can see the blue planet from the ship...so beautiful...

Oh I'm ready, you bastiche!

I look at Tek. Goodbye, you hard working, sly, (probable) snake oil grease monkey!

Goodbye Sally, the crazy apple girl!

HELLO SOLUNA Planet!

[nitroglycerin-sponge]

Crystal Asteroid Part 7

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[nitroglycerin-sponge]

Crystal Asteroid Part 4

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[nitroglycerin-sponge]

Crystal Asteroid Part 3

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[nitroglycerin-sponge]

Crystal Asteroid Part 1

Links: 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7

[nitroglycerin-sponge]

Mecha Combat 101 Part 1

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[nitroglycerin-sponge]

Dropship Part 3

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[scythfi-writer]

So my mecha's going to be totalled for a while until Tek the wicked saleswoman fixes it up. Let's talk to some peeps, shall we?

Well, there's a nice young lady here in the, er, dining area? Let's try and have some nice friendly conversations in which the very subject of mechas and fighting aren't brought up! (Sort of a sore subject for me right now.

Me: "Hey"

Her: "OMG COFFEE!! SO NERVOUS ABOUT UNIVERSITY ENTRANCE EXAMS! MORE COFFEE IS NEEDED!!!

Me: "That sounds logical...wait, no! NO! Coffee is bad for anxiety! Eat a freaking apple!"

Her: "OKAYZ!"

Ha ha, yeah sure, miss...Sally.

Man, that was weird.