Here's the turn. I
think I got everything right.
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Turn 128 ------------
i look for the unknown enemy and kill him. using the staff.
| You run like a streak of lightning, scouring the area where the troops search for the enemy. Suddenly you see someone strange. This soldier wears the normal trooper outfit, complete with the armor, but there's something in his actions that doesn't look right.
| The darkness is only briefly interrupted by the powerful lights of the mechs sweeping by, and you can't get a good look at the guy. Following a faint instinctual nudge, you catch up to him as he walks uphill and get his attention.
| He looks somewhat nervous when he sees you approach, but his voice is firm, and there's a teensy bit of pride on his voice... maybe a little accent.. it's barely enough to trigger your "funny sense", but he manages to stand out just enough for you to start calling for the other troops so that they can identify him. Several troopers immediately head your way, and the odd guy flinches. He backs away for a bit, then stops and considers something for a moment. Then, producing a small sidearm from a holster on his belt, he shouts
"DIE, FREEBORN!" and opens fire!
| The approaching troopers duck and cover as soon as they see him aim the weapon, but for all your agility you cannot completely dodge the burst of small-caliber bullets his gun spewed at you. Your left arm collects most of the incoming projectiles, tearing into flesh and myomers alike. You feel the arm rapidly lose strength as the tendons are torn from the bones, but the metal frame of your harness and the arm enhancement deflected enough bullets to prevent any life-threatening damage.
| Driven by a burst of adrenaline, you ignore the pain and weakness, aiming the massive barrel of the gauss rifle at the fake trooper! You focus, and electric arcs jump to the weapon's control circuits, making it fire!
| The massive recoil throws you backward, knocking you off your feet! Your shoulder is dislocated because of the enormous kickback, and your elbow is sprained. Alas, your shot missed its mark by a mile, nearly hitting one of the friendly mechs. If the sounds of the clanner's gun attracted little attention, the discharge of your cannon made everyone look in your direction. All nearby troopers quickly turned to run at your position, but only those you were calling actualy opened fire on the enemy.
| He hit the ground and they missed him as well, bullets ricochetting off an aproaching light 'mech without causing harm. The mech cautiously opened fire in its turn, trying not to hit any wrong people. The dual MG's on its right stubby arm spat forth lead and flame, while the three small pulse lasers under its flat cockpit flashed bright blue in the dark of the night.
| Somehow he ended up hitting noone at all, machinegun bullets and small pulse lasers kicking up clouds of dirt.
I go to the crash site, and I detach a pair of shorts from the underwear wrapping and wear them while throwing the rest away.
| Your pack lightweight, you jog effortlessly to the crash site, though that pain in your left leg makes you cringe a little. Still, you make it without problems, and only then you notice how actually ridiculous you look in that makeshift undergarment of yours. You hastily take it off, pry loose some nice white shorts, and quickly exchange them for your compromised purple stretchers (luckily, no females in the area are interested in a random guy changing underwear on the sidelines). You throw the rest of the underwear away. Suddenly there's some commotion on the far hill, a lot of guns are being fired and troopers run that way. You decide to follow.
I'll try to sense what the enemy is going to do next. Work on the telepathic dodge, should he attack, or try to point him out to the others, should he hide.
| You attempt to put yourself into a trance again, to see your enemy's thoughts, but fall asleep instead, losing your mental awareness in a world of dreams.
I think I'll continue training in a slightly less-destructive way.
| You decide not to risk another gigantic fireball (or anything worse), and practice fire manipulation in a calm way, learning to control small amounts of flame your ring produces. You do this for quite some time, but while you don't hurt anyone or damage anything, you don't get quite enough practice out of it either.
I should get rid of this vision mode somehow. I use my regeneration to give me an alternate vision mode while preserving my ability of heat vision. I want to be able to switch between the two. I use my second regeneration to increase the amount of heat my muscles make.
| You feel rather out-of-practice when you try to control your regeneration again, and it doesn't seem like it's actually going to do what you want of it at first…
| and sure enough, no change in vision quality has occured. You do feel slightly warmer though, you feel like you could really heat yourself up if you made an effort to do it.
I travel to the crash site
| You are too tired, the Ashcraver is too heavy, and the night is too dark to be able to go anywhere right now. You sit on the rear end of the truck and rest yourself.
I tone down the "Ally Awareness Ability" so that I can still see them, but I don't always have to face them.
| You try to focus on the strange function that guides you to your teammates, but you can't affect it no matter what you do. Gantolandon wakes up, and you set him down.
| You try to practice actually using the mech's weapons, so that you can score a hit if it comes to combat.
| Lacking significant insight into piloting, you try to manually aim the two medium lasers on the left torso to fire at an outcropping of rock in the distance. You accidentally push the left pedal as you move around in the seat, and the Wolf Trap suddenly leans leftward. You try to right it again, but in vain, and the mech crashes down onto its left side,
| completely shattering the left arm, crushing the poor Medium lasers, and driving what remained of the left shoulder deep into the left torso, causing the LRM ammunition to detonate. A wave of heat engulfs you, and the conditions in the cockpit become near-unbearable for a human, but thankfully you're not really human. The status displays, those that remained intact after the fall, show red-level damage all around the left side of the mech, but for some inconceivable reason the torso is still intact and the detonation of a whole ton of ammo did not explosively disintegrate the mech. You decide that such occurences are not to be questioned, and decide to at least try and make the mech stand up again, though you only make it fall onto its back. There's a fire burning in the left torso of the Wolf Trap (you're somehow beginning to feel like the wolf in that name), but it's already subsiding because there's no longer anything burnable in there.
I wake up.
| Finally the jungle around you ends, and you step into a clearing. The sky is blue above you, and the clouds dissipate, already nothing but thin whisps of white agaist the sun. You hear a familiar sound, and turn around to see a helicopter descending to the clearing, a rope ladder hanging from its open side door. You run to the helicopter, jumping with joy, and as soon as you grab the ladder the dream ends. You wake up, lying curled up in the metal hand of Kashyyk's mech. You get his attention and ask to be put down. Soon you are on the ground, and watch helplessly as the Wolf Trap suddenly leans to the left and falls with a crash and a deafening explosion that almost completely engulfs it. You continue to even more helplessy run around it and try to determine what has happened to Kashyyk.
I naturally Lore roll for the humming radio box aaaaaaand what else. I know, try to use my headband to figure out what kind of object the key is (or at least get the shape of it)
| | You take the humming box into your hands, and feel around it, trying to understand its function. Slowly, very slowly, like a long-forgotten childhood memory, the knowledge surfaces in your head. This device is a universal radiowave manipulator. It can receive, process, transmit, focus, and disperse energy waves over a rather broad electromagnetic spectrum. Its maximum operating frequency and power are so high that even while idling its circuits generate enough electromagnetic vibrations to cause the air around the device to fluctuate. It has a built-in battery that works on a principle you cannot comprehend, and it can be recharged by applying electricity of any voltage and amperage to the surface of the device. The device needs no speakers to produce sound, and can receive commands by reading the electromagnetic signals coming from the user's brain. You cannot remember its more advanced functions, but at its basic, it's a long-range radio with built-in decipher circuits, or, if needed be, a portable microwave that can heat up anything placed on the flat surface of the 'box'. After this revelation, you try to focus on your headband to receive information on this world's goal, but cannot sense anything but silence.
I help LASD
| You try to help LASD, but there's very little you can do. Or actually, absolutely nothing you can do, since you haven't the faintest idea of what the item is. While he makes odd passes over its with his hands, you walk away and try to think of something else to do.
| You decide to take some rest, and accidentally fall asleep while leaning against the truck.
(RTTAI:{1}) While others are busy searching for the culprit, I sneak around and try to acquire additional equipment for myself.
| You avoid the lights of the mechs, and make your way to the convoy of trucks. Making double sure to not be seen, you sneak into the back of one of the trucks, and procure a nice, large and heavy crate, gunmetal-black and even without so much as code lock. Carefully checking for witnesses (none), you disappear into the darkness and hide behind an outcropping of rock. Opening the crate, you find a large amount of assorted weaponry, from knives and pistols to grenades and nasty-looking assalt rifles. About this time a shootout begins on a nearby hill. You carefully hide the crate, covering it with a few large rocks, and run over to see what it's about.
<Travel Mode: Clan Smoke Jaguar Base>
| You finally decide on a direction that seems to lead straight to your target, and jog forward merrily. The night barely inconveniences you, and the rocky terrain of the large valley finally gave way to the level hard surface of this vast plain. You can't tell what the ground consists of, as it's too dark, and you don't want to stop for such trivial matters.
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NPC Actions:
Allied: The dwarf tries to follow Neo.
| Being a tad proficient in navigating the darkness himself, the dwarf follows Neo as he smuggles a crate out of a truck. While he doesn't understand Neo's language, the nature of his actions is pretty clear to him, and he helps to the best of his ability. Luckily, noone was particularly interested in guarding the trucks at the moment, so everything went without a hitch.
The bats stay where they are and do nothing.
Neutral: The soldiers get their wits about them and converge on the clanner.
| The clanner sends a few bursts of bullets towards the approaching troopers, making them seek cover. The mechs dare not fire their weapons, so as not to risk hitting friendlies. Or maybe they're trying to take him alive?
Enemy: He shoots at the soldiers several times and hides behind a few low rocks.
| His shots wound a few troopers, and he disappears behind his cover.
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Background: [5+2] Kashyyk takes a few more looks at th surviving screens, and notes that despite most of the ammo having detonated, one salvo still remains loaded into the LRM. The mech can still be operable, but the state of its left leg is dangerous. Chaoticag idly examines the handle of the Ashcraver, and sees that the "DNA" on it has slightly changed - one of the little "pieces" has become slightly brighter. It's not glowing, just seems to be better polished than the rest of the handle, though he's unsure of how is that possible with the rest of the sword being so good.
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Environment: Night. (-1 sight, accuracy, dodge, and movement to everyone who depends on light to see) The air is cold. (statistic penalties to constitution)
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Free items: Light infantry armor vest: Somewhere in the LV area 2. Can protect upper body. +1 against pierce damage.
Various assorted rocks and small leftover debris from the truck in LV area 2.
A gunmetal crate with an assortment of melee, light and medium handheld weaponry. Hidden under some rocks in LV area 3.
Unidentified yellowish box embedded in a hillside in LV area 3.
Various assorted rocks, several pieces of underwear, and JK's former purple shorts in LV area 3.
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Artifacts: "A massive, massive, MASSIVE sword. It is three meters long, 1'3'' (~40cm) wide, and dazzingly bright. Its fine steel has been polished to reflect light like a mirror. Its one edge is curved, jagged at the hilt, the other is straight and so sharp it could probably slice adamantine blocks like salami. Down the center of the sword, which is at least 2'' thick, runs a hollow slit 3'' wide, in which yeat another, smaller and straighter sword is concealed. The entire surface of both swords, except of course the sharp cutting edges, is finely engraved with uncountable images, among which the launching of the Challenger, world war II, a nuclear explosion, a trainwreck, and a rotary excavator. The hilt itself (being at the same time the hilt of the smaller sword) is decorated with gold and emeralds you can only assume you've taken from someone, arranged in beautiful patterns, and the handle is woven with three lines - one is a scaly snake with two small rubies in the eyes, and two seem awfully like DNA strands. You get a feeling you could decipher the human genome if you looked closely enough. The guard of the hilt is exquisitely detailed as well, but right down the senter of it, spanning the breadth of the sword, is a solid rectangular golden plate, with the single word: ""ASHCRAVER"" deeply embossed onto it. The entire thing is so immeasurably brilliant, you almost don't want to touch it fearing it'll stick to your hand and corrupt you like some magic ring. Overcoming this fear, you pick it up. Despite its size, it is relatively lightweight, relatively, of course, to anything else so large and made of steel. (+2 to damage, +1 to attack, -1 agility)
The second form is a smaller (comparatively) blade, that together with the folding hilt guard looks like an overgrown sai. It's also exquisitely detailed, but lighter. (+1 to damage).
The Ashcraver seems to accumulate the energy released by the deaths it causes. The process is admittedly rather slow, but has good uses."
"The ring consists of a toroidal adamantine core surrounded by a shell of tempered steel with thin bands of gold along the rims of the ring. Set into an adamantine frame on its top is a Star Sapphire imbued with the dark soul of a Greater Demon, under absolute control of the wearer. The steel surface of the ring is covered by three hundred tiny tiles of granite, engraved with images of various creatures, all being dead.
The wearer of the ring may call onto the soul of the demon, which can manipulate darkness and fire - anything from direct projection to creating sentient forms to giving protection against.
The wearer can also give an order to summon a creature mad with rage (any creature from the DF world you have seen), which will use up one or several of the stone tiles, depending on the power of the creature. The tiles may be restored, but only through personally killing sentient creatures with bare hands and absorbing their essence with the ring, which also adds that creature to the ""summonable creatures"" list.
The price to pay for all this power is a constant aura of darkness that any living being will feel (and will react accordingly), and the wearer may, under critical stress, give in and become controlled by the trapped demon soul.
(No passive bonuses. In a single turn, you can either perform an act of darkness/fire manipulation (including creating a prolonged effect), or summon a creature/creatures, but not both. The magnitude and potential of both depend on your skill - the ring grants ""basic level"" only. You can only absorb the essence of a creature you killed with your own bare hands, and only if it died last turn, at most.)
Currently applied effects: (-1 to relevant ability for every active effect)
Darkfire halberd - haft of materialized darkness.
Shadow Warp - Boksi's shadow invisibility."
An odd-looking gnarly stick made of iron and steel. The many wrinkles and crevices on its surface are ever so slightly glowing. The staff feels special, capable of doing wonrous things. Some of those things include: summoning a small lightning that seems to charge the staff, when being hit against the ground; launching a spark of electricity that explodes in a sparkling firework-like burst, on giving a generic mental command.
A hexagonal reflective box, rougly a foot across and 10cm thick. It can receive, process, transmit, focus, and disperse energy waves over a rather wide electromagnetic spectrum. Can work as a radio or a mini-microwave. Contains a battery that can be recharged by applying any electricity to the surface.
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Locations: Planet Wayside V: The planet seems to be barren as a whole. The sky is green here, and the air is cold. Or maybe it's just autumn here.
Large Valley: A rather dull and barren, though very large, rocky valley covered by reddish clay soil with patches of some unknown weeds or moss. Filled with broken rock and debris. Sloping mountains or plateaus many kilometers tall seem to surround it.
Sub-area 1: The place you initially appeared at.
Sub-area 2: Where your truck was destroyed by an aerospace fighter (and later rebuilt). Mostly everyone is here.
Sub-area 3: Somewhere far north of Area 2 - the fighter crashlanded there. And subsequently exploded, leaving a large crater and killing the crew of the two scout buggies sent by Fusiliers. Frelock, Neo, Zako, andrea, and the dwarf are here, as well as a convoy of trucks, light mechs, and infantry.
Vast plain: An enormous plain connected to the large valley by a relatively narrow passage. Its ground is different from that of the valley, but you don't know what it is yet. Korora is travelling along it.
Fusiliers' main camp: A small military camp set up amidst the hills in the large valley. Mechs patrol its perimeter. All of you are at a spot some distace away from it.
"Overlord"-class Dropship "Bullrun": A big egglike spaceship designed to go to and from a planet's surface. Armed with several turrets and protected by thick armor. It's been attacked on its descent and is undergoing repairs.
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Vehicles: Battlemech. Type: Medium-class, 45 tons. Capabilities: Jump Jets (piloting skill check required for every use) Armament: Imperator Code Red LB 10-X AC(30/30), two Victory 23R Medium Lasers(inoperable), one Shigunga LRM-10 rack(1x10/0x10). Protection: Ablative ferro-fibrous plating. State: Heavy damage on left torso, moderate armor damage to center torso, left arm destroyed, medium lasers destroyed, LRM ammo detonated, significant damage on left leg, armor destroyed on right leg. Risen from the ashes, this is a truck rebuilt from the remains of the last one. Has flimsy rear suspension, only front wheel drive, slap-patched brakes, and no platform on the back. And no cabin roof or passenger seat, plus a sizeable hole punched through the driver's seat.
Poll
32 (37.2%)
Author
Topic: RTD - Multiworld Madness! Final Update: Parts 1 and 2, out of ~4. (Read 409567 times)