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HiKaizer
Feb 2, 2012

Yes!
I finally understand everything there is to know about axes!

McCready’s Junkyard, Southaven 1/3 BP

Well there was not much reason to hang around, McCready would either get a good look at him and maybe figure out who he was, or would shoot him. Neither were great options for Alan and he was particularly interested in not being caught and also not being shot again. He fled the scene, waiting until he thought he was out of sight to slough off the wreckage of the car he had absorbed and to get to his car and drive away. Luckily enough he had not been stupid enough to park right next to the junkyard but he sure hoped that he wasn't bleeding from that gunshot wound because otherwise he was probably in trouble.

Leaving the scene as McCready seems disabled. Alan is going to try and make an effort to not get spotted or to bleed everywhere but he's not an experienced criminal so might just mess up badly.

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Ronwayne
Nov 20, 2007

That warm and fuzzy feeling.

Nystrian Badlands

It was a new turn of events for her to be sure. The Worm had Turned and now she was the one teaching an insurgency how to kill mercs instead of the one they were trying to kill. She hoped they were desperate enough they wouldn't give her lip for being a woman, and besides, she had her new skill now.

First on the list was finding out who was still alive, linking them to other cells, teaching the rudiments of shoot, move, and communicate, and how to keep their heads down. Next was getting them armed with appropriate tools and weapons. It was a lot to take in all at once, but this was not a simple task.

Using a combo of [Supercharisma+2], [Right to Bare Arms+4], and [Merchant of Menace+2] to start to organize, train, and supply these guys in that order.

I had like 200+ words about trying to start a cult but that's putting the cart ahead of the horse, let's get basic functionality with the people we have at this point.

Ronwayne fucked around with this message at 05:50 on Jun 12, 2018

Dinictus
Nov 26, 2005

May our CoX spray white sticky fluid at our enemies forever!
HAIL ARACHNOS!
Soiled Meat

@ Meth Shack, Bayou North of Lavell 1/3 BP

He isn't too happy with the lack of discipline the men put into their work, but Rynn had no allusions of having these yokels under him for too long, considering they reek of fear as much as they reek of alcohol and muriatic acid. Still, he allows them to work. They'll be gone afterwards, after all. This swamp is his. The gigantic lizard-like beast slinks towards his own notes, jealously guarding them while trying to keep his beady eyes on the drug pushers. He makes no effort to hide his disdain for them, however. His breathing is combined with rasping, growling tones, and his posture is making the shack almost cramped.

But he feels a moment of focus. Yes. His work can continue. Maybe not with these idiots. He'd probably have to get out to setup his own operations. Steal a generator, these men had the right idea. A refrigerator for new samples, sooner rather than later. Crack open an developmental lab making laboratory equipment. Scour a zoo for new animal samples. An idea starts to hatch in his angry, lizard brain.

Which is swiftly cast aside when he notices one of the men, Cleveland was it? giving Rynn too long a sidelong glance in passing. His jaws snap, causing a momentary cascade of fear to go through the crowd of drug pushers.

He couldn't wait until he had this place to himself. Yes. Tomorrow will bring his first proper, targeted rampage. He already had an idea of exactly what to target, too. Lyman Pharmaceuticals, of course.

Rynn made sure to see the men leave, and curled up in his new domicile. Sleep would eventually claim him. There's only so much you can do while you are still aware of how little you can do with your own life's work. Not that his first night's sleep is easy. Big, hot, rumbling down to a low hunger.

Tomorrow morning would make for an interesting wake-up call.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

The very next morning makes for an interesting wake-up call.

I mean, besides the fact that he could sleep at all, to begin with. Rynn, before his transformation, had made it a regular occurrence to work himself into a righteous fury, helpless indignation. A morning's few minutes of unbridled hatred to the richest of the world. It's something itching at the back of his head, now, too. Except now, it's also marred by genuine hunger again.

"Biff Jezof. Net worth, one hundred thirty-eight billion dollars. Relentless dot com e-commerce. Wholesome Food Mart bought out, gutted! Disallows food and rest breaks to factory workers! Pushes for space travel while people starve still! He can fill the Federation's deficit seven times over and will not!"
His voice is gruff, skipping over a few words as he paces about in his anger outside of his newly conquered shack.
"Danny Brandenberg. CEO of Löwing Aircrafts, largest military aerial industrial producer. Net worth, one hundred billion. Hohenlimburg Europan roots. War monger since Second Great War. Financing and building Federation war machine ever since! Blind to suffering! That their planes inflict! Making! More! Planes! While they all rot away in Topica deserts!"
And all the time, his words come more difficult out of his mouth.
"Doch brothers. Majority owners, Doch Industries. Combined net worth, one hundred and six billion dollars. Responsible for oh-four economic crash at Fence Avenue. Bailed out. Still able to do as they please! Financed biggest Astroturf political movement. Duping and disenfranch- disenfran...disenfranchising further!"
His head is pacing to keep up with his words. Rynn finds himself failing.
"Madelyn Mensch. CEO of Lyman Pharmaceuticals. Annual income, fourteen million dollars. Gouged prices for diabetes meds By over four hundred percent. Leukemia treatments by over three hundred! SHE KILLED LENORE! gently caress! gently caress! gently caress!"

His fists swing about, spooking the local gator population something fierce as his voice turns into inarticulate howling and pained roaring.

See, back when Rynn was still a man, he could knock his knuckles into brickwork until he bled. Now that he's a reptilian behemoth, his fists smash into logs effortlessly. More animals are sufficiently spooked and make for the waters of the bayou.

Rynn steadily loses to the mad animal! in his head that needs its needs met right now. Rage and hunger overtake him. He had an idea yesterday. It involved Lyman. It would do. Lavell, and hopefully Lyman, would suffer under Komodo's rampage.

Dawn of another day: time to wreck poo poo. He's made his way out of the city via the sewers before. He can make his way into the city via the sewers again. He's hungry, he's furious, he's out for blood, and if he can steal laboratory material along the way, all the better.

Though I'm pretty sure he can just as much grab a gator to break and eat, too, but, you know, playing to his weaknesses.

LupusAter
Sep 5, 2011



Ivar swallows the impulse to growl while hearing about how the legacy of his forefathers is being spoiled for the lazy amusement of an unworthy parasite. The same part of him that rejoices in the freedom of his wolf form wants to rip and tear, reclaim the site and mark the territory with blood and guts as a notice to further invaders, but that would be... counterproductive, and draw a very intense response from law enforcement.

He comes up with a more subdued plan: wait for nightfall, then use his wolf form and its enhanced senses to look for the site or what remains of it. He'll try not to get seen, but terror has proven itself to be a formidable weapon, so scaring away security guards and potential meddlers might be a viable path. And if they aren't scared... he'll show them exactly why they should be.

Using Avatar of the Wolf God[+2] and Historian[+4] to search for the site during the night.

Shogeton
Apr 26, 2007

"Little by little the old world crumbled, and not once did the king imagine that some of the pieces might fall on him"


Outside of Convoy

She took her time for the branding. Each and every person was branded, and warmly welcomed and embraced by their new fellows, the silver fire continuing to lighten their faces. Once they were all welcomed, she raised her voice, feeling the inspiration. Yes, yes, this was what she needed to do. Any doubts about laying low and fearing the retribution were discarded as faithless doubts. "Brothers, sisters!" She called out. "Let us celebrate this night, and then let us sleep during the day! Tomorrow, we will go to Convoy. We now recognize it as a place that is not worthy to house humans, not worthy to exist! Yet it shall have a purpose! Like all the garbage we have found, it is worthy of burning, bringing warmth, and light, calling to the Great Cleanser. So we shall return to Convoy at night, and we will have it know Purpose. We will spread, and light sparks all over that misbegotten place, and I and a few of the strongest among you, will go to the fire department, who, misguided as they are, would douse these purifying flames, and make sure their tools of the Machine are the first to burn."

The idea is to go on a nighttime 'attack' on Convoy, with a lot of the cultists lighting smaller fires all over the place, and Lady Lunargent starting an attack on the fire department. At this stage at the very least, casualties are more a regrettable side effect than a goal, so they're not gonna barricade doors or stop people from fleeing. They haven't really made that much plans for afterwards, since Lady Lunargent is kind of feverishly hoping her god will show up, and planning for his absence feels rather faithless right now. So probably gonna end up drawing way too much attention.

Shogeton fucked around with this message at 03:27 on Jun 13, 2018

Valhawk
Dec 15, 2007

EXCEED CHARGE

Home, Kingvale

You set to work practicing as best you could trying to focus on various materials and see how they felt. You were making some progress, but the sensitive work was constantly being interrupted by the bustle of the science center as various kids and classes wandered around chattering and generally being a nuisance. Your choice of supplement while helping you tune out distractions, also made your headaches even worse. Still, by the end of the week you were starting to develop a sort of passive metal sense, even if telling the composition of various metals required a great deal of focus. However, your head felt like you were hung-over to the extreme, pounding pain making it hard to keep up the focus needed for your training.

You’re developing your powers, but due to the Adderall I’m tagging self-medicating[-2] as one of the side-effects of Adderall is headaches, which when combined with the side effects of your power is doubling up.



A rented warehouse, 1/3 BP

Taking your search outward to more rural areas proves fruitful. Several possible choices present themselves. There is decent site far out in the woods about two hours away from the university, some reports indicate some potential veins of precious metals in the area too deep to economically excavate and remote enough that you are unlikely to be discovered even if you are trespassing on state property. The downside is that the site itself is far off any road, making travel to and from the site rather troublesome. The second site on your list is an abandoned quarry about an hour and a half away. Rich in stone, and connected to the road system, it was abandoned when international granite prices fell. It’s easier to get to and rich in stone, but if market forces shift enough someone might come looking to check in on their old property. The last site was only about 45 minutes away and not far from a major highway, but the records you could find indicated the site was mineral poor, and so close to a major artery increased the chance of inadvertent discovery. Moving supplies, especially heavy or large items would be significantly easier though.



McCready’s Junkyard, Southaven 1/3 BP

You flee the scene, leaving McCready trapped. Getting away is not terribly difficult, though expelling the car you consumed was just as disorienting as the last time you had done it. When you get home and have a chance to examine your wound, you see the beginnings of a fairly bad bruise, but no external bleeding. All in all, you had every reason you had managed to make a clean getaway.


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Nystrian Badlands

The various rebels, a scraggly force barely fit to be called an insurgency much less an army, give you more than a bit of side-eye when you first arrive. A liberal dose of your power, and a few brutal demonstrations of your hand to hand prowess win over a small core of them. The rest are still dubious, a battle between their natural instinct to hang on your every word due to the effect of your power and years of traditions and social programming. Still, those willing to go along are more than enough to start with the training, and boy do they need it. These people were for the most part farmers with little to no combat experience. They know the basics of rifles in the hunting context, but downing a deer in the quiet of nature is hardly the same as shooting a man in the din and clamor of battle. You had to start with the basics of the basics, physical training, formation marching, and firearms training. For the most part the point was more to accustomize them to life as a soldier than to teach them anything specific, because until they had that, anything else you taught them would just fade away in the terror of battle once the fighting started.

You’ve gotten a core group of those particularly susceptible to your powers through the most basic of basic training. What you want to focus on next with them is up to you.



Meth Shack, Bayou North of Lavell 1/3 BP

You charge back the way you had fled the day before, heading back to the scene where your old life ended and your new life began. The passages of the sewer burned into your memory. You arrive rage still burning, but your animal instincts bring you to a stop, you can hear and smell people, lots of them in the labs you fled. They smelled like sweat, and gunpowder, and blood.



Mansion Outskirts

Shifting into wolf form you make your way onto the large stretch of land under the cover of darkness. Unfortunately, the notes on the location of the site had been vague, leaving you searching relatively blindly for the location of the dig. After a few hours, you think you spot something you recall from the notes on the dig, but then from the direction of the mansion at the center of the property, a bright light is turned on, aimed in your direction. The light momentarily blinds you, but you can smell and hear the sounds of a person.



Outside of Convoy

The next day you and your followers move to put your plan into motion. You use what little funds the cult has in order to buy up accelerants, and then they go out to prove their fate. You yourself and your my trusted followers march on the fire-station. It relatively large, somewhat dilapidated building. By the time you arrive, the place is almost empty, the trucks all out responding to fires started by your followers.

I am Communist
Apr 19, 2002

I can show you what endless looks like
I can show you a single infinite thing
I can let you taste the sweet and sour of forever
Unending. Eternal. Inevitable
Taste my darkness
Climb into my abyss
Fall into me. Into my eyes
Look at them. Depths unfathomable
Pain immeasurable
A cruel promise fulfilled

Junkyard, Kingvale

The headaches really started to turn into migraine territory. Robert needed to stop. Break from this for a while. He'd gotten good. But needed to do something else. When he'd left the Museum he popped a pain pill and waited the 30 minutes it would take for it to take effect. His bodyweight and the doseage not enough to get a high. He had poo poo to do after all.

The next stop would be a big sized junkyard. There were a few, and Robert had just the right kind of bribe to ensure he got access. Cash. The junkman he'd pick would be open to it it would just be a question of how much.

When he got access, Robert would practice how much mass he could move, how far, from how far and what his strength & limits were. He'd also practice assembling and disassembling everything he could. The finer turning of his skills again would pay off later. He could feel it. All of course deep in the yards, away from anyone. Robert would turn any cameras facing his way just enough they couldn't clearly see what he was doing.

No need to tempt fate. Robert Frank a whole bottle of water. He didn't want to get dehydrated...


Taking opiates for headaches.(when away from museum).
Criminal Knowledge [+2] for the Bribe for a $ discount.
Thereby setting up the training situation for Electromagnetic Manipulation [+2] Training how much Robert can manipulate & How far. Taking things apart and reassembling for the finer non-brute force part of this.

Dinictus
Nov 26, 2005

May our CoX spray white sticky fluid at our enemies forever!
HAIL ARACHNOS!
Soiled Meat

@ Lavell, underneath Lyman Pharmaceuticals Komodo Developmental Facility, 1/3 BP

The smells do nothing to soothe the raging animal! in his head. But they do make him more careful. His motions follow slowly, tracing the origins of the the sweat, the gunpowder, the blood. Some of it did, after all, carry into the sewer systems below.

This just means he has to follow it to the source to better trace the origins of the smells.

The main maintenance and flooding tunnel could barely contain him. But it would bring him the closest to the actual facility. Finding his way underneath, or relatively close enough to the laboratory facility he had fled before, Komodo approaches wearily, his maw wide-open to taste the scents, to take in the death.

Making my approach for the facility proper. I don't expect there to be Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-esque sewer lids freely being available to just tip and peek out of, especially considering how big Komodo is, but Komodo will try to get informed about the situation as well as he can without getting spotted. Raw, Animal Cunning [+2] and maybe Aquatic Juggernaut [+2] to aid him in this before the inevitable rampage.

HiKaizer
Feb 2, 2012

Yes!
I finally understand everything there is to know about axes!

McCready’s Junkyard, Southaven 1/3 BP

Alan was pretty jumpy, but started to relax a bit as things seemed to be safe. Any testimony from McCready would sound like a mad story, some creature made of metal throwing a car at him? Plus he has not parked too far away so he would probably be fine. He just had to make sure he showed up at work, so no one would get too suspicious of him.

So he had a shower, and went to sleep. His dreams were weird and distorted, coloured by his own confused memories. Waking up was hard and he was slow getting into work, but fortunately he was only 10 minutes late. His boss chewed him off for partying on the weekend too hard, and said if he pulled that stunt again he'd get written up. Man was an rear end in a top hat. Alan went to his desk and looked through the ticket queue, seeing what jobs had been assigned to him.

But it was hard to focus, he kept thinking of the thrill that he had felt when he had been superhuman. Once or twice in the morning he had caught himself maybe almost trying to absorb his computer. He just needed to make it through the day...

Alan is just trying to get through the work day without causing trouble or drawing attention to himself. IT Handyman [+2] to do his job but he keeps thinking about last night due to his Addictive Personality [-2]

Theantero
Nov 6, 2011

...We danced the Mamushka while Nero fiddled, we danced the Mamushka at Waterloo. We danced the Mamushka for Jack the Ripper, and now, Fester Addams, this Mamushka is for you....

A rented warehouse, 1/3 BP

Anton pondered his options for a while, but eventually set on the hard to discover spot in the woods. It was the one least likely to be found, and had likely the best potential for his materials as well. It's lesser accessibility was an issue, certainly, but Anton felt that such concerns he would find an easier time engineering solutions for. Besides, he likely wouldn't be moving mass amounts of material for a while yet, making the logistical ease of the other locations less of a benefit.

Hm, yes, that seemed reasonable. All he needed now was to finish up his AECUs and get them on site.

OOC: Magitech Prodigy [+2] to design the Automated Excavation and Construction units, as detailed in more depth in this post. Basically variable purpose magitech tetrapods with a modular central body capable of housing the tools necessary for their task of being my basic 'builder unit'. Also spending my BP on this for another +2 since these things are pretty central for Anton to get Stuff Done.

Ronwayne
Nov 20, 2007

That warm and fuzzy feeling.

Nystrian Badlands

Well, it was a start, she supposed.

This wasn't the legion of thousands sweeping down from the mountains and into the cities and the bodies of their enemies swinging from lampposts, but it was a step toward that direction. Having established the most basic of unit organization, Desdemona turns her attention toward stealth maneuvers and recon gathering, while trying to get enough supplies to keep them going. To even know where to strike, they needed to be able to talk to people and recon the countryside and roads leading to urban areas. And, hell, forget guns, these people needed calories. Even if she was extremely fit and powerfully muscled instead of bloated with corn syrup like the typical Atlantican, her mere appearance betrayed her as an overfed outsider. These people needed three squares a day and antibiotics and other extreme basics. She grumbles as her sat phone punches out orders directly from her personal bank accounts for rations and medical supplies. She had no love for these people, but they were going to be the base of her future, and she needed to cut down on the starvation. Also the alcoholism and substance abuse, but one thing at a time.

She takes time to start learning their individual histories, their families, and perhaps most importantly, the story of Nystria. There was a ton of folklore that shaped a people's consciousness and sub-consciousness, and if she were going to pull off the next part of her plan, she would need to know it.

Using [Merchant of Menace+2] to buy food and medical supplies for the village(s?), [Supercharisma+2] and [Right to Bare Arms+4] to start training reconnaissance, intel gathering, and secret squirrel tactics. Trying to learn more of the secret history of Nystria, folklore and whatnot.

Ronwayne fucked around with this message at 05:19 on Jun 19, 2018

Shogeton
Apr 26, 2007

"Little by little the old world crumbled, and not once did the king imagine that some of the pieces might fall on him"


Convoy Fire Department

She had miscalcuated the time she had needed to get to the fire station. By the time she was there, most of the vehicles had left. She scowled, and if not for her piety, would have cursed. She looked at her followers. "Let us storm the place. The Fire willing, the ones who steer the ones who would quench our flames are here, and we will make them send the firetrucks on a wild goose chase. Forward! We shall harm none that yield, but in the name of the Great Cleanser, we will accept no failure!"

with that she ran forward, fire burning in her hand to cow any one that would seek to bar her entry.

We're gonna have fun storming the castle fire station. Since there aren't many people here, we're gonna go for shock and awe, make anyone inside surrender, and if there's someone inthere coordinating the fire trucks, threaten them into having the fire trucks go to the wrong places. Silver flame +2

LupusAter
Sep 5, 2011


Mansion Outskirts

A prey? Time to hunt? No, better not. Hide in the shadows, let their fear do the work. Maybe howl before getting away. There is something more important to seek anyways, a worthier quarry.

Trying to keep hidden, avoiding the light. An unseen threat is more fearsome. Avatar of the Wolf God to hide and attack if needed.

Valhawk
Dec 15, 2007

EXCEED CHARGE

Junkyard, Kingvale

Getting into the junkyard was more expensive than you expected, between making sure that the owner wouldn’t raise an eyebrow at any damage you might cause and to make sure you had the enough of it to yourself to practice in safety, you were out a cool $1,000 when all was said and done. Still, unlike the museum here it was quiet enough for you to actually focus. The opiates you dropped had helped calm your headaches for the most part, so there was nothing left to do but to get down to business.

It turned out, the sort of very fine manipulation you were attempting was damned hard. You had a pretty decent grip on moving regular sized objects, but the minute magnetic fields needed to turn a screw without turning the entire assembly it was connected to was a slow process requiring a great deal of concentration. It was a lot like what it must have been like when you were a toddler, learning to use your arms for the first time. Still, you knew that this wasn’t a skill you were going to develop on it’s own. It would take practice and lots of it to really be able to handle fine-scale manipulation quickly and easily.

Bigger stuff was easier, you could generally make decent sized fields in about the same range that you might be able to throw a baseball. However, unlike a baseball the magnetic field was the source of the movement, so if you threw down a really strong one you could launch something much farther, or try and pull something further away as well. Manipulating objects outside that range, however, was fairly crude, as you’d have to rely on strong fields which wouldn’t do subtle well and would affect anything closer to the field than your intended target much more strongly.

The afternoon went by quickly, and by the end you were exhausted and your headache was starting to come back, but you had a good idea about the current limits of your powers, and the basics for a training routine to help make develop your skill at using them.

Please be careful to avoid action stacking. I was lenient this time since it was relatively minor, but going forward I’ll just resolve whatever the first action is (in this case trying to get a good deal on the bribe) and just ignore the rest.



Lavell, underneath Lyman Pharmaceuticals Komodo Developmental Facility, 1/3 BP

It had only been two days since your rampage and escape, so there hadn’t been much time to repair any of the damage you’d done. That meant your original route out of the facility could be run in reverse, though the company would likely be watching that entrance. However, searching around, you didn’t really have much other choice, at least if you wanted to exit the sewer anywhere near the building. The nearest other option would be a manhole on the public street, which would mean coming up in a very public place followed by a long walk to get to the lab facility which was set back fairly far to keep it from the prying eyes of the neighbors.

From the smells, the street was fairly busy with the scent of gas you assumed to be cars, and various people smells. The lab still smelled of danger just as before.



McCready’s Junkyard, Southaven 1/3 BP

It was hard, but you managed to make it through the day without giving away that you could absorb physical objects. It wasn’t easy, as just as usual you were treated to an array of petty slights and annoyances from your co-workers and the people you worked for. An endless barrage of stupid questions with simple answers, combined with a nice dollop of rudeness from people who thought you were their servant to be ordered around wily nilly, not even worth pretending to respect. When taken with the knowledge you now had of what real power felt like, well it burned all the more. Still, you succeed in keeping hold of your temper for one day at least.

Enjoy your BP.



A rented warehouse, 0/3 BP

The AECU’s were an order of magnitude more complex than anything you had designed or built so far. You had the basic design down fairly quickly, but adding all the functionality you were hoping for while balancing the size and power consumption of the unit was far harder, not to mention that your lack of practical experience with excavation and construction meant there were likely bugs in their design you couldn’t foresee and that you’d only be able to discover as they were actually used. Still, despite eating up pretty much every resource you had left, you managed to get a half-dozen of the units up and running. That was the limit of what you could build for now with what you had in your workshop. Future units should hopefully be less resource intensive as you would no longer need to spend significant amounts of metal and magic prototyping and you could no doubt find more efficient means of construction now that you had the basic process down.



Temporary Base, Nystrian Badlands

You make some calls to a few logistics companies you’ve worked with before. They’re reliable but low key. After some heated rounds of negotiations, you finally manage to work out a contract for the delivery of pre-packaged rations and medical supplies to your base. It costs you a pretty penny, probably more than you’d have normally expected to make off of this contact, but it gives you a powerful bargaining chip. Now you have a not insubstantial private stockpile of food and medicine. How you want to distribute them is for you to decide.

No action stacking. You tried to do 3 different and unrelated actions, so I only resolved the first.



Convoy Fire Department

You storm the building. As you expected it was fairly deserted which made it easy prey for you for the most part. You started a number of isolated fires, but the building was more concrete than anything else, which wasn’t known for being overly flammable. Still, you manage to destroy whatever fuel and significant amounts of equipment that was left behind. Most of the staff had the good sense to run once it was clear that this was an attack and not an accident. Still, one of your cultists managed to capture one of the stragglers trying to save some personal effects when they had burned down the fire-station’s living areas. From what they were able to learn it appears that dispatch for EMS, Police, and Fire is all handled at the police station in the center of town.



Mansion Outskirts


You hide away in some underbrush, dancing away from the lights. As the man gets closer, you can make him out much more clearly. He appears to be a security guard, he’s holding a fairly powerful flashlight looking around. As he approaches, you can hear him speaking into his radio. “I’m out near motion 3, I don’t see anyone. Must’ve just been tripped by the local wildlife again. Over.”

The man is almost on top of you, though he seems to have missed you completely. You suspect that if you stay put, he’ll likely go back to where he came from after poking around a bit.

I am Communist
Apr 19, 2002

I can show you what endless looks like
I can show you a single infinite thing
I can let you taste the sweet and sour of forever
Unending. Eternal. Inevitable
Taste my darkness
Climb into my abyss
Fall into me. Into my eyes
Look at them. Depths unfathomable
Pain immeasurable
A cruel promise fulfilled

Junkyard, Kingvale

Robert decided to alternate his training between the junkyard and museum. Both to fine tune and work on his strength and skills. He would alternate his medications as needed to maximize what he was doing. He could push longer that way. Robert was building towards something. He could feel it. More. More power. More money.





He shook his head. Now where had that thought come from. It may not be 100% healthy to use enhancements and medications to speed things along. But Robert felt he could handle his poo poo. This time.

Yeah.

It would be different.


Training. Training. Training. Until he reaches his limit or runs out of drugs/money. Alternating training between the museum and junkyard to minimize burnout. Dont want to overwork it like a muscle. Electromagnetic Manipulation [+2] for the training. Using drugs to maximize. What could go wrong?

I am Communist fucked around with this message at 20:13 on Jun 24, 2018

HiKaizer
Feb 2, 2012

Yes!
I finally understand everything there is to know about axes!

On the streets, Southaven 2/3 BP

Who the gently caress did they think they were, treating him like trash? He'd kept it in all day but suddenly as he was out, walking from the train station in the evening, the dam burst and Alan felt red hot with anger. They would get theirs. Someday, somehow he would make sure that they showed him the respect he was due. He curled his hand into a fist and clenched it, the tension making his anger feel like fire.

Then he saw it. A nice car parked in the driveway of a nice house. It was a sports car, a model he recognised as well, although Alan could see that the owner had probably gotten it tuned. He looked around. It was dark, no one seemed to be around and he couldn't see a camera in sight that would see the car. The gate was closed, but he could just touch the car...enough contact to absorb it. He didn't really think about what he was going to do after, but he didn't really care right now either.

Alan is going to go for a better ride this time. Technografting [+2] and Shortsighted [-2] at work here in absorbing the car and trying not to be seen, although he has not really considered that it is a pretty risky situation to do it in.

Theantero
Nov 6, 2011

...We danced the Mamushka while Nero fiddled, we danced the Mamushka at Waterloo. We danced the Mamushka for Jack the Ripper, and now, Fester Addams, this Mamushka is for you....

A rented warehouse, 0/3 BP

Anton inspected his work. The AECUs responded to commands adequately, the servos seemed functional. A degree of thaumic inefficiency in the enchantments relating to the circles of actuation presented themselves, but that was largely because he was working on idiosyncratic and non-uniform models made out of incidental scrap. Later on, with more uniform materials, better mass production protocols and higher performance precision tools he ought to be able to siginificantly improve on the design on all relevant aspects. And he certainly would do that, after a while.

But for now? All he needed was something that worked. And these designs certainly did. Far better than anything that mere mundane tech was even close to achieving, in fact. As was only natural.

Anton gave one last look to the blueprint schematics for his vase of operations he had been working on, before starting to load his creations in the van.

OOC: Loading my AECUs in the van and getting on the site of my LAIR, where I'll Schemer [+4] to start excavating as per my villainous LAIR blueprints that Anton has been working on.

Ronwayne
Nov 20, 2007

That warm and fuzzy feeling.

Temporary Base, Nystrian Badlands

Good, good. Nothing killed morale like watching a comrade die of an easily treatable malady. Granted, the knowhow to use these medical supplies was probably a bit beyond the locals, hell Desdemona only knew straightforward first aid from combat related injuries and such, and illness was likely beyond her, but this created at least the potential for hope. Oh well, bad comes to worse, she can just search battlefield surgery vids on Panoptibook.

The extreme basics realized, now she could specialize. "Okay boys and girls, we're going to learn to move, communicate, scout, and act. Before we can take on heavy infantry and vehicles, we need to be able to know where they are..."

[Supercharisma+2] and [Right to Bare Arms+4] to start training reconnaissance, intel gathering, and shadowrunner style tactics. If you permit, [Merchant of Menace+2] to buy them appropriate gear for this role.

Ronwayne fucked around with this message at 04:38 on Jun 27, 2018

LupusAter
Sep 5, 2011



Hm. No need to threaten, then. Let their laziness do the work. Hide in shadows and keep searching. Impatient hunters get no quarry. Why did the people of old pick this place, anyways? Is there a reason or was it a flight of fancy?

Keeping to the shadows and using Historian[+4] to try to locate the spot or at least some interesting landmark that'd give clues to either location or reason why the site was considered important.

Dinictus
Nov 26, 2005

May our CoX spray white sticky fluid at our enemies forever!
HAIL ARACHNOS!
Soiled Meat

@ Lavell, underneath Lyman Pharmaceuticals Komodo Developmental Facility, 1/3 BP

Rynn could probably reason why a detour up and around Lavell's inner limits for the march towards the Lyman Pharma developmental facility would be a bad idea. A panicking crowd. Local law enforcement trying to contain the threat. Plenty of time for the security detachment at the Komodo labs to get to his position besides and start to administer their own brand of containment on the situation.

Komodo could probably less so reason in such a fashion right now.

But it's adrenaline, sheer bravado, a little bit of animal hunger, and mournful fury that guide his trotting step. His hulking arms pull him along and his shorter legs kick off behind him to push him forwards. His senses light up with more and more tastes. His beady eyes narrow as he remembers this route well enough. Komodo trundles ahead for the entrance he had exited before. He'll suffer the consequences now. He goes in, ready to truly let loose his animal! inside.

Time to go loud. In through the most likely watched and/or guarded entrance/exit we go! Raw, Animal Cunning [+2] and Monstrous Size [+2] will probably be of use in any entry and breaking efforts. Mostly breaking.

Shogeton
Apr 26, 2007

"Little by little the old world crumbled, and not once did the king imagine that some of the pieces might fall on him"


Convoy Fire Department

The firehouse was left to be consumed by the flame, or at least their equipment was. (She could not help but feel a lack of satisfaction) and Lady Lunargent stared at the sky, as if expecting their Cleansing Saviour to descend now. Yet no, they had not done enough. Perhaps she should pull back. Gather her followers and try this again, yet with better preparation?

NO! This was a test of faith. Planning and caution ill fit her in this moment! No, she had to push forward boldly. "Send a message to all the followers. We shall head to the center of town, to the police station. The Machine's attempt to quench the Flame will be stopped!"

Trying to gather the cult for an attack on the police station. Because I might not have that much opportunity to really put that 'fanatic' in my rolls, but I'm gonna make bad decisions based on it.

Valhawk
Dec 15, 2007

EXCEED CHARGE

Junkyard, Kingvale

Your training regime really helps you develop some control over your powers, but it’s slowly tearing down your body and murdering your wallet. After two weeks of back and forth, you are left feeling extremely run down, the highs and lows of the adderall and opiates at war in your body. You are also starting to get some weird looks from the museum staff who are starting to recognize you, after all what adult comes visit the science museum multiple times a week. On top of the that, much of the take from your first robbery has been spent on transportation, tickets to the museum, and mostly on paying off the junkyard owner who has been getting more and more interested in just what you’re doing..



On the streets, Southaven 2/3 BP

You reach out and begin to absorb the car into yourself. Just like the night before, your body changes as the expensive machine is drawn in. Your skin once more becoming thick aluminum, though this time your entire form feels more aerodynamic, including a spoiler growing out of your back, your bones and muscles reinforced with steel. Just that felt leagues better than it had with the junker you had absorbed from the lot. However, that was the least of it. Last time you absorbed an engine you felt stronger, faster, just generally more powerful. What you experienced now blew the last time out of the water. This wasn’t some barely running piece of trash you had absorbed, this was top of the line, and the feeling of power, of speed, the feeling that you could do anything you loving wanted to was beyond merely intoxicating, it was life-changing.



A rented warehouse, 0/3 BP

The drive out in the van is long and boring, for the first part, and drat near impossible for the second. This vehicle was built for flat boring paved roads, not the sort of gravel or even dirt backroads you needed to traverse to get to the site you picked. The rented van struggled against this terrain valiantly, and only finally gave in and broke down just as you arrived as your destination. There really was nothing here, virgin wilderness on the back end of beyond. No one would ever find you out here unless they already knew where you were.

You set your golems working, and they begin the basic excavations of the site. It will take a while for them to carve out the first few rooms. In the meantime, you’re left with the broken down van and the question of what to do with the rooms when they’re constructed.



Temporary Base, Nystrian Badlands

It took awhile for the shipments of aid and supplies to make their way to you after you made the agreements. In the meantime, you took those willing to follow you and lead them through some fairly intensive training. You suspected that if not for your power more than a few wouldn’t have been able to hack it if not for your power driving them to the very limits of effort. It seemed that exposure was cumulative in its effect, because as your soldiers continued training, and thus exposure you noticed they were more and more sensitized to you. No doubt there was regular loyalty formation in play here as well, these were people learning real skills and gaining competence under your leadership, but you could tell from experience either your soldiers were all total pushovers or your powers were affecting the process.

Regardless of the reason, after a few weeks of hard training, you had a core of loyal soldiers trained in recon and some basic covert ops. Just in time for the arrival of the first crates of food and medical supplies. Which was good, because their volunteering to play guard is pretty much the only thing that keeps the desperately needed supplies from being stolen by the rest of the rebels the moment they arrive. Now you are faced with the question of whom to distribute them to and how to do it. For having control over something many people desperately need is potent leverage, and how you use it will no doubt shape how the rebels and the people of Nystria view you.



Mansion Outskirts

Thinking back to your research into the area before coming out, the best reason you can put together in convenience. There had been a nearby settlement, located where the town was now, and this spot was far enough away to be secluded, but close enough to be accessible. Still, with the guards’ interested temporarily assuaged you can continue your search.

Another hour of fumbling through underbrush finally yields paydirt, though not in the way you’d imagined. As you search around one particularly far-flung portion of the manor’s grounds you hear a cracking sound, then the ground gives way beneath and you fall down, landing with a painful thud onto stone below. By good fortune you manage to avoid breaking anything, but you’re going to have one hell of a bruise come morning.

Please don’t forget to include the location below your name block. This is the 2nd time I’ve had to re-add it. Next time you’ll eat a -2 penalty to your roll.



Lyman Pharmaceuticals Komodo Developmental Facility, Lavell, 1/3 BP

You burst through the hastily repaired hole you yourself had torn a few days earlier with a deafening crash. The two men who were chatting a few minutes before are frozen by shock. Enough time for you to get a look at them. These aren’t research scientists, most scientists you knew didn’t have kevlar jackets and submachine guns. Despite being clearly hired to guard this place, it was equally clear they had not actually expected a monstrous lizard-man to burst through the wall with no warning. You have a few meager moments of shock in which to act before they regain enough composure to do what they’ve been trained to do.



Convoy Fire Department

You rally your followers forward, leading them towards the center of town and the police station. It was a bold move, for you had little doubt the police would have access to to firearms and outside of yourself your followers had little in the way of arms outside the tools of arson they carried. Still, driven by your faith you lead them forward. Unlike the fire station, the police station was a hive of activity, and a crowd of mad arsonists did not go unnoticed. Soon you can make out a hastily assembled group of offices in mixed gear, joined a voice over a megaphone. “This is the Convoy Police Department, you are instructed to disburse at once or face arrest!”

I am Communist
Apr 19, 2002

I can show you what endless looks like
I can show you a single infinite thing
I can let you taste the sweet and sour of forever
Unending. Eternal. Inevitable
Taste my darkness
Climb into my abyss
Fall into me. Into my eyes
Look at them. Depths unfathomable
Pain immeasurable
A cruel promise fulfilled

R&R, Kingvale

Robert felt powerful and in control...and utterly exhausted. He had hit the plateau and worn out his welcome at the museum & was tempting fate with the junkman.

He would take a break. Get some food in him, some rest and a bit of relaxation. A few days at least. Watch some television. Then maybe plan another theft. Funds were getting a bit low. Maybe a larger score. He'd hit up the local weed dealer and stop the adderall/oxy train before it became problematic. Fun was fun but
Robert did have limits. It would be good to rest a little. His mom had even mentioned he was looking tired. Robert had told her that he was exercising, which was true. He'd take it easy so he could start his next move fresh and in control.


A few days of R&R. No hard drugs. Get some food, rest, and weed. Counting the remaining cash after the deal as well. Going to have to do another theft soon.

Dinictus
Nov 26, 2005

May our CoX spray white sticky fluid at our enemies forever!
HAIL ARACHNOS!
Soiled Meat

@ Lavell, underneath Lyman Pharmaceuticals Komodo Developmental Facility, 1/3 BP

Komodo wastes absolutely no time whatsoever. Both arms swing forward for the men's center mass, while his jaws stretch out obscenely wide. The animal! hungers and is vengeful. Immediately, he chomps down for the first in one large, oversized hand. The other will, no doubt, meet a similar fate, very, very swiftly.

Brute [+2] and Monstrous Size [+2] probably fit open assault here. Just crushing and biting both.

HiKaizer
Feb 2, 2012

Yes!
I finally understand everything there is to know about axes!

On the streets, Southaven 3/3 BP

Alan laughed madly as he started running, jumping and just reveling in the sheer sense of physical power he had. It was stupid, he would absolutely get spotted, but Alan did not even care. Who could stop him? If they brought in a helicopter or tank he'd just absorb them as well. Thinking about advanced hardware made him look at Nova Tech. What could he find there?

There was one way to find out.

Trying to break into Nova Tech, using his Technografting [+2] enhanced strength from being Fit [+2]

Theantero
Nov 6, 2011

...We danced the Mamushka while Nero fiddled, we danced the Mamushka at Waterloo. We danced the Mamushka for Jack the Ripper, and now, Fester Addams, this Mamushka is for you....

A rented warehouse, 0/3 BP

Anton snorted to himself. This was what you got for relying on the works of others.

Now let's see. Command-warded gating signets inscribed upon the engine within the constraints of its resonant thaumic geometries ought to allow him to leech power from the engine to open controlled tears through the veil to tap onto the most abundant magical substrate he had found thus far he had decided to dub Aether. With Aether injected in the engine, enchantments of thaumic ignition ought to be able to burn it into thaumic energies. Then, with properly inscribed runic circuit, he should be able to collect and divert said thaumic energies, and divert them to Enchantment Circles of Actuation, Fortitude or Emboldening as deemed necessary by their loci-sensitive guidance enchantment.

Yes, perfect. He had not really done much with Aether before, having preferred directly leeching Thaumic Energies from the myriad magical forces and interactions instead. But an internal combustion engine was an ideal way to experiment with more energy dense sources of Thaumic Energy. And it would even solve his mobility issues! Two flies, one stone. As was natural.

Sure, since the engine itself had to both extract AND then utilize the Aether, his overall efficiency and speed in rough terrain where the system had to be used would likely suffer. But currently that would be no real issue and really, all it meant was that he'd have to build refineries later on, no biggie.



OOC: Magitech Prodigy [+2] to make the Van an All Terrain Van via an experimental Aether Combustion Engine.

As for the AECUs, they will start with standard storage, living and workshop space, maybe start with mining tunnels too if they have the time.

Ronwayne
Nov 20, 2007

That warm and fuzzy feeling.

Temporary Base, Nystrian Badlands

She had an ace in the hole and intended to use it. Desdemona sends word she's willing to meet with the heads of the other rebel groups, or at least their representatives, in exchange for some of the more valuable meds, antibiotics, insulin, etc.

Using some of the med supplies to bait the local leaders into meeting with me and discussing strategy, and also to expose them to her power. [Supercharisma+2] for the social skills to pull this off and even her modest salary with [Merchant of Menace+2] for supplementary bribes.

Valhawk
Dec 15, 2007

EXCEED CHARGE

R&R, Kingvale

You take a break from your training and go cold turkey on the harder stuff, though that is less soothing that you might hope. Even though you were only taking the drugs for a short period, you were still a recovering addict, and during your week off though you avoided outright withdrawal symptoms, you could feel the cravings start to kick in. Still, despite that, your R&R does help, slowly but surely the headaches diminish and you start to feel more energetic. You aren’t fully recovered, but you feel much better than you did before. When you count the cast, out of the $7,000 you originally lifted, only $2,000 remains.



Underneath Lyman Pharmaceuticals Komodo Developmental Facility, Lavell, 1/3 BP

You burst across the room, smashing into the closer of the two guards who goes flying across the room from the force of the impact, eventing landing on a counter with a sicking crack. Before the second guard even has a chance to respond you are upon him great knife-like fangs dig into his flesh and he screams in pain, dropping his gun as he goes into shock from the trauma. You can feel the blood gush, one of your fangs had hit an artery. Even if you don’t kill him immediately, he’ll be dead within a few minutes from the blood loss.



Novatech Corporate Campus, Southaven 3/3 BP

You make your way to Nova Tech, running down the roads at 60 mph, passing cars and attracting all sorts of attention. You make your way to the corporate campus, you know the route well. Before sits the office where you work every day. A sprawling concrete building, due to the sensitive nature of the work it’s fairly light on windows and other than the three main entrances each with a security checkpoint, the only thing at ground level is the occasional emergency egress door at regular intervals. You have little doubt you could force your way through the checkpoint at any of the entrances without much effort, they were designed to keep out protestors and corporate spies, not a super-human. However, it’d mean the cops would called right from the get go. It’d certainly be the easier and most straightforward way in though.

An important note about your powers, atm you can only absorb one thing at a time. Down the road, as your powers grow that number will increase. However, if you absorb something else in the building, there’s no guarantee increased strength and durability will be one of the properties it gives you, so be careful.



Out in the wilds, 0/3 BP

You set to work upgrading your rented van while your golems carve out the beginnings of a base. It was rough going, but after a few failed attempts you finally managed to configure the engine into a working prototype. Though it was definitely a prototype, finicky and prone to breakdowns. The actual enchantments were solid enough, it was the powersource that was the real problem child. Your understanding of aether extraction was still spotty at best, and as a result it was difficult to get the power tap to functioning consistently. Still, the equivalent of a perpetual motion machine that ran some of the time was a major step forward.



Temporary Base, Nystrian Badlands

You make excellent use of the supplies you purchased to barter meetings with important leaders. Your powers help, but unfortunately there is a large degree of animosity to cut through, so while this first introductory session helps blunt some of the negative feelings it will take much more work to win actual support. Your experience tells you that the existing power brokers within the rebellion are probably most likely to be resistant to your plans, the rank and file are set in their ways, but more likely to be vulnerable to your power. The two clearest paths forward seem to be focusing in on turning the leaders in hopes they bring their followers along, a smaller number of harder targets, or working around them, trying to steal their power bases from under them, which is a high risk strategy, but one that will put you in a much more secure position long term.

I am Communist
Apr 19, 2002

I can show you what endless looks like
I can show you a single infinite thing
I can let you taste the sweet and sour of forever
Unending. Eternal. Inevitable
Taste my darkness
Climb into my abyss
Fall into me. Into my eyes
Look at them. Depths unfathomable
Pain immeasurable
A cruel promise fulfilled

Bank, Kingvale


Robert chewed his gum hard. Candy and food wrappers littering his bed. Habits. Habits. The drugs weren't the problem. He was. Things didn't change, even with power. A grim smile set on his face after he counted his cash. $2k wasn't game changing. After taking a long shower and cleaning himself up, Robert took a long look in the mirror. Presentable. He found a pair of pants and a collared shirt, average and not too fancy. He took $500 and stuck it in a large but normal looking envelope, then into his backpack.

It was time to open a checking account.

One of the bigger branches would do. As Robert made his way to the bank he made note of the feelings he got. Steel rebar in the roads and buildings, pipes and conduits running all over the place. Power lines and telephone wire running to the buildings. It was a lot better and nuanced now that he had practice. Copper, iron. Steel, and other metals were easiest. Cars everywhere, so many cars.

Rober dialed it back a bit. Kept it to this block. When he entered the bank he looked around the entrance. Pens, cash drawers, and something huge. Must be the vault. He smiled as he made his way to the line. He'd open a checking account, the cameras didn't bother him here.

When it came to his turn, he'd do his business and leave.


Pants not jeans. Noticing everything there is to notice inside and out. With eyes and powers. Not looking around like a goon. Any construction areas nearby, guards/guns in the building, power and telco lines. Plenty of metal in the city to sense. Opening a checking account. Then leaving.

I am Communist fucked around with this message at 14:25 on Jul 10, 2018

Theantero
Nov 6, 2011

...We danced the Mamushka while Nero fiddled, we danced the Mamushka at Waterloo. We danced the Mamushka for Jack the Ripper, and now, Fester Addams, this Mamushka is for you....

Out in the wilds, 0/3 BP

Hah.

It was telling that the very first iterations of his prototypes on something he nor nobody else had ever attempted was still more functional and groundbreaking than what most people would ever accomplish during their entire lives. Telling, but not surprising.

Now. He had secured his way out of the woods, but there was no real need to actually leave just yet. Instead what he should do, was use this time to plan ahead a bit. On how to get his very first proper manufacturing plant going. A variety of assembly lines and automatic runic scribes would be necessary, but those ought to be trivial enough in practice as long as he had the materials he needed.

But getting the materials he needed? That might be a short term hassle. It was time to think.

He would need an Alchemical Crucible to actually extract material from the relatively poor quality ore his AECUs were mining. The essence of alchemy still eluded him to some degree, probably because he had not really given it proper thought. But the magical intuition inside told him that it ought to be possible. Perhaps he needed rare metals or other catalysts for it to work, hmm...

Then there was also the Transmutation Forge. Anton was not a huge fan of mundane material. It was functional, but often tricky to get and also of inferior thaumic characteristic. He was confident that with a right sort of machine he could transform the majority of his extracted metals into Alchemical Brass or Alchemical Steel or other, uniform styles of thaumically malleable metals. Of course, he had not actually made any of those materials, and his current understanding was a bunch of magical formulae he had doodled on a notebook to disseminate their theoretical possibility. The again, Anton was supremely confident in his doodles.

And last, an Aether Extractor-Refiner would be needed. Smaller constructs could be powered with enchantment that could leech ambient thaumic energies to run for extended periods, almost for perpetuity, like his standard AECUs or the small spy-drones he had made. But heavier machinery would likely need heavier sources of thaumic energy. He already knew the Veil could be pierced, and aether leeched due to his experiments with the van. But the effect was spotty, mainly because he had to rely on the measly output of a simple car engine to repeatedly stab tiny holes into the veil, that then immediately fixed themselves. No, for an industrial operation, he would need some sort of construct that could safely maintain a stable hole in the veil for extended periods, so that Aether could be properly harvested from therein.

It was a lot of work. But Anton was confident it was all doable for someone as brilliant as him.



OOC: Magitech Prodigy [+2] and Schemer [+4] to do some theorycrafting, mainly Anton trying to figure out roughly what he would require for his first Mid Term Goal, the establishment of his first true Manufactorium.

Ronwayne
Nov 20, 2007

That warm and fuzzy feeling.

Nystrian Badlands

Alright, next step. She needed to win the support of these hicks, which means she needed to show she could win, which means she needed a place to run to if they got caught. Her major strength so far was the urbans didn't know she was there, but that would only last so long before reports of reports of 'clandestine' operations with locals around the country complaining of distinct individuals, blonde, 6'5", 17inch biceps, female, running around. She would make a fallback plan, and then take the offensive. Right now, she prepared a place to catch a second wind if needs be.

Leaving enough mooks to guard the remaining medical supplies, she takes the more adventurous underlings on a tour of the Nystrian countryside, searching for a suitable safehouse in case things went tits up.

Using [Right to bare arms+4] and [Supercharisma+2] to lead a team in scouting the countryside and identifying places they can hide if needs be. This is a post not-soviet hellhole so I assume there's all sorts of STALKER type bunkers around, hopefully.

Ronwayne fucked around with this message at 18:24 on Jul 14, 2018

Dinictus
Nov 26, 2005

May our CoX spray white sticky fluid at our enemies forever!
HAIL ARACHNOS!
Soiled Meat

@ Lavell, underneath Lyman Pharmaceuticals Komodo Developmental Facility, 1/3 BP

Komodo silences the worst of the animal!'s hunger pangs with ripping, tearing, and immediate mouthfuls of flesh best left further undescribed. He'll come to his senses later. For now, the worst of his bloodlust is sated. And with that a moment to see what the guards had on their persons. A badge that he didn't recognize hanging from a bloodied shoulder. Probably to enter secured sections of the facility. These guards look... looked not much like the original guard staff of what he remembers. Too well armoured. He wasn't sure if they even carried the same type of weapons, but, well, Rynn kind of has been the stereotypical liberal not to busy himself with guns and rifles beyond token protests.

The badge is removed from the cadaver (well, half of it) with more claw than fingertips, and gingerly cradled in the crook of the oversized mitt of his left hand. Taking a few deep breaths through his mouth, Komodo takes in the scents extending beyond this room. A fire escape stairwell extends ahead. There could be more guards ahead and above. He would have to approach things carefully, lest he'd get overwhelmed. Two, three armed guards, after all, could easily be taken out with surprise at his side. Without the ambush? He'd rather not try to find out how well his leathery, thick hide can withstand small arms fire.

Komodo slowly trundles up along a narrow flight of stairs, eyeing the corners warily. His eyes occasionally pause at a doorway, but then a part of him remembers that is nowhere near the laboratory sections. Beyond a cursory glance, he doesn't bother to even open and peek. He moves with slow, but deliberate focus. His nostrils flare as he tries to find the source of the other blood and the gunpowder.

Raw, Animal Cunning [+2] hopefully allows Komodo to navigate and maybe remain undetected. While he's mostly heading for the labs for materials, he definitely keeps his nose primed for that source of danger and blood and gunpowder. Pretty sure Lyman wanted to contain the outbreak something fierce, after all.

Valhawk
Dec 15, 2007

EXCEED CHARGE

Bank, Kingvale

You open an account, the process is fairly straightforward only taking a few minutes of filling out forms, and you are out as quickly as you came in, a new debit card in your pocket, your preliminary reconnaissance a success.



Out in the wilds, 0/3 BP

To assemble devices such as you had planned would be no easy thing. After all, combined they would allow you to produce large quantities of highly exotic materials from nothing more than base elements you possessed in abundance. The magical forces involved in these sorts of alterations would be immense and fiendishly complex, at least if you wanted the level of efficiency where the devices would be usable. As you worked out what would be required, the list was frankly intimidating. A handful of large high clarity diamonds to serve as magic catalysts, a significant amount of gold, lead, bismuth, and various rare earth metals such as scandium, european, and neodymium. On top of that, you’d need a good quantity of cold iron to construct the housings for the various devices to prevent magical interference. All in all it was an expensive shopping list, a ballpark estimate put the full list in the $50,000,000+ range. Still, if you managed to get it up and running it’d completely transform your supply chain, eliminating the need to search out and find sources for significant amounts of rare and expensive materials for later projects.



Nystrian Badlands

You head out with about half of your troops, such as they were, looking for fallback positions. Southern Nystria is fairly mountainous, so your search reveals no shortage of usable caves, though at the moment none of them are particularly homey. Still in a pinch there are more than enough caves to run off and hide in until the heat blows over.



Lyman Pharmaceuticals Komodo Developmental Facility, Lavell, 1/3 BP

As you stalk through the building, you are struck by how earily quiet it is compared to what you remember. You can smell and hear other guards, but you manage to avoid them. They aren’t really trying to search for anything, mostly just guarding the entrances to various labs. Still, from what you’ve seen so far, and more from what you haven’t seen, it would appear that the Komodo labs have been mostly packed up, the guards here more to keep people from stealing anything yet to be moved than to prevent a superhuman attack.

Shogeton
Apr 26, 2007

"Little by little the old world crumbled, and not once did the king imagine that some of the pieces might fall on him"


Convoy Police Station

The old girl she had be would be cowed, would be frightened. But no. This was her reveal. This was the dawn of a new age of glorious purifying flame!

"Stand not against me!" She commanded, raising a hand and causing a large wall of flame to rise, blocking their vision "I don't seek your deahs, but if you interfere with man's salvation, you will burn."

A long wait for a short and lovely post, my apologies. But for this particular thing, I tried too long to think of something better +2 Flame and +2 Cult leader to awe and intimidate the cops

Ronwayne
Nov 20, 2007

That warm and fuzzy feeling.

Nystrian Badlands - Outskirts of Civilizaion

Now that they had a place to retreat to, Desdemona planned to turned words into actions. She was going to try to have her cake and eat it to, by striking somewhere unprotected to get the goons used to the idea of winning, and showing the populace she was the real deal. Her and the lads spend time scouting areas close to towns and cities that look like they might go under with a fight, ideally some place they can rob for resources and retreat back into the hills quickly.

Using [Supercharisma+2] and [Right to Bare Arms+4] to find soft targets to rob and steal, ideally ones that can be blamed on others, potentially urban criminals instead of tipping our hand that we're here. Not actually attacking it, just finding it

Theantero
Nov 6, 2011

...We danced the Mamushka while Nero fiddled, we danced the Mamushka at Waterloo. We danced the Mamushka for Jack the Ripper, and now, Fester Addams, this Mamushka is for you....

Out in the wilds, 0/3 BP

Anton took one final look at his arcane diagrams and nodded to himself. The plans seemed workable. The only thing that remained now was to put them to action. He'd leave the AECUs to their work for now, and retreat back to the city to plan his first heist.

The diamonds seemed like an ideal first target. They took the least space after all, and logistics still posed an issue for him. But even large diamonds were still comparatively small, and he might be able to sneak them out with a fairly limited amount of drones. But where exactly to get them in the first place? That required some thought.


OOC: Schemer [+4] to figure out where to get the diamonds.

Dinictus
Nov 26, 2005

May our CoX spray white sticky fluid at our enemies forever!
HAIL ARACHNOS!
Soiled Meat

@ Lavell, underneath Lyman Pharmaceuticals Komodo Developmental Facility, 1/3 BP

It would seem his options diminish. Little is left of the Komodo wing of the facility. Thankfully, though, not much is left of security, either. They are literally stripping everything of anything of use and value. Surely even a lowly bunch of PCR thermal cyclers would be left somewhere for pick-up around here? Primer batches in cool storage? The words fly to mind, but lose their meaning very swiftly. Baubles he must hoard. That's what he came for, after all.

But the gunpowder and the sweat and the blood still linger. Especially here.

There's not much room in the animal! for conspiracy thoughts, no certainty to people and test subjects having been terminated and cleared out for sure after he had smashed his way through and out of the facility. Instead, it's just greed and curiosity. Or maybe it was the hunger talking again.

Greed and curiosity get the better of him as he openly stalks a hallway, smells through his mouth, takes in the sights of his (rather sedate) rampage through the corridors he stalked before with a small trove of reactives and samples and notes. Komodo reasons simply, then, that whatever is worth stealing must be at the remnants of the old labs. He can fan out for tools and machinery out from there, growing more confident in his capacity to actually overpower these armed guards from ambush.

Yeah. Definitely hunger. But not the hunger he suffered stalking the suburbs the day before. This was another hunger. For want of a better word, he needed the stuff.

Basically, Komodo will openly stalk the labs he ran from for whatever leftovers he can pillage. PCR enzymes, cyclers, assorted primers for hybridization. Maybe even a fancy automated plotter. He's pretty much pillaging against all hopes and with decreased understanding of what he's after. And I fully expect things to get loud, fast.

Invoking Single-minded [-2] to get into trouble, basically, while his Brute [+2] and his Raw, Animal Cunning [+2] ought to help against any initial assaults.

I am Communist
Apr 19, 2002

I can show you what endless looks like
I can show you a single infinite thing
I can let you taste the sweet and sour of forever
Unending. Eternal. Inevitable
Taste my darkness
Climb into my abyss
Fall into me. Into my eyes
Look at them. Depths unfathomable
Pain immeasurable
A cruel promise fulfilled

Basememt&garage, Home, Kingvale

Robert munched on a candy bar, a twinge of wanting something more eating away at his self control. No. He needed to replace that want with something else. Money. With money he could have more control. A plan began to form in his mind. Most people thought addicts were lazy or stupid, it only was the drugs that made them that way.

He went to different thrift stores & army navy stores and picked up some duffel bags. At some hardware stores he got a few rolls of duct tape and a few yards of steel wire.

Robert spent the next couple of hours creating a wire framework with his powers inside and outside each bag and then using the duct tape to help hold it all in place even better. Experimentally he expanded and contracted each bag. He checked them for durability and made adjustments when necessary. He filled each bag with as much as they could hold and then practiced making them fly and follow him around. Once he had the hang of that he did the same task but shot nails with his power at a few cans setup in the garage as he did so. Walking and hustling.

Depending on how well he did would determine what he would do next.


At different store types, different stores and paying with cash: military grade duffel bags, duct tape, steel wire. Using Electromagnetism [+2] to create the wire mesh inside and outside the bags and then using the duct tape to seal it to the bags for good measure. Then testing /practicing with the full bags and doing different tasks. This is probably enough for this round. How Robert does and how it turns out will determine what he does next.

HiKaizer
Feb 2, 2012

Yes!
I finally understand everything there is to know about axes!

Novatech Corporate Campus, Southaven 3/3 BP


Another time and Alan might have thought about it more rationally, but he was high on adrenaline and raw horsepower right now. So what if they called the cops? He could just bulldoze through them. People kept saying that Novatech was working on secret projects for the government. Spacetech and advanced robotic weaponry. So Alan did a very literal kind of smash and grab, making his way through the labs, picking up anything that seemed promising and looking out for something to absorb.

Using everything, as Technografting [+2] and Fit [+2] will help him get through any physical barriers, and IT Handyman [+2] and Clever [+2] will help him quickly figure out where they would keep anything valuable or worth absorbing.

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Valhawk
Dec 15, 2007

EXCEED CHARGE

Convoy Police Station

Whatever the cops on the barricade were expecting, it wasn’t a wall of flame rushing towards them. A few panicked and opened fire, bullets cutting down a few of your followers near you, but between your words and the supernatural flames you generated, your followers were driven into a frenzy and charged the police. A few more went down, but for most of the police, facing down a braying mob out for their blood and a supernatural fire witch was more than they could take and they ran. Those that remained, either brave or frozen in place in panic managed to take down another dozen of your followers before the crowd fell upon them ripping them to shreds. The station was yours, but it was clear word of what was happening had gotten out, for in the corner of your eye you can make out a news helicopter. There would be little doubt that in a matter of minutes you’d be nationwide news.



Nystrian Badlands - Outskirts of Civilizaion

Your scouting efforts are slow and grinding at first, turning up not much of anything and straining the men’s morale. Nevertheless it’s good practice, and that disappointment only makes the eventual discovery of a convoy moving towards the border that much sweeter. It’s fairly small and light, but looking at it through the binoculars a jolt goes through you. The guards are wearing the uniforms of the President’s Own. President Jimoza, the leader of the government isn’t stupid enough to come out under such light guard, even relying on often unused and empty roads. Still, that the president’s personal guard was present meant that whatever it was carrying was valuable indeed. However, it also meant that no bandit would be fool enough to raid it. If you attacked, there would be no disguising your involvement. However, by the same token, you’d be doing more to stick it to the central government than the rebels had in years, your cachet among the fighters in the badlands would go up considerably, assuming you succeeded and survived.



Back on Campus, 0/3 BP

Making you way back to campus is a start and stop process, the unreliable nature of your engine does not make for great highway driving, and you’re forced to pull over on a couple of occasions. There appears to be a great deal of fascination with something on the news, but it’s below your notice, your attention when not on the guts of your van or the road in on the pressing question of where to get your hands on a huge diamond.

You do a bit of research, and prospects aren’t good. A diamond of the size and clarity required for your device isn’t the sort of thing they have at your local jewelry store. Maybe you could find a stone in the Empire City diamond district or one of the major diamond markets in Europa. Heisting a multi-million dollar stone would be no small feat.



Lyman Pharmaceuticals Komodo Developmental Facility, Lavell 1/3 BP

You return the scene of your transformation, they haven’t bothered to clean up much, the entire lab is in ruins, though that turns to your advantage as you manage to recover a few more basic, less fragile tools. Proceeding outwards from there you manage to pick up a few things, but nothing too advanced or expensive. It would seem that the company was as money-focused as ever and had removed anything worth any serious cash priority one. Still, mostly through luck you manage to avoid anymore guards. You’ve probably gotten all you can in this area, though your haul is middling at best. Still, it’s better than nothing.

Enjoy your BP.



Basement & garage, Home, Kingvale

You set to work practicing the skills you’ll need for your heist. Each of the individual tasks are at root simple enough, for a given value of simple. The real rub will be doing them under pressure and all at once. Some of that merely comes down to practice, you can ease the cognitive strain in managing the bags if you can get it down to second nature, something you barely have to think about. It’s long boring work, but necessary. Though as they say, training is one thing, doing is another. Still, you feel like you’ve done about all you can without real experience when it comes to carrying and launching objects.



Novatech Corporate Campus, Southaven 3/3 BP

You crash through security checkpoint like a cannonball through a bag of feathers. This was designed to keep snoops out, you were a giant of man with metal skin, it doesn’t even slow you down. The guard manning the gate is thrown against the wall with a sickening crunch, but you keep on going not bothering to look back.

As you travel further inside, alarms start to blare throughout the building, the outer labs don’t have anything that particularly grabs your interest. However, you had heard rumors of a black project in one of the basement labs, its network was totally air gapped, and you had never been allowed anywhere near that part of the building. However, it’d be really going into the belly of the beast with no good way out except the way you came in.

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