Eventually the technicians manage to set up the projector and give the people at the front the signal to begin the presentation. Olivier Villeneuve breaks off his conversation and stands up to speak, his mouth breaking out into a smile underneath his well-groomed, black-haired mustache.
"Greetings everyone to the Cold Fusion Initiative's California base! We are sorry for the delay but it appears that our technical difficulties have been resolved so let us start without delay. But before this orientation session begins I would like to introduce a man who needs no introduction, the founder and president of the CFI, Yakov Matveev!" Everyone applauds as Yakov steps forward to take center stage, awed that the very head of the CFI would be here today to talk to them.
As Yakov waits for the applause to die down, a picture of Earth from space appears on the screen behind him, with the sun is just starting to rise from behind the globe.
"I will say but a few words. English is not my first language and you are all anxious to start work," he says, his Russian accent thick and barely understandable.
"Today marks the next phase of the CFI's Fusion-2 Robot Program, part of the Warfare Development Program. Many people ask me, in this age of nuclear disarmament and peace, why we are devoting so much money and effort to the development of arms and weapons? I shall tell you why. It is not because I am a warmonger, nor because I share the dream of Napoleon and Hitler. Look behind me, what do you see?" He sweeps his hand behind him to encompass the globe against the harsh blackness of space.
"The Earth, a precious jewel of a planet, a lifeboat in the void. The CFI has done so much for the people of the Earth, to improve their lives. Shall we shirk the defence of this jewel because some would say that we are tyrants? No! That would make us hypocrites, the worse of the worse! As you work here, in this facility, I want you to keep in mind that you are the protectors, the guardians of humanity. Someday, and may it not be within our lifetimes, your work will be needed to defend humanity from the dangers it faces. I hope that you and your efforts will not be wanting. Thank you." Yakov bows his head and returns to his seat with uncertain applause as everyone is puzzled and unsettled by his speech.
Olivier quickly steps forward, the slideshow shifting to show a general overview and floor-plan of the base.
"Ah. What a speech from the President? Now then I am Olivier Villeneuve and, as I'm sure you all know, I am in charge of CFI California. I am certain that we will all get to know each other very well in the coming months. Unfortunately, due to circumstances outside of our control, for the next week all movement in and out of the base will be heavily restricted. In the meantime you'll be able to enjoy the housing and recreational facilities here on the base." Olivier indicates the appropriate spot on the map with his hand.
"The Institute cares about the wellbeing of its employees, and as you can see the base boasts a swimming pool, tennis court, shopping center, movie theatre and some of the finest cuisine ever experienced in a government institution. I am certain that after spending a few days here many of you will decide to live on base and will want to never leave it." The rest of the session is pretty standard, with Olivier and the other leaders talking about standard operating and security procedures, safety and similar matters. They talk about everyone's duties and responsibilities, not just on the job but out of it since everyone represents the CFI to the public.
Then a shadow descends on the gathering, causing everyone to turn and stare out the window.
With a loud crash of breaking glass, a pair of hover-vehicles smash through the side of the building and into the assembly. Screams ring out as people are cut by shards of glass or burnt by the jets of the vehicles. Olivier and the other heads of the base manage to leap out of the way in time, but Yakov is too slow to dodge and the front of the first hovercar slams into him, carrying him across the room and pinning him against the far wall. Menacing figures jump out of the vehicles and descend upon the wounded and those too slow to flee with axes in their hands. Their black uniforms are like nothing you've ever seen before, with helmets which appear to be polished skulls and yellow lenses in the eyesockets. Amidst the chaos a large, hunchbacked figure steps out of a hovercar to stare down at Yakov. It pulls back the hood of its robe to reveal two heads, one of a startlingly beautiful woman and the other of some terrible lizard from the dawn of mankind.
"Did you think that you could evade us so easily, Ilia? Or should I call you by your true name, Yakov?" the woman asks, her blood-red lips curled up into a cruel smile.
"Maza-Maria!" Yukov chokes out,
"So my day has come. But so soon?" "Of course," the lizard growls,
"Not everyone was as unfaithful as you, Ilia. Despite your best efforts it is now time for the Skull Brigade to reveal themselves and crush your precious CFI." "Yes! It is such a shame that you will not be around to see the fruits of our labours!" Maza-Maria pulls an axe from its robe and brings it down on Matveev, beheading him in a single blow. With the dirty deed done the creature returns to its hovercar, accompanied by an individual you all vaguely recognize as the Head of Software Development for CFI California. As the vehicles slowly pull back out of the room, Maza-Maria yells at their soldiers left behind,
"Skull Brigade! Listen to my words!" "I must leave you to carry out our glorious mission! Heed my command! Kill everyone you can find! Leave none alive!"
MISSION 1
Assault on CFI California!
A hush descends upon the room as the hovercars leave the broken room. The soldiers of the Skull Brigade, having run out of easy opponents to kill, stare at the assembled pilots, their skull helmets appearing to grin with glee and their axes dripping with blood. Most of the surviving members of the CFI have fled, but Olivier still stands and faces off against a group of bulky axemen. Behind him is a young woman, dressed in a sweater and labcoat, trying her best to look brave as she tightly grips a experimental-looking gun. Hopefully everyone remembers their self-defence training, because it certainly doesn't appear that help will be arriving anytime soon.
Amazing Grace (kj1225): O O O O O O
SP: 1
Power: 3
Defence: 3
Speed: 5
Perk: Emergency Repairs
SP Abilities: Accel, Confuse, Counter, Hope, Hotblooded, Zeal
Anna O'Fenrich (Twinwolf): O O O O O O O O
SP: 1
Power: 3
Defence: 2
Speed: 4
Perk: Ace Pilot
SP Abilities: Accel, Distract, Guard, Hotblooded, Snipe, Zeal
Elizabeth Slate (Kansa): O O O O O O O
SP: 1
Power: 2
Defence: 4
Speed: 4
Perk: Unbreakable
SP Abilities: Counter, Guard, Rage, Resolve, Riposte, Roundhouse
Iris Lindermann (IamanElfCollaborator): O O O O O O O
SP: 1
Power: 1
Defence: 4
Speed: 5
Perk: Ace Pilot
SP Abilities: Alert, Command, Confuse, Enable, Guard, Resolve
Jake Hawkeye (Tryrar): O O O O O O O
SP: 1
Power: 3
Defence: 3
Speed: 4
Perk: Rapid Combine
SP Abilities: Counter, Resolve, Snipe, Sprint, Targeting, Ultimate Technique
John Noj (Spiderking50): O O O O O
SP: 1
Power: 4
Defence: 3
Speed: 5
Perk: Ace Pilot
SP Abilities: Acrobatics, Hotblooded, One-Inch Punch, Prayer, Resolve, Riposte
Olaf Wurfshire (Cabbage_Patch): O O O O O O
SP: 1
Power: 4
Defence: 3
Speed: 4
Perk: Coordination
SP Abilities: Counter, Distract, Enable, One-Inch Punch, Prayer, Roundhouse
Ray Berenson (Sentient Bowtie): O O O O O O
SP: 1
Power: 5
Defence: 2
Speed: 4
Perk: Unbreakable
SP Abilities: Guard, Hotblooded, One-Inch Punch, Riposte, Ultimate Technique, Zeal
Sigfried Raymond (Inferior Cyclops): O O O O O O O
SP: 1
Power: 4
Defence: 3
Speed: 3
Perk: Gun License (6/6)
SP Abilities: Acrobatics, Confuse, One-Inch Punch, Riposte, Roundhouse, Sprint
Nicolasa Herrera: O O O O
SP: 1
Power: 3
Defence: 4
Speed: 6
Perk: Taser - Range 3 Attack
SP Abilities: Confuse, Distract, Guard, Hope, Prayer, Snipe
Olivier Villeneuve: O O O O O O
SP: 1
Power: 4
Defence: 5
Speed: 5
Perk: Knows Kungfu
SP Abilities: Acrobatics, Command, One-Inch Punch, Resolve, Roundhouse, Sprint
Yakov Matveev: X X X X X X
SP: 6
Power: 2
Defence: 2
Speed: 7
Perk: First Aid
SP Abilities: Confuse, Counter, Distract, Guard, Prayer, Sprint
Skull Squadie (x8): O
Power: 1
Defence: 0
Speed: 5
Abilities: None
Skull Axeman (x4): O O
Power: 2
Defence: 1
Speed: 5
Abilities: Coordination
Skull Blocker (x5): O O O
Power: 1
Defence: 2
Speed: 4
Abilities: ZoC (1) - Any enemies that move within (1) Range of this unit automatically stop on the square that they entered.
((I'm not going to lie, I'm not terribly fond of the map. I just took a tileset from an NES game and rearranged that as needed, then wrote a bunch of letters on top. Hopefully you guys can figure out everything you need from it (such that broken tiles block movement, but not acrobatics or line of sight) and can understand who's who. If not I'm always here to help out. I can't promise that the next map will look any better, but I'll be investigating ways to improve it at least.))
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Topic: Cold Fusion Initiative: M1 - Assault on CFI California! [IC Thread] (Read 11021 times)