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#1
07-30-2012, 12:34 AM
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SDMB Shadowrun campaign Chapter 3 - Prey To The Dark: Players only!
This thread is continuing an SDMB Shadowrun campaign. This is for in-character posts only. If you're watching the game and would like to comment, please go here rather than posting in this thread.
Previous game threads for this campaign are chapter 1: New World Orders and chapter 2: Golden Rule. The player characters: Autolycus as Nail - human mystic Adept, who is currently wracked with guilt and anger over the death of fellow Shadowrunner Seneth. Hoopy Frood as Goethe - ork Shadowrunner veteran, who helped lead a crew that brought a small amount of justice back into the corporate world, giving the backstabbing CEO of Synthcorp a taste of his own medicine. Mahaloth, formerly playing as Seneth, now playing as a character to be introduced soon! Were the Raven mage's delusions of immortality simply figments of his deranged mind, or something more? AClockWorkMelon as Asset 4509, property of Universal Omnitech. He was once a human male, but is now something...more. He has shown remarkable disregard for life, but does a tortured human soul yet lurk somewhere among all that machinery? Notable NPCs: Donovan - Human mystic adept, who set events in motion which eventually toppled the giant Synthcorp. Walken - Human executive of Universal Omnitech, who captured Synthcorp in the most hostile of takeovers. Kirk - Quirky and socially awkward elf female technomancer, rescued from Synthcorp during the assault. There is currently one position open for this campaign. If you would like to play with us, do not reply in this thread, but rather send me a PM. The open position will go to the first person to send the PM, who is available to post an average of once per day (with occasional exceptions for real life). Welcome back to the Shadows, chummer. You didn't think Synthcorp was the end of it, did you? Like it or not, you're all involved in something much bigger than yourselves. Meaner, too. The Dark is coming. You are powerless against it. Soon enough, you'll be looking back at your days of fighting petty corporate wars, and say "those were the good times." Good luck, pal. You're gonna need it. 
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#2
07-30-2012, 02:13 AM
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It's all falling apart.
Nail's standing in front of his family's apartment. He had a good run, if the measure was just money. Enough to move out of this dump. More than enough, actually. Enough to be comfortable. Maybe even enough to quit, at least for awhile. Retire. Not yet, though. Not after the conversation he just had. It was Donovan, over the comlink. "Goethe's been trying to reach you." "What are you, his secretary?" "Cut it out," Donovan replied. "Listen, I hope you enjoyed your time off, but you need to be back in the game again. It's starting." "What is?" Nail said. "You know what. Watch your back. Take care of your family." Nail does indeed know what. For a moment he's speechless; a rare condition for him. She wont understand, Nail realizes. All this time, he insulated his family from the crummy work he did. Now, Nail doubts the wisdom of that decision. How can he tell the people closest to him that he has to run away? From what, exactly? The image of Walken's body suddenly flashes back from Nail's memory. He wasn't just killed. They did it slow, with blades and drugs. The man had been sitting at his desk, propped up like a gruesome marionette. Whoever did it was sending a message, which might as well have been written with fire in the sky for how obvious it was. You're next. Except he wasn't. Two commandos who were at the Synthcorp assault were next. They found them hanging where the letters "i" used to be on the Universal Omnitech sign. The heads made great dots. The last one was Kirk. They hacked Darwin. Reprogrammed him to record, as he shot her in the head. Then the drone played the recording over and over, projecting the murder in high definition onto the screens of every executive level employee's work station throughout Universal Omnitech. They had to dismantle Darwin before it finally stopped. Who the hell could have hacked Kirk's own machine? The thought was absurd. Time to get the hell out of Dodge. I don't want the people I love to be caught in the middle. Only question is, what do I tell them? Last edited by Mosier; 07-30-2012 at 02:18 AM.
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#3
07-30-2012, 12:50 PM
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4509 cycles between thermographic and low-light vision, each of his eyes viewing the cabin at the center of the meadow that sprawls out before him in differing levels of magnification. Panels of information pop up in his vision, overlaying everything that he sees: A range-finding infobox here, a temperature readout there, and system alerts providing real-time information on the status of his vitals and cybernetics flooding out across his plane of view, all of it recorded for later study. He only vaguely remembers what it was like before his cybereye surgery.
He presses his face against the rubber eyepiece of the rifle's scope and takes in the view with an even higher level of magnification. The Walther MA-2100 is a rugged and accurate weapon system suitable for most long and extreme-range engagements. His cybereyes pull up its data automatically when he looks through its scope, giving him information on its systems and specifications, its serial number, 23095J, embossed in the lower right-hand corner of his sight. Its user reflects momentarily on his own nature compared to the rifle's: Both weapons of Universal Omnitech, complete with serial numbers. But the cyborg's number wasn't given to him by UO. With that thought he refocuses his attention on the cabin. The grass between him and it flows beneath the press of invisible waves and the wind of the valley is all that his cyberears pick up. The previous kill was easy. Fox At Dawn had handled himself as well as could be expected during the Synthcorp raid, which is to say only as well as an unmodded human could. He and the two others were too consumed in the pointless remembrance of their fallen comrade to notice 4509 approaching the burial site. The rugged forest floor was caked with snow that crunched softly beneath each of the machine's steps. The trees were plentiful but widely-spaced here and provided decent enough cover, should 4509 need it. But he wouldn't need it. He walked into view, revolver raised and pointed at the nearest kneeling Chinook. The firearm barked twice in his hand and sent the native tumbling forward into the open grave. The others recoiled with shock and the cyborg turned his weapon on the next victim and snatched his life away with another two shots. 4509 had to give Fox At Dawn credit for his speed: He was immediately on the cyborg, blade in hand. The machine merely caught him by the wrist, crushing bone with a grip of steel, cybereyes capturing every nuance of the agony and terror that erupted across the warrior's face. He calmly placed the muzzle of the gun against Fox At Dawn's temple and fired the weapon with a thought, the warrior crumpling immediately. The first of the day's murders had been even more effortless. 4509's research on Eagle Is Certain alerted him to the warrior's nature: An adept. The Chinook had abandoned the relative safety of the city and his tribe to meditate in the wilderness. The poor bastards couldn't help but make things easy for him. The native opened his eyes, waking from a period of meditation, the cyborg before him twenty yards away. "I knew you were coming." He had heard this kind of talk from a Chinook before and wasn't worried. "I'm not alone here." The cyborg's ultrasound emitter had been switched on long before his arrival and he knew his victim was alone in every way that mattered. The adept got to his feet in silence and considered the machine that had come to take his life. Suddenly he roared with fury and charged the cyborg, his astonishing speed clearing half the distance in a moment before the ground beneath his feet surged up with the WOOOOM of an explosion. The Chinook's mutilated corpse was deposited a few feet away by the blast, dirt and dust raining to the ground all about it. 4509 approached the body and confirmed the kill. He glanced up and around, imagining the fool's spirit guide looking on. The last kills would be more interesting than the previous two. 4509 lowers the rifle and rises from his crouch to make his way towards the cabin. As he nears the small building his emitter and scanner spring to life and sweep the area, feeding him their results immediately. He puts his eye to the scope of the Walther again, ready to fire.
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#4
07-30-2012, 01:37 PM
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There is no remorse. 4509 doesn't even understand the concept of the emotion anymore. The shaman turns toward the cyborg. It's impossible for Wild Cousin to see him from this range, but the feeling that the shaman is looking right at him is unsettling. It takes an instant to adjust the aim of the rifle, and another instant to fire the weapon with a thought. So why isn't the weapon firing? 4509 can't concentrate. His vision swims. He takes a deep breath, and attempts to focus. He's distracted, though. The light pierces agonizingly through the leaves of the tree beside him. His last vision is of the shaman, walking directly toward him. Fire! 4509 commands the weapon. As the rifle kicks, 4509 loses consciousness. - 4509 awakens in a small room, in the style of a log cabin. Probably the inside of the building the shaman came from. His hands are not bound, and he's surprised to discover he's not caged. His systems are coming back online, and soon he'll be at full capacity, ready to crush the life out of the helpless fairy Native. "I know who you are," the shaman called Wild Cousin says. "Even back at Synthcorp, I knew." He tosses a microscope slide toward the cyborg, who makes no move to catch it. The slide tumbles on the floor. "It's a drop of your blood. You're the target of ritual magic. A curse. My curse." Well, that explains what happened with the rifle. "I know you will kill me, and I am prepared to die. But, we have work to do first, or your owners will be consumed by the rising Dark. It has already begun, by swallowing Walken and Kirk. You will soon follow." 4509 is intrigued, but the urge to destroy the man is almost overwhelming. His systems are all online, and he is quite ready to end Wild Cousin's pitiful existence...
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#5
07-30-2012, 01:48 PM
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4509 cares as little for the shaman's prophetic rambling as he did for Eagle Is Certain's. Alert popups fill his vision and all his systems scream warnings to him as they come online. He lifts his heavy, transparently-cased right arm, swinging it towards Wild Cousin. A slide opens on his forearm and his arm's glow shifts from blue to green as the Crusader machine pistol spins from its housing and into his hand, which fails to close around the grip in time, the firearm clattering to the ground as the cyborg heaves forward drunkenly. He retakes the weapon in hand and falls back, the systems controlling the gears and motors throughout his body still rebooting. He levels the pistol at Wild Cousin, about to fire.
Last edited by AClockworkMelon; 07-30-2012 at 01:49 PM.
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#7
07-30-2012, 03:49 PM
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The cyborg pulls the trigger and sends a spray of bullets across the room, tearing through the shaman's legs and sending his body tumbling into a pile. 4509 pushes himself to his feet, his systems finally fully booted. He checks himself for damage and, satisfied by his cursory search, makes his way to the gasping Chinook, a heavy boot crushing the slide on the way. He tosses the pistol aside and falls on Wild Cousin with both armblades extended, plunging each through a lung as blood erupts from the corpse's chest.
4509 retracts his blades and collects his weapons. He gives the room a brief search before looking for what he came for.
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#8
07-30-2012, 09:26 PM
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The shaman is helpless against 4509, and dies without even raising his hands in defense.
The kill is unsatisfying. But it's not about satisfaction, is it? The cabin furnishing are spartan. 4509 finds nothing valuable or interesting among the dead man's possessions. The only Chinook who could have identified him from the Synthcorp raid are now all dead. There was only one single loose end to tie up. 4509 steps out of the cabin and finds the object of his search, a circular brick structure about three feet tall. It looks like a particularly large well opening. When the cyborg reaches the structure, he looks over the side. There are steps inside, spiraling down to a heavy steel grate at the bottom. It's an oubliette-style dungeon entrance, with only a single prisoner inside...
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#9
07-31-2012, 12:26 AM
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Sorry, I haven't posted this sooner. Got a bit busy, but this is essentially Goethe's Epilogue from the previous chapter, which actually fits with the opening color here anyway, since Goethe kind of suspected things were going to get more complicated.
After the events of the evening, Goethe wants nothing more than to get back to his home as quickly as possible. Once it's apparent UO has things under control, Goethe hops on his bike and speeds home. There won't be any celebration tonight. Sure, his group took down one of the few people in the world who can truly be considered evil, but at the end of it all, it's not like it's going to revolutionize the world or anything. Though people of Johnson's level of depravity aren't exactly common, in a world with billions...Hell...in a city of millions, there are plenty of them out there. Someone will always rise to take the place of the fallen. And face it, Chummer. UO's another corp. Maybe not as evil as some, but none of them are truly good. They serve themselves. At least you can take comfort in the fact that they probably aren't going to be trying to kill you unlike Synthcorp. Of course, based on what Sasheille told you, this isn't over. Johnson had a backer. A very powerful one. Now, this backer might be impressed at your team's little display tonight, but just as likely they'll be gunning for you. It depends upon if they feel you are more use to them alive than dead. Granted, taking out Johnson does send a message, and you have a better chance to survive by demonstrating your strength than you do letting those intent upon taking you out do so as you sit idly by, but still, this isn't over. Not by a longshot. The question is "Who?" It could be one of the megacorps, but unlikely. Synthcorp might have been a giant among midgets, but the megacorps were unlikely to give two shits about it. They have much bigger fish to fry. No, it's likely it's some midrange corp, a midget among the giants, who wants to play with the big bosses. And you and UO just tossed a huge spanner into the clockwork. You and Nail have the advantage of being giants among midgets yourselves as far as runners go, but remember, you are still counted among the midgets. You haven't proven yourself unexpendable in anyone's eyes who truly matters in this game. "Really, you have two choices, sit back and hope you and/or Synthcorp were still too much of a midget to be considered a threat, or take a proactive attempt to figure out exactly who's trying to run this danged show. And if you can't gum up the works further, maybe you can at least make yourself too important to kill. However, without Nail, you won't stand much of a chance. Let's just hope he eventually will listen to you before it's too late for either one of you. Granted, there's not much money to be made when you become your own client, but you have enough saved up combined with the nice haul from UO, that you can pretty much ride this out for a while. And you can still take small jobs on the side. "But remember, no one made you sign up for that Synthcorp wetworks job. You went against your own better judgement for an ample but far from spectacular amount of coin. And it turned out to fuck you in the end. Killing's bad for business, even when it is the business. Now you're messed up in something way bigger than anything you've done before. And you lost too many of your allies in the process. Welcome to the big time, chummer! You always wanted it, didn't you...?" Arriving at his apartment, Goethe finds Alek once again manning the desk. Seeing Goethe physically in better shape, but sicker in spirit, Alek once again offers a some of the tea he regularly brews. "Tough night?" "You don't know the half of it. Remember that thing I told you about. Well, we cleaned it up...sort of. The guy who was betraying all the runners he hired by killing them rather than paying them since they knew too much? Well, he's now off in some Chinook land where he's unlikely to be backstabbing anyone, including myself, anytime soon. But we lost a lot of men. And I made a call, that might have been partially responsible for losing one of my own crew. I'm not convinced I even made the wrong call, but the result was disastrous anyway. If this was the end of it, maybe it'd be worth it, but I fear it isn't. Johnson had a backer. We took down Synthcorp, handed it over to UO in a combined effort of UO agents, Chinook warriors, and our my team. I did it because Johnson was going to try to kill me and my team no matter what once we first agreed to work for him. I cared little for the UO or Chinook reasons; I wasn't in it for them. But I fear that Johnson was just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Events are no doubt in motion that will come back to me sooner or later. And of the few friends I have, one's not really talking to me, and the other is largely in hiding for reasons I'm not sure of but I'm pretty sure are connected to this whole thing at a level I haven't figured out. "I don't suppose you have any ideas as to what Synthcorp was involved in, or could point me in a good place to start looking? It'd be greatly appreciated at this point. Also, keep an eye out. Knowing what power Johnson had, whoever was backing him is no doubt even more powerful. It's only going to be a matter of time before they track me down. At that point, I'll probably have to disappear for a bit. I'm not going to go endangering the lives of you or anyone else in this building, even if I know many of the residents are more than capable of taking care of themselves. After all, it's not their fault I got myself into this mess." After his conversation with the dwarf, Goethe will head upstairs, take a quick belt of Scotch, and pass out of exhaustion. Upon waking, he will begin to scour the Matrix using shadow mode on his rig for any information he can find on what Synthcorp was up to. He'll also send some anonymous messages to Kirk, which will be clear enough to her to indicate his concerns and identify him to her, but vague enough that they will seem fairly innocent in nature and be unlikely to point back to him. He will also try to contact Nail periodically, but he's not holding his breath on getting any response soon.
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#10
07-31-2012, 12:37 AM
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Quote:
Last edited by Hoopy Frood; 07-31-2012 at 12:38 AM.
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#11
08-01-2012, 12:39 PM
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4509 leaves the Walther behind for now and vaults over the rim of the structure and descends into the dungeon, his left eye viewing the world in low-light vision and his right switching to thermographic mode. He stands at the grate for a few long moments, eyes and ears straining for signs of life within, sweeping the area with his ultrasound emitter. He eventually settles his hands on the bars of the grate and (burning Edge) attempts to rip it free from the wall.
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#12
08-01-2012, 01:00 PM
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4509's low-light vision sees a human leaning against the corner of the dungeon. It takes a moment to recognize former Synthcorp CEO Johnson in this condition. "Hey, pal," Johnson says with a grin. He's never seen 4509 before, but uses a tone of familiarity. He's not afraid. 4509 doesn't care. Wordlessly, he steps toward Johnson with his hand outstretched, reaching for the man's neck. "Strong as you are, you'll die like the rest," Johnson says as 4509 approaches. "How is Walken, by th..." 4509 cuts the man off, closing his fingers around the helpless man's windpipe. "4509, stop!" a voice comes from over the cyborg's comlink. It's a man named Gary Rescigno, the new director of operations for Universal Omnitech, after Walken's death. 4509 hasn't decided whether to obey this new authority, who watches him through his cybernetics even more closely than Walken did. He relaxes the grip enough for Johnson to breathe, but doesn't let go. Rescigno's voice seems relieved, as he continues. "Did you hear that? He knows something about the murders! Bring him in, and we'll interrogate him here." It would be so simple for 4509 to simply crush this man. Universal Omnitech would be disappointed, but not enough to decommission him. Is it worth it?
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#13
08-01-2012, 01:07 PM
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4509 hefts Johnson up by his throat single-handed, pressing his body against the wall of the dungeon. "The Chinook told you about Walken's death. What else did he tell you?" 4509's right armblade slips slowly into view.
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#14
08-02-2012, 03:15 AM
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Nail stands on the step of his family's apartment. A run-down old wooden building, it has iron bars over the windows and an electronic metal door that clashes horribly with the wood motif. The building is located in what is far from the worst part of town, but it's not a neighborhood where one can forget their surroundings.
He puts his hand on a shingle and gets a splinter. What a lovely shit-hole, he thinks. It's all he could afford after college. With his mom murdered and and his dad off living the runner's life, he had to pay his own way, and this was the best his slim wallet could buy. Still, the memories are mostly pleasant. He had carved a nice life out for himself here with his wife, a peaceful life where he could go with the flow, mostly content to be an upper lower-class drone. And now he has to ask his family to move. This place isn't safe anymore. Nail has found himself on a short list of candidates in a deadly pool. Worse yet, he doesn't know who is making the picks. And, while he doubts whoever is running this shadow game dislikes Nail enough personally to target his family out of vengeance, he knows first hand that runners aren't above using family members as expendable collateral in order to get what they want. His thoughts run uncomfortably back to the day he came back home, only to find his house and his mother full of holes in places where they shouldn't be. Pap, you selfish bastard... he thinks. He runs his finger over the buzzer and pushes it. He still has no idea what he's going to say. At least he has money. A bittersweet comfort. "Hello? Nail is that you?" says a soft voice over the intercom. "Yes, it's me honey. Strawberry fields." "Forever," she replies. After a series of clicks and beeps, the light on the door handle turns green. He opens the door and goes in. Walking up a long flight of stairs, he opens the door to his unit and locks it behind him. In the entryway, he takes off his shoes. "Tadaima," he says, using the Japanese phrase for 'I'm home,' a habit he picked up while on his honeymoon. "Okaeri nasai," she replies from the other room. The place hasn't changed a bit. Walking down the long hallway, his eyes glance over the familiar series of rooms. The guest bedroom, the kitchen, the bathroom, the baby room, unused. At last he arrives in the den. His eyes land happily on his wife, who sits on an old nondescript sofa, a book lying next to her. She gets up slowly and they embrace. Even though it has been less than a week, it feels like months, and their passionate kiss reflects that. After a few seconds, they separate, and Nail remarks: "You're up and walking." "Yes, it seems that medicine you've bought has been working," she says with a smile. "That's great honey." he replies. He tries to think happy thoughts and says "And I have good news. Work went really well, and I'll be able to afford more where that came, enough for the near future at the least." "Oh, that's wonderful honey," she says, becoming visibly excited. "I really do think it's working. Why, with a few more doses I'll be right as rain. Why, maybe my cancer will even go into remission. And, if that happens, then you can go back to your old position at your job, and you won't have to travel all the time. And then, maybe..." She glances over at the room closest to the den, its walls lined with a streak of light blue, "well let's not get ahead of ourself, but it's simply so exciting. This is wonderful." she says, her eyes beaming. Nail is not smiling. He sits on the sofa with his head on his hands. He simply can't bring himself to put on a false front in front of the one person he cares about more than himself. "Honey.... what's wrong?" she asks. No reply. The mood darkens like a rain cloud over a little league baseball game. "There's something wrong... isn't there?" "We need to move," he says flatly. Kaboom. The clouds darken and burst forth into a torrent of rain. To add insult to injury, it's raining for real outside. "....What? ...Why?" she says, stunned. "We're happy here. Sure it's not much to look at, but we have so many happy memories. I don't understand..." "Something's come up at work, and it would be good if we moved," Nail says, not lying persay, but he can't muster any affect, and his tone leaves the words falling flat. " 'It would be good?' ", she copies back in a voice mostly confused but slightly incredulous. "What are you talking about?" "Just listen to me honey. We need to move, and we need to do it soon." "But I don't want to move honey. I like it here.... Why are you bringing this up all of a sudden? And after you just got home from work, too. Honey, you're just tired from your long business trip, that's all." she says, trying to convince herself what she said is true. "It's not safe!" blurts out Nail loudly, his head burrowed even deeper into his hands. A long silence follows. The density of the tension forms a black hole and time dilates around the room. All remnants of Nail's happy return are sucked in. Finally, Nail's wife breaks the silence. In a low whisper, she says, "Honey, your job is not in sales... is it?" No response. Nail would rather get shot again then carry on with this conversation. He still has no idea what to say, so he doesn't say anything. "Honey, talk to me...." she says, still in a gentle voice. "What's happening?" After another long pause, Nail makes a decision of sorts. "I... can't tell you." The line hits Nail's wife like a sucker punch freight train. The communication in their relationship has been perfect. There has never been anything they couldn't share. At this point, her hurt and confusion turns to anger. With an edge in her voice, she says "What... well... why the hell not honey? What can't tell you tell me? Why can't you tell me?" She continues on, "You know, you come home and make this big sweeping pronouncement, we have to move. Then you follow it up with this dread news that I'm not safe! And then you have the nerve to say you can't TELL me! Honey, what the hell is going on?! For all I know you could be on drugs!" "I'm not on drugs honey." "I KNOW!" she yells, surprising herself with the intensity of her own emotions. "...I know.. she says, softly again." Her rage crested, she calms down. No sooner does she calm down when a violent fit of coughing overtakes her. "Honey!" Nail cries, and rushes to embrace her. "Don't touch me!" she yells, and pushes him away. "Don't....touch me..." she half-speaks, half-cries, and falls into his arms. Nail holds her for a long time. He tries to express with his body what he can't express in words. He can't tell her... It would only endanger her further, he thinks, or perhaps rationalizes, it's unclear which. Time goes on, and night falls. They go to bed. Too tired to continue the discussion further, neither of them speak. They sleep in separate beds. In the middle of the night, Nail's wife comes over to him. They embrace until morning. In the morning, a ray of light breaks through the window, and it feels like the worst of the storm has passed. Turning to Nail, his wife says... "Honey... I'm still mad at you. I'm hurt and confused and scared. But... I love you... if you say that you can't tell me then" DA DA DEE DA DA DEE DA DA DEE DA DA DUM DA DA DEE. Nail's intercom rings to the tune of Our Man Flint. It's Goethe. Nail gets up crankily and goes into the other room to take the call. "You have helluva timing, you know that?" he says sarcastically.
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#15
08-02-2012, 02:57 PM
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Johnson braces his shoulders against the wall, and kicks his dangling feet against 4509 for all he's worth. His right foot makes a hollow "thud" sound as the toes are crushed against 4509's cybernetic skin. He grunts with pain, but doesn't cry out. His eyes are fixed on 4509's arm blade. Suddenly, with courage 4509 wouldn't have expected Johnson to be capable of, the wretched man shouts, "Go ahead, you stupid toaster. Do it!"
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#16
08-02-2012, 03:28 PM
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4509 stares with unfeeling and expressionless eyes at the pitiful creature struggling pointlessly in his grip. He drops Johnson to the ground before falling upon him with a knee, pinning him down and tying his wrists behind his back with zip-ties. He rises and considers the bound man for a moment before drawing his revolver and firing a round into his knee. Satisfied that Johnson will be incapable of attempting to make a run for it, he hefts the man effortlessly to his shoulder and speaks into the comm: "You'll have him shortly."
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#17
08-02-2012, 10:07 PM
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"Well, if you'd actually respond to my attempts to contact you once in a while my timing might be better, especially after Walken got taken out.
"I was afraid this might happen. Sasheille might have been a smug son-of-a-bitch, but he warned us this went deeper than Johnson. I've been trying to figure out exactly what Sasheille was getting at, but my research has turned up nothing. I was hoping that whatever power was behind Johnson's throne might leave us alone as being not worth the trouble, but I realize that was a pipe dream. Walken getting whacked wasn't much of surprise. He was the guy that took over for Johnson after all, but Kirk...Goethe pauses for a few seconds trying his best to control his emotions and barely succeeding...Kirk didn't deserve that. We didn't start this war. We did our jobs, up until we found out our jobs were to die for Johnson's benefit just like many of the runners before us. But that's in the past. Now we have to make sure we survive this. I'm prepared to take this all the way to the top, even if it means I'm declaring war on a megacorp, as unlikely as that is. "I've got people looking into things, as much as they can. I've also planned how I'm going to disappear when that time comes. I've been regularly monitoring my building for any people showing a bit too much interest in it. My bike is stored somewhere where for a fee they don't ask questions and never saw me. "I'm going to do my best to take these fuckers down. I would like your help in this, but I understand if you can't or won't. You have a wife to take care of, and she comes first. I also don't blame you for being angry at me over the Seneth thing, but if it's any consolation, I'm sorry. Also, I didn't know you had thing under control. I had minimal time to make a decision. I don't regret my choice given what I knew of the circumstances, even if I regret the end result. "Whatever you decide you know where to find me, or at least, can find the people who know where to find me. I'll make sure that those who need to get a hold of me can. But I'm going to become a shadow soon. I won't let these bastards win on their terms by taking me out unawares. "Take care of yourself, Nail. And yourwife. I'll do what I can, but I can't promise much." After the call, Goethe will see if there's anything McManus can do for Nail's wife. McManus might not be able to do anything directly, but he might be able to point Geothe in a direction to start with. Last edited by Hoopy Frood; 08-02-2012 at 10:08 PM.
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#18
08-03-2012, 08:57 AM
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McManus has begun restructuring his organization, after the Synthcorp raid on his hideout. Goethe doesn't know where he is, which suits the ork shadowrunner just fine. Last time he visited McManus, he brought the wrath of Hell along with him.
"What do you want?" the old veteran says to Goethe, via comlink. He's not exactly rude, but far from inviting. "It's not for me," Goethe says. "I don't have anyone to lose." "Yeah, I know. I've been monitoring the situation." His voice softens a bit before he continues. "I'll take care of Nail's family. Don't call this number again." Then the line goes dead as McManus terminates the call. How does he always stay a step ahead? Goethe wonders. Well, at least he didn't make Goethe actually ask for the favor. - Nail and Goethe get simultaneous comlink communication requests. It's Rescigno, Universal Omnitech's new director of operations. Nail and Goethe barely knew him, having only met him once at the mission debriefing following the takeover. The man seemed almost counter to the typical corporate culture. He was honest and forthcoming, and genuinely seemed concerned about the people he led. He won't last long, Nail can't help but think. The good ones never do. "We have a lead," Rescigno says. "I have my best people working it now, but you should stop by in case we need to act fast." As if sensing the hesitation from both runners, he continues, "I know we're not exactly your favorite people, but we need to work together here. I'm sick of living in fear; how about you?" - After Rescigno finishes the transmission, a female voice says from behind him. "A lead? That's what you call this?" "It's all we've got. Thank goodness 4509 didn't kill him." Rescigno turns toward the voice, an elf woman who is utterly unremarkable in appearance. Her skin tone, facial structure, and dark hair reveal her heritage, a refugee fleeing from the corporate takeover of Mexico. Rescigno knows the "everywoman" appearance is just a mask, and she could be quite striking if she chose to stand out. "Connie..." he begins. "Don't call me that," the woman says, cutting him off. "Even in private. I'm here for business." "Nightshade, then. Find out what Johnson knows. The shaman never spoke to him about anything, let alone the murder. That man is hiding something."
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#19
08-03-2012, 11:58 AM
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The room is windowless, furnished only with a small table and two heavy plastic chairs, all bolted to the floor. Harsh flourescent lighting highlights the stark white walls and furniture. The only splash of color in the room is the dried blood caking the face and leg of the man secured in one of the chairs. He's not sure how long he's been there--it seems like eternity since the cyborg dragged him in and left again without a word.
The door slides open briefly to admit the slender, dark elf, then slides shut again and locks with a soft click. It could have been designed to lock silently, of course; but one purpose of this room is to constantly remind the occupants whose decision it is when they can leave. The elf sits down in the other chair, across from the prisoner, and seems to stare past him for a moment. Then her startlingly ice-blue eyes focus back on his face. "Quite an exciting few days you've had, I see. It probably didn't seem like it at the time, but you've been very, very lucky." She pauses, and pulls out a pack of cigarettes. "Smoke?", she offers. Receiving no response, she continues, "Hope you don't mind if I do." Without waiting for a response, she lights one and puts the pack away. "Very lucky, seriously." The cigarette seems almost forgotten already; the elf stares steadily into Johnson's eyes. "You could easily have been iced in the raid, the way bullets were flying everywhere. The natives never got to bring you to trial--who knows what their punishment would have been? And twice that vatjob had you in his gunsights but didn't put you in the ground. Not many people can say that, as I'm sure you're aware." "Your luck's run out, though. Now, you have to deal with me." She smiles slightly. "I know--you weren't scared of the vatjob. Why should you be scared of me? One word--patience." She leans closer. "4509, the Chinook, the firefight--all you were risking was sudden death. But death finds us all, in the end. And eventually, the vatjob would run out of patience and slit your throat, or blow your brains out, and it would all be over." "The only 'eventually' with me, is that you will eventually tell me everything I want to know. Everyone always does. The ones who tell me soonest are the ones happiest about it, too. And I'm willing to bet that whoever's behind all this knows that too. Even if you somehow get out of this mess you've landed in, if the UO team doesn't take them out, they'll be sure that you talked, and they won't be happy about it. Your only hope is to give us the information we need to find them. Give us a reason to protect you, and maybe there's an outside chance of avoiding more suffering than you can imagine. Maybe. If you know as much as I think you do." Nightshade leans back, stubs out the remains of her cigarette on the table, and pulls out the pack again. "Sure you don't want that cigarette?"
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#20
08-03-2012, 10:54 PM
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Great. You get to deal with UO again. Well, they seem to have a lead, which is more than you've been able to dredge up so far. And it's not as if you're in any position to be choosy about your allies at this point. Besides, Rescigno seems to be one of the good ones. And UO's played straight with you so far. And they have as much skin in the game as you do, if not even more.
Grabbing his weapons and other equipment, and making sure that the explosive rounds are loaded into them, Goethe leaves his condo, keeping an even sharper eye out than usual for anyone taking a less than casual interest in him. He cycles between thermal and lowlight to detect anyone staking out from a vehicle or building. If anything catches his eye or his ear, he will activate the sound amplification and filtering in his earbuds to isolate it. One he reaches the garage his bike is being stored in, he will hop on it and speed into the night, taking a circuitous enough route that he can suss out if anyone is tailing him in a vehicle. Upon reaching the UO building, he will park his bike and walk in, weapons in full display and with a look that implies he is in no mood to be fucked with by anyone, least of all some rent-a-cop guards. If they try to stop him or make him give up his weapons, he'll put his hands up making no threatening gestures and simply say: "Rescigno sent for me. Tell him Goethe is here and I'm not surrendering my weapons to anyone. If he doesn't like it, tell him I'm fine turning around and walking out that door. My crew were vital in UO getting control of Synthcorp, and at a great cost to us. That should earn me enough cred to walk in here with a portable tactical nuke if I wanted to. Lucky for you all, UO and I have similar goals at this point. So what's it going to be?"
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#21
08-03-2012, 11:28 PM
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Quote:
He's good, Nightshade realizes. It doesn't add up. The man was a sniveling coward weasel literally hiding in a closet, back in the raid on Synthcorp. Where'd he suddenly get the guts to look someone in the eye? Nightshade has performed quite well with an interrogation roll. Johnson should be intimidated, spilling his guts...but it's almost like he's not afraid to die. She may ask him specific questions now. Johnson will attempt to resist Nightshade's interrogation. Each question he answers will roll against Nightshade's current interrogation success level (determined by her most recent interrogation roll). She may allow her current roll to stand, which all of her questions will use (5 successes, after modifiers), or she may attempt a new roll (even using Edge, if she desires) to try and reach a higher interrogation threshold against Johnson. This represents Nightshade trying a new angle in her intimidation attempt. Each of Nightshade's rolls from now on will suffer a cumulative -1 dice modifier against Johnson, as he will eventually sense failure and desperation. - Goethe approaches the Universal Omnitech building. As he walks toward the main entrance, an unfamiliar security agent moves to step in front of him, and is quickly yanked backward by a higher ranking officer. The officer nods slightly to Goethe, allowing him through. The busy bees of Universal Omnitech aren't used to seeing a Shadowrunner in full armament stroll so boldly through the front door. An awkward hush follows him all the way to the executive elevator, as the people around him are unsure whether to panic or salute. Goethe doesn't like being recognized. When he reaches the elevator, he pushes the button marked with a star, instead of a number. The elevator goes to the very top floor, and then the digital display showing the current floor goes blank. The elevator begins moving down at varying speeds, making it impossible to determine just how much distance has been covered. It's one way UO uses to disguise the location of the executive offices, since there is no way to know for sure which floor the elevator opens at. What a waste of time, Goethe thinks. He walks toward Rescigno's office, and is surprised when a secretary stops him. He's about to give the secretary a verbal lashing, until she says "This way, sir. Mr Rescigno wants you to watch the interrogation with him." Goethe follows the woman, who drops him off at a room with one-way glass. Rescigno is inside, watching Nightshade and Johnson on the other side. "Pull up a seat," Rescigno says to Goethe. "It seems Johnson knew more than he's letting on. This is about to get very interesting."
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#22
08-04-2012, 10:56 AM
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"Concerned about dying of cancer? That's quite optimistic for a man in your position." Nightshade pauses, considering. Not acting like someone more scared of his bosses than of us. More like someone who thinks they're winning. Let's see how sure he is of that.
"These killings--they aren't a desperate, defeated enemy lashing out. Your bosses are trying to put us off-balance, setting us up for a big counterstrike. That's obvious." "What I don't understand, is why you think you might still be a part of it. Whatever you were supposed to be doing with Synthcorp, you fucked it up beyond redemption. Unless you want to try to tell me that was all some kind of ridiculous gambit?" "You were just a tool. And now, you're a used-up, broken tool. And however incompetent you looked as an executive at Synthcorp, I'm having trouble believing you're stupid enough to believe what they tell you about your future role in their plans." "When a tool breaks, you might use it just a bit longer, maybe to stick under a wobbly table leg. But that's just short-term--as soon as you can, you fix the table properly, and the tool goes in the trash. So I have to admit my curiousity. What did they tell you that you might still be useful for?" (Nightshade sees that intimidation isn't effective, so she shifts to working on Johnson's ego. She'll make a new Interrogation roll, using a point of Edge.)
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#23
08-04-2012, 01:31 PM
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Nail hangs up the phone and begin dressing silently. Noticing his wife's increased agitation, he says, "It's good news, actually. A coworker can take you to a safe location."
His wife sit in silence for a few moments, unsure of what to say. "Do you have to leave so soon? You've barely been home." "Can't be helped. The sooner this is over the sooner I can tell you what's going on." Straightening up the last pieces of his outfit, he continues to say, "Until then, I gotta go." Nail gets up to start walking out the door. His wife complains futilely:"Why are you doing all this? Why can't you tell me?" "It would just make you less safe," Nail replies tersely. "Well.. what if I get in trouble?" she says desperately, not wanting to see Nail leave. "I'm only a commlink call away," he says with his hand on the door, before he turns around suddenly, and gives his wife a firm embrace. "Love you honey." "You too." she replies, which Nail hears just barely as the door closes behind him. After leaving his home, Nail heads towards the Universal Omnitech building. When he arrives at the interrogation, he says, "Hey Goethe," and pulls up a chair. Lounging as only Nail can, he says ,"Looks like I made it in time for the show."
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#24
08-04-2012, 06:32 PM
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Quote:
Johnson replies, "Like you, I am more than I seem. I am the Dark. I am we, and we are you. How can you resist the coming of yourself?" He's insane, Nightshade realizes. The understanding doesn't come with any satisfaction. The madman is looking right through her, at nothing. In fact, Johnson more resembles a wax figure than a man, utterly emotionless, expressionless, and hopeless. Another realization strikes her; she's seen this before. He's possessed! Somehow, a mage has managed to cast an immensely powerful domination spell on him, and now controls the man like a puppeteer. Johnson's consciousness is trapped in the background, helpless as he is forced to witness his body being used like a tool. The mage Dominating Johnson probably doesn't realize Nightshade has discovered him yet. She can either continue the farce interrogation, or report her knowledge to Rescigno immediately. Nightshade now has 1 used Edge
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#25
08-04-2012, 08:59 PM
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4509 is in the cyberware development lab at Universal Omnitech, with a technician he recognizes but hasn't bothered to learn the name of. This is one of the few places he actually likes to be. The technicians are still pitifully human, but cold, logical, calculating. He understands them. They don't see 4509 as a man losing himself in the tech...they see an engineering marvel. The bastards are actually excited to download his combat data and pore over the minutiae of his battles. They don't care about his "soul," only how well their creation has performed.
The technician says, "I'm sorry, but I can't find any equipment failure here. The shaman's curse affected your biology, not the hardware. I can't fix you. There's nothing here to 'fix'." Numbers and schematics scroll down a screen as the technician speaks, while he shakes his head with confusion. After a moment, he continues. "Even the new bioware is operating at full capacity. Everything's fine." As an afterthought, he adds, "except the flesh, I suppose. I guess that's your weak spot." He grins at what he considers to be good-natured ribbing, but the humor is drained completely from him as he meets 4509's relentless glare. "Alright, alright. I'll see what I can do." The man is immediately back to business, his entire demeanor flipped as suddenly as a light switch. He extends a cord from the terminal he's working at toward 4509, and plugs the cord into a hidden socket in a panel of his cyber-torso. His movements are stiff and mechanical, and although 4509 hates to admit it, he can recognize the "spark" of life in the man is gone in an instant. 4509 has a moment to wonder at how pitifully people are ruled by their emotio... PAIN! The cyborg's limbs seize in agony he hasn't felt since before his cybernetic upgrades. There is nothing but burning anguish consuming him, as the technician commands the terminal to sabotage 4509's hardware. The machine in him is completely overwhelmed by the attack, crushing him like an insect. There is no thought, only action. 4509 can't stop a scream erupting from somewhere primal inside him, as the sabotage runs through his programming. Other technicians in the room turn in startled surprise toward 4509 as he cries out. One technician among the group calmly walks toward a locked cabinet, and swipes a key card in front of it. He emerges a moment later with a prototype assault rifle, which he turns on the other technicians. He doesn't even make a demand, but simply opens fire... Three men are cut down in a second, with 4509 paralyzed with agony and unable to intervene. One of the technicians recognizes what has happened, and sprints toward 4509. Bullets pour into the man as he throws his body at the console. He falls upon the cord connecting to 4509, tearing it free from the socket jack. 4509 slumps with sudden relief as the connection is severed. "You are nothing!" the unarmed traitor growls. He reaches for a handheld arc welder next to his console, and moves toward 4509. "Metal, flesh, human, machine, all of it nothing but prey! The Dark hunts you, and you'll n..." 4509 doesn't allow the man to finish. Instinctively, he seizes the fool by the neck, and pulls him along as he rolls off the steel examination table. Bullets from the armed traitor soar past him, striking harmlessly against the far wall. The cyborg isn't exactly graceful, landing with a metallic CLANG on the floor. He is badly damaged by the technician's treachery. Beside him lays the broken body of the man who betrayed him. Worthless, 4509 realizes. The man's neck is snapped. Frustrated, he tosses the man's body aside. 4509 has been gravely damaged, and most of his systems are offline. His smartlink system is not operational, his comlink and many of his sensors are down, and his cyberware offers only a fraction of the strength it is capable of at full capacity. 4509 will suffer significant penalty for all tests (-4 for non-combat actions, -5 for combat actions) except Body tests and armor checks, until he can be properly repaired, or his systems recover from the damage. 4509's cybernetic weapons are offline, but there is still an armed man in the room!
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#26
08-04-2012, 09:26 PM
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4509 opens and closes his fist as he gets a feel for his damaged state. Unable to retrieve his machine pistols he calmly drags one of his bags from around the corner of the table to his side and unzips it, pulling free the shotgun inside. Unable to activate it with his smartlink, its safety system instead recognizes his touch and the weapon springs to life in his hands.
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#27
08-04-2012, 10:10 PM
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Combat round 1
Initiative pass 1 The still-living traitor technician spends his entire turn talking to 4509, as he walks in a wide arc around the table to get a firing angle on the cyborg. "It's starting to sink in, isn't it," the man gloats. "You're finally starting to realize. I can strike you anywhere. Anytime. You want to know the funny thing? I didn't even hack that pitiful elf's drone! I hacked her! Even if you kill this miserable shell, it's nothing more to me than your ammunition is to you. My weapon is metahumanity! Kill one, and another rises. Do you see, fool? It's hopeless!" As the man speaks, 4509 calmly draws his shotgun from his bag. He's crouched behind the steel block table, waiting for the perfect moment. His sonar tracking module buzzes to life, and suddenly 4509 can 'see' the man from behind his cover, walking slowly in an arc. Initiative pass 2 4509 is around the corner, advancing and firing before his image even registers in the scientist's awareness. The first shot is wide by a mile, as 4509 struggles to control his spasming limbs. The second shot comes a bit closer to its target, but still misses as 4509 takes another step. The scientist fires back in response. There is absolutely no hint of a preservation instinct in the man. He simply stands and shoots. The rifle is a design completely unfamiliar to 4509, a prototype that might be seriously dangerous in the hands of an expert. But this man is no expert. He can't find the weak points in 4509's cybernetics, and both of his shots bounce off the cyborg's incredible armor. 4509 has 2 initiative passes remaining in this round of combat, while the scientist will not act again this round.
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#28
08-04-2012, 10:16 PM
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4509 ignores the taunts, firing twice more in each pass. He'll use Edge on his final attack if all three prior shots have missed.
Last edited by AClockworkMelon; 08-04-2012 at 10:19 PM.
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#29
08-05-2012, 02:44 PM
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Carefully--don't want to let whoever, or whatever, this is realize how close I've come.
Nightshade snorts. "Weaker than I realized, I guess. Was it the firefight, the Chinook, or that last close encounter with the cyborg that broke your brain?" "Time to let the docs take a look at you, I suppose. I hope, for your sake, that you're not faking. If I have to come back, this will get very ugly." Nightshade glares at Johnson for a few more seconds, then flings down her cigarette in disgust and turns towards the door. It slides open, and she leaves without a backward glance. Quickly, she glides to the observation room. "Rescigno, you brought in the wrong type of specialist," she snaps. "That's Johnson's body in there, but it's not him. If you've got a mage handy, maybe he can tell us whose hand is working the puppet." Her eyes narrow as she takes in the other occupants of the room. "You might want to have him check out your 'contractors' while he's at it--there's no way to tell for certain who else might have been compromised. Actually, might have been smart to do that before they were allowed this deep into the building with all that hardware. Too late now." She doesn't make any overt moves, but you get the impression that she's plotting routes to the nearest exits.
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#30
08-05-2012, 05:26 PM
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When Goethe sits down to watch the interrogation he says to Rescigno:
"Who's the skirt? I hope she's good at this, because I don't want to be sitting around just spinning my wheels. "Hell, I'd offer to interrogate Johson, but I know that in the end I'd probably just kill him, which while being immensely gratifying, probably isn't going to help matters for anyone. But if you ever need someone to kill him, I'll happily volunteer, though someone like Donovan or Nail might be better since Johnson has taken more from the first and the second has more to lose. Me, I'll just get some therapeutic benefit." Quote:
Quote:
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"But if what you're saying is true, there's something really bizarre going on. The man in there was not the man we handed over to the Chinooks." Last edited by Hoopy Frood; 08-05-2012 at 05:27 PM.
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#31
08-05-2012, 06:11 PM
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Combat round 1
Initiative pass 3 4509 is learning to adapt to his weakened condition. His next shot tears the scientist's arm off, and the following shot hits him in the chest, knocking him backward off his feet. The man sneers in hatred-an expression that remains on his lifeless face long after his heart stops beating. 4509 knows with certainty that this is not the end of the mysterious mage's attack on Universal Omnitech. His comlink is down, and the local network communications are offline. All the murder victims so far have been linked through the Synthcorp raid. The conclusion is obvious; Goethe and Nail are either already under attack, or will be soon. - In the executive office, Rescigno and the others are oblivious to the danger they're in. Rescigno listens to Nightshade's report. He picks up the intercom transmitter, preparing to call the most powerful of UO's wage-mages. "That's funny," Rescigno says. "Intercom's down." A sixth sense tingles in Nail. I don't like this, he thinks. Goethe and Nightshade have similar feelings. Subconsciously, Goethe readies his assault rifle. Rescigno's secretary walks into the room. Nightshade is the first to realize the woman who greeted her at the entrance is not the same person standing before her. "Down!" she shouts, as the secretary pulls a pistol and aims it at Goethe... Ominously, the crew hears the elevator ding from the lobby, and the doors open. A hooded figure strides into the office, flanked by several UO drones and employees, all with the same blank expression. The group begins walking toward the interrogation room. Begin combat round 1, initiative pass 1. Only Nightshade will participate in this initiative pass, as the others have been caught by surprise.
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#32
08-05-2012, 06:17 PM
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4509 calmly returns his shotgun to his bag, swinging it over his head and letting it hang at his side. He picks up the prototype weapon and jogs out, examining the firearm as he goes. For now the cyborg's priority is the company's (and, as a corollary to that, Rescigno's) safety and he makes his way towards where he knows Walken's replacement to be, opening fire on any belligerents he encounters along the way.
Last edited by AClockworkMelon; 08-05-2012 at 06:18 PM.
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#33
08-05-2012, 06:58 PM
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Quote:
Whether it actually performs as well as either tech would alone remains to be seen...
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#34
08-05-2012, 07:45 PM
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"Hey Nail, didn't you write something like that during your teenage bad poetry years?" jibes Goethe during the interrogation.
"Ha ha, very funny," Nail casually replies. Putting on a thinking face, he follows up with: "You know Goethe, if I didn't know any better, I'd say he sounds possessed." Once the interrogation finishes, Nail hears Nightshade give her report to Rescigno. Talking over the part about how possibly Nail and Goethe are possessed as well, he says, "Damn, I hate it when I'm right." He has little time to make further wisecracks. As soon as Goethe finishes amply demonstrating verbally his non-possessed status, Rescigno alerts everyone that the intercom is down, and a chill runs through Nail's spine. Immediately after, Nail notices the secretary walk into the room. "Oh, it's the secretary from the lobby. Probably come with more bad news," Nail says pessimistically.
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#35
08-05-2012, 09:43 PM
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Nightshade does not hesitate. Too bad--she was a nice lady. But we can't get to the bastard hiding behind her without taking her down. She quickly steps to Rescigno's side and firmly pushes him to the ground with a hand on his shoulder. The other hand grips a machine pistol (it's not entirely clear how--that hand was empty a second ago), which spits a hail of bullets towards the secretary's center of mass.
(Nightshade is firing a narrow burst from her Ceska Black Scorpion at the immediate threat.)
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#36
08-05-2012, 10:16 PM
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The woman in front of Nightshade is a secretary, not a soldier. She's helpless against Nightshade's attack. The elf places the bullets within an inch of each other over the secretary's heart, as the possessed woman pulls the trigger. The pistol bucks against her untrained hand, and Goethe easily steps out of her line of fire. She sinks to her knees and falls forward, never to rise.
The group has an important decision to make. Through the glass of the interrogation viewing room, they can see the hooded figure approaching from the elevator lobby. The glass is bullet proof, and the crew will be safe inside the interrogation viewing room, assuming the figure and his minions can't hack the door open. Hopefully loyal Universal Omnitech security crews will respond to the attack soon! Alternatively, they can attempt to fight their way out. There are too many to defeat outright, but a clever distraction or sudden burst of violence may buy enough time for a few of the crew to get out via the fire escape.
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#37
08-05-2012, 10:27 PM
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Meanwhile, 4509 is jogging through the bowels of the Universal Omnitech building. Those who recognize him give him a wide berth. Security agents who know his reputation look quizzically at him. They've never seen him run before.
"Trouble?" one of the agents asks. 4509 stops immediately, and draws his pistol from the thigh holster, leveling it at the security agent's forehead. The man stumbles backward in sudden fear. "What the hell's wrong with you?" he says. "Had to be sure," 4509 says, as he holsters his pistols. "Get a crew up to the executive floor." He doesn't explain further, and doesn't bother waiting for a response before resuming his hustle to the elevator lobby.
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#38
08-06-2012, 01:23 PM
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"The way I see it we got two choices. The first choice is to stay in here and hope that everyone comes to their senses before they hack the door. Who knows, maybe even backup will show up. Of course, that backup might be for them and not us. But, at least we're safe in here...for now.
"The other option is we make a break for it. When I realized I might have to go into hiding, I started scoping out places to hole up in in this general area of Seattle. One of those places is a few blocks from here. We can hide there for a couple hours while we plan our next strategy. Of course, the tricky part will be getting there through all of them. Since I've got the best armor and firepower combination, I can take point on this, laying down suppressing fire while the rest of you make a move. However, we should remember that most of these people are not themselves, so they should't be faulted for attacking us, additionally, good employees can be hard to replace, and then there's the cleanup of all the blood...." As Goethe says the above sentence, he mechanically and and swiftly ejects the clip of explosive rounds from his AK and let's it fall into his hand as he slams a replacement of stick-n-shock rounds in the thing instead. He then chambers the first round. All this is done in a seeming blink of an eye with Geothe not even changing his speech cadence. Goethe has made an effort in his running life to shun the overt enhancements, but one can never truly hide the existence of reflex wires. Normal people just don't move like that. "....Anyway, I've just loaded stun rounds into this. It should take out most of those who are opposing us without killing them, but unfortunately it does dick against robotic drones. So after I go out and start laying down suppressive fire against the humans, Shadow you follow and concentrate on the drones. Nail, you than grab Rescigno and head for the fire escape as Shadow moves behind you and I follow up in the rear. If all goes well, we should be able to pull this off without too much patching up to do afterwards. Of course, the most important thing is we stick together here. If you guys would rather take your chances in this safe-for-now-room, I'll support you. I just think we stand a better chance at surviving this in the long term if we aren't caged like rats." After stating his piece, Geothe can't help but reflect on what he didn't tell the rest: Didn't want to tell them the whole reason you changed out your rounds, did you, Chummer? Sure, you're genuinely concerned about the zombies out there, at least, you're concerned as much as you can be about nameless corporate drones you don't know from Adam, but that's not all, is it? You didn't want to tell them that you fear what you might do should you become one of the possessed, turning on the lion's share of the only allies you have right now and tearing them apart with your lead thrower. They didn't need to hear that part; they've got enough to worry about....
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#39
08-06-2012, 02:23 PM
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Lol.
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#40
08-06-2012, 04:00 PM
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Nightshade nods. "I don't like the idea of being trapped in a corner either, even behind bulletproof glass. Leapfrog to the fire escape; you're on point & focus fire on meat bodies, I've got the drones, Nail protects Rescigno." She pulls a second machine pistol from the small of her back. "On three?"
Nightshade activates her wired reflexes as well, which she didn't have time for before.
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#41
08-06-2012, 06:18 PM
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Nail finishes smoking the cigarette that he leisurely enjoyed during Goethe's exposition of the plan. "Yeah, we'd be trapped like rats in here," he says. Immediately after speaking Nail then uses his muscle and speed boost. "And here I didn't bring any cheese." Turning to Nightshade, he goes along with her countdown. "On 3. Three... Two..."
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#42
08-06-2012, 07:18 PM
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"ONE!" Nail shouts, and Goethe bursts through the door, assault rifle firing toward the lobby. Two of the possessed human UO employees are incapacitated by electrical surges from Goethe's rifle, but the entire mass of hostile people and drones keeps advancing, completely unfazed by the sight of their comrades falling.
Nightshade and Nail are immediately behind. Nail pulls Rescigno toward the fire escape, turning only for a moment in order to fire toward the crowd. He may have hit a drone, but can't be sure in his haste. Nightshade takes position next to Goethe, her machine pistol blazing. A stream of bullets nearly saws a drone's processing capsule in half, and it crashes down. Nightshade and Goethe are firing while retreating, covering Nail and Rescigno's escape. "Not so fast," the hooded figure says. His voice is surprisingly gentle, nearly a whisper. He lifts an arm toward the crew, revealing a hand of long, thin fingers with sharpened nails. The figure makes a fist, and a translucent barrier appears before Nail and Rescigno. Nail slams into and rebounds off the magical wall, but can not get through. The drones open fire as they advance, peppering Goethe and Nightshade with low-caliber gunfire. A total of six machines attack. Nighshade feels the sting of a bullet grazing her torso, while Goethe feels several bullets pounding his armor. Luckily, none of the hits actually pierced through, and so cause only stun damage. Goethe has suffered 3 stun damage, and Nightshade has suffered 1 physical damage from drone attacks. The possessed humans, much slower than the runners and machines, all begin to aim firearms at the trapped crew. Goethe and Nightshade are looking down the barrels of too many guns to count. This is it, Goethe realizes. Well, guess you can't be lucky forever. An unearthly screech comes from outside the building, and the east-facing window shatters inward with tremendous force as a fireball consumes three of the possessed humans. A shadowy blur, which appears to be a bird in flight, soars into the room and lands on the floor. Before Goethe can process what's happening, the figure of the bird melts away, revealing a human woman with long, black hair. She stands defiantly before the hooded magician. "Flee, foul creature!" she commands. "Never!" the figure replies. The response is tainted with a hint of uncertainty, though. As the hooded man hesitates, the humans in his thrall stand motionless. -End round 1, initiative pass 1 4509 is enroute to the attack, and hopefully a loyal UO security crew will be shortly behind him. He will arrive in 1 more combat round. The crew should expect not to be so lucky next initiative pass. Those human thralls will certainly be fighting back, now!
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#43
08-06-2012, 08:30 PM
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Sinthia Erenia stares for a brief moment, a bit surprised that this fool mage is even daring to stand up to her.
Certainly, he must know what I am(and who I carry within me)....the kind of pure energy and power he is up against. Why would he not stand down? "You fool; you have no idea what kind of power you are dealing with. This power is eternal, reaching infinitely into the past. While you are definitely no match for me, you are even more of an insignificant speck to what I serve." Sinthia pulls her hair back and moves her hands out in front of her. "Burn....forever." Sinthia casts Lightning Bolt directly at the hooded mage.* However, if there is enough space to prevent injury for herself and others who appear to be on her side, she will cast Fireball and attempt to incinerate not only the hooded mage, but all the humans next to him.
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#44
08-06-2012, 10:03 PM
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"Now that's how to crash a party," Nail quips as Sinthia rises to stand defiantly in front of the hooded mage. Without wasting any time, he turns to face the magic barrier. Drawing his gun, he thinks, It's worked on magical stuff before. Here goes nothing, and opens fire.
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#45
08-06-2012, 10:51 PM
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That's not something you see very day...or even every life. I don't think I'll ever get use to magic....
Goethe realizes that the only real threat is the mage. However, he also realizes that his chance of actually being effective against the mage is unlikely. If Goethe had the drop on the mage, it'd be no contest. But the mage no doubt has barriers up that will deflect pretty much anything Geothe throws against him, barring some amazing stroke of luck. So rather than switch back to explosive rounds which will take extra time and still probably won't increase his odds at hurting the mage all that much, Goethe will stay with what he knows works. He doesn't need to defeat everyone here, he just needs to keep them busy enough with him that they buy his allies time to take down the mage. Geothe dives for cover and lays down a full series of supressive fire on the corp zombies that pose the most threat to his allies. He shouts: "Those who can take out the mage, do so! I'll keep the wage-slaves busy!" Last edited by Hoopy Frood; 08-06-2012 at 10:52 PM.
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#46
08-07-2012, 07:15 AM
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Unexpected, but welcome. Nightshade hardly hesitates an instant--the basic tactics needed haven't changed. Unable to keep moving, though, she needs cover, of which there's very little in this hallway. She and Goethe end up crouching in the same corner. As she unleashes with both pistols on the drones, she glances at him and says, "OK, I changed my mind." In response to his quizzical look, she continues, flashing him a tight smile, "I'm glad you brought all that hardware down here." Now, let's see if that and this new player is enough to keep us alive until more reinforcements get here. Hope that's seconds and not minutes.
Nightshade will fire as many wide bursts as she can at different drones with both machine pistols, trading accuracy for the chance to degrade as many of their targeting systems as possible.
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#47
08-07-2012, 09:54 AM
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Combat round 2
Initiative pass 2 Nail pulls the trigger, and his pistol kicks with recoil. His bullet smashes through the magical barrier, but it doesn't collapse. A second shot has similar results. It will take combined fire to blow through the barrier! Goethe and Nightshade waste no time firing into the distracted mass of robots and metahumans. Nightshade is reckless, showering the area with full-auto streams of bullets from two weapons. She manages to hit two of the drones, but they recoil and stagger instead of collapse. Goethe places a shock round into a human's armored business coat, which is completely ineffective. His second shot nails a Dwarf technician in the gut, paralyzing him with electricity. The mages are engaged in a battle of wills. The dark-haired female newcomer conjures a stream of brilliant white magical energy that appears to consume the cloaked figure, who staggers backward against the force. He holds his hand forward, palm out, billowing darkness flowing from it. But the darkness is swept away as quickly as it is conjured, flowing over and around the hooded mage. Finally the spell ends, and the hooded mage breathes heavily with the exertion of counterspelling. He glances between the female mage and the Shadowrunners. This is the first time the crew gets a look at the man's face. Goethe does a double-take of near-recognition. Seneth? It can't be. In a split second, the mage turns away before Goethe can get a closer look. The mage runs toward the broken window and leaps through it. His body seems to melt away, as a small, dark blur of fluttering wings soars through the open window and away. His hooded cloak flutters and twists in the air, as it falls to the floor. The commotion in the room is over. Nail feels a humming buzz and crackle as the magical barrier disappears. The possessed humans in the room stand confused, glancing around as if unfamiliar with their surroundings. The elevator dings, and 4509 appears. He scans the room for active threats, and finds nothing obvious. Sinthia's clothing did not transform with her when she arrived. She had been fighting in the nude. She takes this moment of confusion to pick up the Dark mage's cloak and wrap it around herself. Suddenly, a howl of tortured anguish comes from the interrogation room. It's Johnson, back to his old self, and feeling the pain of 4509's previous shotgun blast to his knee...
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#48
08-07-2012, 10:23 AM
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After shooting the barrier ineffectively, Nail gives it a few swift kicks. When the hooded man makes an exit stage right, the barrier crackles and falls to the ground. Nail knows it wasn't his kick that did it, but it feels good anyway. He turns back to the party and is confronted by Sinthia in mid-change. He doesn't see much, but it doesn't take much to see to know what he saw was worth seeing. Reflexively letting out a low whistle, he says: "Helloooo sorceress."
Johnson's howl snaps Nail out of his hornball moment. Putting a serious expression back on his face, Nail goes into the interrogation room. "Welcome back," he says to Johnson, before then stopping and waiting for the others.
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#49
08-07-2012, 12:00 PM
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Quote:
Sinthia approaches Johnson while still dressing herself. "Don't move, Raven-bane. I'm probably going to Death-touch you now, or possibly cast an agonizing pain spell that would fry your mind into oblivion, which is where you belong. I have yet to decide." She pauses for a moment, stretching out one finger toward Johnson. The finger is covered in neat black finger-polish....or is it dried blood? Her finger is but an inch from Johnson's face. "But.....Raven has need of you. Allow me to mind-probe you now, freely." If allowed, Sinthia will probe Johnson's mind. If not, she will use her assessing skill to analyze the aura to determine who that mage was based on the mind-control spell.
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#50
08-07-2012, 05:22 PM
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4509 makes his way to Rescigno and tosses the prototype into his arms. "The R&D department has lost men."
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