“Game Over, eh?” Nail manages to whince out while rising agonizingly to his feet. “Sorry chump, looks like I have another Continue.”
Nail then proceeds to use his attribute boost, his body surging with a new-found boost of energy. Taking advantage of this window, Nail will grab his coat (“Aw, you dropped my coat”) and then run as best he can to follow Donovan.
Goethe quickly dispatches the two armed Synthcorp agents, while Nail and Donovan sprint toward the Security mainframe, with Seneth a few steps behind.
The surviving Synthcorp agent flees the scene, and Goethe can hear him making a transmission into his comlink as he runs.
Gig’s up, Goethe realizes. We’re marked now for sure.
Goethe had enough of a dice pool advantage to guarantee success over the two targets, due to their previous injuries. No rolls were necessary. Goethe may now recover 3 clips of ammo for his assault rifle, if he wants to spend the time to do so.
Donovan leads Seneth and Nail through winding corridors in the Synthcorp building. Luckily, the Synthcorp Security forces are being mobilized toward entry points in preparation for the UO assault, and the group doesn’t run into any resistance.
Donovan finally stops at a secured doorway with a fingerprint access panel.
“Synthcorp has been developing military-grade combat drones. This attack has zero chance to succeed until we upload the virus.” Donovan types a numerical code into the keypad and places his index finger on the pad. The door opens before him, and Donovan urges Nail and Seneth through. “The virus won’t shut them down completely, but it’ll knock out the advanced algorithms controlling them. They’ll be dumber and slower, hopefully enough to take them out manually.”
Inside the room is a huge array of machinery. "This network is protected by the strongest ICe Synthcorp knows to exist. Fortunately, the chip you’re holding has a sprite strong enough to defeat it. Leave it here, and give it time. The worm will unravel the Synthcorp ICe, but it will take awhile. We can either stay here and guard it, or hide it close by and hope nobody finds it, so we can meet up with the commando team. What’s your call?
Seneth’s eyes glaze over for the first part of Donovan’s talking, but he focuses in on the last.
“My child, you speak nonsense most of the time, but I believe I understand your main point. If we stay here and guard this metal machine device, what kind of forces can we expect to face? If it is insurmountable, I suggest we hide our wormy thing and just leave.”
Also, if Seneth believes that he can avoid further drain, he will cast Detect Magic on the room, especially on the area/machine-part that the team is to put the virus thingy on.
Nail holds his stomach and winces in pain. “Oof. Neither of those options sound so great right about now. But, I know one thing, we go meet up with our friend the terminator now he’s just as likely to take us out as the enemy.” He holds the chip up and examines it. “That and our main goal here is to make sure this virus or w/e does its job.”
Nail takes advantage of the downtime to light a cig. “I guess that’s two things,” he quips out of the corner of his mouth.
Goethe puts his pistol back into the slide and grabs the clips off of the fallen, putting one of them into his AK. He briefly revels in the knowledge that he once again has a full complement of weaponry.
He then reports over the commlink:
“Guys, one of the agents escaped and has reported in. Needless to say, we’re all marked. If anyone suspects what Donovan is doing, they’ll be coming after you. If they have a way to track his position, there are probably already people on their way. I’m going to make my way toward you while trying to avoid any unnecessary confrontations. Keep me appraised if anything happens, and I’ll do the same.”
Goethe will then make his way toward the room the others are in using door frames and unlocked rooms to try to stay out of sight.
I assume either Nail can guide me over the commlink or the commlinks since they operate on the same encrypted channel probably can home in on each other.
4509 receives another message from Walken via comlink. “The virus has uploaded into the Security mainframe. Make entry into the facility now. Redundancy programs will keep the security drones online, but they will be much less dangerous while the server is under attack. Prioritize the elimination of humanoid hostiles over drones.”
The lead commando agent nods at 4509 to get his attention. “On the other side of this wall is a Synthcorp maintenance warehouse in basement level 3. That’ll get us in on the lowest level, and it’ll be unlikely we’ll meet heavy resistance there. Up ahead, the drain system slopes upward toward the Synthcorp research labs on basement level 2. If we blow the wall there, you can be sure we’ll meet heavy resistance, but we’ll be closer to your crew in case they need help. It’s up to you.”
Meanwhile, Nail and Seneth are preparing to defend the Security mainframe server.
“It won’t take long for Synthcorp to realize their server is under attack,” Donovan says. “Be ready.”
Seneth casts detect magic on the area, and finds no evidence of Synthcorp using magic.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Donovan says as he sees Seneth analyzing the machinery, “but we can’t just destroy it. At least, not until Chaggo’s crew seizes the Surveillance room. The virus will trick the system into giving his crew access to the building. After that, this whole place can blow up for all I care.”
Donovan sees Nail nursing the bleeding injury to his abdomen. “Can you help him?” Donovan asks Seneth. “I have a feeling we’re going to need every edge we can get soon.”
Finally, Donovan speaks to Nail. “Just in case we don’t make it, you should hide the chip. At least if they kill us, we’ll make it harder on them to ruin the mission.”
Goethe is enroute to meet with Nail and Seneth, but finds a Synthcorp security group of 4 agents blocking the most direct route. Goethe can attempt to ambush the group, in which case a successful infiltration+agility roll will give him a surprise round of combat. Alternatively, he can take a less direct route which will take more time to rendezvous with the rest of his crew.
Upon hearing Donovan mention Nail’s injury to Seneth, Nail tries to act nonchalant. “It’s only a flesh wound…Ungh.” The groan betrays him instantly. “But, a little healin’ or somethin’ would be nice.”
Nail later responds to Donovan concerning hiding the chip: “Sure thing. When you put it like that, how can I refuse?” While searching for a good spot, he says, “By the way, got any ammo that would work in my gun? I’m a bit short.”
While his usual rogue-ish and optimistic self on the outside, Nail can’t help but think to himself, “Hope it doesn’t have to come to that, but things are looking bad…”
“I can help this child if I wish…”
Seneth pauses and looks around.
“…and…I do.”
Seneth casts Heal on Nail.
If battle has not begun and Seneth is feeling reasonably strong, he will cast Armor on himself as well.
4509 makes his way further up the drains where he sets explosive foam for their breach. He’s clutching a pair of grenades by their pins with his teeth, ready to be pulled and tossed: One a flashbang and the other a high explosive. He’s got another of each in the webbing of his heavy camo gear. He crouches near the entry point, pulling his shotgun against his shoulder. With a thought he triggers the explosive. If he sees or hears any movement in any of his vision modes or detects movement on the other side with his ultrasound device in the second or two after the explosion he’ll toss a flashbang through the breach point before moving in ahead of the commandos, indifferent to incoming gunfire.
Goethe makes his way toward the rest of the party until he comes upon the four agents.
“Shit!” Goethe interjects across the commlink. “Four agents in my path. I should be able to get the jump on them, but four against one, even with someone of my talents, is not an odds game I want to play. Besides, Dex already took a small chunk out of me, I’m not going to be much help to you guys if I have to crawl my way to you. Sorry, but I’m going to have to take the long road here. If you run into major trouble, let me know. Otherwise, I’ll see you when I get there. Goethe out.”
Goethe will bypass the agents, following the same stealthy routine he’s been employing so far.
Nail responds on the commlink: “Copy that. All’s good here. Right now it’s just us at the party. We can’t all be fashionably late like you.”
As the sprite contained in the chip attacks Synthcorp’s security mainframe and uploads the virus, Chaggo’s boisterous voice comes over the crew’s comlinks.
“We just got confirmation the virus is doing its thing. Knew I could count on you guys! Keep your shorts on a few more minutes, 'cuz the big guns are on the way.”
“I hate that ork,” Donovan says aloud. Over the comlink, he grumbles to Chaggo, “Make it fast. We’re about to have Synthcorp breathing down our necks.”
Donovan and the crew are greeted by the sound of shouting and gunfire from Chaggo’s comlink transmission. “Oh really?” Chaggo shouts over the chaos. “Good thing you said so, 'cuz we were thinking about just taking it slow and maybe having some lemonade!”
Donovan has no ammunition to offer Nail, or even a pistol for himself.
Seneth finds it trivially easy to heal Nail’s wound. Seneth whispers a strange chant as he moves his hands over Nail’s abdomen in rhythmic cycles. For a moment there is a flash of agony as the tissue in his gut mends back together, forcefully expelling a medium caliber bullet. Nail nearly shouts in pain, but suddenly the ordeal is over as the metal slug falls with a barely audible “tink!” onto the tiled floor.
Seneth has suffered no drain from his casting attempt.
When Seneth’s short spell is finished casting, Nail gets to work finding a hiding place for the chip. He sees a power supply conduit attached loosely to the wall, and slips the chip in the gap.
Nail has made a test using his intuition + perception, which will establish a baseline for any attempt to find the chip. Nail is quite confidet the chip will be safe from even a concerted effort to locate it, at least for awhile.
The ominous sound of many footsteps can be heard appoaching the room Donovan, Seneth, and Nail are in. “Help me brace the door!” Donovan says. His body begins to glow with magical energy, and Nail sees the muscles on his thin frame swell impressively. He throws his weight against the door as Synthcorp tries to force it open from the other side. He won’t be able to hold the door shut much longer by himself!
Begin combat round 1
Donovan is attempting to hold the heavy metal door shut against Synthcorp agents. This will be a str+str opposed test against the Synthcorp agents, which will be rerolled every combat round until the group fails the test or Synthcorp gives up. The test will be modified in the group’s advantage if Nail can contribute some extra strength to the task.
Meanwhile, Goethe is attempting to move unnoticed through the Synthcorp building. This will test his agility + infiltration skill. Synthcorp has been given a description of Goethe and is actively searching for him, which complicates matters. He is managing to avoid detection for now. He can proceed cautiously to meet up with Nail’s group, letting him arrive in 3 combat rounds with almost sure success to avoid detection. Alternatively, he may proceed quickly to Nail’s group, in which case he does not have an advantage in his infiltration roll, but he will arrive after 1 combat round.
Meanwhile, 4509’s explosion powers through the wall separating the research and development lab and the drain system. 4509 sees laser sight targetting systems activate from behind the settling dust, and decides to throw a flashbang grenade into the room.
From the brief look 4509 got in the room, there is a horde of combat drones too thick to count inside the room.
“Don’t go in yet!” the UO agent says. “Our hackers are in cybercombat now. We can probably shut at least a few of them offline, but we need some time. We should guard the breach from this side so the hackers are protected.” The man gestures behind him, where 4509 can see two of the commandos with cyberdecks fully immersed in simsense VR.
Heedless of the lead commando agent’s warning, 4509 wordlessly steps over the rubble into the room. The targeting systems of a multitude of drones adjust slowly to converge on a single point of the cyborg’s chest, even as he blows two of them to scrap with his shotgun…
Begin Combat round 1
Hearing that the party has run into trouble, Goethe considers heading to them immediately, but then thinks better of it. After all, what good is it to help them out if all he does is draw more attention to them immediately. Plus, he’d rather not risk getting caught in the crossfire from those trying to get at the party and those trying for him. So he’ll take his time to get to the room, and maybe even get the jump on the agents with his assault rifle if they’re too busy concentrating on getting in the room to notice him coming up on their flank.
“Oh look. More guests. Let me get the door,” Nail says while quickly rushing to help Donovan brace the door against the oncoming assault.
Seneth will not brace the door.
Seneth casts Armor on himself.
4509 chucks his high explosive grenade into the group. If he has actions remaining he’ll use it to fire and then take cover, in that order. Maybe he’s got a deathwish, maybe he just doesn’t give any fucks, but he doesn’t bother retreating back into the drain or calling for commando support (though in the off-chance their balls drop and they decide to join him in the fight he’ll avoid tossing his grenade anywhere near them).
I will revise this command now.
If Seneth knows he is able to, he will address the group:
“My children,…we need help. Real help. Right now.”
Seneth’s eyes close and he begins to breathe slowly.
"Join us, now. Spirit of Earth, come and fight along side us. We respect you and your kin and need you now. Fight on our behalf for this brief moment, and I will release you back to whence you have come.
Join us, Earth Spirit!!!"
Seneth has summoned, obviously, an Earth Spirit. While doing so, he has gradually raised his arms up over his head until they are straight up.
His eyes pop open and he begins to look around.
Seneth calls upon a spirit of earth to aid the crew inside the Security mainframe. While he is performing the summoning ritual, Chaggo transmits over the comlink. In the background is the sound of battle even more intense than in his previous transmission.
“You’re on your own for now, kids,” the ork says. “We’ve got nobody to spare. These goons are pushing back hard!”
Seneth completes his ritual, and a spirit of earth materializes in the mainframe room. The spirit has chosen to assume the appearance of an impossibly large snake.
“You will have three services from me, warlock,” the snake hisses to Seneth. “Choose them wisely.”
Seneth’s summoned earth spirit is slightly stronger than an average spirit of its type. Unfortunately Seneth miscalculated the toll it would take on him to summon such a creature, and has suffered three points of stun damage as a result of drain from summoning. This damage will heal on its own given some time, but for now Seneth will suffer a small penalty to all his dice rolls due to injury.
The lock on the door has been disengaged, and Synthcorp agents are attempting to force it open while Donovan and Nail are bracing against it.
(Although Nail did not specify it, I will assume he will use boost attribute – strength adept power prior to making the opposed test)
Nail operating at his physical peak is a sight to behold! The door begins to wedge open against Donovan’s effort, until Nail throws his shoulder against the door and manages to push it back in place.
From the other side of the door, Nail can hear the frustrated grunts of Synthcorp agents in their struggle. “Garn!” one of the agents commands. “Knock this goddamned door down!”
“Happily, I do it,” comes the unmistakable, booming guttural voice of a troll. Even worse, Seneth can sense the power of a physical adept being activated. As magical strength flows through the adept troll’s body, the beast growls with a low, deep, satisfied glee. Suddenly, a powerful blow knocks the door open a few inches against Donovan and Nail’s bracing effort. They struggle to hold it closed, but it suddenly seems like a hopeless effort.
“You ready to die?” Donovan asks Nail. “If not, we can still get the hell out of here. All this machinery vents into duct system big enough for a man to fit through. Sure, they might find the chip, but it’ll take them awhile, and hopefully we’ll wrap this mission up first. We could have the snake-thing cover our escape.
Nail/Donovan have tied against Synthcorp in their opposed test. Although they successfully held the door closed for now, they will suffer a penalty against Synthcorp in the next opposed test if they attempt to hold it another round.
Meanwhile, the cyborg 4509 has stepped into a room full of combat drones, despite the protest of the lead commando in his squad.
“Shit!” the commando says. After a moment, he commands the rest of the group, “breach! Go, go, go!”
The men in the commando squad pour through the opening made by 4509’s explosives. The scene immediately erupts in complete pandemonium, as 4509’s grenade detonates among a cluster of drones. The high explosive erupts dramatically, spreading shrapnel from the drones in every direction. 4509 himself can’t even be sure how many bots were wrecked in the blast.
The commandos and drones open fire simultaneously. The drones have focused their fire on the primary threat – the hulking cyborg. Dozens of small caliber rounds ricochet off the metal frame of the cyborg, and at first it seems the man/machine might be truly invincible.
But, he is only human. Even a man at the peak of techno-evolution is vulnerable to his flesh. Some of the bullets find sensitive areas of his cybernetics, damaging components that reduce his efficiency. Some others find bits of flesh that haven’t been completely converted to synthetic material. For the first time since he can remember, 4509 is bleeding.
The concentrated effort of the drones in the room has managed to cause four points of stun damage (from bullets that could not penetrate armor, but still did damage) and two points of physical damage (from bullets that penetrated armor) to the cyborg known as 4509.
The rest of the commando crew advances into the room, firing short, controlled bursts at the drones. The commando hackers manage to suppress any further drone fire as the rest of the crew wraps up.
As 4509 stands over the wreckage and a disturbing puddle of his own blood, the commando veteran approaches him and speaks.
“I know you don’t like orders, and I won’t give you any. I’m not your commander. But to these other men, I am. I can’t take risks like that again. You’re powerful alright, but is it enough to finish this on your own?” The man isn’t expecting a reply, but he doesn’t walk away.
After a moment, Walken comes over the comlink. “I am aware you have breached the research and development labs. Good work! Unfortunately, the rest of the crew is not faring as well. Rendezvous with Nail, Seneth, and Goethe at the security mainframe. If you wish, you can leave some agents behind at your current location to salvage Synthcorp tech. There will be a reward for doing so, but it’s not a priority, and don’t compromise your mission to do so.”
There are twelve commandos in the team 4509 is co-leading. The veteran commando is willing to part with up to four of them, to dedicate them toward salvaging tech from the lab, but he leaves the option to 4509.
Getting to the security mainframe room will take five combat turns. Alternatively, 4509 may want to ignore Walken’s order, and start sweeping through the building floor by floor to hunt for Johnson. A good place to start would be the executive offices, which are attached to a balcony with a helipad. From there, a helicopter could potentially be ready to escape with Johnson in only a few minutes. A third option is to meet with Chaggo’s team to assist them. If Chaggo’s team successfully conquers the surveillance room, they will be able to find where Johnson is almost immediately, and keep track of him.
Meanwhile, Goethe has spent this combat round avoiding Synthcorp agents and making his way toward Nail’s group. He will arrive in 2 more combat rounds.
4509 lifts his left hand to be examined. The rings on his mechanical eyes contract as he zooms in on the smear of blood on his palm. He considers it for a moment in silence, not immediately responding to the Universal Omnitech soldier addressing him. After a long pause he finally looks to the commander as Walken’s voice sounds in his mind. He responds into the comm; “Right.”
To Goethe, Nail and Chaggo’s comms (Seneth doesn’t have one): “Support is en route. Hold those fucks off as long as you can.”
Wiping the blood from his hand 4509 finally addresses his co-leader: “Four bodies in here to salvage what they can before we have to bug out. Two with me to the offices to prevent escape. You and the rest babysit the runners.”
The cyborg doesn’t wait for confirmation, immediately reloading and making his way up towards the executive offices and the helipad in-case the target tries to make a run for it. If the commander decides to comply and send two men along with him, good, if not, so be it. Any Synthcorp employees he encounters on the way, armed or not, he’ll kill.