John, After the End
No, this is the chance; go for it. Drop the cannon and jump straight in and stab him with the conductor spear. Ideally switch to unsafe mode while he's stabbed.
Saevus, After the End
Desummon the ballista. Break that which binds me. Once I get a hand free, summon a super-sharp dagger and cut through whatever's left. Free the bling-cannon first.
If I get the cannon leveled at me, try to stasis. If there's something nearby that I can blast at John, blast away.
Should I get myself free, summon the polehammer and charge at John. Keep the golden arm ready to stasis or fire things at John, whichever is applicable.
John pushes himself to get back on his feet, trying to move as quickly as possible. It feels like he's watching himself in a dream, desperately trying to will himself to move, every movement feeling slow. As Saevus struggles to raise his head, he sees John coming for him through the debris and black goo left from his attack. John is running as fast as his exosuit will let him, his spear extending out of his hand, silver flowing and solidifying to form the tip. Saevus summons a heavy axe and lets it slam on one of the restraints holding his hand, freeing it. It immediately disappears and in its place Saevus summons a knife, with which he attempts to cut more of the restraints.
But he doesn't get far before John is upon him, thrusting his spear downwards with a primal grunt. Saevus lifts his palm and a shimmering barrier appears between the two, stopping the spear. But only for a moment. The next Saevus is forced to lower his hand and the spear goes through. It keeps going, bypassing his forceshield with a flash of light, its shattered fragments falling on the black roots below him. The spear cuts through his armour like butter, tearing a clean hole through where his left lung would be. The two stare at each other for a moment, the only thing moving being the vibrations of the cables holding Saevus down and the black goo dripping through the hole in Saevus' armour.
<Tow cables and OP weapons that can cut through almost anything are always the bane of heavy walkers it seems.>Then Saevus lifts his golden hand and points his palm at John, the runes on it humming and glowing bright. John ducks and dashes back before the telekinetic blast can rip off the antenna embedded in his head.
The broken fragments of Saevus forceshield are drawn together, forming a large semi-transparent cane embedded on the ground next to him, like an umbrella with its top missing. It begins to suck the goo and black roots out of the ground, filling itself up with darkness and blinking lights.
WMD, After the End
Politely ask the fetus to change course to wherever it is my host is trying to go.
You ask the fetus-thing if it can pretty please not eat you and instead take you the hell out of here before you die. The thing makes a whine that resonates throughout the entire vessel, a noise that sounds like something you'd expect to come from a whale.
It's not making a move to attack you, so you'll take that as a yes. You return to the cockpit and watch the monitors for a while. You see that the sub is continuing its course away from the doomed city. That's good. You don't know where it's going or what it's going to do with you when it gets there, but for now you're free and alive on a vessel with food and oxygen. That went about as good as it could go. Sure you are trapped in a dying world, but it is not a dead world. There is still hope. That's all you've got to hold on right now.
A moment comes when you cross some invisible barrier or trigger some unknown condition. The screen of your interface blinks green and the voice of S0 announces that your mission is now complete. Your consciousness is slowly and smoothly decoupled from that of your host, leaving him to ponder his future and his fate while you are led to the dark void that exists in the inbetween.
((I'll PM you your upgrade points when I can.))
Campaign, Ike!
With any luck the massive outbreak of magical catastrophes will halt any potential invasion plans.
In any case, ready to move out. Fetch the others and answer any of their questions. Pick up any would-be counterinvaders and hangers-on, then head out bravely into unfathomable danger.
I suppose get dressed and try to find at least a basic weapon then meet up with the others and get ready to go.
I suppose get dressed and try to find at least a basic weapon then meet up with the others and get ready to go.
Tell my meatshields to set this man up. Spare no expense, he's a hero reborn!
Ike delivers an incredibly passionate speech (and perhaps a bit exaggerated and over the top at times) about Nikolai and why he's the coolest monster-hunting dude there ever was and how he has the cool gas mask and everything. His meatshields take this to heart and set Nikolai up with some pretty awesome equipment considering their resources. He is given an old monster hunter set supposedly belonging to one of the village's founders. It has been well maintained and is still in excellent condition. The clothes are made out of grey and black cloth with metal reinforcements, made to be light and allow for quick movement. It covers almost all of the wearer's body except for the eyes and they insist that it is more than capable of protecting from things like fire and poison. For a weapon he receives a combination of a long yet light spear and a shield made out of layers of metal and animal hides.
The reason they gave it is that Ike made a pretty convincing case about how a weapon and armour set made to circle around and flank monsters would not be very useful in a battlefield, where confusion, low space and large numbers of enemies make armour more important, so it would be best to give those tools to someone who could ensure no monster would bring their journey to an untimely end. Ike also kinda promised that Nikolai would ride with him in the front due to his years of monster hunting experience giving him a keen ability to sense and deal with danger, so they probably have high expectations about him putting those weapons to good use should they encounter any monsters on their journey.
Ready whenever
Alan, In Good Moral Standing
"I'm sure that won't have negative repercussions down the line."
Let's go find Ike. I shall determine more of Bill And Ted's powers at a later date.
Ready to move out at any time.
In the morning, the Players joined by the would-be soldiers gather at gate on the edge of the village. They load the carts and mules with the final batches of supplies, checking and double-checking nervously, trying to make sure they have everything. For some enthusiastic young men, this will be the first time leaving their hometown and there's a good chance it could also be their last. Words of love are whispered, promises of safe return are extracted, goodbyes are said, prayers are chanted, wishes, curses and words of encouragement are shouted and then soon you can no longer hear them, only see them whenever you look behind. As the village disappears from view, one young man starts singing slowly and quietly, tapping his weapon on the cart to keep the rhythm. The others join him one by one and soon they become loud and laughing as they playfully shove each other or yell the name of someone or some inside joke.
I know the stories of the wives and mothers of heroes of old
those heroic men they would scold
and they would give them a curse and benediction
'Do not go to war heroically to die
for those that do eternally in battlefields they lie'
And so I was told the same by a girl to me very special
that I should love her with my all
'An oath of safe return and marriage gives you direction
For lost is a war already
if you have nobody to return to and nothing steady'
Know soldier that the one who wins in war and combat
is not the one who wears a hard hat
It's love for life that is in a fight the best protection
So eat and drink and have some fun
for in war those with nothing to lose become undone
...
With their spirits lifted the singing continues, taking a more confident tone, singing hymns to the gods of blood, of protection and family, of just war, singing about heroes of old performing incredible feats of strength and cunning, singing about why their kingdom is the best and all the stinking tree-elves can burn... At one point Alan decides to join in with his performance of Bad Boys, in which he mangles half the words but still manages to get the others to sing along.
...
You continue traveling with only short stops to drink and eat, moving fast and making good progress. By the time the sun has disappeared behind the horizon the singing and conversations between the men have died down to quiet murmurs punctuated by the occasional quiet laugh and even some snoring. With what little light is left, you can barely make out the unmoving shapes in the distance, humanoid forms both large and small forming hundreds of rows, like a stone army. Those traveling with you say that this is the Field of Statues. Nobody knows exactly how it started, but by now it has become a place where all sorts of people bring statues, from slaves and bandits to kings. Some do it to display their money and power, some to display their skill as artists, some to leave something behind, some as a sign of repentance or to fulfill a promise to a god... They inform you to be careful not to treat them badly, for some of them are trapped to ward off thievery and vandalism.
*sniff sniff* "What's that smell?""It's blood!"Hmm... That's right. They also told you that this was the place where some refugees that were trying to avoid the war were ambushed by some sort of bird monsters. This happened only a couple of days ago. You could try to rest here, try to use the statues as cover while you sleep, maybe look for survivors or scavenge some supplies off the corpses. There are no hills and very little vegetation around here, so finding another place that provides any sort of cover would require a fair bit of luck. And everyone (but most of all the animals carrying you) could use some rest. On the other hand, that bird monster attack happened during the night, so maybe staying here will just lead to the same thing happening to you. Maybe stopping before reaching the field of statues or after passing through it would be a better idea.
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Topic: Special People: Mechanical Syndrome (Read 1148822 times)