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 We called it New Eden. A perfect world. Earth-like but pristine. Abundant resources, no terraforming, no hab bubbles… paradise. First it was explorers and scientists, then corporations looking to exploit and ravage according to their inhuman logic. Then came the settlers: ‘settling guarantees reproduction!’ Unlimited waivers for the first generation willing to make the leap to a new world. But then the skies filled with spores and the bugs woke from their long sleep. First it was pest control. Most people forget that. No problem at all, just some local fauna to put down. Then it was evacuation. Then rescue. Then vengeance. Then pride. More soldiers, more deaths, more sacrifice justifying more sacrifice. Never leave a man behind! What if that means sending a thousand more into the meat grinder? Chemical weapons weren’t working. Bio-agents too dangerous. Orbital bombardment? Then we’d be destroying our prize out of spite. So, more men. Another offensive. Another base. Another thousand bugs killed and another unit lost. How could we lose? How could we relinquish this jewel of a planet after everything we’ve sacrificed? If we just left, those losses would be for nothing. No, no, we couldn’t accept that. And then a beautiful thought. What if it wasn’t our fault? Not our planning, not our technology, not our logistics, but our men? What if we hadn’t betrayed them, what if they had betrayed us? Now that… that was a revelation. - Excerpt from Memoirs of the First Interstellar War – BANNED NPC list - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Arpa_wCQH4VODgj4jI48be8zbp4CoU-dNhBSKL6ffNQ/edit?usp=sharing Lance Corporal Aboah, Jacob D - The Landfall Marine Landfall is always harrowing, but your landing was a particular poo poo show. You came in as a triple, a bit under strength but enough to deal with most threats on landing, with orbital support. But Jenkins got twisted up in atmo and dropped god-knows-where. Lance landed on-point in a clearing. You were a few clicks off and had to deal with a small bug problem. You never saw Lance again. Your suit kicked on it’s automated mission briefing. Brass said you’d been promoted to classified work and they couldn’t tell you poo poo in orbit. Brass had been cagey about the Paradise Offensive for a while now but according to the newslines it was going great. Primary Objective: Recovery of VIP Sela Kresh, Head Researcher of Life Labs Eden Outpost If Sala Kresh is DECEASED recovery of research data from Life Labs and biometric encryption key from base of Sala Kresh’s spine (see attached surgical instructions) Secondary Objective: Recovery of magnis caeruleis sample.  Tertiary Objectives – see STANDARD FORCE MAINTANENCE RESUPPLY INCENTIVE PROGRAM There’s a few hyperlinks to more details on the outpost and the scientist but the “mission parameters” demand your loving focus. 1. Due to unknown biological agent all local food is potentially hazardous. Consuming any food besides vacuum sealed nutripaste is highly hazardous and may compromise orbital pickup protocols 2. Due to unknown biological agent, all currently stationed ground forces may be contaminated. Do not exchange fluids with any personnel stationed on Eden or any local flora and fauna. 3. Due to unknown biological agent, all currently stationed ground forces may be compromising military intelligence. Do not share mission data. Do not share any information on current EDF tactics and strategy. Ground forces may be utilized to aid in completing mission but must not be informed of mission goals. It’s been a little while since that day. How did you make contact with Firebase Anvil and how much did you share? What are you up to this morning? Reine - The Contaminated “Reine…. Reine!” Jacob snaps his fingers in your face, loving rude, and leans back when you focus on him, “what the gently caress? You been taking some of Been’s poo poo? You know he’s stretching it out with loving grease right?” Last thing you remember was going to sleep and dreaming of starships. Now you find yourself sitting in the corner of the garage, with an open technical manual in front of you. “What the gently caress are you doing here anyway?” What do you do? Willie Sideways Thompson - The Driver Off to the side of the garage Jacob’s bugging Reine for some loving reason. Probably trying to neg her into the bunks. But you notice something else, the radio by the pair flipped on its own and it’s spitting static, and also something else. Sounds like a human voice behind the fuzz. What do you do? Sgt. Vasile Petrescu - The Maestro'D It’s late morning. Since you still stick to military scheduling, serving time is over. Mornings are good for you, the early risers are regulars who still have some respect left in them. The more slovenly grunts time their wake-up for lunch. But for now it’s just a few good soldiers with their coffee. You’re scrubbing the counter to prep for the next meal. Private Fitzgerald usually does that, but he didn’t come in today. Not like him… But here he is now! Stumbling in on a makeshift crutch? Private Fitzgerald was lucky he lost his leg early in the war, back when they still had plenty of good replacements. Nothing like the bionic nerve-interface gizmo a T1 citizen might get earthside, but still a piece of springy metal custom fitted to him, good enough for someone to get around in a support role. But now his is gone and he’s sheepishly trying to spray and wipe while tottering on his one leg like you aren’t going to notice something is amiss. What do you do? Lt. Casey Casino Duff – Battlebabe “Just the fine piece o’ rear end I wanted to see.” Been interrupts you (what were you doing?). He scratches his balls, to which he has easy access now that he’s taken to wearing nothing but a loin cloth and a rifle. One of the dozen flunkies he’s rolling deep with today snickers. He’s a bit out of his comfort zone, leaving the barracks he’s turned into a pleasure den. You’re pretty sure the black market “kingpin” is your direct superior, but thankfully he’s never tried to give you an order. He doesn’t today either, he makes an offer: “Vasile’s been talking poo poo and hoarding the café. loving communist won’t serve my people, but some of them are hankering for some dirty brown water. If you can get me a sack of real coffee beans I’ll trade you an unopened bottle of genuine earth-side bourbon. I’ll throw in a special bonus if you take a poo poo in his pot.” What do you do? Major Roosevelt Profit - The Chopper Shrikes are getting restless. The last operation went sideways (what was it?) and since you’ve been recovering a few of the guys have taken to partying with Been. This morning Jesus and Kat came stumbling back to (where do the shrikes hole up?) missing all their loving clothes. Those were Aircav uniforms, designed to be worn under standard body armor for high speed loving engagements. They’re not irreplaceable, but you’re running low and standard poo poo won’t do for aircav. What do you do? Zee the Hocus You wake up to chanting “Ave Zee Ave Zee AVE ZEE.” Looks like your friends brought you breakfast! (who had the honor of presenting it to you?) A real breakfast of pancakes and “eggs.” They must have snuck it away from Petrescu, no one else makes grub like that! You feel good, like weirdly good. There’s something in the air. Most days you feel like you’re being watched, and today is no different. But today you feel like whoever is watching is more curious than hateful. It’s like when the doctors ran a test that went well, like they just found something that made them reconsider wanting to stab your eyes out. What do you do?
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Dec 13, 2017 19:07
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Sgt Vasile Petrescu "Oh, ummm, yeah just doing what I can, you know, for the war. Every bit helps, right? Like you always say. I'm not... Like, I got my hands and... Jen lost her leg a while back." You know "Jen", she's with the Shrikes. Nasty piece of work, you banned her from the mess after she picked a fight that ended with Private Satrio losing an eye. You heard getting her leg mangled by a tree and amputated just left her even more punchy.
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Dec 13, 2017 22:59
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Sgt Vasile Petrescu He's squirming a bit at the question, "I... Um, it was kind of a mutual thing I guess, like, I didn't just take off my leg and hand it to her but you can see they didn't jump me or nothing, I guess. It's fine. I don't want any trouble."
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Dec 14, 2017 00:32
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Sgt Vasile Petrescu There's a flicker of something like confusion and then realization on his face. He straightens out a little bit, "right, straight. Jen and her friends came to me last night and explained that I was the best match with a Prosthesis for her height and weight so only my leg could get her riding again. And since she was no good on base and I was no good in combat it would be for the best for me to go without. I'm good with my hands, maybe I can craft a nice peg or something?"
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Dec 14, 2017 01:05
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Spc. Reine You catch a look at the page you were on. It's a schematic for light jump shuttle. It's for maintenance so there's nothing on how to make it, just how to fix it. Jacob laughs, "yeah, well most have been a good book since I've been trying to talk to you for..." you don't really catch the rest as your mind opens up. (What does that feel like?) You get an image of a vine crawling up a tree to reach the light. It's a natural yearning deeper than thought. The desire to survive, to thrive, to grow, and to find that new, warm, nourishment.
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Dec 14, 2017 01:46
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Willie ‘Sideways’ Thompson and Reine Jacob shrugs, "look, I'm not trying to be a dick here. Reine is integral to operations now and... like, I think she's cool. But look at her! She's zonked out again!" Jacob snaps his fingers right at her eyes again and she doesn't even flinch, "if she's not high she needs a concussion protocol or something." When Reine's eyes focus again he sighs, "And I'm here because I keep getting brown outs whenever I run a simulation. Now, I know Martians like to dive right into poo poo, but us Earthers value our lives and we want tac simulation to loving work. I checked all over the place for you. Sideways taps the radio and Jacob looks at it, "is that a person under the static? Comms are all hosed up but it could be Firebase Hammer, I've been looking for a sitrep from there. poo poo, could even be Ocean, or Central, or loving Orbit. I'll run over to comms and turn on a better rig, you see if you can hear anything here!" Reine - No one in the base is contaminated besides you - for now. But you can feel plenty of minds out in the jungle. As you try to focus on minds just like yours, with some humanity, you think there's one a while west, and another east. West is the weird one, Firebase Anvil was supposed to be the furthest Western outpost. What do you do? Major Roosevelt Profit The Shrikes get to work. They're eager for a fight and you have no trouble whipping them up into a frenzy. It's the waiting that gets them, not the fighting. But you have two riders to deal with: "See, I had pocket kings..." "Who loving cares what you had, see, we were drunk" "It was a sure bet" "Really loving drunk, and we got to gambling with Been and his boys. We made some bad decisions" "...What are the odds of a straight flush on the draw?" "Anyway, we figured it wasn't right to welsh on a bet." "But it's alright, he said we could work it off and get the unis back, those are just collateral" What do you do? Sgt Vasile Petrescu You send out word and people are enthusiastic. They're good soldiers still, they just need a mission. Now they have one. A group sets out to get the Private a new stump! You work on the lunch rush, and it goes alright... Until Private Roflball starts muscling in on Fitzgerald. 'Helping' the 'cripple' on this off day, really showing that he can do the work better and faster. What do you do?
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Dec 14, 2017 07:20
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Lt. Casey 'Casino' Duff Been chuckles humorlessly, "what, are you still taking orders? Behind the times there. I realized a while back, without the whole military industrial complex, without society to keep us in check, we revert to the basics. People get more simple. Incentive, response. Carrot and stick. I don't give orders, I make offers and threats, and only when I can carry them out. Now, you're coming off a bit hostile here, which is weird because I'm just looking to make friends and I'm not into dominatrix poo poo." In the context of you refusing he plans on walking away and then loving with you, severity depending on politeness of the refusal. Hey, answer a few questions for me: 1. How could he get your character to work for him? (and "no way" is not a loving answer this time) 2. How are you vulnerable to him? 3. What should he be on the lookout for? Zee "But the holy shits of the Herald must be honored!" Isaiah winks, be he does not give you coffee. That stuff is harder to sneak out. The group disperses to get the less dedicated members. Isaiah stays though. He has news: "One of our Friends witnessed something important about 20 minutes ago. Three Shrikes took over a piece of medical to put a proper peg on one of their wounded. Toyota came in with a big group of guys. The Shrikes are dead and Toyota left with the peg. This may lead to a conflict between the Shrikes and the Old Guard. Do you have any insight? What should we do?" What do you do? Willie ‘Sideways’ Thompson Right as Jacob leaves, Ode comes in. He's one of Zee's followers, but like you he keeps it on the down-low so he can still hang in the Mess (and sneak food out for Zee). He leans on the table next to the static radio, all casual. "Our, Good Friend is calling the group together. I think she got a weird vibe today. You wanna come?" If you leave, it means you're not listing to the voice on the radio. What do you do?
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Dec 14, 2017 20:06
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Zee AND Willie ‘Sideways’ Thompson Sideways, you zoom right over to meet with the rest of the congregation. Almost everyone is assembled, a bit dangerous really for the people still on the down-low, but how are you going to be part of the group if you don't go to the meetings and experience the weird poo poo? Zee, you have enough people now. They're gathered expectantly, waiting for your revelation. How are they looking? (I don't think you rolled Fortunes, so do that to answer this.) What do you do? Sgt Vasile Petrescu He takes to the suggestion well. Like, really well. His face lights up and he gives you a hug. You're not sure if Roflball picked up that "spare time" means he's still on schedule to head out into the jungle tomorrow, but he's happy for now to try his hand at being an assistant gardener. Jake Aboah is definitely a source of hope for rescue. In fact, you can see a number of the more despairing recruits eyeing him hard. You can tell what they want: hope, news from home, a connection to the outside. And everyone knows Landfall Marines have a direct beacon to orbit that might be able to get through the chaff. What do you do? Lcpl Jake Aboah You're chatting with Vasile like nothing is wrong and everyone around you is chowing down. How do you feel about that? Mess is pretty busy right now, but people are giving a bit of a wide berth, almost reverent. Anyway, you came here for a reason right? What do you do? Spc. Reine You stay and listen. You really can't pick out words, but with your mind still freshly opened to the hive, you hear something else. The meaning behind the words. This voice? It's 'human' but not 100%. Contaminated like you. Once you realize that, you start to hear his mind as much as his voice, and it's clear as day. This is a trap. The voice is trying to lure people with a false SOS. But it's also a recruitment message, he doesn't want to kill them, at least not all of them, he wants to convert them. Some portion of the group is supposed to "survive" and return to base, only changed. What do you do? Profit You're on hold for a second, but in the meantime maybe you can help me out: 1. Who are your squad leaders? 2. What happens to a Shrike when they're too wounded to ride? Are they still a Shrike? 3. Who was in charge of Jen?
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Dec 15, 2017 18:35
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Major Roosevelt Profit You roll up on Been's "pleasure dome" i.e. his barracks. It's early afternoon by now, which means a fair number of his more dedicated clients are still zoned out. Been's boys are at attention though. Here's something about Been most people don't recognize: for all that he's a hosed-up drug-addled primativist pimp, he might be the best 'leader' on base besides you. He didn't make his rank off bullshit, you remember when he was a respected officer with a goddamn gold cross on his chest. Something broke in his head, but whatever his hosed up methods he has men on attention at the crack of dawn, armed and alert, and his barracks is a harder point than you might expect. You have no problem strolling right in. Bunks torn apart and made into giant mats, splayed with nude bodies. Canteens filled with bathtub hooch. A tac-screen hacked to display a collection of pirated movies privates snuck unto base. Been is in the center of it, lounging in a large chair scavenged from a downed vehicle, sorting through a pile of "barter," mission critical supplies and equipment people traded him last night for a day of forgetting their troubles. He gives you a half-assed, ironic salute as you stride in, not bothering to stand up, "Major! What can I do for you this morning?"
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Dec 15, 2017 19:13
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Spc. Reine Your new friend is pretty far away, that seems to weaken the connection a bit (if you want the real good stuff you have to "read" him, is that what you're going for?). But you do get an answer, fluid exchange will begin contamination. More fluids, more contaminant. You think loving is probably the easiest way to do it, though donating blood might be even more effective. You head to the mess for some coffee, no problem at all. Petrescu is focused on Casino, but Derek is happy to fill your cup with a smile. You're very much welcome here. What do you do?
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Dec 15, 2017 21:25
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Zee You join hands with the congregation and merge their minds with yours. This place has made you far stronger than before, and all their minds together act as an amplifier. You begin with them, but then with the human minds as your anchor you connect with something larger, the "mind" of this planet. The merged consciousness reveals itself to you. Your senses are flooded with thousands of impressions, voices, symbols, thoughts. But you were "trained" well. Electric shocks, isolation, sensory deprivation, countless tortures large and small. All of it not just to give you visions, but to give you useful visions. Useful to them. Military intelligence. Your collective subconscious automatically sorts signal from noise, actionable intelligence from vague symbolism. Soon in the circle formed by your cult an image appears. It's a map, a big, tactical one. And on it is every single human, bug, network of sentient vines, and other weird hostile thing within hundreds of miles. As you focus on any particular point it appears with more clarity and further intelligence on their movements, motivations, capabilities, and plans begins to emerge. Some obvious options for your focus is this base, the other firebases, Central, Ocean, the research outposts, or enemy strongholds. You probably won't be able to hit them all before you lose control. This map will only stay as long as you maintain it. What do you do? Willie ‘Sideways’ Thompson Read Zee. What did that mind meld feel like for you? You're a part of this thing, you can focus on your own part of the map. What do you do? Major Roosevelt Profit Been makes a gesture and two crisp uniforms are brought out, looks like he had them laundered, "Ah, I see where you're going with this. You're saying you own the Shrikes down to the clothes on their loving backs? Fine, fair. But here's the thing: they've been gambling with that poo poo for a while. When they win, they partake in my poo poo. When they lose suddenly it's a sob story about how their poo poo ain't their poo poo. It's loving irritating. Take the uniforms, I don't have any use for them. But if the Shrikes belong to you? So do their debts. And if you're not cool with that I'm banning you and the Shrikes from the Market." Ok, so, getting banned from Been's market is no problem right? Except he probably has the most poo poo on base, including all the morphine, most of the antibiotics, and the anti-fungal creme. And you have wounded Shrikes and will likely have more. Spc. Reine Derek frowns, "well, it's a pretty poo poo day. Biggest piece of news is poor Fitzgerald was jumped this morning by a pack of barbarians or some poo poo. He's mum on the issue but a man comes in without his leg, what do you think happened? We have some people out searching for a replacement," he leans in close, "and the boss might not like it, but I heard some of the boys are real tired of this loving behavior, so they're looking for a bit of justice as well. I mean who loving takes a man's leg? That's some monstrous unconscionable poo poo right there. Somebody has to put some discipline back in these jokers. Other than that? Slow day, nothing even trying to come past the line. We're running out of egg-like protein powder so eat up while it lasts!" While he's talking to you you start developing a headache and your thoughts keep drifting weirdly, like you're high or something. What do you do?
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Dec 18, 2017 21:58
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 Petrescu & Casino Keep doing your thing. Though there is some tension in the room after Jake blows off the hopeful patrons, and Reine has gone back to a thousand hard stare in the vague direction of your "Do the right thing, report military code violations!" poster. Reine You focus on this feeling in your mind... What's weird about it is just how much more human it is than anything else you've felt poking around in your head. The other beings are merely confused by this new presence, but you're human enough to recognize what's wrong with the new hive mind sorting through your memories, it's a human imposter! It could expose you! It's own mind is protected from you, whoever this is they are powerful and trained in mental combat. That alone reveals something, you only know one psychic. If she's paying attention, she knows what happened to you now. What do you do? Jake You sneak out of the cafe after trying to be as unobtrusive as possible. You get out of there without anyone bothering you, but you can see their frustration. Once you get to the garage and find Mtumbe he laughs and smacks you on the shoulder. You don't feel that, but he does. As he shakes the pain out of his hand he gestures for you to follow him, "we're actually just scrambling for the Major. But I have a big worry before that. The Major is very angry this morning, for good reason but it is not so good for the next man who makes a mistake. And... I'm missing Crazy Ivan and Tex. They left with Jen last night. To go to Been's I thought, but no word from there. This is troubling me." What do you do? Profit Been grins, "same thing I said to your boys. I don't need your stuff, I need labor. Nothing to gently caress with your operations, just on your downtime I'd appreciate you sending some Shrikes down here for odd jobs to pay off their debts" He wants what he says he wants, but there's more meaning beneath the surface. He doesn't need more workers, he needs an endorsement. There's a difference between a couple of Shrikes doing a job or two for some pussy and the Shrikes as a unit working for Been. You are both respected and feared on the base, if people think the Shrikes are with Been that gives him a lot of power. What do you do? Sideways You focus on the perimeter. First impression? It's great. Small, manageable group of bugs near the line. But you can sense their motivation: curiosity. And as you zoom out a bit, you see a sea of bugs, way too many. If they rushed the defenses now? Firebase Anvil is already loving dead. Except... They're waiting. You aren't even a threat anymore, so they don't need to push things. They'd rather have a few scouts watch and poke you and figure out what makes you tick. Now, Zee is calling for war. What do you do? Zee So, you looked at something scary. I'm going to guess you dove right into the Queen Hive? If so, you uncovered that the creatures are linked by a hive mind, which was helpful for getting so much intel but also very scary. You also found that there is a dense ecosystem of prey, predator, and symbiotic species on this planet that were all eventually conquered by a single, powerful, psychic species that infects the rest. That's the species humanity pissed off, and that's why the planet seemed fine-ish and then became super hell zone. There is a weakness in that though, if you strike at the central hives you could actually hurt it. Your congregation is made of soldiers, but mostly not soldiers you know what I mean? Like these aren't the loving Shrikes. But they each saw their own scary thing and they're ready to go if Mother Zee is. What do you do?
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Dec 20, 2017 23:42
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Profit There is a lot of tension in this room. Guards twitch with hands on triggers, sweat pours down, eyes shift. They're wondering if you can carry out this threat. Wondering if they shouldn't gun you down where you stand, if you can draw faster than they can pull. No matter what, this would turn into a shitshow of an engagement for everyone involved. Been slowly stands up. Then, he gives you a wide, toothy smile, like the poo poo platter you just served was a Christmas present. "Yes sir", a perfect salute, ramrod straight, "this base is in absolutely slip-shod shape and I'm happy you've decided to fix things major. Any requisitions request will be fulfilled to our best capabilities." What do you do? Petrescu and Reine Maurice thinks for a second, "I don't know, but I know who would know. Etsy's girl Rosa has a thing for that freak." He heads out and has an answer by the time lunch is cleaned up. He rushes in, huffing, "Hooooleeeey poo poo! The whole group is going to loving war. Arming up with whatever they can find. She's shouting about taking Central. Central, like central loving command! Etsy's over there begging his girl not to do something hosed but she's all zombied out or something, I think the freak hollowed out her brain! What the gently caress do we do?" What do you do? Sideways and Zee Zee breaks the map pretty quick to prep her people, but you both get a quick look at Central. It looks... complicated. Clusters of human allies and enemy targets. Zee's plan is good enough for government work and you got a snapshot of intel but Central wasn't your first pick so no more freebies. You can read a sitch if you want some insight before going in. Your people are preparing as well as they can with what they have. They could use more arms, armor, vehicles, intel, logistics, what the gently caress ever. Any final preparations or are you rolling on Central Command without any more preamble? Also, Etsy, who is not a Friend, is trying his damndest to drag Rosa out of this. Looks like a few people overheard and are probably running back to Petrescu to tattle. What do you do? Casino You want to hook up with Been right? Some initial scoping says he's in a big meeting with Profit. Tensions are loving high with the boys outside. What do you do?
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Dec 28, 2017 06:08
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Casino and Aboah You weren't particularly subtle approaching Been's hole. Casino was invited, so whatever. But Aboah? Rolling on someone in the death suit is an implied threat, especially when you weren't invited. Been has a gang. You combat scanners automatically tag them as allies, but when you override that the threat assessment isn't fantastic. When you whip out the chunky salsa mixer, you register a lock-on. The ACHILLES-CLASS ANTI-VEHICLE WEAPON SYSTEM was yet another utterly pointless piece of over-designed bullshit designed to defeat an enemy that hasn't existed for decades at least. There were twelve gathering dust on base, but Been's boys have one and it's trained on you in case you start gunning people down during their meeting.
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Dec 28, 2017 22:29
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Petrescu "What the gently caress. What... The... gently caress." LT. Mattu rubs his temples, "I think I'm gonna be sick. We're in loving logistics, we keep the soldiers alive. What do we do when there's a freak revolution on base? Gather who you can and get them ready to intercept. See if you can get the Shrikes in on this, they're the most cohesive unit we have and these fuckers will back down with that kind of fighting force in the way. I'm going to go talk with them, see if we can work out what their problem is. I know you don't like those guys Petrescu, I don't either. But we need to keep the peace and protect our fellow humans. All of them. The bugs are the enemy, not assholes with cabin fever. Just keep the peace. One day at a time."
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Dec 28, 2017 23:19
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Reine and Petrescu "Oh, oh Lord Jesus no. I really am going to be sick," Mattu just keeps shaking his head at the world, "I'm not sending our best engineer to assassinate our intel asset. Let's just, just loving talk to her. Bring a to-go cup of that coffee and have a goddamn sit down."
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Dec 28, 2017 23:36
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Casino, Let's loving move. Say what you want to Profit, but what's the plan with Been? You coming back empty handed? Looking to shoot things out? Make a new deal? Just walk away and hope he doesn't gently caress you? What do you do? Alboah If you stand down Been's gang will think you were just back-up in case poo poo went south and all is cool. If not there are going to be some fireworks. Either way, they now have their eyes on you since it looks like you were willing to gun them down like dogs for a favor when you ain't part of either unit. What do you do? Petrescu It looks like the Shrikes are already mustering. They're ready to ride, but they don't know where. Most of the Shrikes don't pay you any mind at all. They like you, you give them food, but they don't respect you. The Major is out so Sgt. Frankie Smokes greets you with a handshake, "what can I do for you?" What do you do? Also, it sounds like you're looking to raise some troops besides the Shrikes. That's simple enough, you're putting out the word and what you're looking for is a Gang that would be willing to butt heads with Zee's followers. Roll it. Sideways You grab Etsy's arm and it's like an iron cord, he's not a big man but he's strong and a little tap isn't going to break that grip. He blinks at you, "WE? You're with that loving brain-whacking psycho? You're 'moving out' to get everyone killed in the loving jungle, going AWOL, and what else? What are you going to do at Central? Treason? Naw man, naw, gently caress this poo poo. Rosa ain't right in the head today but she'll pull out. That bitch Z-7 whatever crawled up inside you all with her hateful poo poo. She'll recover once she gets some sleep. So will you. So will you please loving give it a day before you do some stupid poo poo you don't mean." Rosa has nothing but poison in her eyes for this rear end in a top hat keeping her from doing right by Momma Zee but he's being real stubborn about this poo poo. You want to do something about this, do it. What do you do? Reine So you have some plans, but how are you going to do that poo poo? You need juice, parts, workspace, privacy, maybe partners. You need a lot of poo poo but it's one step at a time. For now, let's think about Juice. Right now you're skimming off the top, but you need an indie power source if you're going to take it on a shuttle, and as a bonus if you get one early there won't be as many brown outs. You can't carry a Firebase reactor around with you though. Miniature self contained fusion reactors are rare, expensive, and almost exclusive to starships. Building your own would require know-how you don't have and rare materials that might not even be on this planet. But an image forms in your mind. Deep in the jungle there's a rotted out non-military building. You think what you need is there. What do you do?
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Jan 7, 2018 00:32
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Petrescu Smokes shrugs, "well, I'll let the Major know when she gets back. We don't take orders from Mattu and we have orders to muster and wait, so she has plans and I don't see how they're getting involved with a bunch of fevered assholes looking to get ate." If you want some Shrikes to come with you then you'll need to manipulate them, or maybe threaten them, or wait for the Major.
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Jan 7, 2018 03:31
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Reine You are a glorious glowing green fungus clinging to a beautiful tree. You are a majestic spidercrab eating the delicious fungus of the forest. You are the powerful Zith'gra tearing into the spidercrab's shell and gorging on its innards. All selves are eternal under the Shared Mind and the Master Will of the All Changing Ones. They live inside this shell you call your body and are sustained by the Glorious Light. You are Chosen, Merged, filled to bursting with their essence, sustained by their grace. But the multitudes must live in the world of meat. They must feed on others to survive as they evolved to live. Shells are consumed while the Master Will lives on. You are not the enemy. You are not Other; Invader. You are protected if your Meat Brain serves. But you are being watched and you are not safe. The Other considers its memories. Suspicion for some, plans for escape, and overall there is loyalty. It is pleased. Very pleased. The Meat is not always so submissive. Two suspect and this is not good. The "Zee," violator, it will be destroyed when the time is right but for now it surrounds itself with slaves and to kill it would mean killing all. It does not want to kill yet, it wants to learn. More minds, bright minds, yes. It goes to the dark place that steals its food. There it finds the Jacob, playing with the stories he crafts with the Light. It is not good at speaking as the humans do, it still need the Meat Brain for such things. But there is no need for talking, only a gift of Light he is eager to receive. You have sex with Jacob - give him a contamination move The Other smells blood. Another chance for another mind. A watcher moves to stop it. It must kill or speak. Better to let the Meat speak first. It can kill if this fails. You are in front of an office in Tacsim. Tacsim is mostly abandoned at this point as their job as "on-the-ground AI-driven decision-leaders" was just a new way for contractors to milk the military budget. You recognize Jenkins standing nervously outside the door. He frequents the mess. You can smell blood in the room behind him, someone wounded but alive. What do you do? Profit Profit, how do you feel about Casino luring a division of Air Cav into a ground engagement by taking over a "colonial" school in Pittstown Dome and using the kids as human shields, and then blowing the whole thing, massacring a division and the child hostages? No matter how you feel about it, I can tell you how Bish feels. Remember Bish? You brought her, she's been keeping quiet, watching your back. And now she's drawn her service pistol and has it pointed at Casino's head. You were a unit commander at the time and your unit had the rear, so you were the only survivors. Bish was there too, all bright eyed and bushy-tailed. She never got over her first love being blown to bits that day. What do you do? Casino Shooting hasn't started yet, but you don't get through "Pittstown" before a Shrike has drawn on you. Been's gang is still watching from afar, though they've chilled out considerably once Alboah dropped the gun and put up the thumb. They seem to be entertained by this new development. What do you do? Aboah The beeping stops. You're being watched, and then Casino drops something about a "Pittstown dome?" it was before your time, but the Shrikes draw on her and you're standing in the middle of it. What do you do? Sideways Etsy is not in any state to back down. An uppercut puts you down and then a kick to the kidney keeps you there. Take 1-harm But, in the heat of the moment, Etsy forgot his SA. This fight was taking place near Zee's followers, and once you hit the ground Rosa screams and they come running. You're still winded and struggling to stand when he's tackled and the mob swarms over him. They beat him savagely and drag him away. What do you do? Zee Your gang arms up, ready to fight, and you march towards the armory. Like the outlying power stations, the South Armory was overrun a while ago, back when the Line was a lot more optimistic. A lot of good stuff has been raided already, but you know there's still poo poo out there worth taking. People are watching, but no one has moved to stop an organized, armed, and determined group of soldiers just yet. On the way, you spot Sideway's Tank and hear a scream. You've still got enough of a psychic link to know it's one of your followers. So does the gang, who rush off towards the noise. Soon, kneeling before you, is a bloody man. Rosa explains, "Etsy was trying to keep me from helping you because he's jealous, Mother! Sideways tried to talk sense to him but then he attacked her unprovoked! What should we do with him?" Etsy's barely conscious but he's got enough strength left to spit blood at your feet. You think he's some kind of petty officer, something about maps? What do you do? Petrescu Smokes looks torn, he glances back at a pair of Shrikes in worn out gear but turns back to you, "gently caress it. Odds are I'm gonna get torn a new rear end in a top hat about this but if I take the guys that are ready to go and get back within an hour I'm still within my orders. Favors a favor though, you owe me one." They give you a ride back to the mess where your boys have gathered a squad of fighters. They're good men, veterans. Reinforced with a unit of Shrikes this is a formidable fighting force. You have a gang (3-harm 1-armor small). What do you do?
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Jan 9, 2018 02:01
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Casino, Profit, Alboah Bish is not having any of that poo poo, "Why? Why? Because you're loving animals, that's why. Because a clayface would drown their own baby for a shot to kill an Earther. SOP if they took a garrison is bomb and straff, why the gently caress would we land for that? It was a rescue mission and Lulu died a hero! Profit: You and Bish were "there" but you didn't see the poo poo go down. AO had a school, kids were definitely dead by the end of the day, but hostages weren't in your briefing at least. The commander made some kind of call in the field. But if the Martians didn't kill those kids then the Earthers did, and Bish is not amiable to that particular line of reasoning. What do you do? Zee (and maybe Sideways) You leave Etsy and march south. Soon you're beyond the second Line. You spot the armory, but then you see movement beyond the building, just behind the second Line where the jungle becomes too dense to see. The trees are shaking. The armory isn't far. It's a sturdy structure with arms and armor, and emplacements to lay down fire on the enemy. But, it would also leave your gang surrounded and outside the Base's protection. You might be able to make it back to the first Line. But can you trust whoever is on the heavy guns today to wait until you've crossed it before they open fire? What do you do? Petrescu You and the crew head over to Zee's meeting place. It's not hard to see that they're ahead of you. They've taken whatever weapons they could and moved out. The Shrikes scout from the air and spot a body. He's been so brutalized you don't recognize him at first, but his dogtags say he's Etsy. You've seen him at the mess, a good man. This was his first tour, ROTC, he was in logistics, handled the maps from patrol reports. He answers directly to Major Huan. He's alive, for now. Looks like Zee's group marched south in a hurry after beating on him. Reine You slowly ooze down those vents, inch by inch. It loving sucks. There is still some meat on you, and crushing it down like that is painful. But once you've started you have to keep pushing through, even as the pipes narrow and you feel like your brain is being liquified. Take 1-harm AP. If you try to go out again that way, take another. Finally you're on the other end. You see a bearded man, he's in a Shrike uniform and he's been gutshot. Looks like someone has treated the wound, poorly. He's unconscious and feverish. Maybe he'll pull through, you're not a doctor, but it's more likely he'll just take a very long time to die... Unless he gets a blood donation. You're pretty sure a bit of you will get him back on his feet and part of the Hive Mind.
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Jan 9, 2018 21:50
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Casino You spilled the beans and you didn't get shot for it. The Shrikes will hear about this though, and if the Major ever withdraws her protection they will tear you apart. In general everyone's opinion of you just dropped. As soon as they hear, Earthers will think you're the scum of the earth, and even some Martians not involved with that operation will give you the side-eye. But, Been has nothing to hold over you. His gang is still on alert, but you know where he is. Profit is marching off, her girl following sullenly behind her. What do you do? Alboah Things were a bit tense back there, you following the Major? On the way you get a beep in the secret part of your headgear. Interference must be low because Orbit is looking for a sitrep. What do you do? Reine It doesn't take to long. As soon as your blood touches his, you know him. Crazy Ivan. You also know what happened, you can see it from his eyes. Crazy Ivan and Jen were real close and when she lost her leg it devastated her. He wanted to do something to help her, so he and some of the boys from his squad got together and leaned on that pussy Fitzgerald until he gave up his prosthetic. It wasn't the real thing but it would get her flying again and show her they cared. But a false leg needs a surgically installed base, so they took her to an abandoned wing of medical to put that on. A bunch of pricks found them there and jumped them. It started with screaming, and then a fistfight, but then someone drew. Tex got his brains blown out, Jen was strapped to the bed. Ivan was gutshot. His memories go in and out from there, flashes of being wrapped in bandages, arguments, being strapped down and wheeled out. You can see his wounds closing up from the miraculous properties of your blood. His fever breaks. He's asleep for now, but you could wake him up and he'd be disoriented but able to walk. The two of you are still stuck in this office with an irrational guard outside. What do you do? Give Crazy Ivan 2 contamination moves Sideways You strafe the forest and they take the bait. A wave of bugs comes down on you. Remember how you looked at the border during the mind meld? Remember how that was not good loving news? For some reason the Bugs haven't pushed, but they've already gathered enough bodies to wipe the whole base off the map. A lot of those bodies come swarming out of the jungle. You've been out before, you've seen a pack of bugs after some humans. This is different. They want you dead. The whole goddamn swarm wants you to be dead and they don't carry how many they lose getting there. What do you do? Zee Sideways draws the bugs off, and your group gets inside. The building has already been looted, but with your psychic insight you know where to look for a cache of heavy rifles, standard power armor (not the crazy marine poo poo), and some explosives. Your gang gets +1 harm and +1 armor, you can take powered armor (2-armor) if you don't mind stomping around, and a Heavy Rifle (harm-3 close/far loud autofire) The armory itself is strong concrete and steel with protected firing lines and emplacements. You get +1 armor when fighting in its defense. There are a lot of bugs chasing sideways down the Line and away from the armory. That doesn't mean you'll be safe here forever, it feels like you may have riled up a large group of them. To the north you can spot another gang of humans approaching, also armed, with aerial support from the Shrikes. What do you do? Petrescu You march south and soon you spot the cult's first target. They're raiding the armory for heavy weapons. Smokes swoops down to report, "eyes in the sky say it's a shitshow out there. They're looting the place for whatever people didn't take the first time that armory was overrun. Bugs aren't happy about it but they sent a ground vehicle to draw them off. No way the driver makes it out, loving fanatics. You're standing in a real scary spot out in the open here, if she turns this way the bugs might go for us after they open that tin can instead of trying to break through the building, so let's poo poo or get off the pot." Profit Even local communications are fuzzy as poo poo on this planet but hooking up with Alpha isn't that hard. Quebec 1 spots Rask up in the air to the south. Looks like he's hovering outside the Line. A bit more scouting shows that someone re-took the old armory and another force is headed towards them. Also, the bugs are riled the gently caress up and they're chasing that mini-tank relic nearby. What do you do?
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Jan 10, 2018 23:15
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Reine Jenkins yelps and struggles, but he's no match for your inhuman strength and speed. He gives in pretty quick: "because it wasn't our fault it just went FUBAR! We didn't mean for any of this poo poo, we just wanted to check medical and see if they had a peg for our man! But when we saw those loving thieves tempers flared up! We shouted at them and they loving drew on us! Fuuuuck! I don't even know what the gently caress we're supposed to do. If the Major sees this poo poo it's gonna be a bloodbath and these fuckers will squeel if we let them go but we can't stay here forever and we can't just kill them! It wouldn't be right and... gently caress! gently caress me! You're in this too now! You're loving in this too and if you tell Profit there will be loving WAR. What do we do?" Petrescu Your boys open fire on the horde. You don't make a dent in their sheer numbers, but when you wound the front line the ravenous swarm seems to collapse in on itself, skittering bugs smash into each other, crush each other, and whirl around in confusion. They were just too densely packed. Then Firebase Anvil comes to life and shows those loving beasts the unstoppable might of the Human War Machine. Trails of golden light rain down on the mass and where they touch there is nothing but white fire. Uncle Willie Pete come to visit. The main mass of bugs have been incinerated but there are still some left. Meanwhile, you see Profit arrive and buzz both your group and the armory. They seem upset. When she gives the fall-in signal the Shrikes with you quickly obey. without the Shrikes your gang loses 1-harm and 1-armor and you no longer have aerial scouts What do you do? Sideways You swerve around, keeping just ahead of the swarm. Interference is low today and your message gets through. The rear end in a top hat on the other end answers, "hey, we weren't told about this. Munitions are low, gotta make 'em count. Can you... Oh you already did. Why don't people tell me things? Shoot the poo poo Jo!" Looks like you got reinforcements! Even as you have this little chat, a second group lays into the bugs with supporting fire. They don't kill many, but it's perfect timing to hold them in place for the firestorm to do maximum damage. A more manageable number of bugs continues to follow you. They must really hate that song. Or maybe it's something else? What do you do? Profit You arrive in time to see Petrescu and Alpha lay down fire on the Bugs, which bunches and holds them just long enough for the WP to do its job. Good coordination, perfect grouping, you haven't seen an operation that pretty for a while. As you buzz the various factions Alpha falls in with you, though there are still bugs left. poo poo, there's a planet full of bugs left. What do you do? Zee You see Petrescu's group lay into the bugs, rescuing Sideways. You see the Shrikes buzzing over everyone, asserting dominance. There's no way to sneak around these guys, even while they're distracted with the bugs. The Shrikes especially can gun you down in the open. But you can see a spark of hope. The bugs were a blessing for what you're trying to do here, a tangible reminder of who the real enemy is and a chance to blow off steam. If they're victorious, they will feel capable of a harder fight. They will be willing to listen. The best way out is to shoot it out against the bugs with them and then surrender to the other gangs. Give them the weapons you looted and use that chance to tell them the truth only you know: there is a way to fight the bugs. There is still hope. You'll need to say it to the whole assembly, not just the leaders. Your message of hope and victory will bite deep into the crowd. You get +1 when using this information What do you do? Casino You ride with the Shrikes. Normally that would earn some brownie points, and Profit's orders are clear that they shouldn't gently caress with you. But you can see Bish talking as they muster, and there are a lot of dagger-eyed looks. Fear of Profit is keeping the immediate retribution at bay, but these people are not your friends. In your scope you can see Sideways get free of the bugs and the base open up the old War Crime in a Can. You pick out targets of opportunity among the survivors, but they've definitely lost a lot of mass and they're behind a step in the race to murder the tank. In this battle at least the humans have retaken the initiative. What do you do? General: The attack so far has reduced the bugs from Large to Medium.
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Jan 11, 2018 22:48
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Profit Your sweep combined with the artillery and fire from three directions devastates the mass of bugs. What's left is a pile of smoking gore. There's rustling in the jungle, but whatever bugs are left hidden seem to pull back, deeper into the darkness. You rule the skies. The South end of Firebase Anvil has been retaken and is under your undisputed control. A combination of acid, guts, and poor maintenance had downed Bravo 2's hammer. Moshe was wounded in the fall, Doc's giving her field treatment. All of Bravo 2 will need to ride with transport until you can get their vehicle fixed. bugs deal 3-harm. Subtract 1 for choices and 1 for armor leaves your gang taking net 1-harm Alboah You lay down fire for Profit and kick bug-rear end. Orbital send you a quick message in text. Objective 3 clarification: any personnel may be contaminated. No reliable screen for all levels. High level contaminated may recover unusually fast from wounds. Anyone experiencing a miraculous recovery is THE ENEMY. Death of VIP is likely but not confirmed. BE ADVISED current mission is time sensitive. Failure to progress may result in re-orientation of strategic priorities towards higher order orbital-based solutions. ADVISE: What is level of contamination at Firebase Anvil? Is it recoverable? Is it clear for level-3 quarantine? Biomass reduction is non-mission critical but may aid other operations. -You have to option to ask for resupply What do you do? Sideways You fire on those bugs until they're squashed. They're a lot less dangerous out in the open here than in the jungle where they can tear you apart before you even see them. There was something real weird about how they acted today though. Like they were so organized and coordinated but all they did was suicide-swarm around you in particular. You'd expect them to be after Mother Zee if they were targeting anyone. What do you do? Petrescu A glorious victory for humanity! Your platoon is in higher spirits than you've seen in weeks. Zee's cult rushed out of the armory to join you! But then they run around, back inside Firebase Anvil. It's clear that the Shrikes are observing them but is letting them go, she had definite control of this area and could easily stop them. What do you do? Zee The plan goes fine. Shooting at the bugs was perfect cover for your retreat back to the safe zone. Everything you're doing is being watched by the Shrikes, who with air superiority could have made the walk in the open go very poorly. But they let you withdraw. The cult follows your lead, not relinquishing their weapons but being careful not to threaten anyone. Mr. Prokosch fucked around with this message at 23:47 on Jan 12, 2018 |
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Jan 12, 2018 23:42
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Aboah The implant should send out a radio signal, but you haven't picked it up and with all the interference you'd need to be close. Last known whereabouts were at the Life Labs Eden Campus. This is the closest active base to it. Life Labs was an early pre-war installation when people thought the planet was harmless and has been over-run since day one (2.5 years ago), but there were supposedly safe rooms and poo poo. The flower should be in the wild, maybe someone who does a lot of scouting like Sideways or the Shrikes could have seen it but they may not have known it was anything worth taking note of. It was mentioned by the VIP, so there could also be a sample in the labs.
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Jan 13, 2018 00:56
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Zee The first person to contact you is... Casino? A bit strange, but you saw her riding with the Shrikes. You two work this out. Profit What do you do after taking over? Zee's people have withdrawn, with those guns probably whatever crazy plan they had is still in play. Petrescu has gladly given command to you and will follow your lead. Reine "gently caress! We are hosed! Jen wouldn't calm down so we just tied her up in another office. I, uh, I can show you. Leroy's watching her. Let's ask him what to do. How can we spin what happened if she's around? We let her go she'll tell the Major, and if Profit tells her to leave it she'll still eat my balls. She said that. She looked me in the eye and swore on her mother's grave she'd do it." He's starting to ramble and he won't make eye contact with you. This guy's lost a marble, seems like he hasn't even noticed your weird monster strength yet. He'll show you where Jen is stashed easy enough, but you'll need to keep him firmly under your control the whole time or he will rabbit. Not because it's the best thing to do, but because he's lost some higher brain functions to existential panic. What do you do?
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Jan 18, 2018 00:10
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Sideways Cult, what cult? The op was totally sanctioned. Major Huan told you to drive in a loving circle around the base for a while and you were following orders like a good little girl. Yeah, you also think that's the dumbest thing you've ever heard. Take it up with your commanding officer. Not your problem. What the gently caress does Profit know? She hasn't been talking with Huan. You can at least confuse and deflect enough to get out of here for now.
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Jan 18, 2018 00:21
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Profit Petrescu and his men are shockingly happy to obey your orders. Maybe they're just happy to be getting orders at all. You can see they are mostly veterans, an unusually skilled group of military men and women who get comfort from the old ways. Some people around the base have taken to calling them the Old Guard. Of course, you haven't told them the plan yet. Break too much with the proper forms and they'll turn on you. You fly down to Command, your assembled forces behind you. If you care to check on him, Petrescu isn't there. Weird. The Old Guard are also looking nervous. There's some side talk, they expected to go after Zee. What are they doing here? Huan doesn't keep a gang around him like Been but a few people are hanging around outside of Command and eyeing you curiously. Command is designed as a heavy bunker to repel mortar attacks, withstand terror strikes, and act as the final line of defense if the rest of the base falls. It's drat near impenetrable by normal means. Aboah might be able to breach it, orbital marines are trained to take bunkers like this to decapitate enemy command. There's also an intercom button. What do you do? Petrescu No doubt you'd be happy to follow after Profit. But in the shuffle of bodies getting on the Shrike's transports you notice something... disturbing. The bug corpses aren't just bleeding, they're shedding. Blue flecks waft over the whole group and stick to their clothes. You see a Private breathe a glob of it in. It doesn't seem like they notice. Maybe that's normal, you do mostly work inside, sheltered from the alien jungle. You see it though, and then it sees you. A cloud of the stuff envelopes you head. It clutches at your throat and you can't even make a strangled yelp. You stumble and fall. You wake up. It's dark and cool. You're in some kind of muddy tunnel. There's a soft blue light from streaks of glowing moss on the walls. What do you do? Reine You walk into a dark room of partially open cubicles, Jenkins stumbling ahead of you. A voice calls out, "take another step and I turn you both to chunky salsa. I don't know what the gently caress you're up to, girl, but I am not to be hosed with today." "Hey Leroy!" Jenkins waves at the dark room, "I brought a friend. She's going to help us. She almost cut my throat though, so, mixed bag I guess. I dunno."
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Jan 18, 2018 03:01
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Petrescu You take stock of your situation, and your tools, all of them. At this point there aren't many smokes left, but you saved a few and you have your father's lucky lighter. He had a story once of how it saved his life. Maybe it will save yours too. It's real hard to get your bearings in this cave, but the air isn't too stale. There must be a draft. The flickering flame shows you the way. If you follow the drafts you're sure you can get out. But the light also reveals more of that blue stuff in the air, it might be the moss? It shies away from the fire, but it's swirling thickly at the edge of the light. What do you do?
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Jan 18, 2018 03:47
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Reine The darkness doesn't matter to you, as soon as he speaks you can locate him. Leroy is kneeling in a pitch dark side office, using the desk as a stand for his rifle. He can shoot through the window at you, but he doesn't have a bead, instead he's holding a little box in his off hand. So what's with the chunky salsa comment? And both of you? All the computers here are shut down, but you can feel a low buzz of electricity. You think he set up some explosives with a remote detonator. For the first time since your pipe adventure you also take stock of yourself. People aren't usually so aggressive when a pretty and non-threatening girl stumbles somewhere she shouldn't be. But your clothes are torn to poo poo, you've got this weird mix of slime and blood on you, you look like something from a horror movie. So Leroy will not fall for a nice girl act and he thinks he has the upper hand for threats. But, Jenkins is his friend so he's going to hesitate to push that button. Come at him fast and get close so he can't use the explosives, use the darkness and cubicles to avoid fire, then tear him apart in hand to hand. What do you do? Petrescu It isn't far at all. You make your way to the draft and use your rifle as a lever to open the whole. You pop out... In your garden? An easy exit point since the gardeners have been digging and tilling here. But that means these tunnels run under the base and if you fell into them from the battlefield they probably run back through the jungle. This is a way past the Line. When humans fights bugs in a field with discipline and ranged firepower it's an easy win. But if they attacked at night, from the garden, with the way discipline has deteriorated? It would be a slaughter. What do you do?
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Jan 20, 2018 00:44
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Profit "The Major is indisposed, can you leave a..." The first voice in interrupted by a slurred baritone, someone has been drinking: "Ahhh... Yes. Of course. You must suspect. Yes, we must protect what is most precious, and what is more precious than our own bodily fluids? Tainted. Corrupted. We are the walking dead. Our only task left is to spite our killers. You have done well Major, such courage, such spirit, such stubborn refusal to see the truth. You are a good soldier. They will surely lay a purple heart on your grave. Glory to Humanity!" Mr. Prokosch fucked around with this message at 08:04 on Jan 21, 2018 |
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Jan 21, 2018 05:35
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Reine Leroy and Jenkins are dead. You can see Jen strapped to a medical gurney, she has a gag but she saw and heard most of what went down. She's struggling against her bonds. That explosion was loving loud, it won't have gone unnoticed. What do you do? Profit, Aboah, Sideways "Is that an order I hear? It seems you are ready. Thank you. I see Aboah on the cam. Perhaps you can each carry half of my burden. Aboah, as the last living man, it seems right that you should hold my secrets. Major, to you I give up my charge of our denouement... I formally relinquish command to you. May your next life be filled with beauty." You hear a scream, two gunshots, and then the cackle of a blaze. Aboah You receive a transmission from Major Huan. It appears he lead a unit into Lifelabs early in the conflict. The report is too detailed to do anything but skim at the moment, but it indicates that they were researching a way to bond humans with some kind of locally discovered substance that would boost cellular regeneration to an absurd degree. So long as the host was regularly stimulated with high density electrons they would be effectively immortal. They also seemed to become mentally unstable and developed psychic capabilities. The first test subjects revolted, killing the scientists and escaping into the jungle. The first military actions on this planet were to hunt them down, but they somehow subverted the dangerous but disorganized wildlife into an army to protect themselves. Major Huan was under strict orders to secretly recover key data and materials to continue the research, the same data and materials you are supposed to recover. But his unit turned on itself as soon as they reached the facility. Men he had known and trusted for years became monsters, spread confusion, and systematically murdered their friends. Huan sent a report on the incident to high command. In that report, he recommended that all communication be cut off from the planet and no one be allowed to leave until a cure or test could be established. High command listened. Major Huan effectively stranded every soldier on New Eden. - Casino, Zee Meet up and say what you have to say, but in the distance you hear an explosion. Came from around the abandoned TacSim offices. Mr. Prokosch fucked around with this message at 21:57 on Jan 22, 2018 |
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Jan 22, 2018 21:50
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Aboah You slam into the door with full boosters once, twice, third times the charge. On the last hit the door gives way too easily and he goes flying across Central Command, smashing into a computer bank that's in the middle self destructing through a current overload. Electricity arcs throug the suit, overwhelming its capacitors and grounding. Your suit takes 4 harm! (-2 for armor, 1 blows through to you). You smell burning rubber as your screens flicker and die, leaving you blind in the middle of an inferno! What do you do? Profit Aboah blasts through the door and a backdraft from the blaze bathes everyone in intense heat. It would take nerves of steel to rush in there. You spot him on the other side of the room, his suit frying in an electrical storm. The Major is clearly dead, he shot himself in the head. His secretary is struggling on the ground though, looks like he was shot but not killed. Seems Huan didn't want you to get at something he knew, since the room is in full scuttle mode. But there's likely still valuable intel that hasn't been scrubbed yet. What do you do?
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Jan 22, 2018 22:34
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Zee Hey Zee, what does it feel like to touch the mind of a dying bug? Anyway, you do it. You remember some speculation about their intelligence, but this bug? Dumb as a stump. It didn't understand it was going to die, didn't understand the ambush. It didn't even have bloodlust or hunger how a human would understand it. It was just running on thoughtless instinct. But there was something behind it, a more familiar kind of mind directing the entire swarm. That's why it moved like one, there was only one reasoning mind. That mind didn't die, it was controlling them from afar. It's likely still watching. You get a touch of what it wanted. They were after Sideways but only as a stepping stone. It wants you. It wants you bad. Not dead though, something else. It gets blurry there, something between enslaving and marrying. What do you do? Profit You give the order and rush in, but a blast of flame causes the medics to hesitate behind you, and you can feel yourself being singed. Any further in and you will be burned. You can get the intel, but it's going to hurt The medics try to push in again. Then you hear a shot fire from the crowd. People pull away from the shooter, some guns come out. Is that Crazy Ivan? He was reported missing. It looks like he just finished off the secretary the medics were trying to rescue. The medics duck back out of the fire. He's saying something but you can't hear it over the flames. What do you do? Sideways You're running around and shouting at these people to do something! There's a lot of chaos, a lot of movement, and a lot of heads turned towards the fire and the shock of Huan's death. When you hear the gunshoot, people press around you so tight you can't move. Then you feel a sharp pain in your back. You hear a whisper in your ear. "I saw everything, freak. Every one of you traitors will bleed." You take 2-harm, roll harm. What do you do? Aboah All you can hear is the roaring of flames. You free yourself from the computers but you have no clue where you ended up besides in a fire. When you make orbital drops it's with a heat shield for entry. The suit can take heat and you have an air tank, but it's not like you can stand in something like this for long. You aren't a BBQ Jacob yet, but the temperature inside the suit is rising, and that means the outside is likely red hot. If you just stand here for too long waiting for a helpful hand that isn't coming you'll end up as yet another in the long line of "LM thinks he's hot poo poo and then dies stupidly" stories the army passes around. What do you do? Casino You hustle towards tactical. The source of the explosion isn't hard to find, what with the dust plumes. When you get to the offices you spot a weird scene. A gooey specialist (do you know Reine?), obviously wounded, in a badly fitted uniform is caressing a tied up Shrike. The specialist then unties the Shrike and they embrace. There are some corpse chunks in with the wreckage, and a naked corpse at their feet. What do you do? Reine You take some time to get changed. Leroy has some poo poo 1-barter and a nice scoped rifle (3-harm far) and then saunter over to Jen. She's tense and struggling, filled with rage and fear. But you keep eye contact, and you can feel yourself glowing with love for all living things. She struggles a little more, but when you gently stroke her face something breaks in her. Her grunts turn to sobs. When you untie her she goes straight for a desperate hug. Then you see fear and surprise as she sees Casino behind you. What do you do? Petrescu You arrive at central command and find that it's on fire. People are mulling around, murmuring, and generally not being much help. Then, you see Crazy Ivan stumble towards the fire, pull out his side arm, and shoot into the blaze. "I know that wound. He would have died anyway. And why should we risk Shrikes for these gently caress ups? There are too many of you worthless fuckers taking up our food supply." A lot of the good men you gathered to fight Zee (who is not here) have their weapons up. But the Shrikes seem to be backing him up. And the Major? She's in the fire. What do you do?
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Jan 24, 2018 23:45
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Casino You get a bit of fuzz and then a chuckle, "Yeah, uh, this is Been. I read you loud and loving clear with that. I advise anyone listening to not proceed to Command as it is a clusterfuck of legendary proportions and the entire base is FUBAR. Casino, Zee, whacked out cultists, loving anybody else with some sense of self preservation on this frequency I am offering safe harbor and teamwork and poo poo down at the Pleasure Dome. If you got grudges I'll buy them off because I for one still like living." What do you do? Reine Looks like she's going along with it. Jen limps over, "Ivan is still alive? We gotta tell the Major what happened." What do you do? Zee If you're listening to the open broadcast frequency you get Been's message. Your cult is still with you and heavily armed. Brother Issah offers some insight, "I think there are a lot of people around here who have lost confidence in the military and its command structure. I know you never had it, a lot of us never really believed in it, we were broke, in trouble, or stupid in the right moment." What symbol you have on your shirt matters less everyday. But people are bereft, they need new leadership and new symbols to go with it. That's why we've been using these family terms. You can unite more under you, but they need to be re-oriented. They need hope and family. If people are gathering peacefully somewhere in this moment of crisis, they can hear your message and be inspired." What do you do? Petrescu You walk between the standoff and try to reason with them. It looks like you're getting through to a lot of people, though Crazy Ivan who always seemed like a reasonable man (the nickname was ironic) just stares at you with empty eyes. Then, you see a spark of recognition. His eyes flick over the Old Guard and then settle on Boya, "You loving MURDERED TEX AND JEN OVER A LEG!" He points his gun at Boya, but before he can get the shot off he's riddled with bullets. The Shrieks retaliate and there's a second where automatic fire tears through both sides. That second, caught in the crossfire, is the moment you should have died. But, miraculously, not a single bullet touches you. Then, with a wave of ash and rubble, a marine in a robot suit blasts through the entrance, bowling over and burning some Shrikes before landing in the middle of the firefight. The dust cloud that washes over the two groups is a blessing, as it turns what would have been a complete bloodbath into a chaotic brawl. Momentarily blinded, the two units exchange wild fire, close ranged violence, and isolated moments of combat that seems to spread out far beyond the entryway as people run, take cover, and gun each other down. You yourself are left standing in the middle of a dusty killing field filled with screams. What do you do? Profit You direct Aboah to come towards your voice and he does, rather aggressively. A burning hot suit of metal barrels right for you! You manage to jump out of the way with just a few more burns and bruises. But then you get out of the frying pan and into a firefight. By the time you step outside things have markedly deteriorated. You can barely see poo poo with the ash Aboah kicked up, but from the gunshots it sounds like fireteams of Shrikes having it out with Petrescu's gang in a royal clusterfuck all around command. What do you do? Sideways You scramble out and that instinct probably saved your life, as just a few seconds later it devolves into a loving close range automatic weapons firefight, i.e. the worst poo poo ever. You're bleeding bad, and making a beeline for medical. Sometimes one of the still-living medics will take mercy on the wounded, and you might make it there before all the other wounded who were three seconds behind you on the whole bleeding out thing. Your tank is on the other side of the firefight though, and Rosa never got out of the thing. "Every one of you traitors will bleed." Whatever crimes this guy blames you for, Rosa might also be complicit. What do you do? Aboah You call out your warning and barrel out, using Profit's voice as a guide. You run into a few things on the way, but they're no match for the suit. When you finally stop you feel the distinctive ping and push of small arms fire on your suit. It's coming from multiple points, and you're still blind. For now you think your suit is fine, but a concentrated burst of this kind of fire can do damage if it manages to hit the right spot. What do you do?
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Jan 27, 2018 00:26
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META - I think the 'session' is winding down unless someone like Reine wants to wind it up again immediately. There won't be much time skip but I figure if Profit wants to secure her hold from Been and Zee wants to head into the jungle we should handle that after a session break. Sideways You stumble into the infirmary. Most of the docs have keeled over and most of the medical supplies have been stolen or hoarded. But, Brandon happens to be there. Brandon eyes you critically, "yeah, sure, I think I can keep you from dying. Medical poo poo ain't cheap and I'm not some Martian commu-cultist. I'm an American through and through and we get paid for our work." What do you do? Petrescu You stride into that mess like a goddamn hero. These soldiers know not to shoot a medic, hell if they thought for a second they wouldn't even be shooting each other. You escort the medical personnel from person to person, their own training taking hold as they perform field triage and save lives with practiced efficiency. Their first impulse is to prioritize Shrikes, but you firmly guide them towards treating both sides of the battlefield. You're so focused on your task it takes you don't even notice when you're hit by a stray round. It's only after you calm down and take stock that you see that some of the blood on your clothes is your own. Take 2 harm from participating in the free for all What do you do? Profit It takes a few seconds for your orders to take hold, but for most of these guys it's not a blood feud, yet. The Shrikes are used to listening to you, and the Old Guard are eager for a strong authority to give them orders again. So, bit by bit, the fighting calms down. Everyone who is still standing is behind some kind of cover, eyeing their target on the other side. Petrescu is with the medics out in the open. His actions have helped save a lot of wounded. Taking stock of the situation, if this had gone much worse there would be no Shrikes left worth mentioning. As it stands after these last two engagements you have more casualties than healthy fighters. You're going to need a poo poo-ton of medical supplies and able doctors to get them back in action. Been has most of the horded medical supplies. And, as it stands Been's gang outmatches yours. The Shrikes take another 2-harm from this conflict. You currently only have a small gang of able fighters. What do you do? Casino You end up just outside of a tense situation, able to scope it out easily enough. The gunfire died down but there are a lot of bodies on the ground. Petrescu and the medics are working on them. Shrikes and Old Guard are in wary pockets of cover, having ceased fire but not all hostilities. Major Profit is standing on top of the baby tank, in the open, shouting orders. If you have grudges, now would be an excellent opportunity to get even. What do you do? Reine You can see the same thing as Casino. Since you have a kind of bond to him, you notice that good old Crazy Ivan, having taken enough punishment to kill a dozen men, is still 'alive.' He's missing a lot of major chunks but you notice his arm twitch and then bend, like he's going to try and rise again. No one has noticed him yet. What do you do? Zee Armed and armored, though short your driver, the cult moves out. It will be a long trip through hostile territory before you reach Central Command. Once you get there you've already spied that it's a mess of allies and enemies, with large chunks of the base already fallen. You'll have a fight ahead of you. You can leave now on foot, but you can also seize the motorpool to make the journey easier. What do you do?
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Feb 6, 2018 00:51
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Profit You get no immediate response from Casino or Zee. You spot Jen as she limps over to report. "Sir! I'm sorry for my absence. Bravo 4 was ambushed in medical while trying to install an improved peg they'd scavenged. I was kidnapped while restrained and remained in their control before I was rescued by a specialist, Reine." After that Petrescu comes with his report while Jen gives him the stink-eye. Then Reine drags in the mutilated Crazy Ivan. Somehow, he's still breathing though you're not sure how that's possible. His eyes struggle to focus on you. Jen sobs when she sees him, her face an amalgam of rage and grief. "You fuckers! You did this to him! Erratic my rear end, he was trying to ID the loving traitors in our midst and you shot him before he could!" What do you do? Petrescu You see what's left of Crazy Ivan, who should definitely be dead, get dragged in and you hear Jen's accusation. What do you do? Reine Crazy Ivan gasps and twitches in your arms. You think you can take your gift back from him, if you try. But for now, he lives on through the power of the Light. The direct blood transfer is stronger than just a small fluid exchange. He may not be able to repair himself without an electrical charge though. Jen nods at your gratefully, but her face falls when she sees Ivan. You hear what she says to Profit. What do you do? Sideways The doctor works on you with the promise of payment. Rosa's fate is unknown, but she should be safe in that metal shell. Zee is taking the strongest of the congregation to make a journey through the jungle to the promised land. But you? You're heading off to dream land. We'll pick this up next session Zee You can stuff some of your congregation with the best of your stolen equipment in Lyft. It will only be a small gang, but if your vision is any indication it could make a difference in the tense situation going on in Central Command. Tank is listening to the radio and laughs, "Thomson says be careful there's a hidden hunter after us. She should tell us something we don't know." We'll pick this up next session
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Feb 13, 2018 01:04
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Aboah Big Toni gives you a field patch once the action is over, and you can see again. It's a Frankenstein job, not a full repair, but it's good enough. Once you can see, you notice his hands are twitching and he's sweating heavily. You know the symptoms of morphine withdrawal. He's got a lot of old burn scars on his face, probably the rest of him too. "Good enough," he grunts. He paces around you, eyeballing the burned-up husk of the command center and the nearby TacSim building that's serving as a triage site. There are a lot of bodies on the ground, "this is hosed up. You know that? We really gonna gun down more of our own people? I thought we was here to stomp on bugs, not Army for R&R. If we gotta shot someone, why down a man with a silver star doing the best he can to keep things going, while we get chummy with baby-killers? You cool with this?" What do you do? Casino You still looking to kill Been? Radio chatter says he's holed up in the Pleasure Dome, and he's gathered a gently caress-ton of unaffiliated personnel who came there after poo poo popped off between the two Majors. The rumor flying around right now is that she busted down the door, shot Huan in the head, then set fire to central command and blew up the server room so there'd be no record of what happened once the Brass gets their poo poo together. They say Profit's stopped loving around and she's going to kill anyone who's been in dereliction, which is drat near everyone. Been is the next highest-ranked officer on base. He's their only hope, and he's next on the list. Someone has been working PR. You're real familiar with that poo poo working against you, it doesn't take long for freedom fighters to become terrorists, and for terrorists to become animals. Meanwhile, a lot of Shrikes are still giving you the stank eye. They're under orders not to lynch you, but you're on thin ice with these allies of yours. What do you do? Reine & Profit You didn't get an immediate reply on the radio, but Reine insisted on a private discussion between you, her, and the undead Ivan. Let's shortcut the full exchange: Reine, what exactly did you tell Profit and what did you leave out? Profit, how do you feel about this poo poo and what's your course of action? After this conversation Been comes over the radio, "Yes Major? As the next highest ranking officer, I assume you need me to sign off on your coup? Or was there something else?" Petrescu You have orders to keep close to Profit, but when she heads inside the TacSim offices (the wing that wasn't blown up) with Reine, you figure someone needs to watch the tunnels. The base seems weirdly empty. You know you didn't gather everyone who can fight, just some volunteers and the Shrikes, but that seems to be everyone in plain view. Everyone else on base must have taken shelter when the fighting started. You click through the local radio channels, and chatter confirms the worst. Most people ended up at the Infirmary, the Mess, or the Pleasure Dome. Been has more support than ever. The Mess, meanwhile, is in chaos. Your best regulars, the ones who keep the peace, are bleeding on the ground. Katembo is in a standoff, calling for reinforcements before a group breaks into storage. The tunnel system in the garden currently has no one watching it but you. What do you do? Zee You drove in the free and clear for a while, Sideway's transport lets you make good time, and her auto-mapper let you avoid the danger spots she'd already recorded. There's a major warning around one of the clearings, so you drove deeper into the dense foliage. Then, you hit a snag. Sister Sasha said it was some kind of glowing pollen cloud clogging up the engine. So, now you're grounded. You can wait for her to try and repair the engine, or you can move forward on foot. It's getting harder to tell direction though, the GPS keeps shorting out and giving bullshit readings. As you ponder your next move, you feel something watching you in the jungle. What do you do? Sideways You wake up to chattering a movement all around you. Alarmingly, it's not the infirmary. The cut-outs from porn mags plastering the walls and the scavenged-mattress-covered floor tells you that you're in the Pleasure Dome. You've got medical straps around your ankles, wrists, and chest. You hear a voice, Been, trying to be gentle. "Heeey girl, don't freak out. I did buy you for another shipment of meds to the doc. But if I wanted to hurt you or something, you would be hurt by now. You feel pretty good, right? No pain? That's the good stuff. The stuff that gets a little... rough if you don't taper off just right... Anyway, I know you're close to Zee, I know she had a vision or some poo poo, I know she went off to the jungle. I want to know where and why. I want to know if she'd be interested in a partnership. She can't be for Profit, Profit will lock her back up the second she can 'cause it's regulation. gently caress, these days Profit will burn her for a Witch. I don't give a poo poo for regulation. I want to live. And if she's got an inside line to the bugs, I want it." What do you do? Mr. Prokosch fucked around with this message at 20:23 on Mar 15, 2018 |
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Mar 15, 2018 20:19
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Zee You open your mind to whatever is out there. The feeling is strange, more physical than you’re used to. You are suddenly aware of all the cells in your body. Your brain is not one whole, it is billions of tiny thinkers working together. Your muscles are pullers, all aligned. Your stomach cells die for you, but are eternally replaced. You feel something growing on your body, like a kind of mold. It bothers you a little, but you tolerate it. But then it begins to crawl inside of you. An infection! Your white blood cells mass to fight it! You produce more and more! This is right. But then something worse: the mold crawls into your brain! You have no defense against this. You can feel it is killing you. Worse, it is hollowing you out, zombifying you. You are in pain. You are desperate. What do you do? Profit There’s a long pause and then a sigh. “You have a plan I’m all ears. Just don’t expect me to be anywhere where I just happen to conveniently put a round in my own head, you dig?” What do you do? Reine There’s one new contaminated. You feel her presence very weakly from the PleasureDome. Whoever it is, her Light is extremely diluted. Jacob has probably been having some fun, but she’s a copy of a copy of a copy. You know how to fix Ivan, just give him the juice. What do you do? Aboah Toni doesn’t get the chance to reply, but he’s frowning at you. When you talk with Casino all respectful-like the frown deepens. He moves towards a few more Shrikes and you can see some discussion and rude gestures out of the corner of your eye. It’s clear what’s going on here, some of the Shrikes are close with Been and more of the Shrikes loving hate Casino. A few seconds ago you were cool. Now, you’re the Jarhead Boot whose into baby-killers. Sideways Your best way out is to lie and tell Been what he wants to hear. You can hear something in his voice that other people seem to miss: he’s scared shitless. All of this bullshit? It’s because he’s deathly loving afraid of the bugs. Getting high, pimping people out, stockpiling poo poo, it’s all a reaction to that fear. He lost a marble or two and now he’s doing everything he can to control people so he can build a little bubble where he can feel safe again. Tell him he’s safe if he lets you go. Tell him Mama Zee will take care of him in the Promised Land. What do you do? Petrescu You arrive at a stand-off, not a shoot out. In fact, Katembo is the only man with his gun pulled at the moment. He’s standing in front of the locked storehouse, surrounding by people. There’s a lot of shouting as he keeps them at bay with his side-arm and they inch closer with sheer numbers. You can tell instantly what’s going on: they want the food. You pick out a number of people who are no longer welcome at the mess, including some of Been’s people. But there are others, people you’ve been feeding who are now looking to loot the food supplies. What do you do? Casino You've always been good at reading people. But Aboah has one hell of a poker-face in the form of a giant bucket covering his head. You don't know what he's thinking. You are much better at reading the people behind him. Bish, Big Toni, Sasha, Lopez. All Air-Cav. All on their third tour, long enough to have caught the tail end of Martian resistance. They're too far away to hear but you come to a sudden realization: they are planning to kill you. Maybe a bullet in the head next time you're in a firefight, maybe an ambush when you're sleeping, maybe they'll poison your oatmeal. These people want you dead and they are going to act on that soon, even against Profit's orders. From the way Big Toni is gesturing at Aboah, they aren't going to shed a tear if he goes down with you.
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Mar 30, 2018 23:54
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