((A map would be useful here.))
https://www.dropbox.com/s/87dae8hrzeg96qq/map.pngPretty much everyone is there on that first terrace level. Except Faith. As per exactly where you are...eh that won't really matter soon enough.
STACY WE NEED YOUR NUKE WE NEED IT NOW
Have someone arm the nuke and chuck it into the cloud.
Get every person with a heat amp to help me create a shield around our party (which should group together) that will keep temperature normal inside it until the storm subsides.
...
work with the psychopathic pyromanic to help make sure none of us die. use my microwave amp if necessary.
EDIT:
Run, if I can't outrun this monstrosity, THEN go for the amp. try to stay near my running teammates and if I'm going to be amp-shielding, try to cover them too.
EDIT: Tiruin's post
RUN, if offered a speed boost from Feyri, take it. if I'm going to get caught by the freezewall of death, attempt to shield myself using my amp before it hits me. if others are next to me at the time, shield them too.
Feyri scoops up both you and grate and immediately takes off, flying toward the upper level of the palace with one of you under each arm. You're passing over the wall to the second level when it happens.
[dex:4+1]
A shard of the super ice, sharp as a spear of glass and several feet long, is arcing down right toward you and Feyri. She can't see it; her back is to the sky and there's no time to warn her. But you can see it. And you have a chance to stop it.
[Exo:2]
But you can't. You can't focus, you can't bring the power your amp to bear. The shard punches straight down; through Feyri's back and out her chest. It clips you as it goes, carving a frozen, blackened gash out of your left arm.
((Aw, crap, I meant width. As in, the width of the stairs, not the entire length of them, which was presumably slightly less than half a mile. Silly me. Oh well, that'll learn me, anyhow.))
Stacy realized that he had absentmindedly added the wrong parameter to the calculations. Instead of a rather wonderful obstacle that would have kept all of this under control, he seems to have accidentally caused the twilight of the gods.
Oh well. What can you do. At least he wasn't an amp user. As he pirouettes away, he opens up radio communications.
"Hey, guys, funny thing just happened - I accidentally set one of the parameters for a temperature manipulation as the length of the stairs. You may want to run like hell, people!"
STACY WE NEED YOUR NUKE WE NEED IT NOW
"Here you go, bud! Have fun!"
Pass the nuke to Xan if he's available, pass it to someone else of the team if he's not. Switch to uncontrollable singing and haul ass as far toward the other end (farthest away from the gate, contemplate whether a dive off the wall legs-first diametrically opposite the gate is likely to be lethal - if not, do it and keep rolling away even if my legs become broken) of the complex as possible.
You run for the second terrace of the palace grounds, covering your head as shards of ice rain down like sharpened meteors and flows of liquid oxygen and hydrogen pour over the wall and submerge whole buildings. The civilians have no chance; most are asleep and they freeze with their homes, trapped like the citizens of an endothermic Pompeii. You make it to the second level stairs along with some of the team and a few dozen terrified citizens who happened to be awake.
((Did we just generate an anti-kugelblitz?))
((Where is Charles's rifle?))
Charles runs away from the direction of the eldritch imitation of Ice-9.
He retrieves his rifle if he is able to safely access it in time.
If he can't, he just aims it at the expanding field and detonates it at near point-blank range.
You grab your rifle and run up to Join Stacy on the second terrace stairs.
((...Oh. This is what Empiracist was talking about. That...makes sense. Geez.))
STACY WE NEED YOUR NUKE WE NEED IT NOW
Have someone arm the nuke and chuck it into the cloud.
Get every person with a heat amp to help me create a shield around our party (which should group together) that will keep temperature normal inside it until the storm subsides.
((This is just about the only time is will fix more than it breaks. DO IT DO IT!))
And your suits do protect you from near absolute zero temperatures, but I don't think they protect you from eldritch ice9.))
((The biggest issue would be moving in the frozen air.))
((This may, in fact, be the wrongest that a mission might have possibly ever gone. If the nuke doesn't work, somebody should contemplate the possibility of overloading another manipulator by heating the entire black nuke area. Maybe they'll form a nascent sun that'll keep the Ice-9 away.))
((Yes, because the best solution is to do the same thing you just did to make the disaster, but backwards.))
"Miss Feyri! Now! NOW! RUN!"
Run. If Tiruin shows up and posts a running-based action, follow Ms. Feyri. If he does but doesn't post a running action, run after as many of the other members of the team as possible. If Tiruin doesn't post, do the same but drag Ms. Feyri along.
Feyri grabs you and Lyra and immediately takes off, flying towards the palace. You're just passing over the second wall when something happens. You can't see what it is because of the way feyri is holding you, but it feels like something hit her.
Follow Stacy's lead and run to the other side of the compound ASAP. If a wall or something gets in the way, punch it with the Kinetic Amp.
You join Stacy on the stairs and contemplate if he's technically in the way, which would give you justification for punching him into chunks.
Modification to prior action: RUN. FUCKING RUN. unless of course the sphere is expanding fast enough that I can't outrun it. Then go join team anti-freeze. Either way, more paperwork. THE PAPERWORK MUST FLOW!
You turn and run, following the exodus of terrified civilians and teammates up toward the second level. You're about a hundred yards from the stairs when a dagger of ice catches you in the right elbow.
[end:2]
It takes your arm off right at the elbow, half tearing,half shattering it off like it had been submerged in liquid nitrogen. You stumble and scream but keep running, making it up to Stacy and the others.
... On the bright side, I didn't just run into that blind. On the downside... Fuck.
If I lose this scout's eye, whoever is responsible for that is buying me a new one...
TURN TAIL AND RUN! Past the barracks if I think necessary. Attempt to recall the scout eye if possible!
You run for the stairs up to the second level. As you run, you turn back and see a massive chunk of ice hurtling you way. You open your manipulator's cover and start typing.
[Uncon:5]
You tap away like a man possessed and hit Execute. A wall of heat, white hot and several inches thick appears between you and the ice. The ice glaces off with a hiss of steam; repelled mostly by the burst of superheated air that rose off the heated barrier like a blast wave.
You shake some sweat out of your eyes and join up with the rest of the people gathering on the second level's stairs.
((We will start using manipulators as bombs. And they are more effective.))
Renen remembers his first mission, the overcharge of that manipulator. So he runs, away from the cold and from the crazy people that will try to stop it.
RUN FAST RUN RENEN. Get away from the cold and from the guys who will try to stop the incoming destruction. Use BT to overcome obstacles and if necessary carry anyone small and lightweight with me.
You get yourself under Xan's arm and half carry, half drag him all the way up to the second level stairs.
((Get PMs. Check thread title. Begin pounding fists in anger.
NOT AGAIN DAMN YOU ALL
Anyway, I would strongly advise against trying to outheat the Ice-9. As mentioned, any device you throw at it is likely to freeze past the point of operation, meaning you're talking about a second sun or nuclear blast between us and the freezewall of doom.
We do not have space for a second sun or nuclear blast between us and the freezewall of doom.))
((...Yes. This.
So much. Enjoy me berating you, or your corpses. Or my spirit doing that. Whatever. :III
I really have some thoughts about how this mission was expected to be run, but it's a secret. PW: you don't mind, do you?))
((@Paris: I was imagining that scene when I read recent events. Please tell me that an Aux roll does not precede common sense...))
Feyri reviewed the messages in reply, followed by her order to acknowledge recent activity. The result was less than satisfying, and the consequence in the aspect of thought was...destructive.
I was on guard duty with Renen, after dark we stopped some suspicious characters approaching. After some... incompetence we got them to the barracks and checked out....something in the town exploded.
| Explosions in the town..alright. It's only a day or so in the job. I can't hope that we're the only ones going to respond on it. The city may have local militant forces on patrol despite heightened crisis of a revolution. Nothing much. Give the order to
...Oh right, another message. Ringtone set.
Clock isn't working though... | |
We ran into some suspicious looking guys. They ran, and I chased after one of them. I was going to shoot one in the leg when he was about to get away, when everything exploded and half of his skin melted. So I left.
Unidentified men showed up at the gate. They had large suspicious backpacks. A detonation occurred somewhere...I'm retrieving my turret right now from the bakery.
| Wait..what? Several attacks..alright, Xan must've been with Stacy and/or May when they went on patrol. I didn't see them go. Ugh, why can't I lead properly. This is one of the most basic essentials of leadership--organizing your people! Guessing this may be the case, either they formed teams of two and spread throughout the city. Hopefully the other security forces would also aid us. Strangely, I've never even seen one hint of them. Or did I forget something? | |
I was patrolling when half my foot got shot off by an unknown assailant... but my amp triggered.
You saw the results.
| Results?! What now? What amp did you--checking...
Codename: Xan/Biologically Male
Primary Weapon: Pyrokinetic Amplifier [Basic]
Ok, what does this mean. Pyro kinetic? I didn't see that on the team roster.
...What in blazes is going on?! | |
At this time, she had reached the gate and noticed Grate's query, nearly indistinguishable from her thoughts and the presence of Lyra. It was...alright, to say the least. The motor was apparently functional, and Lyra was alright.
Then another ping.
| ...I never knew there was a Spam folder. Or if this wristpad had a folder at all. | Dear Feyri,
In our last communique, you asked me how I was and what I was doing, though my adventures were of secondary importance. I am quite fine, thanks for asking, and boy, were there rather interesting things happening. I met lots of interesting people, and narrowly escaped a rather nasty inferno, so it's been a rather eventful day. A very eventful day, in fact. Poor Xan was shot in the foot with an illegal firearm, you see, and then he missed a little bit, and now we're here. Before I even knew it, I was ducking into a bed of nice, warm ash as the city around me burned. I lost some books that I had gathered in the process, too. Most distressing. And now I fear that the worst may come to pass, and the use of a nuclear device may be warranted. Quite awful. But what an adventure! I was even called "ambiguously gay" today as well, and I'm not sure why. I feel I'm pretty happy all the time, to be honest. It happens when you grow older, really. You just start to appreciate every day. But I ramble! Now, I hope you've been alright, and I'll be seeing you soon, dear.
Love,
Stacy Buttle.
| ...Dear gods. So it was OUR fault?!...
Stacy's taking it quite well..but now how will the populace react? Surely..surely they can't see that it's our fault right? Amplifiers? The whole thing is alien to-...but then they asked Steve for our measurements...so I can't presume such. |
| | ...Since when did any of my teammembers get a NUCLEAR DEVICE?! |
No. Not again. I will not let my past haunt me again. I will lead this team correctly even if it <profanity>ing kills me and-
"Feyri! They're coming! Look! Look!"
"Guh-g-Grate? I'm sorry I was just t-
"What in the nine hells is that."
*Krrsch*
"Hey, guys, funny thing just happened - I accidentally set one of the parameters for a temperature manipulation as the length of the stairs. You may want to run like hell, people!"
"I'm sorry Grate, but when--what just happened?"
"Miss Feyri! Now! NOW! RUN!"
Run. If Tiruin shows up and posts a running-based action, follow Ms. Feyri. If she does but doesn't post a running action, run after as many of the other members of the team as possible. If Tiruin doesn't post, do the same but drag Ms. Feyri along.
-This is all Stacy's fault.-
You run up to the gate and enter in the rather massive proportions of the effected area... You just start entering in what looks right, sweat dripping from your brow as the numbers fly by too fast for you to even comprehend... You hit the button without even thinking about it. The Manipulator beeps, squeals and then begins to howl out a siren. The metal surface of the box instantly freezes over and you hurl it away from you as the suit begins to freeze and you feel your hand go numb. The machine arcs out down the stairs; trailing a dry ice like fog behind it. It lands between the charging groups of the Guards and the Populace, vanishing amongst them as they clash.
The Manipulator, hidden by the crowd, cracks apart like a balloon filled with liquid nitrogen and pure, unadulterated cold pours out. It's beyond cold as the team comprehends it; it's a black nuke, an expanding mass of anti-energy that draws in every bit of energy from around it. The mob and the guards vanish into a black point so cold that light itself can't move; a gravity-less black hole. Around it, the world turns gray and hardens; reduced so close to absolute zero that it appears as though time within the effected area has just stopped, atomic motion reduced to basically nothing. The hydrogen in the air turns metallic. Beyond that, almost to the wall, the air solidifies and sprays of superfluid hydrogen and liquid oxygen and ice with a crystal lattice so dense and powerfully bonded that it would take thermite to melt it, burst out and splatter the wall and the inner area of the First level of the palace.
And the effect is expanding.
"Oh fu-...Fun."
Feyri's right eyelid twitched. A result due to stress.
"Grate, hug me as tight as you can, please?"
While waiting, Feyri thanked the time she invested into rapid, one-handed typing and implemented her knowledge in ludicrous amounts on her wristpad.
This is Feyri Nirel, current leader of the second away team sent down to Inti. The mission as far as I can see is under severe strain. The palace is under direct endothermic attack, and we're heavily lacking aerial support.
We need eyes, Steve.
Inquire @ PW for map. Hopefully with places representing where we are.
Use MKIII rockets to get myself, Grate and possibly Lyra towards a safer location--drop off, and locate my teammates nearest to the zone of influence from this nuke and use the same strategy.
Which revolves around getting everyone to safety.
Also check fuel.
Activate your wristpads for a general area receiving message so we know where you are!
Anyone with auxiliary mobility enhancements, use them! Head towards the Palace!
You scoop up both of the tiny people who are currently clinging to you and take off, screaming up and over toward the second level, skimming near the tops of the wooden structures that squat on the first level. You pull up, rising to clear the second level wall, when something hits you.
[end:3+1]
Feryi's had a hard life in the corps. Her heroism has often been rewarded with nothing but injuries and waking up in the infirmary with more parts missing. She's been shot, broken, electrocuted and decapitated. Her organs are more plastic then flesh and what little of her original muscle remains clings to titanium bones. So when the shard of ice, sharp as a hypodermic needle and long as a fence post, half impales, half freezes it's way straight between her shoulder blades and out through her sternum, taking much of the contents of her thoracic cavity with it, she doesn't flinch. She doesn't even really feel it; there's not enough pain receptors left.
For a moment, she dips down, her flight unsteady. But then she rises again, clears the second level wall and zooms out toward the third. She makes it about half way across the second terrace before she finally falters and dips low, wavering as she flies toward the ground. She pulls back and lands on her feet, jogging to a stop as the momentum of the landing carries her an extra dozen yards. She slowly sets her two small passengers down and looks at them. The eerie colorless glow of the advancing entropy bomb shines through the ragged hole where her chest used to be and strange colored artificial blood and organ fluids pour down her legs and puddle on the ground. She jerkily lifts one arm and pats Grate's head.
"Run." She whispers breathlessly, eyes cloudy and blind behind the visor. "Run. Run. Run"
Her arm falls limp and her head lulls back, looking up at the stars. Her body suddenly tenses up and there's a metallic clink as the her suit's neck iris snaps shut. She doesn't fall. She just stands there, silent.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/atlvni9gw9elonn/map2.png
Author
Topic: Einsteinian Roulette (Missions 9a, 10, 11, and Heph post war survey team) (Read 463323 times)