[IC]TotMG:LF Flight of the White Dove

[StormLord]

Harold winced as Jack took the nasty hit, and then was reassured in the fact that his allies were also better at taking damage without dying than he was.  So he kept up the support.

 

Harold heals the lowest HP ally for 1d4+[Ess](8)+[Int/4](2) HP.

 

 

Spoiler

Essence: 8

Constitution: 5

Dexterity: 0

Intelligence: 8

Strength: 0

Synergy: 0

(12 DR/High Velocity)

 

New Model Rayrifle: A long Raygun that fire especially powerful bursts of quasi-plasma, uses a six shot cylinder similar to that of a revolver to cycle Chemshells.

Deals [Int]+[Shell effect] Disintegration damage to one target.

Basic Chemshells add 2d6 damage.

 

Cure: A small cloud of healing mist created from seemingly nothing.

Restore 1d4+[Ess] HP to one target.

Level 2: Now also restores an additional [Int]/4 HP.

 

Water: Create a small sphere of water that homes in on a target before exploding on contact, great for putting out fires.

Deals 2d6+[Ess] chemical damage to one target, cannot be dodged.

 

Will Manifest: Choose one ally and create an action based on that ally's greatest immediate desire or will, the effect may create an entity, cause an instant or passive effect, alter the terrain, or grant the ally an ability, but always makes use of the ally's Essence stat to do so.  That action replaces this action until the end of combat when this action reverts.

Exact details of the effect are up to the GM, but are equivalent to any other action of the same level.

 

Spaceman(™) Space-Suit: A comfortable, affordable, self-repairing option for the average space farer to step out into the void in.

Grants protection from high or low atmospheric pressure and 9 DR/Radiation.

 

Adventurer’s Jacket: A brown heavy leather jacket that has a surprising number of hidden pockets, it has a bullet-proof lining.

+12 DR/High Velocity

[Powder Miner]

Despite the gore still spilling everywhere, Jack immediately stood back up the moment that Harold's healing brought him back to life, kicking up off of the ground and attaining verticality in just a couple of seconds flat -- a wide grin on his face as he looked at the steaming-mad doll and then pointed at her, beckoning her towards him. "Come on, honey, you must really be used to people who give up early if you think that one little death is REALLY gonna stop a fight like this. You've got to do better than that, you know." His grin actually managed to widen here, though. "Doubt you can, though. This is some baby-tier shit, this shit sure as hell doesn't compare to a Prowler HESH round, it's just some dumb bitch waving around a dumb bitch sword."

 

And then, to hammer in his point, he raised his pistol with a laziness that was only half-affected, popping off a shot at her without his grin leaving his face.

 

Jack uses Live Free in the NC!, taunting Executioner, and then fires at her again with his Mag-Shot to deal 3d6+DEX (6) damage!

 

Active Cooldowns:

Nanite Mesh Generator (4 more turns)

Live Free in the NC! (1 more turn)

 

Spoiler

Stats: 

 

Essence: 2

 

Constitution: 8

 

Dexterity: 6 

 

Intelligence: 1

 

Strength: 4

 

Synergy: 0

 

 

Perks: 

Safeguard: This isn’t Jack’s first rodeo with death, not by a loooong shot. Jack’s bloodstream is optimized with implanted medical nanites to keep him alive for a while after what would normally be a gory demise — normally meant for providing a space for revival nanites, this means that he can be healed within a few seconds to be essentially brought back to life. For one turn after Jack’s HP hits 0, he can receive healing normally and be brought back from the 0 HP state.

 

New Conglomerate Particle Shield: A common piece of technology on the battlefields of Auraxis is the particle shield, projecting a field of mostly transparent particles which can take a few bullets and which will eventually regenerate if left alone. This New Conglomerate model operates electromagnetically, both exerting resistance with the particles and keeping them in place through carefully tailored electromagnetic fields. Jack has shields which are added on top of his health, equal to 50% of his health. One turn after each turn he isn’t attacked, or if he is healed to max health in a turn, these shields regenerate 33% of their total.

 

Liberty or Death!: The New Conglomerate is infamous for being loud, rowdy, and causing one hell of a chaotic ruckus, and Jack is most certainly not an exception. Through shouting of typical NC insults, rushing in, and blindly firing, Jack becomes a completely unignorable presence on the battlefield. Jack gains the perk-backed move YOUR BEST IS MY WORST!

 

Flaw:
Liberty AND Death: It would not even be slightly an exaggeration to say that Jack has literally no sense of self-preservation. Death has become utterly meaningless to him, and though he may want to avoid getting shot sometimes so he can get something done, generally moving or charging with safety in mind is no longer a concept that makes any sense to him. Incoming attacks against Jack have a 20% chance to score a x2 crit against him.

 

Moves: 

 

YOUR BEST IS MY WORST (Perk-backed): Faction-themed taunts are a long tradition in the Auraxian war, and since Jack has been in that war for more than 20 years, he’s been shouting insults at the top of his lungs for a long time. Oh, and with this he adds incoherent screaming, charging directly and recklessly at the enemy, and firing bullets blindly in every direction. Jack taunts five enemies for their next action. 2 turn cooldown.

 

Live Free in the NC!: For when Jack is JUST taunting, not screaming like a madman and firing wildly and sprinting in. He IS capable of much more mild obnoxiousness, after all. Jack taunts one enemy for one round. 1 turn cooldown.

 

Frag Grenade: This little ball of chaos is a Nanite Systems issue fragmentation grenade, which packs one hell of a punch if you’re around when it goes off. It may take a while to detonate, but everything in its blast radius is dying unless it is one seriously, seriously tough son of a bitch. When thrown, this grenade targets the initial target as well as the enemies before and after it in initiative. It detonates at the end of the turn after it is thrown, and enemies targeted by it can use an action to escape the blast. Does 6d6+[DEX]*2 sonic/high-velocity damage to those it hits. Once per Battle.

 

 

Mag-Shot: The most standard weapon in Jack’s arsenal, being a simple pistol. The gun looks like a brick with a handle and trigger, and the bullets are pretty goddamned powerful, just like on the SAW, but this one pretty much just handles like a normal pistol, much unlike the SAW. Deals 3d6+[DEX] high-velocity damage.

-Level 2: Damage increased from 2d6+[DEX] high-velocity damage to 3d6+[DEX] high-velocity damage.

 

Nanoweave Armor: Another way of squeezing an extra bullet’s worth of life out of soldiers on Auraxis, this type of armor consists of a great deal of nanofibers woven together when the armor is printed by the nanites that create it. 3 DR to Piercing and Bludgeoning damage.

 

Nanite Mesh Generator: Those on Auraxis designated as Heavy Assault usually have some form of utility built into their suits, specs purchased from Nanite Systems, that is useful for letting them survive a bullet or two more than they normally would. The Nanite Mesh Generator is one of these, creating a nanite-made defensive mesh structure that moves with the soldier, but needing to recharge afterwards. When activated, Jack gains the Overshield status, which absorbs the next attack he is hit with. Free Action. 5 turn cooldown.

 

[IntSys]

Jack dropped his taunt like a Frag Grenade, and followed it up with one more Mag-Shot, dealing 10 damage! Executioner was taunted for one turn!

 

Scarlet emerged briefly from her cover to strike Executioner with a sudden wave of flames, setting her ablaze for two turns! She took 5 recoil damage.

 

Somehow, the flames only made their adversary look much more frightening. Fire wrapped around her synthetic skin, leaving deepening marks as they go. Yet, she marched on with increasing speed, seemingly unfazed. One must wonder if she really couldn't feel anything or if she's just too mad to give a shit about the pain.

 

With the swing of an arm, the flames on her danced along her motions. She flashed a frighteningly confident smile at Jack, as her eyes beamed red. "If a little death wouldn't work, how about a BIG ONE?"

A swift leap brought her right in Jack's face, as her own twisted into one of pure wrath. Her blade punched right through Jack's chest mercilessly. The last thing Jack could see was a line of red dividing Executioner's face, soon spreading all over his vision. [CRITICAL HIT] 32 damage! Jack was knocked out again!

Executioner's blade tore Jack apart from the waist up clean, spilling even more gore everywhere.

Dove instinctively held a hand over his mouth, shoving back whatever was about to come out from this.

 

 

Executioner then turned her head towards Harold and shouted. "I'll be sure to make this nastier for every time you bring him back. Think you can handle it?"

 

She began to dash towards Harold's position. "And... Can you handle this as well?" Another jump, she landed right before him and knocked him backwards with a horizontal slash! Harold took 11 damage!

 

Defiantly, Harold made do with Jack's remains and worked his magic to the best he can. Miraculously, he was pieced back into a roughly acceptable form. Jack was brought back to life in time with 13 HP!

 

"Welcome back!" Executioner greeted Jack, already stepping towards him so that she could shred him again in an entirely different, but way more disgusting way.

 

 

The flames on Executioner's body eroded through her skin, dealing 6 burn damage! (1/2)

 

Scarlet regenerated 8 HP!

 

 

 

[TIME LIMIT] The battle will end in a draw automatically after the fifth turn! (3/5)

 

Init:

Spoiler

Average Dex: 3

 

Jack: 6

Scarlet: 5

Executioner: 4 [2x Action]

Harold: 0

 

Status:

Spoiler

Jack: 13/36 [Shield: 0/18]

Scarlet: 36/36

Harold: 7/30

 

Executioner: Damaged. Ablaze (1/2). Really enjoying her job right now.

 

[StormLord]

Harold winced and stumbled back with the slash, blood weeping from the long cut.  He reach his hand up to the wound where his suit was already resealing itself and then turned to spit out a small amount of blood.

"I've rangled calfs 'at buck harder than you hit bitch."

Harold raises his other hand and summons another soft green glow that knits Jack back together again.

Harold uses Cure on Jack healing 1d4+[Ess](8)+[Int/4](2) HP.

[Chevaleresse]

Joy. She'd seen her fair share of viscera, but that didn't exactly make what happened to Jack a pleasant sight. Seeing the other man take a hit, she decided to give him a patch, so that he could continue doing the same for the unfortunate mercenary.

Field Patch on Harold for 8 HP.

HP: 36

Stats:

 

 

• Essence: 1
• Constitution: 8
• Dexterity: 5
• Intelligence: 5
• Strength: 1
• Synergy: 1

 

 

 


Perks:

• Immortal Smoke (level 2) : Scarlet's body is suffused with a set of powerful, specialized nanites that have fully integrated with her biology. Among other factors, this allows her to recover from injury with great speed, as well as allowing her to boast an impressive resistance to all manner of toxins and foreign bodies. They carry a full blueprint of her body; this allows her to regenerate even lost limbs, given time.
  • Effect 1: Scarlet recovers [CON] HP per round. Disabled if an Iron Weaver action is used.
  • Effect 2: Scarlet receives a CON saving throw against a difficulty of the GM's choice (generally the inflicter's attacking stat + 10) against any poison or disease-based effects, immediately before they would come into effect, once per round. Disabled if an Iron Weaver action is used.
  • Effect 3: If Scarlet goes for an entire plot without suffering a wound, the oldest wound she has is automatically removed.
• Reach for the Moon: While specialized, Scarlet's augmentation still shares the baseline functionality of all Iron Weavers, allowing her to control a nanite swarm that can create and destroy objects, performing acts such as erecting cover on the fly from environmental materials and chewing through the armor of a mech. 
  • Effect: Whenever Scarlet successfully completes a craft, she receives an Iron Weaver action. 
• Flaw: Hourai Victim: "It must be fate." Scarlet has made a few friends and a lot of enemies over her career.
  • Effect: Scarlet occasionally attracts corporate bounty hunters, non-corporate bounty hunters, and various other flavors of hit squad, who will attempt to capture or kill her, at the GM's discretion. This flaw may also have other effects in sci-fi settings.

Goal:

Actions:

Field Patch: Iron Weaver action, infusing a target with nanites. Heals target by Scarlet's [CON], and allows them to roll a save using her CON against a poison or disease effect on them.
-Level 1: [CON]+save vs. poison using Scarlet's CON.
"Yeah, I know it hurts like a motherfucker, but it's better than being dead." 

Wrist Flamers (Merit equipment): Wrist-mounted flamethrowers, an effective terror weapon in melee combat. Their relatively low profile makes them easy to carry and conceal, but doesn't exactly do away with the laws of thermodynamics. If she was well-known for anything, it would be her usage of these. Deals heat damage. 
-Level 1: Up to three targets gain the "Shaken" status until the end of the encounter, if they already have Shaken they instead lose it and gain "Frightened", if they already have Frightened they instead lose it and gain "Panicked".
Shaken enemies deal [DEX/2] less damage in the presence of their fear, Frightened enemies deal [stat] less damage, and Panicked enemies deal [DEX] less and and must also make an Ess save in order to take any action that isn't running from the source of their fear.
The user takes [DEX] backlash damage, this action can only be used once per round.
-Level 2: This piece of equipment does not take up a slot. 
-Level 3: Can instead be used to inflict 2d4+[DEX/2] burning damage for 2 rounds, inflicting [DEX] recoil damage. 
"Yeah, they're not actually all that practical. They sure do scare the shit out of people though. Funny how people would rather get shot than lit on fire."

 HelioSys LWP-R Laser Rifle (Merit equipment): Scarlet's weapon of choice. A lightweight weapon more or less occupying the same role as a carbine. What it lacks in armor penetration it makes up for in versatility. Deals 2d6+DEX damage, affected doubly by damage reduction. Can deal nonlethal damage, and is not obviously a weapon when disassembled (fooling most conventional low-level security systems that would be scanning for such. Takes a turn to assemble if combat starts while it is hidden.) Deals heat/radiation damage. 
-Level 1: 2d6+DEX damage, affected doubly by DR, can deal nonlethal damage, is stealthy. 
"Apparently it looks like a laser hair trimming kit." 


-Trumps
Omnidyne-M "Archer" Counter-Armor Platform (Equipment): An oft-maligned weapon that painfully stretches the definition of man-portable, as well as the compressive strength of the bones of those unfortunate enough to man it. However, it still does an excellent job of putting very neat, very large holes in things. Deals HV Piercing damage. 
-Level 1: Deals [STR or DEX]*4 damage, ignoring damage reduction. Stuns and inflicts half the damage dealt to the user on firing.
-Level 2: Recoil reduced to 1/3.
-Level 3: Recoil reduced to 1/4.

[Powder Miner]

The Doll was likely quite disappointed at Jack's reaction to partial disembowelment -- even as he spilled forth, he grinned bloodily at his foe, and though he fell there was a glow of green from his body as the abused revival implants within his body got to work once again, his implant the only thing ensuring that he was even capable of surviving something like this. And that damnable grin was still there just as wide when he came back up. "Well, let's get to this, shall we?" Jack scooped his pistol up off of the floor with a smooth motion... and then flicked his wrist as he aimed it, for just a little bit more mocking flair before his finger pulled the trigger on the fat pistol twice.

 

Jack once again fires twice at Executioner with the Mag-Shot, dealing 3d6+DEX (6) damage two times!

 

 

Active Cooldowns:

Nanite Mesh Generator (3 more turns)

Live Free in the NC! (Last turn)

 

Spoiler

Stats: 

 

Essence: 2

 

Constitution: 8

 

Dexterity: 6 

 

Intelligence: 1

 

Strength: 4

 

Synergy: 0

 

 

Perks: 

Safeguard: This isn’t Jack’s first rodeo with death, not by a loooong shot. Jack’s bloodstream is optimized with implanted medical nanites to keep him alive for a while after what would normally be a gory demise — normally meant for providing a space for revival nanites, this means that he can be healed within a few seconds to be essentially brought back to life. For one turn after Jack’s HP hits 0, he can receive healing normally and be brought back from the 0 HP state.

 

New Conglomerate Particle Shield: A common piece of technology on the battlefields of Auraxis is the particle shield, projecting a field of mostly transparent particles which can take a few bullets and which will eventually regenerate if left alone. This New Conglomerate model operates electromagnetically, both exerting resistance with the particles and keeping them in place through carefully tailored electromagnetic fields. Jack has shields which are added on top of his health, equal to 50% of his health. One turn after each turn he isn’t attacked, or if he is healed to max health in a turn, these shields regenerate 33% of their total.

 

Liberty or Death!: The New Conglomerate is infamous for being loud, rowdy, and causing one hell of a chaotic ruckus, and Jack is most certainly not an exception. Through shouting of typical NC insults, rushing in, and blindly firing, Jack becomes a completely unignorable presence on the battlefield. Jack gains the perk-backed move YOUR BEST IS MY WORST!

 

Flaw:
Liberty AND Death: It would not even be slightly an exaggeration to say that Jack has literally no sense of self-preservation. Death has become utterly meaningless to him, and though he may want to avoid getting shot sometimes so he can get something done, generally moving or charging with safety in mind is no longer a concept that makes any sense to him. Incoming attacks against Jack have a 20% chance to score a x2 crit against him.

 

Moves: 

 

YOUR BEST IS MY WORST (Perk-backed): Faction-themed taunts are a long tradition in the Auraxian war, and since Jack has been in that war for more than 20 years, he’s been shouting insults at the top of his lungs for a long time. Oh, and with this he adds incoherent screaming, charging directly and recklessly at the enemy, and firing bullets blindly in every direction. Jack taunts five enemies for their next action. 2 turn cooldown.

 

Live Free in the NC!: For when Jack is JUST taunting, not screaming like a madman and firing wildly and sprinting in. He IS capable of much more mild obnoxiousness, after all. Jack taunts one enemy for one round. 1 turn cooldown.

 

Frag Grenade: This little ball of chaos is a Nanite Systems issue fragmentation grenade, which packs one hell of a punch if you’re around when it goes off. It may take a while to detonate, but everything in its blast radius is dying unless it is one seriously, seriously tough son of a bitch. When thrown, this grenade targets the initial target as well as the enemies before and after it in initiative. It detonates at the end of the turn after it is thrown, and enemies targeted by it can use an action to escape the blast. Does 6d6+[DEX]*2 sonic/high-velocity damage to those it hits. Once per Battle.

 

 

Mag-Shot: The most standard weapon in Jack’s arsenal, being a simple pistol. The gun looks like a brick with a handle and trigger, and the bullets are pretty goddamned powerful, just like on the SAW, but this one pretty much just handles like a normal pistol, much unlike the SAW. Deals 3d6+[DEX] high-velocity damage.

-Level 2: Damage increased from 2d6+[DEX] high-velocity damage to 3d6+[DEX] high-velocity damage.

 

Nanoweave Armor: Another way of squeezing an extra bullet’s worth of life out of soldiers on Auraxis, this type of armor consists of a great deal of nanofibers woven together when the armor is printed by the nanites that create it. 3 DR to Piercing and Bludgeoning damage.

 

Nanite Mesh Generator: Those on Auraxis designated as Heavy Assault usually have some form of utility built into their suits, specs purchased from Nanite Systems, that is useful for letting them survive a bullet or two more than they normally would. The Nanite Mesh Generator is one of these, creating a nanite-made defensive mesh structure that moves with the soldier, but needing to recharge afterwards. When activated, Jack gains the Overshield status, which absorbs the next attack he is hit with. Free Action. 5 turn cooldown.

 

[IntSys]

Jack announced his return with two Mag-Shots, dealing 13 and 16 damage to Executioner each! The shots caused Executioner to recoil back a bit. It seemed that her body was nearing its limits.

Scarlet used a Field Patch on Harold, restoring 8 HP to him.

 

"Tch..." Crimson arcs of electricity erupted from Executioner's body, and her eyes took on a startling red as well. "That's it... You're all going... NOW!"

 

[!] Execution under the Fogbound Moon - Hybrid Attack [!] With all of her fury, Executioner pushed her body to the limit, slicing through the party twice at lightning speed! Jack took 13 damage! Scarlet took 22 damage! Harold took 14 damage! This time, Jack was dismembered horizontally, with a clean cut across his head and another across his waist. Jack was knocked out!

 

The sparks gradually vanished from Executioner, and it became apparent that her left hand had gone offline, but she wasn't done yet. She was still way more nimble than Harold was, even at her current state. Raising her right hand, she fired a shot at him, hitting him squarely in the chest for a piercing 6 damage! Harold was knocked out!

 

The flames on Executioner's body pummeled her once more before finally vanishing along with a gust of wind, dealing 6 damage.

 

Executioner turned her gaze to the last person standing between her and her target, ready to draw once more. Both sides were up against the edge of the ring now.

 

 

[TIME LIMIT] The battle will end in a draw automatically after the fifth turn! (4/5)

 

Init:

Spoiler

Average Dex: 3

 

Jack: 6 [Knocked Out]

Scarlet: 5

Executioner: 4 [2x Action]

Harold: 0 [Knocked Out]

 

Status:

Spoiler

Jack: 0/36 [Shield: 0/18]

Scarlet: 14/36

Harold: 0/30

 

Executioner: Critical. Sword arm disabled.

 

 

 

Harold receives a Wound.

Spoiler

Unstable Mana: Whenever Harold casts an offensive spell, he will receive recoil equal to 10% of his maximum HP.

 

 

Note: Wounds received in this Subplot can be remedied in "TIME ALLOCATION" sections as well. More on that later.

[Chevaleresse]

Scarlet staggered to her feet, probably unexpectedly given this merc's attitude. "You really wanna play this game?" She spat out blood - maybe she bit her tongue, maybe it was lung damage. "With the Inferno?" Stall for time, wait for more damaged muscles to come online. "I don't think you understand who you're dealing with." She threw her rifle onto the ground, brandishing her left hand threateningly and shooting a gout of flame from the device there. Which gave the right a moment to retrieve her railgun and start the charging process. An electrical whine sounded as she swung the weapon forward while moving backward to evade the inevitable rush. The characteristic pop-BOOM of an electromagnetic weapon firing a supersonic round tore through the air, straight at Executioner. 

 

Fire Railgun at Executioner, dealing 20 damage and ignoring damage reduction. Scarlet takes 5 recoil damage.

[IntSys]

"Hah...I've done my part," Executioner muttered, satisfied. The Railgun's supersonic round smashed through her chest, dealing a piercing 20 damage and blowing her upper body away. Scarlet took 5 damage from the recoil! Executioner was defeated!

 

BATTLE SUCCESS

 

The party gained 3 Merit!

 

Jack receives a Wound.

Spoiler

Fractured Body: After receiving excessive mortal damage, Jack now has an additional 10% chance of receiving a crit due to a less coherent body structure, causing him to take doubled damage. (Added directly to Liberty AND Death's odds)

 

 

Should you salvage Executioner's remains, you'd receive the following loot:

Spoiler

Executioner's Blade: A monstrous blade of steel with a hilt tailor-made for its original owner's equally horrific hand. Wielding it requires not just strength but also skill as well. A minimum of 6 Strength and 6 Synergy is required to use this weapon. Deals 2d4+Str Slashing damage, and ignores 8 DR. 

 

--

 

"No... It's already time for curfew." Dove's voice reeked of uncertainty and fear, yet he wasn't letting it hold himself down. He ran to Harold's side and began to drag him towards a nearby alleyway. A trail of blood followed him, but it simply couldn't be helped at the moment. "You're not equipped to deal with military mechs, we have to hide quickly!"

 

Thunderclaps echoed in the sky. It'd start raining anytime now. Dove's expression turned even grimmer at the dark skies. "H-Hurry! Smederevo's walls can't filter storms like these!"

 

The streetlamps began to light up one by one, the light seeping through the growing humidity in the air. All the storefronts had their shutters pulled down, and the windows were shut tight as well.

 

 

???

Spoiler

Gunshots echoed in the sewers, but they were quickly drown out by the sound of countless footsteps. The hunters had just become the preys.

 

 

The team of Griffon dolls took a brief sigh of relief as they locked down the metal door behind them. However, not a second was to be wasted.

 

"Kar, it appears that Sangvis Ferri has failed to intercept Dove. His escorts' movements have stalled as well. We can pick up from where they had left off," Welrod suggested.

 

"... No. At least, not right now," Kar98k shook her head. "I have reasons to believe that the ringleader, Intruder is commandeering the trio here, especially after seeing how they were able to coordinate with each other so quickly. And if that's so, then that means she might already have eyes in the city's autonomous patrol mechs as well."

 

"What a pain..." NZ75 put CZ75 down from her shoulders and began to perform basic repairs, prioritizing her legs. She had taken near critical damage during the initial engagement. "We're pretty much trapped then, aren't we? Military mechs on the surface, and Scarecrow's Dinergate swarms in the sewers. And either Hunter or Executioner is still out there, too..."

 

"Let's wait, then." Contender spoke up. "The plans I can think of now have less than 10% chance of success, but with the X-factor in the operation... that might just change soon."

 

[Chevaleresse]

Scarlet coughed - yep, there was definitely a bruised lung in there somewhere. Wouldn't slow her down for long, but hopefully they could avoid more engagements for the moment. "Fucking hell. . ." She glanced at the ribbons of her teammates on the ground around her. Fortunately, one of them was probably still savable via conventional medicine. Scarlet moved to Harold, quickly verifying that he had a pulse and breath, then gave him a shot of nanites with an order to get him moving. Then, the ex-pirate gingerly leaned down and dragged the various bits of Jack littering the area and gave them a second shot of nanites to kickstart the process that he already seemed to have going earlier. "I'm not getting paid nearly enough for this bullshit." 

 

Her temmates mostly reassembled, she moved over to the broken-in-half android. Retrieving her own rifle, she put another pair of shots into her forehead for good measure before glancing back at the Dove. "We can't move until these two are capable of doing so. And it doesn't sound like you've got a safehouse." She leaned over to pick up the grotesquely-shaped blade, still splattered with blood. "Damned thing is so poorly balanced it was probably some kind of anti-theft mechanism. . ." she muttered, starting to move towards the alleyway the Dove had already entered.

[IntSys]

"Well..." Dove leaned against the walls of the alleyway. "I know for sure that staying indoors is at least going to be safer than where we are right now. That's the closest thing we can have to a safehouse." The worsening weather punctuated his words with one more thunder, followed by a gradually growing downpour.

 

The rain dripped down along the walls, forming tiny streams beneath your feet and blurring out the trail of blood. The familiar sense of hostility returned, as the environmental radiation slowly increased.

 

In meantime, Scarlet oversaw the other two's resuscitation.

 

"From what I can see now, the only options left are to either climb the purification tower or escape through the sewers. But before that, we really need to find a better place to rest," Dove said, taking care to keep himself relatively dry in spite of the narrow space in the alleyway. "I'll keep an eye on the military mechs' movements in meantime."

 

The alleyway was fairly empty as well, bar the usual grime. Interestingly, there were two bodies piled up on each other just a few more steps up ahead, seemingly unconscious. They were slowly getting drenched by the rainwater. A taser was on the ground right next to them. Further up ahead was a garbage cart.

 

 

Suggestions

Spoiler

- Break into a house for shelter. The wall is just cheap concrete, and the doors are rusting from a lack of proper maintenance.

- Open up a manhole and seek shelter in the sewers.

- Stay in the alleyway. Perhaps it's possible to improvise a shelter like how street rats do it?

- Other ideas?

 

Status

Spoiler

Jack: 1/36 [Shield: 0/18] [1x Wound]

Scarlet: 9/36

Harold: 1/30 [1x Wound]

 

 

 

???

Spoiler

Daybreak.

 

A gloomy sun reminding everyone of the stark shadows that fill up Smederevo.

 

 

In this city, shadows can't hide anything. The slumdogs knew very well what should and shouldn't be lurking in the dark. But in a twist of irony, when there was light, unblocked by the crowd that would soon fill the streets, there existed a brief moment where there was true privacy in the city.

 

Kar98k stared down the figure before her. To appear at this time of the day, they were both clearly trespassers to the city.

 

Yet, one of them looked even more like a trespasser to the city - no, perhaps a trespasser to this world.

 

"You're looking for... a certain kind of pigeon, aren't you?"

 

"... Are you interested in pigeons as well?" Kar98k replied calmly.
 

"I've heard that that kind of pigeon has been flying around all over the place. A tough bird to catch indeed... But!" The figure took out a small paper. "What if I told you... That it has recently gotten some friends to help it fly to somewhere that's impossible for you to reach? They'll fly from there to come and pick it up, but that means you can spot them, and use them to find the birdie you're looking for."

 

"Out with it."

 

"You're calm on the outside, but you're actually quite desperate, aren't you? Alright, alright. I happen to have extensive information on one of them, and it just so happens that I'm giving it to you for free. How's that?" The figure took out a four-paged document, stapled together neatly.

 

"There's no such thing as a free lunch. Though your existence alone supports your some of your words, I have no reasons to trust you."

 

"... What a killjoy. The truth is, I couldn't care less about the pigeon you're looking for in particular. But, the pigeon I care about happens to be involved. I figured that we could kill two birds with one stone here, and isn't that a win-win for everybody?"

 

"Is that so..." Kar98k took the papers and immediately backed away from the mysterious figure. "If you already know that much, you must know that we're not the only group hunting for that pigeon."

 

"Indeed. I have already made other exciting preparations. But isn't that all the more reasons why you should also take this info with you? In any case, good luck."

 

Kar98k glared at the figure, before walking past him silently, disappearing into the next junction.

 

 

Soon enough, the morning crowd began to flood the streets, and talks of fantasy retreated away from the slums. It almost made too much sense to Kar98k, that something so fantastical could be the key to breaking the very real, months-long stalemate before their eyes. But maybe she should try out Contender's motto for once, she thought. A low chance is still a chance, after all.

 

[Powder Miner]

It didn't take long after Scarlet got Jack's revive nanites kicked back into gear to put his abused body back together that he was back on his feet... although he did notice a rather strange feeling to his, uh, internal organs. "Huh." It was definitely not a pleasant feeling, and he felt like his, uh, body was messily put together in some way, but... whatever. He'd felt enough pain by now that he was fairly inured to it. "Well, I've definitely got something fucky going on right about now. Hmmmm." He quirked an eyebrow and then he just shrugged widely. "Ah well. No point worrying about something like that, you get me? I'm gonna go find a place that looks empty -- if I can find one I'll punt my way in e-z."

 

Jack searched for houses that seemed like they didn't have anyone in them.

[Chevaleresse]

"I can patch that later. Might be some way to get my nanites to interface with yours." That had never been her specialty, though. She'd always had teammates to handle the technological side of things. Not that she was incompetent by any means, but delicate work like that was something she'd learned was best left to professionals. Unfortunately, the only "professional" about seemed to be that one scientist dragging a body pillow around, and that was something that wasn't coming anywhere near the things keeping her internal organs running like a sixteen year old's instead of. . . how old was she now, again? Enough.

 

For the moment, though, Scarlet turned her attention to the two downed individuals in the street. She eyed them at a distance, searching for any signs that they might not be as unconscious as they look, then approached slowly. "We should see who our friends are here, first." Assuming she wasn't stopped, she'd grab for the tazer and get it out of reach before prodding at them and seeing who they were and what they were doing passed out in an alley. 

[IntSys]

Due to a lack of windows, the best Jack could do was to try to listen for sounds behind the doors. He was able to find a few houses that were apparently quiet enough, but of course, that wouldn't necessarily mean they were empty. In fact, an empty house would be very suspicious in an overpopulated slum.

 

Scarlet carefully evaluated the bodies from a distance, but they didn't seem to be moving an inch. Considering the chilly rain over them, and the fact that their positions weren't exactly particularly comfortable, it became apparent that they really weren't conscious. And so, she slowly approached them, and safely removed the taser left on the ground. Upon closer examination, she could see that the two were really just ordinary street rats, not unlike the kind she had seen since she entered the city.

 

A few prods weren't able to wake either of them up. The one on the bottom seemed to have received a blunt blow straight to the rear of his head, while the other's wounds weren't immediately obvious, but odds were he had taken some other form of physical trauma as well. They might need additional treatment, and that could be time that could be used to get the party back to fighting condition instead.

[Chevaleresse]

Damn you. She glanced back at her squadmates for a moment, and at their objective. They'll just be more people to talk about where we are. Scarlet bent down and pressed a hand to each of the downed individuals for a moment, ignoring the prickling on the back of her neck that served as her nanite system's warning that she still had unrepaired damage. "Come on you two, this isn't a good place for a nap,' she said, not exactly aware that she'd said anything aloud. "Knowing my luck, you'll turn me in as soon as you see me. . ." The mercenary's words were low enough to be hard to hear over the storm; unsurprisingly, as she didn't quite intend for them to be heard.

[StormLord]

Harold coughed several times, signalling that Scarlet's nanites had finally done enough work.  He shot up and quickly looked around for a moment before realizing where he was and narrowing in on the corpse in the street.  He motioned to catch his chest and winced at the pain.  After a few moments of holding soft green light to the wounded area he took a few deep breaths and stood again.
"Tha' was a hell of a fight if I've ever been in one.  An' not one I'd seek to repeat...."
He finally took a second to glance down at the rain and water collecting in the street. 

"Didn' one of ya say somethin'bout the rain be'ain highly radioactive?"

At about the same time he pulled off his hat and reached up to something on his collar, pressing it his head suddenly becomes wrapped in a dull beige helmet with a wide reflective visor.  Setting his hat back on his head and adjusting something on a dial over causes the visor to become fully transparent again.

[Powder Miner]

"Well, I reckon that should be about good enough, yeah? I looked." They had to be somewhere to patch up and avoid the curfew, and at least checking was probably good enough -- after all, they had things to do, and it wasn't like the whole 'house' thing mattered compared to the, uh, everything else... thing. The point was that it really wasn't that big a deal, they'd be gone eventually and it would all just blow over after that -- it wasn't like they'd be doing any sort of permanent damage, after all (even taking into account that permanent damage seemed to be a thing that happened more on other words), so, hell, there wasn't really any issue after all even if they did bust into a house, right? So he walked over in the direction of the others, and gestured them over. "Hey, I'm finding us somewhere to tuck in for the curfew to avoid the rain, so follow me." And once he'd done that, Jack beelined for the nearest of the quiet houses he'd found and opened the door without real hesitation. If the door was locked, well... then he'd just try to open the door hard enough to rip the lock through the doorframe, no big deal.

 

Jack breaks into a fucking house.

[IntSys]

Scarlet decided to offer a hand to the downed men, letting her nanites do some work on them. The damage was most certainly easier to fix than the cuts Executioner had delivered, and they slowly began to regain consciousness. It may be a good idea to act before they get back to their feet completely, whether it be leaving them there or asserting dominance.

 

"In a sense, yes. In fact, you should avoid touching anything that's coming from the storm above." Dove explained to Harold. "It messes with your body if you are in it for too long."

 

In the same spirit, Jack tore through a rusted door's lock, finally giving the party a proper ceiling to hide under. Naturally, he took the lead.

 

--

 

The inside of the house was still quite depressing, to say the least. It felt like an extension of the alleyways, only that it was somewhat cleaner, wasn't all wet, and had lighting. And even that lighting only came from a few fluorescent tubes installed over the ceiling. Thanks to them, you got to see the hallway's walls in its deteriorated glory, with a few cracks coming through the faded wallpapers.

There were two doors on each side of the hallway. They were shut and likely locked, but honestly that wouldn't really mean much. It could be inferred that this house was shared between four families or the like.

 

The far end of the hallway looked like it was supposed to be the house's actual entrance, but it was completely sealed off with junk.

 

 

The hallway could barely fit Jack in it. Surely it wouldn't hurt to borrow some more space, would it?

 

Map (ASCII)

Spoiler

XAXCXXX
!++++XP
XBXDXXX


LEGENDS:
! -> The party's location, the entrance.
X -> Walls or obstacles. Can be destroyed with force. Results vary.
A -> Unknown Room. Might be inhabitated.
B -> Unknown Room. Might be inhabitated.
C -> Unknown Room. Might be inhabitated.
D -> Unknown Room. Might be inhabitated.
P -> Passage. Accessing a passage will expand the map.
+ -> Paths. Can be traveled upon.

 

 

Suggestions

Spoiler

- Kindly knock the door on one of the rooms. You're already trespassing, but it might just help if you could make it up to the residents?

- Get some locals to be that bridge between you and your to-be hosts. Dove likely wouldn't suffice, considering how he has been hopping across different settlements to avoid his pursuers up to this point.

- No reason to trust the residents here either. Take the chance and incapacitate them before they can react, and by the time they wake up, you'll be long gone. Hopefully.

- Clear up the junk blocking the way. Surely there'd be some form of a communal space in this, er, community?

- Other ideas?

 

 

[Chevaleresse]

Scarlet prodded at the two, starting to push them back up onto their feet and cursing her lack of medical supplies once more. "Hey. I don't know what beef you two had with each other," she inferred there was one from the state she'd found them in, "but you  need to get out of this rain in a hurry. Where do you usually go? We can help you get there." Act like you're in the know, make a value proposition. Save intimidation for plan B: pushing people around rarely made friends, and friends were the ones that got you what you needed without ratting you out at the first chance. Second and third were in the air, of course, but it gave a chance to set up a situation of mutual benefit. "Jack, try not to make too much noise," she called over her shoulder, hoping the man could hear her without her shouting at the top of her lungs.

[IntSys]

"Ugh... What? No, there was just, a red-haired doll with an axe..." One of the men muttered as he stood up, holding a hand against the wall. The chilliness of the rain slowly kicked in, and he shuddered, looking up to the sky. "God, how long have I been out for? It's already time for curfew..."

 

The other guy crawled up too, clutching his chest. "Let's, uh, get to the warehouse for now. At least until the curfew's over. It's a bit away from here, but at least it'll be easier avoiding patrols through the alleys."

 

"Thanks, by the way."

[Chevaleresse]

"She won't be an issue for a while." She nodded at Harold, Jack, and their erstwhile client. "Come on, no need to do anything else stupid." She gestured at the two civilians that had just made a polite offer. "Let's get out of the rain without knocking down any walls, eh?" The ex-pirate turned back to the two men in question."How far is this warehouse?"

[IntSys]

Dove seemed to be on board with the plan. "Now would be the worst time to cause a ruckus. We don't have the power to deal with military-grade armor, after all..."

 

"The warehouse's a few blocks away from here, we should be able to get there in ten minutes if all goes well," one of the men answered Scarlet's question. "You're not from these parts, are you? I can't imagine any other reason why you guys would be out here during curfew."

 

"I hope you've realized already how crapsack of a city Smederevo is," the other man added casually, wiping some of the water off his body. "They didn't even bother upgrading the city's walls, so unlike Belgrade, we have to treat every storm like it's an actual breach. And there's no shortage of them, too!"

[Powder Miner]

Jack had been about to walk over and just start dead-ass tearing apart the wall of rubble blocking the far door with his hands when Scarlet called him over; he had actually been, in fact, halfway across the room at the time. Upon her finding another solution, though, he shrugged and walked on out of the house. ”Whatever works works, you know. Although I bet I could totally handle a little bit of military-grade armor, heh heh.” Jack fondly patted his rocket launcher as he followed the others. ”But yeah, yeah, I won’t start shit ‘til it’s started at me.” He adjusted his Gauss SAW as he moved, getting ready to unlimber it and start shooting if they got jumped again.

 

As they walked, Jack decided to talk to the other guys that Scarlet had evidently woken up. ”Hey, just be glad that you CAN stay in one place. Where I come from, except for the Sanctuaries and Gates, you’re constantly going around fighting your way in and out of places. Shit doesn’t stay for long. Even when one group locks the continent down for a while, you’ll always have everyone popping in to contest it again, and you’ll always be fighting SOMEWHERE. I’ve seen all of the outposts I’ve been at flip hundreds and hundreds of times. It’s fuckin’ pacific down here, dude. Has to be a hell of a lot of downtime.”

[IntSys]

"Hah... There's always worse, huh."

 

The group followed the two men, making a beeline for the warehouse. Finally, you made it there in one piece. The men opened up a side door and let you in. Then, they turned on some of the lights.

 

It was a shady place, no doubt. Lifeless dolls were placed on rusted racks, with tags clipped onto their hair. They seemed to be service-model dolls, and their state implied that they were secondhand. Dismantled parts of dolls could also be seen sorted neatly on shelves.

 

Not a single window could be seen, only vents carefully placed in a way that prevents people outside from seeing what's inside clearly. A ladder could be seen leading underground. Considering the position of the warehouse, it was fairly likely that it'd lead to the sewers.

 

A table was placed roughly in the center of the warehouse, along with two couches that looked like they were in pain, with their insides bursting out of the seams of the seats, and their leather cracking in every corner. Metal stools could also be seen stacked neatly not too far away from the couches. They did not look very comfortable either. In fact, they could probably make for a nice blunt weapon.

"We don't exactly have much that we could be giving you here, unfortunately, unless you'd like to make business with us," one of the men said. "And, our bosses wouldn't be happy if they noticed that we brought outsiders here, so you'll have to leave once the curfew ends."

"That aside, if you're in a hurry, you could get to the sewers from here. Most patrol units for the sewers are tasked with patrolling the streets during curfews, so it's definitely easier to get around the city from down there." The other guy added.

 

From his eyes alone, you could tell that Dove did not like what he was seeing, though he was smart enough to keep it to himself.

 

 

TIME ALLOCATION: You may spend as many minutes as you want on the following options. You should also decide which direction you want to go towards afterwards. However! The longer you take, the more uncertainty there would be! Actions queued for later might be interrupted and never get carried out!

 

- Healing: For every minute allocated, Scarlet and Harold can both use their respective healing actions once each.

 

- Remedy: For people with healing actions (that'd be Scarlet and Harold), they can tend to an existing Wound. Two Remedies are required to remove a Wound, but they don't have to be done by the same person. A person being treated for their Wound cannot take action.

 

- Purchase?: You could spend some time to negotiate a deal with the men and buy some of the items in the warehouse. A minute is required to examine the stock, and more time may be required depending on how smoothly the deal goes.

 

- Proceed: Always queued last.

 

(Passives still apply)

 

(Discussing is a free action, of course)

 

 

Status

Spoiler

Jack: 1/36 [Shield: 0/18] [1x Wound]

Scarlet: 9/36

Harold: 1/30 [1x Wound]

 

[Chevaleresse]

Creepy as hell, that's what this place was. She had no issues with androids, except for the fact that they would end up in places like this, being treated as they were. She personally held the view that everyone was circuits and screwy programming, just that most of 'em were mostly made of meat instead of metal. Not to mention the more primal feeling of seeing close-to-human things in pieces or apparently dead. Still, she'd seen worse, and she had more important things to do than ponder the morality of simply leaving this warehouse alone or doing business with its denizens. Instead, she walked up to Harold, and unceremoniously sat him down and began applying nanites. "I'm already getting sick of this. They could have at least given me some damned sutures to work with. . ." 

 

Spend 4 minutes remedying Harold, then Jack

Spend 2 minutes healing Jack

Spend a minute examining the stock