[Ic] Bug City, End of the World Options

[HeySparky]

05:21:33 Tuesday 08 June 2064 - Outside Galyan's Sporting Goods

Ana's gut clenches with a deep sense of wrong. The Rover's engine revs as the wheels grit in the gravel of the lane behind Galyan's. Alarm fills her thoughts as the dumpsters reveal a most unwelcome sight. What... her eyes glance reflexively into the rearview mirror. Eric! She slows Mike's car awkwardly from the passenger seat and swivels around. He is bleeding and his hands look burnt. He is as still as death, but for a little breathing. As she watches the burns worsen and the trickle of blood flowing down his cheek gets heavier. That's gonna stain.

Teliq's bloodied face stares up at her. She freezes, as she did back then. A heartbeat. She gasps a shuddering breath. Grabbing the keys from the ignition she slithers out the passenger side door and whips open the door so she can get to Eric. She grunts as she twists his body in the seat to turn him more properly on his side and sees the fight. It moved past the dumpsters. Nick, Mike and the others are firing back at the building. A big man fights like a devil against... What the frag is that!? In a split thousandth of a second Ana is looking more closely at these frenzied orcs than she might wish. Gah... ugh. Why did I get so much mag?

Eric coughs and sits upright. Ana shuts her slack jaw with a click and helps him up. Blisters on the back of his hand split and leak fluid down his wrist as he raises it toward the bugs. Her hair stands on end as Eric's power gathers.

"Drek!" Her eyes are riveted in the direction Eric's hand reaches. "Drekking drek." She slips the harness on her cloak and stuffs it past Eric into the back of the Rover. Dammit. Dammitdammit. Gotta get my hoop over there. She vaults in a neat slide over the hood of the car landing in a crouch and springing to her feet to cover the distance between herself and the others. Drek. Fragging drek. At a flat run her world becomes a series of handholds, springboards, barriers, hurdles, swings. She begins to pick out a likely target, long legs eating the ground between her and the fray. A smooth hand pulls the mini-flare launcher from her bag as she closes...

[ Spoiler ]

Assuming it gets to this. She attacks one of the orcs, hopefully not one under fire. If the orc that she's drawing a bead on vaporizes under other circumstances... well, them's the breaks.

Athletics: 5 dice (-4 TN for Tail, Balance Aug, Aptitude)
Pistols: 3 + 4 from Combat Pool
Defense: 6 dice from Combat Pool

Called shot at the face. Burn a karma point if she misses.

Five meters. Faster than she can register one of The Cops is rushing in, a blur of armor and metal. Four meters. A chill shivers down Ana's spine. Freaking creepy mages. Three meters. She aims and fires into the face of one of orcs. Two meters. She begins a leaping half-twist flip that should take her easily over the orc's head. One meter...

[Fortune]

05:21:36 Tuesday 08 June 2064 - Outside Galyan's Sporting Goods

Mishka spins away from his opponent, who crumples slowly to the ground, internal organs crushed and bleeding from the powerful brows of the big man. He casts a quick glance back at where his sister was still hiding, then quickly returns his attention to the other orc-bugs seemingly held back by a strange glowing wall.

The blond human had seen something similar to these wall things a couple of times, and they had always meant trouble. He knew he could eventually force his way through, but it seemed that at the rate the maddened orc-bugs were tearing at the barrier, it wouldn't last long anyway.

Mishka squares his large shoulders and readies himself for the next wave of battle.

[ Spoiler ]

Initiative: 6 + 3d6
Armor: 6/8 [in melee]
Combat Pool: 8 [used for defence]
Wound: Light Physical [1 box]

Actions: Attack as soon as Barrier drops.

Melee: 11
- Wildcat [6], Improved Ability: Wildcat [4], Enhanced Articulation [1]
- Close Combat Maneuver

Damage: I still don't know how you handle the Killing Hands/Hardliner combo.
Combined: 10M [11M -1 Close Combat]
Not: 8M [9M -1 Close Combat]

[Sphynx]

*JAM*, and not at a worse time. Mike's gun holds locked up, as a bullet slips into the chamber wrongly. The bugs, noticing the lack of firing, take this chance to charge at the rest of you. John reacts quickly, dropping his piece and extracting his spurs, killing 2 of the 6 before they even land back on the ground. Joe and Gnat succumb to fear as the strange creatures leap towards them, forgetting to fire their weapons, at the sight of incoming death. Just as their lives are ending, the bugs, for lack of a better name, turn and run, disappearing into the darkness. Those outside attempt to break free, and through the door, but are again locked out by an unseen barrier. Ana charges in, in an acrobatic display that would make a olympic gymnast impressed, wastes one of the bugs herself, a flare jammed down its throat, bursting into flame. Apparently they're not nearly as immune to fire as gunfire. Mishka quickly finishes off 2 more, stepping into the barrier tactically in positions that prevent the others from striking at him. Ana is standing between the 3 remaining, and they look ready to pounce, except for the one that is floating 2 meters off the ground.

The 4 bugs that ran ran into the store, and not towards an exit. They could be going to regroup with more, or perhaps there's some sort of nest of these things under the store.

[ Spoiler ]

Lotta no-posts. :P

Anyhows, Eric, 2 more Light wounds, the barrier failed to cast, it's now gone, but the Levitate worked (by 1 success).

Mishka, I answered last time, I allow the 2 to stack. :P

John (you should always find a way to put your name inside each IC posts... please)

Ok, I always start each game out with a bit of combat so you get a feel for the system, and an idea of what I need from you for posting. Eric, I 'fudged' a couple of rolls for you to make the drain more acceptable, however, I can't do that in future fights. Careful casting in the Astral. You're 1 box shy of Serious, and after a med-check you should be able to take that down to 2 boxes (1 box shy of Moderate), which we can roll Body to heal...

Finish the fight off (you're obviously going to win with only 2 more bugs), and then you can begin your search for gear. Careful searching though, you're not alone. ;)

[nick012000]

Locke pounces on the two around Ana, his blades slicing and dicing any bug flesh they meet. He will then turn and skewer one of the bugs in the astral barrier, if he has time.

[ Spoiler ]

Initiative: 26.5
Armor: 8/9 (8/7 Hardened)
Weapon damage code: 19S (two dikoted spurs)
Movement: 10m/pass
Relevant Modifiers: -

3rd combat turn
1st Complex Action-Charge (7 base, 7 combat pool, TN 4)
2nd Complex Action- Melee Attack (7 base, 7 combat pool; TN 4)
3rd Complex Action- Charge/Melee Attack(7 base, 7 combat pool; TN 4)

If he can, he will try to gain an advantegous position for -1 TN. I forget what the rules for charging are. I don't have access to the CC ATM.

The two bugs around Ana are the priority targets. If he takes both of them down with his first two attacks, he will turn, and launch himself towrds one of the bugs in the bubble barrier.

[mallet]

"Bloody Hell!" Mike snarls as the rifle jams up. He let's it swing to his side, as he smoothly draws his pistol, never taking his eyes off of the remaining bugs as they scamper away. "Piece of Ares crap..." he mutters as he takes aim with his other gun... an Ares Predator.

He doesn't fire after the fleeing bugs, in this light and at that speed, it would be a waster of ammo, but he is cautious just incase the suddenly turn and attack again.

"Guys!" He yells at Gnat and Joe, "Keep it together damn it! Fall back! Fall Back!"

He stays with them until they respond and begin moving again towards the exit door, his attention shifting between the sounds of violence outside and the need to protect the rear flank.

[ Spoiler ]

Post basically tells it. Covering Gnat and Joe until they start to exit the building. Keeping an eye out incase the bugs return. Also listening to see if he/they are desperately needed outside. (ie. people calling for help.)

[Frater Inominatu...]

05:21:39 Tuesday 08 June 2064 - Outside Galyan's Sporting Goods


Eric lifted the orc-bug until it was at the outer edge of his vision before dropping the spell. He pointed to a spot amid the group and said "Watch out guys, it's raining orcs and roaches."

Looking around, he said to Mike "Do we stay and take what we came for? We certtainly paid for it. If we are, once the trucks are loaded, I can lift another hundred or two kilos to take with us. If we wrap them in a tarp or something. I'd like to take one of these things back for study if that's possible" Eric looked beat. "I'll be over here if you need me..."

[ Spoiler ]

Eric will drop his spell(s) once the combat looks to be over. He will go and sit by the truck, waiting for a decision to be made about staying or going.

[HeySparky]

05:21:42Tuesday 08 June 2064 - Outside Galyan's Sporting Goods

Ana hits the ground lightly, her momentum caught and dissipated in a flourish of crouching legs and flaring arms. She can see the backlit glow around the orc's head as he claws at his face, gurgling and stinking something fierce. Three others menace her, but all she can see and hear are the tortured screams of the burning man in front of her. Her breath stills to tiny gasps in time to her heartbeat. What... I... he... She closes her eyes to clear her head and opens them.

Two orcs menace her. Oh... what did I just do...? The danger of her situation registers and she rolls away from the two threats as Locke advances, bloodied spurs extended. She cowers down away from Locke and the orc creatures. THUD. She screams as a misshapen orc hits the ground right in front of her face. She surges to her feet firing flares at the sorry thing until it stops moving.

She is panting, wild-eyed, flaregun trained on the burning orc in front of her. A hand clamps down on her shoulder and she gives in to the weight, rolling away and training her flaregun on a startled, but not all that surprised, Locke. She lowers the gun and covers her face with one fine-boned hand.

Eric calls out from the Rover, "Do we stay and take what we came for?"

Ana closes her eyes tightly and eventually stands. It hadn't really registered before, because she spent a lot of time sitting or slinking, but Ana is fully as tall as the blond behemoth that stands... Ana swings her flaregun at the stranger. "Hands up - who the frag are you?"

[Fortune]

05:21:54 Tuesday 08 June 2064 - Outside Galyan's Sporting Goods

As another opponent falls in front of him, Mishka takes no chances and lashes out with his right foot, shattering the creature's jaw. As he straightens in readiness for another attack, he looks around in anticipation for the next enemy, and is strangely disappointed when none is forthcoming. The assorted bunch of metahumans seemed to have dealt with the remainder of the threat.

Eyeing the strangers suspiciously, the big blond curses and launches another kick at the unmoving orc-bug at his feet before turning back to where Tash still crouches next to the upset trash can. As Mishka takes a step towards his sister, he is pulled up abruptly by a very tall woman menacingly brandishing a big gun in his direction.

Mishka's gloved hands curl into rock hard fists as his body tenses in preparation for yet another battle. Snarling in frustration, the big warrior turns to appraise this new threat.

[nick012000]

Locke withdraws his spurs, and flicks his arms to try and flick the blood off of the chemically-sealled slits on his armor. When he sees Nine threatening the stranger, Locke intervenes.

"Hold on, Nine. Let's not try anything hasty, okay? The guy's magically active, and he looks like an adept the way he was tearing through those bugs. Let's give him a chance to explain himself first, okay?"

He then turns to the man.

"So, what is your name, and why were you being attacked by these bugmen?"

[Fortune]

Suspiciously, the big blond's eyes move to assess the armored man, then quickly return to watch those of the woman with the big gun. Mishka's pale blue eyes betray the confusion he feels as he tries to get a grip on the situation.

A slight rustling comes from near the wall behind Mishka, and out steps a small girl. Her brown hair is pulled up into two pigtails that reach to touch each shoulder, and both her face and knee-length green and yellow dress are streaked with dirt. A small grey satchel looks oddly huge on her as it hangs from one shoulder to drag on the street.

"He's Mikhail. She pauses as she steps up and stands next to her brother, her arm clinging to his leg, her head barely reaching above his knee. "And my name is Natasha."

The big man's hand slowly unclenches as he reaches down to pat the little girl's head. "Shhh, Tash."

"But Mishka ..."

"Shhh, Tash. Don't tell them everything. We have to be careful."

The blond looks up again at Ana and Locke, the confusion even more evident on his face.

[gobogen]

To Mike's words, Joe snaps out of his lack of self-control, wondering how it happened in the first place. He does as Mike has asked retreating while quickly filling his rifle with more bullets.

[ Spoiler ]

Ammo now full in rifle.

[Frater Inominatu...]

Eric collapses onto the Rover, tears a strip off of his shirt to bind the wound on his arm. If we are staying I should probably take another look around. Eric struggled to calm his spirit before stepping out ot the astral. He manifested and drifted over to Mike. "Hey Mike, if were going to stay and gather supplies I should do a once around the place... again. I can do it much faster besides. It's pretty close quarters in there as well and they're not likely to be able to pen me in in the astral."

[ Spoiler ]

Eric will perform an astral recon of the interior of the building. He will specifically look for more orc-bugs, barriers, secret rooms, basements, sewer access(es?), anything out of the "ordinary" (as if there were such a thing here). Any sign of enemies and he will retreat to the group and point out their positions.

[HeySparky]

Ana sees the confusion in the man's eyes and gasps when the girl steps forward. She puts down her flaregun, ashamed of herself. Though, it doesn't take long for her to get over it as she glances around at the bodies of the twisted orcs.

She nods at Locke, and the tall, elven woman relaxes into her more characteristic coiled slouch. She smiles warmly at the girl and crouches, glancing up at Mike as he rounds up the rest of the crew. "Say, Mike. These flares... they... uh. They're pretty effective. We should grab some."

She turns her eyes and attention back to the girl, with a flicker up at Mishka, "Natasha and Mikhail," she smiles again, "Those are Russian names."

She continues in Russian, "Do you speak?"

[mallet]

Mike nods to the ghostly form, "Alright, but be damn careful."

He turns his attention to the man and child that the team has just rescued and after seeing that the pose no harm he goes about clearing the jam in his rifle, just incase the creatures come back.

"Ok, people." He says, "We'll take two to rest and recover. After that we should get back to doing what we came here for. I want to get back to the pub ASAP. If just one of these damn things get's in there while we are gone..." He doesn't have to finish that sentence, and he see's that the others agree.

"Right, well it looks like fire harms these guys so just in case they come back or we find more of them I think we should do like Ana says. Grab a lot of flares, or any other fire source we can get a hold of. Sound good? Eric is just doing astral recon right now. We wait for him to give us an all clear sign before we re-enter."

With that he sits down to finish working on his gun and to catch his breath.

[Fortune]

The look of confusion on Mishka's face is quickly replaced by one of suspicion as the elf starts speaking to him in Russian.

"Da, a little. But we're not going back."

His left hand guides the little girl to shelter behind his legs as he grits his teeth and once again squares his shoulders in preparation for battle.

"You're not taking her again. You'll just have to kill me first."

[gobogen]

Joe is on the ready. He watches carefully their surroundings, looking out for other threats potentially coming their way. He's still feeling like in the middle of a fight and hasn't calmed back down yet. Nervously, he paces about looking behind corners of building, always looking for lines of sight, and listening carefully for incoming danger.

He did not suspect to encounter these weird bug-like creatures and now he's ready for anything, hoping that nothing bad might be happening back at Mike's place. He longs to see his wife and daughter again and would like to make sure they're safe. He swears to himself that he won't abandon them again while the city is in quarantine.

[Frater Inominatu...]

Tired, hurting, feeling like he had just gone ten rounds with Haggler, Eric entered the building. Again the taint washed over him like a great wave, pounding against his senses, threatening to sweep him away in a tide of anger and animal instinct. Eric staggered along the right wall and began a systematic search of the building. At one point, he leaned against the wall and nearly fell through. Keep it together Graves. You can sleep when you're dead. Eric could still hear sergeant Grigsby barking at him. He steeled himself against the stream and continued his search...

[nick012000]

Locke reloads then securely harnesses his rifle to his chest with his sling, then proceeds to pick up the pieces of his gyroharness and puts them away into the pouches on his harness.

[Sphynx]

The bugs dispatched, you have only about 30 minutes to forage for supplies before the streets become active. Foraging isn't going to be easy though, and chances are good that some of what you want is already gone. You scurry around the piles of goods which lay scattered and thrown across the floor, and notice, again, the Hummer sitting near the entrance. You'd guess from the scratches, you're not the first to think about riding off in this beaut, but the security system seems to be pretty good.

[ Spoiler ]

Finding things is exactly like finding them in other games. Take the availability, roll perception instead of etiquette, and turn hours into minutes (so a 1 day item could take you the full 24 minutes if you don't get more than 1 success). Tell me what items you're looking for in what order, if you're nice you'll include my TN so I don't have to go looking it up. Please include your Perception (including possible perception modifiers), in your post. If you spend your time trying to get the Hummer, let me know what skills you're thinking will apply, and what your scores in it are. If more than 1 person tries to get the Hummer, highest skill adds half of all other applied skills to the roll, so helping helps.

[mallet]

After getting the "All clear" from Eric, Mike cautiously heads back into the store to get what they came, and almost died, for.

His first goal is Medkits and medical supplies. After gathering as many as he can salvage he then goes looking for home improvement supplies. Hammers, nails, chains, rope, bolts, etc... Anything that can be used to help fortify the pub. Metal rods, wooden supports, anything.

[ Spoiler ]

Mike has lowlight vision and vision mag (if that helps) and an INT of 8. so first is medical kits/supplies, second is tools, rope, chains,etc... if there is still time then water purification pills, entertainment chips, blank chips, walkie-talkies, and then helping any of the others.

ps. Does ANA let us know about the underground warehouse? Or is that Bug territory? (can Eric check?)

[nick012000]

Locke turns to Nine. "Nine, open the Hummer, while the rest of us get equipment."

He then goes off to look for Pocket Secretaries, paintball guns to convert into smart sentry guns, motors, ammunition, and enhanced sights.

[ Spoiler ]

Order of searching: Pocket secretaries, paintball guns, motors, ammo, vision mag 3/thermo sights.

5 int dice, 6 Stealth (awareness) complementary dice, natural low-light vision, electronic ultrasonic and thermographic vision, vision mag 3, and Sense of Direction edge (if those help)

Pocket Secretary: always
Painball gun: should be less than an AK-97 (which is 3/36 hours)
Regular ammo: 2/24hrs
Motors: unknown (DM fiat)
Sights: 3/36 hours

[Frater Inominatu...]

Eric returned to his aching body after giving Mike the all clear. He then joined in the search for supplies, doing his best no to look at the remains of the previous group to have the same idea...

[ Spoiler ]

INT 8 + 4 dice from task pool

1) Camping gear; sleeping bags, clothes, boots, socks, etc... / all sizes availability:Always


2) Food / Availability:Always


3) Medical Gear / Availability 2/24

4) Security eq / Availability: ?


5) Satellite Radios / Availability: ?


Eric will use his levitate 4 spell to gather as much material as possible near the HUMMVEE

[HeySparky]

05:25:03 Tuesday 08 June 2064 - Inside Galyan's Sporting Goods

Ana stands up, backing a few careful steps away from the big man bristling with protective anger. Eyes flickering reflexively through various modes she sees a gathering of heat in the man's face and fists. Not a good sign. She glances at the girl peeking from behind Mikhail's leg and shakes her head, fine wisps of dark hair blowing in the light breeze. Ugh, those flares reek. "No one's making anyone go anywhere..." She glances down at the little girl and her stomach twists again. In her vision a mute beacon blinks quietly, nagging her to find it. She smiles her most disarming smile and is about to speak when Locke draws her aside.

Her brows crease and her clear gray eyes stay fixed on the big man and the little girl. She's about the same age as my... Her eyes flicker to Locke, only half listening. ...boy. A word catches her attention and her cold hawk's gaze rivets itself fully on Locke. "Humvee you say? Show me."

After the team makes sure there aren't any more nasty surprises, Ana settles down to crack open the shiny hummer. She puts on a pair of insulated gloves and scavenges a skateboard to use as a dolly to slide around under the belly of the vehicle, where her contented humming and occasional choice, not-so-contented expletives come muffled to the ears of the other folks.

Her head pops out from under the hummer, smudged attractively with grease, she tosses her bangs out her eyes as she calls brightly, "Hey, Mike, there's a big old loading bay thing under here that caught my eye. Might as Eric to take look." She vanishes under the vehicle as quickly as she appeared.

She works for a while... disengage this. Clip the green wire with the gray stripe, bridge this here and...

[ Spoiler ]

Electronics: 6
Electronics B/R: 6
Knowledge Security Systems: 6

Ettiquette: 3

For the hummer, Ana is attempting to disable the security system in a non-destructive way. One that she can fix later. To get the thing started - same deal. She'll probably see if she can rig some sort of key, which I'm hoping is more electronic than mechanical in 2064.

For gear, seems like folks have things covered.

These additions:
Air Filters - best rating possible: 2/24hrs
Climbing gear sets: always (with grapple gun and line 4/36hrs)
Diving gear sets: most have an availability of 4/12hrs - particularly tanks
Geiger counter: 3/24hrs
Flares and flareguns: always - stock up - smartlinked if possible
EDIT: YOGA BALLS! and hammocks - preferably rope-style rather than slings

[Fortune]

Mishka is taken by surprise by the elven woman's withdrawal, and even more confused when she flashes a brief smile at his sister and then runs off into the large building. As the other metahumans follow the elf, the big man's shoulders slump, and he flops down on the curb. The little girl throws her arms around her brother's neck, and he wraps his left arm around her tenderly. Tears are just beginning to carve streaks in Mishka's grimy cheeks as he turns to face the five-year old.

"I just don't know what to do now Tash. We can't go back! I mean, we have to go somewhere, but I just don't know where, or who we can trust, or even what we should or shouldn't do next."

[gobogen]

Joe starts looking for ammunition as a priority. He wants to stock up as much of it as possible. When he can't find any more, he'll look for any kind of power generating devices, from regular batteries to actual generators (solar, fuel-consumming, who knows?).

[ Spoiler ]

Intelligence 6

1) Regular Ammunition, as much as he can find. Avail: 2/24 hrs.

2) Batteries. Avail: always

3) Generator (solar, fuel-based, who knows?) or any kind of device which can produce electricity or power in other forms. Avail: You would have to assign one since it's not in the rules. Should be possible to find something like that around here.