Inside the Machine God

[Blackadder]

Developer ignited the beamstaff, both emitters unleashing the golden-light blades. As the Essence projectile aimed at him zoomed in, Developer swung the beamstaff, striking at an angle that its Essence clashing with and deflected the attack into another nearby bulkhead without harm to himself.

Spoiler: OOC

Join Battle: 6D10 = [1, 4, 9, 1, 4, 9] = 2 successes

Activating the beamstaff, using a stunt to enable him to parry the ranged attack, and his PDV is more than enough to resist. The stunt should refund 1 mote.

Personal: 7/16 [9 committed]
Peripheral: 31/35

 

[Psychie]

Developer's swift action is able to save him from the effects of the burning sphere of Essence fired from the Enemy's weapon. You manage to defect the blast into the floor.

Moments later, your opponent, knowing that his invisibility has been compromised, drops the commitment for the Charm. As the effects of the invisibility fade, you can see that your opponent is an Orichalcum Caste Exalt armed with a First Age weapon called a Glorious Solar Cannon, the most powerful Essence weapon ever made, and rather rare even inside the Eight Nations of Autochthon. He adjusts the aim of the cannon to target Marionette alone. Using various targeting Charms, your opponent garners a total of fifteen successes on his Archery attack. Raparth

Thousand raises up her crossbow and fires a bolt from it at the Enemy, scoring a hit, doing minor damage.

Worker spends a moment to activate several Charms to help prepare him for the fight ahead.

Blackadder , WlfSamurai , and Raparth are all up at Tick 6

0 [Marionette] (8) - Activating Form Charm
1
2 [Enemy] (6)
3 [Thousand] (5)
4 [Worker] (4)
5
6 Marionette, Loo (2), Developer (2) <====
7 Enemy
8 Thousand
9 Worker
10

 

[Raparth]

As the second Essence discharge flew towards her, Marionette tried to roll under its intended path, but the Orichalcum had anticipated the move. As the searing orb reached her, she focused on the internal harmony between her soul and starmetal. Prismatic echoes the Champion's form shimmered before her as inevitable prelude to her victory. She flung both chakrams with symmetrical arcs of the Circle Screams kata, guided by her calibrated senses. As the Aegis of Valor and the Edge of Temperance left her hands, they hissed to life. Auspiciously-cut blades three inches long slid out and spun rapidly as divinely-blessed steam altered their flight, banking around one another to hit the target from each side at the same instant.

Spoiler: Mechanics

Well, there's no way she's getting up to 16 Defense, so good shot, enemy!

Anima will be to 11+ rating with thanks to this attack, so she gets her Caste anima power of +2 attack, damage, and Join Battle for the scene.

Two attacks, using The Circle Screams (+2 Accuracy) and using Aim-Calibrating Senses (ignore external penalties), since it seems like they have cover on the I-beam. The second one will benefit from the onslaught penalty to enemy DV from the first attack.

Math: 7Dex+5MA+3Specialty+2Accuracy+2Caste+2Circle Screams=21; -2 for first attack, -3 for second attack
8 peripheral motes spent (3+1 each attack)
Currently at:
Personal: 17/17
Peripheral: 13/26 (45) [19 committed]

First Attack, 21-2= 19D10 = [5, 8, 9, 10, 4, 10, 7, 8, 4, 9, 9, 8, 9, 10, 6, 1, 1, 9, 8] = 16 ... Yikes.
Second Attack, 21-3= 18D10 = [9, 2, 5, 3, 4, 7, 4, 8, 1, 8, 10, 8, 7, 9, 7, 6, 5, 6] = 10

Ignoring Hardness, due to Thousand Wounds Gear Form. Gyroscopic Chakrams have +3L damage, so with her Strength, it's 6L. Speed is 5.

Gyroscopic Charkams, page 211 of Alchemicals: "After having been flung at a target, the weapon banks and adjusts its path, following the target until it either strikes or misses, swooping back for another attempt on the next action if it misses as the result of a normal dodge or parry. It continues hunting the target every action, using the same dice pool to hit as it had when it was thrown, until it either strikes or botches"
Starmetal ones (as described on the next page) cannot botch.

 

[Psychie]

The crackling sphere of Essence hits Marionette on a glancing blow, but thanks to your armor, you only take 2 Lethal damage from the attack.

Your counterattacks manage to slam into the enemy Exalt, the first with 9 successes, the second with 4 successes. The heavy armor of the enemy keeps the bulk of the injury away, but some of the damage does get through to to him.

WlfSamurai and Blackadder are up

6 [Marionette], Loo (2), Developer (2) <====
7 Enemy
8 Thousand
9 Worker
10
11 Marionette

 

[WlfSamurai]

There is no holding back this time. Loo knows she has to give it everything she has with a Glorious Solar Cannon involved. And they still might suffer casualties. Regardless, there's no time to think. And less time to act. She lunges at the Orichalcum Exalt, igniting her Grand Soulsteel Beamklave. Her anima explodes in a black cloud of Essence, blue and black lighting crackling around her. Four prongs pop out of her arm and surge Essence, covering her weapon and hand with unstable energy.

With the distance closed, she brings her mighty weapon down...

Spoiler: OOC

Combo'ing Second Strength Augmentation (4m) with Piston-Driven Megaton Hammer (3m) and Essence Irradiation Corona (2m) for a total of 9 spent motes.
Attack: 5str+5melee+3spec+1
14D10 = [7, 2, 3, 3, 6, 8, 3, 9, 8, 2, 5, 2, 10, 8] = 7 successes + 2 success from Second Argumentation
x2 from Piston-Driven Megaton Hammer = 18 successes

If hit: Damage +11L/4, 1 die of post-soak damage is an auto success from Essence Irradiation Corona

Please hit. That was like 30 minutes of work...

 

[Psychie]

With the strength boost from your Augmentation, Loo is able to leap high enough to get a single swing in on the enemy Exalt. As the burning blade of the Beamklave hits, his body transforms into pure Orichalcum, absorbing the full effect of the attack.

Spoiler: OOC

I'm guessing that this is a Spd 5 attack. If not, let me know.

Blackadder is up with Developer

6 [Marionette], [Loo] (2), Developer (2) <====
7 Enemy
8 Thousand
9 Worker
10
11 Marionette, Loo

 

[Psychie]

Project Razor. Even the phrase is known only to a handful of high level people inside the nations of Kamak and Yugash. HAL is one of the few in the city of Ot that know the truth behind the top secret project, and know exactly why it is so important to dedicate the resources of two great nations of Autochthon. The Plan: Break the Seal of Eight Divinities separating the people of the Great Maker from Creation for the first time in over five thousand years. Why? Autochthon is suffering from many system failures and breakdowns, and if a way of restoring the Great Maker from the encroaching Blight is not found, he may fall into the Underworld and join the other 'dead' Primordials in their endless sleep, turning his interior into the largest Shadowland ever.
HAL is one of the few in Ot to know the story behind the Project, working with engineers from Kamak to make the Project a success. The development of the needed technology is progressing rapidly, thanks to the influx of supplies and skilled workers from the nation of Kamak. In fact, there is a supply train from Ein due to arrive later in the shift. Then the disaster strikes.

A series of massive explosions in the very Core of Ot rains fire and destruction down on the city, and causes a massive shockwave that extends out dozens of kilometers from the city. As one of the Champions of the city, HAL responds to the Core of the city and you find that the explosion was centered on the Project Razor complex. Thanks to various safety features built into the complex, the worst of the explosion was vented up and away from the city, instead of allowing the force of the blast to tear into the very heart of Ot, possibly destroying the city.

You are one of the first responders to the complex, and as the heavy blast doors are finally opened, you enter with a small army of rescue workers that include several other Exalts in a desperate attempt to recover survivors from the destruction. After several long hours have gone by, word comes in that the missing train from Ein has been found and the surviving Champions will be here with the special cargo within the hour. Project Razor has suffered a setback, but it is not dead.

At this point, HAL is in one of the outlying chambers of the central power core for the future gateway when the Champions from Ein arrive. You are helping to move heavy rubble when you are vaguely aware of the outer blast doors to the power chamber being sealed once more, then something strange occurs. A security alarm is sounded, along with the release of a thick red mist designed to locate invisible targets inside the room. This is followed by the distinctive sounds of Essence weapons being discharged inside the chamber! There is an enemy still alive inside the power core room!

UnassumingBoxCat Here is your chance to jump in.

 

[UnassumingBoxCat]

HAL turns, puzzling out why the doors have shut, then starts. The power core could be in danger! If the core is damaged, who knows what could happen! In the name of the Populat, I can not let that happen! He turns to the door, grips his hands around it, and with all the force of a hydraulic press, attempts to wrench the doors open with his bare fist, his axe laying unused across his back.

Spoiler: OOC

This would be a feat of strength, so here are his values:
BASE: Strength 6 + Athletics 3 = 9
Unyielding Will of Iron gives +2 to equal 11
Spending 1 temporary Willpower to channel Compassion, so +4d10
Expending 5 motes to add +5d10
_: 9D10 = [8, 3, 1, 2, 9, 9, 6, 1, 8] = 47

Final FoS total: 15
Is this enough to at least pull the door open? The book lists it as enough to smash an iron-shod door to flinders or lift a metric ton.

EDIT: Random thought, would any stunt bonuses be gained out of this?

 

[Blackadder]

Developer followed up Loop's assault, with his own boosted leap and thrusting the beamstaff into the I-beam above. With a field generated for additional essence boost, and a piston howling from impact, the energies were conducted up into the saboteur's position. But based on low power, to leave them alive for interrogation.

Spoiler: OOC

Using the jump for a 2 dice stunt that enables an attack, Low Power Mode, Speed 4
Activating Piston-Driven Megaton Hammer and Essence Irradiation Corona on the attack.

Attack Roll: 18d10x7 8 successes
Base damage is 16B. Excess successes are counted twice for determining raw damage, 1 post-soak die becomes a success, 10s count twice on damage rolls.

Personal: 7/16 [9 committed]
Peripheral: 28/35
Anima Banner: 5 motes

 

[Psychie]

In the side chamber, HAL plants his feet, reaches out and grabs one side of the door, and heaves. Slowly, the heavy doors begin to part, giving you even more leverage to use to pry open the door. With a loud crack of breaking metal, the side of the door slides open just enough to let you slip through into the main chamber with the power core. Sliding through the gap, you are now faced with the scene of the fight in front of you.

Developer's swing with the staff connects with the enemy Exalt with a bright shower of sparks and a grunt of pain from the impact. You are not quite sure how much damage managed to penetrate his defenses, but you feel that something has gotten through.

As Developer drops down to the ground, the Enemy leaps up from the I-beam that he was standing on, and as he is in the air, he fires another blast from his GSC down at you, catapulting him across the room away from the melee combatants. With 9 successes, his attack will hit unless you boost your defense with Charms.

Spoiler: OOC} Both of you can recover Essence from a 2 dice stunt, which can be applied to [I

Developer's[/I] DV to try and dodge the attack

Thousand uses her Essence reserves to enhance her aim, and then fires her crossbow once more, scoring a solid hit.

Worker lets out a snarl as he sees the enemy Exalt being propelled away from him, and sets off at a run to pursue him.

Blackadder is up once more, and you need to declare a defense from the earlier attack, then you can act/attack once more.

10 Developer <====
11 Marionette, Loo
12 HAL, Enemy
13 Thousand
14 Worker

 

[UnassumingBoxCat]

HAL surveys the scene, and almost immediately locks onto the weapon in the Orichalcum's hands. A Glorious Solar Cannon. The others in the room are complete strangers, but that doesn't matter. All that matters is securing the GSC and nullifying its power to cause damage in Ot. HAL prepares to draw Gremlin-splitter and charge into the fray.

 

[Blackadder]

Developer braced himself against the floor before swinging the beamstaff in another precisely calculated arc. It deflected the Solar Cannon's blast again. Rather than engage the attacker directly, he this time began to hurry to get ahead of the foe's landing and cut them off.

Spoiler: OOC

Applying that 2 dice stunt so that it allows the parry ranged again, that boosts Developer's modified PDV to 9, enough to thwart the attack. I guess the movement is a Dash, Speed 3.

Personal: 7/16 [9 committed]
Peripheral: 30/35
Anima Banner: 5 motes

 

[Psychie]

Developer moves quickly to close in on the expected landing spot of the hostile Exalt.

Raparth and WlfSamurai are up

10 [Developer]
11 Marionette, Loo <====
12 HAL, Enemy
13 Thousand, Developer
14 Worker

 

[Raparth]

The Starmetal Champion continued towards the enemy, leaping up to grab her gyroscopic chakrams as they flew back to her. She hit the ground and tumbled, reassessing the evolving conflict, and kicked off a nearby support beam to alter her trajectory. The enemy wanted to keep the Chosen at a distance, something Gleaming Marionette of Relentless Progress was intent on closing. Her whole body tilted forward and she ran for maximum speed; the first two steps pushing her entire strength into direct throws from the opposite arms.

Spoiler: Mechanics

Took 2L damage from enemy, so:
Normal Health Levels: [-0 x 1], [-1 x 2], [-2 x 14], [-4 x 1], [Inc]
Damage: [X], [X], [-1],[-2 x 14], [-4 x 1], [Inc]
Luckily, she has Pain Suppression, so no wound penalties until she hits the -4.

Her attacks, same as last round, except no Aim-Calibration, so 2m spent on 2 uses of The Circle Screams.

Math: 7Dex+5MA+3Specialty+2Accuracy+2Caste+2Circle Screams=21; -2 for first attack, -3 for second attack

Currently at:
Personal: 17/17
Peripheral: 15*/26 (45) [19 committed]

First Attack, 21-2=19D10 = [3, 9, 10, 3, 9, 4, 10, 4, 9, 5, 3, 8, 2, 5, 4, 7, 5, 4, 1]=9 successes
Second Attack, 21-3=18D10 = [4, 2, 4, 9, 5, 4, 7, 9, 8, 6, 4, 7, 1, 8, 9, 10, 1, 2]=9 successes
Damage is 6L (3Str+3weapon), Speed is 5. Ignores Hardness.

EDIT: Oh, and it hasn't come up yet, but, just as a note, her Parry is 8 in Thousand Wounds Gear Form. (Dodge still 7.)
EDIT2: *Added in the 4 motes from the 2 point stunt award.

 

[Psychie]

Marionette flings her chakrams, and while they are flying towards the target, the enemy Exalt activates an energy barrier and raises it up to block the twin blades in a flash of sparks. At this point, his anima is burning quite brightly. Two point stunt on that description.

WlfSamurai is up next with Loo

10 [Developer]
11 [Marionette], Loo <====
12 HAL, Enemy
13 Thousand, Developer
14 Worker
15
16 Marionette
17

 

[WlfSamurai]

Seeing the Exalt's defenses activated against the chakrams, Loo takes her chance. Kicking off the main power chamber to the wall, she redirects to the enemy. She lands on the I-beam in a slide that keeps her low and compact. Her Essence explodes again as she fuels her strike, bringing her Grand Beamklave down like a hammer.

Spoiler: OOC

AGAIN combo'ing Second Strength Augmentation (4m) with Piston-Driven Megaton Hammer (3m) and Essence Irradiation Corona (2m) for a total of 9 spent motes.
Attack: 5str+5melee+3spec+1
14D10 = [4, 2, 4, 1, 5, 4, 10, 9, 7, 6, 6, 7, 6, 2] = 5 successes + 2 from Second Argumentation
x2 from Piston-Driven Megaton Hammer = 14 successes

If hit: Damage 14 + 11L/4, 1 die of post-soak damage is an auto success from Essence Irradiation Corona

Essence pools:
Personal 17/17
Peripheral 3/41 [20 committed]

 

[Psychie]

Under a series of brutal attacks, this time, the enemy Exalt does not manage to activate a Charm to defend himself from your attack and it hits hard. The sizzling Essence blade bites deep into the body of your foe, gaining Loo an evil glare as he tumbles down to the deck, this time much closer to HAL than he was before.

Two dice stunt was added in for your action, causing even more damage than you would have otherwise.

UnassumingBoxCat is up next with HAL

10 [Developer]
11 [Marionette], [Loo]
12 HAL, Enemy <====
13 Thousand, Developer
14 Worker
15
16 Marionette, Loo
17

 

[UnassumingBoxCat]

HAL grits his teeth, exhales sharply through his nose, and sprints straight for the Orichalcum, pumping his limbs madly and leaning into the wind. As he nears the Orichalcum, the rest of his body blurs into action. In one swift, fluid action, he spins around, draws Gremlin-Splitter, and slams it into the Orichalcum's neck, swinging it in an arc so that the Orichalcum is shoved downward and off-balance. He hooks the Orichalcum on the edge of the blade, spins it once again over his head, and brings the enemy crashing down to the floor in a cacophony of steel and sparks, the blade edge now directly on the Orichalcum's throat. The force of the blow, and HAL's limbs expanding and contracting, creates a miniature sonic boom that rips through the chamber, sending both the Orichalcum and everyone else momentarily reeling.

Spoiler: OOC

Movement action and attack, so his pool is 14
Attacking with Gremlin-Splitter, which is a Jade Grand Grimcleaver
6 motes to 1st Dexterity Augmentation to bring the pool up to 20.
0 motes to Clockwork Dexterity Augmentation Nodes to give him 10 automatic successes
3 motes to Piston-Driven Megaton Hammer to double excess attack successes.
Please, dear god, tell me this hits. That was a lot of motes.
Also, just wondering, would this merit a 3-die stunt? If it does, that's 12 successes.
Anima Banner: Green Aura

Psychie

 

[Psychie]

From seemingly out of nowhere, HAL leaps into action. A massive, powerful blow with his axe comes screaming down and connects with the enemy Exalt, doing an incredible amount of damage. The Orichalcum Champion's armor is able to stop some of the damage, but since he was already injured, this is just enough to send him over the edge. Your blade nearly cuts the body in two. As the Exalt's body begins to break down and dissolve away, it is clear that it is struggling to speak a few final words. Leaning in, HAL can clearly hear the Enemy say, "Th-thank you. Forgive me." These are the last things ever said by this man. What could he mean?

Moving out of combat time.

Thousand moves forward slowly, keeping her crossbow trained on the Exalt as it breaks down, not quite aiming at HAL, but since she has never been outside of Ein, she has never met HAL and is not one hundred percent certain he is an ally.

For the rest of you, now that the fighting seems to be over, you can recognize each other from your many times working together. HAL is an Exalt from Ot, working with you on Project Razor. He is absolutely a friend, and his arrival in the power core chamber was well timed.

Blackadder UnassumingBoxCat WlfSamurai Raparth

 

[WlfSamurai]

Loo moves forward and puts a hand on HAL's shoulder. "You picked the right time to appear," she says. "Glad to have you here, now. Now, what was that? An Orichalcum Caste that was thankful to be released? Could it have been controlled by someone or something?" Her question seemed obvious, even to her. But Loo wondered if anyone else knew more than she did.

 

[Raparth]

As Halcyon Autonomous Labor Unit appeared and struck down the enemy, Gleaming Marionette curved her run up the side of a support pillar. The others likely had this segment of the investigation under control. She was curious as to what the Orichalcum might have been doing while it had hidden above the rest. The Starmetal secured her chakrams, silently offering a prayer of thanks to the Great Maker for his gifts. She maneuvered along the various beams and pillars, trying to find anything that would offer some additional insight into the fallen combatant's goals.

Spoiler: motes

4m on Personal Gravity Manipulation Apparatus
Currently at:
Personal: 17/17
Peripheral: 11/26 (45) [19 committed]

 

[Psychie]

Thousand approaches the fallen Exalt and kneels down to examine the weapon he was using, making sure not to touch it yet. "I have heard of Essence weapons this powerful, but I have never seen one in person. This is some serious amount of firepower; not something that just anyone can pull out of the closet and use. This attack had to be sponsored by one of the Eight Nations." She specifically doesn't accuse Estasia, even though everyone is thinking it, thanks to the recent wars that Kamak and Yugash have had with the other nation.

Up in the support beams, Marionette finds a small duffel bag hidden away, out of sight of the ground. Inside the bag you find three Essence-powered explosives, each one capable of being set for a delayed blast causing considerable damage. These are fully charged and are ready for deployment. A quick examination of these show that they are mass produced weapons with the distinctive marks of your old adversaries of Estasia. When you see that the bag is only half full, the obvious conclusion is that there are more of these Essence bombs planted around the room somewhere.

 

[UnassumingBoxCat]

HAL glances down at the Essence weapon and then turns to Thousand. "It seems to me that relinquishing the weapon had a profound impact on this Orichalcum. Perhaps the weapon has some sort of corrupting aura?" He sighs and shakes his head. "I've no clue why he said what he did, but the point is he's no longer a threat, and the facility is safe."

Spoiler: OOC

Two things:
1. Would he at all even know about the Great Curse? Ok
2. Would he make some kind of Perception roll to passively notice any explosives that might be planted in the room? Ok

Psychie

 

[Psychie]

Two things:
1. Would he at all even know about the Great Curse?
2. Would he make some kind of Perception roll to passively notice any explosives that might be planted in the room?

1. No, the Great Curse is unknown to the general rank and file of people. It would take some time and exposure to Creation's Exalted to be able to start forming an opinion on it.
2. From where you are at the moment, you do not see any signs of explosives. But, they are rather small, and Marionette has not yet had the chance to warn everyone about potential bombs in the room

 

[UnassumingBoxCat]

Psychie

Alright, I made some edits to the post as necessary. Thanks