You want something like Worm but slower and less
physics defying?
Ideally yes.
Ah ive been dying to get a look at that... Oh him? That's crawler, hes the biological heavy weapons platform i was thinking of getting the doc to make for me instead of buying this exo-suit, hes tailored specifically to medics that have issues with the Hippocratic oath.
If all goes well it should murder us quickly and profusely even without the spinal weapon mounts, if it doesn't... well ill have an idea on what to get the doc to change.
hang my/wolfchilds mkII suit over the side of the VR machine and leave a note on it saying "property of astra" then get back into the machine and start the simulation.
try to flank crawler, fire an overcharged dual emitter pulse at his throat whilst maintaining a safe distance.
((yeah this isn't about testing conventional weapons, its about testing biological weapons.
also first action is for flavor seeing as wolfchild apparently hasn't physically received the suit IC yet...))
(This version of the crawler wouldn't exist in the real world, but as a VR simulation, it works)
[aux:5+1]
Your turret mount whips around 360 degrees, pulsing a beam across the crawler as well as Anton. The Crawler doesn't seem terribly bothered by this, weathering it with nothing more then a deep gash that immediately begins to bubble and steam as it heals. Anton reacts to an inch deep burn cash much worse. Mostly via screaming. Lots of screaming.
And Bleeding.
((oh god... how did i even...))
Uh.... sorry about that, still working out the kinks. why don't you reset your avatar while im fixing this and we can try that again.
pause simulation, limit the hardpoints field of fire to a 135 degree forward arc.
reset and resume simulation, flank crawler and fire an overcharged dual emitter pulse at its head.
You pause the simulation and make a few adjustments to the hardpoint before resetting and trying again.
[aux:1+1]
You miss. Completely. The crawler, now with less nonsensical regen, doesn't even need to show it's powers off as it quickly closes the distance and attempts to bite your head off.
[Dex:4+1]
You perform a very elaborate back flipping somersault sort of dodge and completely avoid being horribly maimed, at least for the moment. But the Crawler is still right up in your jock, so you better do something quick.
((What's the players' name?))
Hell no. Fair fights are for dead people. Does incinerating everything but his head count?
Sure, fine, whatever.
(Just to let you know, if you fuck it up I'm gonna AI him and attack you. And he's got all the powers of zeus. Well, the lightning at least. Not the "Turning into a swan and fucking random ladies powers" though.)
"Well, I'm looking for something that can cut through armour plating easily enough. Both with slashing and stabbing ideally, and not have it be too fragile to use regularly.
I'm also curious as to what I can get for additional armour plating and defensive measures for my suit. What's good for up to 10 tokens in cost?"
Ask the AM for more info and wisdom.
"Well stabbing rules out Monoatomic and Closed laser loop, and unfortunately that means that you're stuck with mundane materials and even a diamond or obsidian edged blade with a thickness of only a dozen angstroms isn't gonna cut through several inches of metal any easier then a normal blade. We can get it sharp enough that you could cut through with enough brute strength, but that would be it. "
"Well, Milno did a thinner version of Battlesuit plate, and that seems to have worked well for him. You could try the same."
Do you even know how to play the banjo? What roll do I even use for that? Maybe Aux? Probably aux.
You get another banjo and head to the rec room with your scout eye and pair of banjos. You set your drone and the banjo. Now, which song to play...What banjo song accurately captures the feeling of rebellion?
((Banjos actually can be considered quite serious instruments worthy of all types of music, and there are many varients.))
((I'd also guess I would have some idea how to play the banjo, given that I made a program that lets a scout eye play one.))
..and character is French, so naturally it would be La Marseillaise.
[aux:6]
You and your robot duet partner play your banjos with such gusto and skill that it causes everyone within earshot to begin doing a jig.
((PW, my earlier post got lost somewhere in the violence of all these other posts. How do you keep your sanity?))
Ask doctor for other types of upgrades:
- Reduced cool-down time for particle cannon
- Reduced cool-down time for bullseye mode
- Increased control over laser-droids
The first two are possible with the use of extended cooling manifolds. Though such things would be vulnerable when extended and engaged. The last one would require a complete change to the droids. Possible but extensive and expensive.
((There would be lots of screaming and cursing, considering it's mostly simulated pain. And not so much bleeding, because, y'know, lasers. ))
"*##*%$*##&@*!!!.... етить жеж мать твою, Auron. Ow damn..."
Anton resets himself and gets into a firing stance again, trying to watch Auron's little murder-turret out of the corner of his eye. Fire (or should I say Lightning?) full stream at the monster when the simulation starts again, bayonet it if it lunges into melee range.
That last bit goes for the murder-turret as well.
"You know, when your weapons cause your teammates to watch out for them as much as for the enemy, you may have a design problem. Ready when you are."
[Con:6]
You spray rapidly pulsing bolts of electrical discharge directly into the attacking creature...and your robotic companion. The creature jerks about and it's flesh chars where the bolts land. Your metallic friend simply fails about and then collapses to the ground.
((Ok then, I knew he was not in the Infirmary, but Astra did not, the last message she got was he was there, and she has no idea what he looks like, but i get streamlining))
Go to the armoury
Are you the armory master?, Can i request a Microwave ((oh goodness i typed this as microfusion again the 1st time, perhaps i have a subconscious nickname)) Field manipulator please? and do you stock coffee
ask
The armory master takes your tokens and hands you your chosen box of concentrated space magic and potential mass murder.
"I've got some of the premade powder stuff, and I think there's a coffee maker in the little kitchen area over in the rec room. Want it?"
Basically: What are the cybernetics made of? Do they use simple actuators, synthetic muscle, carbon nanotube muscular fibers anchored to a similarly re-enforced skeleton? How are they constructed, what are the control systems like, how versatile are they, etc.
Standard cybernetics use Synthetic muscle of sorts, over a metal skeleton and what amount to wire nerves. They're very similar to a normal human body, except that the "nerves" aren't as wide ranging and spread out. They just go to control nodes where large bundles of muscle are anchored and control them from there. These wire nerves trace back to the brain case which contains the mechanical systems for translating organic signals into mechanical ones. This is all assuming a full body system though. More limited systems are much the same, except that they take all the nerves from the organic end and do the organic to mechanical processing in the limb.
In terms of versatility they can be made to pretty much any specification, though anything outside of the norm will cost you.
Try and trade in laser rifle and battery, otherwise trade in microwave manipulator and buy a magnetic manipulator
You know you could buy that without trading anything but sure, we'll trade the rifle.
You buy magnetic manipulator and are left with 4 tokens.
((From what I've gathered, the Sword (or the entire HMRC?) has turned against the UWM government and is doin' some kinda revolution-y stuff.
Right?
Stats-wise, I've no idea. I know I temp-died at least once, probably twice if I've been on two missions. I'm bad at staying alive in this game. I might have to trawl back through the thread and find stuff.))
Yep. Viva la Revolution etc.
As per stats, I have no real idea either.
((if you get turned into a ferromagnetic fingernail monster im gonna laugh my ass off at you.))
((Actually, that's what I'm going for. I think this might produce a really nasty transformation pill or something by the end of the process, or else it's a device that copies another person's stat set, either of which I would really be interested in.
Most of all, though, I hope it's reusable, whatever it is.))
Jolly alchemy, Stacy thought. One has to wonder what it will do, really! One thing's for certain, though, and that's that he wants to try more things, but cannot wait under any circumstances!
Obtain more Xeno Spit from AM if I don't have any on hand (that is, unless I somehow got some from the case in the mission and took it along), pour a little into the top hole.
((In addition, if it does either of the things I hypothesize it does, this will be fun.))
You squirt a bit of the xeno spit from your chemical sprayer into the machine. It buzzes and blinks the same message.
STEPHEN HAWKING opens this new black case. Hopefully he has not gone into debt to by a Matroyshka Doll (I think that's how you spell it)
Inside the box is what looks like an extremely ornate amputation knife. It appears to be quite old, an antique really, and it's decorations are very unique. You've never seen anything quite like them.
((...amputation...knife.....er....does that mean whatever powers this thing has are activated by cutting things off? And would it be used on myself or others....hmmm.....))
I should mention you haven't actually touched it yet. It's just sitting in the box.
Now that the vest is on, Jim taps it a few times to see if anything happens, then waits for a bit.
You tap one of the square metal plates. It twitches like Ferromagnetic fluid in a magnetic field. Hmm.
"Right now? Box of twenty is 3 token. Really though, you should be expecting a heck of a lot of things to change. I mean, Once we take over we can end the Tech advancement bans that have stifled advancement. We can end the biotech bans too, if we want. Combined with our time jumping you may find yourself with more to worry about then selling cigars."
"That sounds excellent! It will be good to have humanity in the way of progress again. One of the reasons i was sent here was support for genetic modification, although I guess that was more of my planet's UWM governor fault than a fault of the UWM as a whole. He was very strict with those kind of things. But I guess putting a religious nutjob in command of a planetary system tends to do that for you." A future where the progress of humanity is not obstructed by the damn UWM. I wish my friends were alive to see this. If I'm good at my job, if we succeed on what we set out to do, then we'll be able ensure what happened to me doesn't happen to anyone else.
"Anyway, like I said, progress for humanity sounds like a good thing. And an interesting thing. I'm very excited and curious about what the technology of the future will bring us. Never thought I'd see something like that in my lifetime. FTL travel sure has its benefits. I just hope we don't end up with more quiet worlds."
"A lot of the soldiers you'll be fighting aren't exactly...normal. Mostly they're Sods; vat grow soldiers with minimal intelligence but good training and a complete lack of self preservation and single minded dedication to their tasks. Higher up you'll be fighting people who have more of a vested interest in their positions, or those who simply do not see the UWM as bad. You must remember that not every Magistar is hopelessly corrupt. Many people grow up and live perfectly comfortable and moderately fulfilling lives. The UWM isn't an evil empire; it's just giant and often corrupt or indifferent, drowning in bureaucracy. We're taking it down because it's on the edge of collapsing into worse things."
"Hmmm.. Thank you. As always, you've given good information and good advice. I'll try to use that the best I can." After some though he asked "Hey, wait a minute. If those guys are mindless zombies who are only following orders, where do they get their orders from? Don't they have a killswitch, an off button, don't we have some kind of way to spoof the people giving orders to render them harmless? Failing that, any advice you could give me while fighting them? Any weakness? Are they weak willed or easily fooled?" ((Fighting conservative zombies... sounds like LCS...))
Talk to the AM. Give 12 tokens and a promise of later payment of 5 tokens to Miyamoto in exchange for Gilgamesh.
>Doesn't work. A sentient being must complete the work themselves. Otherwise it doesn't work.
((Oooh... Interesting.))
((Can I load Crawler into the Battle of Hexbarax?))
((One guy loaded some XCOM forces there, so I don't think you'll have a problem. You can summon other inmates, movie heroes (didn't May summon one of those?), weapons, pies, anything you can imagine really. Assuming the VR has enough processing power to handle it. So no summoning an entire universe unless it's abstracted. You can also modify it, like have all the altered become cuddly kittens or something.))
"If you capture their commander and force him to give a retreat or stand down order then they'll obey him. Unfortunately their commanders are usually far away, controlling things via camera feeds. If you can break into their broadcast, that would work too, but you'd have to know their frequency and be able to impersonate their voice. And if you just cut off the feed using emp or something similar the Sods will just keep going with whatever they were last told to do."
Lets see...
You realize you have 18 tokens right? That you could pay for this straight out. Unless you're holding back for some reason. Well, I transferred 12 and the suit regardless.
((...I might set the Slaughterhouse Nine against the Altered and see what happens.))
Are these 9 people made of flesh of one type or another?
((Just gonna say it now: Worm is an AWESOME read. If you have no idea who this crawler thing is or who the Slaughterhouse Nine are (protip: They live up to their name), then make sure to read this to find out and have your mind blown by sheer awesome: http://parahumans.wordpress.com/2011/06/11/1-1/
So. Good.))
((Quite.))
((...I might set the Slaughterhouse Nine against the Altered and see what happens.))
Probably the same thing that would happen if you replaced all the seats in an olympic stadium with sentient blenders.))
((Yes, but who would be the blenders and who would be the blendees? And how would the Altered react once Crawler and the Siberian got to work on them? And would their abilities be enough like superpowers that Hatchet Face would negate them?))
I don't know much about this series (I scanned the wiki and it seems like a collection of superman/anime style mary sues. You know that thing that comic books like to do where everyone has the power of invulnerability. Or shit like superman prime. Things like bone saw and shatterbird are more balanced, but not exactly great for this sort of situation.) But considering the Altered in the Battle of hexbarax are a cut down and extremely softened version of what they actually are, I'd say these guys could probably fight them pretty well. I mean, it's the anime defense of "No, fuck you. I'm invulnerable. Everything proof shield." Specifically:
Jack slash: I dunno. He could probably take a pocket knife and extend it in a giant aoe attack or something.
Bonesaw:Dead
Shatterbird: Dead. Even if there was glass around, altered aren't too bothered by being cut.
Crawler: I dunno. He's made of flesh so in reality he'd probably just be assimilated.
Manniquin: Dead
The Siberian: Mary sue powers so I guess she would win, though more then likely all that would happen is the altered would realize they can't kill her and just try to restrain her in some way.
Burnscar: Dead
Hatchet face: Dead.
Cherish: Dead. Though she might learn something interesting by sensing those emotions. Or that might killer her before the Altered do.
"fine, I'll find a way."
Pancaek leaves Maurice, and goes to the armory.
"Hi again, I have a...perhaps...somewhat...unusual request. See, I'm rather fond of the idea of being put inside of a robot body, but there's been a slight snag in that plan. I, uh.. *ahem*...I need to be decapitated. Any chance you're feeling the urge of gently removing my head from my shoulders, while leaving my brain intact? I know it's not exacly the most kosher of requests, but I don't exacly trust any of the other convicts enough to ask them to do it. You're kind of my last hope here, because I'm not sure wether I can rip off my own head with my mass amp. Never tried that before, obviously."
Ask AM to gently behead me, do puppy-eyes
((this can only end in pain, but I want that darn robot body))
She shrugs.
"Go get a nurse and tell her that the Armory Master needs cooler full of ice."
>How about you instead make a human face for me. And a name, while you're at it. Hell, create a whole fictional backstory for me if you want. Really, we just can't let them start worshiping me. Because if they do they'll expect me to lead them after this is over. And thats not what I'm here to do. I'm here simply to make sure that the empires of man come and go with the the interest of the species.
Lars banged his head again. "Yes, your gloriousness. I shall complete your tasks with the utmost speed! One final question- who will be leading in your stead?"
Lars finally understood, now; his purpose of being here. Everything had been set in motion from the start. Steve, in his divine wisdom, had come to Lars in the facet of the Gazer Sek. Studying under the Gazer was part of His plan. The whole incident with the police was orchestrated by Steve. He had been led here to the HMRC to come to the true godhead of Steve. All his life, he had been led here. Been chosen. It all came to this.
And it was glorious.
"All hail the mighty Steve!"
Now... he needed a plan, and it was already forming under divine inspiration. The mighty Steve, come to the world in human form. His closest advisers were the avatars of the HMRC Pantheon. His generals were Saint Milno, the mighty Jim, and the brilliant leader Miyamoto. He had a few visions for the new face of Glorious Steve, but he also needed a name. Steve Awesome? Steve Manly? Steve Ruggedly Handsome? No, that wouldn't do. Hmmm...
In any case, he needed supplies. He rushed to the Armory and requisitioned art supplies, while explaining the situation to her.
"...so you see, I must complete this divine mission for the Most Holy Steve. I know you are one of his most reverent disciples, so perhaps you have some input. How do you picture His glorious face? What do you think the people would want to see?"
Ask Steve one last question. Go to Armory and ask for art supplies. Get her opinion.
((PS: I do have several ideas, but I absolutely cannot draw for shit. I'll detail them in my next post if any of you actual artists are interested.))
>Who can say. Perhaps the Leaders of the HMRC. Perhaps an elected official. Something we'll hash out when we get there. The armory master gives you access to any art supplies may require, saying that they're coming from the PR budget.
"I'd go male, handsome, strong features and an air of intelligence. 30s to 40's. Common hair and eye colors. Skin color probably won't matter, but something tan might be good, make his ethnicity hard to place."
((yeah I get that it fits the DOKTORs personality, but it still seems like a bit of a dick move on PWs part to have people who have been on missions hunting down those of us who are late to the party.
And I am completely unbiased on that >.>))
((No, it isn't a dick move. The Doctor usually provides people with power beyond even that of veterans if you accept being his test subject. It's like a deal with the devil, though - as soon as you sell your soul to him in exchange for power, you'll have to defend your position and your life. Piecewise made it very clear already. If you don't want to be hunted by another power-hungry person, then don't sell your soul to the Doc.
Also, it seems I missed a lot during my sleep.))
((Oh. This makes doing this much clearer on my conscious.
Heads: Kill. Tails: Not Kill.
...
Heads.))
Heat a circle of 1cm thickness and a diameter of the guy's neck in the middle of his neck to sufficient temperature that it burns to ash, thereby decapitating him.
Hope I don't repeat what happened in the last mission.
Murder and eat the guy attacking me. Beat his head in with my helmet.
Xan Dex:2-1
Pat dex:1
Both Xan and Hunter spring into action. Pat attempts to turn and face his enemy but ends up clocking himself against the wall and knocking himself out. Xan...well I'm not really sure. But he hits his head on the corner of the wall too and ends up passed out about 20 feet from Hunter.
12 tokens now and 5 later, right?
((Yep, as was agreed upon.))
Receive 12 tokens from Flint. Go to hangar and walk over to Gilgamesh.
"Well then Gilgamesh, I guess this is the end of our partnership. You were of invaluable service to me, and I'm forever in your debt.
You saved my life more than I even remember, and together we did some great things. I must move on now though, not because I really want to, but out of necessity. There are dangerous times before us, though battles, and we will need every edge we can get.
I know however, that you will serve your new partner as well as you did me. That you will lend him the same strength you lended me, and continue to protect and assist our teammates.
Goodbye, my friend."
"Hey Flint, come over, I'll give you a quick tutorial on how to pilot him. C'mon, give it a try."
Give Flint the battlesuit tutorial.
"And now, on to the built-in systems overview.
First of, we have the armor, which is about 1/2 of a regular battlesuit. This was mainly to save weight, to allow for his flight capabilities. It shrugs of all sorts of small-arms fire, like laser rifles and gauss rifles.
Next, the rocket pods, which allow for decent flying. You won't be as mobile as a Mk. III, but you can use it to get somewhere fast, be it in or out of trouble.
Each arm has a built-in kinetic amp, good for punching pesky aliens or improvising doors.
Be sure to use the Cam-eyes from time to time, they're great for spotting anomalies or possible ambushes.
There is also the Overdrive mode, which will remove the strength inhibitors and allow for greater lifting power and such. Be careful though, you could tear off the arms if you overdo it, so best saved for emergencies.
Remember the emergency eject pod, though you may want to check in Vr how far that will launch you, haven't used that myself.
If you ever have creepy crawlies all over your suit, there is a claymore anti-boarding system, and the electrified surface defense system.
You know, I thought of a possible way of using that last one offensively: if you have a fast opponent you can't quite seem to hit, you could try to simply tackle him or pin him between you and the wall or floor, then activate it to give him a buzzing surprise.
Now, a last piece of advice: Flint, never grow over-confident. I know you a little by now, and I know you tend to get in over your head. And while Gilgamesh is an incredible suit, he is not invincible, nor are you immortal. So keep using your head, stay on your guard, and I know you two will do fine.
Good luck."
Go to AM. Buy Avatar of War, standard humanoid, with universal manipulator and heavy laser as weapon options. Do NOT enter it yet, but observe it in the hangar.
"There's quite a bit of surgery involved with this, you realize?" she says, taking your money. "The process is quite intensive. If you want to do anything before it starts, I suggest you do it now. The few Avatars we have are stored deep in the ship, you'll only be taken to them just before installation."
She hands you a metal card with the specifics of your Avatar engraved on it.
"When you're ready, give that to the people in the infirmary."
But the APC.
Wat.
((Flint and Gilgamesh promises to be an interesting partnership. The former's daring and the latter's able to withstand a lot of the owner's shenanigans.))
"Steve, what about the men in black who talked to me?" Milno asks, suddenly reminded of those men who dragged Faith off when she went berserk and when he was infected with sharkmist.
Ask Steve.
>Some of them are still employed. Those with more loyalist ties are indisposed at the moment. "If the voices were doing anything so obvious, I wouldn't have to ask. That said - when they first manifested, they were shouting me down so much I could barely act, and it took the threat of suicide to shut them up. That can be attributed to suddenly seeing an Altered slaughtering people, of course. Otherwise, they have been helpful, but there are apparently a lot of them, and it is hard to say if any have any... designs to make me think... spooky ideas. As for frightening or suspicious... well, their very nature is that, I would say. They are in my thoughts, after all. I don't think they can truly control my body, otherwise they could prevent my suicide, making my earlier threat hollow, and they would have prevented this conversation. But they possibly could shout me down again if it serves them"
Answer.
Str 3; Dex 3; End 3; Cha 5; Int 4; Wil 12//Spe 0; Int 1; Han 0 (-1); Con 1; Unc 0; Exo 8; Aux 1 (+1); Med 0
2 tokens; Mk II Suit; Microwave PK Amp; normal cigarettes; blue smokes; datapad (with platformer shooter); nanoghosts
Appearance: 5'11'', 170 pounds in a rather unmuscular frame, shoulder-long brown hair, short goatee, brown eyes, a rather long chin that earned him his nickname. Age 32
Half a robot foot. Robot right arm.
"If you're really worried you could get a remote for your shock implant and give it to someone you trust. They could act as your leash, of sorts."