Damien Smith Darkness was release for Damien, a reprieve from the pain, and he accepted it by degrees. Being betrayed was almost... funny. You just had to... look at everything with... the right... perspective...
The critically wounded Technocrat's twitching slows quickly, the devastating nature of his injuries getting the better of him. The last resistance goes out of his body seconds after the initial impact, leaving him sprawled boneless against the wall, his body as bloody and broken as the the building itself.
---
Tyrin Laveros"What the hell?! Oh, no time! He's over there!"
Focus empathetics towards the general area of 'there' and try to scope out where the general problem is, there.
Unload suppressing fire with any automatic or burst-fire weapon I have available (even if it means the pistol) towards said area.
[A.Empathetics 18 - 2] You search the general area James gestured to with your mind, fighting the damping field every step of the way. You may not have been shut down like the Marshal and Wigs, but that doesn't mean the field isn't complicating even the simplest of tasks for you. You break through with a fierce push, pinpointing the oncoming figure and getting a decent empathetic picture of what's happening around him. It's... Impressive. And a little frightening.
The presbyter is draining energy from everything around him, using the gleaned power to restore himself and burning off any dangerous excesses by using it to float. You've been told, numerous times, that you can't fly using kinetics. Specialists can jump, glide, and fall really well, but it's always been a hard fact of kinetics that the vast amounts of both control and raw power necessary to pull off sustained flight make the task next to impossible. Except you're seeing it happen. Or, you're seeing the closest thing to sustained flight you've ever seen.
You don't even think before you unleash a suppressing salvo from your rifle. [Quickshot 3+1+1-1, 14+1+1-2, 15+1-3] You spray dirt with one bullet, but strike with the next two. (Presbyter Shield -14, -9. 10 Points absorbed) There's a flare of light in the smoke, the only visual evidence that you hit anything at all. You, however, can see more. Your empathetics let you 'see' more, and that ability is hardly a kindness. You can't see the presbyter so much as feel the electrical impulses coursing through him, but you what you can feel is unnerving. The muscles in his face twitch, and he turns to look straight at you. The Presbyter is smiling faintly.
He can see you now, and he doesn't care about a few bullets.
---
Anna Witheld, James Evan, Tyrin Laveros
Anna Withheld: 67+3-3 = 67
James Evan: 83+0-1 = 82
Tyrin Laveros: 18+3-3 = N/A (Initiated Combat)
Marshal Feuer: 59+6-3 = 62
Hickie: 48+6-3 = 51
Jeremiah: 83+6-2 = 87
Wigs: 60+6-2 = 64
The Presbyter: 42+2-6 = 1 (Forced from Ambush)
Jeremiah quicksteps up to the door in the north-east of the ruined building, leaning out to look for the target Tyrin fired on. [Observation 4] Picking a particular shadow out of the smoking remains of the colonists fields, however, proves impossible. Jeremiah stays in the door, but, until the Presbyter makes a move, he's blind.
James goes completely prone on the rooftop, rolling to take cover behind a spur of broken metal. He didn't have any weapons suitable for striking at long, or even middle ranges, and a little bit of delay should only serve to bring the presbyter closer. In the meantime, he attempted to
think at Iscariot again. [P.Empathetics 11] The field doesn't seem to make it any more difficult to attempt to contact the Shadow, but it's difficult to tell due to the lack of reply. Nothing happens to James, no faint buzzing on the skin, no headaches, nothing.
"BUSY!" A disembodied voice shouts in James' left ear without warning.
"TAKE CARE OF YOUR OWN GODDAMN BUSINESS AND LET US TAKE CARE OF OURS." Blight's voice, not Iscariot, and certainly proof that there's trouble inside his head. Again.
Anna stays prone on the roof, shouldering her weapon and carefully following the track of Tyrin's rifle, noting the position of the impact flashes. [A.Empathetics 21+1+1-2-2] [Control 8+1, no effect] (-15 Stamina) Despite the field, erecting psychic barriers around James, and Tyrin, and her own mind is the work of a moment, simple enough to not distract Anna as she settles the reflex sight over the region Tyrin just hit. Anna squeezes the trigger, sending ferric slugs cutting through the smoke, [
Quickshot] (Shield -2. 5 Absorbed) but is only rewarded with a single, faint, flash of light.
Wigs moves quickly and quietly inside the building, going prone on the floor and setting up his rifle to cover the north entrance. [Marksman 15+1] (60% chance to auto-aim if the presbyter becomes visible)
Feuer, meanwhile, tosses the anti-armor rifle to Hickie and [mobility 5] starts the the slow process of squeezing his armored body through a hole in the west wall.
Hickie reloads the anti-armor rifle from the speedloader, staying out of sight and out of mind.
The Presbyter continued gliding towards the Unchained. Even those who couldn't see him could feel the approach of his will, a dominating force that smothered emotion and left only emptiness behind. At a hundred feet from the ruined colonist home, he slipped free enough of the smoke to be readily visible. (Wigs 11, Sighted In) He didn't make a move to hide, or take cover, he just hovered there, suspended a few feet above the fungal earth. [Anna Observation 22] He didn't appear angry or afraid, his eyes lacked the malicious glee of the Technocrat who'd murdered the colonists, but they were also bereft of any pity. He was determined.
He was also wounded. His right arm was slung close to his chest, awkward and limp. The cuff of the sleeve had been pulled to cover it, but the cloth shifted enough as he slowed that Anna caught a glimpse of his pinky and ring finger, both withered and dead. He'd been handsome once, in the sculpted manner of the Technocrat elite, but a burn had left his skin blackened and cracked from the point of his chin his collarbone. Blisters covered the edge of the burn, giving the man a grotesque aspect usually reserved for horror flicks. A regular human should have been screaming from the pain, but this wasn't a regular human.
"You know who and what I am." The voice was crushing, a mental command broadcast along the damping field the Presbyter projected. It was not loud, there was no physical sound for it to be loud with, but it was heavy. For those under Anna's mindbar, the voice lacked its terrible weight, becoming little more than a series of words projected onto their minds, but it was still, surprisingly, detectible through their shields.
"You are scattered, your leaders are broken, your companions dying. In any other force, your resistance would be almost admirable, but your infractions are more serious than your realize, and every second you resist costs more lives than you can know. Lay down your arms, surrender, and the world will be better for it." The weight of the voice intensified as the Presbyter continued, and, even after the words stopped coming, remained after the Presbyter finished. Then there was a curious ripple in the damping field, not quite unlike a sigh, and the mental burden slackened.
"I will not promise you freedom or even mercy if you surrender. You will still die, but you will be put back to serve your purpose before you die. You will save lives in that purpose, you will die having been an instrument of order. If you die here, your lives will have meant nothing, and your quest for the fulfillment of your own selfish needs will have cost others their lives." There was a pause, and the Presbyter looked straight at Tyrin and Anna, the pair that had shot him.
"Please. I ask you, as one visionary to another, set yourself aside for something bigger. Throw down your weapons, or I will kill all of you. You have ten seconds." The power of the voice dissipated, vanishing to become part of the damping field again, and it left the battlefield with a long moment of dazed silence.
Health: 15/88
Stamina: 69/100 (+3)
Carried weight: 171/300
Attire: Exarch Dress uniform [8lbs] James' Light Body armor 19/50 (47/50) [25lbs]
Inv:
Renfield SMG (10/30, 10lbs)
Riot shield (10lbs 1/30, in hand)
Piru Gauss Rifle (E5/5 A5/5 16lbs)
.45 Gauss slug clip (5)
Simone's Song (6lbs 2/7 -Frangible Rounds-)
.50 caliber Frangible pistol clips (7) x1
Dybbuk Flechette Canister Rifle (1/2 35 lbs)
20 mm flechette canisters (x2, 1 lb)
Emergency VIP Drop Suit (30lbs, Armor 35/35)
Irin Combat Shotgun (3/6, 15lbs)
Status: New Hensfield, Mindbarred (Anna). Medium Cover, -4 to incoming attacks, -2 to outgoing attacks.
Health: 46/95
Stamina: 51/105 (+6-3)
Carried weight: /130
Attire: Colonist Worksuit, Limbo Medium Body Armor (81/115, 25lbs)
Inv:
Kapre Light Rifle (11/15, 16lbs)
Renfield SMG (10/30, 10lbs)
Combat Knife x2 (1ls)
.30 cal rifle clip (15/15) x1
.115 spike pack (30/30) x1
.225 Convention magazine (25/25) x1
.220 Gauss Magazine (5/35)
Combat Blade (8lbs)
Jormungandr Assault Rifle (30/35A 60/70E, 16lbs) -Reflex Sight-
Satyr Light Pistol (25/25, 4lbs)
Status: New Hensfield, South-east. Mindbarred (controlling)
Health: 57/79
Stamina: 85/85 (+3)
Carried weight: 95/150
Attire: Colonist Worksuit, Limbo Medium Body Armor (68/115, 35lbs)
Inv:
Energy Cell x1 (Full)
Artemis Railgun (1/3E, 1/3A, 18lbs)
Kapre Light Rifle (8/15, 16lbs)
Medical Kit (9/10, 5lbs)
First Aid Kit (10/10, 5lbs)
Bandages (4/5, 2lbs)
Combat Knife (1lbs)
ALR Broadbeam (5/10 E, 14lbs, Aimed)
.30 Cal pistol clip (10) x1
Field Surgery Kit (9/10, 5lbs)
Satyr Light Pistol (25/25, 4lbs)
Technocrat Tags
Status: New Hensfield, South-east. Mindbarred (Anna)
'Hickie', Unchained Psionic
Health: 61/65
Stamina: 62/70
Armor: 59/65
Weapon: Kapre Light Rifle (14/15)
Status: Fine
Jeremiah, Unchained Psionic
Health: 59/65
Stamina: 65/70
Armor: 26/65
Weapon: Sleipnir SMG (Dual, 25/25 A, 50/50E. 25/25A, 50/50E) [holstered] ; Jormungandr Assault Rifle (35/35A, 70/70E)
Status: Fine
'Wigs', Unchained Kineticist
Health: 57/109 (MHD = 40)
Stamina: 115/115
Armor: 71/115
Weapon: Basilisk Pulse Rifle (8/10)
Status: Fine
Marshal Feuer
Health: 126/130
Stamina: 121/135
Armor: 43/100 (Half Cell)
Weapon: Hellhound SMG (30/30)
Status: Fine
---
Dominique Wakeman The Lieutenant curses fluently and digs through a couple different cabinets seamlessly integrated into the wall, throwing on replacement patches for his armor. The result is mismatched, several pieces being ornate parade designs, but it looks functional. Moore seals the combat helmet back on and instantly continues yelling into his radio. Unfortunately, he seems to meet with as little success as before, and he eventually just switches back to your channel.
"Let's move," Moore says, his voice carrying cold anger even through the mic.
"and if Fennec isn't dead when we find him, he's mine." Moore doesn't elaborate or wait for you to agree, he just checks his weapon and pushes back out of the room, leaving you to follow him or be left behind.
By the time you get Alonso and Basilio turned around, out the door, and down the stairs, Moore is already at the airlock, punching his code to get the door open. Except it isn't opening. Armored fingers stab the keypad furiously, only to be met with a continually blinking red light. He turns back to you, beaklike helmet murderous in the flickering glow of the malfunctioning emergency lights.
"We need to make a hole in this door, should be a beam cutter in the supplies locker ov-" Another signal cuts over Moore's, overriding him completely. Which, since he has the command frequency, shouldn't be able to happen.
"Harlequin, I'm impressed. Thought I'd be finished before you were." Fennec's voice is different, still calm, still friendly, but... there isn't any pretension in the tone anymore, no whitecoat arrogance. Fennec's tone now is one of calm command, a work boss who knows he's in charge and doesn't feel the need to play it up. You used to like that kind of boss.
"Wait there and haul Nathan's corpse up to the door, one of the Tech's will have the airlock online in a minute. Arbiter Fennec out." The lieutenant's voice comes back on the instant Fennec cuts his.
"-ding there like you're struck, have you bloody gone deaf?" Health: 95/128
Stamina: 116/120 (+14)
Carried Weight: 124/210
Attire: Harlequin Uniform, Styx Assault Armor (150/150, 60lbs. Integrated Power cell charged 3/3, Internal Ammunition Supply [Cerico, 14])
Inv:
Dominique's Abassy Heavy pistol -laser sight- [6, 8lbs]
.50 pistol clip (7 0.2lbs) x5
Artemis Railgun (3/3 A, 3/3 E 18lbs)
Size S-3 rail spike pack (3, 0.6lbs) x2
Cerico Shotgun (24/8 A, 16lbs)
12 gauge shells (8, 0.3lbs) x5
Stun club (50/50 11lbs)
Advanced Medical Kit (10/10) (5lbs)
Energy Cell (Full, 0.5lbs) x5
ORS (3) x2
Chitin Nodule
Status: Fine
---
Ashley Fey You follow Dominique around, feeling somewhat like a large and too well-armed puppy. Considering that most of the conversation is happening between individuals in sealed helmets, what little you get is garbled and strange. If the situation didn't seem like it was about to go to shit, you might have had fun making up what Dominique and Moore were saying behind their respective helmets, but now is not the time.
A light blips into the corner of your right eye, a courtesy of Harry's before he starts talking inside your head. It tended to save a lot of jumping.
"Ash, you need to get out of there. The primary communications routing system that the Technocrats had is in pieces, power distribution problems have put this section of the facility into automatic lockdown, and, according to this damn I.S's calculations, there was a six second window of sporadic gunfire. Our doors are locked, same as everywhere else, but I'd bet every last inch of my soul that there's blood, bodies, and betrayal out there." He sighs, making your mind crackle with static.
"We can't get home if we're dead, and I don't think this situation is going to be one that anyone walks away from without a mark. Call it a hunch."Health: 159/159
Charge: 159/159
Carried weight: 115/150
Attire: Plain gray under armor padding. Midguard Hardened Armor (112/140, 60lbs)
Inv:
Garou Repeating Cannon (9/12) (19lbs)
15 MM bonding charges x1 (12)
Ashley's Leanashe Assault Rifle [10/30 18lbs]
4.73 mm Caseless box mags x1
Cirri Light pistol [20/20 4lbs]
Energy cell x2
basic medical supplies [1/5] (5lbs)
Manticore Pistol [9/10 6lbs]
Mechanical Bypass kit 1/5 [3lbs]
---
Toomas Amk Rob's face darkens when you question his logic, but his mood seems to improve when you bring the knife out.
The woman screams as you cut into her flesh, thrashing and pulling against Rob's grip. [Melee 16] You have a reasonable idea of what you're doing, and the wounds you inflict are bloody, but far from fatal. Blood gets everywhere, and interferes a bit with the elegance of your diagram, but you compensate well enough. The spacing and shape of the cuts should keep them from closing properly, and, though it probably won't end up as any concern of hers, the wounds will definitely leave scars. Not entirely dissimilar to the ones you used to have.
Rob nods appreciatively when you finish the diagram, releasing the woman and pushing a hand into her lacerated back in order to shove her away, down the west corridor. "Fine work, good to know you aren't squeamish about a little bit of hurting. Personally, I'd have added more inductors," he adds, watching the wounded woman scramble away, "but that's just my view of things. Come on."
He leads they way north, setting a brisk but light pace on the wax. The woman would be making more and larger ripples, and smelling of blood regardless. Even if she lied, and you were forced to figure out a way to break in without codes, she will at least draw and occupy the worst things.
The substation is, when covered with wax, as unremarkable as everything else. Rob slices away wax around the door panel with his talon and keys the door open. It's sluggish to respond, but it does so eventually. The room on the other side is plain, a couple coated screens on one wall, a pair of subsidiary workstations on another. Faint outlines in the wax on the wall might have once been posters of some kind, now you can't tell. [Observation 13] There's an air vent in the far corner of the substation. It's barely visible, little more than a dozen fingernail thin slits where the wax hadn't filled it in, each slit about three feet long and spaced half an inch apart in height from the next. The main event of the room is the binary computer system in the center, with a slightly elevated control position positioned ahead and above of the smaller access position. Rob nods at it and smiles. "Alright, which bunk you want?"
The difference isn't major. The control station will give you a more key role in determining what happens, and will rely on you to make the actual changes that Murnau wants. The access position, however, will be needed to bypass any security that the two access keys don't take care of, it will also be necessary if the woman gave you wrong access keys.
Health: 588/590 -[1,6]
Degeneration: Near Nil
Carried Weight: 57 /120
Attire: Plain Technician Uniform, White. Annwn CFUS (50/50, 15lbs)
Eldjotnar Shotgun (4/4 A, 12/12 E, 10lbs)
Energy Cell x3 (Fully Charged)
20 gauge gauss canister x12
Portable Welding Kit (20lbs, Plasma, 100/100)
Mechanical Bypass Kit (10 lbs, 10/10)
Mechanic's Utility Knife (1lb)
Pad (Charged, significant free space, 1lb)
Status: Fine
Author
Topic: Deviation-22. The End of All Things. (Read 536220 times)