Emerging: End of Days IC, Will you face the Apocalypse? Recruitment Always Open Options

[Aria]

Well you are here now, things are going to get interesting! Your mind wanders back over your journey to this place...from everything you’d heard about Stillwater you had expected some sort of utopian transhumanist haven on the edge of the squalor of Redmond. The truth is somewhat different...

...As you leave the comparative safety of Touristville and head out beyond the derelict sky scrapers, the proud remnants of the Redmond computer industry, the landscape changes. Union Hill road east towards the Cascades, driving through miles of monotonous abandoned suburban semis. It isn’t possible to imagine this area as thriving once. Burnt out shells litter the streets, the wreckage of so many lives scattered about you. Furtive figures, huddled over fires watch you as you pass, wondering if there are enough of them to strip you of anything of value.

Toxic castles leer at you, pumping fumes into the already thick soup that passes for air around here. The sinister behemoth of the Ares Arms principal weapons plant in the barrens lies ahead. A VTOL thrusts upwards, its turbines churning the smog into lurid forms in the halogen lights blazing from the factory. The Ares corporate logo is not a friendly sight here, the helmet of some ancient titan waiting to call down judgement on any who stray too close to those massive walls. You pass St. James Lake, its waters stained with effluent from the factory, unnatural vapours caressing the stunted plants along the shore.

You move briefly onto Redmond Fall City road, the broad carriageway pitted with decay. On your left is the remains of another major urban centre but only maps recall what its name was, the oldest residents here don’t tend to live long enough to gain very full memories. In front of you, still a long way in the distance are the peaks of Cougar Mountain and Tiger Mountain, pristine when compared with the filth around you.

You are forced to swerve as a vehicle that barely resembles the bus it was cobbled from hurtles out of a side road. It scatters debris as it mounts the pavement and then jolts back onto the road. You expect some of the armour plating strapped to its sides to be left behind in its harebrained race towards wherever it is going.

Somewhere over on your right is Glow City but thankfully you are heading away from it now, directly towards the mountains, the only major obstacle now is the Snoqualmie River. This close to the source in the Cascades the river is cleaner without the oils and toxins that mottle its surface further inside the barrens. The huge packs of distinctive bone white devil rats that plague the Snoqualmie are missing here, only a number of corpses remain, strung up, the skeletons showing the damage caused by rifle fire.

Gang sigils begin to appear on prominent places along the side of the road as you begin to head uphill out of the flat basin that makes up the majority of Redmond. A stylised wolf’s head grins down at you from the remaining vertical walls and twisted lampposts. The buildings around you begin to look more cared for although they are still derelict, you can see signs that they have been shored up to prevent them from collapsing. To your amazement you can see a living tree up ahead, although it is sickening in the poisoned air it is nevertheless fresh green in an otherwise concrete world.

As you rise higher still and leave some of the smog behind you see a child playing in the road, something unheard of in the centre of the barrens. There the children live like animals and don’t have the energy to play apart from the violent games of survival in the gangs. As you cross the 203, the official end of the barrens and the Seattle Metroplex you become aware of motorbikes shadowing you at a careful distance, the Wolf Pack.

The houses now were once the homes of computer execs and their ilk, at the start of the foothills of the Cascades, surrounded by what was once verdant countryside. An effort has been made against the odds and the land is green again, though a far cry from the natural beauty still to be found out of the reaches of the industrial poisons and corporate greed.

The centre of the community was once a large spar complex and the holiday homes that surround the lake. Abandoned by the corps when they would have had to travel through the barrens to reach it, it is now home to a scattering of people guarded by the Wolves and the blind eye of the Salish authorities.

The tower is a forlorn sight...a stark reaching skeleton against the dusk. The unusual greenery is already beginning to entomb it, vines softening the edges of the bombed out structure. The damage is old and the place appears on the surface to be completely abandoned but your sensor feeds detected power sources still in use inside, sizeable ones. For those of you who have been here before the decay of the tower and surrounding buildings seems to have increased with surprising rapidity...it is as if someone is deliberately trying to make it look like this place has been abandoned entirely to the forces of nature...

After your briefing in a dilapidated conference room in the entrance block you are led across the bridge to the island and the remains of the tower. Light filters in on you through a web of structural reinforcement and trailing awakened ivy. Dim phosphoresce from the pools of water suggest something else is alive down here and the astral, for those that can see it, is a weird mix of signals, an oppressive foreboding coupled with a desperate sense of hope.

A helical stair leads downwards into the bowels of the tower. It has clearly been patched after whatever destructive force tore through here. Signs of inhabitation increase as you descend underground. Soft lighting comes from integrated displays that come alive in AR. They display abstract light sculptures that wrap around you, responding to your movements, curling in sinuous forms and seeming to lead you on...

...the room, more of a chamber really, contains a series of comfortable looking beds arranged around medical monitoring hubs descending from the ceiling. Attendant drones are already helping people to make themselves comfortable and prepare for their immersion in the UV reality. It would seem it is time for you to do the same...

A reassuring voice speaks into your mind

~Please remain calm. The nanite trode link is being established...connection in three, two, ooooooooneee...~

...A white flash...and you are standing on the shore of the lake...at first the differences are unclear and you are amazed at the clarity of the simulation...then the smell of smoke and ash catch in the back of your throat and you become aware of the sky above the tree line...It is dark and threatening with scudding clouds and ripples of sheet lightening. The tree tops are thrashing in the gusting winds and the lake is crazed with waves moving in conflicting directions.

Then your eye is drawn to a weird structure further along the lake shore...it is some sort of pylon but the air around it is distorted and it is uncomfortable to look at for long. Three figures stand at its base, seemingly communing with it. Its purpose is unclear but further on you can see a second pylon and in the trees behind you another...you hazard a guess that they surround the Stillwater area...

“Welcome Clerics...that is what you are here, we find the name reminds you of your purpose, to defend the flock... I see you are admiring the Choir? It is their sacrifice that keeps us safe for now. Magic to dull the senses and turn things away, a technological mesh network to defeat other sorts of searchers...all to let the Sleepers have the chance to dream.”

Turning you see that the figure speaking to you is a wizened old black woman hunched over her staff that is carved with arcane and technological iconography

“Come, you have a task to perform...” and beyond her you hear the rumble of engines over the rising wind. A column of mechanised infantry vehicles turns out of the tree line and approaches were you stand. Hanging onto the flanks of the lead vehicle are two heavily armoured Supertroopers with an impressive arsenal strapped to their limbs. A Yellowjacket buzzes overhead, its weapon loadout looking suspiciously like a Firelance laser.

They clearly weren’t kidding when they said this simulation would let you play with the big guns...that even looks like a mobile howitzer towards the back of the column...and it is getting harder to think of this as a simulation when your mind is frantically telling you that this is real!

OoC Thread


This post has been edited by Aria: Jul 15 2011, 12:07 PM

[nicktheviking]

Rina "Wolf Cub" Yoshida
[Time Unknown – Stillwater Lake Shore]

Rina turns her hands over, examining them. Her gloved hands undulate as the opti-camouflage adjusts to the surroundings.

"Incredible. This beats the frag out of any BTL I've ever taken."

She checks the operation of her Ranger Arms SM-4, and, once satisfied, turns to examine her new comrades.

[Seth]

Private Third Class Gash - Magical Supression
[Stillwater Lakeshore]

Gash sighs. Playing computer games? I am too old for this. Still it beats prison.

"OK well I guess we had better start."

As the white flash start, Gash finds himself back in his old familiar suit of MichelinMan^TM armor. The detail is fantastic. The repair marks where it got puctured fighting the spider queen was here, the acid slag on the back from a Doo Zoo Noo Qua with attitude could just be seen. Slung over the back of the armour was a HUGE two handed sword. There were those that scorned the use of such an old fashioned weapon, but this was a good luck totem for Gash. When it broke killing that Shedim possessed Formori, Gash had cried. A little of it still lived on his walking stick, but still it was nice to see the old thing.

Gash tried it out. Ooph... well maybe I'll take them up later on the offer of a younger simulated body.

When Gash was younger he would have sneered at the armour, proud of his reflexes and combat prowess. Now however Gash was conforted by their presence. The brash young kids could carry on sneering, Gash would stay better protected in this tin can.

"Well Legundo... if you are Legundo and not some fake spirit wannabee..." Gash paused was it really Legundo, or just something that acted like him? "Well Legundo, time to get this show on the road.

With a roar Legundo turned up and struck Gash. "The forms and customs of our Ancestors are important: I taught you better than this. I can see I have to teach you again"


Staggering Gash practiced the Log out manouver, returning to the simulation area with blood pouring out of his nose

"OK Its pretty real, I guess I had better try that again"

[nicktheviking]

Rina "Wolf Cub" Yoshida
[Time Unknown – Stillwater Lake Shore]

Rina watches as the peculiar little man weighed down my armor staggers around with a bloody nose.

"You there, magician. What do your senses tell you about this place? I feel unease about what may lie ahead."

[Seth]

Private Third Class Gash - Magical Supression
[Stillwater Lakeshore]

There is a second flash and the peculiar little man sans nosebleed returns.

"My apologies, I made the mistake of not taking this world seriously. I won't be making that mistake again. A near death experience is natures way of waking us up."

Gash salutes.

"I shall see what the spirit worlds holds for us", and Gash sits down and explodes out of his body

[PoliteMan]

Mercenary Joey "Raccoon"
Stillwater Compound
It felt nice getting outside the city, quiet and away from the confusing voices inside and outside of his mind. It was nice right until they logged him in.

Most of the time, the AIPS was little more than a distraction, like a Japanese soap commercial playing in Texas: you didn't understand it but you couldn't quite stop listening to it. This time it was a scream, a scream that blocked out everything else and when Joey couldn't hear it anymore he didn't know if it had stopped or if he'd just gone deaf.

He awoke in the node,
Don't vomit! Don't vomit! Not in front of the civies, not on your first decent job in years.
Deep breath,
Ok, crazy lady. She's saying something about clerics and dreaming sleepers and a sacrificial choir. Oh boy! Well, I've worked for weirder.
Looks around,
Okay, look up. Two civies. One looks like she's got some military training but she's not moving like spec-ops, the other's got some magical training, must've learned it in the circus.

Where's the CO for this op?

[Aria]

Gash
[Stillwater Astral Space]

You slip free of the meat and can’t help but marvel at the astral space here. Although you know it’s not real there is very little to give you any hints that you aren’t hovering in the astral outside the Stillwater community. There is no way that some tech head was able to program this! They have to have somehow tapped into how you expect the astral to look and are looping it back to you...the effect is flabbergasting!

Of course that doesn’t explain how they’ve modelled those pylons, they are like nothing you’ve ever seen before, distorting the astral around them in ways that shouldn’t be possible. Circling closer to them you inadvertently pass some invisible barrier and suddenly everything inside is gone! You know damn well that there’s no way to mask something like this in the astral, it’s not possible! A barrier would be visible, even a spell matrix would show up...here it’s like a phantasm or disregard spell (on a massive scale), that has somehow been inverted so that you can’t see the mana weaves on the astral...

It isn’t a barrier though, a quick experiment and you pass through the space and the pylons are visible once more, along with the auras of the gathering crowd (tense with excitement) on the shore below you.

Once over the initial shock you realise that the astral atmosphere is dark, not tainted; there doesn’t appear to be any background count which you might expect from some dark apocalyptic future, just dark and oppressive. The female sniper was correct: there is a deep feeling of unease...

[sabs]

Sticks
[Stillwater Compound]

Sticks eased himself into the simulation pod, the Evo doing most of the work. He settled down into the soft biobed, as wires and tubes started attaching themselves to his form. Spending most of his life in medical cocoons, Sticks was more than used to it by now, and ignoring it he dropped himself into the initial VR interface.

Why the drek did I come back here. I must be crazy putting myself inside this node, again. Well, here goes nothing.

Sticks appeared next to the others, his.. giant metallic frame.. wait what. Giant metallic frame? Sticks stood 12 feet tall, and could see in a wide variety of spectrums. He turned his head, and eyed the robotic arms, and the giant minigun he was holding. "Holy Drek!!" Came out of a synthesized speaker. He was jumped into a Mechanized Combat Suit! He disconnected from that VR into the VR of the simulation. That was going to get confusing pretty quickly. He found himself inside a Combat Enhanced Rigger Cocoon, with all the bells and whistles. He jacked back into the MechA, and started doing diagnostics.

The Mecha whistled... somewhat disturbingly. "Gash, look at this toy." Sticks did a one handed cartwheel, completely showing off. "This is awesome."

Shoulder mounted Grenade launcher, Minigun, lots and lots of processing power and sensors. Sticks had gone to Nirvana. He turned to the others, "You guys can call me Sticks" He said to the others.

[nicktheviking]

Rina "Wolf Cub" Yoshida
[Stillwater Compound]

Rina ducks deftly as a bundle of mini-gun barrels careens over her head. A nimble side-step separates her from the 1100 pound power armor now doing a cartwheel. It would be irritating if the pilot didn't seem to jubilant about it.

"Konnichi wa, Sticks. You can call me Wolf Cub, as most do."

She jams a thumb over her shoulder. "This is Srgt. Serious and that's bloody-nose mage. They haven't introduced themselves yet."

"We're waiting to see who is running this parade."

[Seth]

Private Third Class Gash - Magical Supression
[Stillwater Lakeshore]

"Well I have checked the Astral, and it is dark and foreboding. There is a sense of menace. Fortunately there are no ebbs or voids. As far as I can see there are no spies.

"I must say Sarge that your Mech looks very impressive. Do you think we can get one of those back in the real world?"

Gash's face becomes more serious when he faces Wolf Cub.

"Greetings Wolf Cub. I am the one known as Gash. If we face magical threats I will become your best friend. If I am to protect you, you needs something of mine. Here is a gris-gris. I made it for you. Wear it near your heart, and it will help you when the darkness comes."

Gash handed over a small pouch with a leather thong.

"Ogoun was calling your name in my dreams. The bones of your defeated enemies were crawling to haunt you. Soon you will need to face the darkness within, and not just in this place of make believe"

[nicktheviking]

Rina "Wolf Cub" Yoshida
[Stillwater Compound]

Rina slips the talisman around her neck. Her expression exudes mild skepticism but betrays a hint of trepidation.

"Arigato, Gash. I will keep this relic close."

As she lowers her hands, her fingertips drift to the corroded data jack behind her right ear--an absent gesture. She snaps back into focus and strokes the barrel of her rifle lovingly. "As for my enemies, they'll have to crawl through quite a bit of earth to get to me..."

She tilts her head at Raccoon. "Were you able to locate our liason?"

[PoliteMan]

Joey "Raccoon"
[Stillwater Compound]

Nope, no idea who the CO is. Joey, by the way, Joey "Raccoon". I'm the wilderness specialist. He holds up his Barret.
I guess we're gonna be working together quite a bit. You wouldn't happen to be some kinda computer specialist, would ya?

Joey looks over at Sticks

Hot damn! That's some nice gear.Pause...You, uh, you do have a plan for taking that through a 30-odd mile cross-country hike, followed by a stealthy waterborn insertion, right?

Turning to Gash
Gris-gris? What the drek is a gris-gris?

[Seth]

Private Third Class Gash - Magical Supression
[Stillwater Lakeshore]

"Gash holds out a little bag.

"This is a Gris-Gris. It is your Gris-Gris. Wear it to protect you from evil magic. Please don't mess with it, or it won't work as well.

I am Gash by the way. My role in this fight is Magical Suppression"

Gash hands over another little bag with a leather strap.

[Aria]

Sticks (& others)
[Stillwater Lake Shore]

Despite your reluctance to subject your mind to this weird arse place again, you have to admit that the toys are nicer this time! Mecha are a bit of a dead end in the real world, passed over as too expensive or specialist in favour of armour suits at one end of the scale or light tanks or combat drones at the other. But the reality of standing as a four meter giant wielding a small arsenal is certainly satisfying.

The lead APC in the convoy comes to a stop a short distance from you and one of the mecha, a much smaller model than yours, jumps from the running rail and stalks towards you. It is bristling with communications equipment rather than weapon systems and looks sleek and fast. Then a voice from your past comes across the intercom channel on a private frequency, Kit of all people...after the mess of her leaving Deep Watch you didn’t think you’d hear from her again (even if secretly you had hoped to meet her here where it all began)...

<<Hi Sticks. You like? It was my suggestion to give you this hulking thing, I thought you might enjoy it! Sorry it’s been such a long time, it’s good to see you again!>>

Most of the convoy is visible on the side of the lake now. A couple of Appaloosas are running shotgun and rear guard and there’s an armed Hotspur for ranging ahead. Then there are three Citymasters and two Devil Rats flanked by a couple of Striker tanks. Following all the heavy stuff there are two Nordkapp tractor units, one trailer looks like a C&C setup with drone racks and the other is a flat bed carrying some large object wrapped up under tarp and a bloody big mecha unit reclining at the rear, cycling its weaponry across the skyline. Finally at the rear of the column there are three mobile howitzers and a last APC with anti aircraft weaponry.

Hardly a battalion but if this level of fire power represents an inkling of what they anticipate you will be facing then this simulation certainly isn’t going to be a quiet walk in the park!

[Aria]

Interlude...

[Stillwater UV Matrix Node]

Aria stepped lightly out from amongst the gargantuan trees into the clearing, brushing aside the floating motes of light as she did so. From the forest floor she conjured up a view into the simulator and watched as the forces gathered. Athena appeared beside her bristling slightly at the intrusion...[b[Aria[/b] forestalled her outburst

<<I miss Operator...he was a nice old man! I’m sure you do too. They were only partially responsible for what happened, we know that now. So the Deep Watch clowns are back to dance at the circus? Well playing with them won’t hurt them too badly...and you have some interesting newcomers too...are they ready for what you are going to throw at them I wonder? Perhaps I will go and speak to them>>

And she stepped from the forest into the simulator

[Stillwater Lake Shore]

The lake begins to churn and then from the depths a figure rises up, shedding water from her long flowing hair like a mermaid sweeping away the cascading droplets. She spins once or twice and then the childlike figure drops down lightly to stand on the sandy shore. She leaves no impression in the sand as she walks towards you

“So, you have returned? Under duress or do you really want to be here? A certain amount of belief in what you are about to see will carry you a long way...and don’t forget you can die in here! But I’m sure you have nothing to worry about with all your ironmongery to protect us all...”

Her words are spoken in a laughing mocking tone as she runs her fingers lightly across the barrels of Sticks’ inaptly named minigun

[Seth]

Private Third Class Gash - Magical Supression
[Stillwater Lakeshore]

Gash approaches the woman.

"Aria. I am here playing your game because of external coercion, largely caused by you. We are risking our lives to play these simulations which you feel have some value. So don't be demeaning and belittle us. Offer us the respect we deserve. In exchange for that we will give your games the respect they deserve.

With that Gash stomps off.

[sabs]

Sticks
[Stillwater Compound]

Sticks' Mecha looks down at Aria's diminutive size, and the barrels of the Minigun start to spin up. "Does that mean YOU can die in here? That might be pleasant." Says the robotic voice.

<<How do you put up with these people, Kitt? Though I do like the Mecha. It's like being able to walk, but better.>>

[nicktheviking]

Rina "Wolf Cub" Yoshida
[Stillwater Compound]

Rina drops to a knee and faces Aria so that they're level.

"Whatever is waiting for us out there can't possibly be worse than a life filled with fear and forced servitude."

She twirls a tendril from the girl's hair in between her thumb and forefinger. "Don't forget that we're doing you a favor. For as much power that you have, it's all meaningless without us. What is a game, without players?"

[Aria]

[Stillwater Compound]

Aria smiled up at you all

"Oh, this isn't my game, I just thought I'd come and see how you were preparing yourselves. I don't suppose any simulation will really do reality justice but this UV is certainly intoxicating and it can't do any harm to try..."

She also wings a private message to Sticks

<<I think you've misjudged me Sticks. But I'm glad you're here anyway...it'll keep you out of trouble for a while, at least until the real task comes to hand>>

Which is followed by a rapid response from Kit

<<Don't piss her off Sticks...I don't know who or what she is but she isn't exactly with the Stillwater lot...and she can do things with the matrix which are frankly impossible and given where we are now...>>

and she lets the sentance hang...

<<I'm glad you like the mecha. It's a shame they are only prototypes in the real world. I can see you striding across a battlefield in one of those things (although they aren't exactly subtle!). Are you gonna hang back while we enter the complex and send in a stealth drone or two? I don't know what Roberts has planned yet but it probably isn't a frontal assault?>>

[Seth]

Private Third Class Gash - Magical Supression
[Stillwater Lakeshore]

Gash returned

"How about a quick sitrep report Aria. What is the primary objective? Are there any secondary objectives? What forces are we interacting with both aggresively and friendly? What are our rules of engagement? Do we have any bug out strategies?

Gash appeared to be taking the game more seriously. Probably because of his earlier nose bleed.

[Aria]

[Stillwater Compound]

She looked at Gash...almost at eye height

"Well I'd assume everything in here is hostile if I where you...it's not exactly a pretty time in humanity's future...until proven otherwise anyway. Objectives aren't really my thing, it depends what they've told you this time? I'm sure Sandman will talk to you if Athena won't deign to? Athena's still a bit cross about the last time you were here but I don't think she'll interfere...it's not really her game either after all"

[PoliteMan]

Joey "Raccoon"
Stillwater Compound
blah blah blah Clerics blah blah blah creepy little girl blah blah blah arguing blah blah blah miniguns blah blah blah greek goddess blah blah Holy Drek! Is that a howitzer? And anti-air?

Joey runs a discerning eye over the military vehicles; a slow whistle escapes his lips.

And here I though we were going spec-ops, take a nice hike, pop a few key installations, then call in cavalry. Drek! This is some proper gear. Hardly gonna have a chance to get my boots dirty.

He turns back to the others.

Still: no CO, the boss is a whackjob, and half the team is bickering already. At this rate I might as well pop open a cold one and wait for them to get this sorted out. Hey, I wonder if I can...

Ignoring the others Joey holds out his hand and tries to order the simulation to create a cold beer.

[sabs]

[Stillwater Compound]

<<Honestly Kitt, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I don't seem to have any drones linked to me right now. We'll figure it out>> The minigun spins down, <<@Aria: Maybe maybe not, no need to be a prat about it.>> Wanting to see what sort of paces Sticks could put the Mecha through he started in on a full set of diagnostics.

"I've never gotten to be the heavy before. This should be interesting." He scanned around looking for some packed drones he could override and 'borrow' for the op.

[Aria]

Gash

"How about a quick sitrep report Aria. What is the primary objective? Are there any secondary objectives? What forces are we interacting with both aggresively and friendly? What are our rules of engagement? Do we have any bug out strategies?

The old crone has returned and now she cackles at you

"Your primary objective is to live through this, not something the others have managed so far! How you fullfil the mission is down to you, that's why you are here! You must secure the launch site so that we can move in and get our satellite in to orbit before too much more time has passed. Your opposition will be as you find them...as Aria said, it would be wise to consider most things hostile! And as for rules, in this place society is on the point of collapse...the only rules are those of your conscience and I cannot answer to that. If you treat it like a video game you will fail...act as you think is right and you may or may not succeed!"

[PoliteMan]

Mercenary Joey "Raccoon"
Stillwater Compound

Joey looks sadly at his empty hand.
No beer! Drek this!

Hey you! Big guy! Pointing at Sticks. It sounds like you've got some experience with these guys and you're the biggest, so you're in charge until somebody else shows up.

Now I recommend we get out of here before our bosses drive us nuts. I recommend we hold off on approving any specific plan until we've had a chance to check this place out. Those howitzers change everything; we're hitting an airfield and if they don't have VTOL craft, or don't have a lot, we can shell their runway with the howitzers and keep their airforce out of the fight. So I recommend you take a look on the map and find some high ground nearby where we can safely scope this place out for a day or two, check their VTOL craft, get a hang of their routines. I recommend we mount up and go before any more crazy chicks show up. And I recommend we pack some beers before we go.