Yours Truly Posted May 28, 2018 Share Posted May 28, 2018 "We both know that most people would raise an eyebrow higher to seeing this year's winner of this year's annual Mister or Missus Leather rolling down the street with a mechanic than hearing an obviously made up name Chise, and besides having an easily identifiable name is quite important if I ever want to inspire anyone else, and my real names are already associated with a proverbial boatload of other, more renowned people from allmost all walks of life." He then gently tapped on his heavily armored chest as he waited for Marina to finish speaking before he said, "Of course we shouldn't underestimate them too much, you can say what you will about the Card Emperor's actual competence on the field of combat or their lack of it all that you want, but the fact of the matter is that they still managed to sneak in two of their agents on board of the flight Svenson was on without anyone there being the wiser," he left a slight pause as he mentally replayed the events of the plane flight before he continued with, "Although of course they presumably crumpled the moment they faced an obstacle that forced them to actually fight competently." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zetaark Posted May 28, 2018 Share Posted May 28, 2018 "Challenger One just seems like one of those corny stage names if you want my honest opinion, but that's not my place to judge," Sasha shrugs. "As for the Card Emperors, I have a lot of questions regarding their competency. Sure, they can get to the places they need to, but once they're there they don't have a great track record. That and I'm pretty sure their backers are cheap little buggers if the exoskeletons were anything to go by," Sasha mutters, reminded of her little examination earlier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yours Truly Posted May 28, 2018 Share Posted May 28, 2018 "All hero names started out as a corny stage name Sasha, at least until the person behind the name finally makes a name for themselves anyway," he then gave the only person in the group that could be visibly identified as a woman a sidelong glance before he asked with a slight hint of disbelief in the tone of his voice, "You actually managed to convince the police to let you examined one?." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zetaark Posted May 28, 2018 Share Posted May 28, 2018 "Wasn't too hard to get a hold of one really. I knew one of the guys who showed up after the plane landed, so I got to look through the thing. Heck, he basically asked me if i wanted to take a crack at the thing," Sasha says with a somewhat smug look. "Anyways, turns out the exoskeletons were more or less curse-ridden death traps for the wearer, and really cheaply made to boot. They didn't even need to use actual people for these things, but apparently they are either really cheap people or just want to watch others suffer. Though considering the armaments weren't too bad, I'm willing to lean more towards the latter option," Sasha shrugs, internally groaning at recalling the abomination that she examined. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yours Truly Posted May 28, 2018 Share Posted May 28, 2018 If Immanuel minded the smug tone in Sasha's voice he certainly didn't display any of it as he rather flatly said, "Ah, well I thought that the exoskeleton's occupants seemed to be acting a bit too deadpan, but then again their their timely deaths would rather neatly explain why they couldn't form a coherent plan if their lives depended on it, as it really wasn't," he then absentmindedly teleported a piece of his gauntlet off to allow him to check his watch before he said, "And I do agree with your assessment, if they really wanted to make this cost efficient they could have sprung for an automated system of some sort for those exoskeletons and brought twice the amount of firepower with them instead of carelessly throwing away the lives of every member of a two man operation as part of their opening ploy. Although of course this assumes that their higherups were halfway competent, which considering the fact that their opening move wasn't to try and shoot away Tor's cards and bring down the whole plane seems to be...highly unlikely." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zetaark Posted May 28, 2018 Share Posted May 28, 2018 "I don't know what they were thinking when designing those things. The exoskeletons were basically controlled by a set of curses for all its functions, and a small shard would have been enough to just run the thing normally. They didn't even need to put people in the thing, but what can you do?" Sasha responds. "Anyways, about this flying fortress. How do we plan on getting there, and what are we bringing. And for the record, I'm not sure I'm going to rocket bike all of you over like I did with the plane." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yours Truly Posted May 28, 2018 Share Posted May 28, 2018 Immanuel had that deadpan tone in his voice once more as he rather bluntly replied with"'Fuck it, they're not supposed to make it off of the plane anyway so we might as well do it now?'," he then coughed before he gestured at the visibly altered visor of his helmet and what could only be described as an honest to god utility belt, "Well I don't know about the rest of you but I brought a bunch of flashbang grenades and a whole lot of definitely tried and tested combat stims and medicine in case one of us needs a pick me up for some reason. I also made a couple of upgrades to my suit of armor; so while I won't be able to match your speed, I think I should be able to get on there by myself if I have to, and I presume that Tor has a mobility enhancing card somewhere inside of that deck of his that allows him to fly over that ship, or at least I hope so since I don't think that the belt baby's going to suddenly sprout wings anytime soon, and I'm reasonably sure that Marina's one of the two people in this whole group that won't look awkward sitting in a sidecar." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ragnarok97071 Posted May 28, 2018 Share Posted May 28, 2018 "I AM NOT PRESENTLY CAPABLE OF FLIGHT, NO, THOUGH IF I CAN REACH THE STRUCTURE I AM ABLE TO CLIMB QUITE WELL. ADDITIONALLY, i DO NOT REQUIRE EQUIPMENT." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yours Truly Posted May 28, 2018 Share Posted May 28, 2018 "Well judging by your outfit I'm guessing that you couldn't use any 'equipment' even if you had them. Mostly because you seem to lack any opposable thumbs, fingers, hands, and in fact any visible limbs. What method do you use to move around places again? Other than the box you rode here in that is." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ragnarok97071 Posted May 28, 2018 Share Posted May 28, 2018 "OBVIOUSLY, I MANIPULATE OBJECTS AND LOCOMOTE BY CONTROLLING THE BELTS." The ends of the belts attached to her start to stretch out, waving in the air around her, a few of them latching onto nearby surfaces to lift her up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chevaleresse Posted May 29, 2018 Share Posted May 29, 2018 The door on the apartment creaked open, and after a brief pause finished the rest of its arc, opening to reveal a familiar (to Immanuel) woman, foreign-looking, and definitely older; gray hair and a wrinkled face tended to betray such things, though she didn't seem to be particularly bent by age. Overall, she was rather... mundane-looking, not wearing any particularly exotic clothing except for a patch over one eye. She didn't seem particularly fazed by the vaguely humanoid ball of belts, though. "Oh, hello, Immanuel. I'm sorry for leaving you and your friends out here, I had an important call to attend to." She gestured at the rest of the group, waving them inside as she stepped aside to facilitate said passage. "Please, do come in." She turned, and headed deeper into the room, rolling her eyes as she did so. Veil of mundanity or no, talking about operations in the hall like that? She'd have to drill proper op-sec procedures into this man, and probably the rest of the party. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zetaark Posted May 29, 2018 Share Posted May 29, 2018 "So I take it you're our contact for this? Neat," Sasha remarks as she calls for Chise to come with her into the room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonRage Posted May 29, 2018 Share Posted May 29, 2018 "As far as they're concerned, it isn't about beating me. It's about beating me at a children's card game," Tor analyzes, "If they did it any other way, it wouldn't count. Or something. That's how their leader feels at least, and he tends to run a tight ship." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ragnarok97071 Posted May 29, 2018 Share Posted May 29, 2018 (edited) The belts shift slightly, pausing. "IF THAT IS YOUR STRENGTH, I CAN UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT. TO DEFEAT A FOE WITHOUT FACING THEIR TRUE STRENGTH IS INSUFFICIENT. A TRUE BATTLE REQUIRES YOUR ENEMY TO BE DESTROYED AT THEIR STRONGEST TO BE SATISFYING. CARD GAMES IS AN... ODD CHOICE, HOWEVER." She'd follow after Sasha, silent once more. Edited May 29, 2018 by Ragnarok97071 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yours Truly Posted May 29, 2018 Share Posted May 29, 2018 "Well when you live in a world where a person can exist as a mound of belts and leather and a grown man can get away with having that hairstyle, I'd say that the idea of wanting to beat someone at a children's card game seems awfully normal in comparison." Immanuel said before he shifted slightly and scanned the room they had entered in search of a comfortable looking place to sit on that he could claim before anyone other than their host did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IntSys Posted May 29, 2018 Share Posted May 29, 2018 "Hey. Mr. Challenger. I can fly, and better than you can. With those shaky rocket boots, you should be sitting in the sidecar. We wouldn't want you to miss the mark and go *splat* on those walls." Marina remarked, as she stepped into the door, following Immanuel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yours Truly Posted May 29, 2018 Share Posted May 29, 2018 "You're also the lightest and smallest person on this team, and quite frankly with the refinements I have made to my armor's design I am more likely to cause a mononoke to go splat when I plow into them at high speeds. And of course there's also the fact that you are currently not wearing any armor, we wouldn't want you to veer of course and go splat on the walls because a mononoke clipped you now wouldn't we?." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chevaleresse Posted May 30, 2018 Share Posted May 30, 2018 The woman, still giving a polite smile, said something in French as she glanced between her various guests, before following up in a language they could actually speak. "Here, sit down. I've made tea for us." She gestured at a table with several seats, though as she spoke she moved over and removed a chair from one end of the table, glancing at Chise as she did so. "Now that you've had your fill of bickering, I want you to repeat the information I've already given you back to me, Immanuel." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yours Truly Posted June 2, 2018 Share Posted June 2, 2018 "Well as you all know there really isn't much for me to say that I haven't already told anyone here before, or that's what I would have said if Sasha hadn't decided to bring a new friend along with her." Immanuel then takes a seat to the right side of the table that is closest to their host and gestured at Chise before he said, "But as Chise seems to be here to stay, I will now state that all I know about this mission is that we will be investigating a moving fortress staffed entirely by relatively mundane mononoke to find out exactly what the card emperors thought was important enough to throw manpower and if necessary take control of it before the card emperors do, no matter how unlikely that outcome seems to be." He then leaned back slightly on his chair before he continued with, "Or before they make our mission more difficult by pointing out the vulnerabilities in the mononoke's defenses with another series of failures, which actually seems pretty likely to happen." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chevaleresse Posted June 3, 2018 Share Posted June 3, 2018 The sniper turned to face Tor and Chise better, an unreadable expression on her face. "Now then, Tor, and your friend I haven't been introduced to, given Challenger One's briefing, how would you prepare to deal with the enemy armaments and fortifications you will be encountering on this little jaunt?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yours Truly Posted June 3, 2018 Share Posted June 3, 2018 "Keep in mind that we'll have to watch out for collateral damage, the mononoke invested in big ship wrecking guns and charmed armor to protect their 'epithet card', but of course they didn't invest in anything that could actually prevent someone from just wandering into their killzone." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ragnarok97071 Posted June 3, 2018 Share Posted June 3, 2018 (edited) The belted form pauses, then lifts herself off the ground, lifting herself over to the chair and settling upon it, listening to the briefing and the handler's questions, then responds after a few seconds of contemplation. "THAT DEPENDS ON THE PRIORITIES OF THE MISSION. IF IT IS SIMPLY TO PREVENT THEM FROM RECOVERING THE CARD AND USING ITS POWERS, IT MAY BE BEST TO SIMPLY BOMBARD THE SITE FROM OUT OF ITS RANGE WITH OVERWHELMING FIREPOWER TO REDUCE IT TO ASH WITHOUT ENGAGING IT DIRECTLY. ON THE OTHER HAND, IF THE PRIORITY IS TO RECOVER THE CARD, THEN THINGS BECOME MORE COMPLICATED. WE WILL NEED TO BYPASS THEIR DEFENSES. IF THEY DESIRE YOUR DEFEAT AS MUCH AS YOU SAY AND ARE AS STUPID AS YOU IMPLY, WE COULD LIKELY GET IN BY JUST CHALLENGING THEM TO A... CHILDREN'S CARD GAME, WAS IT? ONCE INSIDE, EITHER WE COULD GO THROUGH WITH IT AND WIN THE CARD FAIRLY AS SOME SORT OF ANTE, AGAIN, IF THEY'RE AS STUPID AS YOU SAY, OR SIMPLY KILL THEM AND TAKE IT. OR BOTH. I AM NOT AGAINST BOTH." Edited June 3, 2018 by Ragnarok97071 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zetaark Posted June 4, 2018 Share Posted June 4, 2018 "Out of curiosity, how destructible even are these special cards anyhow? If they're the kinds of things you could just tear apart or burn, that just seems really underwhelming to me. Regardless, actually getting the card would probably be the best way to go about things," Sasha remarks, somewhat curious about the nature of these cards. She then turns her attention to Chise after hearing the second part of her plan. "If the plane is any indication of their competency, they aren't the greatest at playing the card game. Then again, I'm not familiar with the rules, but that doesn't matter. As for the killing them...well if the card emperors send people in those exoskeletons that will technically be done for us. Still makes me a bit miffed that they don't just use automatons though," Sasha remarks, muttering at the last bit, her distaste for the exoskeletons and their design ever present. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ragnarok97071 Posted June 4, 2018 Share Posted June 4, 2018 "YOU MENTIONED THOSE BEFORE. YOU SAID THEY WERE DESIGNED TO KILL THE USER, CORRECT? THAT SEEMS RATHER NONSENSICAL, GIVEN THE AMOUNT OF RESOURCES THAT MUST BE PUT INTO BREEDING, RAISING, AND TRAINING A USER COMPARED TO SIMPLY MAKING THE ARMOR NOT KILL THEM OR MAKING IT AUTONOMOUS." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zetaark Posted June 4, 2018 Share Posted June 4, 2018 "And that is why the thing pisses me off so much. If it had even a marginally bigger shard fitted into it, the person wouldn't even be necessary. But no, for whatever reason they decided that they had to have a person in it and that it had to kill them. I can't claim to know what their thought process is for that," Sasha answers with a dejected shrug. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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