Shadow Wars, The greatest game on earth Options

[Karoline]

"Welcome, to Shadow Wars^tm, the most anticipated show of the year. Soon, these brave, or perhaps insane, teams will be airdropped into our War Zone^tm, and the action will begin. These teams are fighting over an amazing grand prize of five million nuyen with even more available to earn along the way. They won't just have each other to worry about, there are also the various surprises situated inside the War Zone^tm, and the fearsome Enforcers who are worth an amazing million nuyen kill bonus, but that will be cash hard earned. All that and more to come, and remember that your viewer input can effect the game. Without further ado, here are those willing to put it all on the line for fame, glory, and of course, fabulous wealth!"

[pbangarth]

Unknown airfield, 07:30.

The roar of the aircraft engines in the background and the wind make the voices harder to hear, but they add to the exciting atmosphere of the early morning interviews of the soon to disembark contestants.

The interviewer holds a microphone to the short man, heavily armored and standing by his gear, waiting to load. A trideo recording device is being hooked up to the contestant as he speaks to the interviewer, and through him the audience. His face has a childlike appearance to it, but his eyes are anything but innocent.

"Yah. Lucky Eddie, that's me. I been through more scrapes than most dream of. Not a scratch. Got a problem out here, though. Someone's got a real hate on for me, and want's me dead. Only way I can survive is if I get money. Lots of it. So that's why I'm here. Don't care a slag for anybody's opinion. I gotta kill to keep alive. So that's what I'm gonna do. I walk outta here with millions, I live. 'S the only way. And as for you buggers out there who want my skin, 's the only way you're gonna get your money.

"As for the audience, well you just watch. Many will try, but ain't nobody gonna take down Lucky Eddie. I'm gonna leave a trail of bodies till my team is the last one standing. Then I'll be back out there. With you. Think about it."

[Saint Sithney]

Unknown airfield, 07:35.

The camera pulls back and out attempting to take in the man, from his broad, armored shoulders to his massive, digitigrade cyberlegs, but then settles for a closeup of the storm-trooper-looking full face mask. His pose is bolt upright and tone is straight forward, even as he argues with the technical assistant pinning the camera to his armor. In the background is heard, "My concern is not with the integrity of the signal which this device produces, but rather..."

With reluctance to get to close to the hulking armored man in front of her, the interviewer points the directional mic from a length away, interrupting the discussion. "Well you're a big one, aren't you, BT?"

"Actually I am of average size. I know this because all parts of me were designated as standard."
"Yes, well," the interviewer continued, slightly flustered. "Are you excited to be here fighting and dying alongside your team mates on 'The Mongooses?' How does it feel to know that billions might be rooting for or against you in this competition?"
"I was told that, as a former member of a UCAS strike team, my presence here would bolster confidence in the UCAS military. I was also assured that by volunteering, as I was ordered to, they would guarantee that my family was compensated should I die in the course of the game. As I have always been a ward of the state, I can only speculate as to what they did mean by that remark." A brief pause later, "I do like the Mongooses. It is a good team name, and we are equipped to kill any number of threats which might stand between us and total victory."

[Garvel]

The camera pulls back again, and the interviewer looks around confused.
"Hasn't your third teammember arrived yet" he asks.
"I'm up here." a voice suddenly sounds from above.
The interviewer looks surprised upwards, as a pixie appears in the camera's field of view, deactivating his Chameleon Suit and probably simultaneously dropping his concealment power. The Chameleon Suit is now completely black, and also covers his face. He wears a monocle that reminds of a DBZ Scouter, and a Quick-Draw Hip Holster with a hold-out pistol which is guilded and has an ivory grip plate.
"Hi, my name is Fitz."
He holds a plastic cup with soykaf in his hand. Metahumans would use this cup probably to drink shorts. He carefully lifts his mask a bit to empty the cup. It will be the last soykaf for a long time.
The interviewer smiles and says:"Wow, he looks like a little ninja with butterfly wings. How cute."
Fitz obviously doesn't seem to like this comment:"Cute? You call me CUTE? You think I participate in this show because I'm cute? I'm a ****ing killing machine! Call me cute once more and I will turn you into a toad and flush you down the toilet!"
"Err..."
"And I will drop the spell half way down! You will die as a toilet plugging! How do you like that? Do you still think thats cute?" He crushes the empty plastic shot glass in his hand (with visible effort) to underline his threat. He pauses, to calm himself down. Then, after he realizes, that he actually managed to intimidate the interviewer, he crosses his arms and says:"Now ask your questions."
The interviewer seems really nervous now: "Err... How does it feel, to be a pixie?"
"Pretty normal, if you ask me."
"Err... What do you think is the most exciting thing about this contest?"
Fitz reflects, and then answers:"If they were able to find a properly sized parachute for me."
"Haha. We will see about this later. Thank you"

[pbangarth]

Unknown airfield, 07:38.

Lucky Eddie looks around for the nearest official. He strides over to him, scowls up at him and demands, "Well? The Mongooses are all here. Where do we load?"

He turns to the camera drone. "Expect this, people. The Mongooses are as hungry, as fast and as deadly as their namesake. And we are ready! You wanna watch a well-oiled killing machine, keep your peepers glued to our channel. Or get the re-caps of our latest victims." He flashes a wide grin full of crooked, yellowed teeth. Then he clears his throat coarsely and horks a loogie.

[Raven the Tricks...]

Silver Shotglass Bar, Los Angeles, PCC

*Cale 'Black Cat' Kuroneko

"My Nuyen is on the Mongooses, nobody else has their frakking drek together and they're all ready to load. Go Lucky Eddie, go Fitz, Go BT"

*Jimmy 'Two Shots' Jones - Bartender

"Pipe down Cale, the show's just started. They've got days, maybe even weeks before they can win this thing."

[AppliedCheese]

This Message brought to you by ARES, the brand the professionals of ShadowWars Trust!

[AppliedCheese]

0740 PST, TNT-Drama (a Proud Subsidiary of Horizon Media) Virtual Conference Room
As you can see from the latest batch of input gentlemen, our initial viewer numbers are at an acceptable, but not great, 12.6 million. Even with trans global broadcasts, projections are that we will not be exceeding a high end viewership of 40 million, though Hong Kong may help that number up some. At current advertising rates, we will need to maintain this show on air for another five weeks without allowing for more than a 3% per week viewer slip after the initially projected 11% loss from the pilot.

I want everybody to start thinking of ways to maintain the excitement and thrill of the show at the highest levels for those 5 weeks. Initial media polls will guide us in how each team is perceived, and in two hours marketing-pysch will be offering some very valuable input into which teams we need to succeed and which teams we need to fail, and in what manner. I need some great ideas by then people.

[pbangarth]

Unknown airfield, 07:39.

Lucky Eddie wanders over to his kit and does some stretches. The guy looks like he's made of rubber, the way he can bend.

[pbangarth]

Unknown airfield, 07:45.

Eddie scans the crowd slowly assembling, piling gear. They look like a bunch of mooks. What am I missing? This could be trouble.

[pbangarth]

Unknown airfield, 07:45.

Oooh. Looks like someone official is stepping in front of a camera. Could this be it?

[Saint Sithney]

Unknown airfield, 07:45.

BT turns to the excitable Eddie as the knee-high Gnome runs about.
"I anticipate a great deal of cowardice from our more strategic competitors. We should take this time to identify those whom are most likely to fortify and wait until other teams are exhausted. Those who might act in this manner must be dealt with hastily. I feel confident in our ability to strike quickly and with purpose."

[Karoline]

The announcer who has become the face of Shadow Wars from the long run up of commercials and ads motions to the cameras and interviewers to get on with the introductions and to get the cameras off of the cargo plane being loaded up with large crates of unknown contents, but which the movers seem to be handling with great care.

The interviews continue, moving over to a group containing two male orks and a male troll, all of which are dressed in street outfits, sporting bandanas, and looking like they're part of some gang, but not wearing any recognizable colors or designs. “We're T-Dog and the Mutts.” one of the two orks says. He looks slightly stronger than the other, but otherwise quite similar, perhaps brothers or even twins. The other Ork and Troll both pose in various 'muscle man' positions, showing off their ample strength. “I'm T-Dog, and these are the Mutts, C-Dog and A-Dog. We've got some surprises for anyone trying to take us down.” and with that he pulls what is unmistakably a Molotov cocktail from a bag on his hip, clinking heard by the careful listener, indicating many more. The odds of those bottles surviving the landing seems small, but even if they do, the 'old school' glass bottle design is unlikely to go very far. All three seem poorly equipped for an event like this.

The next group is three much more somber individuals. All three wear hoods and scarves that cover their faces, and they all wear city style camouflage complete with matching backpacks. Race and even sex is difficult to tell for sure, but they are all most likely Human or Elf, and one is certainly female. The male speaks “We represent Mercenary Company Dragoon, 'even dragons for the right price'. Code names James, Tracy, and Sam.” he says, indicating himself, the female, and the last member who could be either male or female from as little of the face is as visible, and as distorting as the armor is under the camo suits. They seem lightly armed, with only pistols visible, and the tell tale barrel of a sniper rifle on the female, but their packs could be hiding other surprises with their bulk.

A Dwarf stands next to what looks more or less like a shipping container, though made of sturdier stuff. Standing next to him is a hulking anthro drone, larger than your average troll by about a meter. It seems like a re-purposed construction drone of some kind. The missile packs on its shoulders hint however that it'll be used for demolition rather than construction. ARrow overlays indicate that the drone is in fact a cyborg, and thus will be air dropped with a parachute. The final member of the team is a lank Human wearing heavy armor, but carrying no obvious weaponry. The backpack that sits next to him however looks as though it weighs more than he does, and he hasn't shouldered it yet. “We're Team Cyber, and we plan on teaching you stone age brutes what a mind with high tech can accomplish.”

Group number 5 seems to be another group of runners, judging by the lack of a common theme like the others seem to have had so far. Among them is a Dwarf, an Elf, and an Ork. All wear trench coats to conceal what sort of weaponry they might be using, but whatever they have, it seems to be enough to cause the occasional odd protrusion, to which the interviewer can't help but ask “Is that a gun under your trench coat, or are you just happy to be here?” which prompts a glare from the Ork which shuts up the interviewer quickly. [color=cyan]“We're team Falcon.” the elf tells the interviewer and the audience shortly “If you need a job done discreetly, just call for us. If we're still working after we win that is.” she adds with a smirk.

Next is a group all clad in Military grade armor. They somewhat resemble the Enforcers, but their armor isn't as large, their weapons are more mundane, and they just don't capture that sense of menace and fear that the Enforcers always gave off in the ads. Still, all three carry rather large packs and give off an air of silent confidence. They don't seem to be showing any signs of fidgeting or anything, though they might be concealed by the armor. They have assault rifles attached to their thighs like most people would have pistols, and one has a rocket launcher on his shoulder. A filtered voice drones from one of the group “We're Team Dominant. Ace, Kreg, and Seraph.” It's hard to even tell which of the three spoke, as none of them move when doing so. Also, since they gave no indications on their name, ARrows pop up to identify them from their earlier entries.

The second to last group is all females. A Human, Elf, and Ork “Team Girl Power.” The Human informs the interviewer, who seems to entirely like the idea of an all female team. All wear sleek outfits that still look like they'll provide proper protection. Almost like Form Fitting Body Armor, but obviously intended for outer ware as opposed to under armor. “Janis, Penny, and Alice.” They wear assault rifles on their backs underneath somewhat lighter backpacks than most of the others have been sporting. The elf gives a wink and blows a kiss to the camera, obviously attempting to curry some crowd favor, one of the only ones that has seemed interested in actively doing so thus far.

The final group seems to be missing. The interviewer looks around for the 8th team that she knows should be around somewhere, but doesn't seem to be able to find anyone that she hasn't already interviewed or isn't part of the various flight crews, camera crews, and various other staff. She moves in front of the camera and speaks to the audience “Well, it looks like the 8th team is already MIA. Have they been taken out by underhanded means before the games have even begun? Or have they simply overslept? Whatever the case is, the game waits for no one, and -” she is cut off as the feed is switched to the Shadow Wars spokesman.

”Welcome one and all to the greatest game on earth! Teams, make your way onto your transports, they will be leaving shortly, and you will be dropped at exactly 8:00 from a height of one kilometer over a predetermined location for each team. Remember the rules, and if you do get killed, at least try to make a good show of it.” With that brief announcement the spokesman makes his way to the cargo plane, leaving the teams to make their ways to the eight choppers, each of which has a sign with the team's name sitting next to it, except for one, which has no sign. The missing sign is the 8th team that has is so far missing.

As the three of you make your way to your appointed helicopter the pilot greets you. He wears what is otherwise a standard aviator outfit except for the black color and large Shadow Wars logo on the back. The helmet is similarly black with a logo on it. “Hey, I'm Jim and I'll be you're pilot. If you need help with your parachutes at all, ask me and I'll help you get strapped in. Also, they're set up to automatically deploy at 500 meters. You can turn that off if you want, or use your own chutes. We'll be taking off at ten till, so be sure you got all your stuff. You won't be coming back till the game is all over.”

[pbangarth]

Unknown airfield, 07:46.

"Alright, Mongooses, let's load up!" Eddie piles his gear into the aircraft.

<<Testing, testing, boys. Any thoughts on altitude?>>

[Saint Sithney]

Unknown airfield, 07:46.

"It will be nice to feel the rush of a good firefight again. I can not remember the last time I killed someone. Literally. That memory was removed by my previous handlers." BT picked up a massive armful of gear and began moving towards the plane.

<<The greatest difficulty of precision air-drops is wind shear. The only counter to that is mass. I feel confident in that regard. I do wonder if Fitz can fly as fast as we fall.>>

[Garvel]

Unknown airfield, 07:46.

"Hey, finally! I can't wait" Fitz flys into the aircraft and searches for his parachute.

<<I think there's a second counter, next to mass, and that is called "having wings". But I wont use them until I reach 500 meters. In theory, folding them together, to reduce the air resistence, should result in the same falling speed as you guys have.>>

[Karoline]

Unknown airfield, 7:49
"Hang on!" your pilot warns you, still standing in the back with you, as the helicopter starts up on its own, perfectly in unison with the other seven, including one for the missing team, though that could just be because it is automated. Wind blows through the airfield as the blades get up to speed, and the thought that so many aircraft taking off so close to each other can't be the safest thing ever, but your feed to the 'contestant approved viewing mode' of the show indicates that it is a rather impressive sight. At precisely 7:50 the copter begins to lift itself into the air along with its fellows, once again perfectly choreographed, the actual pilots not doing a thing.

As you lift into the air, you begin to move towards the middle of the city. The buildings, mostly dilapidated, spread out beneath you, giving you your first, and perhaps best opportunity to scope out what is where and what kind of shape it is in, as maps for the city have been impossible to find.

The other seven copters slowly pull away, each moving to its designated starting location. It isn't until 2 minutes to 8 that the pilot moves to the cockpit after having ensured that all of you have your parachutes properly secured. With a minute to the start time, the pilot gives you a one minute warning, adding "Brace yourself for the 'drop off'." with a bit of a chuckle. No doors have been opened for you to jump out of yet, and the pilot isn't giving any sort of indication that you should be doing anything. The Shadow Wars feed takes up a large portion of its display with a digital countdown. <<00:05 00:04 00:03 00:02 00:01 00:00>>

The instant the countdown hits 0, you have a split second of wondering what you should be doing before the bottom of the helicopter literally drops out from underneath you like a bomb bay, allowing you to hang for the briefest of moments before gravity begins to drag you down to the city below.

[pbangarth]

Unknown airfield, 7:50

The pilot's warning was all Lucky Eddie needed to prepare for the surprise drop. The parachuting activesoft told him what he needed to do, his lightning reactions and cat-like flexibility did the rest. Momentarily, his gear hung below him on the tump-line as he spreadeagled and surveyed the scene.

"Fitz, buddy. I don't trust team 8 at all. Wanna see if they show astrally falling from their plane invisibly? BT, you're the navigation guru, how about you get us a map of the city as well as you can? Me, I'll check for a good place to make our first command post."

[Karoline]

The sprawl is cut in half by a mountain that runs north/south through the city, jutting up over a hundred meters into the skyline. The eastern half of the city seems to have been given over mostly to industry, with office buildings, factories, malls, and everything else seeming to make up that side. The western half of city looks to be more of a residential area. Even from this height the city looks utterly abandoned. There are no cars moving in the streets, no people, not even any animals that can be seen. It gives a sense of foreboding.

Close to the main east/west route that connects the two halves of the city sits a large archology, covering the better part of half a square kilometer. The building has an all glass exterior, and would make an excellent base, but might present challenges of its own, as it is one of the newer buildings in the city. While the others show distinct signs of age from the time since they were vacated, this one looks as though it just got washed. Next to it is the low sprawl of a mall complex, the parking lot full of abandoned vehicles. In the western half, there are a number of apartment building situated here and there, any one of which could make for a good vantage point among the low one and two story houses.

There are two tall office buildings on the eastern half as well, each a mile or so from the archology, one situated to the northeast, another to the southeast. Each of these could provide potential bases. Otherwise, most buildings are too short to provide any ability to survey the area, though many provide good eyes along streets.

Other than the clean state of the arcology, there are no signs of activity from the Shadow Wars crew.

BT manages to get a layout of the city, the strait nature of the roads helping make the mapping go quickly. While it is difficult to tell what every building might be for, he manages to mark down most of the interesting one, and at least put general housing in the areas that it belong. On thing out of place though is a large building in the western part of the city which has a large bare area to the northwest. Why it has been left undeveloped is anyone's guess, but it shows no signs of having been for anything.

Fitz doesn't detect anything on number 8s helicopter, which is unsurprising given that the helicopter itself blocks any auras that might be inside it. When he turns his attention down to the city though, he can see that there is a distinct motion in the energy of the city: Something one would expect in a populated city, but not in a seemingly dead one. There are currents and eddies, but it all seems to flow from the arcology and the unknown building on the western half of the city. It doesn't seem as though the bulk of the city will provide any trouble, but some areas certainly will.

Team Mongooses' helicopter is situated in the north northeast section of the city, about a kilometer from the northern office building, and about two kilometers from the arcology. As the team is dumped into open air along with the other teams, everyone quickly manages to spot most of the others falling from their own choppers. Oddities include Team Cyber on the opposite end of the city which is dropped along with their massive crate, Team Dragoon opposite the mountain from Team Cyber, which doesn't open their parachutes until they've nearly hit the ground, Team Falcon, who open their parachutes almost immediately and begin heading towards the unknown building, and of course the mysterious Team Eight. On the astral, Team Eight is obscured by a column that spills from the chopper, presumably a FAB cloud. This cloud appears to the naked eye as well, masking any sign of decent by the team members. BT is certain he can make out telltale signs of other objects falling through Team Eight's cloud, but can't tell if it actually the team members, and if it is, he certainly can't make out anything about them.

[pbangarth]

Drop Zone, Shadow Wars 08:01

<<BT, Fitz, I think that tall office building between us and the pretty, shiny arcology looks like a good first Observation Post. Let's head for it.>>

[Saint Sithney]

Drop Zone, Shadow Wars 08:01

<<By the time we land there might not be much left to observe. Then we will simply be trapped up a building, which is of dubious benefit. Before we cement our course of action I would like to know more about the situation on the Astral realm.>>

[pbangarth]

Drop Zone, Shadow Wars 08:01

<<We're falling! We have seconds left. We can fall straight down or go to someplace that we can use. As we're falling, we can make a decision about where to fly. On the ground, we have to walk.>>

[Saint Sithney]

Drop Zone, Shadow Wars 08:01

<<Point conceded. To the building then.>>
Gaius pulled his parachute cord and maneuvered his bulk towards the office building's roof.

[pbangarth]

Drop Zone, Shadow Wars 08:01

Eddie maneuvers towards the top of the office tower to the southeast of their drop zone. He looks around and sees BT doing the same. <<Fitz. You in on this? We're off to the office tower.>>

The wind must be just right, because he zeroes in on the tower like he has been doing this for years. As long as he can, he checks on the progress of the other teams. <<Looks like pairs of teams have been dropped into each of four quadrants of the city. Looks like we're in the semi finals, I guess with ... who is that? ... oh, yeah, T-Dog and the Mutts.>>

[Saint Sithney]

Drop Zone, Shadow Wars 08:02

<<Hilarious. Are they magical? That was my primary concern in regards to the second team.>>

BT was riding on a good wind towards the roof of the building. Perhaps Eddie's instincts were right. The high-velocity Ruhrmetall secured to his hip could prove to be an imposing weapon with this building as a vantage point. At the very least, as a place of interest it would be useful to set traps there.