Splicers - I Am Legion - IC Thread

[Psychie]

Toni slowly lowers her rifle as she watches the wounded animal limp away, leading the rest of the pack. She says, “Hold your fire. No need to kill it unless it comes back and wants a rematch.”

She checks her radar for any sign of approaching robotic foes that were drawn to the sound of the fighting. In any case, Toni says, “Time to move out. This position is compromised. Gather up your gear and be ready to march in five minutes. We’ll find somewhere else to rest. Move to live, people.”

 

[Purr]

"Chaska copy."

Chaska stands down and gives an until-now audible sigh of relief. Having no gear to gather up, he assumes his position watching the party's back as Tail-end Charlie and covers everyone until Cerberus + Friends are ready to move on.

 

[Sherwood]

When Toni checks her radar, she can see that there are several robotic aircraft flying nearby, but their path doesn't indicate that they are aware of the fight that just took place. Leaving here is still probably a good idea, but to do so safely, you'll need to stick to the ground or else you could be discovered by the multitude of aircraft in the area. It was a good call for the squad to keep from using their louder weapons or else you'd have been drawing in an unwanted Machine presence.

Moving along, it takes another full day of travel for the squad to get to the tunnel and cave complex that makes up the safe nest of Avalon. The underground entrance is guarded by a pair of Dreadguards and a Bombardier controlling a quartet of Mantis Cannons. They greet you with a genuinely friendly attitude with handshakes and fist-bumps. One of the guards says, "Welcome home, Cerberus Squad. We've been waiting for you. Word of your arrival has been sent ahead, and we've received word to have you wait here for your escort."

Just as promised, two Splicers in their Host Armor and wearing the distinctive robes of the Royal Guards come walking up. Only the best of the best of the Dreadguard are ever offered positions in the Royal Guard, so it is natural for everyone to show them a high level of respect whenever dealing with them. These two guards offer up respectful bows, and indicate that you should follow them. "Please, come with us. We've been tasked with escorting you to the meeting chamber where Warlord Artemis and the Senate are already waiting for you."

The usually packed and bustling hallways quiet down and part ways for the Royal Guard, making it much faster for you to make your way to the meeting room. It isn't like you need directions through the halls to find your way or that you would dawdle and get lost; it is more likely that Warlord Artemis wants you there in the meeting as soon as possible. Time is of the essence with the threat of Legion looming high in the background.

Warlord Artemis’ chamber is sealed by a pair of twenty foot tall, polished oak doors, but the Royal Guards’ powerful suits of Host Armor allow them to push these heavy doors open with ease. As the group enters the chamber, they see a heated discussion already taking place. The guards motion the group to remain in the doorway until they are addressed. Warlord Artemis the Fourth is sitting at the far end of a massive table that is large enough to seat thirty. Seated around this table is the entire Senate, twenty of the most heroic Dreadguards within House Artemis. These legendry warriors have served their House with distinction for decades and now they are Warlord Artemis’ most trusted advisors. They are arguing ferociously about how to handle the current crisis as Warlord Artemis looks on intently.

As the group waits to give your report, you glance around the chamber. The room itself is circular with polished marble walls and a high, domed ceiling. The walls are covered with more of the same silk tapestries and marble statues that lined the hallway leading in. The chamber is basically empty except for the finely crafted table sitting in the center of the room and the twenty Royal Guards standing motionless along the walls. The room is well lit by dozens of organic glow cells, but the way they are arranged casts a series of shadows that adds to the ominous and intimidating feeling of the room. Warlord Artemis allowed the discussion to continue for a few minutes after the squad arrives, but he eventually raises a single hand to silence the room.

Once the room falls silent, the Warlord motions for the members of Cerberus to approach the table. With a voice that carries in the chamber, the Warlord says, "Welcome, Cerberus. We have been waiting for you to report in on what happened at New Harrisburg. Please. Enlighten us."

Purr Psychie celestialbody Eonivar

 

[Psychie]

Toni feels the tightness in her throat as the focus of the room turns to her. She takes a step forward and clears her throat, trying to muster the courage to face the Warlord and the assembled Senate. Finally, she says, "Sir, there is a new threat out there, a new personality of the Machine that calls herself Legion. The attempt to destroy the mobile base of operation that the warriors of House Deluvane called the Factory Walker was a complete failure, and we barely escaped with our lives to tell the tale. Sir, the scientists on the Kraken have come up with a bio-recorder that we had operating during the attempt on the Walker, and we have many copies of the whole event with us. It will be much faster to take the time to review the bio-recording we have than for us to relate our impressions of the fight." Toni takes the bio-recorder in hand and offers it up to the Warlord, waiting for him to ask for it before approaching him.

 

[Sherwood]

Warlord Artimes motions for Toni to approach him, and he holds out his hand to take the bio-recorder from you. "Thank you, Sergeant. We have received messages from Chief Rybeck of the Kraken about these creations, and in his messages, he informed us that there were going to be copies of the mission sent along with you. We will take the time for all members of the Senate to review the images of the mission before we proceed." At this point, he takes the recorder and hooks it to his bio-com and settles back with his eyes half closed as he quickly reviews the mission. While he does this, the guards that escorted you here go around and recover the extra bio-recorders that were sent along with everyone and hand them to other members of the Senate to also review.

As each person finishes watching the video, they pass on their recorder to another member of the Senate to also watch, and for the most part, everyone is silent as each person tries to assimilate the images into their minds and think about what they just watched. It takes several quiet minutes for everyone to watch the images, then almost as if on cue, the Senate once more erupts into chaotic debate. Some members of the Senate are calling for an immediate immobilization of House Artemis, gathering up their forces for a direct assault on the Walker. Other members call for House Artemis to hunker down and let NEXUS and Legion alone to fight it out and destroy each other. Each side seems to believe that the record that the group have brought in is proof that their idea on how to deal with this threat is the best way.

Warlord Artemis, however, realizes there may be another way. With a wave of his hand, Warlord Artemis once again silences the room. He then stands up from his chair and addresses the Senate.

“While discretion has forced us to live underground, it is only through the strength of our military and merciful luck that we, humanity, continues to survive. Burying our heads in the sand and hoping for this storm to pass would be folly, as would throwing our entire army against an enemy we do not understand. But we must act, and we must act now. Make no mistake, Legion is no... savior. She is not the answer to our prayers, but the harbinger of this planet’s doom. We are the strongest Great House within this Area of Influence, and it is our duty to defuse this threat before Legion becomes unstoppable.

“Judging from your report, the speed and precision with which Legion’s forces fell upon your assault teams suggests that she knew of your presence long before you struck, yet she allowed the attack to proceed anyway. She wanted to deliver a message, and not to insult the talents of your team, but I believe you were allowed to escape so that you could deliver it. She wanted to tell us that she can neutralize our most powerful weapon, but what she doesn’t know is that it’s not our only weapon.”

He pauses momentarily to let the gravity of his suggestion sink in. One of the Senators then interjects, “My Lord, you can’t mean the Shell. I thought it was meant only for the most desperate of circumstances.”

“I would say this qualifies,” Artemis calmly replies. “But it’s not like the Kamikazes. It has no failsafe against organic targets. If House Janus or worse yet, House Shiva got their hands on the genetic code, it would be a greater threat to our security than Legion and N.E.X.U.S. combined.”

Warlord Artemis once again raised his hand and quickly silenced the discussion before any other Senators could inject their opinions. He then continued on, “The risk is great, but you underestimate the danger posed by Legion. N.E.X.U.S. has billions of robots at her disposal and yet she can’t stop Legion. She can’t even slow her down. If the Deluvane Splicers were correct, the Factory Walker is the key. The Shell has the power to take it down, but more importantly, its small size will let our people sneak it through the Walker’s defenses. We just need to activate the Shell’s timer, place it in the path of the Factory Walker, and let Legion casually stroll over it. The blast should rip the Walker to shreds. Perhaps we should use two just to be sure.”

He then addresses the members of Cerberus directly. “That is where you come in. You did great work out there. You not only provided us with invaluable intel, but you went toe-to-toe with Legion’s forces and survived. That pretty much makes you the resident experts. I need you to serve your House in this difficult hour. I need you to place these bombs in Legion’s path.” Artemis then turns his attention back to the Senate, “Assign two of your best Sweepers to their team to handle the Shells, and send Drake Benton as well. His Archangel stealth fighter skills have always been impressive. We need to keep the team small and low-profile or else risk repeating Deluvane’s mistakes, but I also want some firepower on this mission.

“Senator Bane, escort them to the armory and make sure they get everything they need. I want them fully briefed and fully equipped within the hour. Time is of the essence, and I want them mobile the second that Deliveryman reports back on Legion’s position. That’s it. Dismissed.”

With that, the Senators quickly pour out of the room to make preparations as Warlord Artemis and his retinue retires to his personal quarters, leaving Cerberus alone with the grizzled war hero, Senator Bane. Even in his late fifties, the Senator still strikes quite an imposing figure. His six foot, three (1.9 m) frame is still heavily muscled, despite his advanced age. His
weathered face bears the scars from a lifetime of military service, including a vicious looking slash that runs down the entire left side of his face and across his throat. How he survived such a wound is a mystery, but it left him with a voice that sounds like he’s gargling gravel. Perhaps this is the reason he rarely speaks, but the perpetually stern look on his face makes it seem unlikely he was ever the chatty type. He is wearing the same elaborate white and red silk robes worn by the rest of the Senate, but for some reason he just looks out of place in them. He looks just as pristine and regal as his fellow Senators, but he looks more like a front-line soldier playing dress up than a professional politician.

Senator Bane gives each of you a quick look up and down with an almost disgusted look on his face, then turns and starts walking out. If it were not for the uncomfortable silence, the player group might have missed the raspy “let’s go” coming from Senator Bane as he quickly walked away. He leads the group through the twisting tunnels of House Artemis to the
armory without saying another word. As soon as Senator Bane enters the armory, the dozen or so Splicers in the waiting area and the clerk standing behind the long stone counter immediately springs to attention. It is not often that anyone from the Senate strolls into the armory unannounced, so it is unclear if the look of terror on the clerk’s face would have been caused by any Senator or if it is specifically due to Senator Bane. As Bane starts hissing orders at the clerk, you watch the other armory attendants busily going about their business. The unique nature of Bio-Technology means its care and storage is also somewhat unique. Like a standard high-tech armory, all the weapons and equipment are neatly filed away on a series of hundreds of shelves. The difference is that all of these shelves are submerged within an enormous pool of nutrient-rich fluid that keeps these weapons alive. The thick pink liquid is clear enough to allow the players to see the armory attendants in their Proto-Host Armor shuttling weapons and suits of Living Armor to and from their designated storage areas. This is one of the main armories for House Artemis so it is absolutely enormous. Even the somewhat low ceilings in this simple stone chamber cannot hide the massive
size of the cavern.

Turning your attention to Senator Bane, he says to the clerk, "Get these people hooked up. I want six Chig grenades, six Bug Bombs, two Migs, and two Slap Patches for each squad member." He looks over to the members of Cerberus and says, "You are also free to requisition a handheld weapon of choice and a heavy rifle. I see that several of you already have Sidekicks. For those of you that don't have one, you can add one of these symbiotic weapons to your arsenal to be bound to your bio-signature."

OOC for celestialbody and Eonivar If you want to, you can add a Sidekick Rifle to your character sheets, with up to 50 bio-e of upgrades available to them to increase range or firepower. If there is anything different that any of you want, here is your chance.

 

[Psychie]

Toni raises an eyebrow when Warlord Artemis starts to give orders, feeling glad that the leaders of the House are taking this threat seriously. She feels a wave of surprise and a touch of awe when Cerberus is put into the very capable hands of Senator Bane. She gathers up the members of the squad and falls in line behind the man, part of her wanting to ask a million questions of the war hero and get his autograph on something, the other part of her cowed into silence as the older man leads them further down into the depths of Avalon to the armory.

When the Senator tells them to gear up, she doesn't say no, even if there is little need for her to take extra explosives. But when a man of his stature tells you to jump, you jump. Toni takes the time needed to attach the various Chigs, Migs and Bug Bombs to her armor, but doesn't waste any time looking over the rifles knowing that she already has a potent two-handed weapon in the form of her own built-in rifle.

Finally, Toni musters up the courage to ask, "Excuse me, sir, if I may ask, but what is the Shell that the other Senator was talking about?"

 

[Sherwood]

The Senator fires off a glare at Toni and says in a harsh tone, "No you may not. No one here is cleared to hear about it, let alone even hearing the name. Even you and your squad aren't on the Need-to-Know list. Stay quiet and keep your ears open. You'll get your briefing on the Sh . . . that weapon soon enough."

 

[Psychie]

<gulp> What did I just step into? "Understood, sir." At that, she stands at ease, watching and waiting.

 

[Eonivar]

When Jin reentered Avalon she felt as if she did not recognize it anymore, it was a replay of nightmares and memories to her. And she had clearly changed since she had left not too long ago. She felt worse as she was lead to debriefing to the Senate and the Warlord. She just could not find in herself a way to want to like any of them, yes, they fought the machine and have enabled House Artemis and those within to survive...but she remembers all the innocents down below, in the lower levels who were tortured or killed by the gangs and the lack of enforcement there (or even by the corrupted enforcement)

To Jin it was almost as if the Dreadguard treated the lower levels as a place to recruit those who could survive such an ordeal, like herself. But if she was not as smart and physically impressive as she was, there would have been no way they would have recruited her. The protectors of humanity? Do they even know what being human is anymore? Or how a human should be treated or taken care of?

There were good Dreadguard, like Toni. Not everyone is bad, but Jin felt like the rulers of House Artemis were more interested in fighting the machine rather then also making sure they do not kill themselves from within, or even making sure that they do not become what they are fighting. After all is said and done...what will humanity be than just as cruel and heartless as the machine itself? And the concept of this Shell weapon terrified her just based on what was said.

Jin remained silent through the whole ordeal and then escort to the armory. She easily took on the Chigs, Migs, patches, and Bug Bombs into her many pouches built on to her host armor. To the question of having a sidekick...Jin responded trying not to sound indignant but respectful towards the Senator.

"Taking on a sidekick could impair my mobility, stealth capabilities, and capabilities as a sniper. I have cultivated a good balance with this Host Armor. Thus I respectfully decline the Sidekick sir."

 

[celestialbody]

Bellamy stood silently beside the rest of the group, his hands stiff at his sides as he subtly fiddled with his fingers. The tension in the chamber was palpable, and the weight of Warlord Artemis’ gaze on everyone was heavy. He kept his eyes trained on the man as Toni took the lead in presenting their report. He was glad she did—this wasn’t his moment to speak. Most of what was being discussed, he hadn't even been present for, and he’d only joined the group at the end. His role was simple—be present and follow orders.

The silence pressed in around them as the Senate debated, their voices rising and falling with fervor. When Warlord Artemis spoke, his words were calculated and direct as he dished out orders on what was happening next.

The quiet moments following the discussion were thick with tension. Bellamy’s gaze flickered to Senator Bane as the grizzled veteran strode out of the room, grunting for them to follow. His presence was commanding, even without much use of words. Bellamy was used to people not liking him, but he wasn’t sure why the senator seemed so aggravated with the rest of the squad.

Either way, Bellamy fell in line without a word, following Senator Bane as he led the squad to the armory. As they entered and started getting equipped, Bellamy nodded, taking all the new equipment offered to him. His curiosity piqued slightly at the chance to acquire a Sidekick, with the Bore type specifically catching his eye.

 

[Purr]

Turning your attention to Senator Bane, he says to the clerk, "Get these people hooked up. I want six Chig grenades, six Bug Bombs, two Migs, and two Slap Patches for each squad member." He looks over to the members of Cerberus and says, "You are also free to requisition a handheld weapon of choice and a heavy rifle. I see that several of you already have Sidekicks. For those of you that don't have one, you can add one of these symbiotic weapons to your arsenal to be bound to your bio-signature."

Having just witnessed Cerberus's squad leader unintentionally putting her foot in her mouth, Chaska takes the moment to ask the battle-scarred warrior for tactical advice. Or advice of any kind that he was willing to provide, really. Moments like these were too far between for the wild-born Deliveryman's liking.

"SenatorBane. Thank you for needed gear." Chaska salutes and bows from the waist with deep respect.

"I Sergeant KokoroChaska, formerly House Apollo now Deliveryman unda ChiefRybeck. Chaska... look up to ChiefRybeck. Want his wisdom. But cannot have because we go straight to..." he glances about and quickly thinks better of using the name Legion, "... target.

"SenatorBane? If you was go on dis mission... what you do for dis mission success?" Chaska seriously looks him in the eyes the same way he always has when with Chief Rybeck - open-minded and unafraid but not foolishly so. He bows a second time - as House Apollo and the martial system of Apollo Zanbato has taught him - in a genuine display of gratitude, humility, and absolutely knowing his place. "You share your wisdom? Please?"

To Chaska, this Artemis warrior - seemingly the Warlord's own right hand - is hands-down the greatest in station he has ever spoken with. Chaska feels Senator Bane has commonalities with Chief Rybeck. And thus... if ever there was a time for a young warrior to humble oneself and open his mind to advice from an elder for the sake of the Great House, no, for the fate of far more many than that... that time was right now.

 

[Sherwood]

The Senator looks like he's about to snap at Chaska as you ask your question, but he pauses and reconsiders for a moment, then in his gravely voice he replies with, "You'll want to maintain a high level of firepower, but still be able to move quickly. Hmm. There isn't much time for you to get any major changes to your Host Armor, so I would suggest some of the Scutigera mobile Migs. They are small, lightweight, and do a lot of damage in comparison to their size. The Self-Propelled Grenades are another good choice. They do less damage, but you can carry more of them before any issues of encumbrance come up. For your other weapon options, the Shield Cracker Rifle is an excellent choice. In order for your target to keep its shields from being drained and used against them, they have to power down their force fields, leaving your target vulnerable to direct damage for several minutes."

"Take that advice for what its worth."

 

[Sherwood]

Axel and Archos both spend a few minutes in gathering up the proffered explosives and attach the weapons to their armor without much chatter. It is most likely that the two experienced campaigners don't want to rile up the anger of Senator Bane.

Once the group is fully equipped, Senator Bane leads you down a series of long, narrow corridors deep into the heart of the underground haven. You quickly recognize that you are
heading towards the Engineering Chambers. This area is restricted to all but the most senior members of the military, so it is one of the most heavily fortified locations in House Artemis. Once you get past a series of sentry stations, you are able to see that the hallway leading towards the Engineers actually slopes upward. The hallway is filled with hundreds of five foot wide, four-foot-tall barricade walls composed of solid resin. They are set two or three wide in a staggered configuration so that there are no direct paths through all the barricades. It is a pretty ingenious design. It prevents large invaders like tanks from rolling through the corridor, plus it provides plenty of cover for defenders and gives them the high ground advantage. As the group weaves through this obstacle course of defensive walls, you notice that each barricade has a large white number painted on the back of it. While you walk, Senator Bane says, "Most people don't have access down here, so you can consider it an honor. Just make sure you keep your mouths shut about what you see and hear inside the Engineering Chambers."

The group proceeds through another half dozen sentry stations and three more barricade-filled hallways before arriving in a small meeting room. The room itself is a rather unremarkable stone chamber. There is one wooden door on each end of the room, a large wooden table in the center, and dozens of intricately hand drawn maps covering the coarse rock walls. Sitting around the table are the three other people that have been assigned to this mission, two men and one woman. The two men are unremarkable in their appearance, both being middle-aged men in excellent shape. The woman, however, is absolutely stunning in her beauty. In another age, she could easily be a model or movie star. To put it in contrast, Toni has a 19 PB. This woman has at least a 24, and she's not trying hard to be good looking; it just comes natural to her. They snap to attention as soon as Senator Bane enters the room. He does a quick round of introductions between the three and the player characters before proceeding with the briefing.

“Let me introduce you to the rest of your team. This is Senior Sweeper Shauna Davies and Senior Sweeper Anderson Long. Both have nearly a decade of distinguished service in the field. They’ll be the ones transporting the bombs. There’s no one else in the Sweeper Corps that I would trust more with this responsibility. Both are fully trained on the Shell Tactical Omega Cell, but we’re going to train all of you on how to detonate them as well, in case they both go down.” Senator Bane does not even pause for a second to let the group digest the apparent fact that he knows casualties on this mission will be high. He simply continues on with the introductions. “This is Drake Benton, a former Dreadguard with over twenty years of experience. Now, he’s serving House Artemis as one of our Elite Archangel Test Pilots in the new “Angel Core” Program. Apparently, his new rank as a test pilot means he’s not in charge of this mission, but he’s seen more action then all of you knuckle-draggers combined so I would listen to him.”

When he is done, he reciprocates the introductions by going on to list each of you by name and rank from memory flawlessly. He has apparently been through your service records and knows quite a bit about all of you. You might be surprised to hear that he is equally as complimentary of each member of Cerberus (and Bellamy) as he was when introducing the other three soldiers. None of you have ever met Senator Bane before today. You have heard many stories about him from their fellow warriors, nearly all of which were quite positive. At first
you might not understand why this cantankerous, old warhorse was still considered such a beloved figure in House Artemis, but now they are beginning to understand.

Anderson, Shauna and Drake all nod in greetings to each person as you are introduced by the Senator, committing your faces and names to memory.

The Senator was about to begin the briefing when a man in Proto-Host Armor walks in through the opposite door carrying what looks like two oversized clam shells. The surface of each
is quite rough with multiple ridges of sharp spikes running along the top and bottom shell. Both he and his cargo are soaking wet and dripping pink nutrient fluid all over the floor. Apparently, there is another armory on the other side of the door. This must be where House Artemis stores their top-secret munitions like the Shell Tactical Omega Cell. The man sets the two bombs on the table and then stands at attention.

You all can see the hint of a smile on the Senator’s face as he addresses him, “Ah, perfect timing. Thank you, son. Please bring in the trainer as well.” The armory attendant then starts walking back out the same door as Senator Bane motions for the rest of the group to gather around the table. “This is the Shell Tactical Omega Cell. Four kiloton yield. Against heavily armored targets the effective blast radius is considered 1,000 feet, but it will kill any soft target within a 2,000 foot radius. However, maximum destructive potential is within 200 feet, so you’re going to need to get these up close and personal with the Factory Walker. You will literally be holding a Kamikaze Cruise Missile in your hands. Our Librarians figured out how to take the same explosive charge used in the Kamikaze and shrink it down to this. It’s one of the most powerful weapons in our arsenal, and one of the biggest mistakes we’ve ever made. When House Shiva first crawled out of the scum to threaten the Resistance, our Librarians developed the Shell so we could wipe out their Great House in one fell swoop. Those damn freaks thought they were so smart, but they were too smart for their own good. Kamikazes may be big, dumb, and crazy, but they never attack living targets; only the Machine. Those brainiacs decided to remove the safeties so we could use it against House Shiva, but they seemed to forget that House Shiva had Librarians too. No plan ever goes perfect and if the attack failed, we’d have given the Shivs all they’d need to make thousands of these damn things. At least the Senate was smart enough to call off the attack, but they should have scrapped them all. Warlord Artemis the Third decided to hold onto a handful of them in case of an emergency. Made me sick when I first learned about them. This planet is deadly enough without these things on it. It was a mistake to keep them then and it’s a mistake now. Even worse, now we’re going to let them loose on the world."

He makes eye contact with each of you in turn, saying, “I want to make it perfectly clear to each and every one of you the awesome responsibility we just put in your hands. These must
not fall into the hands of ANYONE. If capture seems inevitable, it’s your duty to protect your House and humanity by destroying these things, even if it means you go with them. The Warlord is right; there are a lot worse threats out there than the Machine. Legion may be one of them, but I think he’s underestimating just how dangerous House Shiva truly is. I don’t want to spend the rest of my days worrying about some psycho sneaking one of these into my home. I’ve got enough to be concerned about.” Senator Bane is briefly interrupted as the armory attendant comes back in carrying another Shell Bomb, only this one looks like it has been soaking in formaldehyde or some other preservative agent. He sets it down in front of the Senator and then stands at attention until dismissed. Senator Bane then continues with the briefing. “All right, as you can see, this one’s dead. No chance of detonation. The Shell can be pretty tricky to set off, so we’ll bring you up to speed with this one. You’re up Davies.”

Sweeper Shauna Davies springs to attention and then walks over to where the Senator was standing using what can best be described as a march. It is unclear if she is trying to show off her best military discipline for the Senator or if she is always this stuffy and serious. She is actually an incredibly attractive woman, but she looks like she is trying to downplay her beauty. Her uniform is also somewhat bulkier than usual. She likely wears it in attempt to hide her figure, but it is not doing a very good job. She pulls the two halves of the Shell open and spreads it out across the table. The interior looks pretty similar to a giant clam as well. It is just a mess of muscle tissue, thick tendons and ligaments, and organs. It all has a sickly pale color from the formaldehyde, but it does not look that different from a normal animal.

The only object that seems alien and out of place is the softball-sized transparent orb sitting in the center of the right half. The surface of the orb is covered in a spiderweb of thin black veins, and within it is a black golf ball sized core suspended in a clear jelly that sparkles in the light. It almost looks like a giant frog egg except for the dozen or so large, organic fibers that connect it to nearly every corner of the interior. Some of these cords have been cut to allow the Shell to be opened, but most are still intact. As if sensing the interest in the object, Sweeper Davies points at the orb and says, “This is the heart of the Shell Bomb. This is the Omega Cell. Everything else in there is just meant to keep the cell alive, protected, and most importantly, stable."

“A stable Omega Cell can survive all kinds of trauma without exploding, but once it’s destabilized, even the slightest bump can set it off. The good news is that the Shell was designed to make it very hard for the cell to detonate. Well, I suppose that’s part of the bad news too. The triggering mechanism is pretty tricky. If you don’t activate it just right, the cell dies and the bomb is useless. It’s a safety feature to prevent thieves from accidentally figuring out how to set it off. Even if they escape with their prize, they’ll most likely ruin it trying to use it.”

“Gentlemen, let’s focus more on not losing them in the first place,” Senator Bane interjected angrily.

“Of course, sir,” Davies sheepishly replied. “I was just trying to emphasize the importance of following the triggering sequence correctly.”

“Just get on with it, Davies,” he snorts back. It appears that Senator Bane’s patience is quickly reaching its limits.

“Yes, sir. Right. Um, first of all, as you can see on the living Shells, that the two halves are sealed shut by a thick band of muscle. This seal actually needs to be sliced open before you can begin. There is no other way to open it. This will allow you to access the interior, but do not spread the clamshell open like I’ve done with this one. The Shell can only be opened about eight to ten inches, but I would keep it to about six just to be sure. Any more than that, and you risk ripping these two ligaments at the base of the clamshell. It’s one of the safety mechanisms designed to ruin the bomb if any unauthorized people try fumbling around with it. It’s not a problem for our Shellback Armor, but you’re going to need to feel around in there blind. We’ll practice with this one to get everyone comfortable with knowing what’s safe to touch and what’s not."

“The bomb has a sort of built-in timer. To activate it, you need to sever at least one of the three main arteries that feed the Omega Cell. As you can see, these three vessels are much larger than the ones around it. The other ones are more safeties. You cut any of those and the bomb dies, but if you cut any of the large ones then the cell is destabilized. Think of the three arteries as a variable timer. If you cut one, you have about three to eight minutes (1D6+2 minutes) before the bomb explodes. If you cut two, you only have about one to two minutes (2D4+2 melee rounds) before detonation. In the alternative, you can cut all three, which instantly destabilizes the Omega Cell, but it won’t detonate it. You’ll need to set it off by some secondary means, like a remote detonator or even a gunshot. However, it’s extremely volatile in this state. Even a slight shake of your hand as you pull back out of the bomb could trigger it prematurely (01-12% chance of instant detonation when all three are cut). Let’s just say, I don’t recommend using it this way.”

“Thank you Davies,” Senator Bane abruptly says. It does not look like he cares if Sweeper Davies was finished or not. “All right, I want each of you to familiarize yourselves with the Shell.
You’re going to have to work by feel alone, so close it up, get your hands dirty, and practice. I don’t know how long we have before we get the report on Legion’s position, so practice for the next eight hours. If we don’t hear anything by then, hit the barracks down the hall and get some rest. It’ll probably be the last shut-eye you catch for a while. Long, Davies, I expect you to make them experts with those things. There’s not much more you need from me, so I need to return to my duties.”