[Gurps(4th Ed)/PbP] Infinte Worlds: Quantinium ((Closed)) (Inactive)

Game Master Sovliss

Sir Gavin shoots at the one on the catwalk.
Guns/TL8 (Pistol)+3ACC-3range(DC13): 3d6 ⇒ (2, 5, 4) = 11 for a possible 4d6 + 1 ⇒ (4, 4, 2, 5) + 1 = 16 piercing damage.

Jaq fires her rifle, pulling the trigger and experiencing the recoil with much intensity. A single round fires off at the creature before her...
Dodge (12): 3d6 ⇒ (4, 6, 3) = 13
...The round burrows into the creature causing it to shriek with an inhuman scream. The shadowy flames seem to dim a bit but the full affect of the bullet seems absorbed.

Flynn distorts time around Jaq, making her more reactive then even the creatures...if only by a fraction.
No creature seems to speak in response to the good doctor’s inquiry.

Aurora claws at the creature with her forelimbs, the air cutting the air in its way to the creature...
Dodge(12): 3d6 ⇒ (6, 5, 2) = 13
The creature fails to move fast enough to avoid the strike, Aurora's claws swipe a chunk of shadowy mass from her target, the creature shrieking slightly as it's shadow's corona dims as much as the other...

Gavin uses his pistol, after taking aim to fire at the creature on the catwalk...
Dodge(12): 3d6 ⇒ (4, 2, 6) = 12
...The creature atop the catwalk shifts swiftly, almost in a haze, avoiding the bullet fired at it.

Initiatives
Jaq
Creature 1(-15hp)
Creature 2(-3hp)
Creature 3
Gavin
Flynn
Aurora

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Creature 1, the shade before Jaq, hops back 4 yards. its hands rise to its mid section, arms parted on either side of its body. With its palms raised and forearms pulled slightly back, an eerie chanting echos softly from the creature. Blue energies wrap around the entities forearms swirling to its clawed hands...
Casting of Icy Claw(12): 3d6 ⇒ (1, 5, 4) = 10
...The energy solidifies along it's shadowy from, encasing the claw in sharp, jagged ice.

Creature 2 slashes its claws aimlessly at Aurora...
Brawl(14): 3d6 ⇒ (2, 5, 3) = 10
Cutting Damage: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (3, 3) + 2 = 8 Cutting is 1.5x penetrating dmg (Damage after DR reductions)

Creature 3, it's head now looking toward Sir Gavin, reshifts it's stance. Blue energy travels up its arm once again and seem to collect at its palm...
Ice Sphere(13): 3d6 ⇒ (2, 2, 5) = 9
...The mana condenses into a spike hovering bolt of Ice, His hand shifts, palm now held out to Gavin... The sphere flies off in his direction...
Innate Attack(For magic accuracy)(12): 3d6 ⇒ (3, 6, 5) = 14
...The bolt misses, slamming into the Conveyor behind Gavin, embedding into some of the Hull...

Initiatives
Jaq
Creature 1
Creature 2
Creature 3
Gavin
Flynn
Aurora

DR2 will reduce to 6 x 1.5= 9hp of damage.

Jaq unloads the rest of the clip into the creature.

Guns: Rifle 14: 3d6 ⇒ (4, 2, 1) = 7
Damage: Piercing (Beat the skill by seven so that's three shots) : 7d6 ⇒ (6, 2, 5, 3, 6, 2, 6) = 307d6 ⇒ (5, 3, 2, 1, 1, 2, 5) = 197d6 ⇒ (1, 4, 5, 3, 3, 1, 5) = 22

"Uh, guys," Jaq's voice comes over the radio again after another burst echoes in the chamber, "Do we have anything heavier than a .308?"

The creature attempts to weave around the bullets,
Dodge (12): 3d6 ⇒ (3, 2, 2) = 7
...it twists to the side avoiding the first round...
Dodge(11): 3d6 ⇒ (2, 1, 6) = 9
...Dropping to prone, its claws digging into the launch pad it avoids the second round...
Dodge(10): 3d6 ⇒ (4, 6, 2) = 12
Prone proves to deny the creature the dexterity it wanted... the final bullet burrows into the creatures skull, killing it on impact.

Whats left, the shadowy corona evaporates away from the body of a human looking Caucasian male. The wound in his skull causing blood to seep through his would-be blonde hair. His face down, jaw slack.

Initiatives
Jaq
Creature 2
Creature 3
Gavin
Flynn
Aurora

Training is no defense for what she sees. Jaq stops in the middle of reloading her rifle as she stares at the man who was a monster.

Jaq.exe has encountered a fatal error and needs to reboot. (I guess just have her take twice as long to reload.) Sorry, I'm trying to imagine what seeing that would do to a trained soldier. She's killed before, but seeing that would likely stop anyone in their tracks if they have no experience with magic, or as little as Jaq has had.

"Huh. They're fast. Do we want to take the last one alive? Might be tricky."

Jaq, Flynn, No actions?

"Take the last one alive!" Called Sir Gavin.

Jaq's reloading and busy being stunned.

Alright, so stunned for Rps sake, alright. Gavin, Flynn...Just talking? to actions?

Sir Gavin switches targets to number 2 and single shoots, trying to be careful.
Guns/TL8 (Pistol)+3ACC-3range(DC13): 3d6 ⇒ (1, 1, 5) = 7 for a possible 4d6 + 1 ⇒ (1, 3, 6, 1) + 1 = 12 piercing damage.

There's not much for Flynn to do from this range; so he'll take a Total Defense action (which will let him use Blade Turning against any attacks on the party)

Aurora again twists to strike at the odd creature attacking her.

Brawling (15): 3d6 ⇒ (3, 6, 3) = 12
Damage: 5d6 + 2 ⇒ (6, 5, 1, 2, 1) + 2 = 17 cut

Sorry, I made a mistake on her damage roll last time...her STR is 29 not 23 in this form

Gavin switches his target to aid Aurora, the creature attempts to weave out of the way of both the gun shot and Aurora's claw...
Dodge shot(12): 3d6 ⇒ (6, 6, 2) = 14
...the round bursts the creatures shadowy form, blasting a hole through it's shoulder. The damage is severe...
Dodge claw(9): 3d6 ⇒ (6, 3, 4) = 13
...With the pain wrecking its body, the tiger's claw rips through its chest as if it was tinfoil. the shadowy corona dissipates from the form of the human male. He stands naked, his shoulder nearly destroyed, holding it's arm with only a few muscle fibers. The massive gash across his chest reveals his rib cage and some bone fragments. The man's face, slack jawed and wide eyed, is blank of anyone inside. He falls forward, dead.

The shade atop the catwalk shrieks hellishly as its allies have been rendered dead. It darts off, the heat vision suggesting it made its way toward the operation's tower...

Combat over...for now...

Jaq shakes her head and finishes reloading her rifle. After a moment, she looks around and spots the heat trail heading to the operation tower.

"I'm going after it," she announces before following the trail.

Tactics 6 (Trying to avoid an ambush while tracking it.): 3d6 ⇒ (1, 3, 3) = 7
Failed by 1. I really need to put some points into these.

Observation 16 (to see if these people were someone we'd recognize: 3d6 ⇒ (2, 4, 1) = 7

Jaq heads up the catwalk, en-route to the control tower entry. Although she feels that she made a tactical error, nothing seems to happen as she approaches the half-open metal door into the operations lobby within the tower. Once again the smell of wet iron is prominent, even through the suit's ventilation system. The lights flicker only milliseconds every so often. There is blood painting the walls, some of it more recent.

Flynn looks over the two bodies on the pad nearest him. They are not familiar however, each of them seem to possess the same tattoo along their forearms...

"Together Jaq, TOGETHER!" Shouted Sir Gavin as he chased after her.
Tactics (DC9): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15 Fail by six.

For a moment, Jaq was back in the Middle East looking over walls that had been painted with the blood of the innocent. She could still remember the pitiful moans of children crying for their now dead mothers. She could still taste the bile and anger that welled up in her throat.

"Guess we know why they were late," she growls before stalking through the building, her rifle at her back and her pistol ready.

"Lot's of blood. Looks like these monsters carved up the crew here like they were turkeys,." she relays quietly over the radio as she tries to follow the heat trail.

Perception Visual 15: 3d6 ⇒ (5, 3, 5) = 13
Perception Hearing 14: 3d6 ⇒ (4, 4, 4) = 12

Just as a note to the GM, she's going to keep looking until she finds this guy or he finds her.

Still in her cat form, Aurora races after Jaq and Gavin, heading into the control tower.
Assaulted by the overpowering smell of blood and death, the saber-tooth shakes it's head and sneezes, trying to clear her olfactory senses.

As Jaq opens the door wider to the control room, the power hums to life for the crane that operates the Projector.

The launch pad's lights begin to blink in a warning pattern.

Gavin attempts to consider the tactical advantage of being atop the catwalk with a creature of bullet dodging speeds. He is unable to think of any boons or penalties.

With the tiger joining them, right behind Gavin, she sneezes, a gooey glob snot hitting Gavin in the shoulder.
---------

Jaq's heat sensors go cold in the room. though there is plenty of heat coming off the console. and also the moving crane...
The crane seems to be angling itself at project the Control Tower.

The creature flips onto the railing from beneath it at the back of Aurora. It's coated in an armor of jagged ice, its hands lined with thick, frosty claws.

Initiatives
Jaq
Creature[It's posing defensively]
Gavin
Flynn
Aurora

Jaq drops the pistol and launches herself at the creature. They needed one alive, but that didn't mean she had to be gentle about it.

Brawling 12 (She's trying to just wrap this thing up in a bear hug.): 3d6 ⇒ (3, 5, 4) = 12
That's a tie

Deflect missile 15-4: 3d6 ⇒ (6, 3, 1) = 10

Flynn's heightened combat reflexes cause him to instinctively deflect the sneeze away from Gavin with a crackle of magic and a few shouted constants.

Fastdraw Force Saber (14): 3d6 ⇒ (5, 5, 1) = 11
Parry Missle Weapon (12): 3d6 ⇒ (3, 2, 3) = 8
Sir Gavin impossibly senses the approach of the gob, spins and ignites his Force Saber with a Snap-hisssss. He is about to parry it, when he is left nonplussed as it veered away from him.

But more important things call out for his attention and he follows Jaq towards the creature.

Important concerns!

Jaq goes into to grab the creature of ice and shadow...
Dodge(12): 3d6 ⇒ (1, 5, 3) = 9
...However, side steps the woman's advances.

With Jaq now before the creature, Gavin moved to her side, effectively taking up the space of the catwalks width.

Flynn is behind the creature, offering flanking to Gavin.

The Projector arm, now fully aligned with the group and tower, begins to flare to life. The blue light at the projector's base beams to life...
Flynn's Parachronic operations to know how long before it sends the tower and half the catwalk to..somewhere else: 3d6 ⇒ (4, 2, 4) = 10
...Flynn knows there is roughly a vague moment (3 turns) before it projects.

Aurora, who is unable to get at the creature from behind Jaq and Gavin, roars.

Initiatives
Jaq
Shade
Gavin
Flynn
Aurora

Jaq sees the light, but she needed to focus on capturing the monster.

Brawling 12 (Trying to tackle it.): 3d6 ⇒ (2, 6, 3) = 11

"No. Everybody run, that thing is discharging now!" Flynn shouts, and dashes towards the door.

Edit: Not really his turn yet. So his next turn will be running away.

"EVERYBODY GET OUT OF THE TRANSPORT FIELD!" Called Sir Gavin as he turned and ran away.

The creature allows it's self to be tackled by Jaq, but it's icy claws reach up and around...an attempt to holder her to it...
Quick contest brawl (16) to attempt to escape before the projector fires: 3d6 ⇒ (3, 5, 2) = 10
The projector releases a field of blue, encompassing half-the catwalk and the control tower. Assuming Aurora also attempts to flee, Jaq and the Creature are the only ones there thus far.

Combat over, replaced with story telling and plot...where will the tale lead us...

a couple more moments left... I'll wait a couple posts, mostly want to see Jaq's attempt to flee or remain.

Seeing the creature grapple Jaq, Aurora runs over and bites down on the creature's leg and attempts to pull both of them away from danger.

Not sure if this is possible in the time we had, or what kind of roll would be needed, but Aurora has to try and save Jaq!

Roll brawl and we'll do a quick contest. apply the load penelty for the roll. the shade weighs about 175lb...then what ever the SUPER HEAVY POWER SUIT LADY weighs.

Brawl(16): 3d6 ⇒ (1, 6, 4) = 11 (The threshold is five for the shade.

Brawl 12: 3d6 ⇒ (2, 3, 5) = 10

Jaq realizing her mistake doesn't try to break free, instead, she begins kick and scuffling against the catwalk to get herself out of the field.

Jaq in the battle suit is about 250 lbs.

Would it be a brawl or ST check? She is not actually trying to hurt the creature, just drag them out of the way.

Good point.
ST 18 to get the heck out of dodge/help Aurora: 3d6 ⇒ (2, 2, 2) = 6

Remember we've got... like, three seconds to escape.

The creature detaches itself from Jaq, sliding beneath her as it slips behind the emination sof the projector.

The spooling sounds charge up as a blast of white and blue light engulf the tower and part of the cat walk.

Alarms spawn to life only to fry out shortly after. A clean cut tower has been seemingly cut smoothly from the ground, part of the launch pad cut away. The catwalk, the part still on it, begins to give way...
DX -3 or Acrobatics to not take damage as the cat walk falls.

Crash! The sound of bending metal and shaking steel echo across the greater hanger. The arm that controls the projector is partially cut as well. Seems the integrity of the arm wont hold for to much longer, though so long as it doesn't move, it will be fine for now.

It's silent. Wet iron still hints off in the air. No wind in the snowy wastes of Mummut. The remains of the skeleton crew are lacking. Pools of viscera are all the remain through out the complex.

DX-3 9: 3d6 ⇒ (3, 3, 3) = 9

As the catwalk gives way, Jaq balls up and tries her best to protect the more vulnerable parts of her battlesuit.

After everything's done, she picks herself up and looks for survivors.

Perception Vision 15: 3d6 ⇒ (5, 3, 3) = 11

A week has passed since your battle with the shades.
Your two prisoners still live, one is still in a stable, but distant coma (Failed a lot of recovery). The other, named Lucio, has lent his hand in helping your group find supplies and aid in general survival.

Jaq had searched high and low within the Mummut compound, not a singe living member was found. Through the week she did attempt some outside searches but was unsuccessful in finding any leads to suggest others fled into the wintry wastes. During much of her time, she studied many texts on engineering.

Aside from finding ample supply of food, the projector is still mostly intact. Unless one finds a way to re-modulate the device to be used as the shuttle, it will likely be a one way trip.

Commander Gavin began to tap into some latent psychokinesis, though still learning a difficult set of powers, he has come far in only a week. He also continued regular training drills and could be found occasionally talking to himself in a mirror to keep his silver tongue in working order...or to simply admire himself.

The week has been cold. Often silent. For food, the place boasts a storage of 55 days worth of military-like rations. Not the best tasting but heavy and keeping one satiated. Water is easy to come by, Snow being everywhere.

Aurora, ensuring that the animals in the region aren't attracted to the blood that has now stained the compound, has been patrolling the exterior. In doing so, she also was able to alter her shape, taking a new form in her repertoire of shifting abilities.

Flynn, continued simple mathematical study in order to keep himself sharp. He aided in budgeting resources and rationing materials as well as calculating possible jumps and potential "Worse case" Scenarios.
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The morning comes, 9am on the dot. On the launch pad, a small hovel has been set up. In includes storage crates, general supplies, a couple tents (One in which the coma victim still remains) and a command desk, where radio contact is kept up among all of you...

Flynn distributes the days ration packs, 2 each... All of you are now standing around the make-shift electrical outdoor heater, going to town on breakfast.

Whats the plan?

Moody, Sir Gavin picked at his food.
"I would have expected our superiors to have sent a scout, once communications had been cut. Or our enemies, whoever they are, to have sent a follow up occupation force after their clear victory here. But... there has been nothing." He thought aloud.

What kind of skills would it take to re-modulate the shuttle, or is it simply beyond us? I'm still pretty far from the spells it would take to jump the group or fix the shuttle via magic.

"I'm guessing the whole station is written off, with no knowledge of survivors. But it bodes poorly that they wouldn't check."

"If we've only got one jump left in the pod, we should consider very carefully where we can get to. Our first jump put us in Eastern North America, which is good—in any post-Columbian world, we're unlikely to start."

"So, we'll need to map out what worlds we know about, and compare that to what worlds we can get to."

"First: Homeline. It's one, obvious choice. Second: My world. Standard tech. Low mana, but much lower level of magic knowledge. But I know where to find the paranormal enthusiasts, and with luck we could hitch a ride with some time hobos or jump junkies moving through. Third: wherever you all come from."

@flynn: Just engineering skills. Parachronic Engineering/repair would be a good start.

Gavin and Flynn can both recall, after their conversation, that this was a skeleton crew. From what you can remember: The Commandant may not have been doing the operation legally to begin with, let alone tell others about it's operation.

Chirping echoes through the launch hanger.

Joanna shakes her head at the mention of where they came from.

"My home wouldn't work. For one, we don't have this dimension-hoppy-magi-science stuff. Second, I'm legally dead there as far as I can tell. Third, my connections were with robotics and computer science experts and the military. None of them would have access to any way to get to Homeline."

She looks up, a puzzled frown covering her face, "Do you guys here that? The chirping," she asks before picking up her rifle and going to investigate.

Perception (Vision 15, Hearing 14, anything else 12): 3d6 ⇒ (5, 4, 3) = 12

Gear:
Battle rifle with 20 rounds

"Yes, and I, unfortunately, am considered a traitor to the crown in the world of my birth.
"I was wondering if any of you could identify the origin of our attackers. I could not tell..."
Sir Gavin looked around.
"I hear something chirping as well. What is it?" He asked his team.
He will get up and look for the origin of the noise.
Perception 11: 3d6 ⇒ (1, 2, 3) = 6 Succeed by 5.

Heh, good thing I increased my parachronic engineer to 15...

scuttling to the top of the projector (located near the conveying vessel) A hand sized, six legged insect-esk creature comes to a stand still. It's large pincers grind together creating a chirping noise.
Although it possesses a green color, its body seems to be encased some some kind of metal due to a reflective sheen.

Jaq can see that the insect bares a strange inlay between it's plated carapace. She can also smell that it seems to be ionized.

Gavin can see the glowing blue (the inlay) between the plates of the insect as well. He can also see that it's eyes are rotating within their stationary shell, gathering visual information, it seemed.

The bug shuffles down the projector and begins to move toward Flynn, it's sex eyes that rest atop its would-be head shifting individually as it does.

Perception 14+3: 3d6 ⇒ (5, 2, 6) = 13 (to see if it's the same manabug from before)

It does possess the same form as you last recall manabug. Just bigger...and with shinny on it...

Jaq Lowers her rifle and stares at the bug.

"Wasn't he... littler?"