Splicers - I Am Legion - IC Thread

[Eonivar]

Jin, who knew exactly what sort of shot they took when they took it, goes over to the Packmaster she felled to see if he was still alive, ready to attack if they made a sudden move.

"I hit this one to knock out or stun...he may be still alive."

 

[Psychie]

Toni shouts out, “Clear! Saint Karen? Are you ok? Axel, what’s your status? How bad are you hurt?”

 

[Sherwood]

When Jin runs up, she can tell that the Packmaster is still alive, even if he is badly stunned from the hit he took from you. There is a few light movements of the arms and legs giving proof that your target is still living. It will still be a little bit before the operator of this armor will be coherent enough to have a conversation.

Eonivar please give me a perception roll.

At the middle of the group, Axel manages to say, “Aw, hell. I’ve had worse beatings from Chief Rybeck in our daily training sessions than I took from those damn dogs. I’ll be good as gold in a few hours.” Toni and Chaska can both see that he is exaggerating a little bit, probably trying to look tough in front of the Saint. He did suffer a pretty nasty mauling, and his armor will take some time to heal.

That is, it would if it weren’t for the healing powers of Saint Karen. She takes a step over to Axel and opens her cloak to expose the writhing mass of tentacles around her waist. She offers him a smile, saying, “You are such a brave man to risk your life for mine. Let me help ease your pain as only a Saint can.”

He nods and lies back against the wall of the tunnel, and the tentacles begin to perform their delicate surgery to repair the damage done. As she is working, Saint Karen looks at Toni and says, “Rest easy, and know that Axel will be fine shortly. When I’m done healing him, I can do the same for you, madam Dreadlord, if you still content to it.”

 

[Sherwood]

Eonivar In addition to the Perception roll, give me a Field Surgery roll, and for every 5% you make the roll by, add that to your Perception roll.

 

[Eonivar]

Jin disengages her stealth field so she could use her hands better in looking over the fallen Packmaster. She then carefully looks him over.

Field Surgery 45% = 1D100 Roll = 15% = +6 additional to Perception from Skill Roll
Jin's perception = +8+6 = +14 = 1D20+14 = 3+14 = 17 Perception

 

[Sherwood]

Looking at the stunned Packmaster, Jin can see that this is a slim and athletic woman. At first glance, all you notice is that she has a chest and head wound and that they are bleeding pretty bad. That isn’t as big of a surprise as the faint glint of metal wires woven in her scalp that penetrate deep into her head! From birth, every human alive has been conditioned that any metal contact equals death. The only exception to that rule are the techno-jackers that can control machinery with a touch, but at the cost of not being able to meld with Host Armor like you have. This, though, is a whole different animal. Even one of the techno-jackers couldn’t survive getting this kind of implant and live.

As you look at her, her eyes snap open and she offers up a bloody smile, saying, “We are Legion, and soon you will be one with us.”

 

[Eonivar]

Jin jumps back...shocked...

"This one is possessed by the machine!!"

and she then fires point blank with her heat cannon at the woman possessed by the machine

 

[Sherwood]

The weapon fires, and with no chance of missing you hit her directly in the chest, blowing her armor apart and killing her.

Axel jumps up with his rifle in hand, frantically looking to find a target that Jin is firing on. The comment that she was possessed by the Machine slowly sinks in and he lowers his weapon. He walks over and looks down at the mess at Jin’s feet and says, “What the hell? How is that even possible?!? I thought that the nano plague turned all metal against us! It’s why humans developed the bio-armor and weapons we have today!”

Saint Karen walks over and kneels down next to the woman’s body but does not touch it. “You are correct, Mr Axel. Only in very old stories have I ever even heard of something like this. People used to be able to make artificial limbs and perform delicate operations that we use bio-tech for today. Now, that world only lead to a quick and painful death. This is not anything that I have ever heard the Machine do before. This has to be new.”

 

[Eonivar]

Jin takes deep breaths trying not to hyperventilate...she staggers back and leans against the wall.

"It...it was in-in-in-sss-sside her skull...c-controlling h-her like a puppet...it w-was like a metal parasite...a-and and and she was in a Host Suit..."

It was a mixture of fear, anger, sorrow...and settled down some, trying to stay calm and in control.

"I had performed medical services on many people, I have been witness to many atrocities the Machine has performed...and I have seen the human result of these atrocities....but...but I have never seen anything like that,,,"

 

[Purr]

As the horrific scene unfolds, Chaska does what Chaska does best - he tries to find the reality of the situation and then takes the proper action most likely to result in survival!

"JinLi!" Chaska opens WyldKat just long enough to stare into Jin's face. "Come back! Stay together! You must win against fear... if you do not, then Machine make you die! Fight this, JinLi!"

The Deliveryman begins to search through the enemy leader's belongings - specifically for intel. He'll take whatever portable items appear useful, but the House Artemis Splicer feels this might be the only chance they get to learn anything further.

"Toni!" he says over the Bio-Comms, "we must flee! Battle-sound down here; everything near know we here now! Including any enemy reinforcement!"

“Rest easy, and know that Axel will be fine shortly. When I’m done healing him, I can do the same for you, madam Dreadlord, if you still content to it.”

Chaska looks up once as he is searching. "SaintKaren? Toni is not broke - JinLi is broke. You can help JinLi?"

If Chaska is finished searching the leader, he moves to quickly do the same with the Packmaster, all the while asking Woodstock to keep his senses open for any sign of new enemies. He is ready to move at the first hint of a command.

"Toni! We must go! To stay long is to die!"

 

[Psychie]

At first, Toni is shocked that Jin is willing to fire on a helpless enemy, and she jumps up and is ready to try and subdue her. Then it sinks in that she is yelling about the person being 'possessed by the Machine'. She’s heads over with concern, saying, “What are you talking about? What the hell?”

If she is able to see the wires, her borderline anger with Jin fades instantly. “Oh God. This? This is so not good. We have got to report this. But to do so, we have got to get out of here. Axel! Can you travel in your condition? We have got to move. Grab what we can from here and lets go!"

 

[Sherwood]

Toni can see the metal wires sticking out of the hole in the woman's chest and a metal plate under the scalp, shining in the dim light of your bio luminescent lamps. Saint Karen looks up from her position keeling down next to the body and says, "This is a horrid abomination that House Artemis needs to know about, but we still have the injured people of the settlement to help. Can this wait until we help the wounded survivors of the attack?"


Purr
As Toni, Karen and Jin talk, Chaska quickly searches the body of the other person in Host Armor. He finds a durable shell pouch on the back of the armor that takes a bit of muscle to pry open, and when you do, you find several papers folded up neatly in envelopes, three of them to be exact. Do you take them out to examine them here, or do you wait?

 

[Purr]

Do you take them out to examine them here, or do you wait?

Wait. Keep the papers in the shell pouch.

Are there any portable weapons, money, or anything else of value on these two?

 

[Sherwood]

There is a small pile of credit chits, probably about 1,000 dollars worth, several days worth of concentrated protein cubes on each (but the ones on the body of the Packmaster are covered in blood - ew!), a handheld Heavy Pod Rifle (Splicers book, pg 136), two Light Cell Laser Pistols (Splicers book, pg 133), an Acid Edged Short Sword (pg 131), and six Chig explosive grenades.

 

[Purr]

There is a small burlap camouflage carry bag that is not organic so it wouldn't trigger the nano-plague response of the metal.

"Toni! Distribute?" Chaska points at the goods before drawing his own acid-edged blade. This he uses to neatly decapitate the Packmaster, cauterizing any bleeding done by the head via the Mega-damage acid. Once done, he carefully deposits the head into the burlap carry bag and ties it neatly shut so that it will not fall out.

Chaska's gray eyes are wide when he asks and listens. "We flee now, yes?"

 

[Sherwood]

Axel nods in agreement, and answers Toni’s question with, “Yes, ma’am. I can travel well enough that you’ll have trouble keeping up with me. Let’s get a move on!”

Karen looks worried and a bit grossed out at Chaska cutting off the head of the woman and stuffing it into the sack but says nothing about it, knowing that proof of what has happened here is important.

She then looks to Toni and says, “It seems we are ready to vacate the area.” She waits for Toni’s direction before moving on. She is clearly spooked by your discovery.

 

[Psychie]

Toni watches as Charla takes head of the dead Packmaster without comment. Then once he’s done securing the head, she says, “Move out and look for a way to the surface. More room to hide up there. No need for quiet; that fight announced us to anything in these tunnels for miles. Axel, stick close to Saint Karen. She is still our priority. Best speed but be careful. We have no idea what’s out there, waiting for us.”

 

[Eonivar]

Jin was lost in a haze of sound and lights until Chaska came...

"JinLi!" Chaska opens WyldKat just long enough to stare into Jin's face. "Come back! Stay together! You must win against fear... if you do not, then Machine make you die! Fight this, JinLi!"

Jin looks up at Chaska and gives a heavy nod.

“Ok Chaska, I will keep going, I will watch our backs”

Jin reengages her stealth field and proceeds to take up the rear of the squadron. The image of the leering dead woman possessed by the machine was stuck in Jin's mind. Jin was not ok, but she had a job to do so she tried to push ipast it and focus on what she needed to do for the Saint to survive.

 

[Sherwood]

Moving quickly, you find that there is a freshly dug hole in the ceiling of the tunnel leading up to the surface about a quarter mile out; probably the entrance point of the two people that attacked you from the front. There is light at the end of the hole, showing that you are fairly close to the surface, probably forty or fifty feet down, and the opening is large enough to move up top to the surface one at a time.

The alternative is to continue along the sewer line you are currently in until it branches out. What do you do?

 

[Purr]

Chaska eyes the hole with a mixture of suspicion and curiosity. Chig-spear at the ready, he aims it at the hole.

"Toni? You want Chaska an' Woo'stock check surface? Maybe divide gear?"

 

[Psychie]

Toni eyes the opening, wondering if they take the tunnel if they would be walking into a trap. She thinks for a moment, then says, “Yes. Use extreme caution. There might be any number of things up there just waiting for us. Everyone else, hold here and wait for Chaska and Woodstock to report back.”

 

[Purr]

Chaska grins and nods to Toni. He has been using extreme caution long before he even knew what a Splicer was, and he has it to thank for his survival. He has never known any other kind of life. She may as well be asking him to breathe.

As he intently studies the hole, he thinks aloud over the Bio-comms. "Ah... Pistols to SaintKaren? To hide under tentacles? Chaska can have 3 chig?"

Chaska activates his Stealth Field and asks Woodstock to hide under his Camouflage. Using his Echo-location, motion detection, and Enhanced Hearing, Chaska prowls up near the hole.

"Woo'stock?" he asks his beloved battle-birb, "Check-see?"

If Woodstock gives the all-clear, Chaska stealthily proceeds above.

 

[Sherwood]

Woodstock takes flight and zips up into the sky to begin a careful examination of the surrounding area. He is highly intelligent, but he does not communicate in the same way as a human does. But after being a team for so long, Chaska is able to interpret what message he is trying to send. Right now, he sends back a set of impressions that there is no immediate danger, but something is wrong. Something about bad air, or perhaps the battle birb means . . . smoke? He says nothing about a fire nearby, and your Host Armor suits are able to filter the air so it won’t be any trouble to breathe in it.

Do you go up to investigate further?

 

[Purr]

Do you go up to investigate further?

Chaska does, but first he reaches into hias pack for the folded notes in the shell. With plenty of care, Chaska removes the notes and reads them with the intention of then showing them to Toni.

 

[Sherwood]

Chaska does, but first he reaches into hias pack for the folded notes in the shell. With plenty of care, Chaska removes the notes and reads them with the intention of then showing them to Toni.

The first note is a detailed multi-level map of the area showing not only the above ground terrain features, but also a large number of underground passages, some of which indicate they go miles deep. There is a pair of hastily hand made notes on one of the papers showing the location of the cavern that you are going to with Saint Karen and the party most likely to be used by your squad to get her there.

The second and third envelopes both have papers in them, but they are written in some sort of code because it is just a jumble of seemingly random letters, numbers and symbols making them up. Given some time to work and the Cryptography skill, it might be possible to crack the ciphers and read the letters in the clear. But it will take some time to do so, probably hours or even longer depending on who made the code.