I'm busy and/or terrible at managing my time, sorry for the delay. I know some have sent me PMs, I'll try to respond when I have time.
Staging Area
"Aye, 'tis quite an enjoyable feeling."
How about a proper warning shot this time. I mean, it does look like he stopping playing around with this menacing poking implement of his, but maybe he didn't notice the first one.
A bolt appears on the crossbow, accompanied by a dull red glow, pushing the mechanism and arming it as it materializes. The moment you fire it, you immediately materialize another and fire that as well. And another. And another. John hears the bolt whistling through the air and instinctively dodges the first, receives a glancing blow from the second, but the third and fourth hit him on the chest and on the head, throwing him to the ground, the bolts clattering to the ground beside him before disappearing. He remains unharmed though and doesn't feel anything that could be described as more painful than mildly irritating.
John sighed. Right, forgot to properly phrase my question. "Okay, Zero. In terms of adjusting the effect of the spear, what function do those circuits cause the device to perform?"
<The circuits allow manual control over the originally automated functions of the spear that ensure optimal penetration for maximal conductivity.> is what you hear inside your head before you are rather rudely pummelled by a hail of crossbow bolts that drive you to the ground.
Second chance round
Grab a rifle from one of the dead. Pick a group of enemy soldiers that are in the way to the objective and slow them down.
"Move it guys! Storm that group!"
Join the assault on said group, get into the fortress.
((That sounds like a charisma roll. Let's see...))
"Listen here you dirty maggots. You will get over there, you will kill those guys and you will give your lives to clear a path for me. If there is a mine, you will detect it with your legs. If it leaves a crater, you will bridge it with your body. And if it rains debris, you will hold my fucking umbrella! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR SOLDIERS?!"
The soldiers all look at you.
They don't look very happy.
"Hey, come on now, I was only joking. There's nothing wrong with a good joke, right? We're all friends here, right?"
They begin gathering around you.
"Right guys? Uh, guys?"
...
A few seconds later, you are thrown out of the trench.
"No no no, wait!"
You raise your hands in a futile defence from the inevitable hail of bullets... that never comes.
You dare to open your eyes and take a step backwards as you see a bullet right in front of your eye, moving forward and spinning slowly. Oh, right, you froze time in a thin lane in front of you, going from your trench to the enemy emplacement. Kinda forgot about that while you were giving your awesome speech.
Unfortunately, it looks like you have also slowed yourself down as a side effect.
Evolve anything that will allow me to pick up the pace. Whether it be longer legs, or something ridiculous like flight, I need to get to that capture zone. Then, rush off at full speed. To that capture zone.
You make your front legs slightly higher. That doesn't help things much.
Bryan, tournament
Get moving, but concentrate on either sending out small telekinetic pulses, or just a shield for me. Whichever is easier.
You do that. Or at least you try to.
There is a whistling that turns into a deafening buzzing. The flaming debris of a cargo plane fall from the sky, the remains of the fuselage carving a ditch on the earth filled with burning Kerosene.
A piece of shrapnel strikes one of your joints. Your armour stops it before it can penetrate too deeply and cause any serious damage, but the hot piece of metal causes you a lot of pain. You roar in agony as you thrash on the ground until you finally manage to dislodge the piece from you.
One of the cargo plane's jet engines detaches from its wind and tumbles through the air toward you, its blades still turning, spewing smoke and emitting a mix of whining and grinding. You manage to push it out of the way, but with your attention focused on it, you fail to spot a much smaller metal rod that strikes your hand, pinning you to the ground. You barely manage to not pass out from the pain.
You're too far away to be affected. Good for you.
There is a burst of green light coming from the top of the hill, bright enough to be reflected by the clouds overhead. It leaves a jagged spiral line slowly extending towards the clouds in a zig-zagging mostion in its wake.
<2 time units until the objective is captured.>
Campaign
I keep walking with the mage
"Kassiver, do not force this. I will not be a prisoner when I've done no wrong. What is going on?"
if he attempts to cast something, then i sieze his inner fire and yank it up to the roof of the tent.
"STOP THAT! How hard is it to NOT try to enslave people!?! What is going on here?!?"
If the guards attempt to restrain me, I do not attack them, though I will tug out of their grip if given the chance.
The two guards reluctantly raise their swords as you approach, looking from you to Kassiver.
"Kassiver, do not force this. I will not be a prisoner when I've done no wrong. What is going on?"Kassiver spins around to look at you, his face a snarl, his fists clenched.
"'Done no wrong'?!" he yells incredulously.
"You truly believe that?" he immediately adds, a bit quieter, although his posture remains hostile.
A few seconds pass. But instead of attacking, he relaxes and makes a motion for the guards to lower their weapons.
"Very well. Why don't you follow me and see how much 'nothing'
you have done?" he says, almost growling the words.
"Then we will see what you have to say for yourself."Campaign, Ike!
Quietly prime myself for massah's next murderous rampage. Smile absently. Avoid eye contact.
You watch Irine's demonstration of high quality diplomacy and negotiations. Truly, her words and actions will be remembered and studied by historians and orators alike for years to come.
Outside, you can hear that the camp is in turmoil. There are worried murmurs everywhere. Yet there is very little sounds of movement or of other things happening.
((I apologize for not posting earlier. I really do. It's just that my situation at home has really been volatile and I haven't had time to post to any of the RtDs that I am in, or even to the one that I GM. I am sorry if I have been an inconvenience to other people. I will try to be more timely with my posting of turns.
I will edit this with my turn later. Right now, I am a little bit busy. Easter weekend and all...))
Campaign
Zechariah looked down, thinking that he could search for an answer in the ground. Something. Anything. Maybe the answer would be spelled out across the sky. He looked up. Nothing still. Maybe it would be waiting behind him, a clear image or few words to guide him. He turned his head reluctantly, knowing that there would be nothing there, but that he would try anyways. Still, only the dimming sky stared back at him. He sighed, knowing that it was useless. There was never a straight answer. It always had to be so complicated.
"Look, River," he began softly. "I don't know what your true intentions are. Maybe you do mean the best for us, and wish to see us succeed. Maybe this is just a sick game, and we are just rats in a lab maze for you to study. But I.. I just wish to be honest with myself. That's all. If I try to delude myself with lies, I will be falling back into the same cycle that I am trying to avoid. My Shadow would overtake me again. That's not what I want for anyone." Zechariah stands up, and turns to face River.
"I don't know if you'll face me again. And you might not want to anymore. But.. if I am to be truthful.." he falters in his voice, unsure of how to continue. "I.. I think that I am afraid over everything else.
"I am afraid. I'm afraid of the future. Afraid of what happens after this is all over. Afraid of the uncertainties. Afraid of what I can't control. In order to escape - to end - my eternal contract, I wanted to end my path and make the best of my end that I could. There was that opportunity. By using the Medium, I could give my friends a second chance at making things right, and I could also leave everyone and everything - forever." He looks down, afraid of how his words might come out. "I wanted to vaporize myself in the void of the Medium. I wanted to envelope myself in the chaos. In that way, I could destroy my own Shadow, put Artemis' final move into motion, and disconnect myself from existence altogether. That was my last plan. But then... you entities found me. That.. that is what I am afraid of now.
"I am afraid now, because I cannot even trust in the destruction of my physical, mental, and spiritual self. You picked up the parts and reformed me. I cannot even trust in death now to put me to rest. I am afraid that I will be bound eternally to the contract that I formed. If even death cannot be certain and eternal for me, what can I trust on to allow me to live - or die - in peace? Or.. am I left to this fate forever?"
Zechariah shakes his head. He knew that he was simply spouting his consciousness now, but maybe he could find resolution in this. "I know that you probably don't have the answer. I don't expect you, or anyone else, to have that answer. But.. I just would like to be able to find a hand to grasp in the darkness. I don't want to feel.. alone in a crowd. This all probably sounds silly to you, but.. these are my thoughts."
"So it's not your fault. It's mine. I still don't know how I will go about finding the help I need. Maybe I won't find that help. I... don't know."
((Sorry, my bad. It's not your fault. I shouldn't have said that. It's not like I have a lot of time these days with all the things I've divided my attention to. Just a bit stressed and feeling bad for not updating.))
River doesn't turn to look at you. But as you speak, the distortions in the light around him start to diminish and his posture changes.
As you finish talking, he turns to look at you straight in the eyes. He approaches you slowly until he is two steps away from you, your height difference becoming more apparent at this distance.
He speaks slowly, quietly yet firmly.
"I do not understand. Not everything."He takes another step towards you.
"But I am here."He continues looking at you in the eyes, but says nothing more. He stays where he is, semi-relaxed but barely moving besides the slow the rising and falling of his chest.