We're supposed to be the flexable ones? They're trying to teach flexability by encouraging all students to do whatever the fuck they want, instead of teaching them how to think on their feet, adapt to differing situations, quickly analyze data, and make decisions? And the smallest tactical unit is 200 freaking people, with zero training for junior officers or NCOs? Or basic teamwork 101? No wonder this place is fucked up.
..I don't have time to fix this situation, not that I think I could, given the quality of these other students. I mean, hell, there was that bee girl who spent three minutes belittling everyone, and then completely broke down when presented with the first genuine challenge she's probably seen in years.
On the plus side, 200 people means there ought to be someone who has a brain, so there should be something to work with.
Look around for anyone who seems to have brought scouting or spotting equipment. Camera, telescope, binoculars, magic drone, rune-covered scrying bowl, I don't care. Someone who wants to know something about the opposition. Link up and find out where I can go to see something useful.
If there is nobody like that, or if I'm blown off, so be it. Head towards enemy territory and try to find an observation point for myself, eyes open.
It's hard to imagine that people will still be willing to blow you off, especially after how hard you'd figuratively knocked Miss Beewax off her high horse earlier, though you would pay to be able to do it literally. Still, it's better to not get your hopes up just yet.
After a few minutes of searching, you came across a young woman with wavy auburn hair streaked with hot pink strands and blue eyes. She was directing a throng of students toward the gate. Holding a carbine of a futuristic style, she carried the air of being a soldier. When you approached her, the student gave you a big smile as if she was simply meeting a friend she'd knew for so long, never mind that you honestly didn't give two shits about her.
“Hey bean! It's good that you joined us!” she said excitedly. “Mighty weird that they would deposit us out here without combat training of any kind. Sure we instinctively know how to use our weapons, abilities, and skills anyway since they're bound to our souls but still a little confidence booster goes a long way for the less militarily inclined. Anyway, how may I help you?”
After you tell her what you wanted, the woman's smile widened. “Anyone who can put that tight-assed dolly in her place is a welcomed comrade in my book! Now all we have to do is prove that she is, in fact, a Marxologist and I can biff me a commie. Mother shall be pleased. Did you know that the Mainframe is your Mother and True Friend? Excuse me, I'm just getting ahead of myself here. My name is Berigeuse, formerly Private Beribleu of Platoon #712 of the glorious Galactic Army and proud citizen of the Greater Sol Empire. Now, let's go hunt down those grody Contorted. I bet they're communists too.”
Peering through the scope of her weapon, Berigeuse viewed the gate. The stone was damaged in multiple places and dozens of claw marks dotted the stones, indicating that they were climbed, possibly without the aid of tools. Dried splatters of a back liquid stained the upper edge of the wall, some of they intermingled with the occasional brownish red splosh of dried human blood. Looking through the remains of the smashed portcullis, Berygeuse saw only a field of trampled grass. Whatever that remained to be seen was beyond her line of sight.
“Everything seem all clear though you can never from this position. As far as I can tell, there's nothing but flat ground between us and the outer buildings of this labyrinth of a complex. Let's hope the Contorted communists don't have any guns,” Berygeuse said as she lowered her gun and turned to you. “Why don't we go ahead and take a gander? Why knows, maybe we'll see them before they see us...”
Berygeuse stared at your empty hands, confusion written on her face. “Ah, where's your weapon? Unless the Contorted are into prizefighting, you're not going to stand a chance out here, Lemmy.”
begin examining the battlefield, looking for and moving to the closest high-ground possible and watching for any contorted moving in the area.
”Ey Lemmy! With me ya trickster, I need ya as a spotter!”
Jun slides across the grass on her board, coming to a stop next to Metz. "I'll spot for you, dude." she says, "No guarantees I won't also get spotted, but I can like, run interference or something too."
(Congratulations, you have uncovered the Aiding Modifier! Whenever a student directly aids another student, the recipient get's a +1D6 bonus to relevant Attributes as long as the action continues. For example, helping a student lift a heavy object or hide from pursuers boosts their Might and Stealth respectively. However, the modifier ends when either participant stops the action, either by doing something else or suffering an attack.)
A skateboarder helping a hunter spot for targets? Few places can boast of making such a pairing possible.
Moving through the gate with the other students, Metz climbed up the gate's stairs, carefully stepping pass black stains on the stones. Once he made it to the top, he rested his rifle between a pair of crenelations and peered through the scope.
Below him, Jun received confirmation from Metz that he was in position and moved ahead, gazing over the expanse. Making sure she remained within eyesight of the other students, Jun moved forward and functioned as Met'z eyes and ears.
[Metz (
Aided by Jun): +1D6 to Perception (2) and Accuracy (10)→ Perception (6) and Accuracy (14)]
As Jun and the other students got halfway the nearest buildings, Metz could see several shapes in the shadows of the ruins that seemed too organic to be stone and debris.
(Yes Toby is singing. The song is Men Of Harlech: Except Toby would be singing it in a moderately deeper voice so it will stir the men (and women, if we have any) to ever greater acts of valour! I also sing the 'placid skies that hear our cries shall lose their bolts of thunder' bit a little differently. And yes I sing this regularly IRL.)
Toby uses Music of the Ainur (Psyche)!Quality: 4 , Toby's Charisma: 5 (+1)
+3 Willpower and +3 Agility to surrounding allies!
♪Students of
Harlech Altera Vita, hear your cry! This red day, many
Saxons Contorted shall die!
♪Your song filled the nearby students' hearts with a courage that lifted every doubt they had since arriving here. Unlike the rest of the students, who had to be encouraged to move forward by those of them who were once soldiers, warriors and heroes in their past lives, your little group strolled forward bravely, their fleet-footed steps eventually carrying them toward the front of the group. Likewise boosted, you made sure to stay close to them while keeping up the song, lest the boost disappears. Forward your group walked and not a step back. Though their parents had wept at their funerals long ago, though their sisters and brothers have kept on living though soon many of you will be sleeping on the ground many times, you will bound lightly forward. You will fight for family and friends who are already in the afterlife and for some on the way, bound to your fellow students like siblings.
With your faith in each other, you all will die, and die, and die again until you finally win.
Look around for a suitable melee group heading inward. Join up and head out.
Have Sonics Shaping~Edge prepped for when first skirmish occurs.
Looking around for a group of students who favored melee over ranged combat, you found a group surrounding Toby and decided to join them. Concentrating for a moment, you waved a hand over your katana, smiling with satisfaction as a blade of condensed sound cover its edge. Now your (admittedly abysmal) physical might has been boosted with a bit of magic.
Kana has used Psyche: Sonics-Edge!Might (0) + Intelligence (20) = 20 damage
When Toby used his Psyche (somehow without meaning to, my bad (-_-;) ), you felt as if you was making a last stand against the vicious Saxons. Of course, at least the Saxons are humans unlike these Contorted, who comes from God knows where. No matter, you'll cut them down all the same. Hopefully they are not shinigami, though.
Willpower and Agility boosted by +3!
((Wait, this is still a thing? Wow, right, just gonna wing it for now.))
"You wanna go scout the area for a bit?" Roland asked his bird companion.
Try to figure out how these infernal contraptions work. Do I need to use the bracelet as a sort of horn and yell into it at high volume while holding it in front of my mouth? Yeah, that sounds about right, try that. You can roll a die to see who gets targeted for spittle-filled Roland yelling in their direction.
Also charisma-roll fellow troopers into zealous fury if that is a thing I can do.
After telling your feathery companion to take to the skies and scout ahead, you yelled into the bracelet, causing nearby students to cover their faces to block your high velocity saliva. You then noticed the symbols on the bracelets and took a closer look. Though they appeared to be a collection circles connected to each other by lines bent at different angles, you somehow were able to understand their meanings, even without actually reading. In fact, the symbols appeared to create something of a thought and understanding within your mind, much like that magical screen in that newfangled 'Education Nexus.' You get the feeling that whatever written language that's prevalent in Alterna Vita and possibly Aeteria is much more than human text, that it can store thoughts and understanding to help even those who can't read. It's just as strange as the fact that everyone can speak to and understand each other despite obviously coming from different worlds and cultures. Whatever it may be, it can wait to be figured out. Now, there was a battle to be fought.
Taking a deep breath, you then attempted to rally the nearby students to a state of zeal like the good little Metalshine you are.
Charisma (10): [5,4,6,5,5,5,6,6,1,3] = 8/10 (80%) successes!
Nearby students are Inspired (Increased Willpower and Might) for two turns (ten rounds)!
It seems that Melissa was right about you after all! Upon hearing your rousing speech, the students within earshot gave a loud war cry and made their way through the gate. Filled with determination and bravery that would make a hero blush, they strolled forward like the fighters you'd always knew them to be. So what if the Contorted are scary. They will soon find an enemy that will give them no inch and will give them nil in mercy. The Contorted demons or whatever they are will flee to the deepest bowels of Hell itself to escape from them. Then the students will batter down the gates and enact a Reign of Terror on demon and Contorted alike until there are none left. They are the Hounds of Purgatory and you'd just unleashed them on the enemy. Make God have mercy on the Contorted because you sure won't.
Do as the boss man says. And not as anyone else says, unless he tells me to.
As the lowly hairless apes below trudged along on their stupid little legs, you soared in the air like the majestic carrion eater you know yourself to be. How stupid can they be, seriously? Instead of flying out of reach of the Contorted, they choose to
walk toward them! All of them are stupid, well except for Roland of course. The smartest human you;d ever met are no doubt staying on the ground, no doubt babysitting his unfortunately dullard flock. Why can't everyone be like Roland? He'd even inspired some of the humans to move to the front of the flock so that they can be the first to throw themselves at the Contorted. On an unrelated note, you wondered like you're allowed to feast off the students' corpses as well as the Contorted.
Feeling an urge to look up, you did so and scanned the sky above you. Finding nothing in sight, you resumed scouting for enemies. Being the eye in the sky, pun totally intended, you circled above the ruins the human flock headed toward. Flying in place for a few seconds you was about to fly off to another location when you notice a group of tall, pale humanoid figures standing further into the complex.
Author
Topic: (IC)Altera Vita Academy- A Red Day (Read 22385 times)