Shadowrun
Shadowrun Play => Play-by-Post => Topic started by: Jack_Spade on <01-28-15/1704:28>
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Deep Black Sea
Maxime #18 of Maximally Effective Mercenaries: If the officers are leading from the front, watch out for an attack from the rear.
Seattle, earlier today:
"You know, that's quite a dangerous mission. Are you sure that will be your best course of action?"
"The best? No. The best would be for me not to go down there. But I can't pass up the chance. The potential is just... incredible."
"So you want me to find a team to protect you, to trust you and all of that on the pittance of a retainer you pay me?"
"Ideally yes, but luckily I've still got some money left on our bribes, black ops and quality-control budget for this year. How does 50k sound to you and a quarter of a million for the team?"
"I'll get back to you."
*Click*
Maxime #21 of Maximally Effective Mercenaries: Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Take his fish away and tell him he's lucky just to be alive, and he'll figure out how to catch another one for you to take tomorrow.
Seattle, now:
Slobertooth's comlink alerted him with a sharp buzzing sound to his fixer's wish to speak with him. Kazuya Armstrong's voice sounded a bit stressed: "Slobertooth, time to move your ass from that comfy chair of yours. There's a client that wants to hire you and your friends. He is one of my most valuable and trusted associates, so be at your best behavior. He is treating you all to a midnight snack at that new restaurant down by the marina, the Ancient Mariner. Table's reserved for Schmitt and company.
I strongly recommend you listen carefully to his proposal. There is a lot of cash riding on a successful deal. Be there at midnight. And try their Calamari Ripieni. I hear it's won some prize or something. Keep me posted.
And don't forget: Play nice."
The connection went dead and a look at the display showed that it was just a few minutes to 22.00h. Traffic wouldn't be as bad at that time of night so no more than half an hour to drive there. Time enough to get ready...
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Slobbertooth grumbled into the dialtone, "I always play nice, K." He paused and then continued, "Until I don't." (Or'zet). His joke was funny enough to make him smile, as he shot K a text message, "Plz remember to say how much Mr. J is paying."
Slobbertooth put his commlink away and went about the house, alerting the rest of the team that they had a job. "bnc, Krestov, wake up. Torrent, stop being moody and come out of your room to play with the rest of the kids. We have a client lined up. ETA Midnight. ETD 1 Hour."
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Krestov had not quite gone to sleep yet, the big troll sitting crosslegged on his cot, hands resting atop his knees as he focused on his breathing, mind flitting and sifting through distant memories with each passing breath. The knock on his door by the ork Slobbertooth brought him out of his reverie, sky blue eyes blinking into focus in the dimly lit room. Another night-time client...with any luck, this will fare better.
Sighing, he hopped to his feet, the loud shaking thud against the floor his reply of acknowledgement as he dressed, grabbing his gear. Cargo pants, tanktop, and his jacket, the Crusader sliding under his arm and out of sight like always. Lacing up his boots, Krestov was in the living room in less than ten minutes, standing up straight and ready to go.
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Slobbertooth came out of his room, stowed his Ares Crusader under is armored jacket, and started to hook up his micro-transceiver with one hand, while the other carried his HK-227. He wasn't expecting to need either firearm at the meet up, but wanted to make sure it was in the van in case they needed to quickly head to the operational area.
He saw Krestov standing at attention and dressed and ready to kill in the living room, or do whatever the job had in mind. Slobbertooth reminded himself that he needed to be more specific the next time he mentioned they had a client, especially around their favorite ex-military.
"At ease, soldier. We're about to meet a client, not go on a run, so relax. Don't want ya to be stiff in front of Mr J., unless you're the Cassanova type."
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bnc doesn't respond. She's in full VR and hears nothing.
After a while (hopefully) Krestov or Slobbertooth calls her on her 'link. Sighing, bnc says goodbye to her buddies in her favourite Austrian online bar, McCoy's, and returns to her meat body about quarter an hour later.
"Jeez? It's 10pm, boys. Can't we play tomorrow..? Hope the payment's bastante grando"
Grumpily bnc leaves her room, already wearing her pyjamas. Sie runs her fingers through her hair, blinks lazily and sees Krestov standing in the middle of the living room, in boots and armour. She immediately bursts into laughter.
"Hell, big 'un! Whazzat?" She chuckles, wiping the tears from her eyes and looks down her pink and grey pyjama and her fluffy rabbit slippers. "Huh, seems I'm a bit underdressed, n'est-ce pas?"
She stretches, then returns to her room. "Slobby! Please be a buddy and send me the record of the conversation, any related texts and a list of your favourite sex positions. Should I check on the phone or are you hupro sure he's your fixer?"
Another couple of minutes later, she returns. She wears black trousers and her electrochromatic T-shirt which presents itself now as a purple band-shirt. Her hair is black - as almost always - with a purple touch. Over the shirt is her armor jacket. You can't see Tom, her gun, but you're quite sure it's there, somewhere. "Gotta brush my teeth, then I'm ready to go. Oh, jeez, I should take a shower ... we still have some time, yeah?"
She hurries to the bathroom and locks herself in for another twenty minutes, then comes back, looking exactly the same, but smiling. "Let's get ready to rumble, laddies!"
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Torrent was actually sleeping.
He didn't believe that the early bird catches the worm, but he knew for a fact that sleeping in the same house with a Troll whose footsteps were so heavy that could shame an earthquake, and a Tusker whose voice could win an argument with a war siren, was a rare commodity.
When he emerged from his room he was dressed with black pants and a dark grey shirt.His armor vest was underneath it.His dark skinned face also wore that familiar half-smile.He gave Slobertooth a nod
"My man..."
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The drive to the marina was neither exiting nor memorable. Yacht after yacht were moored for the night and the parking lot was only moderately crowded.
A casual check on Slobertooths com revealed to bnc that the message had indeed come from his fixer and that Armstrong was currently within the wifi coverage of a Seattle downtown five star hotel lobby.
The Ancient Mariner was a simple two story building with an expansive glass front towards the harbor and a hardwood deck directly adjacent to the water. Bushes in massive terracotta planters provided respite from wind and noise to the guests. Highly inefficient patio heaters forced the chilly night air away while wide marquees prevented the occasional acid rain to sour the guests desserts.
An for the time of night unreasonable chipper female dwarf acted as hostess, directing guests with expansive gestures and her decidedly lowtech clipboard guest list to different areas of the outside dining area.
On the matrix the site wasn't especially impressive: A low level host designed with a lot of off the shelf textures and a few AR markers with infos about their services was all the new restaurant had to offer.
All in all, it was a textbook example why most restaurants folded after about half a year...
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bnc jumps into the car and fastens the seatbelt, eager to meet Mr. Johnson. She's still a pup, and giddy when it comes to a new run.
As they draw closer she decides it's time to do some intel. "Hold me," she tells Krestov. She dives into Hot Sim, her body goes limp. She travels to the place, checks it out, and finds it uninteresting.
When they arrive at the parking lot, she scans the host again, deciding it's protection is too poor for this world. She attacks the guest list, looking for one Mr. Schmitt. If she finds it, she checks out the room he's supposed to be, looking for any icons running silently or loudly.
After that she reboots her deck, enslaves our smartguns and the weaker 'links to her deck and creates a communication channel for the whole group, sending an ENTER ARO to her three favourite boys.
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The host was a brand new installation up to and including the default admin passwords. It took bnc no longer than a few seconds to find her target: A reservation for Mr. Schmitt revealed a table for five directly at the edge of the water, screened by lots of greenery.
The only matrix activity there seemed to be an expensive Fairlight Caliban running on the public grid. The device identified itself readily as belonging to a Dr. Gerhardt Schmitt, complete with a little business card for "20kMUS Marine Defense Technologies". [Matrix search: 9d6.hits(5)=4 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4762687/) hits]
His profile picture shows a white man with dark blond hair in his late 30s and ice blue eyes. The rimless glasses on his nose look as if they had cost more than two months of rent for you.
Besides the target there are about 50 other icons to be found, with half of them belonging to the restaurant and its staff. There is no sign of silent icons.
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Krestov relaxed upon Slobbertooth's jibe, giving a nod. "It is old habit, da. Casa..nova? I know not that reference, but get your point." Nodding at the ork's loadout, the troll grabbed his helmet and ballistic shield, along with his taser (which strapped to his boot) and tactical belt, just in case they did transition from meet to job without pause. Running his hands through his mane of hair, he decided it may be a good idea to smooth his look over, but was promptly stopped as the frail girl bolted herself in the bathroom. This gave him a chuckle, as even with a run or two under her belt, the hacker still looked the most normal of the bunch...and that was saying something.
As they traveled to the marina, Krestov looked out at the yachts, sniffing the air as he took in the smells. One hand was firmly planted on bnc's shoulder, supporting her torso, head and neck from being jostled while she was in cyberspace. His thoughts focused on the smells. Fish, salt in the air, oils on the mooring ropes...Reminds me of when I ran with that decker Judge in Hong Kong...that was a fun chase through the pier...I'll have to see if he's still alive and ask him if he got the smell out...heh... As the restaurant appeared to view, the troll leaned forward, speaking slowly and just loud enough to be heard by everyone in the car, running a speech-to-text message to keep bnc in the loop.
"I remember not meeting a Johnson with such calm waters. It will be a refreshed pace change, that how you say? To make sure no toes are on stepped, who should lead the meeting, do we think? While it is not negotiating a hostage, I am sure talking to a J, as Slob puts it, has some sameness. What do you think?"
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Slobbertooth shrugged at Krestov's question. "As much as I wouldn't mind trying to win him over with my glowing personality, most people have issues looking past the teeth and the green skin. And also they aren't a fan of the sour personality."
"I'm fine with leaving this to you."
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bnc stirs after just a minute or two, finding herself lying comfortably in Krestov's armpit. She stretches and says:
"I think I like Dr. Gerhardt Schmitt. We have a seat with sea view. Oops, we don't know yet!" bnc sets up the kind of will-I-be-told-off face teenage girls show when they let out a secret. Since she is a teenage girl, the face suits her perfectly well. She chuckles.
"Mr. Sch ... Dr. Schmitt works for 20kMUS Marine Defense Technologies. His damn glasses look like they cost more dough than any decent job should earn you in two months. You know what that means: He's gonna pay, and we let him pay mucho grande, leidln.
I got you a picture posted on our channel.
"I'd propose we skip the receptionist and head right over to him. And yeah, you seem to be our Prince Charming. Jeez..."
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While the team discussed their next steps, the wind around the marina freshened up. Lampions begann dancing on their lines and dust devils began to dance in the parking lot.
An obviously drunk man helped by his obviously irritated spouse to their SUV. Here and there heavy drops of rain began to fall.
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"Waitwaitwait a tick..."
bnc's expression becomes serious. "Something is wrong. This dude is running his Fairlight - a Fairlight, grand dieu, on the public grid. That's like having a machine gun and filing in each bullet separately after you shot because you can't or don't want to afford a proper bullet clip. It just doesn't make any sense. Except...hm"
bnc smiles. "Did I mention that I liked that dude? Let's get inside before the rain starts to get heavy. I don't fancy arriving there all wet. Especially not with Cassanova hanging around."
If no one objects, bnc jumps out of the car and heads for the safety of the marina. Johnson time.
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Torrent shrugs
"Well, maybe this guy intends to scare snoopers away by showing them he's the baddest cat in the digital block.His corp is all about high tech stuff.Milspec."
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Slobbertooth flipped his Ruger Super Warhawk's cylinder into place, spun the pistol a few times around his finger, and then smoothly transitioned into the concealed holster in his jacket. K had given it to him in exchange for his customized Ares Crusader II. K needed an easily concealable automatic firearm with some stopping power, and Slobbertooth needed some more powerful firepower. Slobbertooth had already grown fond of his new hand-cannon after a few days at the firing range.
Looking up from his Ruger, Slobbertooth saw that the rest of the group had started to get out of the van. "Looks like it's showtime." Ruger quickly tried to catch up with bnc and Torrent. He wasn't worried about Torrent, but bnc needed to be reminded that you aren't supposed to look excited about a job during a negotiation for how much the job is going to pay.
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The dwarven hostess was brimming with cheer and possibly an extra dose of long haul. She didn't seem to notice the suspicious composition of the group and their lack of evening wear. Instead she just directed the team towards the end of the patio. "Dr. Schmitt is waiting for you."
The team navigated through a maze of chairs, tables, plants and the occasional guest until they reached the water's edge.
Secluded from the rest of the restaurant, a man sat with the back towards the waterfront. His suit didn't follow the latest trend but was instead one of the timeless Armani models.
In comparison to his profile pic, he seemed to have lost some weight. His cheekbones were sharp and prominent and the dark circles under his eyes spoke of a recent series of all-nighters.
The smile seemed genuine as the four approached him.
"Good evening. I hope, I haven't called you away from other important business. Our mutual aquaintance insisted that you'd be able to make it without problems.
My Name is Dr. Gerhardt Schmitt." At these words he rose and gave each of the men firm hand shake. bnc received a kiss on the hand instead.
He took his place again and continued: "As you probably guessed, I'd like to acquire your services. But before we do business, please select a dish of your liking. It's on the company card."
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Krestov gave a small nod in affirmation of the decision to lead the negotiation. Another first. No pressure, right? He accepted the intel graciously, nodding to torrent. "Spasibo (Russian), Thank you. Let us be away".
Upon arrival, he was courteous enough to let the rest of the team pile out of the van before him, hopping out with a small thud, the suspension lifting two full inches upon his exit. Shrugging his jacket about himself, he glanced at the type of attire most of the restaurant goers had. He regretted not dressing more formally...but that being said, his size provided for a fairly limited wardrobe market. He gave a polite nod to the dwarven waitress, his hands behind his back as they were led to the back. Krestov stepped nimbly, surprisingly able to avoid bumping into anyone as they arrived at the Johnson's table.
He shook Schmitt's hand, squeezing the gentlest he could upon shaking it. "Krestov. A pleasure" He said promptly for taking a seat. Troll sized chair...huh, he does his homework. Putting his hands together in front of him, elbows resting on the corner of the table he gave a nod. "You are kind to offering this, Dr. I am appreciate much." Pulling up the menu, he thumbed through a few selections before deciding on a grilled salmon dish..troll sized, so more than likely a whole big salmon or at least two decently sized ones. While doing so, he used the opportunity to throw bnc a text message.
<<@bnc (Krestov
<<I already know you're digging. Don't try to deny it. :P You think you find anything I can use, feel free to forward it to me.
Sending that off, he also hit the ARO to slave his gear to her PAN. Not having a spendy Fairlight, a little extra protection wouldn't hurt.
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"Well, maybe this guy intends to scare snoopers away by showing them he's the baddest cat in the digital block.His corp is all about high tech stuff.Milspec."
"No, he's just mucho grande wiz. Local grid's slow as an Austrian politician. Which is maddening if you want to do something - except if you have good gear. Like, say, a Fairlight. But it's brilliant if you don't want to be attacked, since any attacker has to wade through this sirup in order to strike. Jeez, I like that man before I ever met him. But no worries, I won't let out the giddy teenage girl."
And she doesn't. First thing, she flips her electrochromatic shirt into something more suitable: A salmon-coloured top shaded and coloured in a fashionable way. Only on the second glance you can see, that between these shades there is an amount of zeros and ones. Only on the third glance you can see that the shades of these shade-hidden zeros and ones form the words "Hello, World!". Only if you're a geek like bnc you would be able to analyse that the zeros and ones, de-compiled to characters, form the words: "If you can read this, I'll marry you."
Second, to make her hairstyle suite the salmon-coloured dress, she changes its colour to blond before she exits the car, and shapes it into a socially quite acceptable mane down her back and shoulders. This is the first time you see her wearing her hair not black, and might be the last for a considerable amount of time. She lets all her tattoes vanish, save for one small image of those kind of RFID tags you find on clothing or kitchen gear in a shop, storing an identification number by which the database can determine the price and other attributes, on the left side of her neck.
Then she enters.
"Good evening. I hope, I haven't called you away from other important business. Our mutual aquaintance insisted that you'd be able to make it without problems.
My Name is Dr. Gerhardt Schmitt." At these words he rose and gave each of the men firm hand shake. bnc received a kiss on the hand instead.
He took his place again and continued: "As you probably guessed, I'd like to acquire your services. But before we do business, please select a dish of your liking. It's on the company card."
"Guten Tag, Dr. Schmitt. Sehr angenehm," she greets him, praying to whatever gods there are that he's Austrian. Or at least Bavarian.
After his answer she flips through the menu, looking for lassi or yoghurt. In the meanwhile she responds to Krestov's message.
<<@Krestov>>
[bnc]I sure am. He claims to work for this company called 20kMUS. Torpedos and stuff. Joing-venture between Ares and friggin' SK. It's seen better times, though. Shares are going down recently. Officially they missed an important exhibition. Also, Dr. Schmitt, who I believe to be either Austrian or South German, has seen better times. Means he's in trouble. And he's got a lot of creds. That's basically it.
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"Ah, Sie sprechen Deutsch? It's been a while since I've had the pleasure to meet someone from the old world. You are from Austria, aren't you? I am originally from Passau, but haven't been home for over ten years."
He winked. "But in the interest of keeping your companions within the loop, we probably should refrain from lapsing into old habits. Or do you all speak German? If yes, I apologize for presuming to much."
While he selected his own dish (Fettuccine with lemon sauce on salmon) he continued with the small talk:
"I've worked a few times as a Johnson for different companies and I've always found that directness and honesty is the best policy to grease the wheels of a good working relationship. You probably have already canvased our surroundings and found no direct backup. At least I hope so, because I didn't bring any and since I asked your fixer explicitly for professional and sane talent, I shouldn't. There are certain types of people who interpret an apology as an admission of weakness. I have buried a lot of those - mainly because they tried to blackmail me personally.
But please do not take this as a threat - I just want to avoid misunderstandings and since I presume you to be professionals this shouldn't even become an issue.
So if you don't mind me asking, how long have you all been in the business?"
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bnc orders Indian lassi and a lemon soda.
"Yes, indeed. I'm from Linz. Unfortunately, my friends don't. English appears to be the lingua franca here."
bnc follows his words and finds her respect in Dr. Schmitt confirmed. She leaves the talking to Krestov, however, glad for an excuse to hide her embarrasment over his question. Erm. Couples of weeks. Why?
In the meanwhile, she lazily flips through the visible files of his commlink. She found it was always interesting what you could find in a 'link. And what you couldn't.
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Slobbertooth looked at the menu, drool forming along his tusks. Anything we want, eh? I'll make sure to get enough that I'll have leftovers, then. " After a few minutes of reading, distracted from the conversation happening before him, Slobbertooth made his decision. "Troll-sized northern pike stew, with a soykaf to drink, for me."
Slobbertooth was able to refocus on the task at hand in time to hear Dr. Schmitt's question about their experience. "I can't speak for others, but this has been my source of income for over half a decade."
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Why the fuck do you care? You a life insurance broker?
Torrent answered whithout taking his eyes off the food catalogue, giving a random number
"Three and a half years."
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What you couldn't proved to be quite interesting indeed. bnc tries to hide her slightly alarmed expression behind flipping through the menu once more.
<<@Krestov>>
[bnc]Careful, buddy. He's hiding something from us, and he puts a lot of effort in doing so. I actually guess he might not even come from 20kMUS. Leave us backdoors. This man is intelligent, and he knows how to play the game. I'm trying to find out more, but while we're here my possibilities are limited.
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Krestov tilted his head a little at the question, his expression remaining decidedly neutral at Dr. Schmitt's question. That being said, he had little to hide, and let the rounds of answers happen before he spoke his piece. "I am not stranger to the shadow, this is true. But that is not relevant. A Johnson knows that it is skill that is value before experience, da? Every person here earned right to be on team. That, and the word from contact which giving our name to you should be proving enough that we are capable.
With no regard, it is certain our..how you say...reputation arrived before? With our talents, you sure to have need of some serious ability. If I may ask, Dr. Schmidt, if we are to be open and direct, what is nature of our hiring?"
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"Please, it wasn't meant as an offense. I do not doubt your abilities, otherwise we wouldn't have this particular conversation. I was merely curious how often you had to deal with my parent companies.
Oh well, seems as if we'll discuss business while we eat." He made a pause as a series of small drones delivered their food. Once everyone was served and had at least the chance to taste it, he continued: "I'll tell you a bit about my background.
I am a doctor of biotechnology with a specialization in life support and extreme environment adaption. I got my grounding with Saeder-Krupp and have been with them for all my life. About six years ago someone in the company decided it would be a wonderful thing to have a joint-venture with one of our biggest rivals, Ares Macro Technologies. The result was 20kMUS Marine Defense Technologies. I suspect the prime motivation was from the beginning industrial espionage as the company was at first stocked only with third tear research personal, headhunters and spys. Of course both companies soon realized that they wouldn't learn and produce anything of value if they didn't at least make some efforts. So about three years ago, I was loaned to 20kMUS together with a small cadre of other top researchers. We developed a few prototypes with breakthrough capability. Unfortunately, the fruits of our labor where stolen before we could present them. I suspect this was an insider job of someone who purposefully wants this joint-venture to end."
He paused to take a few bites from his quickly cooling meal:
"The attempt was insofar successful, as our stock price went down significantly, which to me is a signal that soon someone will try a hostile takeover, score all research, liquidate our assets and most of all, will force the valuable personal to sign some lifetime working contracts.
Now comes the rub: 20kMUS has one last ace in the hole. About 50 km off shore we have a secret underwater facility. The research there might save the joint-venture and vindicate our efforts. For me this means, I won't be shipped to some backwater corporate holding or worse - vanish into some internment think tank.
I have been invited to go to this facility to finalize my designs with the prototypes. I've been long enough in the game to know when someone lays a trap. But the bait of this particular trap is to good to pass up. If I said no, I can say my future with Saeder-Krupp goodbye. If I say yes, there is a high chance the facility will loose contact with the main office and all valuable personal will be secretly deported to Ares or SK, depending on who is behind the sabotage. It's a 50:50 chance, but since Ares has a lot more influence here, I'm inclined to think that it will be rather the former than the later.
For this meeting, I've taken every conceivable step to avoid being bugged, including a completely new wardrobe, commlink and a seat in a natural, noisy environment.
I went to this trouble because I can't risk that anyone from 20kMUS or Ares learns about what I want to do:
I want to hire you for two months to act as my ace in the hole. If you agree, you will secretly accompany me to this underwater facility and help me to get back out. There is a good chance that I am wrong and nothing will happen, but my feeling says otherwise.
Any questions so far?
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bnc takes a tentative spoonful of her lassi then glances at it with suspicion. Her gaze wanders around, looking for the restroom, just in case she has to be quick.
"I do." She checks Krestov's face, not wanting to interrupt him. If there's no sign of objection, she goes on. "I understand that your commlink is a virgin so that you can't be traced, and I guess running on the public grid will just serve the same purpose. The greenery supports what you say and the information you can check within a minute confirms it as well. You're a smart player and you know how to play the game. You know the tricks and the backdoors. So, if you want this to be streng geheim, why do you a) post your true identity to the public, b) show your business card, confirming that you belong to the company you don't want to know about what you're doing, and c) turn on the high-security virgin 'link at all?
"Second, you said you don't want 20kMUS and Ares to find out. What about S-K? Do they know about this? Do you stand in contact with S-K?
"Third, do you have any personal enemies or any other reason to fear risking more than your job and reputation?"
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Krestov was about to speak, but then stopped promptly as bnc piped in. He eased back in his seat, enjoying a few bites of his salmon while the small human teen asked her questions, instead turning to his own thoughts.
A mid-long term bodyguard contract in an environment that prevents outside contact. Wonderful. That means we will need our own supplies, and not expect a refresh for that time. The underwater situation will limit use of gunfire, but that personally means little to me...Slob might be the only one terribly inconvenienced by that situation. But Bianca's right. This is too cut and dry of an offer of the situation. We must know more
Making a glance towards the others casually, he gave a light cough between bites, clearing his throat. He had nothing to add: anyone who did their homework on the team would identify bnc as the most green, and this series of well-thought questions was a good way to prove her professionalism.
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Slobbertooth enjoyed the stew while he listened to the offer. He quickly started doing the math on how much gear he was going to need for a job that would most likely require a trip to the whole on a log on the bottom of the sea.
I'm already at 2000 Nuyen and more for the damn smartlink I need for these guns. We'll need some wetsuits for when things go tits up. It'll be at 3000 nuyen to get this gun able to fire underwater. This job better be a damn good payday for this much trouble
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Schmitt nodded slowly: "Good questions. Yes. To answer this you have to understand, that I undertook quite a bit of preparation. I've been going to this restaurant every free evening and business meeting for the last two months to establish a pattern that won't rise suspicion with any analysts. My new commlink was just a measure to ensure that no one had a chance yet to install any spy code. It also gave me the chance to befriend our hostess Clara and have her arrange this meeting, without it being obvious that you met me. Trying to hide my whereabouts would only draw suspicion. Instead I've opted to generate as much useless data as possible. To facilitate that, I've been holding hiring interviews for a new team member for about a week now.
S-K doesn't officially acknowledge this situation. That means there are no written documents about this. I do have one trusted contact within S-K that will arrange my repatriation. Anything more would be to risky. You should know best, that spies are everywhere in the matrix and that the meta-human factor is the greatest weakness in any security measures. Point in case, just by configuring my commlink for comfort I've probably lowered its secureness by a considerable factor.
About Enemies: Yes, I do have some. Corporate environment does breed and encourage competitiveness. But what I fear most of all is being seen as a traitor to my parent company. I do have friends and family within S-K. Me being seen as a defector would tarnish their reputation as well. Last but not least, I do not like being pushed around. When I go, it's on my terms."
He took another few bites, than continued:
"There is another point that I haven't mentioned up until now and which I understand will be a hard sell. So please hear me out. The facility into which I want to bring you is top secret. I have agreed to absolute confidentiality. If you are there and nothing happens, my career will be in ruins. No matter how good your cover is, it would come out someday.
But I have a way around that: Suspended animation. As I've told you, I am an expert in biotechnology. One of my successful projects has been the design of underwater Valkyrie pods. An advanced autonomous expert system, commonly called an Autodoc, will induce an artificial hibernation and keep you alive and comfortable, stored away with my other tools, materials and specimen.
If nothing happens, you will be released after to months from a dreamless sleep and a mighty heap of Nuyen. If there is trouble, I'll send a coded signal to revive you within a secure container, where you'll find your gear, information on the facility and the latest status updates. Ideally I'll be there with you when you wake up.
Your renumeration will be paid in full into a trust account plus a security deposit. I won't be able to get the security deposit back without your cooperation. You'll also be able to vet the program of the Valkyrie pods yourself. As long as you are in those armored cocoons, you'll be safer than me. On a side note: Don't worry about having to go for a swim: We have the finest military gear any navy could wish for down there. In the worst case you could also just return to your pods. They are equipped with a Jonas Protocol and can transport you to the surface while handling the decompression.
For those two months of service I am prepared to pay each of you 50.000 Nuyen with a 20% bonus in case of a real emergency.
As candy on top, I can provide you with some choice hardware: A set of five FN-AAL Gyrojet pistols and diving armor."
-
Slobbertooth pauses at the request. I'm sorry, Krestov, I said you'd be the one talking, but there is nothing to negotiate now. He stands up and speaks.
"Nope.
"I'm not going into suspended animation for a biotech engineer so that I can be taken to a top secret facility in the middle of the ocean that's run by a dragon. Not for Nuyen. Not for all the Nuyen in the world.
"I'm out."
-
bnc was just about asking questions, again, when her favourite ork declares his being out.
For a moment she's puzzled, then a frown rises on her brows.
"Wait. Wait a tick. You knew the biotech engineer part, the top secret facility part the dragon part before. You didn't look happy as a kid in a candy store but you were definitely considering. So if it's the suspended animation part that makes you quit, hear me out first.
"While I'm not a doctor, I do have a idea about medicine as not only Wasteland lives to witness. I know more about chemical processes as most chemicists do and I know some things about both hardware and software. If we (she takes a glance at Krestov) decide to go there, I will not only vet the programming of the pods, I will examine them thouroughly. And while you don't know me for a long time you know me well enough to know what a thourough bnc examination looks like. Furthermore I will apply some tricks that will ensure that, in case something unpleasant would happen to us, Dr. Schmitt would regret this incident for the rest of his life-"
She quickly turns over to Dr. Schmitt, showing her palms. "No threat intended here-"
before turning back to Slobbertooth. "thus insuring it is not only in our motivation that this particular part of the run doesn't go amiss.
Lastly, we need you, Slobbertooth. If we go down there, we might need you direly before the end."
bnc tries to look both professional and in need of protection at the same time. She's not quite sure whether she does the trick, never having been particularly good with people. She has always preferred zeros and ones. They do as they're told and if they don't you didn't tell them right.
-
Schmitt nodded to bnc: "There would be an option to improve your stay. If you insist, you could spend your waiting time within a virtual reality construct. Your access would be limited to within the Jonas Host, but you'd have full access to your biomonitors and the autodocs programs. If you are as skilled a hacker as I presume, you could probably leave the host, but I'd ask you not to do so without my express permission as it would likely compromise your position.
Of course, you'd have to find a way to amuse yourself through all this time. Especially since you perceive time in cyberspace roughly four times as long."
-
This thing is going to hell.
Torrent quickly types a message to Krestov, keeping his commlink under the table and hoping the Troll has turned on the image link in his cybereyes.
We have revealed far too much of ourselves in a single cast of the dice.I trust you to fix this.Maybe we should ask for time?
-
Slobbertooth looks up to the ceiling and audibly sighs, mumbles "And there goes any leverage we could have got from that." (Or'zet) and then turns back around. He makes no attempt to hide the frustration on his face. "I'll keep listening."
"But only because I forgot to pack up my leftover stew."
-
bnc gives a very small sigh of relief, before she turns back to Dr. Schmitt, still showing an unsecure face.
Our team performance could definitely better. Still, if Krestov is clever this might be a perfect basis for a push and pull negotiation. Johnson is already coming towards us, we got the step in the door. Let's hope Krestov is a better actor than Slobbertooth is. If he grasps the situation quickly we can use both cognitive dissonance and an almost perfect role set to our ends.
To Slobbertooth and Torrent she sends a short message, not to Krestov though. They can't afford him wasting concentration on reading texts.
<<@Slobbertooth><@Torrent>>
[bnc, 00:17]Trust me. I'm playing my role in the game, stick to yours.
-
"Well, I'm glad to hear, that it is not the proposed salary that causes your rejection.
I do understand, how uncomfortable the thought must be for you. I would hesitate as well to undergo such a procedure from someone I've just met.
Let me assure you, that I have nothing to gain by betraying you. On the contrary: Once we are down there, we'll depend on each other. The transport might seem frightening, but since our destination is the bottom of the sea, you have to ask yourself: What could you do differently if you are smuggled fully conscious? You'd still be at the mercy of who ever transports you. It's not as if you could just leave a submarine. And what would you do once you have arrived? There is not much room to hide. Would you want to be stored in a 4 cubic meter wide container with nothing more than a chemical toilet and a two month ration of super nutri bars?
If you agree to my proposal, you won't suffer boredom, inconvenience or any risk of discovery. Your tech expert will be able to guarantee your safety, as far as it is humanly possible. If the young lady is willing, she'd even be able to stay conscious in VR and oversee your continued well being herself.
Who knows, my Autodoc program and a few weeks of rest could even cure a lingering ailment. It certainly will keep you in peak performance, by periodically stimulating your muscles - something you'd sorely miss while hiding for weeks in a container"
finished Schmitt with an apologetic smile.
-
Krestov had his hands closed in front and covering his mouth, leaning forward a bit in his chair, his half-finished food forgotten as the rest of his team reacted to the situation and he read the messages to him. This is tricky...but not impossible. There are no weapons drawn, no innocents at risk...no pressure. Ivan, you have this.. Instinctively, he activated his tailored pheromones, letting them acclimate into the air before taking a deep breath, sitting up to his full height over the others, brushing a stray golden lock from his face before speaking.
"Your offer is generous, and including terms with team in mind shows you are interest in our success and want investing in such. It is admirable quality, Dr. Schmitt. However.." He glanced towards Slobbertooth for a brief moment. "As reputation does seem precede us, so too does reputation come before you. You say you connected with S-K, and that you work Johnson before. Then you aware of rule 4 of the shadows: Never deal with dragon. Despite reassurance of our comfort and safety in mind, you asking much of this team in trusting you on word." He leaned forward, a small smile on his face as he let his arms come down, revealing his full face.
"I feel that you are smart man, Dr. Schmitt, and that you want us to trusting you. The terms of allowing our expert to control stasis system, and inclusion of gear and specialized equipment are proving of that. I asking you to see things from shadow perspective, and what you are asking us still. For us to do what you ask, and to ensure we cooperate and are able to act professionally and successful on terms provided, I offer you terms of our own. The salary you offer, while quite good, still measures lacking for both time invested and potential risk and cost required to commit to safety and extraction if need. It will be required to increase, and further, as a show of your good faith, in addition to equipment promised which we will acquire and inspect before run, an up front portion of payment will show you want our cooperation."
He lifted a hand briefly before any protest could be made. "There is...one more thing which will need from you. A display of your faith, and earnest desire to ensure our genuine safety. A token of collatoral, I believe that is word. Something dear to you that would cause you much harm to lose: your information regarding defection of 20kMUS and work against Ares. Should things not go on plan, our expert will release this information to the public. Now, Dr. Schmitt, I understand these are tough terms, but you are smart man, and know you asking for tough terms as well. Perhaps we both require a moment?"
-
bnc still has some questions on her mind, but it's not the time for them to be asked. So she takes up her spoon again and starts attacking her lassi. Yummy.
After two spoonful - as you know, two spoonful of sugared lassi qualify as half a meal for the skinny girl - she leans back and enjoys the show.
-
Schmitt's face relaxed visibly, now that they finally had arrived at talking business:
"I understand, but you are not working for S-K. You are working for me personally. And as far as I know, I am neither a dragon, nor any other kind of lizard. Contrary to popular believe, the owner does not micro-manage every aspect of his corporation. And unlike many other Johnsons, I'll share the frontline with you - so to speak.
Leaving the renumeration aspect for the moment alone, I want to address your last demand first:
No. Fucking. Way.
First and foremost, I don't plan to betray Ares or 20kMUS. These measures are purely defensive in nature, especially since I won't take hostile action if no one else takes hostile action. So even if I made such a statement, it would not be true. Secondly, there is a rule: Never give away blackmail material on yourself. I am pretty allergic to blackmail and I'll rather decline a visit to the facility than to open myself up for such an attack.
The collateral you demand will have to be a safety deposit. Trust me when I say, corporations hate nothing more than to lose money unnecessarily. If I wanted some meta-human guinea pigs, it would be a lot cheaper to just deliver the pods to a street doc and take my pick from there. You will have the pods and the diving gear should the need arise for evac. You'll see once you have inspected the gear.
But I am not unreasonable. You'll receive the hardware up front, as well as 10.000 Nuyen each as an advance to your base salary. That should take care of your affairs for two months of absence.
I am also prepared to increase your bonus to 25% bringing your total cash gain to a full quarter of a million.
You'll have two days to inspect and verify the equipment."
-
Torrent sends another message to Krestov.
I will need a list of all the security measures of the facility.I'm not going down there unless I'm sure I brought the right b&e equipment.
-
Slobbertooth does not verbally respond to the Dr.'s assurances, or Krestov's negotiations. He simply continues packing up and inspecting the remainders of this troll-sized northern pike stew. He figures there isn't much of a point in him saying anything, anyway.
He rolls his eyes at the doctor assurances that he wouldn't want them as specimens.
Yeah doc, what could you possibly want with 2 awakened metahumans.
-
bnc opens a game of Tetris in the left upper part of her field of vision. She just loves the 90 year old title melody.
-
Krestov once again brought his hands up to his face, closing them and leaning forward as he listened to the Dr. say his piece. He gave a smile, closing his eyes and nodding his head briefly. The denial of hard collatoral is unfortunate, but not unexpected.
"Your offer is much generous, Dr. Schmitt, and shows us that you are indeed willing to make business work for us. Your terms are more agreeable, but I would like ask one more favorable. This I ask is not anything important, or secret: The location. For us to be able to responding in alert, we will need have access or know how to access much if not all of facility. While codes and keys are favorable, yes, I do not expect you will just give them. Rather, the nature of the security measures this facility uses would be key information for our work, and knowing such will make for better preparedness for when you will need us to go into action."
"Lastly, much of us would feel more at ease if we were not bound at conclusion of this wonderful meal. Therefore, I ask of one final request: should at the end of two days decline, we may do so, and all advance deposits and equipment will be returned as they were." He opened his eyes, glancing at the others, looking for protest or additional input. "We understand your situation, Doctor, do not mistake us. Please respecting that this is to ensure our confidence and better ready us to serve as your protection."
-
Dee didadoo dididi dididoo deedee dee didididee... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmCCQxVBfyM)
It was a trick. From childhood one she experienced, when other people's minds were pedestrians, hers was not an athlete, but a race horse. An unlucky childhood prevented her from being found by the right-wrong people but it were note Bianca's teachers who found out about her brilliancy first. Although they probably suffered the most. Being in the same class with these dim-witted cunts and dicks freaked her out, and quite soon outsmarting her maths teacher proved no fun, either.
Last year in German class they had read this book (the thought, that last year she still went to school in Austria and nothing extraordinary had happened still was shocking to bnc). She forgot about the title, but she distinctly remembered the main character. Dieter Heinrich. It was some classic from the forties or so. Dieter Heinrich was a fictional German marine whose submarine sunk. By some incident Bianca couldn't remember all of his comrades died, and only he was left, with nothing but a machine that converted sea water into drinking water and oxygen, a never-ending supply of nutrition bars and two telecoms, as the commlinks were called back then. In order to escape madness he started to play Knight Ride against himself. He became so brilliant that he managed to split his mind and outsmart himself. When he was rescued months later, he was the best Knight Ride player on Earth. He didn't succeed in protect his sanity, though.
bnc did something similar. There was this game called Wizards on the Move, which could be controlled by Agents or semi-AIs. She loved programming an AI, then getting high on Golden Mirror and thus forgetting about the strategies she used, to code another AI, and then have them compete. It was a highly complex game, and it would keep her mind busy. This was the kind of thing she would do to entertain herself.
But there were other times. She hated school. Not because she didn't like to learn. Quite the opposite: she always loved it. But the time spent in school was practically lost. Fortunately, Austrians (especially Austrian technician) aren't very strict about attendancy rates, and a dose of Whoom here and there made things easier to bear. But still, she couldn't be absent or stoned all the time, so when torturing her teachers became boring she started playing games like Tetris. Not to distract herself, mind you, but the opposite: to prevent her from drifting off entirely. With her mind being bound in the here and there, she sometimes managed to actually follow the lesson, acting as a kind of anchor of her consciousness.
It still works. Listening time is over, bnc can speak now. She turns off Tetris.
When Krestov is finished she starts giving her own questions:
"Only two days? Why? I'm sure you didn't prepare this for weeks and then leave your team no time at all to prepare?
How long do the autobots need to freeze or unfreeze us? Where exactly will we be? Where is this platform at all? I'm quite positive you intend to let us know more details about the security there."
-
"You'll receive the exact coordinates, once you have agreed to take this mission.
Regarding the security in base I can give you floor plans. Since this is a secure facility, there aren't many internal obstacles. Doors can be locked and opened via authorized command. But S-K and Ares learned from the DEUS fiasco, therefore all doors are equipped with mechanical override locks, that can be used to open and close doors even if there is no power or enemy hacking action. This includes the airlocks, which can only be triggered from within or through a master key. The base has five above ground levels and one secured in bedrock. All in all the base is about 60m under the surface.
Corridors have emergency bulkheads in regular intervals. Every door closes watertight and is equipped to handle the ambient water pressure. Every room contains emergency oxygen torches.
The station has a self contained matrix environment. There is no direct data connection between the facility and the rest of the Matrix. Contact to the mainland is handled through a tightly controlled, air gapped work station.
There will be a few drones on each level. Primarily, they are there for maintenance and integrity checks, but many are equipped with tazers. At least that's the latest development that I am aware of.
There is a small contingent of support personal, like cleaners, a cook and technicians, six at max. At all times there is a twelve person security detail inside the base, operating from level 4. Two of those will be spiders, monitoring irregularly the station matrix. They all usually wear a standard security overall - similar to the popular urban explorer suits, but have access to full riot gear and armored diving suits. High penetration weapons are obviously not in use. Expect instead gel, tazer and flechette as well as nightsticks.
There are between 20 and 30 researchers there plus the chief of operations and another top level manager from 20kMUS. Those two are the only ones authorized to send transmissions to the mainland.
There is a small cargo hangar, where mini-subs can surface and receive a small measure of repairs. That's where your pods will arrive. Normal passenger transport is handled via a docking station on the main floor.
You'll receive a floor plan as soon as you have inspected the pods and agreed to the mission."
He nodded to Krestov and with a slight smile he turned to bnc:
"You'll have about a week to prepare, but two days is the maximum, I can remove the pods from inventory at a time and move them off location.
The "freezing procedure" is quite fast - it only takes about five minutes. The waking up takes normally about a quarter of an hour. It can be sped up considerably to under one minute through the use of a specific drug, but this has side effects you'll probably want to avoid - mainly nausea and mild auditory hallucinations.
You will be stored within my private equipment locker. Please limit equipment you can't wear to a trunk with the dimensions of 1,5x 1x 0,75 m³. Anything larger will probably be inspected."
He paused for a moment and spoke the next words with exaggerated precision:
"This mission will have only the tiniest of error margins. You will operate in a high pressure environment with a high helium content and no nitrogen. Everything takes a very long time to dry and nothing ever stays warm. Wireless devices will work, but I advice you to use a wrapper program beforehand to camouflage them as sensor tags. When I activate you, there will be a threat to my well being. I want you to come to me and extract me - either to a mini-submarine or one of the other ways out of the facility, I'll have arranged. I do not want you to kill any of the staff inside the facility. I'd also prefer you'd limit yourself to nonlethal weaponry, but I understand that you'll want weapons of last resort.
Here is the address of a small warehouse on the docks and the access codes. You'll find your advance there together with a standard under water transport box for your personal equipment. In six days I'll send the equipment there through the water access. You'll have 44 hours to inspect it all and tell me your final decision. If you agree, I expect you to enter the pods. I'll collect you. If nothing happens, you'll exit there again two months later and 50.000 Nuyen richer. In that case we won't meet again personally, at least not while I work for 20kMUS."
He leaned back in his seat. "Anything else, you'd like to know?"
-
bnc listens carefully and stores all the auditory information on her deck. After he finishes his explanations, she launches a series of questions:
"So, if I understood you correctly, we can bring small objects into the tanks. Like, say, guns, commlinks." drugs
"I think you didn't respond to my question as to where exactly the pods will be placed. Will we be inside the base the whole time? Will we float somewhere in the sea? If one, where in the base will we be? If two, can they move? That is, can I move them?
"Did I take you correctly that it will be possible that I reprogram the pods in a way that they will revive me every couple of days, in case of unhealthy signals from our health monitors or any other preprogrammed condition?
"Will you be the one who decides whether we will do the nice or the nasty wakey-wakey?
"As soon as you waked us up, can we assume that there is an emergency in which we will have to force our way
through whereever we go or might it prove useful to bring inconspicuous clothing with us?
"How are we going to find you? I assume you will not keep this 'link.
"When you provide the floor plans, please be a buddy and include the exact location of the air gapped work station.
"Are there enemies inside the facility we should be aware of?
"I would also ask you to provide me with a summary of how the pods work before I examine them. Basic understanding of the procedure and the drugs in use will make it a lot easier to check out the programming. Thank you."
She smiles genuinely. As she said before, she liked the man.
-
Torrent leaned back and crossed his arms in front of his chest.
"Gonna need an updated file of all the people present at the facility, sent directly to our location in the event of our awakening.Before you object : yes, I know that obtaining such a file may prove to be difficult.Trust me when I say that details such as these decide wether you make it out alive or not. "
-
Schmitt nodded: "I'll see what I can do about those files. Most of them I can get only once I'm there myself."
To bnc he said:
"Yes, within the described limits. Since we are partly a weapons laboratory, I have the clearance to bring such things with me.
The pods will be stored on Level 1, not far from the hangar. You'll indeed be within the base. That's the main reason this means of transport is necessary. The pods do have there own propulsion system and a highly developed autopilot. You can direct it, but for direct control, you'd need a control interface implanted. But the transport itself will be managed with a submarine transporter with you and the pods inside a container, together with a lot of other stuff from my workplace.
You can certainly program when, how and why you wake up. If you only want to go to VR directly, you won't even need to undergo the full "defrosting".
Yes, once I wake you, I'll update you depending on the situation. Depending on the situation, I might choose to rise you quickly, but I'll take the slow way if at all possible. If I am not able to give you any instructions beyond a distress call, your mission will be to find and rescue me. I'd prefer as little bloodshed as possible - that's bad for my and your reputation.
I'll provide you with standard uniforms of our support staff, but don't expect them to be fooled close up: The facility is rather small and as far as I know, they don't have a troll on the payroll - except maybe with the security crew.
I can tell you precisely where this work station is: Level 5 in the executive office, just above the security station. The facilities mainframe is located in the sub level together with all our other life support machinery.
The only known opponents will be the security detail and the drones. Some of the researchers are ex-military and they do develop weapons, so don't underestimate or unnecessarily engage them.
You'll have full documentation and the specs delivered alongside the pods. Please don't steal them."
-
bnc drains the rest of the lassi, then looks around, if anyone else has any questions. If not, she gets up.
"You might want to invite my deck to mark a single piece of gear you're bringing to the base. That way, I can track you down easily and quickly once. Since you're no newbie to the data highways you know what kind of authorization I'm gonna need for it."
-
"I will. Thank you for your cooperation so far. We'll be in touch."
Dr. Schmitt folded his napkin and inserted a cred stick in the little console at the middle of the table. He took his time getting ready, in case there was a last question.
Afterwards he went into the main building of the restaurant and descended to the restrooms.
-
Before he leaves, bnc actually does have a question.
"Ah, Dr. Schmitt. I take it you are trying to get rid of them commlink of yours..."
She smiles her most winning teenager in need smile.
-
He genuinely smiled at that: "Maybe after you have saved my life." ;)
-
bnc returns that smile, biting back any comment that might stain a professional relationship.
She's ready to fly.
-
Slobbertooth is unimpressed by the offer, but does not voice his concerns at this point. He sends a message to Torrent. "10k upfront, for a 2 month gig? Good thing we're splitting the rent."
Slobbertooth makes sure his food is secure, buttons his coat and prepares to leave. he wipes food off his tusks with a napkin before addressing the prospective client. "Thank you for paying for the meal, Dr. I'll do you the courtesy of giving these three the next two days to convince me that your offer would be worth the time and risk." He turns towards the toward the others and lets them know that he'll be in their ride.
-
Good think we will be sleeping!Two months without feeding you?Talk about savings! ;)
-
Krestov stood up with Dr. Schmitt..a professional courtesy..and shook his hand before leaving. "You have give much to think about, Doctor. We will be in touch." was all he said before their Johnson departed. For the troll, not being an Awakened, tech expert, or infiltration expert, this job was pretty cut an dry: protect the principle. Sure, the conditions were weird, but he--and the rest of them, he hoped--have faced situations less than favorable and come out profiting. After seeing the man disappear from view, he lifted a hand up, rubbing his brow for a few moments. "huu.." Nodding to Slobbertooth, he watched him go as well, frowning a bit as he glanced towards the other two.
"I guess stereotype of trog and stubborn is true, no? What you two think of job?"
-
Back in the car, bnc asks: "Is this vehicle sound proof?"
If the answer is no, she waits for another two or three minutes, before she shrieks: "Boooyah!" and hugs whoever is next to her.
"Fifty-thousand nuyen. At least. Fifty grand, sweet Jesus! C'est mucho grande Kohle, omae!!" (She's got this habit of mixing up languages, when she's excited, but four languages on five words even for bnc is a lot.)
Not heeding any counter-opinions, warnings or basically anything anyone says, it takes quite a while, until giddy bnc is calm bnc again. Even calm bnc's got a hard time hiding her grin. On occasions you hear her singing softly: "I'm gonna have a control rig, I'm gonna have a control rig."
But, sure enough, also her exceeding mirth ebbs down after a while (supported maybe by Slobb's grumpiness), so back in our home, she's back to normal (yeah, her hair's black again, too. Although she looked quite lovely as a blonde).
"So, let's discuss some few things. First, there is the thing of when to say yes or no. If we don't agree before we see the bots it means we don't get any details before we go to the base. Means I can't do any research about it. Means no one of us can actually have a look at it beforehand.
Second question: Do you want me to try to break into 20kMUS's database It's quite a nut to crack and while I'm confident I can do it, it's not guaranteed. A failure might prove fatal because it would raise alert which we really should try to avoid.
I'm gonna start my intel quite soon. I'll check on the documentation, try to find out what I can safely find out about 20kMUS, Schmitt and their business. Anything else pops to your mind quite now?
Oh, and I though of buying a spy drone" :)
-
Torrent turns to Krestov, momentarily holding his gaze, and then his attention casually shifts elsewhere.
"We need the money.We have lain low after the Azzie run, we need this job.Still, I don't like it.An isolated environment with workers being really familiar with each other means I will be next to useless if the good Doctor fails to provide us the list."
He throws bnc a glance.
"Kid seems to love the whole idea though.Haven't seen her so excited since she told us how she won her first deck."
-
Slobbertooth allows bnc her moment of happiness. "I should be upset or frustrated with her for her exuberance for a suicide run, but I guess I was like that not too long ago." Slobbertooth can't help but smile, as the excitement is a little bit infectious.
His grin turns sour, when he turns to Krestov and Torrent. His volume increases as he speaks "But you two, you should should fucking know better than this. A 10000 Nuyen down payment for a two month gig? Drek! For all the doctor knows, I hope, he's only going to be paying for our rent. 1 week to prepare for a protection and extraction assignment of unknown parameters, in a completely foreign environment, against an unknown number of targets, with an unknown level of training and equipment? The hell is wrong with you two?!"
Slobbertooth is angry, and doesn't let them answer his question, instead asking more questions. "Tell me, Krestov and Torrent, looking at our current armament," Slobbertooth points to their weapons and pulls out his Ruger for emphasis, "how many, if any, weapons do we have that stand any chance of putting a scratch on a troll in full body suit armor? I'm currently counting somewhere between 0 and one half!" He bangs on the wall of the van for emphasis. "But hey, at least we'll have some basic armor on, right? Oh wait! We'll be wearing FUCKING LAB COATS because the client expects two big trogs to blend in!"
Slobbertooth continues to look at them, but points at bnc, "She doesn't know better, and you're going to get her killed."
-
Torrent remains calm but he makes sure to irritate Slobbertooth with a sly grin.
"Oh I'm sorry ,where you planning on taking a Thunderstruck Gauss Rifle with you?I guess sleeping in a dark capsule will be frightening without something long and hard in your hands..."
At last he takes a more serious expression
"The way I see it, this place relies more on secrecy than heavy security.Look, 10.000 each is good enough for my gear.But if you need more you should have told Krestov.We could always reject the offer.I'm not goind down there unless I know everyone feels we can pull this off."
-
bnc is unimpressed. While we're driving home she's already filing through the different offers for control rigs.
"Now, now, Slobbertooth, don't draw the devil on the wall. Do you say that in English?
First, he said he assumed there were no trolls which seems a plausible assumption considerung that in a underwater facility you will try to keep the ceiling low. While this is bad news for Krestov it basically means that we're not going to face trolls.
Second, he's providing us with lab coats doesn't mean you mustn't wear anything beneath it. It doesn't even mean you have to wear it. He said he would defrost us in case of emergency, and Krestov and you're not gonna blend in anyway. I'm still glad he brings it, because it might come in handy for me or Torrent.
Third, there's a personnel of 12 securities, 2 of which are spiders. Means 10 guards in arms, spread all over the base. If we manage to strike without setting an alarm, we can assume that one of the spiders and an average 6 to 7 of the heavy hitters - that is, heavy hitters with gel ammo, tasers and standard security overalls - will not be on shift, assuming they do three shifts à 8 to 9 hours. Assuming there is an alarm, we have to think of something clever. Some of these things might include a clever hacker supressing the alarm.
So, chill down, and drink a moquite with me. Kampai!"
-
Slobbertooth laughs. "You're forgetting things in your excitement, bnc. He said that there were no trolls on the research staff, but left open the possibility that they were part of the security detail."
"In fact, considering the size of the staff, the doctor gave us surprisingly little information at all about the state of their security detail, didn't he?"
-
"Assuming they won't invest billions in making the ceilings higher than necessary, and assuming further that their security personnel isn't patroulling on their knees, I still believe there shouldn't be any trolls. I was not forgetting, I was concluding, which is my job.
"And Dr. Schmitt accepted to give us a list of the staff, the security - as possible - and a map of the facility. In fact, we would already have those informations if it weren't for your rejecting the offer."
She raises her eyebrows and smiles showing that no offense is intended in that remark. "Kampai?" She winks in Slob's direction.
-
Slobbertooth sighs and relaxes a bit. He's less tense after hearing the reassurances. "Your deduction on the lack of troll security is plausible, but I still wouldn't put it past a venture that had the combined creds of 2 megas behind it." He gives bnc a shrug of his shoulders, and then turns back to Krestov.
"Trolls or no, my question still stands soldier. Do you think we can put a dent into any security armor with our current weapons?"
-
Krestov remained silent as a sentinel during the entire trip home, hearing the shouts of joy from bnc, the wisecracks from Torrent, and the pointed concerns from Slobbertooth. Once they arrived, he entered in with his gear, setting it down against the wall before heading into the kitchen. Pulling out a bottle of beer, he popped off the top with his horn before upending the contents, downing the whole beer in a few seconds. Holding the empty bottle idly, he recollected himself; it had been some time since he had to negotiate at any level. When he finally spoke, his voice rumbled out with a surprising amount of calm.
"Concerns are legitimate, Slobbertooth, but missing factor. Us. I understand you hesitant ever since Wasteland, but Torrent is correct: we need job. This is little different in risk than Azzie run and you know it. But for every disadvantage we have advantage. I explain:
Bnc is correct in current information provided on security. Schmitt did say they armed with taser, baton, and other subdual threat. With location, likely they there for order if fight break out in staff, not outside insertion, and equipped as so. Ten guards plus handful of taser-armed drones partly ready for a fight spread over base is nothing like Azzie job. Schmitt say researchers maybe combat able, but not ready. We have element of surprise, plus all countermeasures as stated by bnc. We get information agreed, Torrent and bnc capable and in much superior position.
As for lack of stealth, I aware am like bear in dishware store." He allowed himself a little chuckle. "But if we revived for purpose, whether by Schmitt or bnc, we will need acting fast. Two humans in disguise good, but we not need. You worry about security harming you, Slobbertooth? You forget what between you and them: me." He grinned, closing his eyes and nodding. "I rambling. Potato of pierogi is, Da, there are challenges. That is normal for our line of work. But for this, we have all tools and skills to complete and overcoming challenges. I have full confidence that all here capable of meeting them, yourself include. If had lack of confidence, would not have negotiated for advance or raise in bonus." He lifted his arms up, hands splayed to either side, hands open. "If still unhappy on it, feel free to take it out on me. I know how you aggression works, Slobb."
Before the ork could respond, he turned his head to the others, namely to bnc. "Ah...you looking for drone? Those not easy to come by...though if went Russian blonde again, might drive down price, hah..." A joke. From Krestov. What is the world coming to..
-
Slobbertooth shakes his head at Krestov's gesture. "I don't hit teammates."
Slobbertooth runs his hands through his hair, looks to the ceiling, and sighs heavily. "If I knew that you were going on some absurd job and I didn't go there to protect you, Wolf would never let me live it down. bnc is going to want all the time she can get with the information that the Dr. was willing to provide." Slobbertooth lets out another groan.
"Ugh, fine. I'm in.
"Now let's figure out what we're buying with this advance. I've got a fixer you can use."
-
Back in the base, bnc too got a little calmer. She listens closely to hear what Krestov says (and is silently happy to hear that, a puppy as she may be, her abilities of deduction are still mostly out of question) and smiles genuinely and happily when Slobbertooth finally agrees.
She then tries to rumble with as deep a voice as you can get with the resonance body of an oversized kitten: "Da. There's one more thing I'd like you two to keep in mind as in terms of calibre. There's a reason why they don't sport anything with penetration power beyond a ball of cotton wool: While I'm positive these walls are thick and strong, a single whole might prove fatal. Please don't buy a missile launcher!" She smiles.
She listens again then hears an interesting keyword. As soon as Krestov has finished, she jumps in. "Apropos stealth. Since it never came to that, it'd be interesting to know. To which grade are you capable of it? Myself, while I'm no professional I know how to hide when it comes to it. I also own a chameleon suite, though I'm not sure whether to bring it or not. Torrent, do I guess right that disappearing is not a big issue for you? Slob, what about you?"
Lastly she answers Krestov's question: "I thought this might be a good idea. You know, peeking round the corner before we move in our tank on hands and feet." She giggles on his last remark. "Oh you liked me as a blonde? What a shame I'm really into black."
"Now let's figure out what we're buying with this advance. I've got a fixer you can use."
"Good, I don't, obviously. Do you think he could get me a skimmer drone?"
-
Krestov gave a shrug at the question, looking down at his feet for a moment. "Ah...I have a few ways to keep light on my feet, but find little need for it. Nor do I think chameleon suit is made in my size and color."
Turning to Slobbertooth, he gave a nod. "I recommend we go by advisement of our client and arm for a nonlethal approach. This mean plenty of gel rounds and taser ammunition if don't possess it. Nature of location suggests close combat inevitable. This is no concern to me, as my style works in low ceiling, but if you need, suggest something for this instance. Additionally, I advise armor insulated against electricity, to counter tasers if able. Beyond that, the normal call for medical and emergency supplying for the time provided. That is sufficient for me off top of head."
-
"I'll bring my medkit, to be sure.
Talking of lethal and non-lethal stuff, something came to my mind. Something I usually don't think and I dislike to use, but might get important in ca..."
Her mind jumps.
"BOOYAH! He said that's a fucking sealed Matrix environment, n'est-ce pas?? Heilige Scheiße, do you have any idea what this means? That's the mucho grando hacking paradise, where no GOD ain't a-watchin'! Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!! Me's gonna be the friggin' atheist as back in the old times!"
She bites her lower lip to get hold of her excitement. "Ya know what thad means? Ce means that I'm gonna sneak in ninja style, mark the spider till his persona is all wrapped up like my favourite X-mas present and when the drek's a-rumblin' in I snap (she snaps) and itsy-bitsy spider knows what ninja means! Wa-karimaska?"
It's these moments when you can feel her age the best.
It takes a couple of seconds or maybe an objection or a confused stare, until she remembers.
"Oh, I was saying. There's something that might come in handy. It's a piece of software and more or less the only piece of software I don't have. I don't use. Are you familiar with the concept of biofeedback?"
In case she has to explain what it is: "As you know, every DNI manipulates the brain in a way. Usually it just creates sensory information, blocks muscle activation and interpretes cerebral activity. But ages ago, matrix security personnel - I swear, mommy, they started it! - found out ways to activate glands and simulate signals in a very harmful way. How harmful depends on how you drive your gear.
Usual users run cold sim. That means that any incoming signals are filtered before they reach you. Thus, biofeedback isn't really a problem. It might still knock you out, mind you, but you'll get up fresh as a puppy a couple of hours later. Then there are those who are pissed by the lags these filters create. Matrix junkies, like me. We turn off that filter and experience the real thing. It's basically the same difference as between normal simsinn, er, simsense and BTL. Only that hot sim usually doesn't kill. Well, thing is, if you get hit by a biofeedback attack, the real thing is a real deadly thing.
So, here's the pro: If I use it, I might be able to knock out the security spider before he/she/it can raise alarm. Otherwise I can roast their deck, but they might still hit the red ugly button.
The cons: If the spider's running hot sim, I can't use it. I won't use it, that is. Also, Biofeedback is what I would call German warfare: efficient, but very messy. I don't really enjoy biofeedback used against me, and I don't like the thought of using it against anybody else.
"What's your opinion?"
-
Krestov remained quiet, taking a seat on the couch while their decker geeked out over the ideas. When the idea of biofeedback came up, he straightened his back becoming alert. "...Am familiar with biofeedback. Academy used it in training at times to testing endurance. Is...unsettling at best, but may be efficient. Perhaps there is way to induce cold biofeedback regardless of hot-sim use?" The troll gave a shrug, denoting that was the extent of his understanding of the technical world.
He did perk up, coming to a realization as he balled his fists and stared at them. "...maybe need secure shock frills on some boots...if going nonlethal approach, will need them for self." Recalling what happened to the door during the Wasteland extraction, that much was obvious. "One other idea...if we do nonlethal and do engage, will need means to control opposition after knockout. I have restraints, but may need more or better. Like much of what I personally ask, very cheap and not hard finding when receive advance pay."
-
"Strange as it may seem I'll have to check on this. I never toyed with the idea."
<<<<< Two days later >>>>>
bnc was busy doing her legwork. For hours - even longer than usual, which says a thing - she would lie in her comfortable armchair and would only wake up to go to sleep, drink coffee to hold her awake a little longer or, once a day, eat a bowl of muesli with added pills to keep her vitamines and stuff in balance.
But suddenly she gets up, a frown on her face that doesn't suit it very well.
"Boys. I know that it's not always Johnney's mistake if something goes amiss, but I think you'd like to hear that: On the shadownet, I found a message of a decker stating that her group is out of business. Several of the user accounts of her teammates didn't post a single post since then. I found out that the same decker did some research on Dr. Schmitt. Digging deeper, he sent them to a bug hunt within a ghul infested area in Denver. The whole thing went grossly amiss, and many of the hired runners didn't come back to mommy anymore.
"What do you make of it? Maybe Slob isn't too wrong. We should be super careful. No matter what he said: Take non-lethal weapons with you, but don't leave the heavy hitters at home. If it's us or them, I'd very much want it to be them.
"I need a coffee."
-
"The good Doctor sure is an experienced Johnson, eh?But if he is in the habit of getting his runners killed, maybe we should reject his offer.I think we should look into it"
Torrent sits comfortably on the couch and stretches his legs.
"A couple days ago a troubling little thought appeared in my mind.Magical Security.All this secrecy is useless against magic.Build your lab at the bottom of the sea, hire trained sharks and beautiful mermaids to guard it and bribe the fish to keep it a secret, it won't make a difference against magical projection.So, what are we missing?"
-
"I don't think we can afford saying no just because I found an account of a job gone to hell. But we should keep in mind that our lives are only worth anything to him as long as his life is in our hands. That means a) we should not let him escape alive before we do and b) We should be armed to the teeth to be prepared for the worst case."
"A couple days ago a troubling little thought appeared in my mind.Magical Security.All this secrecy is useless against magic.Build your lab at the bottom of the sea, hire trained sharks and beautiful mermaids to guard it and bribe the fish to keep it a secret, it won't make a difference against magical projection.So, what are we missing?"
"I don't get you entirely. Maybe it's because I'm still a non-native speaker. Are you afraid of their magical security or do you wonder why they don't have any.
"In case you mean the latter, my hobby of studying magical theory might help. There is something like an "aura to Earth" that cannot be penetrated by astrally projecting mages. The ocean is part of this aura. Thus, building a facility under water is an amazing means to protect the whole facility from spirits, magicians and shamans. The only way to penetrate it astrally is to come close or better inside physically first. Does this answer your question?
"By the way, this might be interesting for you. I didn't find anything at all about the base. I guess I would have to break in the host. We have a lot of info about the base already. Is there anything else you need before we go there? If so, I could try and crack the nut.
What I did find, however, is some interesting stuff on why others build underwater bases. Basically, there are three reasons:
"First is security. It is hermetically closed from the Matrix and thus invulnerable to hacking attacks. This makes it more fun to me once we are inside (she smiles). It is virtually impenetrable and even ordinary espionage is close to impossible. You can't even get out there without permission from above. And, as I might add personally, it's impossible to reach it from the astral plane.
"Second is that you can hide virtually anything there: persons, objects, yourself.
"Third is: You can easily access some rare resources, especially Orichalcum. So we have to be aware of the fact that this might actually be a magical research facility. Which means that some of the research stuff might be Awakened. Johnson didn't say anything about that, but given what I read about him I wouldn't trust Schmitt farther than I can throw him. On the other hand, I found nothing that indicates he kept any secrets from us. Up until now, I can confirm everything he said to us. Maybe we should just directly ask him. Rumors are they are researching a revolutionary under water weapon based on ionization. If these are true, we won't have to deal with magic a lot, though."
-
"I'm not an expert in magical theory.Magic means to me what breathing means to you.I don't think about it, I just do it.But I've learned few things about astral perception and projection because I possess no countermeasures against them.I always thought that since the ocean is home to some awakened creatures- and at least one Dragon is among them- it wouldn't impede the astral travel as earth does.It seems I was wrong.As for the Doctor, I never said we should say no without further evidence.But this guy may have a certain reputation, and I'd like to know more before we depart."
-
"I'm not an expert in magical theory.Magic means to me what breathing means to you.I don't think about it, I just do it.But I've learned few things about astral perception and projection because I possess no countermeasures against them.I always thought that since the ocean is home to some awakened creatures- and at least one Dragon is among them- it wouldn't impede the astral travel as earth does.It seems I was wrong.As for the Doctor, I never said we should say no without further evidence.But this guy may have a certain reputation, and I'd like to know more before we depart."
She smiles. "I am, actually. You know that I usually don't boast without reason, but I think I can claim without lying that I know enough about magic theory that I could hold lectures at the MIT&T. I was - and still am - exceptionally intrigued in magic, and 'though I'll never be able to cast a spell or improve my reflexes, it still is a very interesting subject.
Awakened creatures can of course travel through the ocean, since they are - as a rule - dual-natured which means they exist simultaneously on both the physical and the astral sphere. It's much the same as an astrally perceiving mage. "perceiving" is a misleading term here, as the mage doesn't simply "perceive" the astral sphere, but actually enters it. If they would swim, however, their physical body would displace the ocean's water and thus Gaia's aura, allowing theirself to penetrate it. Same would go with magical active critters, as a Siren, but not with a astrally projecting mage."
-
She listens again then hears an interesting keyword. As soon as Krestov has finished, she jumps in. "Apropos stealth. Since it never came to that, it'd be interesting to know. To which grade are you capable of it? Myself, while I'm no professional I know how to hide when it comes to it. I also own a chameleon suite, though I'm not sure whether to bring it or not. Torrent, do I guess right that disappearing is not a big issue for you? Slob, what about you?"
"I'm probably lighter on my feat than most other Orcs in this business, but I'm no elf. I'm no tin man, and don't look to become one, so I don't have any of their fancy prosthetics or skill wires." Slobbertooth shrugs, and then returns to practicing quick-drawing and dry-firing his pistol against imagined targets.
-
Krestov had spent the two days in equal parts training and meditation, when he wasn't going out on his own to locate a few items he and the other team needed. He was actually going through his hyeongs (patterns) when bnc piped up with the news about Schmitt's history in the shadows, followed by the in depth magical theory discussion. "Ah...have little to adding to magic opinion. That outside my learning. However, news of job gone east troubles me. As is comment on trusting Schmitt as far as can throw. Maybe confused because I can throw Schmitt very far."
He chuckled, wiping some sweat from his brow before sitting down, helping himself to some water before having a seat, heaving a sigh. "Either way, we must come across decision today and let Armstrong know before we proceed any further. So any information to dig need happen in next few hours. I am still confident we can handle job, but will follow advice and keep heavy loadout in mind. As for what bringing, I want see if can take my shield in pod. Should fit in dimensions of locker fine, but advantage would be much. Beyond that, I travel pretty light, haha."
-
"So, what kind of information to do you guys want? We get details about the security staff, we have floor plans. What more can we ask for?
There would be two big advantages of waiting until we're actually there
1) If we raise an alarm, they have less time to do something about it. If I break in now, one false step might cause the whole run to get impossible.
2) If I can actually access any physical device, say, a maglock, it's gonna be a lot easier. A lot lot"
-
<<<<< a little later >>>>>
"Boys. I dug a little deeper and what I found might be reassuring to you. I found several more accounts of shadow cooperation with Schmitt. While this is easiest to find because it's quite dramatic there is a list of other runs johnson'ed by him. None of the others ended in a fiasco. Jeez, they were mucho grando unlucky, those. Termit spirits possessing ghouls! We live in a fry world, omae. That's trid stuff. Three of those runners actually sacrificed themselves to clear the way for their comrades. Surplus, Dr. Schmitt paid for first-class medicine support himself."
She turns to her chummers and adds:
"Okay. I'll trust him as far as Krestov can throw him."
-
Krestov took a breath at the news that the one job gone bad was just that: a fluke. This put his mind at ease, but also cleared it for one other issue yet to be addressed.
"...I recall advisement of 'wrapping our ikons' before we begin job. I am no expert, but what and how we do such? If spiders spot equipment on host grid, I am sure we be spotted easy."
-
Slobbertooth sat at the kitchen table with his Ruger, his speedloaders, and his boxes of ammunition, trying to prep himself for this mission. It felt weird, knowing that he was about to go into a mission, carrying only a fraggin' sidearm. He knew it wouldn't be practical for this mission, but he had held out hope the pods had enough room to hold an automatic weapon.
"At least I'll have enough nuyen to get that gun after this job." (Orz'et)
Slobbertooth picked up his micro-transceiver, to give it a test run. "Alright, boys and girls, breeders and trogs, are we ready for our suicide run?"
-
She smiles at Krestov. "I can even reassure you a little more. He never dumped a payment, he never let anyone vanish except if there was a case of blackmailing and he seems to be true to his words, in general. I guess that's about all we can hope for in case of a Johnson."
"...I recall advisement of 'wrapping our ikons' before we begin job. I am no expert, but what and how we do such? If spiders spot equipment on host grid, I am sure we be spotted easy."
"Ah, yeah, you're right. I'll take care of that. Oh man, after this week I'll be looking forward of a couple of weeks of sleep!"
Slobbertooth picked up his micro-transceiver, to give it a test run. "Alright, boys and girls, breeders and trogs, are we ready for our suicide run?"
"Let's die tonight! Kampai!"
-
After arranging everything necessary, everything the team had to do was calling Armstrong who would in turn inform Schmitt that they were ready to inspect the pods.
Maxime #17 of Maximally Effective Mercenaries: The longer everything goes according to plan, the bigger the impending disaster.
Seattle, the old Docks
The warehouse was located in a really shitty part of town, without being an outright slum. Actual work was still going on here, but the ubiquitous usage of drones had transformed the docks into a technological beehive. Heavy automated trucks moved at breakneck speeds that implied that someone somewhere had relaxed the safety parameters in favor of a tiny bit speedier delivery. Construction bots were alternately demolishing and rebuilding warehouses and loading docks. Even more urgent deliveries were carried out by a swarm of flying drones of all forms and sizes. A container ship that had just arrived was seemingly ripped to pieces by the eerily coordinated descent of a few dozen drones, reducing the unloading time to a matter of a few minutes. The only visible lifeforms here were the seagulls and sewer rats that had learned how to avoid the lifeless automatons.
The teams destination was a 40 year old building with direct waterfront access about 70m long and 50m wide. The outside was made of corrugated sheet metal with large rust spots everywhere. The few visible windows where high up with a heavy protection mesh and so dirty, not even a dedicated climber could take a glimpse inside. The only thing relatively new and shiny was the little keypad besides the large garage door.
Krestov's message had been simple and to the point: Go to the warehouse, enter the code, move your car inside, close the door and wait.
Inside, the team found to there surprise a quite clean and organized place. The concrete floor had recently been dusted by a cleaning drone. To the left a small staircase led up to an office section directly under the roof which overlooked the rest of the warehouse with two large panoramic windows. On the far side of the hall, a pool 20 by 30 m took most of the available space. The closed flood gate prevented access from the waterside, but the fetid stank of dead fish and algae proved beyond a doubt that it contained 100% real Seattle harbor water.
Of to the left, a workbench with mostly mechanical tools as well as some electronic ones and a charging station for the - at the moment - unmoving cleaning drone was provided.
A cursory inspection of the office revealed a palette of supplies: Four folding cots, a cache of quality self heating meals, plastic bottles with drinking water and a set of chemical toilettes, as well as some other hygiene articles had been delivered here - most likely by a drone through the movable skylight.
A quick check of the matrix revealed an elevated noise level (1) from the many competing commercial control rigs around. Alone in a 100m radius there were listed more than 500 active devices. But all visible commlinks were those of the team. After a short search, bnc did find the control system of the warehouse: A rating 6 agent system, that identified itself as "ALEXSYS".
-
As was customary with most situations with this team entering into an unsecured building, Krestov entered first..though since they had a code, he didn't need to do his kick of oblivionTM move on the door. "All Clear" crackled through their links as he finished the sweep for hostiles, opening the door fully to let their ride inside. Once they were together, he stopped in front of the palette of supplies and such, noting that one of the cots was indeed sized for a troll. "Huh...either cryopod Autodoc program deemed insuitable, or have time to way. If latter, Schmitt is..allowing? Amicabling? Accomodating? One of those..." He checked through the supplies, curious as to how this was going to proceed...and where their Johnson was...
-
bnc tries to hide her nervousness, but doesn't manage to do so very well. It's the second run of her life, and the first that is going to take more than two hours. Much more. She put on her chameleon suite - not for the camouflage effect, but because it's armored and she learned from Krestov to be prepared for the case.
When they arrive, the case doesn't seem to be very threatening at all. She quickly checks the matrix, looks for silent running icons, than nods.
"All clear on my side, too"
She steps out of the van and shuffles through the suits in the box in the office, mentally marking the smallest one for her.
"Let's close the door, buddies. Instructions are quite simple, and there doesn't seem to be anything else to do."
With that, she lets herself sink into an office armchair, and waits.
-
The team found places to sit or stand and something to do with their free time. Beside the constant sound of drone traffic it was actually pretty quiet around this part of town. No spill over music, no aggressive honking and especially no other people outside made the experience of being stuck here not bad - just a tad boring.
Almost exactly half an hour after they had arrived, the situation changed. Slobbertooth was the first to notice: Something moved inside the pool of dirty water. For a moment it looked like some kind of shark with a fin breaking the surface. Half a second later a big, silver box surfaced, vaguely reminiscent of a coffin or - for the historically inclined sci-fi enthusiast - a photon torpedo. The box moved to the inward facing edge of the pool and made room for four other pods. They maneuvered similarly to the first and - with an audible magnetic "clack" - docked to each other, forming a continuous raft.
As soon as the pods had come to a rest, an AR prompt appeared, asking for a code to be transmitted.
After sending the same sequence of numbers again, another AR image formed: Dr. Schmitt appeared as the team had seen him in the restaurant.
"Greetings,
as you probably already found, I've taken the liberty to stock this place with a few amenities while you check out your transportations. The autonomous logistic expert system in this warehouse is programmed to deliver you additional stocks if you should need them. But use it sparingly, lest someone should take an unduly interest in this place. For that reason I have to ask you not to leave this place before you embark on the mission or irrevocably decline. In the latter case, you'll have five minutes to leave this place, before a drone transporting highly flammable chemicals has an unfortunate malfunction and veers into this temporary residence. This is not a threat, but merely a measure to ensure our mutual needs for discretion and privacy concerning our business relationship.
To business than: The five pods you see before you are the latest pre-series models from my lab. Officially, they are on an extended autonomous test drive. Under full power they are capable to function for a full 48 hours of non-stop underwater travel. In power safe mode they can manage about two weeks without power input. If they have to, they can use underwater currents to recharge their batteries enough to sustain life support and a homing beacon. The pods will have to check back in about 44 hours. I'd prefer it, if you'd have situated yourself within them. I'll then personally place them inside the transport container with my other gear, that I'll take with me to the underwater base. I can assure you, that this transport is safe. I myself have used them extensively in real life condition testing and actually had one on stand by during our meeting for a quick evacuation should that have become necessary.
All necessary documentation is contained within the Jonas host. You should have received an invite mark by now to enter the host. The advanced expert system will allow you full access but will try to prevent you from copying sensitive files. I am aware that you'll probably succeed in doing so if you really want to, but be warned that the other four pods will assist with there own processing resources, making this a quite formidable opponent. This is of course also another measure to protect you from attack while you are cocooned and within virtual reality.
As soon as you have reached the base, you'll also receive a mark from me as per your request. I'll try my best to collect for you additional information about the on site personal once I am there and have access to the facility's system. Hopefully, I won't have to wake you, but if I do, you will be near the loading and the passenger dock, so you can intercept any attempt to kidnap me.
Our escape route will either be a small transport submarine docked in the hangar or - if this fails - through the pods which you'll have to move back to the hangar.
In the latter case, we'll probably not be able to bring back the box within the fifth pod. So don't pack any gear within, that can't be easily replaced - just in case.
Speaking of equipment: You can enter the pods fully clothed, but the snake finger technology of the autodoc can not guarantee that your body armor won't be damaged. Therefore it would be a good idea to uncover or at least loosen any garment covering your orifices. Specifically urethra, anus, mouth and nose. The former two will receive catheters while the latter two will be covered with an oxygen mask, or if necessary with a tubus. Your chest area will receive monitoring sensors that can deliver electric shocks in case of ventricular fibrillation. Don't worry: When you wake up, you'll have enough time to restore your combat readiness.
This expert system has limited artificial intelligence and will be able to answer most of your questions.
Once you have finished your inspection, place the gear you can't take with you into the box within the fifth pod and enter the other pods yourself to embark on the mission.
Good luck."
The AR image stopped talking but continued to be displayed, indicating that the expert system was ready to answer further questions.
-
"What the fuck? Uncover your..."
It takes a blink of a second as she looks up the word in an online dictionary. "Oh, come on."
She sighs, toying with the thought of rejecting the offer just a split second, then accepting the notion of a really bizarre version of a hentai nightmare come true.
"Right..."
After exchanging a glance with her teammates she starts to examine the pods and especially their programming. She has read the documentation carefully, so all she has to do, actually, is to check, whether the operating system corresponds to what she expects.
If and as soon as she can confirm it, she turns around. "The condoms are okay. Let's get you dicks wrapped up" She grins, for the last time for a long timespan.
"Do you need any help with, um, attaching the tentacles to your ... urethra?"
-
Slobbertooth pinches his brow at the request for orifice attachments. 'Things I would liked to have known yesterday."
He politely declines bnc's offer, and begrudgingly readies himself for the process.
-
" Wll this could be the most expensive prank in history.Although these coffins look like the real deal.We'll soon find out I guess."
He starts undressing
"Hey kid!No peeking!"
-
Krestov remained silent during the entire briefing, looking visibly puzzled by the strange reactions coming from his teammates. "It...seems straightforward.." He rumbled softly while his link worked to translate the difficult technical bits into his native tongue. It was several moments that he stood still as a stone until his eyes opened up a little more...one's imagination could hear the ding of a microwave being finished coming from his skull.
"...Oh..."
It was fortunate that, though a lot of his equipment and armor was bigger than the others', it all could be compacted very easily. His weapon, jacket, leg armor, belts, and ballistic shield folded neatly on the bottom of the box, leaving plenty of room atop for the other three to stow gear. He undressed to simply his tank and boxer underwear without a word or hesitation, his jaw set firm as he prepared himself for what happened next. It wasn't...unfamiliar with some tortures he endured in training...but it was new...
-
"All right, boys. You enter first, I, um, have to, you know, check the autobots. And stuff."
She seems mildly amused, yet unwilling to strip naked in front of her crew. Instead she stows what little stuff she brought into the box. The chameleon suite, however, cannot be "easily replaced". She tries to stuff it into her chamber before she enters herself. Compared to Slobbertooth (let alone Krestov) the skinny, almost anorexic girl hardly takes up space anyway.
"I am not going to let that thing coma me before we arrive. What about you, chummers?"
While the others stow their stuff, undress, and get inside the coff... autobots, she sits comfortably on the floor, wall to the back, and drops into full VR, adapting the autobots' programming. First thing, the sequence will start on a manual input, not automatically. Second, she will install some routines for the future: Whenever any vitals show significant deviation from their default stats, both bnc and the person whose vitals go out of order, will be wakened up. In case of an alarming deviation, however, everyone is going to be waked up instantly.
Once this is done, and any requests from her chummers are fulfilled, she goes offline again. In the meanwhile everyone should be in their respective underwater graves. With a shiver, she enters her drone, closes the door, uncovers her abdomen, breathes, adjusts all the life-sustaining tentacles, and goes online.
"Check time. Can everybody in the Jonas host hear me? I'm ready. At least, as ready as I'm going to get."
-
I think I can hear Slobber snoring already.Maybe it's just my imagination. Hard to believe I'm having two months of peaceful sleep eventhough he's gonna be few meters away.
-
When the last lid had closed, small daylight LED filled the interior with a warm light, somehow reducing the claustrophobic feeling. A buzzing sound revealed to bnc that their bodys where now scanned and measured.
A small gleaming metal tentacle found her datajack, while her male comrades received a trode mesh.
Instantly a number of AR windows popped up, showing basic medical data. Next came the promised bio sensors to the chest and a simulation of each team members heart appeared in the lower left corner. Simultaneously a window opened, showing a video of a small baby otter (http://i.imgur.com/6SdBvc6.jpg) as an adorable distraction.
The dreaded moment came and went with nothing more than a cool and than numb sensation. bnc knew that the system would have used a lubricant with a contact anesthetic. Immediately another host of little windows popped up adding a steady stream of bio data.
What came next had been described as a "personality calibrating test". In an insanely fast succession pictures, sounds and even smells assaulted their senses. It all went much to fast to hold on to anything consciously, but Slobbertooth, Krestov and bnc felt a deep unease without being able to express why. Krestov even felt a tear running down his cheek, while bnc suddenly had a deep longing for the embrace of her sister. Slobbertooth instead felt the burning desire to hit someone with as much force as he could muster.
"Calibration complete." The voice was slightly different for every team member but instantly provided a positive association of safety and trust. The documentation had called this a "stress reducing measure for longterm treatment".
One by one the pods began to sink under the surface. Very subtle, the thin mattresses molded themselves perfectly to their individual body structure, stabilizing and immobilizing them.
"Individual treatment can now begin."
Maxime #20 of Maximally Effective Mercenaries: If you're not willing to shell your own position, you're not willing to win
Somewhere in the water outside Seattle
Krestov's pod
"Hello Krestov, my scan of you is complete.
You possess various biological and cybernetic improvements. Their performance lies within safe parameters
Your overall health is... good. Your body shows a... massive amount of scar tissue and some slight nerve damage. Your skin shows signs of a mild autoimmune disorder triggered by... silver. Treatment and surgery methods have been amended accordingly
Your mental reaction is... good. Your calibrating result shows signs of severe post traumatic stress.
Your brain chemistry is... slightly unbalanced. There is an imbalance in your Glutamate-GABA levels, indicating longterm alcohol abuse.
Would you like to begin treatment now?"
Torrent's pod
"Hello Torrent, my scan of you is complete.
You possess no biologic or cybernetic improvements.
Your overall health is... good. Your facial muscles show unusual high amounts of tension. Your keratin cells show signs of worryingly high levels of cell division. This could be indicative of an early stage skin carcinoma. Your intestinal tract shows signs of a mild form of Coeliac disease. Nutrition needs have been calibrated accordingly.
Your mental reaction is... good. Your calibrating result shows signs of post traumatic stress.
Your brain chemistry is... good. There are no signs of imbalances.
Would you like to begin treatment now?"
Slobbertooth's pod
"Hello Slobbertooth, my scan of you is complete.
You possess no biologic or cybernetic improvements.
Your overall health is... excellent. You may have a lollypop.
Your mental reaction is... good. Your calibrating result shows signs of post traumatic stress.
Your brain chemistry is... good. There are no signs of imbalances.
Would you like your lolly now?"
bnc's pod
"Hello bnc, my scan of you is complete.
You possess biological and cybernetic improvements. Their performance lies within safe parameters. The next service for your "Fiber Optic Hair(TM)" is due in... 38 days. Remember, only regular service will extend your warranty to the full two years.
Your overall health is... worrying. You show signs of severe malnutrition. Intestinal scans show signs of... malabsorbtion disorder. Nutrition needs have been calibrated accordingly.
Your mental reaction is... worrying. Your calibrating result shows signs of severe post traumatic stress. If you want to talk or press charges against your attacker I will assist you. Be advised that this is a safe place, anything you say about this will be confidential and highly encrypted.
Your brain chemistry is... severely unbalanced. There is a strong imbalance in your Dopamine levels, indicating longterm substance abuse. Treatment options are available.
Would you like to begin treatment now?"
-
I don't go in for sweets
Slobbertooth imagined his face expressing slight relief, and then thought, Well, my first physical in 5 years turned up better than expected. The PTSD isn't much of a surprise, considering.
-
bnc eases herself into the comfortable shell. She doesn't object when the datajack is inserted, or when the tentacles are attached to her. She double-checks all the data the autobot's system provides with her own built-in (and offline) bio-monitor. She didn't entirely trust the system to begin with, but after a few minutes, she had grown a deep mistrust.
She immediately focusses on the task. Not so much because she's a workaholic or she wants to appear professional, but more because her mind needs activity the same way a squirrel needs to move. She forges a routine that analyses the basic medical data that flows in through the 'jack and compares it automatically to her augmentation's data output. She turns off the distracting baby otter and flip, she's connected to the system.
And then the "personality calibrating test" starts. As soon as she realizes what's happening she's furious. "What the drek? Dudes, these pods are exposing us to subliminal or almost subliminal clues, recording our cerebral activity. In English, they're showing your brain pictures and then scribble notes on how you react to different kinds of exposure. Finding out your most intimate fears and sorrows. Profiling you. No fucking way, Arschloch!"
Nutrition needs have been calibrated accordingly.
Your mental reaction is... worrying. Your calibrating result shows signs of severe post traumatic stress. If you want to talk or press charges against your attacker I will assist you. Be advised that this is a safe place, anything you say about this will be confidential and highly encrypted.
Your brain chemistry is... severely unba-
bnc hits the kill the fucking ARO button. The whole procedure might be constructed to make her feel comfortable, but even in 2075 machines make one mistake: They are ignorant of the personal histories of their ... customers. bnc has been treated by psychologists since she can think and Maths wasn't the only thing where outwitting others was fun. She knows fucking well what's going on and the mere thought that someone was manipulating her on this level - for her sake or not doesn't make any difference at all - makes her really furious.
"No - fucking - way", she spits into the void, and delets the file even before the pod is under water.
"I've got admin rights here. Anybody else uncomfortable with the thought that they can define on a Likert skale how much you miss your mom?"
-
Slobbertooth understood the reason's for bnc's dissatisfaction but couldn't work up the same passion that she had.
"Do you mean like how every advertisement on the matrix tracks which ones you respond to in order to spam you with more of the same drek over and over again? How the companies that has your SIN can use that to track your location, your activities, and what you buy to spam AR with more advertisements based on that information? How an anemic teenage decker can discover almost anything about your past with only the most basic information in the matter of minutes to hours?"
Slobbertooth gave a muffled laugh. "At least these computers are letting me know that I have a mild case of PTSD before they decide whether or not to exploit it."
-
I think I like the snoring Slobber more than the pessimistic one.Relax, if the good doctor won't agree to erase this info after this job is done, we can always hack the host, retrieve our personal data and kill herr Schmidt after he's paid us.Am I right,Doc?
Torrent couldn't explain why but he felt relief when he realised the pod couldn't fully analyse his adept powers.As far as he was concerned, the day when science would be able to explain all things magical,would be a sad day indeed.
-
Krestov remained silent, breathing steadily and focusing inward as they embarked, barely reacting as the trode nets and the various tubes and sensors were attached to his body, sending a confirmation to bnc as she sent out the check-in on the Jonas host, showing that he was connected, settling in. It wasn't too long before the disembarked that the calibrations came...
"Hello Krestov, my scan of you is complete.
You possess various biological and cybernetic improvements. Their performance lies within safe parameters
Your overall health is... good. Your body shows a... massive amount of scar tissue and some slight nerve damage. Your skin shows signs of a mild autoimmune disorder triggered by... silver. Treatment and surgery methods have been amended accordingly
Your mental reaction is... good. Your calibrating result shows signs of severe post traumatic stress.
Your brain chemistry is... slightly unbalanced. There is an imbalance in your Glutamate-GABA levels, indicating longterm alcohol abuse.
Would you like to begin treatment now?"
His jaw was set firm, breath coming in short bursts as he tried to keep control, a bit in shock that he was actually crying, and personally hoping that bnc didn't catch that on the sensors. Girl wouldn't let me live it down... Then he heard the voice. Female, with a maternal lilt to it, and most astonishing, in Russian. That caught him the most off guard of the whole thing, even as the analysis proved to be very accurate. Before he was able to respond to the AutoDoc's interface, the shrill spiteful bursts from bnc and the discussions that ensued crackled into his discussion feed. He remained silent, and when he eventually spoke, his voice seemed a little choked...must be the cramped space he was having to occupy.
"..Hmm....just mild case, Slobbertooth? Either you are greener than you let on, or are a steel wall of mind.
bnc, forgive my argument, but must remind these are not smuggling pods. Have you experience with AutoDoc? Their purpose is to give tailored treatment to individual. I experience not one designed for long term, but this calibration is not unheard of. If were to guess, this is normal function of these AutoDoc pods. While not perfect in agreement to Torrent, plan to wipe or retrieve information upon completion is wise. I have faith our hacker can do this if need be.
There is little evidence to believe this is trap, as bnc has control of pods as last resort. I am asking for faith, and will be test bear for 'treatment.'
Without a chance for protest, Krestov hit the "yes" button on the display in his AR view, taking a deep breath in anticipation. Man...trolls can be stubborn when they set their mind to something...
-
"You guys are just no fun."
She can hardly hide her embarrasment. She still hates the idea of someone or something muddling with her brain, but it you don't need a lot of cerebral capacity to see that she just made a fool of herself in front of the whole team.
She passes over the (almost rhetoric) questions of her teammates and tries to re-establish the damaged position as "the expert".
"Right, there we go. I will monitor each of us until we arrive at the doc and actually until Mr. Johnson invites me to mark his 'link.
Before you doze off, please provide me with a list of wifi gear you plan to use down there. Some gear, like smartguns, won't work properly, because they can't use wifi data. On the other hand, the weather situation should be pretty easy to calculate down there. So maybe if it's a smart smartgun it might still work. Anyhow, the point is: I can protect a limited amount of gear as you know. It would be helpful to tell me what you're going to use there.
-
"..Hmm....just mild case, Slobbertooth? Either you are greener than you let on, or are a steel wall of mind.
Slobbertooth tossed it over in his mind, thinking about the things he's seen and done. "The blood on my hands means it's probably the latter.
That's neat, I guess.
"Before you doze off, please provide me with a list of wifi gear you plan to use down there. Some gear, like smartguns, won't work properly, because they can't use wifi data. On the other hand, the weather situation should be pretty easy to calculate down there. So maybe if it's a smart smartgun it might still work. Anyhow, the point is: I can protect a limited amount of gear as you know. It would be helpful to tell me what you're going to use there.
"No problem, our petite matrix maestro." Slobbertooth activated his trodes and sent her the information that she requested.
Item (Settings) : Bonus
Helmet (On) : Trodes/Image Link function
Sony Emperor (On) : Works
Micro-transceiver (Off) : worldwide transmission.
Glasses (On) : +3 bonus to visual perception
Earbuds (On) : +3 bonus to audio perception
Concealed Holster (On) : additional -1 concealability
Smartlink (On) : +1 to ranged attack test
Silencer (Off) : Provides information on whether or no you were heard.
-
@bnc [Torrent]:
1.Eye-contacts
2.Pistol
3.Chameleon suit
4.Autopicker
-
While immobilized in his pod, one could almost sense his mental nod to the request, the troll mentally drawing up his list.
<<@bnc
<<This is provided in order of necessity, should protection need rationed
1. Renraku Sensei link, for interfacing other equipment
2 . Cybereyes. Namely vision enhancement but can be selectively used
3. Helmet suite. Trodes, etc
4. Ares Crusader II smartgun. Shooting better, self explained
Attached silencer. Optional.
5. Yamaha Pulsar smartgun. As above.
6 microtransceiver. Wireless will be off, range is suitable.
..a note. Understand reason for paranoia, malyutka. No shame. Your mind is yours. No doubt if you accepted treatment you could exercise final say on what happens. Thought I would say this. Apologies.
Finished, the troll idly wondered just what this treatment would be like...
-
Krestov's decision was answered by the pod with the motherly face of an older woman, waiting patiently until the troll returned his concentration to her.
"You have chosen to start therapy. I am very happy that you did. Before we begin I want to clarify a few things:
First: You have the option to stop the treatment at any time.
Second: Anything you do or say is confidential and will be highly encrypted
Third: There is nothing to be ashamed of for asking for help. No-one asks why a flesh wound should be treated instead of being left to fester. Wounds to the psyche are not so different.
My analysis suggests that your alcohol consumption is directly related to traumatic experiences in your past. All in all you are a highly resilient person with a functioning social circle. Social support is one of the most important aspects of this treatment.
Post traumatic stress reactions are natural and can occur to everybody. It is actually an evolutionary survival benefit: People suffering from it have a higher pain tolerance, are hyper vigilant and tend to react faster to perceived threats. The current theory is that this stems from an incomplete processing of the traumatic memory, triggering the repeat of the memory at a later time.
Through Narrative Confrontation Therapy in a controlled virtual reality you may be able to consciously create closure to those memories, shutting them down properly. With your help I'll recreate the situations and you'll be able experience them from a safe perspective, desensitizing yourself to their effect while targeted stimulation of key brain regions allow you to these highly emotional scenes with cool detachment. It would be best if trusted friends would accompany you in this to create a shared perspective and to provide an anchor to your real life.
I will monitor your stress levels carefully and stop the procedure should the experience prove to be harmful or to dangerous to you.
Would you like to start describing your traumatic experience? Start with peripheral details and avoid for the moment the central elements. After the framework is constructed we can invite your friends."
From her admin position, bnc was able to track Krestov's general interaction with the autodoc program, but a direct feed still needed a purposefully complicated designed opening sequence, discouraging accidental snooping into patient-doctor dialog. Besides that, she didn't find any threatening behavior within the system.
According to the outside data the pods had now moved close to half an hour through the sea. The target coordinates seemed to be a featureless spot in the Seattle bay. After some more minutes the combined sensor array of the Jonas-Host displayed a large vessel - probably a container ship or tanker according to it's dimensions.
bnc noticed how a subroutine was triggered and the pods moved as a perfect swarm to the underside of the ship. To her surprise there seemed to be a large rectangular hole at the bottom through which the pods surfaced.
The microphones took in loud engine noise and - after engaging the select sound filter - two people talking:
"A Doc, seems as if your little whales have found their way back in time."
"Did you have any doubts? That was just a last routine check. I'll analyze the data in my spare time down at Erebos Base. For now please put them directly in my container. I don't want to disturb the bio samples inside just yet."
"Okay dokey Doc, when's the sub arriving to take you down?"
"It should be with us in about two hours."
"You sure have some mighty balls to go down and stay there for two months - they couldn't pay me enough to live an oil sardine. Not to mention what the pressure down there could do to such a tin can."
"It's not so bad and the high pressure is countered within."
"Nevertheless. Would be a shame to lose you - you are one of the better guys to have around."
"I'm flattered, but you wouldn't happen to say that just because I came out more than a little bit worse for cash from our last poker game?"
"Well, I certainly am willing to give you an opportunity for a revanche when you come back up. After all what should you do with all the cash you are going to earn down there..."
The rest of the discussion was lost as a crane began to take the pods from the water and locked them inside a heavy steel container.
-
Krestov listened without interruption to the soothing lilt of the voice in his mother tongue, mentally nodding again at the explanation of the proposed treatment. There was a pause before he mentally entered a response.
<<What trauma would be best? In my life, there has been much most would consider trauma. In my work, it is job to protect my coworkers from harm by any means necessary, and that often is myself. Scar tissue and nerve damage prove that. I know of pain, but was conditioned for it. Taking that pain was my purpose. If I were to have completed the Evo Conditioning Program at KE's Academy I would be head of special team in hostile situation. Was decision made for me when was merely boy holding on to mother's skirt. Did well in training, until pro-human litigation had me ousted and stripped of purpose. Instead, found use for talents in current job.
In short, madam. Trauma is my life, and my burden. There are few close enough to consider friend, fewer I trust with that part of me>>
-
"No problem, our petite matrix maestro."
bnc chuckles audibly on Slobbertooth copying bnc's youth slang.
After a few moments, bnc explains.
"Okay, thanks, buddies. I am able to slave 9 devices to my deck, but Torrent's commlink which is not to bad either. So, please, Torrent, enslave the devices as to following lists.
This is what I would suggest as master-slave relationships:
Nova will enslave:- my smartgun
- my hidden arm slide
- my chameleon suite
- Slobbertooth's smartgun
- Torrent's smartgun
- Slobbertooth's concealed holster
- Krestov's cybereyes
- Krestov's Ares Crusader II
- Krestov's helmet suite
Torrent's Erika Elite will enslave the rest, which is:- his eye-contacts
- his chameleon suite
- hit autopicker
- Slobbertooth's helmet
- Slobbertooth's Sony Emporer
- Slobbertooth's glasses and earbuds
- Krestov's Yamaha pulsar
- Krestov's Renraku Sensei
And to Krestov, she adds.
"Ah, and big 'un. I would really recommend you rethink your priorities. While as a hacker I can really understand you don't appreciate your commlink being ripped apart, you're going to be blind with rage if someone bricks your eyes!
bnc suspiciosly throws a glance at the ARO indicating Krestov being under the influence of the vicious manipulative bitch, but he's a grown-up and she knows pretty well that a 19 year old drug-addict "anemic teenage decker" will not be an authority for Krestov. She refrains from hacking into his program, showing a rare display of respect for other people's private sphere, watching his stress levels closely.
Depending on whether the others are already in their come, she comments the dialogue with: "It's going down the rabbit hole, Alices!"
-
Krestov's virtual therapist took a second to contemplate that statement - or at least it waited that long to answer:
"This is a question only you can answer. What images are giving you the most frequent nightmares and/or flashbacks? What is the earliest recurring nightmare for you?
Highly emotional and traumatic experiences that haven't been processed completely are prone to recur as vivid memories.
You are a very strong and independent individual - a defining traumatic experience would probably be a situation where despite these traits you were made helpless to influence your own condition."
bnc received another prompt from the host:
"All occupants of the Jonas-Host have been evaluated and are fit for hibernation treatment. Hypodermic injection for nutrition and medicament supply can now be engaged.
Please be advised that the "rapid awakening protocol" is currently in effect.
Your personal configuration is in effect.
Your personal VR environment is loaded and ready.
Your personal override has been compiled and implemented.
The Jonas-Host has been connected to an outside power-supply, extending the operation time to... 87 days, 6 hours and 25 minutes before supplies have to be refilled.
Have a nice day."
-
"Okay, babies, this is it. As soon as you give me the confirmation that you're ready, I'll send you to come. If anything happens to us some or all of you will be woken up the rapid way. Any questions before I hit the button?
After everyone confirms she triggers the sequence to set them asleep. She herself will stay awake just a little longer.
-
Slobbertooth sighted, and focused himself. He was ready to not feel the catheter or butt-plugs anymore. Hopefully over these next two months he wasn't going to have any bad dreams, too. "Alright, give me my warm milk. I'll need my beauty rest or I'm going to be all grumpy when we start this mission."
-
The prick through the hypodermic needle was painless as the system transported Slobbertooth quickly into VR to disengage him from his body. Than, from one moment to the other he was out like a light.
His heart rate steadily reduced and his breathing became flat. Simultaneously his body temperature began to fall and stabilized at 35,5° C.
The smart mattress reported its functionality and would begin to massage his muscles every hour and to induce weak electric stimuli to prevent atrophy and bedsores.
-
Krestov sent a confirmation to proceed with the stasis program to bnc before focusing on the words his Autodoc therapist was telling him. It took several minutes before he responded, and by then he was likely to have drifted off into full VR, his body hibernating in the induced stasis.
<<...My expulsion from Academy fits that quality best, and is the biggest reason why I am not doing what I was meant to...no, what I was built to be. This story I have told to only one person, and if I am right, she has likely already dug up the parts I hadn't shared. I was seventeen, top of my class, thanks to the conditioning program I was placed in. The biogenetic enhancements allowed me to excel. I was not liked...several human and elven students thought it unfair a "trog like me" should get enhancements for something I was already at an advantage before. Halfway through the year, I was informed that I had been expelled, and it wasn't until after I had learned that a human's parents had filed a suit against the school for my program. I..do not remember what much happened the next few days, but I knew of that truth and that I could not stay in my home country>>
Mentally, she sent a message to the team.
<<Krestov here. The therapy seems to not be malign in nature, other than addressing events of your past. You might be getting invites to link up with my VR environment, and it is on you whether or not to accept. ...I strive for honesty with those I consider friends, so I will warn that if you do, you may learn more of me than you would prefer. Krestov out>>
-
bnc sends Slobbertooth into Nirvana.
"Slobbertooth is gone. I set the noise filter to blend out his snoring."
bnc chuckles.
To Krestov she sends a private message. "Got it, big 'un. I'll be there for you, big 'un. But don't expect me to participate in some pre-programmed weird shit pseudo-psychology program. I was treated by a real living flesh-and-bones psychologist for years and you see what good it did to me. I like me the way I am, but I would be dishonest if I ignored the fact that I'm totally fucked up."
-
It wasn't that Torrent lacked self discipline.But the idea of staying still inside a coffin while immeasurable tons of water pushed from all directions, trying to crack his cocoon was a bit discomforting.In a twisted way it reminded him of suffocating childhood years: the slums stood upright resisting the forces of nature and there was never enough space to claim as your own.
Ok kid.Send me to sleep.And play nice while we're gone, eh?
-
And send him to sleep she does.
-
The voyage continued while bnc sent each team member into hibernation. Their bodies' life signs were steady and showed no signs of stress.
bnc had read the manuals meticulously and knew that their brains still could go into VR without waking up the body.
She had time to relax and entered her own VR environment to keep an even closer eye on her friends well being. She did notice that the Jonas Hub used a lot of bandwidth for matrix searches - something it would have to cease once they were under water as only a few meters of salt water would create a noise barrier to thick for even the most advanced communication devices.
And still, Krestov's therapy (http://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php?topic=19714.0) continued.
-
bnc stays online until they reach the facility, keeping herself entertained with reading, playing games and toying around with the system.
-
While the therapy continued - bnc saw that the boys had effectively re-purposed it into a Virtual Military Shooter - their transport showed signs of being moved. To be precise the whole container was shaking when the crane tried to put it gently inside the hold of another ship.
The sound filter did catch only a few bits along the lines of "I sure hope that seal still holds" and "The doctor will be really mad if his toys get wet... or crushed" before a remarkable silence cut of any and all noises from outside. Correspondingly the matrix access vanished, leaving only the Jonas Host and the silent present of the submarine that was taking them down into the depths.
Maxime #6 of Maximally Effective Mercenaries: If violence wasn’t your last resort, you failed to resort to enough of it.
The ground of the Pacific, ca. 50 km outside the coast of Seattle
The container had been moved earlier and now been at rest for about 10 minutes. The Jonas Host was part of an unfamiliar grid that allowed no access to the matrix at large and only seemed to consist of two other hosts. There names were displayed as Deep One and Blue Hades. Both had an impressive level 7 rating but where obviously ok with the presence of the Jonas Host.
bnc became aware to the chirping sound of a received mark. Schmitt had done as she asked and sent her an invite to his shiny, shiny comlink. At the moment he was in room 121.
Shortly thereafter he moved upwards and settled into room 523b where he stayed for the next eight hours.
-
bnc checks everything: matrix anomalies, silently running icons, biomonitors, and basically every little piece of data she can receive down there, than allows the machine to sedate her. She programs the schedule to unfreeze her in exactly 20 hours.
-
The day's are just flying away while bnc keeps to her routine of waking up in VR and going to sleep again. She noticed, that the system had noted her Whoom cravings and wanted to start a substitute treatment. It was no problem for her to instead have the system give her a small dose of the real stuff.
"Wheeeeeeeeeeee" the alert shook the team from there deep slumber like a bucket of cold water. The internal clock showed that it was sometime after 0300 hours on the 34th day of their mission.
Something was wrong with the station grid. The Jonas Host seemed to be disconnected from the other hosts and Schmitt's comlink was nowhere to be found. The host also noted that it was disconnected from the station power supply, indicating that either there was no power or that the whole station was running on auxiliary and had cut of any non-essential consumers.
The pods had enacted the quick-thaw program, pumping drugs into the teams system while also rising the temperature rapidly through heating elements.
As far as bnc knew, the pods where still in the container and the container still in room 107A.
Now the sound filter did record something, that sounded a lot like gun shots, muffled through iron walls.
Also two sets of footsteps were within 107A and a whispered conversation, that the system translated from Spanish:
"...no-one here..."
"...<unintelligible>, you son of a whore. Just a minute ago someone sent a signal here. Open that cabinet, I will search that container..."
The pods had unsealed themselves and the team was awake, free of any appendages the pods had used. Still, they felt nauseated (Nausea condition, double all wound modifiers for 10 minutes), while they heard someone opening the container.
The foot steps came closer while the person said something under her breath that the filters didn't catch.
A gloved hand appeared inside the pod of (1d4=1 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4782303/)) Slobbertooth and slowly began to open...
-
Slobbertooth saw the pod opening, heard the siren, and saw the tactical equipment. "Go time." He quickly drew his Ruger Superwarhawk (Quick Draw Agility Test (2) (http://orokos.com/roll/257457): 6d6h5 3), and kicked the container the rest of the way open. His hands clenched, his pupils dilated and he resisted the urge to howl as he channeled his spirit guide into his hands. (Simple Action Agility Boost [2] (http://orokos.com/roll/257458): 6d6h5 3).
Slobbertooth raised his new toy at the teams probably stunned hosts. "¡Hola! Chummer." Slobbertooth unleashed a blast from his hand-cannon aimed at his door man's chest. (Simple Action Magnum Attack Test [7] (http://orokos.com/roll/257459): 16d6h5 3 Net Damage 11s -1AP). Slobbertooth immediately rolled his eyes and cursed, remembering he had just fired a gel round. "Stupid fragging nonlethal mission stipulations." (Or'zet)
-
The armored intruder stumbled backwards from the power of the gel round that hit his collarbone. The hit was solid, but didn't incapacitate Slobbertooths opponent. Through the adrenaline everything seemed to slow as the other man brought his Colt Cobra into position...
-
Torrent hears the gunshot but he remains still and uses his magic in order to gain a sense of the enemy's numbers.
When he spirngs into action he already knows the exact location of his target.He draws the pistol and fires
-
The mini capacitator - better known as Stick'n Shock - hit the soldier square in the neck. Without a word but with a lot of spastic twitching he went down.
From outside the container running footsteps could be heard and a second soldier appeared in the runner's field of vision.
Before Slobbertooth was able to react, the man had readied his gun, took aim and shot in the wolf adept's direction.
But wolf and adrenaline gave the orc metaphorical wings and the stick'n shock bullet embedded itself harmlessly in the armored lid of his pod.
-
bnc is in no rush to leave the relative safety of the sarcophagus, and anyway she's quite sure that her presence on the battlefield would make things rather worse than better. She stays online.
First comes the intel. Always. After clearing her thoughts, she looks out for any matrix icons. She generates a map of the underground facility based on the data she was already given, centered around their current location. As usual, Slobbertooth is a green wolf icon, Torrent a green lightning, Krestov a green fist and bnc a green Greek comedy mask.
Any PANs that can be related to human beings, for example, because they include a commlink, a bio-monitor or a smartgun, or because their movement indicates a human motion pattern, will be visualized as a red circle. If there is a bio-monitor, one of bnc's favourite sub-routines will generate a percentage indicating the all-over health and actually display it as a health bar the like you found in old strategy games. Her own usually is quite short to begin with.
She quickly feeds her teammates' commlinks with the map, then looks for any other anomalies and relevant infos she can provide for her team.
-
The trill Krestov's eyes snapped open as the muffled rapport of arms fire were heard outside of his pod, indicating a fight had already ensued. His breathing remained slow as his hesrtrste rose, natural adrenaline aiding his waking process despite the nausea eating at his stomach. Then the map bnc was forming came into His view as his UI booted up in his vision, showing the two red dots. Scratch that, one as the lightning bolt moved into action and assumedly dispatched one, the other moving into an offensive position towards the wolf. Time to work..
Calm and level headed, Krestov shoved the door open and leapt out, bounding in front of the other guard in a few steps. Clad in boxers, the troll likely caused a distracting sight as he raised his fists in a defensive stance. He spun around, bringing his leg up and snapped it out in a hook kick, trying to catch him at the ear. He practiced restraint despite his steel-dense bone structure, looking to knock the guy out. "Good morning, comrade"comrade" he said calmly as the leg lifted and connected.
-
"Ufff" was the only sound the intruder made. The hit had clearly affected him as he lifted his SMG and aimed at Krestov's large head. The troll felt how the short burst clipped one of his horns, but the electric shock did not come.
bnc had other problems: Somehow the whole matrix inside the facility had broken down. The only thing she had access to was the Jonas Hub. At least the protocols could give her answers about what had happened in the last five minutes:
First the hidden Security Host had gone offline. Afterwards there had been an unscheduled docking at the main dock. That was when the alert had started.
Directly afterwards, the other two Hosts had gone offline too and with them all signals inside the facility.
One minute ago, the Blue Hades Host had restarted for a few seconds only to be shut down immediately again.
In those few seconds, a wifi wakeup signal had been sent to the Jonas Host, that had already started to wake up the team. The wifi signal came from room 302, where the support personal was situated.
Schmitt's comlink's last position was marked at the 5th level in room 519.
Whatever had happened, someone must have sabotaged the network down in the cellar to take out the private matrix. The whole base was flooded with extreme matrix noise, that her deck couldn't even measure. Either someone had repurposed one of the hosts into a jammer, or the intruders had brought an extra efficient one with them.
The last thing the Jonas Host had recorded made her gulp heavily: At least 20 intruders had come out of the airlock, before the net had crashed...
-
Slobbertooth swiveled his Ruger towards the remaining target, calmly aimed and fired another gel round aimed at center mass. Attack Test [6] (http://orokos.com/roll/257793): 15d6h5 3 (Net damage 11p -1 AP).
-
The bullet connected (7d6.hits(5)=0 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4784352/)) and threw the man unconscious on his back (19d6.hits(5)=7 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4784353/)).
A short silence entered the cramped battlefield. From outside there were still faint bursts of automatic fire to be heard.
The quick search of the two intruders resulted in the following:
Both wore customized Armor Jackets with Gel Packs, full Chemical Resistance and Thermal Damping.
Their helmets had an integrated micro transceiver, low light vision and flare compensation, as well as image and sound link.
Besides a combat knife both had carried a Colt Cobra TZ-120 on a sling. The standard Gas Vent II had been replaced for the III model. Both carried 4 reserve clips: Two held standard ammo, while one was filled with Stick'n Shock and the last Flechette.
In a quick draw holster they carried Browning Ultra-Power heavy pistols with two spare clips filled with standard ammunition.
Finally they also carried each two flash bang grenades.
The clothing they wore had been made somewhere in Africa - cheap para military fatigues, available everywhere you could buy combat supplies. Both were Latinos in their early 20s and had the distinctive physique of trained soldiers but probably not veterans. For this they lacked any significant scars.
bnc had the distinct impression, that the intruders had been equipped with an eye to functionality without wifi access. Without the matrix coverage she could neither find the rest of the intruders nor Schmitt, their primary objective.
All she knew for the moment, that someone in 302 had sent the wake up signal and that Schmitt's comlink had been recorded at last on level 5.
-
"Frag nonlethal parameters." The wolf adept pulled the gel rounds out of his Ruger, replaced them with 6 standard shells, and re-holstered the firearm. He also took some time to start activating his goggles, earbuds and make sure his gear was comfortably located.
Slobbertooth went over to the unconscious bodies, and started to grab the equipment off of them. "The uniforms are yours, little crow, but Kretov and I are taking the guns." He grabbed one of the Colt Cobras and slung it over his shoulder after checking currently loaded magazine to see how much ammunition was left. He stuffed his pockets with half of the spare box magazines, but before sliding the rest of them to K, he looked back at Torrent. "Unless you think you'll need one to complete your disguise, of course. Your call."
Slobbertooth unfolded the Cobra's stock, activated the laser sight, turning off it's wireless functionality, and looked down the sights disappointingly. "Always hated these things. Low stopping power. Low accuracy, and the accessories you get at purchase are ones you're just going to want to replace if you're a professional. At least they're free..." Slobbertooth paused. "Hey Krestov, you know guns better than I. You think these things have Advanced Safety Systems on 'em? I don't want one of use pulling the trigger only to start wiggling on the floor"
-
"I think I'll have to keep one."
Torrent begins to undress one of the intruders.After removing the helmet he closely examines the man's face.
"Nonlethal parameters are the reason this equipment is not damaged or stained with blood and gore.Lucky me."
He dons the helmet before his skin color and his facial characteristics start to change.He fears his friends might find the process unsettling.
-
"Frag, frag, frag, frag, fragfragfragfragfrag!"
When the shooting finally seizes, bnc opens the lid and leaves the pod. She quickly looks around - and freezes, as she sees a Hispanian stranger. Panicking, she grabs her Ingram Smartgun and points it at Torrent, shakingly. It takes a second or two of her team soothing her, before she lowers the gun with an embarrased smile.
"Sorry, I, um, didn't see."
She takes a breath and fights the urge to bring down her nervosity with Whoom (13d6.hits(5)=7 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4784721/)).
She regains control quickly, but at least Krestov can tell that her self-control is instable.
She quickly throws a glance between the intruders' armor, the labcoat and her chameleon suite, then decides to go for her own armor. She grabs the chameleon suite and starts talking quickly:
"Most important, six minutes ago, 20 intruders entered the facility through the airlock. As you might remember that's only a few yards away from the very room we're in right now. We might be surrounded by a group of attackers like these, but I can't tell, since the system is offline.
"Now, there are three objectives besides surviving:
"Firstly, the machine room and computer support are in the lower level which is quite close. We might be able to turn on the system again.
"Secondly, the signal to wake us up was emitted from a room in the third floor. We should check that out.
"Thirdly, my last connection to Schmitt was on the fifth floor. Thus, I'm not sure whether he himself tried to wake us up."
She breathes.
"As long as the matrix is down, I'm the most useless decker on Earth. Until then, I'll just shoot anything that looks like it wants to kill us." She tries to sound confident as she takes up her gun again, but she's even paler than she uses to be, and her hands are shaking visibly.
This is going out of control. Goddamn, frag it!
-
Once the twonguards were confirmed knocked out, the shorts clad Krestov did a quick search to find bbc'a pod, knocking on it twice to give the all clear. He glanced back just in time to see Torrent doing his special disguise trick, raising a brow, but not altogether shocked by that. After all, it was known that Awakened were ever capable of strange things. After calming bnc, he addressed Slobbertooth's query.
" Have saying about military. Equipment made by lowest bidder. Doubt they spend that much on grunts. As for power, if given choice between Colt and Ares, would choose neither."" he smirked, letting Torrent grab the second Colt while he busted out their supply box, hurriedly dressing and equipping himself. Once finished, he grabbed a pair of restraints for each of the guards, binding their hands and feet and using pieces of the spare uniform as gags while bnc laid out their objectives.
"we are no good to Schmitt if team not at full ability. First objective should be establishing the link again. We are closest so is convenient.". He pulled his helmet over his head and grabbed his shield. "opposition is armored...Doubt I need to hold kicks back. Will follow lead and keep path clear"
-
Slobbertooth looked over at bnc's Ingram. He considered asking for it, but though better of it. The difference between the two weapons was going to end up being negligible. "I wish I had known you could fit an SMG in your pod, I would have tried to squeeze my HK in there. Null sweat."
Slobbertooth turned towards the door, and motioned toward torrent. "You take point, Krestov and I will be behind you."
-
bnc smirks on Slobbertooth's comment, stretches in the chameleon suite and readies the smartgun. "Why, didn't you bring your guns in the fifth pod?
She ten gets serious. "Unfortunately, we are in the northernmost part of the 1st floor, just after the airlock through which an army of no less than twenty intruders entered just a couple of minutes ago. The stairs, however, are in the northernmost part. So we have to force our way through the whole etage.
"Slob and Krestov, would you mind if I squeeze myself somewhere in between you? That way I'm not the first target if they come from the rear."
-
Torrent nods at Slobbertooth.He then turns to the rest of the team
"How do you want to do this?Safety over speed?
-
Slobbertooth motions bnc over to behind Krestov. "Our mission is extraction. Our human credstick is missing. Speed."
-
Keep a distance of ten steps.
Torrent bolted forward.
(At every intersection he will be using Motion Sense.If he perceives motion he will be using the periscope camera)
-
Torrent opened the door into the hallway. The first thing he saw, was a man in a white labcoat, lying unconscious on the floor. A line of stick'n shock tazer needles dotted his torso. The ork in a security overall beside him wasn't so lucky: Someone had shot him with flechette right in the unarmored face, transforming his flesh into ground beef. In his lifeless hands, he still clutched his smg, a Onotario Arms Sig-6.
The fire fight had destroyed several workstations across the lab they came from. There were still gunshots ringing out, but Torrent's motion sense told him, that at least in there immediate vicinity no-one was moving.
Moving south they came across more unconscious researcher. Most had been tazed, but a few had been shot with gel ammunition. All in all there where four unconscious people and one corpse.
Torrent moved from his cover until the shuttle dock came into view. There a single man in the same garb, that torrent now wore, guarded the door.
Torrent had noticed him well in advance, so that the guard hadn't spotted him. Still the shooting could be heard, but it had to have moved another floor upstairs, as far as the sound in here could be trusted.
(Guard failed it's perception check, you have a surprise round)
-
Torrent knows he can't give the guard any chance to react.
His disguise should buy him a split second of doubt.
It is all he needs.
-
Krestov gave a nod as the plan was established, acknowledging each of the positions. "Agreed. Slobbertooth, you better at range than I. Take back and keep close. bnc, stay behind me. Consider me personal wall." He tapped his microtransceiver active, establishing connection with the others before they moved out. He kept pace with Torrent, remaining ten steps back at all times, his shield held at his side, ready to snap in front or behind as necessary. When Torrent hit the junction, Krestov held up his free hand to call a halt, waiting for the infiltrator to act. When he darted behind the corner, Krestov moved to join him, rounding the corner...and seeing the guard paralyzed on the floor.
Krestov shook his head, allowing a smirk on his jawline to appear as he stacked up, eyeing the unconscious and one dead bodies as they passed. "We are not only guests party crashing. This can get messy. How close to objective?"
-
bnc follows silently, found directions when needed.
-
The paralyzed guard still had a surprised look on his face while his breathing had become short and panicky.
Torrent took point and moved past the elevator that had shutdown while the base operated on auxiliary power. Heavy steel doors had closed of the large area that their map had designated as the main testing area and weapons lab.
Another such door had closed off the access to the cellar stairs. A keycard reader flashed a red warning sign beside it: Emergency Lockdown.
The casing had been damaged by a stray Stick'n Shock bullet and lose cables were visible.
Suddenly the whole base became silent: The shooting on the higher levels had stopped...
-
Torrent uses his AR gloves to send a silent message to bnc
Kid, I need you here.Lock is useless, you must work your magic.
-
Slobbertooth motioned over towards the Onotari Sig-6 for Krestov to pick it. "If we need it. It'll pack more of a punch than your Crusader II. I'll have K fence it later."
-
"Noted. Will carry, but handle is too small for my hand. Thank you" Picking up the Onotari, he slipped the spare mags into his belt and checked the ammo counts briefly before confirming it loaded and ready, slinging it over his back before falling in behind Torrent. He gave room for bnc to file in to help as needed. During the wait, he remarked how well-rested he felt...no fatigue, no aches. If anything, the conditions were perfect for a run, thanks to their month of hibernation...
As the noise died, Krestov's hairs stood on end as his muscles coiled, eyes instinctively scanning behind them for movement, proving to be an effective rear guard while they worked the door.
-
The skinny girl moved past the two adepts and inspected the maglock. She smiles as she realizes that it is directly available and prays to all gods she doesn't believe in that it is still slaved to the host. This would be the chance she was hoping for ever since she agreed to the run.
She pulls a thin cable from her datajack, frowning for a second (only an very, very, very, very rare occasions she uses hardware connections, and it always made her feel vulnerable despite she knew that this was crap). She plugs in the cable and swings her magic wand.
-
To her great disappointment the lock was not connected to the Host at the moment. But at least this made it pretty trivial to open the door.
Now that bnc had had time to study the casing, she realized that the damage had not been an accident. Whoever shot at the lock wanted to prevent anyone from using their access keys.
Down the stairs an unmistakable smell reached their noses: Blood and lots of it.
Torrent in the lead again relied on his motion sense, but couldn't make out anything. The red emergency lighting gave the whole situation a menacing atmosphere.
At the base of the stairs they found the source of the smell: One of the base security lay on his back. His suit had been cut open and his disemboweled entrails formed a crude star. With his blood and guts someone had formed a rough circle around him and even scrawled some kind of script or hieroglyphs around the edges. Further ahead a trail of blood led to a room with a big sign on the doors: "Server room - NO unauthorized access beyond this point - Warning, automatic defense systems active - You will be shot and persecuted."
-
bnc follows her comrades and so far her nerves have proved stable. But at the sight of the disemboweled corpse it's too much. She turns white as chalk, turns to side and vomits heavily.
"These ... diese Schweine!! Who does a thing like that."
She is close to tears, but clenches her fist. "Let's ... let's move on." WIthout realizing, she grasped for Krestov's hand, shivering.
"Kerstin..."
-
Slobbertooth maintains his composure, but internally grimaces at the girl's nausea. What's she going to do when we're the ones geeking people? Fear is one thing, but we''ll be hosed if we have to drag a dorpher decker through a firefight because she's immobilized by nausea. Slobbertooth audibly sighed, shook his head and then looked back at Torrent.
"It's still your show, chief. Lead on."
-
There were times when Torrent regretted the fact that he never committed himself to learning how to perceive the astral world.This was one of those times.He turns to bnc
Are these symbols arcane?
He draws his pistol ready to follow the trail but something holds him back.
You know what Slobber?I've been thinking...if those automated defenses are still operating maybe Krestov should take the lead
-
Slobbertooth nodded in agreement. "Good thought. Krestov. Up for taking point?"
-
Krestov paused at the ritualistic display, a large hand steadying the nauseated bnc on the shoulder. While not very knowledgeable with magic practices, the nature of this murder denoted one thing all runners and street sprawlers were aware of: blood magic.
Taking a second, he nodded to the other two. "You read mind. Turret not problem" Patting the hacker on the back, he stepped up and took point, his shield in front of him as he stepped cautiously ahead, proceeding into the server room.
-
The door was closed but had not locked. Krestov carefully shoved it open, ready to duck away from a sentry gun.
But the hail of bullets did not come. The smell of blood was accompanied by the smell of ozone and a small smoke trail showed that the ceiling mounted LMG had been fried either through a lightning strike or through some other source of high current.
More important was the rest of the display: A dwarf, probably the security spider had dragged himself inside, despite his guts hanging out. His datajack was still connected to a large console. His wounds were fresh and spoke of a very sharp blade. The ammount of blood pooling around him made it pretty much a guarantee that he was dead.
His AR tag identified him as Kyle Fisher. Krestov noticed that the dwarf wore a modified helmet compared to the other guard. Not only had he easier access to his datajack, but there there seemed to be additional stuff in there too.
-
bnc swallows, wipes her face and takes a second look at it. As with the vomit she had somehow spat out her fear, her eyes get crystal clear and focussed again. Then she swallows again as she nods slowly.
"That's mojo, da. And if I'm not dull as a football, one of the vilest kinds there are: blood magic."
She seems absorbed, the disgust somehow moved to the back of her head, like an archeologist who discovers his very first tomb. "If I'm not mistaken - and I tend not to be - these are Aztec scripts. The Aztecs have a very long history of sacrificing human and animal bodies. Some reputated researchers like Angelico Caranto or Dr. Susan van Bleeck assume that this roots in an even older history of blood magic."
She shakes her head as she realizes that she trails off. "Anyway. I'll bet my low-fat ass that somebody summoned a bloody blood spirit."
She takes in a deep breath of air.
"We are screwed. Mucho malo."
Frightened, but determined, she follows her group into the room, her gun at the ready. As she sees the spider, she closes her eyes, breathes through, but maintains more courage than some might have expected.
"This is bad, real bad."
She approaches the disemboweled spider and frowns. What was it that made him drag himself here? What did he intend?
Silently she kneels beside the spider and takes his commlink. She plugs herself in and analyzes what data she can find: What did he do the last minutes before his death? What did he record since things got amiss? Ah, and maybe one security code or another, while she's there...
-
The dwarf had indeed left a message, composed via his DNI:
"Help, we have been attacked. Tom Preston came to me and Roger and asked me to bring him into the server room. Something was wrong with his eyes. I think she must have used some kind of magic, because I can't remember what happened after that. My bio monitor tells me, that I am as good as dead. Only Crash and Kamikaze keep me going for the moment. It seams I have locked myself out of the system and changed the code while I was blacked out. The kerberos agent system is active, but I'll try to stop the jamming signal anyway. At least in VR the pain will go away..."
The time code confirmed that his login attempt coincided with the short reactivation of the base matrix, followed by it's deactivation shortly after the bio monitor confirmed the death of the dwarf.
-
Slobbertooth kneaded his forehead, sighed, and then showed a small toothy smile. "And everyone thought I was crazy for being so against this job." And the little girl who was so confident and sure of herself was puking over the sight of a body.
"Nothing for it now, though. The only way out is through."
-
Blood spirits?Torrent had faith in his team but he knew none of them were experts in countering magical threats.
This damned helmet..it itches...
He never cared much for justice.In the streets you were predator or prey.He knew Raven's tricks danced on the edge of cruelty but what had happened to that poor dwarf was...sick.
Right.Our employer is waiting.
-
Krestov gave a bit of a nod at the explanation, what little information he had learned on maleficar and such during training coming into his memories. "Magiya krovi. Figures. KE has one procedure for them: wide area destruction. Normal rules on civilians voided to remove threat. Last time blood spirit in Seattle, KE almost leveled a whole sector before bounty hunter stepped in."[/color] He trailed, realizing that this wasn't the best time for a lecture.
"Time is not on our side then. Pressing on. bnc, can you restore Matrix function quickly?" His tone denoted not that of someone questioning her ability, but of one suggesting to weigh the time spent bringing them to full versus finding their main objective.
Another thought crossed his mind then, his expression going grim as he turned to Torrent and Slobbertooth while bnc did her thing. "Aztlani mercenaries. Aztec blood magic. At facility of two AAAs, and neither the one we angered. You know what I mean. Coincidence is...troubling..." He let them fill in the dots as he pulled out his Crusader, swapping out the mag for a clip of regular rounds with a short series of clicks.
-
What's going on?
Tom Preston is one of the three execs, after Dr. Schmitt himself and Dr. Malcolm. We never heard anything of a Roger, but I assume it must be a workmate. But who is she? There is not supposed to be any Awakened staff, yet the wording seems to indicate he knew her.
Well, there's nothing I can do about that right now.
"Da."
bnc plugs herself out of the commlink and shoves the cable into the control station. Before she establishes the connection she makes sure she's running silently; then her body goes limp.
Finding herself in the virtual world - the only true world - again, first she looks around. She should be inside the host already so this can't be an issue. Still, the routine that transformed the whole host into a drumstick-thrashing beast has to be find. But before that, she hast to look out for Kerberos.
-
The connection through the workstation made entering the host pretty trivial - especially since the dwarf was still logged into the station. In fact his persona icon - a small golden tortoise was still visible. She had seen something like this before: An active link lock, that ignored the fact that the owner had jacked out of his body permanently. The inside of the host looked very much like a techno disco. Light flashed everywhere and an all encompassing noise made her dizzy. The source of the disturbance was easy to identify: A single file, that seemed to be continuously updated - much like the recording file of a camera. The file seemed to connect to every other system inside the host and forced them to be send and copied at the same time, including itself. This process not only generated massive amounts of noise but did also effectively use up the available runtime of the whole system.
If she interpreted what she saw correctly, the dwarf had tried to suppress the file through a heavy encryption, stopping the update process. This had slowed down the copy process enough to give the host a short window to operate other functions.
That's where the Kerberos program came into play: The Icon of a giant, three headed dog prowled slowly through the host. With so much of the resources bound up otherwise, it moved with a glacial pace. But even so it would only be a matter of seconds before the program became aware of bnc.
-
If I don't wanna end up like that spider, I first have to blast this god-damn agent. His tough but if I learned one thing from Kerstin it is: If you shoot somebody in the back, he's unlikely to shoot back.
Still carefully controlling the data going to and fro her deck she tries to avoid being seen while she analyzes the structure of the program, looks for weaknesses in the programming and prepares small, fine, but very dangerous subroutines.
Suddenly her persona changes. Almost all of the gadgets surrounding the bizarre figure vanish and a prominent gun rises from her forearm. With a loud bang! she unleashes a program which not only triggers the small subroutines she installed to the dog seconds before but also edits a digit here or there to cause runtime failures and hopefully turns the three-headed giant dog in a metaphorical bluescreen.
-
Getting the marks was the easy part, but cracking the agent's firewall proved to be a lot harder.
Still, the noise of of the files prevented the agent from finding bnc, so he couldn't do much more than examine himself. bnc noticed how the Agent started his self diagnostics and raised additional protections.
-
Now, finally there's a challenge.
bnc's mind is racing as she thinks of tricks how to bypass the firewall, thoughts running quickly as she responds to Kerberos' activities. Finally, bnc manages to code a really nasty piece of code which disguises itself as an interesting anomaly, bypassing the Firewall through the sensory system of the agent, where it then reveals its vicious nature: a harmful executable that rewrites relevant operational file sections and eventually causes the agent to Crash.
"Dead", she exclaims dryly but triumphantly.
"Gimme a couple o' seconds, and keep those bloody spirits off me!"
"Now, let's play the Game of Life..."
bnc analyses the structure of these files and codes her own version of it. It's a trick she learned from her medicinical studies. In Gene therapy sometimes viruses are used to infect cells in a way that is wholesome to the patient. She copies that code of one of the files on her deck, changes its behavioral pattern: Instead of copying itself and thus creating other files it would analyse other files and infect those with a similar pattern. All infected files would no longer reproduce itself but, quite the opposite, send its file name and destination to an independend file she lovingly calls Sarah.
Once this virus is on his way, bnc would create a visualisation that shows her how the maleficent files and her virus expand in the host. As soon as all files are "corrupted" she will delete all files listed in Sarah, then delete Sarah itself.
If there is time she would change the design of the programming in an adaptable way. It should learn by other file's behavior to flexibly react to different data structure design. That way she wants to go sure that no single file survives to start the goddamn process from new.
-
The cure began to work. Slowly the noise level began to fall. About 30 seconds before Schmitt's comlink would work again and ca. one minute until her own deck would be back in action: Blue Hades slowly stopped being a problem and became part of the solution.
bnc would have liked to stay and watch, but she became aware of two things:
Whoever had sabotaged the Host would send troops to shut it down once more, or - since they had killed their decker - search for the person who had reactivated the system and force them to undo it.
Secondly: Now that the host slowly regained free capacity it had begun to launch an impressive array of IC - bnc counted a Patrol, a Killer, a Black IC and a Sparky. The performance was not unlike a severe allergic reaction. And as if that wasn't enough it seemed as if the host was loading another copy of the Kerberos agent.
-
"Sweet Jesus, what's wrong with these guys?"
bnc does the only sensible thing she can do: unplug herself and store Sarah and the visualisation recording directly on the server so she can access it without being online for more than a second.
"Everybody go offline immediately! Those fellas are serious. There's more ICe than on Mont Blanc! Don't like to repeat myself, but we're in trouble."
-
"So ka."
Slobbertooth nods, and begins disengaging the wireless functions of all of his equipment.
-
"I suggest we get outta here. I guess, 3rd floor is our next target?"
-
Krestov gave a nod, hitting a few switches and disabling any wireless. He even shut off his commlink, relying solely on the microtransceiver to communicate. Just like dire straits training. Minimal tech. Perfect. Reaching out, the troll helped the Decker to her feet before heading to the door.
"Yes. Second objective is locate source of distress call. Torrent, you take point after clear?". Once a response was made, Krestov then readied his shield, leading with it as he pushed the server door open, the man serving as a living wall for the others in case there were guns aiming for them.
-
Beside the gruesome display from earlier nothing threatening was visible beyond the door. Still the red emergency lights shined their meager light. bnc's deck noted that the noise level had already fallen to a measurable 8. No sirens blared and whatever fighting was done within the base, for the moment it seemed to be silent war.
-
bnc checks her gun, then files in behind Slob.
"let's go, girls"
-
Torrent nods, double checks his gear and takes point again
Ten steps.
Sneaking (http://orokos.com/roll/260926): 15d6t5 4
(@GM I got Traceless Walk so anyone in the vicinity has a -4 penalty to hear me)
-
Torrent moved back up the stairs, ignoring the closed doors of the machine room. Back on lvl. 1 the security doors to 133 and 127 were still closed. The stunned guard still lay as they there as they had left him. The elevator was still out of action, but the stair access was open. A careful look upstairs showed that here the intruders had encountered real resistance: Four facility guards with their overalls, helmets and SIG-6 weapons lay dead on the floor. They had been hit with stick'n shock but afterwards someone had cut their throats. The intruders apparently had also lost someone: One of the dead security guards had an implanted spur that was still wet with blood, of which a thick trail led to the rest rooms. Further down south more unconscious or dead people where visible - five researchers in total.
bnc counted the seconds until her deck was operational again: Just when they had reached lvl. 2 she could again see the multitude of icons, but since she had rebooted she no longer possessed a mark on Schmitt's device. A short search revealed that the Fairlight was no longer online or at least was running silent.
What she did find was the Erika Elite that had sent the wake up signal: It was still somewhere in the north of lvl. 3.
Very faint they could here Spanish voices calling to each other from further upstairs.
-
bnc quickly re-establishes a private network including an interactive map of the facility with the most important objectives and our symbols on it.
She enslaves their chummers' gear according to the plan they worked out over a month ago.
Fighting the urge to stare at the corpses, to puke again or just to sit down and cry, she presses forward.
"Are we going to fight our way through? I don't think we should attract attention. There are still the spirits.
"Slobbertooth, Torrent. You are both adepts. If you have any power which can wound spirits, this is a good time to tell."
-
Slobberooth draws a flashbang grenade out of his pocket.
"You only attract attention when they have time to call for backup. As for spirits, I have a gun. Sorry if I disappoint.
-
Krestov glanced over at Slobbertooth, then at the flashbang. Giving a nod, he pulled out his Crusader, quickly swapping out the magazine for one of gel rounds. "Between that and spray of bullets, may find hard time responding. Plus, suppressing fire make you hit mark easier. Objections?"
-
bnc checks the next couple of rooms for active icons and actively looks for hidden ones. Her primary objective is to block security alerts
-
Slobbertooth drew his suppressed Ruger out of his holster, letting his acquired SMG hang at his side. He looked at Torrent. "I throw it on your signal."
-
Still looking through the periscope, Torrent kept watching the five intruders in front of the Elevator. They continued their muted yet hot discussion in Spanish. They had taken off their helmets and gesticulated around. Only one of them faced in his direction and that one was very agitated. On the floor in the middle of the group lay a female dwarf, bleeding from a head wound. Torrent was sure now, that the dwarf was still alive, but guessed that even a flash bang grenade could have very dire consequences for her health.
-
Torrent cursed his luck.A trickster without boundaries would make an excellent killer but a poor shadowrunner.He knew that from the moment he accepted Raven as his mentor.After a brief time of internal conflict, he resigned.
No grenades.Sorry.But if I am the one wasting the advantage of surprise I should offer an alternative:let my try to fool them and take the prisoner away.If I fail you do it your way,go all in.The other option is to try and kill them as fast as we can, with precise shooting.Your choice.
-
Slobbertooth puts his flashbang grenade back into his jacket, but never loses his grin. "You said that those helmets don't have thermographic, right?" Th uber-tusker pulls out a smoke grenade and glances at Krestov. "We do."
-
The expression on Krestov's face was difficult to tell through his helmet, the visor masking his eyes as he glanced between Slobbertooth and Torrent. Remembering that these invading soldiers were not defined in the mission parameters, he stopped himself from switching to gel rounds, keeping his Crusader full of regular ammo as he spoke, the corner of his mouth curling up slightly.
"Try your idea, Torrent. If knew Spanish, would help through transceiver. If need us to move, find cover quick. We will dispatch quickly. bnc, Slob, stay behind me in case they see through smoke when we move. On your ready, Torrent."
-
I'm useless in here.
"No gear online. It seems they shouldn't be able to raise alarm through the local system. If they try, I will attempt to prevent them. Otherwise I'll just stay behind and give my best not to get killed."
-
I'll send them your way
Torrent takes off his helmet.He wants them to see a familiar face.
He takes out the Colt Cobra, sprays the whole room behind him, yells like the action heroes of classic cinema and hobbles towards the elevator, panting loudly. When the intruders are inside his field of vision he pretends he is relieved to see them and gestures behind him. He takes three steps and falls to the ground, as if critically wounded
Disguise + Impersonation threshold = 8
Con (Cha 4+ Skill 7) [6] (http://orokos.com/roll/261591): 11d6t5 4
Second Chance (I consider this an important roll so...)
Second Chance(Con) (http://orokos.com/roll/261592): 7d6t5 1
5 hits, not that great
-
Slobbertooth sees the scene Torrent is trying to create, holsters his magnum, and quickly ushers bnc behind the wall. "Try your best to ignore the loud noises. Don't go through the stairwell. "
He immediately throws the grenade up the stairs and into the hallway, setting it to a 6 second* timer. "Get out of this stairwell as soon as the grenade goes off. I know I'd be raining suppressing fire down it."
Popping smoke (http://orokos.com/roll/261611): 7d6h5 4
*GM Note: It has a 10m blast radius, so I don't think location matters too much here, I just need it on top of the stairwell. I'm more trying to make it go off as soon as the guys start moving towards the stairwell. If it's close enough the standard 3 second (1 combat turn) timer would be more reasonable, I'd use that.
-
The ruse worked: Four of the intruders immediately readied their SMGs and put on their helmets. The fifth gave some short orders that sounded a lot like formation tactics. The four got into a diamond formation and moved towards the stairs down while the fifth came to Torrent, pulling out a first aid kit from his calf pocket. Torrent could see that the first thing would be a biomonitor pad to be attached to his neck.
That was the moment the smoke grenade hit the floor. The point man had time to scream "granada" before thick smoke began to fill the hallway and the stairs.
Instead of firing blind, they began to slowly move back, while the fifth man began to drag Torrent away in the direction of the dwarf.
(The Intruders have taken a diamond formation and are on full defense:
Intruder Commander: Ini: 12
Intruder 1: Ini 8
Intruder 2: Ini 6
Intruder 3: Ini 11
Intruder 4: Ini 10
Dodge: 16
Soak: 20)
-
Just as the commander begins to drag him away Torrent knows there's no time to waste.He uses his left hand to grab the wrist of the unsuspecting man and strikes him with his right thumb to the neck(target: reaction)
Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/261644): 11+4d6 22
attack with nerve strike (http://orokos.com/roll/261648): 15d6t5 6
-
Well...respect to them for not being stupid...
Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/261672): 8+1d6 13
Krestov knew that they didn't have time to deliberate now, and had to act quickly to keep them off their feet. He took one deep breath...two...there, his center was there. Nodding to the two with him, he picked up his shield, leading with it as he rounded the corner, using the wall to cover half of him while the shield covered the other, the Crusader finding a gap and opening fire, a spray of bullets assaulting the four guards in front of him.
He hoped that would buy enough confusion for Torrent, and opportunity for the other two.
Suppressing Fire (http://orokos.com/roll/261676): 10d6t5 5
-
I'm not used to restricted settings as this. But there sure as hell must be something more useful than just standing there and waiting.
bnc hides in a corner and extends her antennae.
-
Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/261653): 4d6+13 26
Slobbertooth busted up the stairs and into the smoke, flipping on his thermographic vision. Torrent was still on the ground, and Krestov was going to be right behind him. Time to kiill some bad guys.
The orc channeled his spirit guide into himself to make his aim steadier and more accurate, and unloaded a quick full-auto burst with his aquired Colt Cobra into this enemies, trying to split his fire between three different enemies. He wanted to hurt as many of them as he could before they could react to the smoke.
Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/261653): 4d6+13 26
Target 1: Full Auto Burst 3 Targets (http://orokos.com/roll/261699): 6d6t5 1 Soak: 6s(e) -5AP
Target 2: Full Auto Burst 3 Targets (http://orokos.com/roll/261701): 5d6t5 1 Soak: 6s(e) -5AP
Target 3: Full Auto Burst 3 Targets (http://orokos.com/roll/261702): 5d6t5 5 Soak: 10s(e) -5AP
Target 1: 1 Hit to dodge
Reaction+Intuition w/-11 penalty (http://orokos.com/roll/261975): 5d6t5 2 DODGE
Target 2: 1 Hit to dodge
Reaction+Intuition w/-11 penalty (http://orokos.com/roll/261976): 5d6t5 2 DODGE
Target 3: 5 Hits to dodge
Reaction+Intuition w/-11 penalty (http://orokos.com/roll/261977): 5d6t5 2 -2 Net hits.
Target 3 Soak: 8s(e) -5AP
Soak w/-5 Penalty (http://orokos.com/roll/261978): 15d6t5 2 Target takes 6 stun (electrical) damage. Electrical damage: Character takes a -1 to all actions and defense tests (not soak tests). Immediate -5 to their initiative. Lasts for one combat turn.
He saw the first two guards duck their heads when they heard the fire incoming through the smoke, and figured his bullets sailed over. The third target wasn't so lucky. Two of the stick n shock rounds in the gun implanted themselves on his torso and sent their volts through his body. Slobbertooth saw the guard slighty sieze up but continue on his way.
-
The commander lost his grip on Torrent and began drawing his weapon. The strike had hit him hard and his nerveless fingers had problems to get a grip on his Colt. But he managed to lose a short burst at the adept:
(invisible castle is down at the moment, so I'll roll the good old fashioned way: 12-3(attacker in melee): 2 Successes, Dodge: Short burst -2, defender prone -2
Damage: 5+Net successes (if any) AP 5, stun, -5 Ini)
All but one unfortunate target of Slobbertooth evaded the hail of bullets and dropped prone following the suppressing fire of Krestov's attack.
To their credit, they reacted disciplined with short, aimed bursts of their own in the approximate direction of their attackers
Suddenly a small drone appeared from a small compartment in the wall and fired a pair of darts, connected through lightweight wires into the already wounded intruder. The second dose of high voltage had the desired effect and took the man out of the game.
Slobbertooth:
Intruder 1: (simple action: aim, simple action: short burst) 2 dice: no success
Intruder 2: (simple action: aim, simple action: short burst) 2 dice: 2 successes, Dodge: Short burst -2, second attack -1
Krestov:
Intruder 4: (simple action: aim, simple action: short burst) 2 dice: 1 success, Dodge: Short burst -2
All intruders have no more Ini left for a second combat sequence.
-
Initiative remaining
Slobbertooth 16
Torrent 12
Krestov 3
Slobbertooth Recoil: 6 Recoil Comp: 7 (1 Base +2 Str + 4 Weapon)
Slobbertooth saw the incoming fire and did his best to move out of the way.
Defense Test (Reaction + Intuition + Combat Sense) (http://orokos.com/roll/262092): 12d6t5 3 DODGE
Defense Test (Reaction + Intuition + Combat Sense) 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/262093): 12d6t5 4 DODGE
*sigh* Let's try that again, taking the -3 penalty into account, and only trying to dodge the one attack that actually hit me.
Defense Test 3 (R+I+Combat Sense-3) (http://orokos.com/roll/262094): 9d6t5 1 ::)
Soak 6 Damage. Armor + Body (6) -5 (http://orokos.com/roll/262095): 16d6t5 5 Six 1s. Not a Glitch. Slobbertooth takes 1 stun damage. Takes a -1 to all actions for the rest of the round, and loses 5 initiative.
As Slobbertooth bobs and weaves, one of the enemy's rounds implants itself on his shoulder and fire ups, sending an electric shock through his body. The orc notes that this one stings a bit more than they usually do.
Initiative remaining
Torrent 12
Slobbertooth 16-5: 11
Krestov 3
Slobbertooth condition monitor: 1/10 Stun, 0/12 Physical
-
Defense : 12-4 =8
Defense test (http://orokos.com/roll/262099): 8d6t5 4
Torrent manages to avoid the commander's attack and strikes again
-1modifier (prone)
Nerve strike (reaction again) (http://orokos.com/roll/262100): 14d6t5 5
If the commanderis paralysed Torrent's next action will be to enhance his agility quick draw his pistol ,and attack one of the others(let's ay Intruder 1)
enhance agility (http://orokos.com/roll/262101): 7d6t5 2
quick draw (http://orokos.com/roll/262102): 15d6t5 6
shoot in SA mode (stick n shock ammo) (http://orokos.com/roll/262103): 17d6t5 6
Limit is 5 so 5 hits
-
Totally paralysed, the commander went down and let his colt fall from his nerveless fingers.
Intruder 1 was surprised as well when a shot hit him from behind - surprised and shortly afterwards unconscious.
(Soak roll 15d6: 1 Success :-[ )
-
Krestov could see the thermographic silhouettes of the four he was pinning down, watching the drone take the one down, followed by another seemingly from an attack from behind. He heard them return fire, instinctively lifting his shield up in front of him, angling it to deflect the incoming electrified burst.
Dodge (burst -2) (http://orokos.com/roll/262115): 6d6t5 3
Fortunately for the troll, the angling and the use of his nonconductive shield redirected the Stik-n-Shok bullets to bury themselves in the ceiling. Two left. He knew his partners were fast, and good, so he had full confidence this would not impede them.. Best way to cause distraction is to give them something big to get their attention.. With alarming speed, the big guy charged through the smoke, doing a quick spin step, bringing a leg up and driving it down on one of the prone guard's chest in a mighty axe kick.
Unarmed (Charge, Kick Attack, Opponent Prone) (Guard #2) (http://orokos.com/roll/262121): 15d6t5 6
-
*Note, if you go back in my dice log, you'll see a bunch of rolls I made for this game. Long story short, I didn't realize bullets that you are about to fire counted towards your recoil. Yeah.*
Slobbertooth focused his attention on the one the only guard that was still standing. He aimed his shot, readjusted his aim from the previous burst of fire, and then fired another burst of automitic weapons fire.
Simple Action: Aim +1
Simple Action: Full Automatic Burst Attack Test against Target #4 (http://orokos.com/roll/262128): 17d6t5 6 limit reduces to 5
Target #4 Defense Reaction+Intuition w/-11 penalty (http://orokos.com/roll/262129): 5d6t5 1 = 4 Net Hits. 9s(e) -5AP
Target #4 Soak Armor+Body-5 (9) (http://orokos.com/roll/262130): 15d6t5 5 Target takes 4 stun (electrical) damage.
-
Krestov's kick came down like the foot of an angry god. His opponent slid across the floor and came to rest against the wall. Still, he was conscious and groped for his knife
(Dodge 2 successes, soak 5 successes, takes 9 damage)
-
When Torrent sees Krestov charging against the enemy formation, he activates the thermographic vision of his glasses.
Simple action : Thermographic vision ON ( If I knew the smoke would reach my position, I would have activated it before my little show.I don't know if that's the case so let's say I spend one action now, unless the GM has a problem with that)
Simple action: Shoot intruder#4
Shoot Intruder # 4 (http://orokos.com/roll/262326): 17d6t5 8
Stick n' Shock Ammo : DV: 6s+net hits AP: -5
These are some great rolls, unfortunately I can only use 5 of my hits (since we can't use our smartlinks)
-
Slobbertooth assumed that Torrent had taken down the last guard standing, and that Krestov would finish off the other one. He moved in the smoke, standing in the hallway, and readied his weapon for any guards that might be coming down the hallway. He took out his current magazine and swapped it in a new one with stick-n-shock.
"I'll check for incoming"
Next Round:
Slobbertooth took some time to scan the perimeter and listen to his surroundings while moving into a more protected position.
Simple Action: Observe in detail Perception+Intuition [5] (http://orokos.com/roll/262473): 12d6t5 7 5 I'm assuming a -2 penalty for distracting sound.
Simple Action: Move to cover.
-
Torrent shot the last man standing, taking him out of the fight.He was confident that if he could speak, the man would thank the Elf for saving him from another painful kick.
"Kid,that dwarf probably needs your attention."
-
Indeed, the female dwarf still bled from the head wound, but the flow had diminished - as well as her breathing.
At the same time Torrent and Slobbertooth heard the sound of another body falling to the floor just around the corner in the northern direction.
"Don't shoot. I'm on your side." The voice was gravelly and sounded like it belonged to a rather old chain smoker. Slowly and with raised hands an ork in a blue jump suit stepped around the corner. Despite the still heavy smoke, Slobbertooth and Torrent could see that his face was deeply lined and only a few grey white hairs had survived on his head. His eyes were almost hidden behind the frame of a seriously outdated and old fashioned pair of glasses. One remarkable detail about his appearance were his hands: They seemed to protected by a pair of hardliner gloves.
The ork continued to speak:
"You are Schmitt's life insurance, aren't you?" With a short look in the direction of the up stairs he added: "We shouldn't stay here, there are more of those guys up there and you were not exactly subtle here.
-
bnc shoots a quick look at the dwarvess. There's not much to do except to stop further bleeding. She'll have another two minutes before I do that. We're no use to her dead, anyway. Let's get outta here!
"She won't die instantly. We should get outta here! Let's move to the 3rd floor. I'll try and find shelter!
But before we go anywhere: Who the fuck are you?"
-
Slobbertooth does his best not to lose concentration as a lookout. "bnc, you aren't going anywhere to find cover. Certainly not alone. Cycle and sit tight"
"Torrent, talk to our guest."
"Someone at least stop the bleeding."
-
The ork answered calmly to bnc's question: "I - the fuck - am Hank and also Mr. Schmitt's back up plan. Nice to meet you."
-
Torrent points his gun at the ork
"Sorry mate.No one told us anything about a backup plan named Hank.Now be a good chap and put your hands up."
-
"How much higher do you think I should get them. If I wanted to fuck you, I'd just have tossed one of those grenades from that fucking Azzie over to you instead of introducing myself. And yes, of course he didn't tell you. I was the back up in case you didn't show up or tried to make a deal with his enemies or just tried to piss off.
The last point seems to be a bit moot now that this fucking huge squid thingy keeps circling the base. But I'd really appreciate it if you could help Marcy there. She isn't half bad for a corp sec gal", the ork replied without raising his hands higher than he already had.
-
Torrent liked the ork already.
All the more reason to be cautious
"Nah, if you really wanted to fuck us, you'd show up after an andrenaline-filled situation, tell us whatever would make us trust you, extract any useful info we might posses and then find a way to kill us.Now, before my paranoia finds a chance to gain the upper hand, please tell us what the fuck you meant with "huge squid thingy".Oh and about those hands...touche."
He holsters his pistol
-
Krestov had relaxed just a tad when the ork revealed himself, the troll reacting by leveling his Crusader at his balding head. He acknowledged the suggestion to let Torrent handle the talking with this one, instead turning his attention to the dwarfette.
"Okay. bnc, I know you already looking into Hank situation. I stabilize dwarf for treatment at safe location." Giving a visible nod, the huge sentinel of a troll stepped to Marcy's bleeding form, staring long and hard at the ork before kneeling, pulling out a slap patch and readying it save for any word of protest from their medic, applying it to her chest just below the collar, letting the cocktail of coagulants, pain killers, and disinfectants do their work.
The revelation of some giant squid gave him pause. The troll may be a bit slow at times, but he was making a possible connection. "...he cannot mean a spirit...can he?"
-
"Fair enough," said the ork. "I got a look from the gallery, shortly after those asshole appeared. There is some kind of giant squid circling the base, only its not a real squid but made up of bleeding entrails or some shit. My guess would be one of the azzie jinxflingers called himself some fucked up blood beast or whatever they are called.
And if you don't want to move, at least close the door to the upstairs level."
Woohoo we have spoiler tags. I'd suggest we post any crunch in those from now on
-
Slobbertooth does his best not to lose concentration as a lookout. "bnc, you aren't going anywhere to find cover. Certainly not alone. Cycle and sit tight"
bnc doesn't wait for him or the ork to ask (or tell) her to treat the dwarf. As soon as Slobbertooth decided not to go anywhere, she kneels beside the she-dwarf and opens the medkit. She nods to Krestov, though, as he applied the patch, while she prepares the bandages and treats the head wound.
First Aid (http://orokos.com/roll/263135): 13d6t5 4
"And if you don't want to move, at least close the door to the upstairs level."
bnc nods. She doesn't like to take commands, but she's not one to fight reason. She moves over to the door, plugs herself in, hacks the door (http://orokos.com/roll/263136), and shuts it. (http://orokos.com/roll/263137)
After that, she immediately returns to the dwarf, stopping her bleeding. She tries not to swallow too loudly at the mentioning of a big blood spirit out there. Nothing to do about it now, anyway.
-
Agility boost drain (http://orokos.com/roll/263138): 5d6t5 4 (no drain)
Torrent tried to push the mental image of a giant squid made of metahuman entrails away from his mind.
One problem at a time.
"Upstairs is where we need to go though.So, Hank, what was the backup plan exactly?Might prove useful after all."
-
"The one who called for the anti-sandman was on this floor. You don't have any clue, per chance, who that might have been, do you?"
-
"You are the clever one, aren't you? Anti-Sandman. I like it. Yeah, that was me. Since the boss was somewhat preoccupied being detained by a horde of azzie spec ops, I took the liberty and made sure you were woken up."
He looked to Torrent:
"Which nicely leads to your question: The plan was to make sure, you wouldn't be detected before you were needed. If you turned hostile or were neutralized, I was supposed to cause a blackout, knockout his captors and help him down to the little sub.
I have to admit it's more of a desperate measure than a plan, but since I'm the last resort when everything else goes to hell it's better than nothing.
But even that simple plan is now in the crapper unless one of you is a strong exorcist or we can find and neutralize the blood mage. Otherwise we'd probably end as squid food shortly after leaving this base."
He indicated toward the dwarf: "If she's stable we can take her to my quarter. I'll fill you in about what I know on the way."
bnc can see a bunch of comlinks clustered together on the fourth level at 423E. They are active, but they don't seem to be in use. There are also two smartguns active and very much in use: One inside the Airlock and one on the stairs up to lvl. 5. There are also about 12 active biomonitors in 127. They don't seem to send distress signals for medical attention.
-
Krestov knew his cue when he heard it, the troll straightening up his back before waiting on bnc, watching her apply first aid to the dwarf. Once she was done, he holstered his gun, gingerly wrapping his arm under the dwarf and slinging her over his shoulder as he stood. Before standing, though, he muttered to the hacker. "You more than earning pay, malyutka. Well done."
Facing the ork, he nodded and turned to Torrent. "You call. Ally or enemy, need choose now."[/color]
-
Slobbertooth shrugged "Considering we don't have any real leads on the situation, no offense bnc, I say we go ahead and follow this rabbit hole where it takes us."
-
Torrent looks at Krestov, then Slobbertooth.
"I'll trust Slobber's instict.Lead the way, Hank."
-
"Regarding people, I'd rather trust a coin than my instincts. Whatever."
I'll try and confirm that the commlink on his side actually is the one that woke us up.
-
Slobbertooth pointed towards the area where he remembered that they had down the intruders in, without taking his eyes of the hallway. "Grab as much ammunition as you can off those guys. I'm betting we'll need it."
-
"Good, follow me. It's just down the hall. Careful, don't step on that azzi over there. Had to knock him out on his way from the toilet."
Hank indicated towards the crumpled form of another intruder. He had no helmet and the severe bleeding and face deformation made it clear, that Hank didn't just 'knock him out'. The man is quite dead.
"As you probably already guessed, we are in the middle of a hostile takeover. Before Schmitt went offline he said something about Cray-Ken Technologies and that they have some kind of undercover agent in here. To be honest, I can totally believe that. In the beginning this facility was staffed almost exclusively with spies.
Here we are."
Hank produced an old fashioned bearded key and opened the door to 302. The inside looked a lot like a cheap bachelor apartment with a tiny hygiene cabin and an even tinier soy-processor unit with microwave and fridge.
"I'm almost out of beer, but if you want, I'll gladly share. Isn't as if I'll be staying here much longer - one way or the other."
He tossed a small wrist mounted commlink towards bnc. "Here, if I remember right, you are the computer wiz. PIN is 7734."
bnc can confirm that this is the link that sent the activation code. The call log also shows that the last few connections were to Schmitt's Fairlight.
A look further back also confirms, that this comm was regularly present within the storage room of the pods.
-
bnc catches the commlink.
"So-ka. He appears to be clean. Is the dwarf save here? I mean, relatively spoken.
"I think we should move on, and fast.
"The stairs should be right around the corner. But maybe it's safer to take the elevater, given that I can somehow directly access it. I also have this skimmer drone to glimpse into the room before we enter. Unfortunately, I don't think it can use staircases."
-
"Yeah, yeah. Been a while that I let sleep a gal at my place, but she should be as safe here as anywhere else on the base. Except maybe down in your pods. But I agree, we definitely want to get a move on, before those clowns can radio in back up. It can't be long before they breech the security on the fifth floor.
If the organizer of this invasion has any brains, they will have cut or spoofed the land line to prevent a security response from S-K or Ares.
The elevator will be out of commission as long as the people on the fifth want it. There is a hardware lock that prevents it's operation - part of the standard lock down procedures. You could of course enter the shaft and climb up, but than you'd have to cut your way into the carriage which could be a bit of a hassle not to mention slow and painful.
If you want more drones, there are a few on every level. But at the moment they are probably in energy safe mode at their charging stations. I restarted the little one you got there just a few minutes ago manually. If we could wake up Marcy, she might access the maintenance protocols and start them up through the host."
-
"Don't bother waking her. She needs some rest."
bnc looks around for any workstations or any other means of a direct connection to Blue Hades. She draws the cable of the workstation and makes herself comfortable.
"Is it okay, boys, if we let some drones to the peeking around the corner? I feel more comfortable if the dreaning clone is shot than myself."
If nobody objects, the skinny girl plugs herself in and goes limp for just a moment.
"Ready?"
-
Torrent nods in agreement and turns to Hank
" So while our friend works her magic, you could tell us who you think is Aztechnology's inside man.You seem to be acquainted with the staff.The existence of this facility was supposed to be a secret."
-
"Slight correction: The location of this base is the real secret. Any half skilled operative could learn quite easily from former employees and/or their families that they were in a secret underwater base. There are of course NDAs, but that is not really stopping a dedicated plappermaul.
The location on the other hand is really hard to pin down. It's pretty safe from exposure through radio waves, satellites or tracers. But as far as I know S-K and Ares both skimped on magic defenses. There is a magic test applied before someone is cleared to work here, but that depends on the expertise of a wage mage.
My current theory is that they somehow got a spell slinger here who summoned some kind of carrier pigeon spirit to inform their handler.
As to who this is: No idea. It could be anyone. No-one stays longer than 4 months here so there is a regular transfer of people."
Hank shrugged:
"It's been a while that I was on a run with arcane complications, but you usually find the mage by being quicker on the draw when he tries to grill you."
-
Slobbertooth comes over from where he was watching guard, frustrated that no one acquiesced to his request. He nods at their contact's comments about killing mages. "Yeah. More ammunition will help with that. It turns out that most wage mages are really bad at dodging full automatic fire."
Slobbertooth went through the pockets of all the intruders, grabbing as many clips as he could find. He held up one of the opposition's SMGs for Krestov, along with bunches of ammunition magazines. "Anyone got a bag? These dudes are going to wake up, but they don't need to have their guns with them when they do."
-
Krestov had been busying himself with securing the guards even further, placing them in restraints so that even if they were unarmed, they wouldn't get very far. He gave a grunt at Slobbertooth's suggestion, helping him. Luckily, he always carried a go-bag with him, the human-sized SMG's fitting easily into it. "Take much ammo as can. Like said before, human grips useless on me, heh" During the whole deal, it was obvious to those that knew him that the troll was perturbed by the incredibly unlikely coincidence of Aztechnology staging a takeover. Not with their history.
Surprisingly enough, the troll made no motion to make good on the offer of beer, focused on the work and his own thoughts.
(I've been having a hell of a week guys. sorry for not posting in a while.)
-
bnc unplugs herself and nods. "I'm sending a cleaning drone upstairs. I invited all of you to an ARO live stream of the drone's camera.
"As to the weapons: All we can't or don't want to carry, we could just destroy."
bnc is eager to move on. She doesn't want to have the time to think about a giant blood spirit around the base (not to speak of no less then three megacorporations fighting a war in which we are in the middle).
"Can we move now? The air grows thin for Mr. Johnson, and without him, I doubt there's a way outta here!"
-
Slobbertooth shook his head at Krestov's comments about the weapons. "Somehow I keep forgetting that you trolls are so particular about your equipment. Sorry."
Slobbertooth nodded at bncs suggestion about moving. "Yeah, it's probably about time." He took one last look back at the down opposition. "Hey, bnc, think any of their armor would fit you?
-
"Not as good as my chameleon suite does, mate."
She winks.
-
I was right.Magical security was the facility's weak spot all along.
"Bnc is right, we need to move."
Torrent reloads his Savalette Guardian and makes sure his disguise is still in place.
-
Slobbertooth nodded. "Yeah, it's about time we left." He kicked a member of the opposition for good measure as they left the scene.
-
And suddenly the connection was there. bnc was able to access the cleaning drones' sensor array.
On the first floor behind the locked lab doors about 15 people were bound with zip ties to various bits of furniture. The sensors of the small cleaning drone wasn't good enough to be sure, but bnc believed that Schmitt was one of the captives.
A single intruder stood guard over them, while his comrade rifled through equipment and generally photographed every bit of non-digital writing he could find. He seemed especially interested in a two meter tall armored exoskeleton.
On the second floor a quick sweep showed no activity. If someone was about there, he kept himself hidden.
On the third floor their path to the stairs was clear, but there was definitively someone at 323E and -1, the drone registered movement around the doors.
On the fourth floor a nasty battle raged between eight intruders and four guards.
Two of the guards had managed to don full riot gear and were defending from the level 5 landing with suppressing fire downwards to the fourth. The other two were pinned down at 423B. The intruders had seemingly switched ammunition as the two guards were bleeding from multiple wounds. Still they fought on - probably with the aid of a combat drug - while denying the intruder access to the rest of the floor. The rest of the guards lay on the floor. bnc couldn't say for sure if they were dead or unconscious.
Three of the intruders had clearly sustained some injuries as they were retreating down to level 3.
On the fifth floor the drone could identify a man sitting on a hardwired terminal in room 523E frantically hitting buttons while cursing loudly to himself. This was probably Tom Preston the Exec.
While watching the man, bnc almost missed the drama that unfolded: The two guards in riot armor were alternating between firing and reloading, keeping the pressure on. That way they missed when the elevator doors opened and two intruders appeared. They didn't sport the low caliber SMGs but instead were armed with suspicious looking rifles. Before bnc could ask herself what those were, her question was answered: Freaking laser guns.
She could see how the weapons cut through the heavy armor like a hot knife through butter. Steam shot from the cuts, indicating some real hellish temperatures. And just like that the fight was over.
The intruders ran into the room with the terminal and tore the man away from the keyboard.
Without the pressure from above, two intruders were able to move to a better position and threw grenades into the defending guards room.
Meanwhile the three injured intruders had found their unconscious colleagues on lvl. 3. One of them kept guard, while the other two began to treat each other with various slap patches and wound glue. bnc hadn't seen how they had opened the door she had locked, but guessed that they had used the mechanical override key.
Now it would be only a questions of seconds until those three got reinforced by some of their uninjured comrades from above.
-
Slobbertooth groaned when he watched the link images unfold. He kneeded his forehead, partly in frustration at the situation, and partly in frustration at himself. Rule 1: Double tap the intruders from the company that may or may not be hunting you down. Slobbertooth did his best to try and stay optimistic.
"On the downside, those lasers will do so much damage if they hit us. On the upside, those lasers are going to be worth so much money when we fence them late.'
-
bnc worked frantically as she updated the map in split-seconds. Her mind was racing, but their primary objective was clear. Not sure whether it was clear to everyone, she felt free to point it out:
"No matter where we go, we have to overwhelm the three guards in this floor right now. Run!"
She sets herself in motion, following behind Torrent and Slobbertooth.
"Two options: Either go up to save Tom Preston from immediate danger, stop the Aztech troops and save the project; or go down, avoid the lasers and the troops, save our primary target and be gone.
I could try and free the captives with the use of the cleaning drones. Decide, quickly."
-
"The survival of the project is not our concern.Αssuming our exit plan still stands, we must go for our primary target."
-
The team reached the corner and Torrent was able to peak around with his mirror. The intruder kept watch, but clearly favored his left foot. A small trickle of blood ran from the sleeve of his left leg and pooled on the floor.
-
"We go fast and hard.No time for a show."
Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/265140): 11+4d6 29
-
Ini Watchman: 10+2d6=20 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4799641/)
The wounded man reacted fast, but not fast enough to match the adept.
-
Noise probably won't be our friend this time. Slobbertooth rounded the corner behind the adept, raising his Ruger in anticipation of the opposition.
Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/265157): 13+4d6 28
-
They can handle that without me.
bnc uses the time to check how much info Blue Hades already collected about her. Then she looks for the icon of the to room 131. Tartaros is a monster and she assumes it's still wide awake, but one can take a look. Maybe it's even accessible from outside the host, though she already knows this hope is in vain.
After that, she tries to maneuver the cleaning drone a little closer to the one who looked like Schmitt, without drawing too much attention. Maybe she can confirm his identity. In case of doubt, she'd try to refine the image. She never was a pro in image editing but a deck like gets wouldn't come with some basic image repairing tools.
-
Giving a nod to bnc as she slipped back into the room, Krestov affirmed that they wouldn't let any through to her with his silent look. As they spoke out on their decisions on how to approach next, the troll was mentally compiling their objective list.
- Secure the current floor from intruders
- Secure Principle on first floor
- Neutralize blood spirit threat
- Escape
[/color]
Lumbering behind the two adepts, Krestov drew his Crusader, confirming the fit on the silencer as he stood behind them, silently wishing he had their reflexes for what was to come..
Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/265198): 1d6+8 11
-
Torrent takes aim(+1 dice to attack) and shoots
Shoot in SA mode [Limit 7] (http://orokos.com/roll/265308): 16d6t5 2
-
Slobbertooth follows behind Torrent, magical energy crackling in his hands, and fires his Ruger
Agility Boost [2] (http://orokos.com/roll/265314): 8d6t5 2
Super Warhawk Attack Test [7] (http://orokos.com/roll/265315): 14d6t5 6
Ruger Current Damage Code: Standard Ammo. 9DV -2AP
-
Dodge first attack:
10d6.hits(5)=3 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4800238/)
Evaded
Dodge second attack: 9d6.hits(5)=5 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4800239/)
Hit for one net success:
Soak: 18d6.hits(5)=4 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4800240/)
6 net damage, the wounded guard goes down.
wounded Intruder 2 Ini: 10+2d6=15 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4800242/)
-10 for late start= Ini 5
wounded Intruder 3 Ini: 10+2d6=19 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4800243/)
-10 for late start= Ini 9
The shots rang out and the wounded guard went down. Torrent's motion sense alerted him, that the two remaining intruders had risen and were about to round the corner into their field of view.
Now it all hinged on the troll's next action.
-
Krestov spotted the subtle, involuntary twitch from Torrent that signified coming opponents, the troll nodding as he took one quick breath. There were three, one is gone, and two more needed to be tied up so reinforcements aren't called. Tight jawed, the big beast sprang forward, stepping once to bound around the corner, spotting. the two intruders with ease and rushing them.
With a flying leap and shield raised, he leapt between the two of them, swinging his legs in a quick scissor to either side, aiming to launch each of them into the hallway walls.
if my dice fail me, I swear this will look so silly...
Target 1: Unarmed (kick attack, charge, split) (http://orokos.com/roll/265452): 7d6t5 3
Target 2: Unarmed (kick attack, charge, split) (http://orokos.com/roll/265457): 7d6t5 3
I like that balance :D
-
The charging troll certainly was an unexpected element
wounded Intruder 2 Dodge: 10d6.hits(5)=3 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4800498/)
wounded Intruder 3 Dodge: 10d6.hits(5)=3 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4800499/)
Well, what do you know.
If you activated your shock frill you would have still landed a hit.
The two intruders instinctively evaded to different sides but couldn't avoid to be brushed by Krestov's boots.
-
bnc immediately reaches out for their commlinks' to prevent them from sending any signals.
Are they online? Or didn't they bring communication medias anyway? If they are, on which grid/host they are online and which models are they?
-
bnc still couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that these guys were total non-entities within the grid. No piece of their gear had any wireless abilities active and they only communicated through micro-transceivers. On the one hand that was good, as they weren't likely to spot them this way, but on the other hand it made for a really frustrating time as a decker.
Krestov faced two completely different problems. Namely the two SMGs the two intruders aimed at him
Intruder 2: Aim + Fullauto simple action
8d6.hits(5)=4 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4801585/)
Krestov dodge: 3d6.hits(5)=3 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4801586/)
Impressive
Krestov soak: against 6S AP5:
28d6.hits(5)=9 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4801589/)
No damage
Intruder 3: Aim + Fullauto simple action
8d6.hits(5)=3 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4801587/)
Krestov dodge: 2d6.hits(5)=1 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4801588/)
Krestov soak: against 7S AP5
28d6.hits(5)=5 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4801590/)
Edit: Forgot to add his non-conductivity upgrade: 4d6.hits(5)=0 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4801862/)
No change.
2S damage, -5 to Ini and -1 to all actions (except soak) until next round
He couldn't avoid the shots, but he endured them: The low powered stick'n shock ammo had a hard time to penetrate his armor, but the hail of bullets did ensured that at least one got lucky: A stinging sensation made his foot numb and forced him to stagger.
Round two would become very interesting...
Round two for the intruders, should one of them survive:
Intruder 2 Ini: 10+2d6=12 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4801591/)
Intruder 3 Ini: 10+2d6=19 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4801592/)
-
Slobbertooth took his time to aim and fire his Ruger two more times at the opposition.
I'm just going to roll both of these attacks now. If the first one kills guy number 1, or Torrent disables guys number one before I go, allocate them to guy number 2.
Pass 1
Ruger Attack Test [7] (http://orokos.com/roll/265999): 15d6t5 3
Damage: 9+Hits -2AP
Pass 2
Ruger Attack Test [7] (http://orokos.com/roll/266005): 15d6t5 7
Damage: 9+Hits -2AP
Also, I need to make some drain soak rolls from the 3 previous times that I used Agility Boost
First Time: Agility Boost Drain (2) (http://orokos.com/roll/266007): 11d6t5 3
Second Time: Agility Boost Drain (2) (http://orokos.com/roll/266008): 11d6t5 6
Third Time: Agility Boost Drain (2) (http://orokos.com/roll/266009): 11d6t5 4[/spoiler
-
Intruder 2 dodge: 9d6.hits(5)=5 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4802039/)
Evaded
Intruder 2 dodge 2: 8d6.hits(5)=2 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4802040/)
Hit! 14P AP2
Soak: 18d6.hits(5)=10 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4802044/)
Takes 4 damage. Still alive
Somehow, the principle of conservation of Ninjitsu seemed to be in effect: The wounded Intruder was able to dodge the first shot completely and although the second shot hit him dead center, the stubborn bastard just didn't go down.
-
Torrent takes aim again (for a total bonus of +2) and fires again
Pass 2 shot (http://orokos.com/roll/266143): 17d6t5 5
And again
266144]Pass 3 shot (DV 6 + net hits, AP -5)[/url]: 17d6t5 3 next round I'm going to suffer some recoil penalties, maybe I'll switch to melee
-
Intruder 2 dodge 3: 6d6.hits(5)=1 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4802438/)
Hit.
I assume, you use your Savalette with standard ammo
10 P AP5
15d6.hits(5)=3 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4802446/)
7 Stun
And he goes down
Intruder 3 dodge: 9d6.hits(5)=6 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4802447/)
Evaded
Torrent's shot at the recently hit intruder was enough: The man went down. The follow up shot wasn't so lucky: The last standing intruder had thrown himself just enough to the side to gain cover from Krestov's massive body.
-
Slobbertooth raised his Ruger and fired at the third intruder. "You slits are like roaches, aren't ya?"
Simple Action: Aim
Simple Action: Fire
Ruger Attack Test [7] (http://orokos.com/roll/266708): 15d6t5 5
Damage Code 9p+hits p -2AP
Slobbertooth will drop to full defense if shot at. New Initiative: 21.
-
Intruder 3 dodge: 9d6.hits(5)=2 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4803559/)
12 P AP 2
Soak: 18d6.hits(5)=4 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4803567/)
8 S
And he goes down.
The shot hit the man right between the shoulder blades and took him down hard. From upstairs loud calls and heavy steps could be heard. Torrent guessed that they had only about six seconds until the next wave would pour down the stairs. That included the guys with the laser weapons...
-
There's no time to lose.
While the shooting is going on, bnc gives her best to gain control over the doors to the room in which Schmitt (hopefully) is kept. Her mind is racing as she tries to find a way past Tartaros' security system.
Then the fight ceases
"Run!", bnc shouts a bit unnecessarily and rushes forward to reacht the staircase before the intruders arrive.
There's no way we can block the door. Even if we somehow manage to mechanically close them off, they would just burn through them like nothing.
-
bnc curses audibly as she finally gives up on storming Tartaros' doors. She opens her eyes and comes with the others.
"It's no use! The host is too strong to hack it from here. I need a direct connection to the door! Krestov, there will be a panel protecting the access point. Can you kick it off?
"There is a guard inside. If you want me to attack him with the drone, tell me now. There will be an alarm anyway. Maybe I can take him out. Boys?"
-
With a grunt, Krestov steadied his stance whilst the guards were dropped by the two adapts' bullets. Cursing silently, he brushed off the offending bullet from the back of his knee, the spent electric round clattering to the ground. Hearing the guards, he turned to the others, only to hear bnc running and calling for aid.
It was more than the troll needed to make a decision. He recalled an old trid about lasers. in hallways: it did not end well. Finding the access point, he brought his knee up, driving the heel into the access cover.
"Do it. Torrent, slob, take point. Secure room. I take rear guard.rather I take lasers than you.Let them come through door, use grenades. I will suppress, you clean up. Questions?"
Unarmed vs. door panel (http://orokos.com/roll/267290): 10d6t5 6
-
The protective casing wasn't able to withstand that amount of force and just flew of the wall, giving bnc clear access to the universal connector. Immediately an ear piercing alarm sounded, but since the enemy already knew about them and the security team was out of order, there wasn't much it could do besides being annoying.
Barrier Rating 3 is a joke
-
"Yeah, got it. One quick thing." Slobbertooth kicked off the helmet of one of the intruders and fired his last bullet into the exposed face. "Waste not, want not." Slobbertooth pulled out a speed loader of APDS rounds and slammed it into his now-empty Ruger.
You can throw a tusker sized grenade, can't you, big guy? He tossed a flashbang grenade to Krestov and Torrent, leaving himself with one. He drew a flashpak into his left hand, keeping his Ruger in his right.
-
No time to lose.
bnc makes a decision, fast as usual. She pulls out the cable from her datajack and joins the troll.
"I need online time. Kretov, carry me. As soon as you kicked free the direct access, jack me in. I don't have time to run."
With that, she jumps into his arms and - should he not refuse - goes limp immediately.
In the virtual space, bnc withdraws from her fight with Tartaros. She lost, and there's no way she's going to find a way around the defensive systems in the given time. Plan B.
She again gives a command to the drone. bnc flies it into the guard's back and takes aim. Just like a computer game.
peng peng As she has learned in some online tutorial, she pulls the virtual trigger twice.
As soon as the guard went down, and the physical link is displayed to bnc, she attacks the door. Still a little mad (and confused) about her attack before, she forgets the simplest tricks. It takes her a split-second to remember them, but finally the door opens with a hiss.
-
After kicking of the cover, the autonomous security system was already on high alert when bnc entered. After her first failed attack, the system noticed her:
A huge bullheaded minotaurus, followed by a hydra and a enormous kraken (that actually violated the iconography of the host). bnc had time to hit the door again, before the virtual horns of the half-bull grazed her persona. Her programs told her, that she just had barely avoided the attack of a blaster program and that she was mere micro seconds away from a dedicated attack from a Black IC and a nasty Sparky program.
... And suddenly she was out, her head spun and she felt blood gushing from her nose. She became aware of Krestov's worried face looking down on her.
Torrent and Slobbertooth meanwhile faced the second guard: After his comrade had gone down, he was just in the process of applying a slap patch. Without hesitation he dropped it and went for his sidearm.
Ini: 12+2d6=22 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4806406/)
-
As soon as Torrent sees the second guard he rushes forward
"Watch out!"
Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/267818): 11+4d6 30
Charge+Nerve Strike (target:Agility) (http://orokos.com/roll/267820): 17d6t5 5
-
The intruder tried to dodge, but couldn't avoid the numbing touch of Torrent's attack completely.
Dodge: 12d6.hits(5)=3 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4806553/)
Looses 2 Agility
-
Slobbertooth fumbled with his weapon while trying to draw it, but managed to keep in in hand. He quickly dove for cover.
Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/267857): 13+4d6 28
Quick Draw (3) (http://orokos.com/roll/267856): 11d6t5 2
-
Krestov had responded to the commands with fluid motion, holstering his Crusader and catching the flashbang in his right hand, scooping up bnc in his left, his shield providing support and a barrier as she fell over his shoulder whilst he pocketed the grenade. The door access point was easy to find, and kicking off the cover was almost easier than his practices breaking multiple wooden boards in his training. The alarms rang in his ears as he knelt, grabbing the human's access cable and plugging her in, experience telling him she would only need 2 seconds. At three, something would have gone wrong, and she would need help out...and not the nice way...
-
Snap, what just happened..?
She blinks and sees Krestov, her head still spinning. She turns around to let the blood run out of her nose before it grows to a pool inside her nose. It takes her a moment to realize what's happening. Staggering, she gets up again and tries to shake that strange feeling off.
Crap! This is gonna cost me. He probably saved my life.
Despite the shit hitting the fan around her, she casts a look with admiration and relief at the big troll who protects her better as even her big sister did. Kerstin...
Focus, dumb bitch. Focus!
-
Just noticed, that quick draw is done with reaction, so I won't have to reroll the check from earlier.
Also: If you fail your quick draw you con still shoot, just not with the same action, so Slobber still could get a shot in before the intruder can react.
The Intruder shoots at torrent with semi-auto fire (complex action):
7d6.hits(5)=4 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4807039/)
Torrent dodge: -2
9d6.hits(5)=2 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4807040/)
Do you want to spend edge?
Otherwise, you are hit for
10 P AP 1,
Soak: 11d6.hits(5)=4 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4807042/)
6 P damage
Should one of you decide to use the indicated options I'll modify the post below
Despite the sudden appearance of enemies, the intruder kept his cool and managed to draw his gun at Torrent. He pulled the trigger three times in quick succession before the adept could react. There was a hard impact but little pain - for the moment...
-
As a matter of fact I got one more die for defense (Combat Sense 1) so I'll roll this and go on full defense as a reaction.If I don't get 2 hits from the 3 dice(1 combat sense + 2 willpower) I'll probably roll Edge, cause 6P is a lot of damage and I guess I'll have to be on the top of my game for the mission finale :P)
so: Defense (Combat Sense+Full defense) (http://orokos.com/roll/268072): 3d6t5 1
"sigh"
ok edge reroll:
Second Chance( 10+2-3=9 dice) (http://orokos.com/roll/268073): 9d6t5 0
that's just great!
I'm at Initiative 8 (30-10-10-2=8) so Slobber goes first
-
Slobbertooth raised up from cover, aimed, and fired his ruger at their threat.
Initiative: 18
Agility Boost should have 1 to 3 rounds left so I'm applying it again now.
Ruger Attack Test [7] (http://orokos.com/roll/268087): 15d6t5 3
-
Intruder dodge 2:
11d6.hits(5)=5 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4807267/)
Sorry, he evaded
but the damage is contained to 5 P
If Krestov and bnc are keeping out of this, Slobber and Torrent are up again for Ini
Despite Slobbertooths intervention, the intruders bullets hit their mark.
A deep gash in Torrents right shoulder began to bleed.
-
Slobbertooth was annoyed his first shot missed, but refocused and fire again.
Initiative: 8
Simple Action: Aim
Simple Action: Ruger Attack Test [7] (http://orokos.com/roll/268242): 15d6t5 8 Limit reduces to 7
Dodge this.
Round 2 Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/268244): 4d6+13 25
-
12d6.hits(5)=0 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4808524/)
Wow. That was unlikely
Soak 16 P AP 2:
18d6.hits(5)=8 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4808526/)
Still alive...
Slobbertooth's shot hit the intruder square in the chest and knocked him to the ground.
-
Gunnery (http://orokos.com/roll/268663): 13d6t5 7
Oh, screw it. Option 2 was AR, so -2 dice, that's -1 success. I'm not sure which limit applies but I assume it's the drone's accuracy.
After some moments, bnc manages to recollect her wits. She reclaims the mark and tasers the guard that just fell to the ground.
-
Torrent tries to channel his frustration and transform it into a vicious strike, targeting his opponent's throat.
Nerve strike (http://orokos.com/roll/268752): 14d6t5 7 (wrote quick draw by mistake, it's Nerve Strike (15 dice -1 wound =14 dp
Limit is 6
-
Dodge: 9d6.hits(5)=3 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4810024/)
Jepp, he's paralyzed
The intruder had no chance: While lying flat on his back, Torrent pounced like a cat and hit the essential nerve cluster just beside the neck. The man instantly froze, only his eyes kept moving and his breathing began to increase rapidly.
From one level up, muffled voices could be heard - it seemed that the intruders had started a methodical search for their attackers. It wouldn't be long before they came down...
"Excellent work. I guess I owe you that Fairlight after all." Schmitt had risen from his sitting position as far as his cuffs allowed. "But from the sound of it, there are some more of those mercenaries around. Be careful, some of them have taken two of our experimental HX-22s."
-
Slobbertooth went over to the paralyzed intruder, kicked off the poor soul's helmet, and sent a bullet into the intruder's skull. Slobbertooth looked back towards the doctor, the expression on his face revealing no sympathy for the guard and no revulsion at what he had done.
"I'm hoping those HX-22s are the laser weapons that the intruders have. We don't need enemies with more experimental weapons."
"Oh, and you wouldn't happen to have any experimental automatic weapons lying around the base? If you have any fit for trolls we would be extra appreciative."
Remember, I'm firing APDS. It's -6 AP now. It doesn't matter now, but you had the previous soak roll go against -2 AP
-
Kid, can you patch me up?That son of a ghoul got me.Serves me right for charging like a fool.
"It seems your research was successful, doctor.Though I bet the two guards who were turned to roasted chicken would prefer otherwise."
-
"Yes, that were the lasers. They are rather effective but have only a very limited power supply.
Hm, I'm afraid we don't... Oh wait, how about that Ruhrmetal SF-21. Donnie just installed a smartgun and an advanced rangefinder system in the standard SF-20 instead of solving the problem with the barrel tolerances."
"HEY" one of the other captives cried, "oh, em. You knew about that?"
Schmitt rolled his eyes but ignored the engineer:
"It's actually designed to be carried by drones, but your friend might be able to handle its weight."
-
During the breach, once he confirmed bnc was conscious and mostly alright, Krestov simply uttered a single word to the human as a command.
"Down."
Simple, easy to understand. Once the fight was over, he picked the disoriented hacker up and carried her into the room, helping her to her feet before getting the hostages to theirs, starting with their client, Dr. Schmitt. He listened intently to the banter, perking up at the mention of a weapon he could use.
"Ruhrmetall Heavy Machine Gun. MET2000 invention, released to market after botch in South America. You improved? Where is, maybe worth a try."
A few moments later, the troll straightened up, reloading his Crusader with a fresh mag finally. "Reminder of objective. First is handle incoming threat. Then find way to neutralize blood spirit. Escape not likely before that" "Aztech incursion is...unexpected. Can shed light on reason, Dr?"
-
"Excellent work. I guess I owe you that Fairlight after all."
bnc grins widely. Check! It doesn't quite pay for the bloody blood spirit or the laser guns chasing after us, but you have to be happy for the little pieces of luck in life, don't ya?
"Krestov darling, would you mind undo Mr. Johnson while having a chat?"
First things first.
bnc crouches down next to Torrent and examines the wound. Simple, clean bullet wound, but they scratched the vena saphena magna.
With tender fingers, she applies a blood platelet comediator to stop the bleeding more quickly. Then she fixes a self-stabilizing bandage to make it easier for Torrent's leg to support the man. While waiting for the bpc to work, bnc asks: "Do you need some drugs? There are painkillers in the box, and I have some pills in my, er, private storage, who might help to make up for the numbing effects of the pain killers..."
First Aid (http://orokos.com/roll/269250): 11d6t5 5
13 dice pool -2 disorientation
If I didn't miss something, Torrent should be down to 1P now.
Now that's done, she can focus on one idea. Dr. Schmitt said that these laser weapons were designed in the underground base. This might indicate that their wireless functions might never have been turned off. Especially for a weapon with limited charge, it might be crucial to share this and other informations with the crew. With luck...
bnc actively stretches out her feelers to look for the laser weapons, openly visible, hidden or disguised. If she can find their icons, she might be able to roast the weapons. Or do nicer things.
-
"I owe you one.No painkillers though, I'll be fine."
The pain retreats and the flow of blood stops along with the dizziness.
The elf crouches near the entrance and lets the walls support his weight for a while.
"Is this just a tech theft?A hostile takeover?A violent extraction of assets?And more importantly, is Dr. Schmitt of any special importance to the intruders?I guess we can't take any risks."
"Herr Schmitt, time to undress."
Torrent begins to remove the armor and beneath the helmet, his face transforms again.
Maximum number of changes (http://orokos.com/roll/269303): 9d6t5 5
Disguise Check (Limit 4) (http://orokos.com/roll/269304): 11d6t5 3
Impersonation (Dr.Schmitt) (Limit 6) (http://orokos.com/roll/269305): 10d6t5 6
Threshold for breaking the disguise : 9
Edit: It goes without saying that Torrent also uses Melanin and Keratin control to make his hair and skin color look like Schmitt's.
-
bnc smiles shily. This is one of the moments where you can tell that she is a teenage girl after all. But there's no time to be a teenager right now. bnc focussed on the two laser guns and any means to prevent them from being used against us.
I edited this post because bnc wasn't able to see Torrent changing.
-
Slobbertooth took the time to refill his Ruger with 3 rounds of APDS ammunition, holstered it, and raised the Colt TMP at the door.
I'll spray downt he door with stick'n'shock n if we have any guests.
-
Schmitt reacted remarkably quick: "No, no, no. Forget it, under no circumstances whatsoever!" He quickly strode over to Torrent and said to him in a whisper: "Stop, we might have a traitor here. Don't reveal your ace. If we do a switch, we'll do it in private."
Much louder he said: "I hope I made myself clear, I won't tolerate such behavior from my consultants."
He turned again to Krestov who looked a bit sad at the giant HMG.
"You don't seem happy with our selection. Well, you can always use that sentry-turret over their with the SF-21 and leave the aiming to your charming computer specialist."
He indicated towards a sturdy three legged contraption with small push wheels and an elaborate servo-mechanism.
"We have currently only flechette ammunition in the belts, to prevent accidental hull breaches..."
"Hey, what about us, could you please remove those cuffs? I think my arm is starting to go numb", the engineer called Donnie piped up.
"Would fit to your head" Schmitt muttered under his breath. Loud he said: "In due time. For the moment you all have to stay down and keep out of the way. These men are professionals, and there will be a lot of lead in the air in a few moments."
He moved again towards the team an muttered: "This is a hostile takeover attempt. Cray-Ken Industries, a subsidiary of Aztec. They want to prevent us from destroying research and prototypes. Someone within the facility has betrayed us and opened the locks before sabotaging the hosts. Trust no-one of the other civilians."
-
Krestov gave an affirmed nod to the suggestion, checking over the ammunition count on the belts for the big gun before assisting in mounting it on the mobile sentry turret. Already, he was preparing his stance and approach to make it mobile with him if they needed to be on the go. Calmly and quietly, the troll spoke to Dr. Schmitt.
"Not first time with Aztech. Recommend you stay down for next few moments. Can use weapon?" He gestures towards the SMG on his back, seeming like a child's toy in the troll's hands. His eyes scanned through the room, looking for ways to establish cover before they arrived. [color]"I will take point, fan out behind me. bnc, gun will be at my side, open fire when able. Find someplace safe."[/color]
-
Schmitt nodded, checking the SMG expertly but still a bit reluctantly. "I'll take cover over there until the shooting stops."
bnc was still shaken and accompanied Schmitt into cover behind a stack of armor plates. The team could hear the boots of the remaining intruders coming down the steps to the first level.
Krestov had just enough time to bring the HMG into position before eight soldiers came into view. The fight was on.
Ini:
Intruder Laser 1 12+2d6=24 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4813715/)
Intruder 1 12+2d6=22 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4813715/)
Intruder 2 12+2d6=21 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4813715/)
Intruder 3 12+2d6=20 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4813715/)
Intruder 4 12+2d6=20 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4813715/)
Intruder 5 12+2d6=20 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4813715/)
Intruder 6 12+2d6=18 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4813715/)
Intruder Laser 2 12+2d6=18 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4813715/)
Intruders move in tactical formation and receive 2 dice cover bonus to there dodge rolls (14)
They start 20m away from the door of room 133
-
As soon as his motion sense alerts him to enemy movement , Torrent dives for cover.
He hates honest fights.
Initiative (http://http://orokos.com/roll/270665): 11+4d6 27
Simple action:enhance agility (http://orokos.com/roll/270667): 7d6t5 1
Simple action:aim
-
Slobbertooth drew a flashbang grenade out of his pocket and put it on the table in front of him, channeling the energy of his spirit guide into himself.
Initiative 29
Simple action: Agility Boost [2] (http://orokos.com/roll/270690): 8d6t5 5 2
Simple action: Draw item
-
"Time for rock'n'roll, boys!"
bnc gives into the cover, leans against Schmitt, winks and dives into full AR, ready to do whatever mischief the situation allows.
-
It took bnc a few moments to locate the two laser weapons. Their users had had the sense to engage the run silent mode, but hadn't bothered to deactivate wireless functionality while the hosts were down.
Once she had found them, she just had to gain a mark on both. Once that was done she had a few moments to get her bearings: An internal warning report caught her eye: The lasers were powerful, but they seemed to generate a lot of internal heat and wasted energy like crazy. It was the work of a few seconds to modify the battery access file:
Now both lasers displayed 80% charge while the safety system still believed that the temperature levels were unsafe for further firings. A pull of the trigger would now generate nothing more than a short beep and a promt if the user wanted to contact technical support.
Until the lasers' operating systems were rebooted they wouldn't fire.
Hack on the fly: Laser 1
14d6.hits(5)=3 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4814820/)
8d6.hits(5)=1 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4814823/)
Hack on the fly: Laser 2
14d6.hits(5)=5 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4814825/)
8d6.hits(5)=2 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4814824/)
Editing File: Laser 1
14d6.hits(5)=3 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4814822/)
8d6.hits(5)=4 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4814821/)
Editing File: Laser 2
14d6.hits(5)=6 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4814828/)
8d6.hits(5)=2 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4814829/)
-
bnc grins and winks to Dr. Schmitt. "I got a surprise but pssst!"
The laser thing might be an important tactical information but it's gonna be such a cool moment. To cool to waste it.
-
Ok, collected Initative:
Slobbertooth: 13+4d6=29
- Draw Grenade
- Agility Boost
Torrent: 11+4d6= 27
- Agility Boost
- Aim
bnc: 4d6+10= 25
- Full Auto Fire 6 shots at Intruder 1, 6 successes
Intruder Laser 1 12+2d6=24
- Tries to fire laser - fails
- Curses audibly in spanish
Intruder 1 12+2d6=22 -1= 21
Dodge: Dodge (http://orokos.com/roll/272421): 7d6t5 4
Dmg 13 P
Soak: Soak (http://orokos.com/roll/272422): 21d6t5 7
Total Dmg: 4 S
- Draw flash bang grenade
- Throw at Torrent, Slobbertooth & Krestov Throw Grenade (http://orokos.com/roll/272423): 9d6t5 3
10S AP 4
You now have the chance to dive away, leaving your cover, or take the damage
Intruder 2 12+2d6=21
Intruder 3 12+2d6=20
Intruder 4 12+2d6=20
Intruder 5 12+2d6=20
Intruder 6 12+2d6=18
Intruder Laser 2 12+2d6=18
Krestov: 1d6+8=13
While her team mates still prepared, bnc aimed at the first intruder without a laser gun. Her shot was excellent, the response of the smart-platform excellent, but the intruder at point seemed to have anticipated the attack: Only a few shards of flechette ammunition found its way to him. He was hurt, but showed enormous discipline:
While his companion with the laser had tried to shoot his toy without success and was now cursing, the wounded man drew in one smooth motion a grenade from his belt and threw it with great precision between Torrent, Krestov and Slobbertooth.
-
Krestov's eyes blinked open wide as he saw the guard launch the grenade, his approving thoughts of how bnc's shooting landed its mark dashed as the imminent and quite easily mission-threatening danger flew into the air towards their fortified position. Time seemed to slow for him as his adrenaline coursed through his veins, all the big troll's years of training and conditioned instincts kicking in, leaving him with only one course of thought, the others' transceivers crackling with one word from him.
"Stay"
Tracking the trajectory of the grenade, the troll shifted, lunging his weight just in time to dive onto the grenade, catching it in his chest as he impacted onto the ground. A muffled blast followed shortly after, and the troll lay completely still, looking to the casual or distant onlooker as a neutralized threat.
Interrupt Action: Dive on the grenade. Nullifies all blast, Krestov soaks against full damage (10S with -4 AP).
Dive on the Grenade (http://orokos.com/roll/272692): 31d6t5 16
Full soak, baby! New initiative now at 8.
-
The explosion felt like a hammerblow to the gut and the pungent smell of singed hair filled Krestov's nostrils. Through the ringing in his ears he was dimly aware how the other intruders readied their weapons at him.
Two started to fire controlled bursts to keep the defenders in hiding, while two others exchanged the ammunition in their guns.
The last two tried to shoot the prone Krestov. Luckily one of them was a guy with the hacked laser weapon, so the only thing he produced was curses. Unluckily, the other intruder had no such problems...
Intruder 2 12+2d6=21
Complex Action: Suppressing Fire Intruder 1 Suppressive Fire (http://orokos.com/roll/272851): 12d6t5 5
-5 to all actions, if you leave cover or prone you have to make a reaction+edge check or be hit
Intruder 3 12+2d6=20
Complex Action: Suppressing Fire Intruder 2 Suppressive Fire (http://orokos.com/roll/272853): 12d6t5 4
not higher than the previous, so only -5 to all actions, if you leave cover or prone you have to make a reaction+edge check or be hit (check has to be made twice against each attack)
Intruder 4 12+2d6=20
Half Action: Unload
Half Action: Reload
Intruder 5 12+2d6=20
Half Action: Unload
Half Action: Reload
Intruder 6 12+2d6=18
Half Action: Aim
Half Action: FA attack at Krestov
Intruder 6 Suppressive Fire (http://orokos.com/roll/272855): 13d6t5 6
6 shots, -5 to defense, currently 5+6 S AP 5
Intruder Laser 2 12+2d6=18
Half Action: Aim
Half Action: Cursing malfunctioning Weapon
@SgtBoomCloud
Full defense would be very advicable right now, otherwise you'll soon look like a cyber-hedgehog with all those taser darts.
@Volker/SgtBoomCloud
The smartplattform obviously can't go prone or in cover and doesn't have a reaction attribute. Therefore it has to defend against the suppressive fire only with edge. It has a body of 5 and 10 Armor against two electrical attacks with AP 5 and bnc is in hot sim, meaning she'll share the matrix damage.
It would be really, advisable for you to come up with a good plan fast...
Meanwhile I roll the Edge test for bnc:
Edge Test bnc 1 (http://orokos.com/roll/272858): 4d6t5 1
9 P AP 5
Soak Smart Platform (http://orokos.com/roll/272860): 10d6t5 5
4 P = 2 P against bnc
bnc Firewall+Will 1 (http://orokos.com/roll/272862): 12d6t5 6
no damage
Edge Test bnc 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/272859): 4d6t5 2
8 P AP 5
Soak Smart Platform 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/272861): 10d6t5 5
3 P = 2 P against bnc
bnc Firewall+Will 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/272863): 12d6t5 2
no damage
HMG has one leftover Box before it's shut down
Would you like to spend Edge?
-
The thunk of a muffled grenade explosion. Several electrified taser bullets flying and thunking into the hulking, prone form. By all rights, any metahuman should be down by rights from such an onslaught. Firing on the one person who seems like a nullified threat. Typical Aztech. Once the last bullet thunked against his helmet, the big troll acted, legs coiling like springs as he launched forward, sliding in front of bnc's turret and raising his shield, giving the hacker an open line of fire while blocking the others from receiving the same opportunity. They would instead have to try to shoot the troll again...as if the earlier bullets did anything.
"bnc. Fire much bullets. Keep busy to help others. I keep gun safe." With that said, Krestov sounded out a roar at the group of Azzies, a feral cry sure to shake most feeble hearts.
New action! Get up, position self to provide heavy/ridiculous cover for HMG, look badass. Declaring full defense/blocking shots at smart platform behind me. That should conclude the first initiative pass, and my actions for the rest of the Combat Round
-
"Roger!"
bnc casts a worried look at Krestov's bio data, then relaxes. Jeez, he is one tough troll! And brave. I don't even feel ashamed that he saved my ass yet another time. There's only one thing I can do to honor this attitude: Do the f***ing same thing!
bnc moves the gunpoint direction entrance. She overrides the sensory input to make the intruders look like enemies from an adventure game. She never killed a person before, and she knows that this would be a really bad moment to hesitate. As she sees the first comic figure enter the room, she tells that inner voice to f***ing go and shut up, then hits the CAPS LOCK on her fire button.
can I leave the dice rolling to you guys one more time? Very much appreciated
-
Now that the Ruhrmetal HMG went from a short burst into a continuous fire mode, the sealed environment turned into pandemonium: Flechette needles saturated every available surface and the suppressive fire of the attackers ceased, as they hastily pulled back behind cover.
Torrent and Slobbertooth had now the chance to deploy their own grenade before their enemy worked out how to lob grenades from behind cover...
Just for clarification: As soon as the suppressive fire starts, the two intruders pull back instead of keeping their own suppressive fire on (Now with -5 to attack, they would have to reroll and do a reaction+edge roll.
-
bnc nervously checks the ammo display, sighs with relief and continues to fling bullets at the entrance.
-
Slobbertooth grabbed his flash bang grenade, set to blow on impact, and tossed it into the middle of the enemies. "Grenade out" It landed at it's intended destination, gave a quick beep and then unleashed a deafening sound and blinding and disorienting light on the intruders.
Throw Grenade (http://orokos.com/roll/275346): 7d6h5 2
The grenade should land in the hallway, past the elevator, but before the shuttle dock. Hitting between 4 and 6 targets If it needs to be thrown farther back so that it doesn't hit Krestov, let me know.
-
The grenade deviates a bit with only two successes:
Grenade Scatter (http://orokos.com/roll/275348): 2d6 10
It takes a right turn and
Grenade Scatter (http://orokos.com/roll/275349): 1d6-2 0
deviates 0 meters. Well done
Second ini phase:
Intruder Laser 1 12-1+2d6=13
Soak: Intruder Soak (http://orokos.com/roll/275353): 16d6t5 6
4S dmg
Intruder 1 12-2+2d6=10 (7S/0P)
Intruder Soak (http://orokos.com/roll/275354): 16d6t5 7
3S dmg
Intruder 2 12-1+2d6=10
Intruder Soak (http://orokos.com/roll/275355): 16d6t5 5
5S dmg
Intruder 3 12-1+2d6=9
Intruder Soak (http://orokos.com/roll/275356): 16d6t5 4
6S dmg (Pain Resistance 1 relevant)
Intruder 4 12+2d6=10
Intruder Soak (http://orokos.com/roll/275357): 16d6t5 8
2S dmg
Intruder 5 12+2d6=10
Intruder Soak (http://orokos.com/roll/275358): 16d6t5 7
3S dmg (Pain Resistance 1 relevant)
Intruder 6 12-1+2d6= 7
Intruder Soak (http://orokos.com/roll/275359): 16d6t5 4
6S dmg (Pain Resistance 1 relevant)
Intruder Laser 2 12-1+2d6= 7
Intruder Soak (http://orokos.com/roll/275360): 16d6t5 6
4S dmg
The grenade landed almost perfectly: All intruders were hit by the concussive shock wave, but thanks to their body armor, no-one was taken out.
-
As soon as Torrent hears the detonation he turns and shoots, hoping his disoriented enemies won't use him as target practice
Shoot : Intruder #3 (SA mode, +1 aim) (http://orokos.com/roll/275724): 17d6t5 9 [Limit 7]
Stick n' Shock Ammo 6 S , -5 AP
-
Intruder 3 dodge: Intruder Dodge (http://orokos.com/roll/275898): 8d6t5 3
Defend against 10S AP 5
Intruder Soak (http://orokos.com/roll/275899): 15d6t5 4
takes 6S
Unconscious
Torrents shot was measured and precise. Without anywhere to dodge beside the hail of bullets, Intruder #3 was easy prey.
Intruder Laser 1 12-1+2d6=13 (4S/0P)
Drop Laser, draw sidearm, fire at Krestov:
Intruder Laser 1 Shoot (http://orokos.com/roll/275903): 6d6t5 4
8P+Successes AP 1
Krestov Dodge 1 (http://orokos.com/roll/275913): 13d6t5 7
no hit
Intruder 1 12-2+2d6=10 (7S/0P)
Ready weapon, Fire short FA burst at Krestov
Intruder 1 Shoot (http://orokos.com/roll/275904): 5d6t5 3
5S +Successes AP 5, Dodge -5
Krestov Dodge 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/275914): 12d6t5 3
no hit
Intruder 2 12-1+2d6=10 (5S/0P)
Unload/Reload
Intruder 4 12+2d6=10 (2S/0P)
Full auto (complex) Attack on Krestov (Brain Blaster Trick)
Intruder 4 Shoot (http://orokos.com/roll/275909): 7d6t5 3
9P AP0 + Successes
Krestov Dodge 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/275915): 11d6t5 6
no hit
Intruder 5 12+2d6=10 (3S/0P)
Full auto (complex) Attack on Krestov (Brain Blaster Trick)
Intruder 5 Shoot (http://orokos.com/roll/275910): 7d6t5 3
Intruder 6 12-1+2d6= 7 (6S/0P)
9P AP0 + Successes
Krestov Dodge 3 (http://orokos.com/roll/275916): 10d6t5 4
no hit
Intruder Laser 2 12-1+2d6= 7 (4S/0P)
Drop Laser, draw sidearm, fire at Krestov:
Intruder Laser 2 Shoot (http://orokos.com/roll/275912): 6d6t5 1
8 AP AP1 +Successes
Krestov Dodge 3 (http://orokos.com/roll/275916): 10d6t5 4
no hit
With more than a hint of desperation all intruders concentrated their fire on Krestov who prevented them from attacking the HMG. But the troll behind his shield and the covering fire from said HMG prevented them from hitting anything vital.
-
Slobbertooth raised his TMP, took a moment to aim and fired a short burst at one of the intruders who fired a burst at Krestov.
Colt TMP Simple FA burst (http://orokos.com/roll/276247): 17d6t5 4
Damage Code: 5(s)+net hits -5 AP
Target takes a -5 to dodge
-
I designate Intruder 1 as your target:
Intruder 1 (7S/0P)
Dodge: 0
9S AP 5
Soak: Intruder 1 Soak (http://orokos.com/roll/276255): 15d6t5 5
Takes 4 dmg, unconscious
The ork's shots accurately hit the pinned down man and several thousand volt forced him twitching to the ground.
-
Torrent sees that the intruders are pinned down by bnc's suppresive fire and pulls the trigger again trying to hit the one holding that nasty laser weapon.He doesn't wish to see what this prototype is capable of.
Target : Intruder Laser 1
Simple Action : Aim (+2 dice total)
Simple Action:Shoot (+2 aim, SA mode) (http://orokos.com/roll/277823): 18d6t5 6 (Limit 7)
-
Intruder Laser 1 Ini 3=>-2 (4S/0P)=>(6S/0P), Pain Resistance 1 relevant
Intruder Laser 1 Dodge (http://orokos.com/roll/277891): 6d6t5 3
Dmg 9S AP 5 -5 Ini -1 to all actions
Soak:
Intruder Laser 1 Dodge (http://orokos.com/roll/277892): 15d6t5 7
Total Damage 2S
Torrents shot hit and made the man loose his balance, but it did not make him fall.
New Round:
Intruder 4 12+2d6=23 (2S/0P)
Intruder 4 Ini (http://orokos.com/roll/277897): 12+2d6 23
Intruder 5 12+2d6=23 (3S/0P)
Intruder 5 Ini (http://orokos.com/roll/277898): 12+2d6 23
Intruder Laser 1 12-2+2d6=19 (6S/0P)
Intruder Laser 1 Ini (http://orokos.com/roll/277894): 10+2d6 19
Intruder 6 12-1+2d6=19 (6S/0P)
Intruder 6 Ini (http://orokos.com/roll/277899): 11+2d6 19
Intruder Laser 2 12-1+2d6=18 (4S/0P)
Intruder Laser 2 Ini (http://orokos.com/roll/277900): 11+2d6 18
Intruder 2 12-1+2d6=16 (5S/0P)
Intruder Laser 1 Ini (http://orokos.com/roll/277895): 11+2d6 16
Seems like someone is about to do something really stupid...
As I see it, bnc keeps the suppressive fire up, Torent probably keeps up his full defense and Slobbertooth is tied for Ini with 4 and 5 but loses when considering the ERIC sequence.
Now it's up to Torrent: Can he beat 23 ini and hit 4 and 5 hard enough to make them drop ini?
-
Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/277959): 11+4d6 22
Gonna keep my cover and drop 10 initiative for full defense
@GM : is it partial cover (+2 dice to defense)?
-
You have good cover (and I realize now I totally forgot to add cover to the intruders rolls... lucky you...
Intruder 4 12+2d6=23 (2S/0P)
Draw Grenade, Throw Grenade:
12 -5 (Suppressed) -3 (Throwing from cover)
Intruder 4 Grenade (http://orokos.com/roll/277986): 4d6t5 1
Scatter: Intruder 4 Grenade Scatter (http://orokos.com/roll/277989): 2d6 9= East-North-East
Scatter Distance: Intruder 4 Grenade Scatter Distance (http://orokos.com/roll/277990): 1d6 1-1=0
Bullseye
10S AP4
Intruder 5 12+2d6=23 (3S/0P)
Intruder 5 Grenade (http://orokos.com/roll/277987): 4d6t5 3
10S AP4
The HMG is not affected, but Torrent, Slobbertooth and Krestov have to soak against two grenades or run for cover
Suddenly two of the Intruders simultaneously lobbed two grenades in the team's direction. If Krestovs experience was any indication, those grenades were programmed to explode on impact...
-
Slobbertooth decided now would be a time to get out of the way, and quickly dove for cover.
Don't know what to roll here, if anything
-
Shutting his mouth from his roar, the troll Krestov stood, a bold living wall in the face of imminent danger. As the grenades came hurtling from the opposition, he bared his teeth, stomping a foot down in open defiance as they came down and went off, the concussion shock reverberating against his large form. But still he remained, uncowed by the blasts.
Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/278103): 1d6+8 14
Damage Soak, Flashbang 1 (http://orokos.com/roll/278105): 31d6t5 10 Nil damage
Damage Soak, Flashbang 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/278106): 31d6t5 11 Nil damage
-
"Focus on the ones with the grenades! I took out the laser weapons!"
bnc regrets that she hasn't shared this crucial information earlier. But then, they too have to be taken out anyway. She cost them a second but with their sidearms they would not be less harmful than the others anyway. She curses under her breath as she sees the incoming grenades. This is going to be the end for the turret, and then things would turn nasty.
I think I haven't rolled my initiative yet. It's INI roll (http://orokos.com/roll/279350): 4d6+10 21
I'm not sure how we concluded the dumpshock discussion. If she's going to get dumpshock she will drop offline the split-second before the grenade impact and go online again at the beginning of the round if the turret is still operating.
-
I assume you dive for cover and take the -5 ini
Intruder Laser 1 12-2+2d6=19 (6S/0P)
Sidearm: Double Tap at Krestov: complex action +1 dmg
Intruder Laser 1 Double Tap (http://orokos.com/roll/279889): 6d6t5 2
9 P AP 1 +2 Successes
Defense Krestov: Dodge Krestov (http://orokos.com/roll/279891): 8d6t5 4
No hit
Intruder 6 12-1+2d6=19 (6S/0P)
Brain Blaster at Krestov: complex action +2 dmg
Intruder 6 (http://orokos.com/roll/279890): 6d6t5 1
9P +1 Success
Dodge Krestov (http://orokos.com/roll/279893): 7d6t5 2
No hit
We are at Ini 18 now, so I'll just finish the opposition:
Intruder Laser 2 12-1+2d6=18 (4S/0P)
Double Tap at Krestov: complex action +1 dmg
Intruder Laser 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/279894): 6d6t5 0
Miss
Intruder 2 12-1+2d6=16 (5S/0P)
Unload, Reload
The team minus Krestov dove for cover. While the troll took the punishment without batting an eye, the other intruders again concentrated their fire on him, but where frustrated again and again. The covering fire prevented them from doing anything more than popping up for a second and take badly aimed shots at the massive shield, hoping to hit anything vital behind.
Krestov and bnc both could make out movement behind the pinned down intruders: A small cleaning drone made slow progress toward the back row of their attackers. With ducktape someone had attached a small object on top of it...
-
"I'm tired of this." Slobbertooth moved back into a position of cover, aimed his acquired SMG down the hallway at one of the laser weapon toting intruders, and let out another short stream of stick'n'shock darts. "Torrent, feel free to use that flashbang grenade I gave you earlier."
Colt simple full auto burst [5] (http://orokos.com/roll/280224): 17d6t5 7 5 hits
Damage Code 5+net hits(s) -5AP
Target takes a -5 to dodge.
-
They're getting smarter...interested to see how much more they can throw at me.. A small grin appeared on the troll's face as he took all the missed and deflected bullets, even more so as he spotted the cleaning drone coming up behind them. Noting Slobbertooth's shot at one of the laser intruders, Krestov aimed at the other one, letting off a volley of rounds.
Full auto blast (http://orokos.com/roll/280361): 10d6t5 8 (limit 7)
Damage= 7S +net hits. AP +1 for gel rounds
-
Intruder Laser 1 Dodge
Intruder Laser 1 Dodge (http://orokos.com/roll/280817): 1d6t5 1
9S AP5 Damage
Intruder Laser 1 Soak (http://orokos.com/roll/280819): 15d6t5 3
6S Damage
K.O.
Intruder Laser 2 Dodge
Intruder Laser 2 Dodge (http://orokos.com/roll/280823): 1d6t5 1
14 S AP +1
Intruder Laser 2 Soak (http://orokos.com/roll/280825): 21d6t5 5
9S Damage
K.O.
Both runners hit their mark: Both laser carrying intruders (who actually had switched to their sidearms ever since their high tech toys had been rendered inoperable) were hit by a precise volley of bullets. bnc suppressive fire prevented them from evading and so they fell inevitably unconscious.
While both still enjoyed there triumph a short message flashed over their image links:
"Take cover boys'n girl,
my cleaner will explode now
best regards the Janitor"
-
What the heck?
bnc is happy to hear good news, but she's not ready to believe until she checked herself.
If I understood correctly, it's only one Complex Action per CR to sustain the Suppressive Fire. That should give me time to put a MARK on the drone.
Perception (if it's running silently) (http://orokos.com/roll/282320): 8d6t5 2
Hack on the Fly (2 marks) (http://orokos.com/roll/282322): 13d6t5 4
Trace Icon (http://orokos.com/roll/282324): 11d6t5 3
-
Defense: Intuition+Firewall (http://orokos.com/roll/282598): 13d6t5 4
No success
Mark on you
In response you receive an invite for a friendly mark. It reveals the location of the commlink one level above you, back at the living quarters where you left the janitor and the wounded corp-decker
The quick hack revealed two things: It was indeed the Janitor and he and his commlink were more than up the task: The sneak attempt failed. But instead of receiving nasty code, another message arrived including an authentication code for the sender: "Careful now, this is going to be loud."
-
I assume, with "janitor" you mean Hank? Or really a new player in the game who happens to be the janitor of this bade?
Damn, this dude is cooler than I am. Just glat the party didn't realize I just got beat in a Matrix fight by a janitor...
-
Yes, correct.
I hope you all will forgive me if I don't wait for Torrent's action to begin the new action phase. But the fight is getting tedious, you are very likely to win and you earned earlier the achievement: "Friends in low places", so now you are getting a little help.
The warning came not a second to early. The little drone stopped and now the team could see clearly what had been taped to its back: Three stun grenades
Combined Blast: 20S AP6
Soak Intruder 4 (http://orokos.com/roll/283103): 14d6t5 6
K.O.
Soak Intruder 5 (http://orokos.com/roll/283104): 14d6t5 7
K.O.
Soak Intruder 6 (http://orokos.com/roll/283105): 14d6t5 8
K.O.
Soak Intruder 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/283107): 14d6t5 6
K.O.
The combined blast was hard enough to knock the remaining intruders against the walls and also to obliterate the little cleaning drone.
-
The elf gets up from his prone position.After he is certain none of the intruders are moving he turns to the team.
"OK team time to find the mage and explain to him why playing with metahuman entrails is a really bad idea.Then get the hell outta here!"
-
Schmitt had gotten up and looked carefully around the open door.
"Well done. But we better hurry. They will most likely send reinforcements before to long. Is one of you able to assence the conjurer of this abomination outside?"
-
Ten seconds. That is how much time Krestov waited after the drone stun bomb went off, standing still as a statue. Finally, he moved, striding calmly towards the pile of unconscious guards, reloading his Crusader before bolstering it. "Targets neutralized. Slob, bagging souvenirs. Believe term is merry Christmas?". Reaching down, he picked up the pair of laser weapons gingerly before showing them away, heading back towards the group, patting the big gun aplreciatively. "Nice work on gun, bnc. Kept me safe.."". As he rejoined them, the troll gave a quick, violent shake of his clothes, the clatter of several spent shock bullets falling to the floor breaking the silence.
"I know not how assense, as you say, or if we have ability. However, other option is presented."". He trailed off, pausing a bit as he worked out his next words. "...is...not favorite option to he taking. But chances of rest of you surviving improve much with it..". Turning to bnc, Krestov lifted his visor. "Likely won't like option.."
-
Slobbertooth took time to look over the bodies for ammunition and grenades. "Sorry Chummer, but assensing isn't really my game."
-
Ten seconds. That is how much time Krestov waited after the drone stun bomb went off, standing still as a statue. Finally, he moved, striding calmly towards the pile of unconscious guards, reloading his Crusader before bolstering it. "Targets neutralized. Slob, bagging souvenirs. Believe term is merry Christmas?". Reaching down, he picked up the pair of laser weapons gingerly before showing them away, heading back towards the group, patting the big gun aplreciatively. "Nice work on gun, bnc. Kept me safe.."". As he rejoined them, the troll gave a quick, violent shake of his clothes, the clatter of several spent shock bullets falling to the floor breaking the silence.
"I know not how assense, as you say, or if we have ability. However, other option is presented."". He trailed off, pausing a bit as he worked out his next words. "...is...not favorite option to he taking. But chances of rest of you surviving improve much with it..". Turning to bnc, Krestov lifted his visor. "Likely won't like option.."
"Spit it out!"
-
Krestov blinked at the curt response for his idea, the troll's jaw set as he cleared his throat. "Okay. Way I see this, first option is finding mage and eliminating. That removes spirit and make extraction possible. However, reinforcement make time issue. If can't find in time, will need to extract with spirit in place. To make work, needing diversion to keep spirit attention" He gave a pause, glancing at the others. "...I would able to provide longest diversion..."
-
bnc's eyes grow wide. After half a blink, she snaps back, barely hiding the irritation in her words: "What? No fucking way! What's that gonna accomplish?
"See, this is a bloody mighty spirit - and a mighty blood spirit, too. Your physical strength is of little use if you fight a blood spirit. He will not attack your body, but your life force as such. Seeing as you exchanged a lot of your flesh and blood by augmentations, you'd last shorter than I would. There's no way at all you're gonna throw your life away just like this. Besides, it will take us minutes, if not many of them, to find the mage. You could only buy us seconds. So stop wasting our time with heroism and come up with a good idea how to find that mage."
Krestov knows her well enough to understand what's going on. Her fear of losing him turned into anger, and this is her way of saying "Please stay with me".
Instead she says: "In the meanwhile, I suggest we move. As long as we've got no better plan, I guess we can just hope to stumble on him.
"I'd try to move to the top floor for the following reasons:
a) Tom Preston adressed the rigger under influence of magic. His room is on the top floor, so this might be where the magician is. It might even be that the rigger knew the magician, because he referred to them as a "she".
b) The armed people tried to breach in the top floor. There will be something of value, so this is where we're gonna find the spellslinger.
"Shall we move?"
While speaking bnc falls on one knee, sliding her slender fingers into her boot where - as all of you are well aware - she hides her emergency supply of drugs.
-
"The Doctor is safer with you protecting him, big guy .Thing is, if the Azzies came here for the prototypes, why are they still around?They should have left when they got their hands on them.Whatever it is they're after, I bet we'll find the damned blood mage somewhere near. "
-
Krestov's large mitt darted out, deftly catching bnc by the wrist and effectivelybstaying her hand as he dropped to a knee. His visited gaze pierced into her as his voice rumbled out low. "Later.". With a squeeze, he stood up, nodding his head with a small chuckle.
"This why Krestov not making of the plans. Yes, we move. Laser weapons must not be target. Schmitt, what is of interest between here and top floor? Aware of only one or two things, CEO and body armor being them. Either way, am ready to move"
-
"It's a hostile take over. They don't want to steal anything per se - they keep all assets under lock down and make the key researchers sign new contracts while the finacial battle is still raging. 20kMUS is an undisclosed asset, so S-K and Ares could legally transfer everything of value out while they haven't had the chance to replace the board. So they cut communications, secure the inventory and - while they are here - force us to stay on.
I admit, it's a bit complicated, but we are in international waters here and possession is 9/10th of the law.
Inside this lab they have secured all the researchers exept five - which I assume were killed:
Their names are:
- Andy WILLIAMS
- Bea JONES
- Carl BROWN
- Eva MILLER
- Francis WILSON
- Herbert TAYLOR
- Irene ANDERSON
- John THOMAS
- Liam WHITE
- Michael HARRIS
- Naomy MARTIN
- Olivia THOMPSON
- Pita GARCIA
- Quin MARTINEZ
- Ralf ROBINSON
- Tanja RODRIGUEZ
Tom Preston is the Executive Officer and was up on level 5. I assume he was killed, otherwise they would have secured him here with me and the others. Dr. Malcom left yesterday for his vacation.
The missing researchers are:
- Steven CLARK
- Karl JACKSON
- Gabriela MOORE
- Donnie DAVIS
Beside those there is the support personal:
Twelve guards who are most likely dead, including our two security riggers.
And finally there are
- Jay the Janitor or rather Hank, as you probably have learned. He is my backup here.
- Carla the Cook
- Tom and Tim the Technicians
- Ruth the Rigger
- Kim the Kitchenaid
One of those alive must be the traitor who summoned that blood spirit outside. I only have a very limited knowledge about that, but I remember that you need to sacrifice an intelligent being to achieve that. There might also be a ritual weapon involved."
Schmitt paused: "I'm sorry, I seem to be a bit shaken, I'm rambling."
-
It takes a second while bnc checks her data.
"Wait. You said five researchers are missing: Clark, Jackson, Moore, Davis and..?"
bnc bites her lips.
"Okay. We have 16 researchers and five personnel left. Without being a racist, I'd like to point out that three of them have Spanish names: Pita Garcia, Quin Martinez, Tanja Rodriguez. While it's only a guess, it's still the best guess we have that one of those might be the blood mage."
Let's hope their biomonitors are still online. They used to be when we arrived. It's not a lot of hope, but hope it is...
bnc tries to find the AROs that represent the three researcher's biomonitors. With a bit of luck this would lead them to the bloodmage.
Matrix Perception:
Matrix Perception Test (http://orokos.com/roll/286329): 8d6t5 3
If not - can I access the security camera and stuff via wifi or do we have to get back to the station?
-
"I'm sorry, I misspoke. It's four missing researchers. I erroneously added Dr. Malcom to the missing.
Hm, yes, you are correct about your guess regarding ethnicity. It's a starting point."
He turned to Torrent: "Now about that proposal, if you are willing, you could play me, while I try to establish communication again. Jay, I mean Hank will accompany me to the fifth level and may be one of you, too. But be aware, that a mage might be able to assense your magical abilities and not be fooled."
Yes, the bio monitors are online again, but they are slaved to the Blue Hades host, if you want to get more information than just their existence.
Just as a little reminder: You do have a possible witness...
-
Okay. I haven't made any good experiences with hosts recently.
I have no idea who you're talking about. Maybe bnc with her top-intelligence is of more use than I am..?
"Still, it's a start. When we are at a point where the mage could look through the disguise, we at least have reached the point we were headed to...
"The researchers' biomonitors are still online. I could try and trace them, but I made bloody bad experiences with their defensive systems lately, so I'd rather use this option as a last resort..."
-
Krestov remained mostly quiet through this situation, calmly studying the faces of those speaking as his mind slowly ticked, trying to figure some sense into this situation, how to solve the issue. Then it hit him, his deep voice giving a surprise interjection.
"Witness. One decker not dead yet. Have stim patch, can revive." He gave a nod, thinking back to recent events, also recalling something he learned in his training, the troll then turning to Schmitt. "Have odd question. Is facility running some project requires deepweed drug?"
-
"He's alive? Why didn't you say so. Quick, bring her to the Jonas Host. The auto-doc can revive him safely and grant him access to the other hosts.
Deepweed? That's this mage drug, isn't it?
Hm,
Edge Roll for Krestov (http://orokos.com/roll/286795): 1d6t5 1
oh, actually yes, we recently had some delivered as part of a test for a new bio blood-filter."
Schmidt concentrated for a moment and closed his eyes: "It should be in the rack on the back wall, box 13-2, somewhere at the bottom in a pink box labelled 'test 21', if I'm not mistaken."
-
Torrent turns to dr. Schmitt
"It is a risk worth taking.Anything you can tell me about the missing researchers that could buy me a second or two?"
Should I roll again for disguise/impersonation?My previous rolls were really good (threshold 9 to break the disguise) but If you want I can roll again
-
"Well, Steven CLARK is - was our armor expert. White, blond hair, ca. 1.80, muscular. He worked on that Military Armor over there. He had a military background with the UCAS Armed Forces.
Karl JACKSON, is a communications specialist. Black male, ca. 1.90, over weight. He designed a part of our com relays.
Gabriela MOORE, is a designer. White, red hair, ca. 1.60, petite. She was tasked with developing new gun casings.
Donnie DAVIS was a material science guy. White, no hair, ca. 1.80, average build. He worked with synthetic spider silk as a base for non-conductive armor."
Schmitt shook his head a little. "Sorry, that's all I can tell you of the top of my head."
You can use your previous roll
-
"It's good for a start. Now, can we move? I don't want to wait for my Fairlight forever!"
bnc smiles, but you know, it's just to hide her fear. She managed to nestle a small plastic bag full with small golden chunks from her boot. Her hands are shaking.
Not sure whether I've got any Overwatch Score. If so, I'd reboot my deck in the meanwhile.
I might've missed your answer. Do I have access to the cameras, cleaning drones etc, or do I have to access the main computer in the upper floor for that?
IIRC I didn't see any obvious mages when I had control over the cameras, did I?
-
Your internal overwatch score has been deleted the last time you rebooted. But it can't hurt to do it again ;)
You hacked the drone previously through a direct connection with the recharging station on lvl. 2.
If you want access to the drones, you just have to ask Hank. He has legitimate command over the cleaning drones. The cameras are still under control of the Tartaros host. You can either try to hack it or wake up the spider, so that she can give access.
And no, nothing overtly magical beside the murder scene in the cellar.
"By all means, don't let me stop you." Schmitt returned the smile and made grasping motions that indicated that he missed the comfort of his own comlink.
-
Upon hearing the information he requested, Krestov had lunmbered off to the back of the storage area, sifting through the boxes at the pace he had become known for: a little slow, but very deliberate. Just as everyone was starting to get antsy, a deep " Ah." rumbled out, the troll carrying a small pink box, which he offered to the two adepts.
"Can fight over who takes to make good ID of mage. I retrieve decker, meet at Jonas". Glancing at bnc, his expression softened a bit under his helmet, a hand going on her shoulder, giving a light squeeze of reassurance that they were going to all get out of there. And with that, he bounded off, running to meet up with Hank and retrieve the unsconscious dwarfette for transport to the pods...hopefully uninterrupted.
-
"Hank? Can you please invite me to MARK the cleaning drones? Yah, all of 'em. I'd like to do a li'l look-around. Also, this could get messy - never hurts to have some cleaning drones under control."
bnc takes out two small chunks of the candy-like golden substance and pops them into her mouth. She sucks on them as on lollipops, as she puts the rest of the bag back in her boot.
Better.
-
<<No problem, those babys work best with a firm hand behind the controls anyway. Leaves me time to care for Marcy.>>
True to his word, bnc suddenly had three marks on all drones, including a command pass.
A first sweep revealed that there were no living people anywhere on the corridors.
-
"Great. Is she stable?"
bnc directs one drone towards room 519.
-
Torrent took the box from Krestov's hands, but didn't open it.
He stood with a quizzical look on his face.Well, technically it was still his face eventhough it resembled that of herr Schmitt at the moment.
After the Troll left he turned to bnc.
"What the fuck is deepweed?"
-
<<Stable enough. The bleeding stopped and she breaths steadily, but she's still unconscious. As far as I know, that's a bad sign.>>
The little cleaning drone on lvl. 5 had entered room 519 and found chaos. Every bit of paper had been shredded and thrown to the floor. Data chips had been crushed and submerged in a glass vase.
One thing however made bnc's heart beat faster: Beside a turned over table a small device was visible. It's sleek, streamlined steel curves bore the laser engraved writing: "Fairlight Caliban". And the tough outer shell showed no defects - it just seemed to be turned off.
-
bnc smiles a melancholic smile. "I should know best ... it's a drug. A wiz drug. When I was a teen - that is, a younger teen than now - I would do almost anything to get hold on deepweed. I did once, and I regret it to the very day. It was, at the same time, the most horrible and the most phantastic experience I ever made.
"Scientifically, what it does is, it allows slash forces a mundane, or basically anyone, to astrally perceive. Personally, what it does is, it opens the gate to a world so alive, so beautiful and real, that from this moment on, the real world appears but a shadow to what there lies behind. It's like Plato's cave.
"Y-You guys do know Plato's cave, don't ya? I mean, Americans too learn that at school?"
bnc bites her lip, then spits out the Golden Mirror she just sucked on (into her hand, of couse, not on the floor - waste not, want not).
"So, who's gonna take it? It should be the one we need least, because you won't be of much use from then on. I would sacrifice myself, seeing as I can't do a lot around here anyway, but on floor five, there lies a Fairlight Caliban with a huge tag which goes 'rape me, bnc, please rip me apart'.
"But then, I might still be the one who is best suited for the task. For once, meaning no offense, I know more about mojo than any of you does. Moreover, I'm used to being stoned and still having to perform.
"What do you think?"
Please...
-
Schmitt added helpfully: "Be also aware that it has a tendency to create physical dependence. The user also needs to be fairly quick minded to interprete the sensations without formal training in assensing techniques.
Now, I don't want to hurry you unduly, but the sooner we get a spider back, the sooner we can get control over this whole situation. Who of you escorts me to Hank?"
-
Slobbertooth looked over at Krestov, knowing he would be the first to volunteer to escort Schmitt. "You stay here with our decker, I'll take Schmitt because I'm not going to be the one to take that deepweed drek."
He then moved over the Krestov, and spoke more softly. "As familiar as bnc sounds with the stuff, it's be best to keep her away from that."
-
Perception (http://orokos.com/roll/288284): 9d6t5 4
bnc shoots Slob a look. "I'm not 'familiar' with it, because I took it a single time. I'm not saying I should take it, but I guess it's safe to assume that I have - quote - the quickest mind - quote ends here - among us. Plus I've got the most experience in ignoring the negative effects of the drugs, and I know how it effects the system. And I could write a master thesis on magic theory without opening a single book.
"However, if you think you're better suited than me, please feel free. Or should 'Dr. Schmitt' (she turns to Torrent) fly around on a pink cloud with all red eyes and babbling on about how bastante grando colorful the world grew?"
She casts a swift look to Torrent. "No offense."
"Okay, I do suggest I take it. Eight-six-eight-two should probably stay with me, while you two adepts should escort Gerhard, if you ask my opinion. Do you?"
-
Slobbertooth just gave his trademark grin and chuckled, trying to play off the surprise of the little girl hearing his comment. He glanced over at the girl and her slight frame. "At least we'd only need to use a pin drop of the stuff for you to get wigly." He then sighed and reconsidered his earlier hesitance.
"I do have to somewhat agree that it probably makes the most sense for you take the stuff. You'd probably be better off high in combat than you would be cycling at full capacity, anyway. That might make you less likely to panic"
-
I got no problem with bnc taking the drug.But be advised kid.Taking it means you're gonna have to get close to the damned blood mage.On such occasion a quick draw will serve you better than vast knowledge of magic theory.Find me the mage then get the fuck out of his line of sight, OK?
"Now, Doctor, before Slobber escorts you to Hank, I will need your ID card and your clothes.You should probably borrow a vest and a helmet from our Azzie friends, they will keep you safe."
-
"Well, if it's for the greater good..." Without hesitation, Schmitt disrobed to his underwear (displaying a moderately muscular, regularly exercised body) and helped himself to the mostly undamaged gear of one of the dead intruders. The helmet he left off, probably because he didn't want to get shot by accident. "Memo to self, prepare emergency cloth stash for next operation"
When he was ready, he nodded to Slobbertooth so they could move back up toward Hank.
-
True to the prediction, Krestov had straightened up about the question of escorting the principle, about to speak up when he was silenced. Pausing, he glanced at the others quickly before giving a nod. "Is good plan. Slob and Torrent go with man to retrieve decker spider for revival. bnc staying with me ready to use drug deepweed when needed. Will meet you at Jonas. Keep touch." Watching them go, the troll waited a few seconds before turning to bnc.
"Have time before they heading back to pod. We retrieve Caliban now, yeah?" Smirking, he led the way out into the hall and through the stairs and halls, speaking as he went. "Is right. You best choice for deepweed. As is job risk, doubt Schmitt would be against using Jonas to correct dependency, no?" He dropped his voice as they rounded a corner, clearing the hall before advancing. "Or any dependency, it seems. You see Krestov touch flask since mission beginning?"
-
Chemistry (http://orokos.com/roll/288465): 12d6t5 1
A crap roll, but still a success. Can I estimate how a combined dose of deepweed (with its tranquilizing effect) and Golden Mirror (with its stimulating effect) would work? Would they kind of negate each other, the way e.g. Morphium and Ecstasy supposedly do, leaving me more or less functioning while still granting me astral perception? Or would something different happen?
How long does the drug take to cause an effect.
bnc nods, hiding her smile. I won. I'll get très fry, friggin' deepweed. For free. Don't let it carry yourself away, girl, or you'll lose your new friends for a good trip. And maybe your life. Still: WOHOO!
So-ka, wa-karimasu. I know my limits, and fighting a mucho malo bloodmage is way beyond them. She watched the adepts and her new Fairlight leaving the room, shortly reminded of how in most bad horror movies this is the point where the shit really hits the fan.
She casts a look at the chunks of Golden Mirror in her slim hand, and finds no reassurance there. She then turns to Krestov, and relaxes a bit.
"I guess that sounds like a plan, da. It would be amazing if I wouldn't believe I can touch the sky when I tear the Caliban apart. Let's go!"
Following Krestov to the 5th floor, she answers:
"And no, he wouldn't mind, but I do. No förböveln C3PO is fucking around with my mind. I admit I haven't seen you touch the flask, but then, we haven't been being unfrozen for more than an hour or so, and we don't yet know what aftereffects it might have had to expose yourself to a fairly untested frigging beta-version of some AI. Last time they relied on AIs, it didn't work out so well, did it?
-
Perception (http://orokos.com/roll/288625): 14d6t5 5
What all did I find on the downed guards in terms of ammunition or grenades?
Slobbertooth checked his weapons and then moved over to the intruders. "Gimme a sec to check over your guests for some new toys, and then we'll head out." "What i would do for a even a piddly Colt M23 right now"
-
@SquirrelDude
I'm afraid, their loadout still hasn't changed:
They wear customized Armor Jackets with Gel Packs, full Chemical Resistance and Thermal Damping.
Their helmets have an integrated micro transceiver, low light vision and flare compensation, as well as image and sound link.
Besides a combat knife all carry a Colt Cobra TZ-120 on a sling loaded with Stick'n Shock. The standard Gas Vent II has been replaced for the III model. All carry 4 reserve clips: Two hold standard ammo, while one is filled with Stick'n Shock and the last Flechette.
In a quick draw holster they carry Browning Ultra-Power heavy pistols with two spare clips filled with standard ammunition.
Finally they also carry each two flash bang grenades.
In addition there are two experimental laser rifles with damaged boot sectors.
They used up ca. 100 rounds and three flashbangs
@Volker
You can't be sure, but in your experience speed balling these different drugs will probably not be an immediate problem, but the coming down will be hard and very painful.
The drug should kick in the moment you ingest/inhale it.
The search of the bodies did not bring any new gear: The mercenaries had all the same kit - cheap, functional and matrix independent.
-
Slobbertooth sighed in disappointment "Of course they used up all of their grenades." He refilled his ammunition and then looked back over to the Dr.
"Alright, time to go."
-
Krestov remained silent for a few moments after bnc said her piece before finally giving the all clear to enter the fifth floor chaos that was their destination. "Fair enough. is your decision. Krestov merely give option and concern." Taking a glance around, he stood watch at the door. "When have what you came here for, should break for Jonas soon as possible."
-
Torrent moved as a rearguard, activating his motion sense
Six steps
-
Surprisingly, no-one tried to stop them on there way to the 5th level. The retrieval of the commlink proved to be as easy as a walk in the park. Krestov and bnc also found first hand evidence that Preston was indeed dead: The troll counted twenty bullet holes in his back. Unfortunately those bullets hadn't quite stopped in his heart and lungs but traveled instead straight into the communication station. What once had been a sota comm array now wasn't much more than expensive scrap.
But at least the guards up here had a nice stash of weapons: Three Ares Alphas with smartlink, shockpad, sling, Gas Vent III and a foregrip. Sadly the foregrip replaced the integrated grenade launcher. These fine weapons were still in their cage behind a finger print lock. A fallen guard seemed to have died while he tried to retrieve these potent force multipliers. The broken screw driver and the scratched lock lent this interpretation some credibility.
bnc knew immediately what must have happened: When the Tartaros host went down, the locks could no longer be opened. While this wasn't a major problem with the normal doors and there override key, the weapons locker had become inaccessible. Now that the system worked, it was simple enough to open: With the dead man's thumb the locker door opened with out a hitch.
In a large ammo box Krestov found the fitting ammunition: 24 magazines with color coded ammunition: 6 standard, 6 gel, 6 flechette and - here Krestov had to look twice - seriously 6 mags with ex-explosive rounds.
---
Meanwhile, the two adepts and Schmitt had reached the ork's quarter and helped him to move the unconscious spider by the fastest way to the Jonas Pods. Schmitt was tense and clearly uncomfortable under the thick armor, but he had the good grace to keep quiet and let his men do their work.
The pod started the treatment even before the lid had closed: A dozen snake fingers enveloped the female dwarf and found their way into every orifice at once.
Schmitt pushed a few buttons and the team received a life status update from the metal coffin:
"Assessing injuries....
Processing...
Diagnosis:
Spinal hair fracture, broken femur with internal bleeding, cracked cranium with dangerously high brain pressure.
Engaging emergency protocols - initiating artificial coma..."
Schmitt hit a button and spoke sharply: "OVERRIDE. Alternative treatment to coma. Relieve brain pressure through skull puncture, revive patient within VR environment!"
"Warning, this is not the optimal treatment. Severe long term issues might occur through this course of action. Ethics modul prohibits alteration."
Schmitt cursed and hit some more buttons, than opened a small compartment within the Pod and forcibly removed a small optical circuit board.
The warning disappeared and the auto doc responded:
"Override accepted. Patient VR environment has been initiated."
Schmitt grimaced and whispered under his breath: "Gott vergieb mir..."
He donned his helmet and spoke again to the pod: "Establish AR connection to VR environment."
At once the face of Marcy the security spider appeared on the teams image links and DNIs.
"What happened, where am I?"
-
I didn't risk my life to save her only to ......fuck! We need this, don't we?I just hope Schmitt knows what he's doing..
Torrent remained silent yet alert.
-
Slobbertooth was numb to the events around him, drawn like a moth to the waepons cage. As he walked towards the cage,with a goofy, toothy grin on his face, he started to whistle the most famous part of Beethoven's 9th symphony. "Lady and gentletrogs, a gift, courtesy of ASF"
Slobbertooth realed his fist back, filling with magical energy and swung down on the padlock. "Shatter and give me what I desire."
Killing Hands to make hands magical because why not.
Breaking the Lock (http://orokos.com/roll/289483): 7d6t5 2
Resulting damage against lock: 7p
-
bnc takes up the commlink. "Now, let's see what you are, little fella...
"Krestov, it'll take me a couple of ticks till I'm done raping this little slut here. Why don't you have a look at the rest of the 5th floor while I'm working? Especially the room left to the elevater - 523F - might prove interesting. I'll stay right where I am, so ka?"
With that, bnc lets herself sink into a char, establishes a physical connection to the Fairlight Caliban, and browses through its contents: SIN, store, protocols, logs, ...
-
bnc was quickly disapointed: This was Schmitt's Fairlight, allright, but it had been reset to factory settings. This included the activation of a security app that overwrote everything with random crap, before deleting itself again.
But considering the rest of the space it wasn't that surprising. Whatever secret data they had had up here, had been professionally destroyed.
523F proved to be a mess. Tom Preston's living quarters had been thoroughly thrashed. Yet the troll had a distinctive advantage to the intruders: He could see at eye level to the air duct. There, sheltered behind the grill, lay a small package. Closer inspection revealed the still silently running Transsys com.
Beside that, quite a lot of designer suits lay strewn across the floor and some small clear plastic bags, that seemed to contain Preston's stash of exec-nose candy.
-
bnc makes a face, then slides the commlink into her pocket.
"Strange it is!", she cries out to Krestov. "I touched Schmitt's commlink, and poof! it vanished into thin air. Oh, what vile magic strives beneath the tides of the mighty ocean!
"Hath thou found something, oh my mighty hero and slayer of dragons?"
If Krestov hands her the new (and more interesting) link, she again extracts the cable from her jack, and plugs it in. There must be something of interest!
-
Krestov first gave pause at the weapons locker, eyeing and taking inventory of the impressive set of weaponry behind lock and proverbial key. Hearing bnc's suggestion, he nodded and went through the floor, stopping at Preston's office. His scans spotted the commlink first, then the suits and the drugs. hmm...
He took the link (present for bbc) and one of the suits (present for Torrent) when he heard the dramatic statement from their hacker. Smirking, he stopped back in the room, holding up the Transys. "Open lock for weapons, you get new toy?". Regardless of her answer, the troll then went to do a quick scan over the remaining rooms on the floor.
-
The Transsys proved to be a treasure trove: Preston had left a pletora of information on his device. A quick skim showed that he had been a somewhat high ranking Ares exec, tasked with ensuring, that S-K wouldn't siphon of any research data. Most important were the passcodes and passphrases to use the lifeline terminal that now lay destroyed. But there were also the override keys to open the submarine hangar.
His last unfinished report voiced concerns about the base security and requested a team of dedicated security mages. He also complained over the delays and obstruction from the S-K higher ups.
All in all the workday in this underwater base seemed to consist of 30% work and 70% intrigue and counterespionage.
No wonder, that the joint-venture wasn't performing as expected.
But there was one thing that did catch bnc's attention: Preston suspected that a female staff member was a spy for a third corporation and that she used alchemical stuff. He didn't elaborate how he came to that conclusion, beside the fact that he had found some incriminating evidence in one of the women restrooms (no elaboration what he had done there or why).
Krestov made a quick tour through the other rooms, but besides more expensive clothing and other personal knickknacks there wasn't anything of value - no wonder, after all you couldn't spend anything here or go out somewhere.
-
bnc shrugs. "I don't know. I know my Tommy, and I don't think I can handle something new. Last time you gave me your toy to play with, things turned weird..."
She winks, than dives into the virtual space.
"That's interesting..."
Just to be safe (and to give opponents less reason to geek her), she sends one copy to Krestov, Slobbertooth and Torrent. She also stores the information on her deck, before she unplugs the commlink and stores it in a pocket.
Well, and now? If we can trust him, that might narrow down the namens from three to two, on the assumption that Quin is male, and Tanja and Pita are female. Still, that doesn't help us a lot...
bnc skims through any protocols regarding the hired security mages: whether they arrived, who they were, anything. She also tries to get some data abou Pita and Tanja. If that fails, she rises and says: "Okay, eight-six-eight-two, time to join our buddies at Jonas. I'm not sure this was very helpful, but at least I found the passcode for the hangar."
-
Krestov responded to her humorous jibes with little more than an acknowledging smirk, the troll focused on the task of rooting around the rest of the floor. Upon his return, he gave a nod to her as she sent out the information she received. "Well done. And the weapon locker? That could give us edge against remaining opposition. Plus, need present for Slobbertooth. I can break if can't open normally?"
Flipping on his transceiver, his deep voice crackled through to the others. "We are almost done up here. Have present for you, Slob. How is decker?"
-
There were no details on the mages - probably because there hadn't been any approved.
Krestov looked upon the locker. There was the fingerprint lock with the green light indicating functionality and right next to it the dead guard with its outstretched hand. If this were an adventure game the combine button would probably flash like mad now.
--
Down at the Jonas Pods Schmitt had waited for a second if his hired specialists wanted to interrogate the spider. When they didn't he took the initiative:
"You have been seriously wounded and are now in an emergency unit, undergoing surgery. We are under siege. Multiple intruders - probably Atztech sponsored have been neutralized, but we suspect there to be a mole. This mole is probably a blood mage. As long as the mage is active there seems to be a very powerful blood spirit preventing egress from the base. And we don't want to be still here when their reinforcements arrive.
So we need three things:
- My hired decker needs security access to Tartaros
- We need to know if you can identify the mage
- We need you to pull through"
The projected image went silent for a second before it answered:
"Are you fucking kidding me? For the last year we have again and again asked for a security mage here and your fucking corp has again and again vetoed this decision. And now we have the drek."
"This was not my decision, although I did voice my concerns regarding Ares' current... vermin problem. And for the record: Ares did not want an S-K owned mage on this premises. So, can you help us?"
"I... I guess. Let me check something."
The animated face distorted into a grimace of pain.
"Ugh. It hurts. It shouldn't hurt in VR. What did you do to me?"
"You had trauma to your head. It's possible that there are interface problems."
"Interface problems my ass. Ok. I took a quick look at the security footage comparing it to my bio monitor.
So far this all checks out. I take it your decker is that little girl on the 5th?"
"Correct."
"I'm sending her the authorization key, but I have locked down access to the other hosts. You never know with those kids - they just have to stick there nose in other peoples business."
"Don't forget drone control."
"I haven't. I activated the emergency protocol. Drones belong to Tartaros now."
"Well done. So, can you tell us about the blood mage?"
"Yes, I've reconstructed the last waking moments of my partner. It was this L.A. bitch Tanja. She's got some funky knife on her, but I can't see her on the cameras. Maybe she's invisible."
"No, she is shackled with the other workers in the big lab."
"Not from my perspective. Good thing you put one of your men into that big ass military armor. At least he can't easily be stabbed in the back that way..."
-
"...Ah...never mind...". Came out of Krestov's mouth as he put two and two together. Having a thick skull had its advantages when getting attacked, but unfortunately not so for problem solving. Nodding his head, the big guybknelt down and locked up the guard by the wrist, bringing the thumb print up to the reader. A coupek beeps came from the interface, followed by a click, and the locker swung open. Grinning ever so slightly, he snapped a picture of the arsenal and sent it to Slobbertooth's commlink before loading up. Packing two of the Alphas into his pack along withmost of the clips, he did a quick weapons check on the remaining rifle, making sure all parts worked and linking up the smartguj software before loading a clip of regular ammuniton.
Turning back to bnc, he nodded again. "Ready to go. Repeat, what is status of Jonas team?"
-
Scheiße!
"Take care! The slitch has occupied the giant armor!"
She nods towards Krestov. "Ready to go. Let's move."
She takes a deep breath. While running down the stairs with Krestov, she checks whether everything is where it should be: The deepweed in her jacket, the Golden Mirror in her pocked, and her gun in the holster.
[color]A frickin' blood mage! Why on Earth did I not stay with Kerstin?[/color]
-
!! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2P5qbcRAXVk)
"Сукин сын! No time wasting. Take Alpha if want, but need go. Stay behind me." And with that, the troll was off, his large steps bounding with an alarming speed as he boomed into the comms.
"On way intercepting. Any info on armor capability requested. Otherwise, moving to neutralize!" His thoughts turned to the gun in his hand...if this armor was half as good as he'd imagined, it would only serve limited success...Hope my spar training hasn't suffered lately...
-
"WHAT!" Schmitt's calm demeanor broke.
"That's not one of ours. She... goddamnit... now we have a bloodmage with power armor on the loose.
Close the bulkheads. NOW!"
-
Let's see whether she falls for the same trick... I would hate having to fight a decker if I wasn't me.
"Carry me, big 'un. I got some work to do!"
bnc flings herself in Krestov's arms, again, and leaves her body. You start to realize that VR is a very good place to escape to if your 19 year old body is as broken as a 70 year old one.
In VR, she's herself again. With ease, she infiltrates the weapon she already began to feel used to. Don't you dare playing with my toys, bloody whore!
She overrides the boot sector, catching it in an endless loop, then gives the command to shut the whole system down. Well, you can still use it. As a club.
"At least it's an unarmed power armor. Don't tell her, but psst, I broke her toy. The MG shouldn't be of any use to her now. So, now it's only a power armor with a blood mage inside..."
-
Krestov gave a nod, cradling the little Decker between his shield and his chest, his breath flaring through his nostrils as he bounded down stairs and ran through halls, making his way down to the sighted location. He nodded as the face of bnc's persona appeared in his peripherals, delivering the message.
"Understood. When close and out of sight, will deposit you with Alpha. Krestov not need. Objective will be secured. Torrent, Slobbertooth, when I engage, give flanking firing. Worry not me.""
Going down the last few steps, Krestov focused his senses, slowing his breath as he repeated the maxims of his training in his head. Resolve. Honor. Service. Justice. This mage was responsible for much, and Krestov would be the point of the spear of retribution.
No regrets.
-
"No, you shithead, you're carajo not engaging a battle-armored blood mage! Did you not listen? Pay fucking attention before you go dragon-slaying!
"This - is - a - blood mage. If she see's there's a troll coming, she might fling a Thought Control spell at you and you'll eat my innards before I can say 'eight-six-eight-two'. Stay put!
"We can't and we shouldn't engage her openly. But we have an advantage over her: information. She doesn't even have a commlink, and if I were her, I wouldn't trust my biomonitor either." A smirk returns in bnc's voice, but jsut for a split-second.
"We have a map ARO with her every movement transmitted directly from the dreaning clones sensor via my deck into your line of sight. She doesn't even know yet that her HMG will do nothing when she hits the trigger."
I need time. Fuck! I didn't want to lock that bitch up with the other hostages, but we need a couple of minutes!
bnc shuts down the security door. She inhales, then proceeds:
"Let's build a trap. The cleaning drones can set off explosives. Do we have some? Anything else we can build a trap with?"
-
Maxime #37. There is no 'overkill.' There is only 'open fire' and 'I need to reload
The door had closed just in time to prevent the armor from leaving the room. The armored fist that hit the door in frustration rang loudly through the otherwise silent facility.
But the Bloodmage seemed far from being defeated: The armor suddenly extended a small tool from its forearm and ignited the plasma lance of a mini welder. With slow but precise movements she started to cut her way through. Whatever she was, she wasn't dumb.
A quick estimation told bnc, that it would take her about two minutes to get through...
-
Upon reaching the final stairwell to the floor holding the armored mage, Krestov came to a full stop. He listened...he was good at that at least... and waited for bnc to finish before adding to the team's comm. "...you've earned your place in this team, malyutka..." He muttered to himself before speaking up.
"Understood. Open to suggestion. Still have flashbang from Slobbertooth, but don't believe is enough. Slob, Torrent, meet outside room in hall to rearm and ready?"
-
Slobbertooth responded to the question on the commlink. "So Ka"
"Refresh me, how many entrances are there to the room the mage is in, and how positive are we that he has spirits listening to us?"
-
"On our way.I don't think my poor Savalette is going to be much help against an armored behemoth.I wish we could flood one room or two.This armor would make swimming impossible."
-
After Slobbertooth's question, bnc hesitated a moment, then decided it was time. She took out the deepweed she stored in her pocket, a smile flashed over her face. "Hey, boys, does anyone have a lighter or something?
Let's move to another floor. Here are too many innocents we can't endanger. Let's meet the bitch upstairs!
"There are two entrances. She can either leave the room directly to the floor, or she can move over room 127."
After a short German exchange of words with Dr. Schmitt, bnc frowns. "Warum auch nicht..?"
But before she takes any action, she answers to Torrent's suggestion:
"Nope, that wouldn't be a good idea. This armor is designed for swimming. Give her access to water, and she'll be invincible. She's not very nimble, though, and not very resistant to heat. Maybe we can make a fire trap or something."
bnc tries to bring the cleaning drone closer to the armor. After inhaling deeply, she takes aim and goes for the unprotected servo at her hip.
Did I understand that right, that if I hit, the servos won't work anymore and she's unable to move?
Did I also get it right, that I have a -6 dice pool modifier if I aim for the servo?
I still roll at Logic + Gunnery, don't I?
If everything is correct, I'll shoot: 3x Take Aim for +2 dice and +1 accuracy.
Shoot (http://orokos.com/roll/292737): 9d6t5 5
Bam!
-
Correct. Let's see:
Perception check to avoid surprise (http://orokos.com/roll/292857): 12d6t5 3
She does get her defense:
Defense (http://orokos.com/roll/292862): 12d6t5 5
Bam.
She answers with a lightning bolt F6:
Lightning Bolt (http://orokos.com/roll/292876): 12d6t5 6
the drone defends with 6 dice:
Dodge (http://orokos.com/roll/292878): 6d6t5 0
ouch: 12P AP -5
Soak (http://orokos.com/roll/292879): 3d6t5 0
Yepp, that thing is toast.
Drain: 3 Drain (http://orokos.com/roll/292880): 12d6t5 6
bnc fired and the darts trailed almost perfectly towards its intended target. But suddenly the armor made a step to the side as if the mage inside had noticed the tiny drone. The last thing bnc saw was an intense light and a connection lost display. The other drone recorded a short but intense lightning strike flash across the room and frying the cleaning drone in an instant.
-
Ernsthaft?? -.-
bnc curses slightly then focusses on the task again.
"Plan B. We try to lay a trap in the staircase. Her weakness is her lack of information and agility. We're gonna use both. And the fact that a grenade, even a single one, will release immense power if you throw them into a narrow staircase. You have only one chance!
"Invite me to mark your helmets, cybereyes or whatever you use to see in the dark. I'm going to create some confusion. We can't win in a fair battle, so what I try is to make her nervous. To make her make mistakes. Jeez, this is so pathetic..."
While Krestov carries her body upstairs, she writes a small program to be released in Tartaros. The lights in the lower floor will turn off and on in a random pattern. But the pattern wil be randomized roughly two seconds in advance. The program processes an override for the automatic adaption of the low-light vision system of bnc's comrades: While Tanja's systems are always one step behind in adjusting on permanently and randomly changing light conditions, our systems adjust a bit earlier, providing sort of a smooth sight even if we are in the same area as she is. As soon as she releases the program, she turns on the sprinklers. With her massively decreased agility Tanja will have a hard time dodging bullets and grenades on wet stairs.
To increase the psychological pressure on her, she uses a trick she learned in psychology: arousal feedback. In former studies, people were exposed to what they believed was a fortified version of their heartbeat. When the heartbeat became quicker, so did the real equivalent: The mere thought of their heart beating quicker, made people indeed more active, that is, more nervous. bnc hacks the blood mages biomonitor and increases the displayed heart beat rate by 15 beats per minutes. Every 6 seconds, the speed increase by one, so that over a period of one and a half minutes she will have reached the destined heart beat rate.
bnc played psycho games against herself. In comparison, the blood mage should be easy...
Hacking on the Fly (http://orokos.com/roll/292937): 19d6t5 8
Control Device (http://orokos.com/roll/292938): 17d6t5 4
-
Is the suit fully sealed?If we could create an opening I should be able to target her nerves.
@GM :Is there a way to position the mage between us?Assuming she keeps chasing after the rest of the team is there a way for Torrent to get behind her (and roll Sneaking)?
Knowledge Architecture (http://orokos.com/roll/293071): 4d6t5 0 :/
.
Torrent suddenly stops moving and looks back, as if weighing his options.Finally the elf throws away Schmitt's medical robe and turns to the team
"I think we should split, keep her off-balance.I'll wait for my shot.Stay safe team."
-
The mage had resumed cutting through the door. About a minute of work remained, while Torrent found a place to hide in the conference room opposite the stairs.
Schmitt waited for the team to move.
-
Slobbertooth slowly loaded his Ruger Magnum with APDS rounds, and readied activate the smartlink. "Hey bnc, are we good for the advantages of a wireless Matrix now?
As he said this he raised his hand and practiced aiming his Superwark, and magical energy flowed through his hands, helping to steady his aim.
Agility Boost [2] (http://orokos.com/roll/293869): 8d6t5 4 +2 bonus to Agility for 4 rounds.
-
Krestov gave a nod at bnc's request, linking up his cybereyes and helmet visor to the hacker's systems, smirking a bit at her creative thinking whilst he rendezvoused with the others.
"Not have much time. Take these, will pin her down good"good". Keeping one Alpha for himself, the troll handed another to Slobbertooth and the last one to Schmitt or bnc, making sure to give each two clips of regular, gel, flechette, and the glorious EX-EX rounds. Once done, he took up a postion opposite Torrent, Alpha in one hand whilst the shield in the other, bbc behind him as he awaited their fates...
-
"Positive. The matrix is under our control. You can use it fully, if you don't try to access your favourite porn host.
"Don't forget that via your smartlink systems you are able to fire at the mage without her having a line of sight at you. That is, firing around the corner you can attack her while you're immune to her spells.
"I suggest:
"Phase 1: grenade in the stair case
"Phase 2: Indirect via
"Phase 3: Let's home we won't come to that one.
"I'm ready when you are, boys."
bnc steadies herself for what is to come. She assembles some cleaning drones and exhales.
INI roll (http://orokos.com/roll/294073): 4d6+10 27
-
Slobbertooth holsters his Ruger, and pats it with his hand. "Just in case the drek goes to drek."[Orzet] He then raised his hand up to Krestov, "Gimme," and received the loaner Ares Alpha, slammed a box magazine of EX-Explosive into the rifle and switched it to full automatic. "No real point in using anything else right now"
"If one of us is going to be just trying to spray bullets down the hallway, it might be best if they didn't waste the Ex-Explosive ammunition doing so. Just a thought."
Weapon Dice pools (For next 4 rounds)
Ares Alpha: 17 (6 Automatics +6 Agility +1 Smartlnk +2 Improved Ability +2 Agility Boost) RC: 10
Ruger Magnum: 15 (6 Pistols +6 Agility +1 +2 Agility Boost) RC: n/a
Initiative Round 1 (http://orokos.com/roll/294155): 13+4d6 26
Damage Moniters: Stun 10/10 and Physical 12/12
Remaining Edge: 3
-
Schmitt took the weapon, since bnc seemed to be content to stay in the matrix. Two flying drones had managed to come to her in the short time, the others were still fighting with the stairs.
Schmitt loaded the weapon and aimed over the iron sights:
"I'll try to lay down some suppressive fire, but don't expect me to stay for a prolonged fire fight. Verdammt. How do I always end up in these situations..."
Schmitt took position in the cover of the stairs while Slobbertooth and Krestov went for their own places.
Not a moment to soon - with a loud BANG the almost perfectly circular cut fell out of the bulkhead.
Blood Mage Ini (http://orokos.com/roll/294235): 13+3d6 19
Schmitt Ini (http://orokos.com/roll/294236): 10+2d6 15
There she was, clad in high tech hardened armor with a freaking gatling gun mounted to her left arm. Something black and viscous like a mixture of blood and tar seemed to cover her. Bubbles filled and broke all over as if the amor beneath was scalding hot. Yet, thermo-vision showed her armor to be cold.
She moved fast - faster than you'd expect from such a massive thing - but not fast enough for the adept.
-
Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/294264): 11+4d6 23
Trying to remember if anyone gave Torrent explosive rounds / APDS rounds...
Since there's going to be suppressive fire, Torrent won't be able to close the distance and go for a Nerve Strike.
If things start going south I'll probably try a called shot with the pistol.The mage will probably be unaware unless she's under the influence of a combat sense spell.
-
Krestov nodded and took up his position in the hall, a very open, very large troll with an Ares Alpha in his hands, his finger barely squeezing around the trigger. He spent the last few seconds linking the smartlinks to his guns and following Slobbertooth's lead, swapping out the rifle's magazine with the Ex-Ex rounds. Kneeling down, he rested the shield against his left shoulder, taking aim at the door.
"Если я умру , я умру с моими братьями и сестрами !" He shouted out in his native tongue as the door was cut open, eyes going wide as the black inky figure revealed herself. A moment later, his eyes narrowed as he focused. Time to act
Deep Black Sea...it all makes sense now!
Initiative (http://orokos.com/roll/294507): 1d6+8 12
Dice Pools:
Ares Alpha: 10 (Automatics 4 + AGI 6 + 2 smartlink -2 Weapon Size). RC 10. Damage 13P, AP -3. Ammo 42/42 EX-EX
Ares Crusader II: 12 (Automatics 4 + AGI 6 + 2 Smartlink). RC 6. Damage 7P, AP 0. Ammo: 40/40 reg
Edge Remaining: 1
HP 13/13. Stun 2/10
-
"Stay put, boys, in the upper floor. And don't forget to throw the damn flashbang as soon as she enters the staircase!"
bnc stays ready for the approaching mage.
Delayed Action ;-)
-
Slobbertooth steadied himself, confirming his grip on his new Assault Rifle, and aiming down at where he expected an enemy to be coming from. "Here comes the mojo boys and girls."
Reminder of equipment:
Flashbang Grenades: 1 w/ Krestov
Smoke Grenades: 1 w/Slobbertooth
Thermal Smoke Grenades: 3/Slobbertooth
Flash Pak: 2 w/Slobbertooth
Also OOC question: Is there a way to make it so that this forum displays more posts per page.
-
Yes, actually: Go to profile - look and layout and you can have up to 50 messages displayed
The armor reached the foot of the stairs and looked confused around for a moment. The erratic flashing lights were clearly irritating her and she had passed Torrent without noticing him.
Torrent for his part had gotten a good whiff of the stuff that coated the armor: It smelled like a mixture of congealing blood, rotting bodies and a tarpit.
She was about to move in the direction of the hangar when she stopped again and seemed to listen. With two quick steps she came into view of the team.
Slobbertooth was the first to react.
-
Slobbertooth decided to not waste time aiming. Better to make it harder for his opponent to dodge. He quickly checked AROs for Torrent, saw that all was cleared and unleashed his new toy on their apparent nemesis.
Full Action Automatic Burst: -9 to opponent Dodge. 10 Recoil is controllable for Slobbertooth.
Spend Edge: Push the Limit: Add 3 to the Dice pool, exploding 6s, ignore limits
Full Automatic + Spend Edge (http://orokos.com/roll/295256): 20d6h5 11
Damage Code: 24p -3AP. (Ex Exploding Rounds)
While I fully expect the Mage to dodge and soak a not insignificant chunk of that damage, this seems like a good time to bring up the rules for Knockdown (page 194)
If a character takes a number of boxes of damage (Stun or Physical after DR test) from a single attack that exceeds his Physical limit, then the attack automatically knocks him down (this acts as a forced, free Drop Prone action). Any character who takes 10 or more boxes of damage after a resistance test in a single attack is always knocked down.
[/spoiler]
-
Dodge (http://orokos.com/roll/295443): 4d6t5 1
Hardened armor exceeded, you do damage
23 P AP -3 vs. 23 Armor:
Automatic soak: 10
Soak (http://orokos.com/roll/295446): 20d6t5 7
6P damage
Well done!
New Ini Blood Mage: 17
Slobbertooths salvo hit the monster armor like the proverbial fist of god. The blood mage stumbled back but didn't fall. The face plate had a large crack where two bullets had hit the same spot.
-
Seeing Slobbertooth's shots punch through the heavy armor almost made Torrent join the fight.
Not yet.Can't play my hand so soon...can't risk it.
(Delay)
-
The armored mage lifted the HMG to unleash a hail of bullets with its rotating barrels. But instead an external display turned into a flashing red and the weapon deactivated. bnc's little trick had worked: The gun thought it was dangerously hot and jettisoned instead the remaining ammunition to prevent a cook off.
Even through the thick armor the scream of rage and the Spanish curse words could be heard.
Schmitt had finally managed to bring his own gun into position and opened fire. The mage went to ground to prevent being hit.
Blood Mage: Complex Action: FA -> autofail, weapon deactivated
Schmitt Suppressive Fire (http://orokos.com/roll/295807): 8d6t5 4
Blood Mage uses: Interrupt "Hit the dirt" to prevent being hit
New Ini:
bnc: 27 (Delayed)
Slobbertooth: 16
Torrent: 23 (Delayed)
Krestov: 12
Schmidt: 5
Enemy Mage: 2
Delayed actions must be used now or they will forfeited
-
Now or never.
bnc aims for the weak part of the armor again. This time she wouldn't mess up again, she prayed. The bloodmage is disoriented and wounded. But she's still a terrible opponend.
Holding her breath, bnc releases another taser dart.
I spend edge to boost this shot. It's again a called shot. I should be in control of environmental modifiers. If I missed something, feel free to remove some dice.
1x Take Aim für additional dice.
13 (pool) + 1 (Take Aim) - 6 (Called shot) + 4 (Edge) = 12d6
Called Shot (http://orokos.com/roll/295841): 12d6t5 3 :(
Exploding 6: Called Shot (http://orokos.com/roll/295842): 1d6t5 1
Exploding 6: Called Shot (http://orokos.com/roll/295843): 1d6t5 0
4 hits. Well. I might still hit het. If she tries to dodge, she might get a dice pool modifier for the wet ground and her relative inability to move.
-
She has -6 to dodge from suppressive fire and wounds
Dodge (http://orokos.com/roll/295850): 7d6t5 1
Solid hit with 12 S vs. the actuator
Actuator soak (http://orokos.com/roll/295851): 6d6t5 2
Yup, that's enough: Her legs stop working. She now has an impressive speed of 1 and can't dodge anymore.
The shot hit true. There was a reason, this armor was still labeled as a prototype: The exposed actuators were a small but nontheless exposed target vulnerable to electrical damage. And now the leg servos had stopped working. Yet her arms were still working although the large HMG wasn't much more than an expensive club. And still that ominous bubling substance coated the surface of her armor.
-
"BOOYAAAH!!
Launch the friggin' grenade!"
Is there any chance I could hack the armor via the drone, i.e. attaching one of the drone's cable at the universal port of the armor and accessing it that way. I assume it won't work that way, considering she toasted my last one already...
-
Krestov gave a nod as she saw the armored beast go down, hearing the foreign cursing. Nodding in affirmation, he opened his right hand, reaching to his belt and pulling off the grenade. Arming the motion-sensor activation, he brought his arm up to toss it, the balancing of his shield catching his follow through as he chucked the cylindrical object towards the mage.
Throwing flashbang (http://orokos.com/roll/295874): 5d6t5 2 I know that scatters...as long as I'm within 10 meters, right?
-
The grenade went a tiny bit of course, but enveloped the armor nevertheless with its bright flash and loud bang.
Unfortunately, the armor absorbed the superficial damage without any problems. Flash bangs - it seemed - where not the solution to this problem...
Hitting is not the problem:
to quote core p. 397:
There’s Armor, and then there’s Armor. This is the latter. This power provides its rating in Armor, and functions just like the Armor power. It differs from the Armor power as follows.
If the modified Damage Value of an attack is less than the Hardened Armor rating (modified by AP), the attack does no damage. Don’t make a Damage Resistance test for the critter; it might not even notice the attack was made in the first place.
If the modified Damage Value of an attack is greater than the Hardened Armor rating (modified by AP), then perform a Damage Resistance test for the critter as normal. Additionally, half of the Hardened Armor rating (modified by AP, rounded up) counts as automatic extra hits on this test.
-
Torrent sees the mage go down.
He knows he can't let her recover.
Edge : push the limit (+3 dice, no limit)
Free action : called shot (headshot) (-4 attack, +2DV)
Simple action: take aim (+1 attack)
Simple action: Attack
Shoot the mage ( 10 AGI + 8 skill + 1 aim + 1smartlink +3 edge -4 called shot) (http://orokos.com/roll/295889): 19d6t5 5
Rule of Six ( 2 sixes) (http://orokos.com/roll/295888): 2d6t5 1
DV: 8 pistol + 2 called shot +6 total hits = 16 P -2 AP
No dodge
I'm also under the impression that Hardened Armor automatically soaks the halved armor value minus the armor oenetration value of the attack.I may be wrong though
-
Yes, automatic soak of 10
Soak (http://orokos.com/roll/295906): 21d6t5 9
Sorry, the armor holds
Ini phase two:
bnc: 17
Slobbertooth: 16
Torrent: 13
Krestov: 2
Schmitt: 5
Enemy Mage: 2
The shot hit true, but the bullet didn't penetrate the heavy armor.
-
"Boys, she's immobilized. Still, don't go near under any circumstances. Don't even allow her to see you. Do we have anything to finish this?
"It seems we need heavy stuff for it. Or something hot - the armor is designed for cool environment.
"Finish her off, but don't give her a chance to cast a spell."
Don't mess it up, now. Goddamn, how difficult can it be to kill an immobilized wounded mage?
bnc fights down the urge to vomit. The deepweed releases its effect more and more, and she can feel the polluted and corrupted energy around her. This is nothing like the experience she already had. This is her worst nightmare. Kill that monster, and do it quick, or I'll do it myself!
-
Slobbertooth exhaled and reset his aim. He briefly considered trying to walk up to execute the mage, but thought better of it. "And I really wanted that armor too."
He blinked to change his firing mode, and squeezed the trigger
Free Action (smartlink): Change Firing Mode Full Auto to Semi Auto
Simple Action: Aim (+1 Accuracy, +1 dice pool bonus)
Simple Action: Automatic Burst (No time to adjust the firing mode, mates)
Spend Edge: Push the Limit +3 to Dice pool, sixes explode, ignore limits.
Called Shot, Vitals: -4 to hit +2 Damage
Semi Automatic Attack + Edge Called Shot (http://orokos.com/roll/297004): 17d6h5 7
Base Damage 13+2p -3AP
Net Damage Code: 22p -3AP.
No Dodge.
-
10 automatic soak
12 P vs.20 Armor
Soak (http://orokos.com/roll/297098): 20d6t5 7
5P
Total 11P
Biomonitor tells you, she is unconscious
The Ork adept fired and again his concentrated shots proved effective: Immobilized as she was, all bullets fell within the same small circle, penetrated the armor and at least one explosive round managed to explode within its confines.
bnc could see it on the woman's bio-monitor: Her blood pressure fell rapidly and her consciousness fled.
Immediately, the disgusting fluid on the armor vaporized and left the metal once again clean and shiny - if you didn't count the scourge marks left by the teams attack.
For a moment it was completely silent. Then Hank could be heard over the intercom:
"Whatever you did, it was effective. That squid thingy just dissolved. Get to the hangar, I'll have the boat ready."
-
bnc drops offline instantly, sighing with relief. Only the autosystems prevent the drone from crashing on the floor.
"She is dead.", she announces needlessly.
She turns towards her friends and smiles. "And we're not." bnc gets up a bit awkwardly, stretching and enjoying the vivid spectrum of colours indicating that the astral space in this place reclaims its healthy nature. Her smile may look a little bit stupid, but genuine.
-
Slobbertooth unholstered his Ruger and walked over the mage. "Dead or just unconcious?" His intended action was clear if it turned out to be the latter.
"Think any of this busted armor can be sold to the highest bidder or repurposed for bnc, Krestov?"
-
"Dead as a bone, Slob. She ain't gonna deader than dat."
Now that the tension falls off her, her self-defense begins to collapse. She goes limp once more, but this time, she doesn't go VR. With shaking fingers, she opens the plastic bag with her Whoom. It may not be wise but it's fucking necessary.
Ignoring the fact that her system is already poisened with Deepweed and Golden Mirror, she adds two chunks of Whoom.
"Did we just kill a fucking blood mage? And a terror squad of itsy-bitsy Mexicans?", she asks, totally forgetting about our VR channel. You're not sure whether she is fully aware of what's going on. She's definitely not giving any sensible answers to Slob's other question.
-
"Do it." Schmitt indicated towards Slobbertooths gun.
"The last we need is her having some spirit pact that would bring her back from the brink of death.
Afterwards, I suggest, we make haste to get away from here. Their reinforcements will come and I need to warn my superiors. One of the researchers will have to act as interim security decker.
Could I ask one of you to cut lose one of the hostages, so that they can free themselves. I've got my backups - please don't take anything with you that couldn't have been arguably destroyed completely."
He smirked.
"The Fairlight is of course yours, as per our little side contract."
-
Slobbertooth tilted his head at Schmitt's insistence. "Aren't you the one who wanted this job to be nonlethal?"
-
Slowly, Krestov straightened up as the mage fell limp and presumably dying, lowering his firearm and slinging his shield over his back. Listening to the others question and plan, the troll glanced over and saw bnc self-administering more drugs before going limp as well. "drek...". Leaning over, the troll picked her up like some duffel bag and sling her over his shoulder, carrying her to Schmitt.
"Slob, armor is prototype and need fixing, but may work. Bnc probably needing eat like you for weeks to fit. If think you can recover it in time, do it. Take Alphas and laser guns too. Torrent, my hands tied, you handle hostages?"
-
"There are certain exceptions to that rule. Blood, Toxic and Insect Mages/Shamans should be shot on sight. And Aztech mercenaries don't get puppy protection either."
Schmitt reloaded his rifle and removed his helmet. "Well gentleman, our ride waits."
And with those words he moved towards the hangar.
-
Slobbertooth simply nodded, removed the helmet, loaded a standard pistol round into his Magnum and finished the job. "I don't think we have time for me to figure out how to get a geeked mage out of this."
"Krestov, if you wouldn't mind givin me a hand in carrying this trophy, this tusker would be real thankful."
-
On his way to the hostage room Torrent suprisingly caught himself sharing bnc's enthusiasm.
He had faith in his team but going up against an azzie blood mage?
That was something.
-
Krestov paused, the listless decker over his shoulder as he turned to Slobbertooth, giving a little nod and a smirk. "What is one trophy between trogs, no? Here.." Stowing away the Alpha, he stooped down with the ork on the opposite side of the armored corpse, reaching down and scooping under one arm, picking it up to carry it out with the ork, heading towards the hangar bay.
His voice rumbling low, he turned his visored gaze to the decker. Experience with the troll could denote his elation at their success, but it was well-restrained...they weren't done yet. "Yes, malyutka. We won. Let us go home."
-
Slobbertooth trundled along with Krestov, loaded down in spoils of victory. "Don't go dorpher on us yet, bnc. We have a body to dump to probably have some security tags to wipe before we take our toys home. I doubt these suits are going to take care of that for us, even Mr. Johnson."
Slobbertooth looked over the doctor. "Just keep your promises on the payday, and we'll be square, doc."
-
Torrent had no problem to cut open the cheap plastic restraints. The freed researcher wasted no time and began to do likewise with his colleagues. Most of them were quiet and subdued - having a blood mage among you that threatens to disembowl everyone if they make any noise had that effect.
Only the engineer, Schmitt had talked to earlier, was brave or foolishly enough to ask a question: "What will happen now?"
---
Schmitt had reached the hangar, followed by his hired shadow runners. For the first time the team actually saw the submarine that had brought them together with the valkyrie pods into this facility. It looked a bit like a giant killer whale - except that whales usually don't have an open loading dock in their side. Hank was busy moving stuff from Schmitt's personal storage into the ship - most of it by remote.
Schmitt wasted no time and moved to the cockpit-like structure and sat on the co-pilot seat, busying himself with the controls.
The ork glanced at the armor and the heaps of other material the team carried: "Got yourself some souvenirs, ehh? Time to leave this sardine can in a slightly smaller one. Shame about the rest of the lot, but this ride will be cramped enough as it is. Unless of course you want to leave some of this stuff here."
-
"Chillax, brothers. We just defeated a whoooole bunch o' heavily armed stormtroops and a blood mage in a battle armorough. Big Daddy Schmitt's gonna manage our safe journey home."
She winks at Dr. Schmitt, smiling at the notion of his precious gift.
"Und dann gemma moi ordentlich an stemma. Und waunst du sogst, du host ka Zeit, dann werde i dei commlink rapen, bis dei Terminkalenda nur mehr Herzal und Hakerl spuckt, mon ami. Comprendre, si?
bnc could have walked on her own, but then, being carried by a muscular, good-looking troll, enjoying the sensation of relative weightlessness, the beautiful color of the auras around her, floating on a cloud of something like a relaxed euphoria... well, there's no reason to complain about that.
She cares little about the spoils (safe for the Fairlight, that is) and allows Krestov to stuff her wherever he chooses to put her. That is, as long as it is a window-seat. She just can't resist the temptation to enjoy the aura of the most alive thing on Earth: the Ocean. She would swim for that herself, if must be. She tries to hold on this moment for as long as she can, because she can already her that twisted demon voice in her head, softly whispering: You know that you acquired a new traumatising experience, little bnc. It's waiting for you, and even Deepweed can't protect you forever.
bnc tells it mentally to shut up, swallows another Whoom! and escapes into a beautiful world of colors, fish and happiness.
-
Krestov took a glance at Slobbertooth after Hank's query about the other workers versus their acquired 'souvenirs', but the troll didn't need to see the reaction to know the answer that both he, Torrent, and likely even bnc would share. They were not hired to save the entire facility. It was a tough call for the Russian, but with a low, quiet sigh, he nodded.
"Hazard Pay" He mentioned to the janitor quietly as he entered the sub with the gear in tow. He was about to deposit the stoned out decker in a secure place in the back until she started wigging out, demanding to see the outside and beating her little fists against his chest until he relented, plopping her down in the desired seating. Turning to Slobbertooth, he nodded again before addressing his transceiver.
"We are all here, Torrent. When ready"
-
Once inside, Slobbertooth looked over to Krestov and made a request. "Would you please find out of this ship happens to have a torpedo bay?" To prevent any confusion, he continued. "It seems like a good way to get rid of this bloodmage after I get her out of this suit."
Slobbertooth turned back to the body and started working the corpse out of the new toy for either Torrent or bnc. "Once I'm done with the dead mage, we should probably count up all the ammunition and gear we came out of his mission with."
Oh man, so much counting to do.
-
"Not gonna lie to you: there are probably more coming.Only this time you will be waiting for them.Without their inside man they will have to enter the facility by force, and I bet they won't like the odds.You have to hold until either Ares or SK forces show up. "
Torrent rarely felt the need for honesty.
I must be sick or something.
"Roger that.On my way."
-
Maxime #35 of Maximally Effective Mercenaries: That which does not kill you has made a tactical error.
The engineer just nodded, but didn't ask anymore questions. His eyes told Torrent, that he was badly demoralized.
Quickly, the elf joined his team and the sub finally closed its hatches.
The ascend took quite a while. The decompression was uncomfortable but bearable.
bnc enjoyed her speedball mix of drugs - until she glimsed something beyond the walls of their sub. Later, she couldn't say what it was, but the screaming only stopped after Krestov enveloped her in a bear hug and carefully whispered calming nonsense into her ear.
Luckily, no other submarine seemed to be near enough to hear or care about the noise. Krestov used the time to enter one last time a valkyrie pod to finish the therapy he had begun and emerged with a decidedly content expression.
The journey ended inside the dockside warehouse. Hank opened the loading bay and the team had time and space to sort through their newly aquired stuff.
Schmitt took out the Fairlight and made one last call to authorize the payment and waited patiently for one of the team to authorize the return of his safety deposit. He transfered ownership of his commlink to bnc before giving her the sleek little gadget.
"Despite the unfortunate circumstances, it's been a pleasure working with you. I hope you allow me to keep you on my contacts list. There is a lot of work for men and women of your talents. I promise you, the next time won't contain suspended animation as a requirement."
Hank gave the team a court nod: "Maybe we'll see each other again on a run. Take care."
With those words, he returned to the sub with Schmitt. After it had departed, the team were left with a pile of stuff and a perceptibly bad smelling corpse within the armor (which could not be removed during the journey thanks to a lack of torpedo hatches).
Apart from a layer of dust, nothing had changed in the warehouse. The sun was shining through the small transpex windows below the ceiling and even the air smelled remarkably fresh in comparison to what they had been consuming the last few days.
-
Slobbertooth took a breath of fresh air, wrinkled his nose and quickly put on his respirator. "Alright, Krestov, you're better with this stuff than I am. Could you use your expertise to get this blood mage out of this armor here, or are we gonna have to let that bad mojo stink up the house?"
-
Krestov took a long breath once out of the confines of the submarine...then went back to retrieve bnc who was still watching "all the pretty colors" of the water. Sighing a bit, he allowed his shoulders to slump as he knelt down. Mission Accomplished He thought quietly to himself as he stood up again, giving a pause and a little grimace as he dug out one last stik-n-shok bullet from his trousers. Turning to Slobbertooth, the troll finally took off his helmet, his blonde mane coming to rest around his head.
"One bad smell for home enough. Krestov take a look" Kneeling down over the armored body, the troll seemed lost in thought as he ran his hands over the various plates and pieces. Quietly, he rumbled out. "Armor is familiar, but never got to wear. Two year good service after finish training, would have gotten use." Snapping out of it, he reached over to the collar, sliding a couple metal pieces to unlock the helmet. His thick fingers moved nimbly for a trog like him, and after a few moments the helmet of the blood mage corpse was off, revealing their 'prize'. Pausing a bit to close the eyes if open, Krestov then resumed the dismantling of the armor, taking great care to remove each piece properly until the job was eventually done.
-
Slobbertooth took the two Colt TMPs, Ares Alphas, and the prototype laser weapons, removed their ammunition and then placed them in front of bnc. "I assume you've got the tools and skills to take care of these things' security tags and switch their ownership. I'm not sure I'm going to keep the Alpha, but if we don't know the person to get the weapon I'd want, it will have to do."
"I'm going to look for some boxes and a marker to put all this ammunition into."
For acquired SMG ammuntion, after all we found, I'm just going to assume 10 clips of Stick n Shock and 10 clips of regular ammunition between Torrent and myself.
I'm going to post the expendable equipment i came into the mission with here so I don't have to dig back through the OOC thread every time.
Ammuntion:
- 8 Speedloaders: 2 w/APDS, 4 w/Gell Rounds, 1 w/Hollow Points, 1 w/regular ammunition
- 28 of 40 APDS
- 36 of 70 Gel
- 12 of 20 Hollow points
- 6 Standard ammunition
Grenades
- 2 Flash Pak
- 3 Thermal Smoke Grenades
- 2 Smoke Grenades
- 3 Flashbangs
Misc Gear
- 5 Light Sticks
Running tally of attacks, as I'm counting them. WIP obviously
Personal Pistol Ammunition Expenditure
Gel: II
APDS: III
Hollow point:
Standard: VI
Smoke Grenade: I
Flashbang Grenade: III
I'm basically ignoring the epxenditure of the SMGs because we got so many refills of that ammunition throughout the run
Assault Rifle Ammunition Expenditure
Standard (6 magazines): X
Gel (6 magazines):
Flechette (6 magazines):
Ex-Explosive (6 magazines): XI
Also checking the damage monitor at the end of the mission: -1 Stun
Complete
-
bnc just stares at Slobbertooth. Instead of a response she says: "Do you know that your aura is ... beautiful? It is wunderschön, Slobby."
You take it as a yes.
It takes bnc a while until the "medicine" wears off. What you then experience, is nothing less than a total collapse. Despite her friends' soothing words, she cries and shivers violently. She claws at her forearms, screams, demands to be let alone, only to cry out for Krestov with a pleading tone a couple of minutes later. It takes some time, until she can get hold of herself again. On the next day, she starts working on the weapons and armors with almost mechanic movements, her expression as empty as the still smelling metal shell she's working on.
-
Slobbertooth boxed up the ammunition and loaded them into the car, and then helped Krestov do the same with bnc. As the van pulled away from the facility, Slobbertooth collapsed from exhaustion, proud with his team's performance and satisfied with the payout.
He dreamt of running with a pack of wolves, saving a lost cub, and shooting the frag out of a blood mage with a custom-built Yamaha Raiden.
-
The van was dangerously full with fun toys and ammunition when the team left the warehouse. A quick look into a business news channel revealed that 20K MUS had just recently been taken over by a subsidiary of Aztech after the stocks had crashed once more and the parent companies had missed the opportunity to buy them back.
Otherwise there was no mention of the team's last mission. It seemed that "what happened under the black sea, stays under the black sea" held true...