Turn 9
Note of the Day: The majority of still-existing nations have declared some extent of martial or emergency law. Conscription, state control of industry and research and extensive rationing have all become everyday realities of life. They have been deemed necessary under the continuous threat of food and supply shortages, global unrest and most importantly, defending against the Ancient threat.
---
Calla"You know, or at least know of I hope, that artefact I handed over to you guys, well that object looks like it could easily have been amde by the same group or creature as had made the trident"
[6] 'I thought that might be the case,' Cardozo says. 'We have it in secure containment, but to tell the truth, we can't seem to figure out what it's supposed to do. It seems too complex to be purely ornamental, but I'd rather not make assumptions. It may be that... it will require activation by someone of... unusual heritage. If you can spare the time - I'm sure Ribeiro has you busy - come by the lab. If it's a weapon, or can be utilized like the Trident, the war effort would welcome it.'
Images flash through his mind of wrecked warships, cut apart and blackened. It does not seem Abyssal handiwork, but it's gone too quickly for Calla to say if it was just something imagined or a real memory. Cardozo's expression turns dour for a moment. It occurs to Calla all of the personnel, or atleast the officers, could use lessons in protecting their minds. Ribeiro did not seem too enthusiastic about the prospect, but Calla's certain he'll see sense if she'd seek him out again.
Calla - Abyssal Hybrid
Health: Unharmed
Inventory: Empty
Traits and Powers:
*Beyond Human (As an Abyssal half-breed, you possess incredible physical and mental capability. You are capable of mental 'psychic' warfare and considerable thought suggestion, and of easy genetic manipulation by touch on-the-fly, even to fatal extremes. +1 to mental power, +2 to mutation and genetic alteration)
*Aura of Terror - INACTIVE (You share the Deep Ones' incapacitating presence, which causes deep fear and anxiety in the mortal psyche. You are currently suppressing your aura.)
Current Effects: None
Location: Stillwater Station, Colares
Alex smiles at the men and extends a hand to the Star-God hybrid.
"Hello friend, how goes the battle?"
Make idle chat with the men until their CO gets here.
Not showing any worry over what could very well be a Cultist hybrid, Alex strolls up and offers his hand. His counterpart seems amused and shakes it. His touch makes Alex's skin crawl and something stir within his mind.
'Victory is only days away, that is what they always tell me,' he says in faintly accented English. 'This has been a long and strange war, has it not? Yet I dare say the end draws nearer with each day. You can feel it, as surely as I can. My name is Corto, and I believe they call you Alex.'
He nods respectfully and releases the grip. Alex gets the feeling he's not talking about this battle here. He senses Theo's gaze on him, unsure of how to act.
'Alex, stand back,' he says, keeping his eyes on you.
'And who is this?' Corto asks. 'Some venerable lapdog of Greyson hopeless out of his depth in this day and age? It's a dangerous world for someone like you, it seems to me.'
'Sol Cult filth,' Theo spits.
Corto pointedly ignores him. His dark eyes turn to Alex. 'Tell me, is whatever you're here for really worth the trouble? Do you even know what your masters want from this place, Alex?'
---
Theo
*Unharmed
*Heavy Pistol [2/5 - 2] (Fires one shot per turn, -3 to Damage)
*Frag Grenades (2)
*Veteran Agent (+2 to all Combat Rolls, +1 to Dodge, +1 to Hit)
*Squishy Mortal (+3 to all taken Damage, -3 to physical Damage)
Alex Vondgas - Imprisoned TitanHealth: Right Leg: Slightly Wounded
Inventory: Empty
Traits and Powers: *
Immortal Prisoner (In the back of your mind, ever-raging, ever-moving, lays 'the Fae', a Titan from before the dawn of history. By tapping into its power, you can take on incredible physical and mental capability. The more of yourself you give in, the more powerful you become, but the higher the risk of losing control is. Your current control level is High. +1 to physical damage, -1 to all taken damage)
*
Slow Regeneration (Your control over the Titan grants you slow wound regeneration. Heal all wounds by 1 on a 3-6 when out of combat.)
Current Effects: None
Location: Foundation Building, Poznan
Alexei is lost on where to go from there. Left with few and unhelpful clues, with the military playing hardball...
Delete the records of the assault on the guard and see if there is any records of people talking around the time the trucks come and go.
[5] Alexei makes short work of his attack on the guard, though there's no guarantee he won't remember it when he comes to. The supersoldier then looks through the post cameras near the time the trucks arrive, focusing on the people. It doesn't take him long to recognize the general, around ten minutes before the trucks arrive. [2] The sound quality isn't good enough to pick up what he says to the post guards.
Perhaps he could ask the man. There might be a lot of questions he should ask - whether he'd get straight answers, or any answers at all, is another matter. He may not have authority over the general, but he isn't exactly bound by any real laws or code of conducts here, if he can provide results. It might not be worth the trouble, of course, and there's always trying to track down the trucks as well.
Alexei Zielkov - Experimental Superman
Health: Unharmed
Inventory: Automatic Pistol [12/12 - 4] (Fires 3 times per turn. -3 to Damage.)
Traits and Powers:
*Genesculpted Superhuman (Your extensive genetic modification and training have made you superior both physically and mentally to any other human being alive. The Shackled, on the other hand, are another matter entirely. +1 to all Damage taken, -2 to physical Damage, +1 to Dodge.)
Current Effects: None
Location: 'Angelfall' Military Zone, Kronstadt Island
"Well that didn't go nearly as planned, and at least we know they're hesitant to shoot us, like those damn things are gonna kill us or something if we get hit by them or something. Anyway Daniel lets try to draw them in, let Liz and Clay take one of them while me, and you get the other, since you are the stronger of the two of us try and aim for its legs and destroy something so it can't move."
With that Wulfric walks out towards the edge of the trees, making sure to stay behind cover of one of the trees, and yells out,
"Hey you massive fucking tin cans we're over here, and as I see it we're still fine so we're winning. Are you just so fucking inept that you can't even take a pair of, as you put it, freaks with your giant metal boxes."
Divert all my remaining life force into strengthening and imbuing my stick with power.
Lure them further into the trap, when it springs go after one of them with Daniel's help and aim for taking out its legs, slam the stick into it or anything to stop its movement.
[6] Daniel nods in acknowledgement and follows Wulfric to the edge of the clearing. The USMWs lumber towards them, crashing through priceless ancient trees with their weight and heavy movements. They only speed up when they hear his challenge.
'Oh yeah?' comes the garbled voice again. It seems Wulfric's voice is powerful enough to reach their cockpits.
'We'll see how you'll run from this!'The bulky weapon in the Walker's arms whirrs not-so-threateningly.
'Alamo, please desist from bantering with the enemy,' the other voice says. A moment later the Walkers burst into the clearing.
[5] Alfonz and Daniel split, rushing into the woods, and let the Walkers roll in. On cue, [4][4] the two in the treetops launch their spears. Alfonz sees the rippling Nexus Field boosting them for a moment before they [Dodge:2][Dodge:2] hit home - but even Alfonz can see they're glancing shots at best. [BP:3][BP:1] Bell's missile hits the cockpit, just above the glass [Damage:4-2+1=3]. Powered by the Nexus Field, it hits harder than should be possible, sinking between metal plating. [Damage:1-2+1=1] Clay's spear is less effective, bouncing off the heavily-plated right arm. [1] The Walker spins around, not seeming to realize where it was hit from.
[6] On the ground, Alfonz and Daniel converge on the other USMW. [2][3] Alfonz's attempts at empowering his spear even further come to nothing, but atleast he senses some of it stay within him still. The lack of control today is getting on his nerves, big-time.
[4] Daniel charges, [Dodge:3][BP:5] stabbing at the towering Walker's sturdy legs. [Damage:1-2+1=1] From what Alfonz can see, the spear takes more damage than the metal warmachine, [2] which fails to return fire. Alfonz goes in himself, [Dodge:1][BP (Targeted):4] slamming his Imbued spear into the other leg. [Damage:6+1=6] Alfonz is a superhuman being. Where a normal man shouldn't even be able to dent something the size and power of an USMW, Alfonz, drawing on the powers of the Reaper within him, slams his spear right through the Walker's leg.
With a painful groan of tortured metal, the great Walker wavers in place. The enormous weight of it comes upon the left leg, where a gaping hole gushing out coolant and fuel tells of the half-blood's handiwork. The leg is not designed to stand with a piece missing - with the weight on it, it collapses and breaks apart, sending the entire Mechanized Walker crashing to the ground.
'What the hell-' comes from the other Walker's speakers as it spins around and [5][Dodge:1-1=1] fires an exact marksman's shot squarely at Wulfric's [BP:5] legs.
He can only see a burst of blue light before pain explodes throughout him, countless tiny flechettes connected by a net erupting from the weapon and slamming into him. [Stunning:5-1=4] Wulfric stumbles back, forcing himself to stand despite the pain, and throws the net of his feet, pulling out the flechettes with it - he realizes they did not penetrate his skin. He scrambles to his feet, facing the still-standing Walker.
[Survival:4] The downed Walker, though not in mortal peril - hopefully - seems too damaged to move again. Wulfric can just see crew moving frantically inside the small space allocated for them.
USMW-4 'Alamo Rainbow' *Head: Slightly Damaged
*Razornet Electro-Magnetic Launcher
[2/3] (Fires one shot per turn, +0 Stunning)
*Bladed Gauntlets (-1 to Damage)
*
Cutting-Edge Optics (+1 to Hit)
USMW-4 'Manhattan Rainbow' *Left Leg:
Critically Damaged *Razornet Electro-Magnetic Launcher
[3/3] (Fires one shot per turn, +0 Stunning)
*Bladed Gauntlets (-1 to Damage)
*
Cutting-Edge Optics (+1 to Hit)
Daniel Bannon
*Unharmed
*Sharpened Branch (-2 to Damage)
*Beyond Human (+1 to physical Damage, -1 to taken Damage)
*Slow Regeneration
Liz Bell
*Unharmed
*Sharpened Branches [2] (-2 to Damage)
*Beyond Human (Nexus Field: Offensive Mode (+1 to Damage))
Clay
*Unharmed
*Sharpened Branches [2] (-2 to Damage)
*Beyond Human (Nexus Field: Offensive Mode (+1 to Damage))
Alfonz Wulfric - Imprisoned ReaperHealth: Unharmed
Inventory: Imbued Spear (+1 to Damage)
Traits and Powers: *
Immortal Prisoner (Drawing from the Reaper in your head, you are physically and mentally superior to any normal human on the planet. You have innate power over the life forces of living beings, and can draw, give and imbue it at will. Your current level of control is high.)
*
Life Force [1/6] (You can imbue objects and living beings with life force to create more potent weapons and combat constructs. You will regain spent life force automatically over time, and by devouring others - though this bears the risk of harmful energy damaging you. You can also draw the life force of others and imbue it as long as you also include some of your own.)
Current Effects: None
Location: USMW Field Exercises, West Virginia
Alex could deal with herself. Plus... somewhere deep down, as he felt bloodlust rise in himself, he didn't think he'd WANT to join Alex. Just in case one of them, or both of them, lost their sense of self. Even for a moment, it could be bad. He leapt at one of the other buildings, intent on ripping apart the opponents in front of him.
Go to town on the poor squishy mortals.
[1-1=1] Aaron charges. Following Alex's example, he leaps against a storefront and feels the glass shatter with very satisfying sound. Rather than landing gracefully ready to fight, however, Aaron comes down hard, stumbling onto the floor between surprised raiders. [3][5][5] They're not too surprised to fire, unfortunately. [Dodge:5][Dodge:6][Dodge:5] Moving with grace he never knew he had before, Aaron leaps up and behind a table, avoiding each rifle shot in turn. [5][5][5] They're not taking any chances and keep firing, [Dodge:1][Dodge:6][Dodge:6] and this time a shot lands on Aaron's [BP:1] cheek. [Damage:1-3+1=1] It ricochets off with a bright ping.
[2-1=1] Aaron faces the three men, trying to look intimidating despite his pounding headache and dizziness. He gets the feeling these grimy, weary-eyed men have something keeping them in the fight even if all good sense told them to flee.
Alex Bray
*In building on the right
*Unharmed
*Beyond Human (+1 to physical Damage, -1 to all taken Damage)
*Slow Regeneration
3 Raider *
In building with Aaron *Unharmed
*Rifles
[?/8] (Fires once per turn. -3 to Damage.)
*
Squishy Mortal (+3 to all taken Damage, -3 to physical Damage)
Raiders *
9+? in buildings *Unharmed
*Rifles
[?/8] (Fires once per turn. -3 to Damage.)
*Assault Rifles
[?/12] (Fire 3 times per turn. -3 to Damage.)
*
Squishy Mortal (+3 to all taken Damage, -3 to physical Damage)
Aaron Gray - Abyssal Hybrid
Health: Unharmed
Inventory: Empty
Traits and Powers:
* Beyond Human (As an Abyssal half-breed, you possess incredible physical and mental capacity. You are capable of mental 'psychic' warfare and thought suggestion, as well as easy genetic manipulation, especially for war. You have also been blessed with extraordinary toughness and mental fortitude. +1 to physical Damage, -1 to taken Damage, +1 to mental defense.)
* Aura of Terror - INACTIVE (You share the Deep Ones' incapacitating presence, which causes deep fear and anxiety in the mortal psyche. You are currently suppressing your aura. -3 to Combat Rolls around you, fear checks every turn.)
Current Effects: Mutated Arms (+1 to physical Damage), Psychic Backlash (-1 to Combat Rolls for 2 turns)
Location: In the raided town, Western Australia
---
Superhuman strength is a bitch. Just don't think you can actually go against the bigger, Ancient-fighting Walkers, m'kay?
Author
Topic: Their Coming Is At Hand II - an Eldritch Invasion RTD (Turn 9!) (Read 23693 times)