((Thanks for doing all this work Dwar, you're great! ))
"Squaddie, sir?"
"If you mean part of X-COM's agents, I- guess so. Though I am interested in prototype weaponry, do you think you could help me fix up a rifle I can use? Preferably one that could be used at long ranges as well as in short." Ria said, taking no effort to mask her interest once he said the reason behind the event.
Say so!
"Yeah, X-COM agents around here, we call em Squaddies...
As for the weapon you're talking about...I might have something just up your alley." He says with a smile.
((@Tiruin: Experimental weapon pending Approval/Statting by Orb))
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"It's a pleasure to meet you, Forest. Now, do you want your cheat codes back or not?"
Give Forest back the disk if he wants it, and go grab a bite to eat.
"You think that's my good stuff? Heh. Keep it-you'll need it."You exchange goodbyes, and head back to the Bughunt.
....
There's a few people here-a guy chatting up a blonde woman on one table, and another guy eating a big steak by a secretary type. Maggie waves, and you end up ordering your own steak.
It's quite good.
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Remain silent, examine the transport. Attempt not to vomit.
It's not the first transport you've been on. There's 24 seats lining a long central hall, underhanging compartments, and full body harnesses. It's fairly clean-you doubt it's been used very often, or very recently.
You feel a bump that causes your stomach to flip flop. Ooh. Time for descent...
Endurance Roll[6-1]
You gurgle a bit, but keep your lunch down. Victory!
Ugh.
Fighting back the urge to vomit, Lake wiped the goo off his face. God know what he's covered in, though it's better than being a red stain over the walls. There had certainly been accidents in his past, but this was certainly the most disgusting.
"Ugh. I'm fine, at least as far as I can tell. Fascinating, really. I cut myself on that sharp crystal I mentioned, and a drop of blood fell on it. The second that drop hit it, it set off a chain reaction that... well, yeah. If they designed it to go after wounded soldiers, it's pretty bastardly."
"I would certainly appreciate someone getting this crap off me."
Wait for detox. Think about the implications of the bomb's design.
You muse on the bomb as you wait for Detox.
It's clear as an Organic Bomb, it acts as a guard dog would in many respects-the more you agitated it, the faster it was getting closer to detonating. Perhaps a gentler touch might be more useful in the future...on the other hand, it seems to have an innate explosion trigger when handled by Humans. You'll have to be careful not to get any fluids on it. From what you saw of the structure, it would probably be highly unsafe for Aliens to handle-which means they have some way of making it 'sleep', especially when it's being transported. It might be useful to figure this out yourself-find an Alien Demolitionst and his bag of tools?
The men in yellow suits arrive in time and spray you down with chemical hoses-you're removed, showered, and kept in isolation for about two hours while your bloodwork is being done. Eventually, when they don't find anything-they let you go.
The first person to meet you is the man you heard behind the blast shield. He looks pretty much like every other politician you've even seen-utterly nondescript, a blank face wearing a tie.
"...bang up job with the bomb, by the way. Really helpful. Names Dew. Just Dew." he says, faking a smile.
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Sarcastically. You think? I can't believe I'm doing this. Go fetch some real security before I get killed.
Peek inside the room and look for any cameras or sensors that the AI may be using to see. If there are none, then wait for the lifter to turn away from you before taking cover behind some boxes and getting out of his line of sight. Use the boxes as cover to get as close as you can to the terminal. Keep your eyes peeled for more cameras while you're making your move.
The man skeddales at your order.
You peer into the room-you can see rotating cameras on the walls, but they seem powered down...
Taking a risk, you sneak into the room, evading the power loader and moving from box to box-the robot doesn't react to your presence even if it does see you. The terminal is in easy reach, and the robot has wandered into a corner-the terminal is still spewing seemingly random data-but the input dialog looks uncorrupted. It is random, right? You hope.
Now what?
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Aria considered the guard's disclaimer a moment. Sensible, that they wouldn't have the clearance to answer anything. She wondered if that included everything or just anything anyone would want to know.
First order of business, then, was figuring out what she could anyway. Normally that'd involve more uncomfortable staring than was really polite, but they'd already assured her that they couldn't answer anything manually. She tried to keep a straight face as she examined the guards like interesting pieces of artwork.
Examine guards closely. Equipment, physical condition, anything I can get out of just looking at them.
You take the measure of two men.
Guard 1, nametag-Joe De'moley. Mid 30's, a bit overweight-but impressive muscles all the same. He's the man who suggested that the bags be taken off of you. Has the look of a man who eternally wishes he was somewhere else. Joe seems to have a habit of toying with the wedding band on his left hand-you've read some psychological studies that could indicate he's feeling guilty about something to do with his wife. As for arms, he's carrying an X-10 rifle (unloaded, with the safety on), and an older 45. pistol in a leather belt holster. Perhaps a family heirloom of some sort-or maybe he just thinks it looks cool.
Guard 2, nametag-Charles Delorean. Aging, likely over 40-his hairline is slowly receding, though it's an impressive silver instead of snowy white. Fit, strong-he obviously works out, likely harder than ever to counter his aging. You spot the out line of a tattoo on his left arm. US Marine Corps. He's carrying an X-10 Assault rifle and a Warhound Shotgun both slung on his back-you note the shotgun is not X-COM standard armament, and is in fact, quite illegal. Unlike his friend (and the way they treat each other indicates a general air of friendship), his weapons are loaded, safeties on.
He actually hasn't spoken yet-hasn't made a sound you can hear. You get an air of quiet danger from him. If it came to an unlikely firefight, he'd be the most dangerous one here, you're sure.
There's a bump in the flight. Descent. You're guessing it will take about an hour to descend fully, deploy the vtol system, and descend into X-COM HQ. Give or take a few minutes for pilot skill.
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Eat steak, drink booze, check time, small talk.
That you do! It's a wonderful time...but you're getting eager for some action. You didn't sign up to eat steaks and drink-not all the time anyway.
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"Yes, my name is Alexendre. Is this seat taken?"
"Nope, nope...this seats free. Have a seat, Alexandre. Nice to meet you." She says quietly, looking you over. There's a moment of silent judgement. She seems to accept your presence, and visibly relaxes.
"...so, why are you sitting with me? Um, most guys aren't into schematics..." The woman mentions, motioning to them. You can't make heads or tails of what it's supposed to be.
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OOC: I'll be running a VR combat scenario soon, once our two new players land-it's going to be fairly fast paced, highly lethal. It's a nice way to bookend this before you other guys get into your mission.