Dominique WakemanDom headed out to Taric. "I gotta present for you but it'll have to wait until you can see shit. This way." She put the gun away and took Taric's hand, as well as Jake's, and lead them to the iris. "Do you know of any way to open these things other than me breaking it down?" she asked the hacker. For now, she would close the maintenance panel behind them - no need to leave it open so any passing Immortals could see where they had gone, and she could open it again with her mind anyway - and take a moment to get her breath back. Fuck, I'm starving. Haven't had anything since the ship... And she'd been using her psychic powers a lot too. That probably wasn't helping.
While she was resting, she decided to question Jake a little more. "So, you know where these fucks would take a ship? Or at least know where something to eat is?"
Being the only person in the room with something approaching working vision you steer Taric down into the maintenance shaft first, letting him land and get his feet before you push Jake in and follow him down. Taric sniffs slightly at the smell and Jake just shrugs, wasn't as if there was anything he could have done to keep it from smelling if he'd really been down here as long as he said.
Closing the maintenance door as soon as you're in you ask Taric if he knows any other way to open a maintenance iris short of having you blast it open. He frowns and asks a couple questions about acids. You're not really able to help him much, you spent most of your time hoping the damn things didn't fail, not trying to break them.
You and Taric relax while Jake composes himself, the conversation goes from whether you have any food left to whether Taric's ants are having sex or not faster than you would have believed possible under ordinary circumstances. You do find out that while there is no way to tell if the ants are having sex or not without opening the helmet both of you are still carrying food. Dining in the dark in a cordoned off tunnel underneath a dead man's room inside a forsaken research facility on a moon lightyears from earth feels strangely... normal. [Stamina 2+1] (+6+10 stamina, 1 ration consumed) It's still hard to get comfortable, sitting isn't much of an option and the curve of the walls makes them difficult to recline against. Even so you feel noticeably more human after eating and taking a breather. [Observe 2] You are however completely oblivious to the muffled swearing coming from the room you just vacated.
---
Taric SizierTaric patten one of his pockets. "Wait, I think we have some of those rations from the colonists. And yes, I still have the ants. They don't fuck though..."
Annendum to action: Also have one of the rations. Offer one of mine to Jake.
Closed off from the rest of the base in your own private foxhole you and Dominique have pleasant lunch, food is plentiful enough that you even offer some of the more unusual colonist ration to Jake who accepts hungrily. The food is lackluster and tastes vaguely of alcoholic mushroom mixed with something spicy, the conversation however is moderately interesting and raises several questions on the nature of ants and sex. [Stamina 3][end 3] (+6+6 Stamina) [Jake end 4+1] The colonist food doesn't sit entirely well in your stomach, you don't know what's in it and you're pretty sure you don't want to. Jake doesn't seem to mind it though, God knows what he'd been eating recently.
Being shocked unconscious took a lot out of you and the food and rest was very much a good idea. [Observe 3+1] Your picnic is marred slightly when you realize you can hear some heavily muffled sound coming from back up the hatch.
---
Tarran Smith"Ash, I'm going to get Dom and Taric. Stay safe, or follow me."
Go to Taric and Dom and give them a lecture on the importance of a team staying together.
Since the Immortals seem perfectly content to wait you decide it would be a great plan to grab the others before you embark on your rather suicidal gambit. Checking to make sure all of your gear is in working order you offer to let Ash tag along with you, not much you could do to stop her if she decided to anyway. Ashley gives the Immortals a glance and looks at in a way that clearly tells you that you're an idiot if you think she's going to be staying with the green team while you run away. James however doesn't make a move to stop or join any of you, he doesn't even speak as the rest of you walk on by, leaving him propped up against a wall in front of six Immortals. You're sure he'll be fine. Really.
You lead Ashley and her team back to where you're ninety percent certain Dominique took Taric, squeezing in through the door that you broke down and calling out for them to get their lily-white asses back up here. There is no response from the silent corridor. Growling stormily you walk down the hall, checking both of the open rooms and shouting from them to get over her this damn instant. Frustration turns to surprise and slight panic when you find the second room empty and the remaining two rooms locked.
They can't be anywhere else, it's physically impossible. If they'd gone to the northern section you would have seen them as they passed you, none of the locked doors showed any signs of even attempted forced entry and judging by the lack of security alerts Taric hadn't tried his hand on them either. Taric and Dom had vanished.
In the face of adversity you take the last course of intelligent action left to you, [int 1] swear vehemently and hope everything gets better.
---
Ashley FeyNo way is Ashley staying near those immortals without some assistance, her team cautiously follows Tarran in the search for missing team members
Though you think it strange that he phrased his invitation in an either or format and thus implied that your group would be less safe if you followed him you take Tarran up on his offer. The more people in one spot the better their chances of repulsing an ambush if it came, and from what you've seen Dominique would be an invaluable asset at the knife-fight ranges that their escort would be forced to fight at if things went to hell. Of course that depends on whether or not you can actually find the pair of them, a question that seems increasingly relevant as time ticks on.
You follow Tarran through the folded over door, watching as he calls out to the shadows to no effect. You continue to watch him as checks both of the open doors leading off the hallway, calling into them with as little effect as the first attempt. Finally he merely stands in the middle of the corridor and begins hurling curses at random objects. You're beginning to wonder whether mental instability is a mandatory by-product of their 'psychic' ability.
---
James EvanJames had a sudden moment of clarity, realizing he was probably going insane. However, he was busy, so he tried to help destroy the existence of the Dom-himhorrorthing.
Wherever sanity is you're heck and gone, you abandoned that port when you got shipped off of earth. Doesn't really matter though, sane or insane the only thing that mattered was whether
you were still in control of your own fate, everything else was just semantics.
That of course meant that you had something that needed doing, it meant that you had to go back into the place that you just fought to escape to fight a woman who was and was not you, a person who was both jailor and captive in your mind. Of course before you had to worry about fighting her you needed to worry about getting back inside your skull, short of bludgeoning yourself with a wall you're not exactly sure how to do that...
Damn.
[Str 4+1] [end 3] (Hp -10) The wall is hard and unwelcoming, meeting you forehead with stunning force that sends you spinning through the floor and into blackness. It is sign of how common the event was becoming for you that you actually managed to tap your fingers in frustration while the mindspace solidified around you. You apartment, your primary landing zone but not what you need right now.
Concentrating on the image and feel of monochrome room where you left your shadow you close your eyes and make an effort of will to go there, it's your head after all. [Will 3+1] Your senses blur and you twist sideways as the mindspace shifts and flows into a new and familiar place, complete with your shadow and... Her.
She appears to be in the middle of beating your shadow to death. Both her hands are stained to the elbows with a substance not entirely unlike blood and your double... your double as been broken, dented, and torn until only a trained observer would know he actually looked like at one point. You dearly hope that the damage to him doesn't translate into some hideous mental illness later.
She notices you immediately and slams your broken shadow back into the floor, turning to face you with her full and unbridled fury.
"You want fight me, take my place, my body, my life?" You spread you hands and force a confident smile.
"Even if you win there's a half dozen armed and armored soldiers not ten feet from where we lie, so you'll have about thirty seconds to enjoy being free before they ventilate you." You drop your hands and shrug non-chalantly
"So option A; you fight me, win, and die a minute later. Option B; you fight me, lose, and whatever terrible thing happens when I do something worse than knock you out happens. Or Option C; You give up, give my friend here back whatever you took and we both keep breathing." Her face seems to have taken on a permanent Rictus snarl, and her hands clench in and out of fists.
"You... Don't even begin to understand. I ain't about winning, or getting control, it's about getting out." She raises one hand and points to where one of the dead black tendrils is beginning to poke through the ceiling.
"It's about getting away from that! It's about being free to live or die as I see fit!"You know the talking won't last, any moment she's going to charge you down and try to kill you... If you have any brilliant plans, this is the time to use them.
----
Turn Recap Taric eats strange food and is meh about it.
James is ready for his mini-boss battle
Tarran completely fails to conjure his team members
Dominique throws a picnic
Ash Is watching Tarran's saity steadily degrade.
Jordan is Following
Harry is Following
The escort is blocking the hallway that leads away from the personal quarters.
Relevant ItemsMemory Stick (Dom)
Broken Pad (Taric)
Ident Badge -Pyotr Ivanov- (Taric)
Ident Badge -Kira Masse- (Tarran)
Unpowered Pad (Tarran)
Health: 48/100
Charge: 125/150
Carried Weight: 96/200 (-25%)
Attire: Plain gray under-armor padding. [10lbs] Heavy Combat Armor, 74/150. [45lbs]
Inv:
Leanashe Assault Rifle [30/30 18lbs]
4.73 mm Caseless box mags x1
Cirri Light pistol [20/20 4lbs]
Energy cell x5
Manticore Pistol [9/10 6lbs]
Mechanical Bypass kit 3/5 [3lbs]
Arc implants, Planerian Implants
Stormcrow implants
Javelin Implants, Duelist Implants
Status: Primary Staff quarters.
Harry Nakamuno
Health: Badly Damaged
Charge: Three quarters charge
Description: 6'3", weighing three-hundred and fifty pounds Harry is the frontline muscle. Generally calm but a man who dislikes doing nothing, slow to anger he's been friends with Jordan since the Conclave gained their freedom.
Personality Complication: Just cause. Harry Believes in the work he does, and he believes hard. He won't hesitate to put a hole through anything in the way of his duty.
Skills: Melee 2, Soak 2, Brawling 2, Marksman 1
Attributes,
Strength (Str): 6
Dexterity (Dex): 3
Endurance (End): 6
Charisma (Char): 3
Intelligence (Int): 3
Willpower: (Will): 3
Staggershock implants,
Aegis implants, Lazarus implants
Samson Implants, Duelist Implants
Equipment: Heavy Combat Armor 52/150, Wolfkin SMG 12/18, Disruptor Pistol (4/4 4lbs), .50 cal drum clips x3, HE grenades (2), Thermal Paste (1), energy cell x3
Jordan Grey
Health: Damaged
Charge: Almost Full
Description: 5'9'' Jordan is a slender blond man with the red scraggle of beard perpetually encroaching on his chin. Part of his memories were lost during translation, and all hope of recovering them lost in the second battle. His name is a combination of earth history and the book Grey's anatomy. His medical expertise remains intact along with his sarcasm and combat skills, but most of the rest of his life is hazy.
Personality complication: Hatred, he might not show it much of the time but Jordan holds a grudge against the... thing that robbed of the chance to ever recover his memories. He is determined to kill it, if it's the last thing he ever does.
Skills: Mechanics 2, Marksman 2, Dodging 3,
Attributes,
Strength (Str): 1
Dexterity (Dex): 6
Endurance (End): 1
Charisma (Char): 3
Intelligence (Int): 6
Willpower: (Will): 6
Javelin implants,
Spider implants, MD. Ande Suite
Toxicology and hazard recog, Arc implants
Equipment: Combat Armor 76/100, Laelaps Laser rifle 7/12 (15lbs), Disruptor Pistol (4/4 4lbs), energy cell x4, Field Surgery kit 1/5, Advanced medical kit [3/5], basic medical supplies [3/5] , ORS pack 3/3.
Health: 91/115
Stamina: 46/115
Carried Weight: 160/200 (-25%)
Attire: Arbiter dress Uniform, pristine [10lbs] Standard Body Armor, 47/100. [35lbs]
Inv:
Abassy Heavy pistol -laser sight- [7, 8lbs]
Chimera Pistol [15, 5lbs]
Chimera Pistol [15, 5lbs]
Stun club (50/50 11lbs) x4
Fuath Riot suppression carbine [6, 13lbs, Caustic load]
.50 caliber pistol clips x7 (7, 2lbs)
Jormungandr Assault Rifle (A30, E65, 16lbs,)
LR Jormungandr Battle Rifle (13/35 A, 8/15 E, Damaged, 17lbs)
.220 gauss slugs x2 (35)
Smoke Grenades x1 (neg)
Field rations x2
Unusual Pistol [?, 9lbs]
Basic medical kit (2/5) (5lbs)
Data storage drive [Romance novels]
Status: Primary Staff quarters, D wing, tired
Health: 27/70
Stamina: 28/70
Carried Weight: 138/170 (-25%)
Attire: Technocrat Commander Dress uniform [11lbs] Standard Body armor, 66/100. [35lbs]
Inv:
Energy Cell x7 (3 lbs)
Frankenstein Versatility Rifle (A4, E70, 31lbs, in hand,)
.220 gauss clip x4
Basilisk pulse rifle 4/5 (13 lbs)
Piru Gauss Rifle (4/5 4/5 16lbs)
.45 Gauss slugs x2 (5)
Disruptor Pistol (4/4 4lbs)
Saun's Helmet (Quarter full of ants, enclosed.) (3lbs)
Box of terrible scrap components (20lbs)
Short Range Radio, (Off)
Memory Foam centerfold
colonist rations x5 (5lbs)
Tripwire emitter
Status: South primary staff quarters, Exhausted.
Health: 35/75
Stamina: 71/75
Carried Weight: 133/150 (-25%)
Attire: High-prelate Uniform [8lbs] Standard Body Armor 48/100. [35lbs]
Inv:
Ichneumon Anti-Armor Rifle -Scope- (1, 20lbs, 1 rounds in speed loader)
1' sabot packs x3 (2)
Chimera pistol (15, 5lbs)
Combat Knife (1lb)
Sleipnir SMG (A0, E25 9lbs,)
Sleipnir SMG (A0, E25 9lbs,)
3 energy cells
8 .220 gauss clips (35)
Basic First Aid Kit 5/5 (5lbs)
1 .220 gauss clip (25)
Jormungandr Assault Rifle (A35, E70), 16lbs, in hand)
Status: Primary Staff quarters, Hall.,
Health: 28/75
Stamina: 29/75
Carried weight: 140/200 (-25%)
Attire: Exarch Dress uniform [8lbs] Light Body armor 32/50 [25lbs]
Inv:
Renfield SMG (10, 10lbs, in hand)
Orb Lightstand (35 lbs 17/20)
Riot shield (10lbs 30/30)
Piru Gauss Rifle (E5/5 A5/5 16lbs)
.45 Gauss slug clip (5)
Simone's Song (6lbs 4/7 -Frangible Rounds-)
.50 caliber Frangible pistol clips (7) x1
Dybbuk Flechette Canister Rifle (1/2 35 lbs)
20 mm flechette canisters (x2, 1 lb)
Status:Primary Staff quarters, Hall. Incredibly Smelly.
Author
Topic: Deviation-22. The End of All Things. (Read 528522 times)