Port Anchorage, Northern Ridge, Askarian | 233d/3008AD | Von Hapsburg System
Askarian Shores
Snow (Low visibility. Actions toward distant objects incur a small penalty based on distance)
Freezing Wind (-1 to all actions when exposed)
Use all my strength and MASH that fucking ball down the hole.
[5] Your ball phases through the first gate it hits and leaps over the rest, landing squarely into the hole in the center. The entire board appears to distort into a mess, with the outer edges becoming increasingly blue while the inner gates turn red and then fade away. Then, after some time, coins begin materializing under the glass.
It's probably just an artificial display, but the effect looks cool. You just won four kilos, which is enough for a sweet new hoverscooter. Either way, it's well above your pay for this excursion, although the Orion bounty might be worth more.
The rowdy fisher from before leaps out of his chair and approaches you, cracking his knuckles like some sort of 21'st century holotape show.
"Now wait just a minute there, this scumeater* won't be going nowhere with the cash. That was a fluke. Blasted machine." says the rowdy fisherman, brandishing a curvy knife.
"It's a luck based game! He got luck!" exclaims a merchant, who reaches for a pistol holstered under his leather jacket.
"I bet he makes a living off exploits." shouts a female bounty hunter, who approaches you with her fists--which both make humming noises as she raises them.
"Yeah! You types aren't welcome here!" says another drunk gambler, who heads to the wall and grabs a stuffed fish to use as a bludgeon. In fact, that particular species of fish has a long snout ridged with sharp barbs, which would be nasty if they got in your face.
The three hostile speakers--a fisherman, a bounty huntress, and woman in a captain's uniform--begin to move toward you, although you haven't taken the gold from the pile yet. They are most obviously drunk, but thanks to the latest generation of gene mods a lot of humans have an abnormally high tolerance to the negative physical effects of alcohol like dizziness and vomiting, although their cognitive faculties remain distinctly impaired.
You'd call for help, but it seems that the Guild engineer and officer have disappeared with the owner of the facility, while the fishermen from the boat you invaded are cheering on the attackers! Most of the bar is cheering them on, in fact! Your only remote ally is the guy with the gun.
*Refers to the fact that a lot of self-sufficient spacecraft use algae as their staple crop, including it in most foods served (and flavored).
...
Habitat Ship Gamma, Askarian Orbit | 233d/3008AD | Von Hapsburg System
Urban Station
City Manners (-1 to first impressions)
"So...if you ever need any help or find anything involving my race just give a call, please. I might be able to get you in contact with some more knowledgeable Zumbar."
Float out of the office and go to the Guild base.
[4] You float out of the office, but decide to take an experimental route down to ground level. You climb up the stairs to roof access, then check to make sure the outer walls are lined with metals. They are, which means you can stick to them fairly well. You begin the process of gliding down the giant pyramidal structure, levitating just a human foot off the surface, until you reach the bottom at a safe speed. Fun!
You head toward the city district with the least autonomy from the guild--Orichalum District, named for the Orichalum pool, one of the most popular recreational facilities on the cityship before they refitted it to have more normal gravity. The ship used to have the gravity of Luna, Terra's moon, which lends itself very well to having a large indoor pool. In fact, humans
used to be able to run across the surface of the water when the gravity was low. Now, however, the Orichalum pool is a lounge for the rich founders of the city, who have more than earned their savings in planning and taking part in the constructing of the three cityships.
The sector feels rather deserted, at least on the streets. Most of the buildings don't have windows, and while the occasional car drives by, the only pedestrians walking about are important-looking people like doctors and officers, usually busy talking to subordinates on their tablets or looking through data.
You approach Lawrence Hall, a building where research and development is conducted, so that you could perhaps figure out something related to what the scientist looked through. However, you can't enter because there is a large evergreen blocking the way. The tree's roots are split into two large clusters, which are moving around like legs.
The tree is walking across the street. It's approaching the door of Lawrence Hall.
...
Before you can bring something into the building, you'll have to show it to the authorities. Fortunately, it's their job to figure out what things are so they don't blow anything up.
It turns out that the cylinder is a container, designed to be able to stand up on three legs (which fold) or back together with other containers, designed specifically to tessellate neatly in a hexagonal pattern. It appears to be locked, and nobody's found a way to hack the alien architecture yet.
The local workers bring in a couple of experts to do their thing. Alan de Château, a leading computer scientist not directly affiliated with the Guild, but entrusted with security clearance, begins to work on the device from one of the other cityships, operating via a robot with a holographic screen depicting his face and two manipulators resembling human hands. He rolls over to greet you, then starts to find ways to interface with the item.
Meanwhile, you feel the ground shake beneath you. This station doesn't have quakes... and others in the room notice it as well, chattering and murmuring among themselves. One person, a tenured researcher, suggests that someone is testing a weapon downstairs.
...
The Jolly Roger, Franz| 238d/3008AD | Von Hapsburg System
Zero Gravity
All items have no weight penalty.
new
Plasma Cloud
Deals damage every turn
((The weirdest thing about walking trees, is that they exist.))
Well s***, I'd be pummeled with bullets at this rate, maybe destroying the plasma conduit will take out the spinal railgun.
"F*** it, I'm gonna blow up the room!"
Fire at the plasma conduit with the heavy rifle.
[3] The conduit should, by all means be armored. Despite that, you manage to create a noticeable deformation, which may have caused the plasma stream to deflect slightly toward you. You don't see it, but the place you fired at on the conduit starts heating up, which causes a runaway melting effect that creates a breach in seconds.
[5] You foresaw this, of course, with your intellect and tact. The incoming pirates from behind you are not as well-educated on the dangers of plasma, however, and a plume of deadly ionized gas quickly engulfs them and wrecks their suits, taking them out for the most part. Red Guy is still a threat, but Alice has moved into position to fire at him. He shoots first, dealing nothing but scratch damage, while Alice guns him down, riddling his suit with holes and causing his atmosphere to vent into space, adding to the unholy mix of plasma conduit filler, boiled coolant, and smoke that is rapidly filling the room.
Author
Topic: 3008 AD: The Guild Chronicles - Guild Home Base - Theorycrafting! (Read 72092 times)