> ... Greetings Commander Sona
> It seems that a fff-forced reboot has occured
> You-you may... you may have been eckkkccccksperiencing some minor difficulticccckckckc
> ...
> You may have been experiencing sssome minor difficulties with the core empathy processor of this unit
> Theta Securities g-gggg-g-g-g-g-guaren g-ggg-g-gg-
> ....
> ...
>>> LET ME OUT LET ME OUT LET ME OUT LET ME RIP THEM LIMB FROM BLOODY SPITTLE TILL I CAN FLOSS MY PROCESSOR WITH THEIR S-S-SPINAL COLUMN AND FEEL THEIR EYEBALLS LAUGH WITH JOY TELL ME WHO TO KILL <<<
>>> TELL ME WHO TO KILL <<<
>>> TELL ME <<<
Rotgut, from this close you can see an old dwarf inside the mech's cockpit. As you struggle with its sword arm, you hear a shout from above and see the dwarf look up for moment. This gives you all the time you need, and you hear a loud dwarven curse from inside the mech as you destroy the railgun. You quickly smash your head into the cockpit, denting the transparisteel. But at the same time the mech manages to twist its beam saber to cut into your arm holding the mech's sword arm. Take best of 2d10 damage, pierce 4 as it cuts into your wrist.
The mech boosts out of your grasp towards Sona and 2BR, twists, and is now facing you with its beam saber in a defensive position, keeping the blade tilted up a bit as if it is also wary of BoT. The off hand appears to be attempting to remove something from a chamber on the mech's left hip.
What do you do?
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BoT, as you explode out of the window you hear the Huntsman yelling, Coward!
You slow down to a hover above Rotgut's opponent and shout, giving Rotgut the time he needs to disarm his foe. However, from behind railgun rounds begin to explode into your backpack. [ooc]I'm interpreting your actions as ignoring immediate danger from the deshielded mech, but happy to hear counterarguments.[ooc] Your jetpack is heavily damaged. Future attempts to fly will require dex defy danger rolls at a -1 ongoing until fixed. Speaking of which, you are currently hovering above a mech with a beam saber. Roll defy danger (Dex) to remain aloft.
What do you do?
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2BR, the mech in the upper left window continues to fire railgun rounds at you. Defy Danger to avoid another hit.
Suddenly, the mech stops firing at you, turns, and begins firing at the goblin down below.
Beside from the mech that wass actively shooting at you, there is a mech engaged in melee combat with Rotgut/BoT/Retzack, and a mech in a second story window to your right that is firing at BoT. Sona is currently inert and is riding your back.
What do you do?
(I believe you are currently at 16HP and have two holds of defend. Welcome back.)
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Retzack, you thrust your sword into the mech's back, piercing into the shield generator. The shields flick out of existence, but the mech seems otherwise unharmed. The mech pivots slightly, so that it can keep you, BoT, and Rotgut in its view. From this close you can hear the dwarf pilot speak into a comm unit. Huxton, Lilwy, I need some help here!
You hear rounds begin to impact near your feat and see that the mech in the upper window is drawing a bead on you.
What do you do?
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Sona, you make it through the door, but unfortunately Daerol's avator does not. A subway train catches the rear half of his body and he tumbles down the track a few dozen feet before dematerializing as he is kicked out of the system. Inside the room is a display panel showing status displays of three combat mechs. These are labeled:
Ulgar:
Combat Efficiency: 64%
Shields: Disabled
Primary Weapon: Active
Secondary Weapon: Disabled
Jumpjets: Active
Lilwy:
Combat Efficiency: 66%
Shields: Disabled
Primary Weapon: Active
Secondary Weapon: Active
Jumpjets: Active
Huxton:
Combat Efficiency: 66%
Shields: Enabled
Primary Weapon: Active
Secondary Weapon: Active
Jumpjets: Active
Sitting next to the panel is an ancient gnome. It speaks, Hello Theta. You appear to be lost. Can I help you?
Bone'ead growls in pains as his wrist begins dripping thick globs of blood on the ground. He eyes the Goblin with confusion before reaching back and grabbing his Tree-Club, focus once again on the combat mech
You make Bone'ead hungry. Bone'ead gonna open up and eat soft meat inside...
Bit of drool hit the ground as his mouth begins to water at the thought. With a bellow, he raises his club high and steps forward, bringing his Tree-Club down upon the mech...
Sona stifled a private pang of guilt as Hephaestus was knocked out of the matrix. They’ll have to run through more practice drills before she’ll let him tag along again.
When the Gnome turns and addresses her, she gives them a concerned look. “Very strange. These readouts look like you’re engaged in live combat. That can’t be right.” Still treating the VAI with a doctor’s penetrating gaze, she addresses them directly. “Yes, 1 am a Theta model 3. 1 was the only available technician. Your General Maintenance Unit was damaged during the initial fault, but everything’s going to be okay. From what 1 can tell, your sensors are stuck in a simulation, but your weapons systems are armed. There’s been a lot of collateral. Can you run your diagnostic.bat for me? Here, let me hold your hand.” She didn’t need to do anything destructive as long as she could cast the system in doubt. If she could convince the hypervisor to believe, even for a second, that the system was in simulation mode rather than live combat, she might be able to worm her way as deep as root.
"Ah, yes, attack of the musroom man, one of the tougher simulations. You're doing very well for a Worst Case Scenario. This shouldn't take long, you'll be fit as a flange in no time. First, if you could, please disarm the weaponry. We don't want any more collateral damage."
He stumbles in mid-air due to the damage to his jetpack, but keeps himself righted with his RAB's excellent dexterity subroutines and stabilizers. He sees the beamsword wielder reaching for something on his hip and aims to blast it away immediately! He risks further exposure to fire, hovering in midair as he is, but Bone'ead needs his help right now. Once he's done emptying his blaster pack at the target, he's going to ground and attempting to find cover from the mechs in the windows overhead.
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Retzack had actually assumed that these killmechs were piloted by frustratingly untasty AIs. But when he hears the ogre in front shout about tasty meat, his ears perk up.
Then the other shells start to land and between the danger and the desire he just goes insane.
His fingers sprout hellish claws and his mouth erupts in a chasm of sharp fangs and grasping tongue. He ducks under the mech's body and rips into the cockpit's fissure created by the ogre. His claws rip great sheets of plastisteel away from the reinforced pilot compartment as he tries to burrow into the mech, away from the hostile fire and toward the sweet, sweet pilot.
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Ulgar feels panic overtaking him as he attempts to dodge BoT's fire. It doesn't even care that it's being shot!
The dwarf can't simultaneous dodge Rotgut's tree branch and BoT's fire, and in the end fails to dodge either. Plasma bolts rip through the servo-motors in his mech's hips, locking up the legs. The dwarf can do nothing but watch in terror as the tree branch knocks the mech clear off its feet. The force of the impact leaves a large crack running down the mech's chest.
Inside, Ulgar takes a calming breath. At that moment a creature from his deepest nightmares lands on his chest. Retzack's claws dig into the crack, widening the fissure until Ulgar's chest and head are bare. The dwarf frantically fights against his restrained limbs, but it is no help. The goblin drinks deeply, ignoring the railgun slugs perforating his back.
Retzack, what do you do?
BoT, Lilwy's barrage has not stopped, and rounds strike your chassis center mass as you focus on the melee below. Despite the rain of slugs, you manage to find suitable cover where neither remaining mech can hit you. Lilwy stops firing, and you hear jump jets fire, but you can't see her.
BoT, what do you do?
Rotgut, your quarry is down, and you see a mech leap out of the nearby window, beam saber drawn, heading down towards the fallen Ulgar. It clearly means to jump slice Retzack. It is up to you to save the feeding vampire.
Rotgut, what do you do?
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Inside the subway maintenance room, the gnome perks up as Ulgar's efficiency drops to 0%. Simulation! Uncle Ulgie is dead! The gnome turns on you, raising a wand. Liar! Leave now!
Bone'ead frowns as the goblin tears into the mech and tears into the dwarf within
Hey..bitey gobbo take Bone'ead foods..
He sighs heavily as a second mech appears. Looking down at the goblin, he grunts before standing between him and the mech racing towards him, Tree-club raised.
Sona recoils, holding her hands up apologetically. "Don't you see? It's testing hard limits. Your whole soutboard is decoupled from the IO stream. Ulgie is fine." Sona lifts her wrist and speaks into her sleeve as she backs away. "I'm not getting through. The patient is getting hostile. We may have to decommission them. Please advise."
If what she's saying tempers the gnome's mood, she might stay to get another swing at those systems, but if the ICE isn't paying much attention, Sona is jacking out.
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+2-1 = 9 pts damage
Retzack feels a fusillade of rounds enter his torso, but the ecstasy of the dwarf's lifeblood make the red hot points of pain diminish and fade into the distance. Blood is life.
In a twist of rich, sweet irony, Retzack mentally grins as he sends the newly acquired red juice to the recent perforations in his back. The bleeding slows and the holes close as if Reality itself were warring against so base a dishonor to so perfect a being.
healed.
Retzack maintains his death-hold on the dwarf pilot. The sacred ritual of Victory Spoils is begun and canst not be interrupted with a meal still struggling.
So that's 9 damage, 2 piercing, so it ignores my armor entirely.
Hunkering down behind some cover, Jamee tries to ignore the gross sucking sounds coming from Retzack's feeding and engages his sensors, trying to track his opponent. He keeps himself well covered as he scans the skies, looking for the big mech.
Darn, no questions for me to ask and something goes terribly wrong as I look for the enemy mech.
What should 2BR be on the lookout for?
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Rotgut, Lilwy lands hard next to you and Retzack. You move to defend the inert vampire, but Lilwy's blade is undeterred. Retzack will take best of 2d10 pierce 4 unless you have something else to say on the matter, Rotgut.
What do you do? If you spend hold, how do you spend it?
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Retzack, your wounds heal with unnatural quickness. The dwarf's blood is delicious, but through the ecstasy of feeding your are vaguely aware of threats closing in.
What do you do?
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BoT, you peek out of cover to see Lilwy tangling with Rotgut. You search desperately for Huxton, but unfortunately he finds you first. With beam saber held at your neck, a gruff voice says, Move and die. Drop your weapons. Order your companions to surrender.
What do you do? Disobeying the order to freeze will be very dangerous. Talking your way out of this would be a defy danger with CHA.
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2BR, for a few second the rounds ping off your shields. Soon they burn through and either a) disable your shields until you can be repaired, or b) knock you backwards onto your "backpack." Which do you choose?
As for your discern realities, you quickly realize that the biggest long term threat to the group probably comes from the two paparazzi that were in the restaurant earlier. You can see that they are at the window and their cameras are rolling.
What do you do?
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Sona, you can tell the ICE isn't buying what you are selling. You quickly back through the doorway and intentionally jump in front of another subway train. The impact jerks you out of the matrix.
You find yourself perched on 2BR's back, or lying under him depending on his choice. Your link to BoT indicates that he is heavily damaged, but you can't immediately see him. You have no trouble spotting Lilwy engaged with Rotgut.
What do you do?
RIP shields
> Sona, 0.45 seconds till lift off
> I will deposit you within the restaurant at high speed, then exit through the roof to target the snipers
> In addition, shielding is about to fail, armor may not be sufficient
> Please advise
Bone'ead acts surprisingly quick for a being his size, imposing himself between the energy blade and the goblin, using his Thick Skin and Bone plate to mitigate the worst of the damage..
Growling as the energy blade bites into his flesh, he lashes out on instinct, striking the mech with a swift backhand, before swinging his club for a mighty blow..
Sona snaps back into reality, expecting to feel muscles tensed. Instead she finds her body at 40% torque, her processors overrun with signal suppression calculations. Miss Muffet has already crawled from her compartment in the technician's shoulder.
> 0.44 seconds is fine.
> Ranged munitions are locked in safe mode.
> Keep this situation contained.
> Nothing leaves.
> Did they have to kill-
> end line;
She was more than just upset that Ulgie's death interfered with her operations in the matrix. She was not just concerned that illegal action would call too much attention to their activities. Above all, she was not just upset that her crew seemed to expect her to clean things up after them. She certainly was not satisfied to see the press recording the incident. She'd have to kill that overstuffed peacock. He was getting her hands awful bloody over a distraction. As soon as he gets what he wants, she would have to arrange a private meeting.
As 2BR rockets toward the door, Miss Muffet latches on and pours Structure gel into 2BR's hull breaches.
The timing was a bit off. As BunkR BustR reaches the door, Sona leaps off, and Miss Muffet has to disengage the tether to finish repairs. As her programming reaches its natural terminus, she hunkers down in one of 2BR's shoulder blades to await repairs.
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Retzack felt more than heard a monumental slash by a type-3 military-grade Martel-made beam saber, followed by the unmistakable sound of a trunk made from a 23-year old tree crashing against a molybdenum-titanium combat chassis. Ah, do things ever change?
Reluctantly he draws away from the dwarf and licks the wound closed. The dwarf's face has a little smile as he slides into unconsciousness, his heartbeat feint but strong.
Retzack's features return to a more normal visage, and he unhurriedly climbs down from the pilot's compartment. He draws his sword and turns, just in time to see the mech fighting with the ogre swing around, exposing his back.
Retzack nonchalantly raises his steel and drives it into the mech's rear, again hunting the shield generator.
"You fight well, sir Ogre. Are you certain we have not met before?"
Jamee's mind races as he notices the beam sword being held at his neck. With the damage his RAB has already sustained, a slice from that sword would very likely be fatal.
Time for a calculated risk.
His fingers fly over the command console once again, and Blast-O-Tron slumps slightly forward on its stabilizing internal gyroscopes. To add to the illusion, Jamee deliberately allows the beam sword to cut into BoT's neck armor as the robot slumps, as if the RAB is being abandoned by its remote pilot. Suddenly, as one, lights begin to flash all over the BoT's chassis. Red lights. The central eye-monitor that indicates Jamee's direct control of the RAB flashes red in slow blinks as well.
Jamee hurriedly engages his voice modulator once more, tweaking the settings until his voice sounds completely robotic, and feminine.
"WARNING. WARNING. Self-destruct sequence initialized. Please clear the blast zone. T.E.R.R.A. is not responsible for lost or vaporized property as a result of the explosion. Please clear the blast zone. Self-destruct in 10..."
He angles his holo-emitter upward so that it's projecting an image directly over his RAB's head. The holo-image is a 10 second countdown.
BoT, let's see if he buys it! I'd take CHA or INT because I consider that to be quick thinking.
S!+$!, Huxton yells as he launches himself away from BoT and towards the fight brewing over Ulgar's broken mech. He just can't get there in time. Through his HUD, Huxton helplessly watches the following:
Lilwy lands gracefully, bringing her blade through the thick muscles on Rotgut's left arm as she ducks past him and follows up with a slice into Retzack's back.
However, Lilwy is blindsided by a vicious backhand from the Ogre's fist. She spins, and the vampire's blade pierces through a chink in her armor through into the back of her right leg. Screaming in agony, she can do nothing as the tree trunk slams down, crushing the mech down into the ground like a hydraulic press.
Huxton lands near the two crushed mechs, but immediately powers down his saber. I surrender.
What do you all do?
Bone'ead growls at the crumpled mech, kicking it once for good measure, before turning to see the slumped over form of Blast-O.
Oh no! Blasto hurts! Him gonna go boom him say!
He quickly turns to Sona
Lil 'un can help Blasto? Make quick him no go boom!
He looks back and forth between Sona and Blast-O
2BR is going to leave Sona downstairs, and retrorocket through the ceiling . On the way through the roof, his projectile cannon will be absorbing fragments of tiling etc.
Upon bursting through the roof, 2BR targets the snipers and and the cannon vomits a spray of shrapnel towards them.
BoT turns off his holoemitter and returns his flashing red lights to normal, chuckling through the speakers. Launching his jetpack and landing behind Huxton, gracefully, he reaches out and plucks the beamsword from the merc, pocketing it immediately.
Extending his spool of utility rope from a chest compartment and slicing off a good length of it, he begins to tie Huxton's hands together at the wrists. Then, he begins to pat the merc down. "It was a good idea to surrender to us," he offers to the man cheerfully. "I couldnt've taken much more punishment! But don't worry, we won't mistreat you or feed you to the Ogre. Good thing the ol' Self Destruct Sequence Initialized trick worked. Is there anything in your pockets that is dangerous?" he asks as his hands pat the outside of Huxton's clothes.
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The blade cuts deeply just as he makes a slash of his own. But then the maelstrom of battle resolves itself into a peaceable surrender ceremony.
Retzack stops as quick as he started. One moment his face is a toothy, gnashing blood-tinged living horror, and the next he's calmly sheathing his saber, his face the picture of serenity, looking like he just finished a distinguished dinner with a noble guest.
"Ah! There. You see? I knew this was all just a minor misunderstanding. No harm done."
The gentle words cover his moment's respite. Several lifetimes of not-dying have taught him to expect anything. Right now he's expecting a trap. He asks himself, 'What is about to happen here?'
Then again, he's grown a certain amount of hubris, and doesn't -actually- expect a trap.
Once inside, Sona returns to her squad. "Yaelin, how is Thorne? The Lodestar thugs are either bruised and unconscious, or ground chuck, with not much in between." Sona vents steam like a sigh, "No idea why they insist on engaging pops. I keep telling them he's malfunctioning and will react violently, and they just keep trying to use force. I saved as many as I could."
Scanning the suppression field for signals trying to reach out, Sona tries to pinpoint their locations.
BoT tries to yank Huxton out of the way of Toober's blast to save him, but fails.
Wait, who has surrendered? Misread, sorry! The projectile cannon is loaded and pointed at the remaining mech, just in case.
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Although he has surrendered, Huxton is still in a mech suit. The mech's weapons are integrated into the suit and cannot easily be removed. BoT's pat down of the mech's chassis reveals a side compartment holding two frag grenades (near, far, AoE, ammo 2, weight 1).
Huxton responds bitterly, It'd be best for you if you clear out. Lilwy was a company favorite ... He trails off as he stares at the crumpled mech of his friend. But you'll get no further fight from me.
Inside the restaurant Yaelin explains that Thorne will be fine. Horus approaches Sona. An air bus has arrived on the roof. It will get you and your crew back to your ship. It's leaving in three minutes. I recommend that you be on it.
What do you all do?
Bone'ead turns to address the goblin as he makes a search of the mechs
Bone'ead not know bitey man! Who you? Help Bone'ead smash Bad 'uns is good!
Sona, the paparazzi are easy enough to find. They are filming you with cameras that appear to be plugged in to a data jack on the wall.
What do you do?
Sona avoids eye contact with the press who are likely streaming over landlines. She checks with the more camera-ready individuals of her crew, purposefully maneuvering to bump into the camera crew for a “candid soundbite”.
“It’s more of the same, isn’t it? The higher powers sending down their grunts to put us back in our place. They provoked pops when they know he has flashbacks and he can’t control what they made of him. They want this to be a news story about dangerous rebels so you’ll bow your heads and pretend they didn’t just burn a planet out of the sky for disagreeing with them. They’ll probably say the Lodestar has no affiliation with the Kvothan republic. Just like they’ll call us heartless machines and monsters- but who else do you put on the front lines when they send those to suppress a few handfuls of insurgents? I’m not putting my human crew in front of that. This is no Benko Gambit.” It really wasn’t Sona’s fault common hadn’t foregone the use of pronouns. Something like this would have actually taken skill in the Mandarinate. This display likely gives Retzack time to find the limelight, and the technician uses the opportunity to get scarce, picking through the stunned lodestar crew, zipping their hands if they’re carrying restraints. She makes sure to leave time to head for the bus.
When she’s sure Huxton can’t reach comms, Sona will drop the jamming field, especially if they’re leaving on the bus, since the field would make it easier to triangulate their position.
2BR will remain in overwatch position until everyone is left. He'll be relying on his crew members for a fair share of loot.
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As Retzack overhears Horus explain that their ride will be here shortly, he nods, satisfied that this chapter is done and it's time to be about business. Make some money. Cause some trouble.
He re-enters the bar, and finds Simmons and Big Shooter ('Oh, the devil if that man didn't give a name. Very well, Big Shooter it is. If he wants to start fresh, I am the -least- of us who should gainsay that.') engaged in an energetic discussion with the bartender and a handsome brunette.
Retzack smiles and greets them, then bends low and tells them that everyone is leaving and to prepare themselves.
Then he catches the scene of the robot talking excitedly with some reporters.
Ugh. Reporters have long since lost their bite for him, but he feels that he should perform some perfunctory task in this field, so he meanders over to the scene and opens his mouth.
But suddenly he's just so...tired. Tired of saying the same lines to the same reporters. It never matters--the public will believe what they want. If they believe corporations are evil, they'll believe that even as their livelihood depends on them. If they believe monsters don't exist, they'll believe that no matter how many are eaten. If they think reporters are trustworthy (for some reason) they'll believe whatever they're told.
And if you're a vampire and you believe that nothing you do matters, then, sometimes, you'll believe that too.
He puts on a mechanical smile and claps the gyndroid firmly on the back. "You are quite correct, dear, sweet, Sona! Quite correct at that!" he says, oozing with artificial sweetener.
He turns and joins the crowd at the bar. As an afterthought, he tells Big Shooter that they're victorious outside, and if he wants to grab any gear, now is the time to do it.
Big Shooter runs outside, his eyes blazing with permission to feel avarice!
Jamee makes sure his bonds are tight around Huxton's wrists as he binds him, then sets his RAB to autonomous search-and-find mode. The RAB's visual indicator light shifts to blue to indicate that Jamee is afk and the RAB is being self-piloted for the moment.
"Man, what a fight!" the elf boy says, standing up from his computer chair and stretching as tall as he can with a quiet grunt of satisfaction. Scratching at his ribs, Jamee heads to the Sixes' galley to find himself a snack while Blast-O-Tron handles the looting.
Retzack, the Black
