((Some nice rolls in this Update)).
khan, could Katia gain a level or two in mad prophet?
((Mad Prophet? Maybe being a mad prophet would work ina medieval setting but i'm not sure about a sci fi setting.
On another note, I seem to be coming down with a cold (blocked nose, headaches, mild temperature etc) so i would appreciate it if someone could post a brief but details summary of the comments since the last update for me please so i can do the update tomorrow.
Currently, i am about to go to bed.))
w.e mad prophet is lets save that for the drow suggestion game {which was pretty cool btw }
1. leave and tell our gaurds to search the captive colonel
2. also tell one of the gaurds to get her concious again by helping close up her wounds.
3. Tell ari to take some veterans out to make some pitfall traps using shovels and wooden stakes in the jungels. Have them 10 ft from landmines and use them to plug any paths a invader could use. If none can be found then just lay them out and make sure their covered nicely.
4. Tell ankara to see what the cannons need to fire again. If she knows exactl what and it can be scavenged in the base then to let us know.
5. Go to the wounded and show a good example by helping take care of the wounded.
6. Before Ari goes make sure we ask her input on that slinkarr colonel. Ask her what she thinks about her experiences and if High command is hiding something.
7. Make sure the snipers are looking out into the jungels for unknown movement. We can't let the enemy surprise us.
You just stare at her for a few moments, unsure of what to do.
You eventually turn to leave, Ari, Ankara and Elianna following you. On your way out you tell the guards to search the Colonel anyway, just to make sure she does not have anything that could help her escape or aid in the retaking of this base by Slinkar forces. After all, what she said about the Slinkar on this planet could have been a lie.
The search turns up nothing of importance.
You also tell them to tend to her wounds and to also get her awake again. Whilst her wounds aren't the most complex, there is a lot of them. You feel disgusted with yourself for torturing her. You feel even more disgusted when you remember that you
enjoyed doing it.
You make sure to talk to Talli later about that and the strange compulsion to commit torture that came over you before.
As Ankara and Elianna walk off you hold Ari back.
"What do you think?" You ask Ari.
"About what?"
"The Slinkar Colonel"
"I think she, however much I hate to admit it, may be telling the truth, despite my outburst in there." She stop, holding her head. "It doesn't make any sense. The ones me and mine originally fought were twenty foot tall being that had no humanoid features at all. They were intelligent, but extremely barbaric. They'd.....They'd eat their captives alive, after torturing them almost to death. They were brutal, ruthless and unforgiving. From many battle reports i have seen since, many Morey also report similar or identical things. Slinkar like the Colonel have been seen, but they are rare and tend to be part of elite troop formations and army groups." Ari stops again, seemingly to think about something. "Either..." She continues, "They are the Slinkar version of us, Vat-Born, or they are the real Slinkar and the others we have been fighting till now have been other members of some sort of confederation........" She pauses, thinking again.
"But that would go against everything we have been told about them by high command..." You say, also a bit confused. "The Slinkar are supposed to hate everything not Slinkar. By the very definition I was given by Ala-Shar, they would never make a confederation or union."
"Unless...." You both say again.
"It is the same as what happened with the Vanguard. The Morey Matriarchy may be lying to us again. The Slinkar may not be anywhere close to what we were told. And if so, then this is a lie perpetrated by people very high up as even Ala-Shar and others on her level seem to believe the lies...." You say, sudden realisation coming to you.
"
IF they are lies..." Ari says.
You both stand in silence, thinking, before moving on.
*****
You return you mind to the present and tell Ari to take some troops to build pitfall traps around the perimeter, covering any and all places they would be suitable. You tell her to fill them with spikes. You aren't totally sure how effective they will be, but they are yet another line of defense
Unfortunately, when Ari gets out there with her contingent, she reports that most of the approaches are unsuitable for pitfall traps and/or it would take too long to dig them out. There seems to be several large patches of close-to-the-surface bedrock that even Vat-Born would be hard pressed to dig out quickly.
However, Ari and her sisters do find some places to dig traps, and get to work. Soon, about a dozen pitfall traps had been built and Ari and her troops returned after using what was left of the daylight to complete this task.
*****
Roughly during the same time, you put Ankara on the task of getting those anti-orbit weapons back online. Unfortunately, Ankara cannot seem to find anything she needs to fix the weapons, despite earlier hopes. She sadly reports that, should the Vanguard vessels seek to annihilate this position, you are in no position to deter them.
You tell her to try again, but she cannot find anything. She even enlisted all her brood members who were not seriously wounded to aide in this endeavour, but still they found nothing.
*****
Whilst Ari was still out, you made your way to the basement to check on the medical rooms and the wounded that occupied them.
Unfortunately, the medical equipment in the rooms is mostly non-functional. After a quick check it seems that you have determined what the problem with the equipment is. The problem is something that is easily fixable. You set to work and within an hour or so, you manage to get a large portion of the equipment back online. You look to see the relieved faces of the medics, and the very relieved faces of the wounded.
It is then, as you go around aiding the treatment of the wounded, that you realise you are still wearing your heavily damaged face covering helmet. You take it off, deeming it not necessary due to the amount of damage it has taken. You hang it by its carry straps from the back of your belt, out of the way.
After you spent what must have been the rest of the day tending the wounded, you make your way to the perimeter are the last rays of light vanish over the horizon. You walk around, talking both vocally and using the battle-net t the snipers, asking whether they have seen anything whilst reminding them to be vigilant. You do not want to be surprised.
Fortunately, the Snipers report that everything is all clear on the perimeter. No enemy have been seen.
"Odd" You mutter to yourself. "I'd have thought the Vanguard would have at least sent scouts to this position after we attacked with those huge guns. Maybe they believe us knocked out? after their attack?" You muse.
*****
You ponder what questions you will ask the Slinkar Colonel once she wakes. You make a short list, but make a note to expand on it later.
The first question will be: Who and where is the commander who ordered the Slinkar withdrawal.
Second, how many Slinkar were here when the vanguard..disturbed us?
Thirdly: What are the vanguard numbers and where are they located?
You cannot think of any more at the moment. You think of contacting Ala-Shar to get her opinion, but your communications are down and you dont have, at the moment, a safe way of contacting her. You also dont know if the Vanguard are listening.
*****
What do you do now?
((I'll add in what is left in RAM's quote tower in the next update as it does not quite feel right to put it in this one))
Status:1. Demeanor/Status: Wounded. Calm.
2. Mental Condition: Mentally fit and stable.
3. Physical Condition: Chest wounds healed. Extensive Scarring. Plasma lower stomach wound (healing) , Hyper Laser knee wound (healing).
4. Clear thoughts and currently inactive mental factions.
Inventory:1. Mark 3 Vat-Born Engineer Armoured Powered Exoskeleton Suit (Wearing) (Damaged x2)
2. Mark 3 Engineer Armoured Powered Exoskeleton Helmet (On Belt) (Cracked and damaged) (Disabled standard Comms system)
3. Advanced White Cooled Skin Tight Full Body Under-suit (Wearing) (Damaged)
4. Mk5 Mass-Driver pistol (sidearm) (Holstered)
5. Arishok Plasma pulse rifle (In Hands)
6. Dikari Plasma shotgun (Holstered on Back)
7. Warrisk Mass-Driver Battle Rifle (Holstered on Back)
8. Combat Engineering Equipment and explosives. (In Backpack)
Available Equipment:1. Mark 3 Vat-Born Engineer Armoured Powered Exoskeleton Suit (Damaged x2)
2. Mark 3 Engineer Armoured Powered Exoskeleton Helmet (Cracked and damaged) (Disabled standard Comms system)
3. Basic White Skin Tight full Body Under-suit x 4
4. Advanced White Cooled Skin Tight Full Body Under-suit x 2 (One of which is Damaged)
5. Mk5 Mass-Driver pistol (sidearm)
6. Arishok Plasma pulse rifle
7. Dikari Plasma shotgun
8. Warrisk Mass-Driver Battle Rifle
9. Combat Engineering Equipment and explosives.
10. Stun/Concussion rifle
11. Casual clothes x10 (White skin tight suit, Gloves, Boots)
12. Ceremonial robes
13. Royal Guard Armoured Powered Exoskeleton suit
Implants and Augmentations:1. 2x Loyalty probe in the Striatum part of the brain.
2. Multi-range optics (Thermal, magnetic, IR, UV, multi-stage magnification etc) implant on eyes.
3. Command and Control (C&C) nano-module implanted in head.
4. Communications array nano-module implanted in head.
5. Fortified 7th Generation reverse engineered biological nano-machines in blood stream, bones, muscles, tendons and organs.
6. Nano-memory modules in the Cerebrum, holding all relevant non-personal data.
Brood Composition:1. Forward Command and communications: 9 Vat-born.
2. Field Combat Medic: 48 Vat Born (10 at secondary position)
3. Long Range Specialists (Snipers): 50 Vat-Born
4. Heavy assault: 240 Vat-Born
5. Light Assault: 235 Vat-Born
6. Infiltrators: 45
7. Heavy Support: 113 (12 as Secondary Position)
8. Combat Engineers: 112
9. Scouts: 100
Ari's Contingent:1. 10 Scouts
2. 6 Infiltrators
3. 4 Forward Command & Comms
4. 16 Field Medics
5. 11 Combat Engineers
6. 22 Long Rage Specialists (Snipers)
7. 21 Heavy Support
8. 20 Light assault
9. 55 Heavy Assault (including Ari herself)
Allies Forces:Ankara's Brood: 50% Casualties. Steady moral. Exhausted.