Splicers - I Am Legion - IC Thread

[Purr]

Eonivar Mirgris One of Hearts Psychie Sherwood

Chaska is already exploring the monorail tube for anything out of the ordinary. "Battle Track..." his oddly accented voice comes softly and proudly over the Bio-Comms. "Battle Track fight well, die properly! Lance, Pretty Birb, strike good!"

His Host Armor rematerializes in the gloom as he turns off his Stealth Field and asks Woodstock to power down his camouflage. Briefly, the left hand on his Host Armor curls into a thumbs-up.

"But now? Must find way..."

Spoiler: Mood music

"Ghost in The Shell - Nightstalker (extended)"

Axel turns on his light and looks around. "Well now. I guess we won't be going back unless we want to dig our way out, and with as unstable as the rock is up there from all those missiles, it might cause an even bigger cave-in. And it would seem that we're safe, at least for the moment."

"No! No return. No dig." Chaska warns over the Bio-Comms.

Remaining perfectly still, he activates WyldKat's Glow Cell in ultraviolet and switches his sight to ultraviolet vision. Able to see in that virtually invisible spectrum, he takes in every available detail. He also activates WyldKat's Echo-location to hear what he cannot see. He feels along with her Sensitive Whiskers. Not content with just looking, he is observing and thus, learning.

"Dig make sound, JodiAxel. Stir earth and dust. Machine rememba site. Notice. Set ambush. Then you die."

He supposed introducing himself wouldn't be too bad. "I'm private Gus Barber. A pleasure to meet you, thanks for the help, probably wouldn't have made it out without you."

"You no die, GusBarber. Is more pleasure to meet you alive."

Chaska does not waste a moment, but patiently, steathily, and quietly sets off down the tube with Woodstock on his shoulder, watching and listening with him. Taking no chances, he and Woodstock are like two feral animals prowling carefully in unknown and dangerous territory. He does not wait to see if he is being followed by anyone else.

"Must find way," he repeats in a whisper over the Bio-Comms as he travels.

 

[Sherwood]

Axel looks over at Chaska as he speaks, probably wondering if he's being made fun of with the use of his first name. Then, he seems to ease off of the level of suspicion he had when you talk to Gus and also link his first and last name together, then he shrugs as if to say, 'It is what it is.'

The Roughneck speaks up, "I would suggest we get away from the remnants of the tunnel opening. We have to assume that the Machine knows that at least some of us are alive down here, and will be looking for a way to get to us." He switches his glow cell to shine in ultraviolet light, letting the enhanced optics of his Host Armor assist him in seeing. "We can talk while we walk." He then says, "We are stationed on the Kraken, too. I think I remember meeting some of you before Echelon Squad was deployed. It feels a bit better knowing we are comrades in arms instead of just a random bunch of mooks."

He then says, "We were deployed about three weeks ago to do some intelligence work. There is, well, was a small town of 180 people that the Machine had rounded up and stuffed them into a Ghost Town, making them live there as prisoners. House Artimis had a Resistance cell infiltrate the place, and was delivering reports on the movements of the Machine in the area. Things were going fine up until a few weeks back when their last report was late. We couldn't make any kind of contact with the Resistance members there at all, so wee were sent out to see for ourselves what had happened. What we found was strange. Everyone in the town was gone. No bodies, just a few spots of blood here and there, with lots of robot tracks in the dirt all over the place. We were getting set to trail the robots path, but we were jumped by a rather sizable contingent of combat bots. Lt. Fraizer ordered us to get the hell out of there and find some way to report our findings when he . . . sacrificed himself to slow the robots enough for us to make a break for it. That was three days ago, and we've been on the run from a literal shit-ton of robots out to get us."

"I don't suppose there is any officers or NCOs to take command? I'd feel much better if we had a cohesive command structure here. I just want to know what the hell to do now."

 

[Eonivar]

Jin had walked in through the tunnel last before it was collapsed by the strafing of the skyfighters. Her olive colored armor shimmered back into opaqueness as the dust fell about them as she stepped nonchalantly away from the cave in. She was quiet as she listened to first Toni, then Gus..then she watched Chaska and then finally Axel who provided the information on their mission and findings.

It was always strange to Jin to have these conversations with their expressionless Host Suits.

She spoke up over the Bio-comms, her slightly accented alto voice spoke up...."Hey I remember you guys, I did not realize you were called Cerberus squadron, you must of gotten the name after we left a month or so ago. You are correct Axel, no one outranks anyone else here..." She paused. "To refresh your memories, I am Jin Li, Roughneck, Sniper and Medic of Echelon Squad, or what is left of it anyway, we met when you guys came aboard the Kraken."

Her voice coupled with her and her host suit's height would que the memories of Cerberus squadron of the tall, gaunt, muscular and utterly hairless Asian woman they met when they first boarded the Kraken.

 

[Psychie]

Toni wracks her memory in an effort to put names and faces together, but is finding it hard to do so. Ah, well. "Ok, we seem to have only one way to go. I know you guys have intel that needs to be delivered to the Kraken, but the odds of you getting back there in one piece is greatly improved if we all work together. We are on a mission to test out a new bit of bio-tech. I don't know if you are aware, but the Kamikaze Worms, while very powerful, only have a range of a few miles. We are testing out a means to be able to direct the Worms farther inland to be able to strike targets from the Kraken far off the coast. We have five more days to get to the industrial facility, sneak in, and plant our organic targets for the Worms to lock in on and observe how effective they are. I can't call rank on you guys, but if you stick with us, we increase our chances of getting in and out to our rendezvous with the Kraken are greatly increased. We can then all get back to the Kraken in one piece. What do you say?"

 

[One of Hearts]

Gus' voice was low and a bit scratchy over the coms, but it was his voice. "Survival sounds nice." He had already had one close call, his head still ached a bit from it to remind him. "We can find a superior later. For now, the mission is to survive." He looked at his team, and the new team. They handled the machine pretty well before he even got into the mix. There was a higher chance of survival together. Not that splitting up even seemed a viable option now.

 

[Purr]

Eonivar Mirgris One of Hearts Psychie Sherwood

Spoiler: Mood Music

"Ghost in the Shell - Ghost City" from the Ghost in the Shell OST

"I don't suppose there is any officers or NCOs to take command? I'd feel much better if we had a cohesive command structure here. I just want to know what the hell to do now."

"Follow me, JodiAxel."

It is Chaska's voice over the Bio-Comms. Being that Bio-Comms are a telepathic-like form of sympathetic vibrations, Chaska's voice is his mental voice, not his physical voice - every word crystal clear - one thought to another in an ideal bridge of communication unheard by the Machine. Such was the wonder of Splicer technology.

Gus' voice was low and a bit scratchy over the coms, but it was his voice. "Survival sounds nice." He had already had one close call, his head still ached a bit from it to remind him. "We can find a superior later. For now, the mission is to survive."

"No." Chaska's mental voice sounds determined and sure.

"If you come with Cerberus, we form pack. If want survive, pack must have alpha. One direction - not eight." Anyone doing the math might note that the humans in the group added up to six. What was left? The birds. Chaska was counting the War Birds not as mere pets, but as true team members, equally worthy of respect as the humans.

"Chaska will lead this mission. But only if all of you agree to three. You too, Toni. Lance.

"First, follow Chaska example. Undastand. All that I do, I do for ChiefRybeck. No other. So no argue during mission. Save it for after-mission aboard Kraken.

"Second, you have problem? Come to me. We solve together. I no can fix unless I know broken.

"Third, you start think of what is best for pack, first. What is best for you, second. Think like pack, we succeed like pack. Think only for self? We die alone.

"Undastand? Everyone agree?"

Chaska and Woodstock have not ceased their progress - step by step, breath by breath, he is offering this while taking point into the monorail tube - into the dangerous unknown.

 

[Psychie]

Toni looks down the tunnel at the receding form of Chaska's back with a new appreciation. She is liking this take-charge attitude from him. She says, "Well, since Chief Rybeck didn't appoint one of us as squad leader, it remains up to us to come up with a leader. I have no objections to it being you. Having one voice determining our course of action cannot be a bad thing, so long as you are willing to take our input with your decisions."

 

[Purr]

Having one voice determining our course of action cannot be a bad thing, so long as you are willing to take our input with your decisions."

One direction - not eight."

Chaska pauses. Seems to consider. Then he resumes.

Over the Bio-Comms, you hear his reply.

"Eight voices. One direction."

 

[Sherwood]

Axel hefts his rifle and sets it against his shoulder and sets out down the tunnel. "Yeah. I sure as hell don't want to be in charge. I've seen too many people go nuts when they get hit with the responsibility of command, and I don't want that stress. You want it; go for it."

 

[Eonivar]

Jin tilted their head slightly looking over at Chaska the Deliveryman. There was a inborn unease that rose up in Jin at the strange man who had spent most of their life on the surface unlike herself who had been born and raised in the darkest, lowest levels of the Artemis Resistance Enclave. Even his voice made him almost alien to Jin, almost as alien to Jin as the Machines. And he just took command with input from one of his friends, Toni, a young Dreadguard by the look of her armor similar to Gus, and the always follower Axel. The Outrider, Lance, who she had spoken some with on the Krakan had not said anything yet.

Jin took a deep breath calming her emotions and feelings and focused on the situation logically. She felt that the six (eight including the griffin and hawk) of them staying together was a prudent move given the danger of the Machine above (and potentially below here). Cerberus' mission seemed like a worthy one. It would make sense for one of Cerberus to be in charge since it was their mission that is the priority at the moment, and given it is a deep infiltration mission, the Deliveryman would be the best choice for leading the team in this situation.

-"It's Cerberus' mission, and I agree that Chaska would be the best to lead in a deep surface infiltration. I am happy to accompany and provide support in whatever way needed."-

Jin then focused her senses down the tunnel to monitor in case something was coming up on them.

 

[One of Hearts]

"Eight voices, one direction." Gus repeated. "I'm pretty sure I can get behind that. Whomever wants to lead the eight of us though...heavy is the head with the crown..." Gus wasn't at all interested in leading. Sure he could if needed, but he'd rather mow down the enemy and not have to think if given the choice. Anyone that was interested was more than welcome to. Gus looked at his team and for a moment, his heart reached out to them. They had just lost their commander, and already they're forced to move on. It bothered Gus a bit but survival and completing the mission comes first. They could honor and remember the dead another time.

 

[Mirgris]

Lance has been ignoring most of the conversation. Such is his way. After all he just had a short, but intense fight so he fusses over the feathers on his better half and checks over his weapons and armor.

Placing the lance back onto his mount he looks to them as the conversation slows to a lull and he finds the others looking to him. He takes a seconds and his bone plated and spike covered armor seems to shift slightly on him. A living thing reacting to his emotions? Or simply something adjusting to his body, who knows. He takes a second to consider but the full face helmet covers any expression as he draws his sword off his mount and onto his back.

"Animals don't actually have alphas most of the time. However, I do agree that the scout should take charge of sneaking through tunnels and such. It's hardly where my expertise shines. Once we see open combat once more, that may be worth reconsidering. I am a proud son of House Altamont I will do as duty compels, let us not waste time here debating such things and instead focus on what matters, killing enough machines that humanity once again sleep free under the stars."

 

[Purr]

I am a proud son of House Altamont I will do as duty compels, let us not waste time here debating such things and instead focus on what matters, killing enough machines that humanity once again sleep free under the stars."

In an unbothered tone, Chaska casually reminds. "We Cerberus. ChiefRybeck call us his gorehounds. I think this mean we pack, not individuals." In sharing his point of view, Chaska's calm voice sounds like that of a thoughtful philosopher.

"But no want pack? Then no pack. No need Chaska lead anyone. Continue as before. Did well enough."

Chaska continues on, making his point by getting a move-on and focusing on getting to the facility. The Machine knew they were here. He keeps scouting for the sake of the mission and the word of honor he solemnly gave to Chief Rybeck.

"Mmm." The group did not seem to latch onto his three important conditions for leadership. Young Chaska feels he set those conditions to provide a bedrock for discipline - this was the way of his House Apollo. Discipline. Without discipline, what was the point of leading? Chaska was not about to be responsible for a bunch who simply wanted someone else to lead. That is how it looked to him.

He knows he could be wrong about his interpretation - after all, social skills were never Chaska's strong point - but he finds himself wanting to spend the time getting everyone to safety instead of standing and chatting about it down here. Chaska feels Lance is right about taking action instead of debating.

His tone grows more serious for a moment as he labors on in the dark unknown. Chaska returns to thinking aloud over the Bio-Comms, mostly to himself.

"Clear to here. Come. Must find way... Machine know Cerberus here now. Is bad for mission. And for us. Must find way..."

 

[Eonivar]

Upon Chaska's signal Jin moves up next to Chaska.

-"We are right behind you, I will move up and check the next curve in the tunnel, cover me."-

Jin then moved forward quietly, her footsteps silent as her form disappears into a slight translucent blur in the dark as she engages her stealth field, slowly moving forward towards the next curve , her eyes, ears, and motion sensors alert for anything.

 

[Purr]

Upon Chaska's signal Jin moves up next to Chaska.

-"We are right behind you, I will move up and check the next curve in the tunnel, cover me."-

Jin then moved forward quietly, her footsteps silent as her form disappears into a slight translucent blur in the dark as she engages her stealth field, slowly moving forward towards the next curve , her eyes, ears, and motion sensors alert for anything.

"O.K., JinLi." Eonivar Psychie

Chaska and Woodstock pause. He uses the pause to digest what he has learned while keeping his UV vision and Echo-location active. Chaska readies his Spore Discharger and covers Jin. Though she's shrouded by the Stealth Field, he tries to mentally tag her footsteps to know her location - no Stealth Field he knows of hides the effects of gravity and tracks left in the earth.

"JinLi?" he asks as the WyldKat's Sensitive Whiskers caress the nearby wall. "Chaska Host Armor use ultraviolet, Echo-location, and whiskas." His question sounds almost as curious as a child's. "What JinLi Host Armor use to sense?"

 

[Eonivar]

Jin reaches the designated point at the turn of the tunnel, pauses a few seconds to make sure her field was in place and then peers around the bend.

-"Well...I have the standard suite, night vision, eagle like vision, enhanced hearing...and for places like this one which is very close in, I have an enhanced motion sense. I am just a Roughneck so I do not get the extra enhancements that the Dreadguards do, just a little bit more training or so we are told. More training for the cannon fodder. What i have is sufficient I suppose, if I survive maybe I can get some more eyes or other enhancements, if I survive that is...you do not want to hear the numbers on the survival rates for Roughnecks...I guess I should not complain too much though..I am still alive"-

Jin looks down the cavernous sewer line, she had her Bio-Energy Rifle out peering down the blackened cavern.

-"This place reminds me of home, dark, smells of human waste, neglected, unkept...looks clear, Squad move up to Chaska's current position, after they get there Chaska move ahead of me, I will watch your back."-

 

[Sherwood]

Several miles go by without event, with Jin and Chaska leap-frogging one another ahead of the rest of the squad. By now, all the missiles fired off by Gus against the Battle Track have regrown, leaving you once more with a full complement of projectiles. Everyone is at full MDC and ammo.

Jin is in the lead this time as she sees some faint moving lights up ahead. You are not alone down in the tunnels, and you don't yet know what you have ahead of you. Eonivar

 

[Eonivar]

The silence had Jin on edge in their journey down the dark tunnel except for the regular communications over the Bio-Comms, mainly between her and Chaska as the new combined unit moved up the Sewer Line, they did very well in not making much noise if any at all.

Jin felt the others up come behind her. She had gotten used to their individual movements and could tell each one just through their motions. Now, it was her turn to move up again. Jin wondered how long this sewer line went. She could feel where Chaska was up ahead through her motion sensors up until he stopped, his physical form rendered visially invisible by his own stealth field. On Chaska's acknowledgement and 'all clear', she then moved up herself, passing by him and moving about 60 feet ahead, stopping and peering down the dark tunnel. She paused listening, feeling, watching the dark when something crept into the limit of her nightvision. Lights. She instinctually froze while standing along the wall on the right side of the sewer line, peering down the barrel of her bio-energy rifle.

Over the Bio-comms Jin's voice sounded with urgency.

-"VISUAL CONTACT! Faint lights moving in the distance, range is currently indeterminate. I cannot tell at this point if they are moving towards us or away from us, and I am not certain if whatever it is has seen us yet, my gut feeling says 'no'. Orders? "-

 

[One of Hearts]

Gus felt a bit excited, more things to shoot perhaps? It seems everything was ready for a big fight again. Perhaps he could get more actions. But he said nothing. He wasn't in charge. He was just ready to charge if told that was the plan.

 

[Purr]

VISUAL CONTACT! Faint lights moving in the distance, range is currently indeterminate. I cannot tell at this point if they are moving towards us or away from us, and I am not certain if whatever it is has seen us yet, my gut feeling says 'no'. Orders? "-

"Calm, JinLi. Energy is contagious."

Chaska's "bio-voice" is unworried and unhurried. "Use energy in combat, in training. Otherwise conserve. No want get tired too soon, yes?"

Spoiler: OOC quote source.

"Energy is contagious."
Neil Peart from Rush. =)
Chain Lightning on their album, Presto.

JinLi had so far been a good teammate. She seemed responsible, communicative, and she acted like a teammate. Silently, Chaska appreciated this. Chaska was looking forward to seeing how these new Splicers would do under fire.

"No leader, no orders. To each of us our own gifts."

Displaying an example of his own gifts, Chaska crouches low and creeps ahead to Jin's position. Once there, he quietly assumes prone position and crawls like a predator. Cycling through WyldKat's sensory options, Chaska tries to get a gauge on the distance, the numbers, what WyldKat's ears and echo-location tell him, listening, and any other details he can learn about the unknown force.

He looks for tracks on the ground; the fresher, the better. He requests Woodstock to silently observe and to make him aware of anything he might miss.

Humans need light to see; not so the Machine. Who or what do the lights belong to? What do the owners of the lights seem to be doing?

 

[Sherwood]

Keeping low and moving slow, Chaska advances until he can see the source of the lights. There is a large chamber ahead of you, a rough half-sphere 250 feet across and high, with a flat ground surface. It may have been some kind of pumping station once a long time ago, but the hardware that used to be here is long since gone.

What you can see with your normal vision is four people in lightweight host armor, probably Roughneck-level suits, all with some kind of bio-illumination on their suits to allow them to see in the normal visual spectrum. But, when you try using your echo-location, you get something else entirely. There are two hulking shapes in here with the four men that are not visible to normal sight. Quite likely they have some kind of stealth field on that is like what you have in your own suit. The hulking shapes are both about fifteen feet tall, making them bigger than even a Dreadguard's Host Armor; probably some kind of War Mount.

The six figures that you can detect on your echo-location are slowly moving around in the chamber, obviously searching for something.

Purr OOC I don't think that there is a Lore skill for human tech, so I'm going to give you a chance with the Machine Lore skill instead. Do you have it, and if so, at what percentile?

 

[Sherwood]

Every boy and girl are taught from an early age to fear the Machine. That is second nature to anyone living in this world. But there are other demons out there, demons that are just as scary as the Machine, maybe even more so, since they are human.

There are many Great Houses out there, and not all of them are allies to one another or to House Artemis. But despite their differences, most still fight against the Machine and not one another. That is not true of all. There is one House that fights as much against their fellow humans as they do against the Machine. House Shiva. Born of blood and strife, House Shiva has turned away from cooperative efforts and seek to unite the world under their rule, and they do not hesitate to attack their fellow humans to make this possible. They have even gone as far as making a special breed of War Mount that is designed to hunt Splicers as well as any Machine forces that cross their path.

These War Mounts are called Abominations for a reason, and they are universally hated and feared by anyone not of House Shiva. There is a standing order in House Artemis to eliminate any of these horrid monsters whenever possible.



What is known about these monsters? They are carnivores, hunting down their prey with the use of Stealth Fields to be able to stalk and close in on their targets before lashing out with various tentacles to pull in their target and begin feeding, usually without the benefit of letting their food die first. They have acid for blood, and can spit it at their targets to cause intensive wounds. These are very bad news.

What do you do?

 

[Psychie]

Not knowing what was up ahead, when Jin and Chaska said that they spotted something, Toni drops prone and freezes in place, trusting that her camouflage would be able to help keep her hidden.

 

[Eonivar]

Jin listened and stretched out with her motion sensors while also peering through the gloom with her passive nightvision, making out four presences in light host armor....

-"I am making out four humanoids in roughneck level light Host Armor, by their design they appear to be House Shiva, I cannot tell that there is anyone else with them. Chaska? I know your sensors are better than mine, do you see anything else with them?"-

Jin thought a moment. -"House Shiva...hmm...give me a minute, I am going to try something I did in training and try to patch in to their Bio-Comms."-

Jin tool a deep breath and then focused on the biological apparatus built in their Host Armor designed received the sympathetic vibrations transmitted by a special organ that was built into their suits. The organ transmitted the vibrations at a specific frequency based on the build of the organ, each of the Houses had their own version and builds of Bio-Comms and they could be adjusted so different teams could have their own Bio-Comm frequency. During her training about how Bio-Comm's worked, Jin had a developed an idea to see if they could adjust and manipulate the range of frequencies their Bio-Comms in their suits received in order to pick up other House's Bio-Comm signals.

She began to manipulate the Bio-Comm's receiver in her suit to see if she could pick up the House Shiva's squardon's own Bio-Comms.

OOC Jin's Bio-Comm's Skill is 55%, Jin is going to use 1 (of 6, 5 left) Action points on this roll.

Action Point Roll is a 4, so the roll is at +20%, so with the Action Point, Jin's Bio-Comm's skill is at 75%.

Dice roll is 46%

 

[Sherwood]

Taking some time, Jin is able to finagle her Bio-Comm to be able to listen in on the conversation between the group ahead of you.

Voice #1: "See anything?"

Voice #2: "Nawp. Nothing."

Voice #3: "We've been down here for what seems like hours. How much longer are we going to be searching for this wild goose? We're wasting our time."

Voice #1: "What, you got something better to do? Shaddap and keep looking."

This brings the chatter to a close as the four people range around the room, shining their lights on the ground as they search for whatever it is that they're looking for.