"I know what a gun is, I'm wondering what we were doing there, who we were, how that happened."
"Oh. Simple. You see-"He snaps his fingers and the picture on the TV changes to that of the familiar bluegreen image of Earth.
"Hey. I was watching that."Charlie ignores him and continues.
"There was a war that turned into one final catastrophic event. "Flares appear on the Earth's surface for a few moments and then it quickly turns into something unrecognizable, a dark grey Venusian blob.
"The who, the where, the why, the details are irrelevant. What matters is that the Earth was no more."As the image zooms in, you can see that the view from up close doesn't look much better. Everything is grey and quickly turning black. The only difference is that the silence is replaced by howling wind, occasionally broken by bolts of lightning or otherworldly moans.
"A slurry of radiation, ashes, bioweapons and nanoweapons, slowly freezing, what little life left on it dying or transforming into the stuff of nightmares through the powers of technology and the reappearance of magic. But while that might have been the end for Earth as you might have known it, that was not the end for humanity." The sound suddenly cuts off and is replaced by distant clicks and a constant low-pitched noise. That too soon disappears and you are treated to a view from John's medical shuttle
"There remained a single city of men, deep beneath the seas and the earth, one that barely survived the war and its fallout. There was conflict and problems and sorrow and desperation, but they somehow managed to survive and find some stability. They had stopped their fall to extinction, now teetering just on the very edge."The camera pans to show a structure that looks much like a gigantic tube that extends all the way to the ceiling of this underground cavern, a dying fire visible on one of its sides.
"With their newfound stability, the closest thing the city had to a leader decided it was time for more. They couldn't stay in this hell, in this grave with no future. So they turned their gaze to the heavens. Systems that were meant to support a war that had long since ended were converted, precious life-giving machines were cannibalized, all to give them a chance to reach the heavens and make them their home. It was that hope that helped them keep it together, gave them purpose."The camera cuts to a missile rising out of the clouds, shedding its corroded outer shell and lower stage. As it rushes past the camera, it activates its engine and zooms into the distance until it starts turning into a point of light surrounded by grey. Cheers can be heard, distorted by radio static.
"Heh. They shouldn't have been stupid enough to hope."The point of light shines blindingly bright for a few seconds. The cheers turn to screams. There is an explosion and then only silence.
"Indeed. They reached heaven, only to find it occupied. Their precious ship and all their colonists, their hope, their future, their one chance, gone. Destroyed by others. Those others being, as so happens, of an opposing faction in the war, they too managing to barely survive in orbital facilities and vessels that weren't meant for it. Acting out of fear and hate and every other excuse a man can find for killing another."The camera pans and then zooms in, until a large telescope-like tube surrounded by glowing radiators becomes visible. It follows it up until a much larger structure becomes visible, silver cylinders and shuttles linked together in a semi-coherent manner. The image becomes still and then the camera zooms out, showing Svajoklis with a shocked expression watching the still picture on a screen connected to a battered black box.
"So the leader decide that a different plan was in order. He thought like the sort of person who would survive in that world. He thought like a pragmatist.""Oh, I wouldn't call him that. 'Desperate', I'd say is the right word.""And he decided that if he could not save everyone, he would save himself."The man clenches his fists and gets up, shoving his chair away. The camera cuts to him speaking in a dark corner with someone else, someone invisible.
"His plan was simple, and in a way poetic. Mutually assured destruction. The very same thing whose failure had led them to this point. He removed dusty weapons from storage, reactivated old factories, got his most trusted men to work them. He launched weapons and threatened the people up there to let him live with them, or else.""One could say it was... MADness.""And he constructed a ship much smaller. He promised salvation to those working for him, to earn their silence and their compliance. He lied to everyone else, telling them about how their new home in the stars was prospering, how they would soon all be saved."The camera cuts to a view of stars. Then you notice an area devoid of stars, slowly moving through the screen. The camera pans and the silhouette of the dark missile becomes more visible. It keeps going until a light becomes visible, this time following it as it falls towards the earth.
"But his gamble didn't pay off. The city was attacked by a suicide squad, looking to remove it as a threat once and for all."The camera follows the light, until it descends into darkness. Then a light appears. Metal being welded. The camera pans, following the welding tool until it reaches the the clunky yet human-shaped form of its mechanical owner. It twists around, hearing something unseen. It stops welding. There's a barely audible buzzing. A moment later, the sound of metal striking metal.
"When the attack came, the city's AI came to the conclusion that the war was still going on. It was under attack. This was a military situation, not a civilian one. And there were no military personnel left to direct it. A rigid and inhuman thing, a thing of alien thinking, it already had to change and adapt in ways it never had before, to find new solutions humans would never consider with nobody to guide it. So it decided that it would be in command, if there was no one left to command it. It would follow its directive and win the war. For its definition of winning, anyway."<If you believe there can be such a thing as 'winning' in something as wasteful as war.>"Oh, there can be. Trust me."The image fades to black and the audio stops.
"We calculated that with the current state of affairs, extinction was almost inevitable. So we put you there to shake things up. Introduce new variables. See what happens. And you've already changed things. Or at least made them more interesting."He makes a dismissive wave towards the TV and it returns to showing the contestants, currently showing Kosak being covered by an expanding and vibrating layer of grey goo.
"You see our overly stubborn dwarf possibly being killed here? He damaged several mecahnofluid appendages, severely weakening the AIs hold over the city."The view changes to Rune chasing a poor scientist down some hallway.
"Our bearly skilled shapechanging friend here just prevented a chaotic release of energy that would have occurred in a weapons lab with unpredictable consequences, while the destruction of said lab will probably help in the long run. Assuming there is a long run."The view changes to you getting shot in slow motion, complete with a flashing white R at the corner.
"And you, by failing to detonate the explosives you had, you managed to prolong the life of the city, instead of having it disappear under the rocks and water."He lets the normal program continue.
"And events are still unfolding. Who knows what will happen next?""It is interesting letting you loose and seeing what happens."
Walking Tank, After the End
Crossbow's gone? Get a sword then. Get close to Svajoklis and pull him towards me as soon as he's in range. Cut him in half.
((Is my force-field gone? Last time it took a building falling on me to disable it.))
((Well, you've had enough bonuses to be able to go way past 10 (got mostly 14s actually), but your opponent also has bonuses due to his weapon and skills and you can still roll low. So roll enough times and you will get hit. And you standing mostly still while your opponent unloaded meant that he had a lot of rolls and time to weaken your shield. He could had probably done a lot better if he had something like a powerful melee weapon, since in the system I'm using guns have a mostly static damage output that isn't affected too much by how good you are at aiming. Being good at aiming can make you do crazy stuff like jumping in a room and taking out ten guys or riocheting a bullet off the ground to hit someone behind cover, but a bullet is still a bullet. No matter how well you fire it, it won't pierce what it can't pierce. You can't make a bullet go faster, you can't make it overexert itself and give 120%. A sword responds better to rolls, meaning it can be much more powerful but also much weaker.))
<Svajoklis, After the End>
Well, running is no longer an option it seems. Let's see how much I can take with me.
Reload, fire again.
Svajoklis does his best to reload quickly despite his hurt arm and raises his gun to fire at the armoured giant that has now started moving towards him again. He manages to get three shots off, only one of which grazes Saevus. Saevus raises his golden arm from behind his shield and its runes get filled with dancing bright lights. Svajoklis fires one last desperate shot at the exposed arm but it just causes a small dent. And then Saevus pulls. Hard.
Svajoklis slams against his arm and gets caught in his iron grip. But he doesn't care. There is no point in being scared or shocked. There's no point being concerned about the wind getting knocked out of him. He knew this would happen. He just has to focus on a single task: Keep shooting.
But even at this range the shot he manages to squeeze off against the monster's head does nothing. The next moment Svajoklis feels a bit light. Then he realizes that something is missing, just as the other half of his body slumps against the ground.
Hawk132If Saevus had lungs, he'd probably be out of breath right now. A tough man to kill. But nothing a diagonal cut across the chest couldn't fix.
The bullets come before he has a chance to realise what's going on. One of them finds him in his shoulder-blade, making moving his golden arm hard. He turns around to put his shield between himself and the bullets of the 6 men who just got out of the elevator.
As the last of the energy of his shield belt evaporates, it splits off into several points of light that fly around the room. The points of light transform into lightbulbs that float in place on tiny paper wings. They suck the colour out of him as if it was something tangible, making him completely invisible.
DreamerGhostSvajoklis, meanwhile, reappears back in the Staging Area.
"Hey man. Good show. I was certain you had him there for a moment."
Spray the scientist with acid and consume him for the biomass. He was kind enough to put himself into a tin for me. Then, use the biomass to increase in size.
You attack the scientist, but the attack doesn't immediately incapacitate him, as his clean suit seems to offer some protection. He manages to overcome his shock quickly, jump through a nearby door and close it behind him.
WMD, After the End
Duck into a side room if there is one that I can get into. Try to avoid any attacks from my opponent. If I can't get away, transform and deploy Anchors and Weapons Modules. Try to impale my opponent with the anchors, or wrap them in a protective ball around myself at the inner edge of my field. Begin charging and take stock of my weapons.
You manage to jump into a room and close the door behind you, but not before you are hit by a glob of acid. Luckily, you are quick enough to get the struck piece off before the acid can eat through it, although you burn your hand in the process.
The room is some sort of automated assembly. Robotic arms are alowly moving around, switching tools and parts as each of them assembles... something. You aren't really sure. It's cylindrical, a bit larger than your hand, and it has a nozzle connected to some tubes and wires, that's the only thing you can tell by looking at the assembled object in its various stages of completion. There's also a couple of finished ones stacked boxes next to the machines.
There's a sliding door leading to some sort of testing chamber surrounded by thick glass walls that have been scarred by shallow gashes and a fine layer of soot. There's also two regular doors beyond the one you came in from.
"You should stay out of my way."
Pull out my gun to shoot whatever happens to be in front of me, then try to hit anyone still standing there with my eyes. Move forward before I get shot.
You raise your gun while surrounded by angry men pointing their weapons at you. Somehow, through blind luck or maybe because you took them by surprise, you manage to not get hit. You also (unsurprisingly) hit nothing. You attempt at a supernatural attack also misses. Then you start blindly running forward in the highway, once again managing to evade enemy attacks.
I dunno who you bribed at Random.org, but he must have misheard you, because he's making everything miss, not just the bullets going towards you.
Kosak Durar, After The End
"I SEE WHAT YOU'RE DOING! GRAAAAGH!"
Kosak breaks free, then walks to the opposite side of the trunk, the side not yet breached, and starts punching that side instead.
You manage to move away from the trunk and the puddle, but it stays on you and keeps spreading and hardening, constricting you. It's starting to close around your chest like a snake, making it hard to breathe.
<Have you ever had a dream, Kosak, that you were so sure it was real?>
((Funthrower! Roger is best entity.
Also, never change Alan. Alan x John BFF 5ever))
((Paris: John has access to his spear, right?))
Not yet. Give them a minute more to work. Don't need to get to the destination, though.
Keep watching and waiting. Were the uniformed men armed? What about the man, who I assume is some sort of doctor?
The time to act is when we are near, but not in, the destination. Can I tell how far along we are?
((Yep. You've got yer spear. Frankly, I forgot to roll for it, but a quick roll tells me it was not in the part of your body you lost. So it's in your remaining arm, where people probably either overlooked, failed to see it because it was under your clothes or thought it was some fancy bracelet and failed to remove it.))
Doc is unarmed. The others... well, the one in here is certainly armed, you saw a pistol. The others were probably too, although you didn't see them clearly.
It turns out it takes a lot of electronics to fly a rocket car, much of which consists of sensors and flight assist software. They give you a nice view of where you are. You are approaching Central. Going for the the lower top floors.
Any idea how long you are going to wait before you make your move? Five minutes before you land? Or should I just keep going and you'll tell me when you're feeling comfortable?
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Topic: Special People: Mechanical Syndrome (Read 1151469 times)