((This turn is very very very overdue sorry for making you all wait assignment rush then exams then being absolutely fucked afterwards because of how the whole aforementioned cluster fuck kinda screws with you.))
James Heign:
"Capacitor charge... probably not anything good. Alright then. Time for heroics! Blast, that still doesn't work."
That said, James is a mechanic. First, he tries to figure out if he can use the terminal to get admin access and shut down the capacitor charging. Quickly. If that doesn't work, he looks for an elevator or a downwards stairway that would lead to the computer he needs to destroy.
A quick glance is enough to make you realize it won't be that easy, figures. There's no damn keyboard, the damn thing must've interfaced with the circuits themselves or some shit. Well, time for the classic caveman approach then - hit it till it dies. One problem - the way down is at the end of the next hallway and it's filled with those metal flowers which are currently blindly lashing at the air with their tendrils.
DOOOOODGE the incoming stuff and talk the survivor down: "Hey man, you may want to surrender. I mean sure, we may be on opposing side but this shit is so damn confusing that I got no idea what's going on anymore. I got first aid kit I can lend you. We can talk this through. How about it? Okay, ambushing you like that was a dick move, I admit that, but you were building a frame and probably go on a rampage in my city so I couldn't take the risk. This is a god damn war and all. ...what I'm even apologizing for, fuck this shit, I'm an engineer for god's sake, why I'm even fighting here? This is crazy, don't you agree?"
Finish him with 09AIAR if he doesn't appear to be a very wise person.
You walk forwards, casually swaying out the way of that final blind spray. The final few rounds miss by a hair. Just as expected. It was a distance that while certainly small was entirely certain, a dodge is a dodge be it by an inch or by a mile, no need to jump and flail around more than necessary right?
The guy just stares at you jaw agape for a few awkward moments before slowly answering. You have the distinct feeling that were it not for the calming effects of that diadem, he'd probably be shitting his pants right about now.
"Um... sure... I am completely fine with not dying. So uh, what now...?"Option #4, please.
You are on the surface. The surface which is trying to to its best impression of the apocalypse right now. Frame and construct duke it out to a backdrop of burning tents and Geiger-esque biometal fields. The noise is incessant, countless weapons with countless origins chattering away both far and near. It's a disorientating, chaotic mess, but now, even now, you know that the League is prevailing. That, was predetermined. The attacking force of constructs simply lacked the numbers and firepower to be more than what in the end, will be regarded a nuisance in the grand scheme of things. They had shock, they had awe, but when it comes down to it, it was just harassment. The analysts are saying that after than initial landing, League casualties will plummet. They'll be cautious. They'll take their time. But once they hit their stride, those constructs will be crushed.
Won't take more than a day. And that day is your chance, your window of opportunity. To heroically charge in, guns blazing as you, not-so-heroically loot shit and get the fuck out before anyone complains.
Your clients in particular have given you a list, a very short list detailed as follows with what scarce intel you have included with the various parts
- Barrel of Infinite Monkeys - A barrel that can release a limitless amount of monkeys. Don't ask.
- Monopolar Ferrites - Possibly a component of the "demon" anomaly weapons. Likely awaiting transit off-world for study. Likely a small container with a lot of warning messages.
- Thermal Area Denial System - Some kind of device that can freeze of incinerate its surrounding area. Probably also being sent off-world. Bulky.
- 'Phoenix' Autonomous Weapon System - Some sort of unmanned weapon capable of regenerating even after being completely destroyed. Determined to be too great a threat at present to be move off-world, its remains are presently held in a peripheral frame bay where they are trying to turn it into a power source.
Ideally, you'd be getting all four, you're getting a hefty commission after all, but, they'll be more than happy with just one of them if you can manage it.
Currently, you're prone amidst the torn remains of a tent, four automatons stalk towards you, two with smart cannons, two with cursed katanas. They haven't seen you yet, they know you're
here but not
where.
The smart cannons could engage you as soon as you reveal yourself. Assuming they're using standard magical payloads, your armor should provide some protection, it's designed to mitigate such attacks after all, but best not to rely on that - it could save your life, but that's about as far as the manufacturers are willing to promise. The swords on the other hand, they'll have to close the distance first, there's an initial ranged slash when they initially unsheath, but they've expended that already, of course, up close your armor won't do much, it can handle arcane energy, lightning and the like, enhanced physical strikes not so much.
You on the other hand, are armed with a 01GPSG, a Model 1 General-Pupose Submachine Gun.
A few things to clear up first: it is not suppressed, it is not a sniper rifle, it is not a heavy weapon, and it is most certainly not ergonomic. It is not suppressed, but it is so quiet the only thing you'll hear is the pull of the trigger. It is not a sniper rifle, but it will kill its mark from kilometers away. It is not a heavy weapon, but it will threaten anything short of a frame. And it is not ergonomic. It really, really, really isn't. There is absolutely no feedback when firing it at all - you pull the trigger and that's that, no kick, no flash, no sound. Pull the trigger and if it wasn't for the display you wouldn't be able to tell how many rounds you've just put down range. It is hard to aim - it lacks a stock, it doesn't have a bipod, and it is so ridiculously short you can barely hold it with both hands. So even if you have a scope on it, and you do, it's still hard to aim because you've got nothing to steady it with. And the cherry on the top of all of this, is that it doesn't even look or feel like a proper weapon. It looks like someone tried to pass a bubble gun off as an SMG by flattening the top to add a rail and spray painting it black.
The earlier versions? They were transparent and lacked an ammo counter, so not only would everyone think you were holding a children's toy, it could end up even less effective than one when you run dry and don't notice for half a damn firefight.
Point is, it's weird, it's quirky, but it works. Usually. And against these constructs, it'll definitely hurt.
...Use Arrow of Simurgh on the anomaly.
[TRAN: 1] Resist
You look at the fields of biometal and time seems to stop. It starts with a few points, points so tiny the naked eye cannot see them, points projected straight into your mind. Tiny imperfections visible only through an electron microscope. Next come the larger ones, and the larger ones. They build upon one another, lines and points. Faults, fissures, points of stress, points of damage. They spread. More and more, and where they intersect, they glow brighter and brighter. You see all the faults, scattered, seemingly arbitrarily positioned points. And in this instant you know each and every last one of them better than even your mother's face. Some will topple the spires. Some will still the mouths. But the more subtle ones, the ones you have enough firepower to strike, hit the right ones and patches of the field will start to die.
You'd say it's just a matter of hitting but it's a field, a fucking field. Those aren't exactly reknowned for their ninja-like reflexes now are they? No hitting it is the easy part. The hard part? That's the smog pouring out of it. Smog that wasn't there before.
Well, maybe that's not quite right.
It was there, it was there the whole time. In that first charge, you could hear some of the other pilots complaining about it. And then screaming about it. Screaming about all the things that dwelt within. They usually didn't scream for very long.
You really can't catch a break can you?
"Come on, man. I'm a cool magic wizard now." Shoot a 59 gzdz(comp 16) at the nearest enemy unit, on the off chance I've got the range. "See? I can fight a frame. Probably. With help."
[COMP: 15/4] 59 gzdz
[UTAR vs. MDEF: AUTOSUCCESS] Spell attack
You feel a tingling in your hand and point it with fingers splayed at the bearron. There is a thunderous detonation and flash of blue-white as a storm of lightning leaps from your fingers and out to the frame. The lightning arcs across the mercurial connections of the arms and straight into the cockpit. The frame falls silent and topples over, disabled, at least for now.
As it turns out, you most certainly can fight a frame, and it seems that the remaining constructs have taken notice seeing as they're now headed your way.
"Worry not, I have no intention of dying yet."
Look for a coil of anything conductive, either on my dead friend or on my way into the server room.
Jam it into the base of my neck and channel "22"
Grab my foe's hat, gun and check his pockets for any items of value or interest.
Finally, if I have not done so already head (back) to the server room.
(If I was unable to find some wiring somehow, even in light fittings like last time etc, just go straight to the server room)
Unfortunately the lights are LEDs set deep in the the ceiling, out of reach, looks like you won't get out of this one the regular way. You still have enough steam to finish the fight though. You grab the hat and gun, but as you look back down, you find that he's gone. There's no body, no blood, all traces of his existence erased save for what your wounds and your loot. You step forward and open the server room door using the various racks to support yourself you push through to the terminal and open the files that were the goal of this far longer than standard mission.
Say, before you expire, do you want to be resurrected back at that apartment? We can arrange
for other venues, some false identities, and a few cards to go with it.
Additionally completing this mission has unlocked new resources for our players and more for yourself.
You can all now imprint small Armour Frames that you have previously accessed onto the network to be summoned at
will after enough time has elapsed.
+9 EXT points
+8 INT points
[+] Tactical Genius
[++] Extended Operation
"Ooh, new toys. It's just like Christmas. Anyway, I have an ability that might let me get some more information about that frame than you currently have, if you want to take me down to see it. Although I suppose it could wait until after I sweep the perimeter."
If they take me down to see the frame, use Equipment Check on it, then let the researchers know if I find anything useful for them. If not, go get my new frame and use Equipment Check on it.
"Sure, you have full clearance. We'll send you down, come along now." The agent brings you down through dozens of layers of the facility, the air becoming hot and thick from the depth. After a long elevator ride down you come out before the titanic machine. It stands head and shoulders above even an ARES class. It's, breathtaking, beautiful in the way only divinity can be even in its current state, a wounded god on life support. You activate your scan.
But nothing happens.
No dice, its Defense Matrix is shielding it from our scans.
If you want to know what it is, that I can tell you.
It is a Protector unit. They were mechanical shells created for the purpose of protecting humanity's interests that grant their pilots
virtual godhood.
They hold enough control over reality that physical form was irrelevant in performance impact. As such they could be created in man's image.
At their heart, Frames are imperfect replications, built from what survived the Fall and whatever else is needed to supplement them in
carrying out their purpose. As you can see, there is still a long way to go.
Your new frame like the PHARAOH before it was a LUPUS variant, and the two were like night and day. The PHARAOH screamed power. A cannon so heavy it had to be mounted to the back, arms chained across the front as if barely restrained monsters, and that ominous black lustre of its talons steeped with the promise of bloodshed. The new AVALON on the other hand, it looks sort of like what would happen if you got all of R&D drunk and bet them that they couldn't make a working anime frame. For starters, its got wings. Four of them, golden and mechanical, folded on its back in a distinctively insectoid fashion. The chaingun has been replaced with a sleeker affair, something flatter and wider, mounted to the forearm and possessing a distinct lack of moving parts, must be some kind of energy weapon. The armor bulges at certain points on the legs - thruster housings, like those of larger frames, these must be the jump jets they were talking about, speaking of the armor, it the texture seems to be a bit different as well, some kind of different plating perhaps?
We'll say that you use Equipment Scan here as well since Jus never really carried out a scan on Unit-0.
AF01-AVALON. LUPUS variant using technology from UNIT-0 and designed for close-range urban warfare.
It is equipped with graphene armor affording it the same ballistics protection at reduced weight
but the armour also leaves it more vulnerable to thermal weaponry.
Primary weapon is a plasma rifle created using the same technology as the ZGMF-SOL:18I unit.
Accurate. But the bolts it fires attenuate with distance and are unsuitable for any engagement beyond midrange,
it is also capable of generating a blade of plasma for close quarters combat. Testing has shown that use of the
blade for can result in the frame or weapon sustaining damage or impairment from the superheated spray
it produces when cutting objects if the user is not careful.
Further testing has suggested that it only ever be referred to as a 'bayonet' lest users become too eager in
its use and start slashing random objects or going for needlessly flashy attacks instead of a quick stab to
the cockpit.
Energy-based jump jets allow it to make short hops to close in or traverse rough terrain.
The new weapon and thrusters have greatly increased the required generator outputs to operate it,
those wings are heatsinks and can be deployed to cool the frame faster or to glide and skim over
short obstacles.
"Would you just die already?"
Same as before!
[COMP: 11/8] Spell, 12 ixc
[UTAR vs. MDEF: 8 vs. 5] Spell attack and Caladlebolg
[MDEF vs. UTAR: 4 vs. 6] Avoiding the beams
[LTAR vs. MDEF: 8 vs. 6] Gargoyle attack
You strike out with a new burst of necrotic energy at the offending PUPPET frames striking one down as it's central core begins to disintegrate causing it to fly into a building in a sooty explosion of rocket fuel. The blast rocks the battlefield slightly and you are thrown off balance. The PUPPET that remains takes advantage of your momentary imbalance and puts a beam straight through your right arm.
Nothing happens. Nothing at all. It was the last PUPPET so there were no other targeting beams for its attack to intersect, and no intersections means no explosions. Which is to say it couldn't do much. Well, it could try punching you but considering its light armor and your combination of magic, speed, and shotgun? You wouldn't be betting on their odds.
Especially not when your gargoyle pins it to a building and rakes apart the flailing frame with its entropic claws.
A whoop of joy comes from the remaining soldiers as they stick their heads out, cautiously training their weapons on the sphere of silvery light. A few look your way, none for very long, you are still a bogeyman after all, yeah you're the bogeyman who saved them but also the one who just gave a live demonstration of what carnage he's capable of.
Eventually one of them speaks, NEE, a captain - you've seen the uniform plenty after all,
"Um (fuck) uh thanks. I, I don't think we'd have gotten out of that alive if it weren't for you. You have no idea how scared we were-" he bites his tongue
"or... maybe you do! I, I'm not saying you're a monster or anything but... er, um" he looks around at his comrades for help, his comrades who ware slowly backing away
"y'know... the armor and freaky voic-" wow, he's like a deer caught in the headlights
"L-look, you're scary okay! With your armor and your magic and, " he gestures at your gargoyle
"whatever that is. I don't know how to talk to you okay? (Fuck) Er, do you drink? Could we buy you a beer or something? I mean, you did just save all our asses."+4 EXT points
+4 INT points
[+] Effective Methods
((All of you gained a new ability due to Bigf00t completing his mission. Check the datasheet for more info!))
Author
Topic: Perplexicon - Down the Foxhole - Raining Mecha (Read 180198 times)