John tosses the "medkit" to the side. "Best I could do- a bit distracted. Now, let's see what this baby can do..."
Sense the plane to see its capabilities. Advise the pilots on what it can do and how best to not get gigashocked.
You focus on understanding the Spaceplane. Well, you can't find anything interesting that is directly related to the spaceplane. Most of the advanced functions in it seem to be computer controlled and a bit too complicated to understand without studying it for hours. Plus, Jordan seems to have a pretty good idea of how to fly the pl- Nope, scratch that, he just grazed a building, you're going to die.
On the bright side, you gain an understanding of its most basic systems of the space-plane and how to operate them.
You do however find some interesting things when you move your consciousness further from the Spaceplane's system and focus on its shape. There seem to be various gaps in the cargo hold that could contain equipment, some of them with fuel lines or wires connected to them. There's also a gap under your seats (which can eject, by the way) and what look like a couple of beds in the cargo hold that can extend from the floor.
Fly low and fast and try to get to Angel.
Jordan activates the Spaceplane's hover thrusters and then gives full power to the main engines. The spaceplane speeds away, the intermediate buildings hiding it from the BETA's sight and keeping it safe. John gives Jordan a worried look and hugs his chair tightly when one of the Spaceplane's wings grazes a building. Jordan simply makes an "it's cool" wave to John and adjusts the hover thrusters a bit to allow the flight computer to make up for the plane's messed up aerodynamics.
SHOOT IT
You round the corner and see the giant robot. It is appropriately gigantic. And covered with thick armor. And you are armed with an electric powered ballista. This isn't looking like a very good idea right now.
The giant seems to be able to see you too, despite its lack of head, for it turns its dome hand to point at your vehicle.
You take a deep breath, listening to the whine of your truck's modified electromagnets, trying to predict which way it's going to tilt next. The moment you feel your ballista is pointing in the right direction, you press the big red button. The truck jerks to a stop and nearly flips.
You can see the arrow, a spiky shaft made of heavy-looking metal and plastic flying towards the BETA's center of mass. At the last second however, the BETA manages to reposition its dome-hand, causing the arrow to glance away, hitting its left leg instead. The impact is hard. The street is filled with metal flakes and shrapnel as the arrow embeds itself where the head of the femur would be in a human, where its armor is weakest.
The mechanical humanoid is pushed back by the force of the impact. It tries to use its leg to support itself but its weakened structure collapses under the strain. It falls backwards and to the right, through the facade of a building, disappearing in a cloud of dust and debris.
<Wooohoo! Yeah! That's my man! Haha! Scissors cut Robot, that's right!>
Swallow 3 more bites, then fly towards the direction I'm pretty sure the space-plane went off in.
You swallow a few more bites and start flying towards where you think the spaceplane went. Although, with its speed, it could be anywhere right now...
You still feel a bit dizzy from eating that thing, but you think it's getting better now.
Continue staying alive. Barely is acceptable.
Hey, guess what?
Disconnected. Attempting to reconnect...Yep, you just bled out. Looks like those betting in your death were right after all: children are not good front line warriors.
Let's see if your friends can do anything to revive you once they arrive...
Everyone<Player 7 disconnected.>
Name: INFERNO COP
Appearence: Take Ghost Rider. Make him into a cop. Also, give him a revolver, take away the chains. Done.
Biography: INFERNO COPPU found himself somewhere he had never been before. He had halted Third Destroy Finale. He had defeated Claudia, the one with the power to change the world, he had saved Jack Knife Edge Town, and he had saved the world alongside it. He had harnessed the power of God himself in the form of Glitter Inferno Cop. But, he had never been here. This place was different. It was fluid. He had never moved like this before. He could move his legs and his arms separately. Truly, this place was different. He decided then that he was going to find out why he was here and how to get home.
Ability:
Glitter Inferno Cop: Only in the darkest hour for all of humanity, when they face extinction, Inferno Cop can channel the power of a god. In other words, probably not in this game.
Those bullets have no effect on me!: Bullets just don't seem to work on Inferno Cop. Fists do. Kicks do. Just not bullets
Car Form: Inferno Cop can turn into an F1 racing car with his face and jacket on.
Devil's Satan Hellhound Grenda's Kind Hand: A dangerous, forbidden technique, when the chips are down, Inferno Cop can sacrifice his life in order to defeat his opponent. Its power scales directly with his, gaining the ability to skewer those above gods while he is Glitter Inferno Cop.
EDIT: Because I accidentally typoed.
Great flying soup bowl of the elder gods, what kind of horror is this? And the typos, oh, the typos!
Yeah, that seems like something I can work with. This game wasn't supposed to be ultra serious. It was supposed to be short arena matches with some missions to break the monotony. Don't know how we got here...
Anyway, it's cool, I even got an entity for you. Expect some negatives to other stats in exchange for that "invulnerable to bullets". My head is not working well enough right now for me to process your character correctly but consider yourself in. I'll write a turn where you wake up in the staging area when I have properly processed your character.
Looks like Xan just got a conductor for his crazy train...
((So, I was thinking about assault missions for this game and I remembered an old short sci-fi story I had read once and I got a great idea for a mission. But then I realized that it would be too long and that it wouldn't fit in the system used in this RTD very well. So I thought, why not make it an RTD of its own?
Story
A tribe of humans lives in the depths of the Machine, close to its foundation. They are the only living humans in existence.
The Farmers and the Machinists provide for the people. The Smiths build for the people. The Hunters prowl the outskirts for food and resources that the others can't provide. The Exterminators protect the people from the swarms of vermin that infest the Machine. The Knights ensure there is justice among the people. And the Storytellers keep the memory of the people alive. It has always been like this.
Or at least that's what they think.
Few know that it wasn't always like this. That once upon a time, humans lived on the surface. That humans built the Machine. That things are changing. That the Machine is dying. It is a slow death, imperceptibly so, but those who know the truth can see it. And they know its death might mean the end of this tribe, the snuffing out of the final remnant of the human race.
There are signs all around. The screens of the Machinists are filled with static, some of them even turning black. The Smiths' aging tools can do little to keep their homes from collapsing. Bigger and bigger swarms of Vermin plague the tribe, consuming their food and even people, taxing the already underequipped Exterminators. Knights are trying their best to keep the people from killing each other for scraps of food. And Hunters are telling stories of strange beasts wandering at the edges of the tribe's territory.
Those who see the sings and understand them, the eldest and more powerful of the tribe, have decided to take action before it's too late. They have assembled a team of their greatest men and women, equipped them with the best equipment they could scavenge. To ensure that those men and women will not waver or turn back out of fear of death, the elders have declared that should they not return with a worthy prize, something of value, they will be executed.
You are a part of that team.
You will be sent out to look for your tribe's salvation. Nobody knows what that may be, what form it might take. Everybody knows that leaving your tribe's territory is akin to suicide. Nobody foolish enough to venture out there in your lifetime has returned. But it is clear that something must be done. Otherwise, there will be no future for your people or for humanity.
Gameplay
Six characters, one of each class set out to explore the Machine. What they do outside of the limits of their home is completely up to them. The map is there for them to explore. They'll slowly get better, they'll scavenge resources, they'll try to keep each other alive and if they're lucky they'll find something important... or a quick death.
It's an open world game but much more deadly then this one, with permadeath. It requires teamwork and creativity.
Technology is almost nonexistent. Humans only have what the machine gives them for advanced technology. Everything else is stuck somewhere in the middle ages in some areas and early 20th century in others. So it's a strange mix of swords, shields, revolvers, shotguns, assault rifles, rotary cannons and flamethrowers. Of course, the more advanced and complex the technology, the rarer it gets.
Characters
Each character also represents a faction.
Machinist: Understanding the machine. Light short range weapons.
They are considered one of the primary providers of the tribe since they are some of the few who know how to gain materials from the machine and how to fix the parts of it that are keeping the tribe alive.
Smith: Creating stuff from scrap. Scavenge. Light melee.
A testament to the ability of humans to improvise. They can create and fix almost everything. Guns, knifes, armor, vehicles... Assuming they have the time and the necessary parts, of course.
Hunter: Long range/silenced weapons. Stealth. Scavenge.
One of the few who venture outside of the territory of the tribe. They move silently to avoid the swarms of vermin and the bests that could devour men whole. They scavenge for parts and hunt for food. They can understand the signs of the tunnels and can warn their people for impending disasters.
Exterminator: Heavy short range weapons. Medium armor.
Those are tasked with guarding the tribe and especially its food store for vermin. And when a pack of rats that can strip the flesh off a human in seconds attacks, you'd better be carrying a large gun...
Knight: Heavy melee weapons. Heavy armor.
They are responsible for keeping the peace inside the tribe, although they do not shy away from conflict, should the need arise. Their mere presence is a pacifying force, their imposing armor and heavy melee weapons inspiring fear and awe among the populace. They enforce the will of the elders.
Storyteller: Medic. Alchemy. Lore.
They are responsible for keeping the memories of the people alive, since writing is known only by a very small part of the populace. Their knowledge also extends to basic medicine and the combination of the various substances that can be found in the tunnels of the machine.
Alas, I have no time to run this. Maybe I'll run it in the summer or after the exams are over? Who knows.
Anyway, does this ring a bell to anyone? Because I never actually finished reading that sci-fi story and I don't know its title. Would like to know how it ends. Probably not how I made this RTD end.))
((EDIT: Oh, and since I'm apparently doing an irrelevant section, I also got a new version for my
thread downloader that can split the output into multiple files. Now you can choose to read a thread offline, having each page of the offline thread hold from 1 to 1000 (or even more) posts..))
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Topic: Special People: Mechanical Syndrome (Read 1151165 times)