PANOPTICON QUEST
As usual, you are at the office on time, cup of coffee in hand. The...
As usual, you are at the office on time, cup of coffee in hand. The...
Panopticon: A Game of Posthumans, Perniciousness, Paranoia, Politics, and Plasmaguns
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Panopticon: A Matter of Convention
PANOPTICON QUEST
As usual, you are at the office on time, cup of coffee in hand. The Technocratic Union doesn't tolerate lateness in its agents. Rank does have its privileges, but with it comes the need to set a positive example for everyone in the Construct you manage. It's a small Construct, five Enlightened personnel including you and perhaps 40 unEnlightened agents of various stripes, but the resources at your beck and call are still phenomenal. Your secretary has left a message for you, and you hit the play button.
"Look, there's a bit of an issue with the personnel records. Fucking Virtual Adept crackers got into the system again and scrambled them. We're restoring from last backup, but just in case there's been altered data, you're going to have to verify who you are."
[WELCOME TO TECHNOCRATIC UNION SECURE ACCESS. WELCOME, AGENT. BIOMETRICS LOADED.]
[ERROR: PERSONNEL RECORD REVIEW. PLEASE MANUALLY CONFIRM IDENTITY.]
You flip through the personnel records and verify your own name, gender, Convention, and experiences. It takes a while to match everything up with what you want to know (there is a lot in your dossier), but it's more tedious than nerve-wracking. You resist the temptation to embellish your CV further and finally finish the recovery process, leading to a start screen. A moebius strip gazes back at you, and underneath it is written:
[WELCOME AGENT. TU SecureNET: ipsa scientia potestas est.]
This is obviously a Mage: The Ascension Quest. There will be rules hacks involved, and totally not self-indulgent cameos as well. But first, you're going to need a name and a Convention and a role. Name and gender are write-ins, I'll choose whichever one I like the most. Choose one role below. If you want to embellish your vote with background, that may actually result in your vote counting double (if I like your background details). Understanding of the setting is not necessary, as a tutorial will be provided.
CHARACTER AND CONVENTION BACKGROUNDS
TUTORIAL
Would you like to play through a tutorial mini-quest to understand some of the concepts? In this tutorial, you will be playing as Christopher Westin, Project MKKARMA Agent, leading a squad of Strike Force Zero recruits to horrible death. The tutorial will take place simultaneously with chargen votes.
[ ] Yes, I would like a tutorial.
[ ] No, I am HARDCORE and not a FILTHY CASUAL.
As usual, you are at the office on time, cup of coffee in hand. The Technocratic Union doesn't tolerate lateness in its agents. Rank does have its privileges, but with it comes the need to set a positive example for everyone in the Construct you manage. It's a small Construct, five Enlightened personnel including you and perhaps 40 unEnlightened agents of various stripes, but the resources at your beck and call are still phenomenal. Your secretary has left a message for you, and you hit the play button.
"Look, there's a bit of an issue with the personnel records. Fucking Virtual Adept crackers got into the system again and scrambled them. We're restoring from last backup, but just in case there's been altered data, you're going to have to verify who you are."
[WELCOME TO TECHNOCRATIC UNION SECURE ACCESS. WELCOME, AGENT. BIOMETRICS LOADED.]
[ERROR: PERSONNEL RECORD REVIEW. PLEASE MANUALLY CONFIRM IDENTITY.]
You flip through the personnel records and verify your own name, gender, Convention, and experiences. It takes a while to match everything up with what you want to know (there is a lot in your dossier), but it's more tedious than nerve-wracking. You resist the temptation to embellish your CV further and finally finish the recovery process, leading to a start screen. A moebius strip gazes back at you, and underneath it is written:
[WELCOME AGENT. TU SecureNET: ipsa scientia potestas est.]
This is obviously a Mage: The Ascension Quest. There will be rules hacks involved, and totally not self-indulgent cameos as well. But first, you're going to need a name and a Convention and a role. Name and gender are write-ins, I'll choose whichever one I like the most. Choose one role below. If you want to embellish your vote with background, that may actually result in your vote counting double (if I like your background details). Understanding of the setting is not necessary, as a tutorial will be provided.
CHARACTER AND CONVENTION BACKGROUNDS
ITERATION X
The Clockwork Convention. Iteration X are programmers, biomechanics, engineers, scientists, and physicists. Their field agents tend to more 'high energy applied physics', although every type of Enlightened Science is represented. Stereotypically, Iteration X field agents will have heavy cybernetic augmentation, making them more vulnerable to rogue biokinetic psions, but also have improved access to psi-dampening alloys such as primium. Typical methods Iterators use to enact Enlightened Science are high-tech weapons, computer systems, internal cybernetics, and mathematical modeling.
Iterators tend to favor the Sphere of Forces, allowing them phenomenal firepower and defenses, although just as many favor the spheres of Life and Matter. All Iterators have an Advanced Digital Enhancement Implant, giving them perfect memory, quantum-encrypted wireless access on the go, and the ability to download new skills as needed from centeral databases.
[ ] POST HUMAN WARRIOR
"Faster. Stronger. Better."
Instead of a heart, there is a cold fusion furnace (they also replaced your circulatory system with vasculoids to fit it in). Your bones are made out of graphene and hypercarbon instead of osseus tissue. You have more silicone in you than a porn actor convention (as artificial muscle, not those kinds of augmentations, you perv.) You are so, so much more than human. As a front line shock trooper, you spend just as much time kicking ass as you do running your Construct, and you are very, very good at it.
Advantages:
More Than Human (Enhancement)
Two Ph.Ds: One in physics, the other in ass-kicking
Disadvantages:
Too Cool For This Lame Earth (Paradox)
[ ] ASSAULT WALKER PILOT
"Prepare for Titanfall."
Cybernetics are just too inconvenient. Hardsuits and assault walkers? Those are far better. Not only is it far more believable (Thanks, Gundam! Thanks, Battletech!) when a 5 meter tall robot runs at 90 kilometers per hour and flips a car than when a 2 meter tall combat cyborg with a vaguely Austrian accent does it, but you can pack a level of hardware on an Avatar class combat walker that you'd need to do serious contortions to fit in a 'borg. Like for example, you know the IX-22? Sure, you do. Standard heavy chaingun, fires 20x150mm hypervelocity shells at 300/minute. You need serious tech to fit that in a HITMark, but any random combat walker can grab one.
Oh yeah, and you're pretty good at piloting everything else too. Not just mechs, titans, walkers, striders, gears, mobile suits... if it moves around and has wheels, legs, or jet engines (and isn't an animal) you can kill things with it.
Advantages:
Highway To The Danger Zone (Piloting)
GIANT DEATH ROBOT (Self Explanatory)
Disadvantages:
95+% of direct combat effectiveness is from the GIANT DEATH ROBOT (also self explanatory)
The Clockwork Convention. Iteration X are programmers, biomechanics, engineers, scientists, and physicists. Their field agents tend to more 'high energy applied physics', although every type of Enlightened Science is represented. Stereotypically, Iteration X field agents will have heavy cybernetic augmentation, making them more vulnerable to rogue biokinetic psions, but also have improved access to psi-dampening alloys such as primium. Typical methods Iterators use to enact Enlightened Science are high-tech weapons, computer systems, internal cybernetics, and mathematical modeling.
Iterators tend to favor the Sphere of Forces, allowing them phenomenal firepower and defenses, although just as many favor the spheres of Life and Matter. All Iterators have an Advanced Digital Enhancement Implant, giving them perfect memory, quantum-encrypted wireless access on the go, and the ability to download new skills as needed from centeral databases.
[ ] POST HUMAN WARRIOR
"Faster. Stronger. Better."
Instead of a heart, there is a cold fusion furnace (they also replaced your circulatory system with vasculoids to fit it in). Your bones are made out of graphene and hypercarbon instead of osseus tissue. You have more silicone in you than a porn actor convention (as artificial muscle, not those kinds of augmentations, you perv.) You are so, so much more than human. As a front line shock trooper, you spend just as much time kicking ass as you do running your Construct, and you are very, very good at it.
Advantages:
More Than Human (Enhancement)
Two Ph.Ds: One in physics, the other in ass-kicking
Disadvantages:
Too Cool For This Lame Earth (Paradox)
[ ] ASSAULT WALKER PILOT
"Prepare for Titanfall."
Cybernetics are just too inconvenient. Hardsuits and assault walkers? Those are far better. Not only is it far more believable (Thanks, Gundam! Thanks, Battletech!) when a 5 meter tall robot runs at 90 kilometers per hour and flips a car than when a 2 meter tall combat cyborg with a vaguely Austrian accent does it, but you can pack a level of hardware on an Avatar class combat walker that you'd need to do serious contortions to fit in a 'borg. Like for example, you know the IX-22? Sure, you do. Standard heavy chaingun, fires 20x150mm hypervelocity shells at 300/minute. You need serious tech to fit that in a HITMark, but any random combat walker can grab one.
Oh yeah, and you're pretty good at piloting everything else too. Not just mechs, titans, walkers, striders, gears, mobile suits... if it moves around and has wheels, legs, or jet engines (and isn't an animal) you can kill things with it.
Advantages:
Highway To The Danger Zone (Piloting)
GIANT DEATH ROBOT (Self Explanatory)
Disadvantages:
95+% of direct combat effectiveness is from the GIANT DEATH ROBOT (also self explanatory)
PROGENITORS
Progenitors are bioengineers, doctors, and medical scientists. In the world of pharmaceuticals and biotech, they are the shadowy power behind the corporations. Progenitors, like Iteration X, provide technological support to the Conventions, in the form of cortical stack backups, fast-grown replacement clones for lost agents, and high-end combat constructs easily the equal of Iteration X cyborgs.
[ ] EXALT
No. Not that kind. This kind. You have no parents-the Technocracy is mother, the Technocracy is father. You're a bioengineered killing machine, sixty million dollars of high end biotech packed into a vaguely human frame. And like cutting edge military hardware, your specifications are pretty sexy if you do say so yourself. Rapid regeneration, backup organs, mutable physiology, genetic memory, your specs are probably more attractive than your body, and you were sculpted by some of the finest plastic surgeons in the world. You were decanted fifteen years ago, awakened ten years ago, making you ancient in terms of biotech weaponry. Some people still have prejudices against you, but they either learn to respect you, or learn that being racist against someone who can literally throw you through a concrete wall is generally not a good way to spend their time.
Advantages:
Mean Lean Killing Machine
Genetic Memory
Impeccable Sense of Style (if you're already bulletproof, why wear armor into a combat zone?)
Perfect Loyalty
Disadvantages:
Real World Naivete
Space Racism
Perfect Loyalty
[ ] APPLIED ETHICIST
You're an applied ethicist. This sounds like a boring job, involving reading through research proposals and stamping them. Nothing could be farther than the truth. You've seen more action than most compatriots in Damage Control, simply because there's always someone trying to go too far. Oftentimes just showing up in full tac gear gets them listening to you, but a lot of the time that isn't enough and you have to get into a gunfight. You've learned to handle all three of the parts of the job, and that's gotten you quite a bit of respect. More importantly, you know a lot of people on the "other side", as it were. The Traditions might be in a Cold War with you, but they hate demon-worshipping Nephandi just as much as you do, and sometimes someone defending against Technocratic assault forgets about guys with magic fucking swords. Speaking of magic fucking swords, you have some. They should be turned in to get destroyed, but sometimes they're useful. You've sometimes bent the letter of the law, but you've never bent the spirit. Too bad anyone who knows might use it to blackmail you into doing something, forcing you to choose between pragmatism and idealism.
Advantages:
Three Ph.Ds: One in biology, one in philosophy, one in kicking ass
Demon Hunter Contacts
Illegal Relics
Disadvantages:
Internal Enemies
Illegal Relics
Progenitors are bioengineers, doctors, and medical scientists. In the world of pharmaceuticals and biotech, they are the shadowy power behind the corporations. Progenitors, like Iteration X, provide technological support to the Conventions, in the form of cortical stack backups, fast-grown replacement clones for lost agents, and high-end combat constructs easily the equal of Iteration X cyborgs.
[ ] EXALT
No. Not that kind. This kind. You have no parents-the Technocracy is mother, the Technocracy is father. You're a bioengineered killing machine, sixty million dollars of high end biotech packed into a vaguely human frame. And like cutting edge military hardware, your specifications are pretty sexy if you do say so yourself. Rapid regeneration, backup organs, mutable physiology, genetic memory, your specs are probably more attractive than your body, and you were sculpted by some of the finest plastic surgeons in the world. You were decanted fifteen years ago, awakened ten years ago, making you ancient in terms of biotech weaponry. Some people still have prejudices against you, but they either learn to respect you, or learn that being racist against someone who can literally throw you through a concrete wall is generally not a good way to spend their time.
Advantages:
Mean Lean Killing Machine
Genetic Memory
Impeccable Sense of Style (if you're already bulletproof, why wear armor into a combat zone?)
Perfect Loyalty
Disadvantages:
Real World Naivete
Space Racism
Perfect Loyalty
[ ] APPLIED ETHICIST
You're an applied ethicist. This sounds like a boring job, involving reading through research proposals and stamping them. Nothing could be farther than the truth. You've seen more action than most compatriots in Damage Control, simply because there's always someone trying to go too far. Oftentimes just showing up in full tac gear gets them listening to you, but a lot of the time that isn't enough and you have to get into a gunfight. You've learned to handle all three of the parts of the job, and that's gotten you quite a bit of respect. More importantly, you know a lot of people on the "other side", as it were. The Traditions might be in a Cold War with you, but they hate demon-worshipping Nephandi just as much as you do, and sometimes someone defending against Technocratic assault forgets about guys with magic fucking swords. Speaking of magic fucking swords, you have some. They should be turned in to get destroyed, but sometimes they're useful. You've sometimes bent the letter of the law, but you've never bent the spirit. Too bad anyone who knows might use it to blackmail you into doing something, forcing you to choose between pragmatism and idealism.
Advantages:
Three Ph.Ds: One in biology, one in philosophy, one in kicking ass
Demon Hunter Contacts
Illegal Relics
Disadvantages:
Internal Enemies
Illegal Relics
NEW WORLD ORDER
The NWO are the definition of control. They control things via surveillance, psychology, via understanding human nature. It makes them cynical and paranoid, but it also makes them incredibly effective. NWO agents are everywhere in government and society, watching and waiting, adjusting public opinion to fit the Technocracy's narrative of progress and advancement. They are also inside the Union, watching for signs of rogue agents and cultist influence.
NWO agents typically prefer the sphere of Mind, although Time and Entropy are not uncommon. The NWO prefers "subtle" procedures, although "subtlety" means that they're technologically plausible, not that they're mundane coincidence. Exploding cuff-buttons and suits woven out of carbon nanotube fabric, combat drugs, prototype DARPA firearms, and other spy fiction or Tom Clancy staples are common tools for a NWO agent to channel Enlightened Science through.
[ ] AUGMENTED AGENT
"You are one of the elite. An Agent." The NWO rarely uses augmentations, and when it does, it uses them in a much more subtle way than the Progenitors do. But nevertheless, that is often enough. You can sprint a kilometer flat-out without elevated breathing, hold your breath for five minutes, and feel no pain. You heal faster than a normal person, and can survive a Rasputinian level of punishment. You can't kick through an armored car door and tear a man in half with one hand, but you also don't suffer from Paradox nearly as badly as what Progenitors or Iterators build. On the other hand, you need your pills. The last time you haven't taken them, you woke up in a strange bed, without your memory and it turned out you had spent a week AWOL and put two fellow Technocrats into skeletal rebuilding (to be fair, they shot at you first!). That was... embarassing.
Advantages:
Martial Knowledge
Peak Soldier Performance
Disadvantages:
Augmentation Side Effects
[ ] VETERAN SPY
You've been there, done that, seen it all. You've seduced vampires, shot your way out of ambushes while wearing formal clothes, disarmed a nuclear bomb, gotten into martial arts fights on top of speeding trains, and even fought one crazy Estatic gangster high on crack cocaine while 80s music played. You've survived it all. You've learned a little of everything across your adventures, and holding command of a Construct is just another step on your expected career path.
Advantages:
Know It All
Inhuman Luck
Sharp Dressed (Wo)Man
Disadvantages:
Well Adjusted And A Bit Bland
Name MUST Initial To "JB".
The NWO are the definition of control. They control things via surveillance, psychology, via understanding human nature. It makes them cynical and paranoid, but it also makes them incredibly effective. NWO agents are everywhere in government and society, watching and waiting, adjusting public opinion to fit the Technocracy's narrative of progress and advancement. They are also inside the Union, watching for signs of rogue agents and cultist influence.
NWO agents typically prefer the sphere of Mind, although Time and Entropy are not uncommon. The NWO prefers "subtle" procedures, although "subtlety" means that they're technologically plausible, not that they're mundane coincidence. Exploding cuff-buttons and suits woven out of carbon nanotube fabric, combat drugs, prototype DARPA firearms, and other spy fiction or Tom Clancy staples are common tools for a NWO agent to channel Enlightened Science through.
[ ] AUGMENTED AGENT
"You are one of the elite. An Agent." The NWO rarely uses augmentations, and when it does, it uses them in a much more subtle way than the Progenitors do. But nevertheless, that is often enough. You can sprint a kilometer flat-out without elevated breathing, hold your breath for five minutes, and feel no pain. You heal faster than a normal person, and can survive a Rasputinian level of punishment. You can't kick through an armored car door and tear a man in half with one hand, but you also don't suffer from Paradox nearly as badly as what Progenitors or Iterators build. On the other hand, you need your pills. The last time you haven't taken them, you woke up in a strange bed, without your memory and it turned out you had spent a week AWOL and put two fellow Technocrats into skeletal rebuilding (to be fair, they shot at you first!). That was... embarassing.
Advantages:
Martial Knowledge
Peak Soldier Performance
Disadvantages:
Augmentation Side Effects
[ ] VETERAN SPY
You've been there, done that, seen it all. You've seduced vampires, shot your way out of ambushes while wearing formal clothes, disarmed a nuclear bomb, gotten into martial arts fights on top of speeding trains, and even fought one crazy Estatic gangster high on crack cocaine while 80s music played. You've survived it all. You've learned a little of everything across your adventures, and holding command of a Construct is just another step on your expected career path.
Advantages:
Know It All
Inhuman Luck
Sharp Dressed (Wo)Man
Disadvantages:
Well Adjusted And A Bit Bland
Name MUST Initial To "JB".
SYNDICATE
The Syndicate are a bipolar Convention. On one hand, you have the men and women using economics as a tool of political and social control, developing models of the world as to better predict human behavior (and thus better predict how it can be altered). On the other hand, you have those who use money itself and commerce as the method of controlling humanity. They... don't get along very well. On the other hand, both are absolutely necessary to keep the truth of the world defined as what the Union wants it to be. The Syndicate typically favors Primal Utility, understanding magic (and enlightened science) through the medium of exchange, but often spheres like Correspondence, Mind, and Time are used in conjunction with their understanding of Primal Utility and mundane finance.
Syndicate Procedures are almost always subtle, and the difference between their enlightened science and their resources are hard to define at the best of times. If you destroy someone's reputation via a smear campaign, and they kill themselves, is that a Mind procedure, or just the natural consequence of their dark secrets coming out? Who knows? The Syndicate prefers subtle spheres, or subtle applications of obvious ones. An Iterator might call in an orbital strike (with the ensuing vulgarity). A Syndicate member just gets a hitman with a high-tech sniper rifle to finish the job.
[ ] INTERNAL AUDITOR
You joined the Union in the wake of the largest Syndicate paradox backlash yet. It was a busy time, with a lot of corruption and graft being exposed that could not be. When you took down a high-level executive, you got yourself a promotion, and a bunch of enemies. You're as comfortable in the office as you are in the combat zone. You've used every weapon from economic theory to political theory to social media to a Javelin ATGM (but only once)
Advantages:
21st Century Renaissance (Wo)Man
Sterling Reputation
Disadvantages:
Internal Enemies
[ ] MID LEVEL EXECUTIVE
You have money. And lots of it. And you know how to use it. Only fools think you seek riches for the sake of riches. No, you understand that humanity, as greedy and broken as it is, believes that shiny things have power, and because they believe shiny things have power, such things do have power. This secret has gotten you closer to understanding the truth of the world than many of your peers. On the other hand, without your money you are much, much less. Your investment makes your underlings more than the sum of their parts, but they need to be there for you to do so.
Advantages:
LOADSAMONEY
Political Connections
Requisitions
Henchmen
Disadvantages:
Paradigm Difficulty: HARD MODE
Public Figure
Useless Without Assistants
The Syndicate are a bipolar Convention. On one hand, you have the men and women using economics as a tool of political and social control, developing models of the world as to better predict human behavior (and thus better predict how it can be altered). On the other hand, you have those who use money itself and commerce as the method of controlling humanity. They... don't get along very well. On the other hand, both are absolutely necessary to keep the truth of the world defined as what the Union wants it to be. The Syndicate typically favors Primal Utility, understanding magic (and enlightened science) through the medium of exchange, but often spheres like Correspondence, Mind, and Time are used in conjunction with their understanding of Primal Utility and mundane finance.
Syndicate Procedures are almost always subtle, and the difference between their enlightened science and their resources are hard to define at the best of times. If you destroy someone's reputation via a smear campaign, and they kill themselves, is that a Mind procedure, or just the natural consequence of their dark secrets coming out? Who knows? The Syndicate prefers subtle spheres, or subtle applications of obvious ones. An Iterator might call in an orbital strike (with the ensuing vulgarity). A Syndicate member just gets a hitman with a high-tech sniper rifle to finish the job.
[ ] INTERNAL AUDITOR
You joined the Union in the wake of the largest Syndicate paradox backlash yet. It was a busy time, with a lot of corruption and graft being exposed that could not be. When you took down a high-level executive, you got yourself a promotion, and a bunch of enemies. You're as comfortable in the office as you are in the combat zone. You've used every weapon from economic theory to political theory to social media to a Javelin ATGM (but only once)
Advantages:
21st Century Renaissance (Wo)Man
Sterling Reputation
Disadvantages:
Internal Enemies
[ ] MID LEVEL EXECUTIVE
You have money. And lots of it. And you know how to use it. Only fools think you seek riches for the sake of riches. No, you understand that humanity, as greedy and broken as it is, believes that shiny things have power, and because they believe shiny things have power, such things do have power. This secret has gotten you closer to understanding the truth of the world than many of your peers. On the other hand, without your money you are much, much less. Your investment makes your underlings more than the sum of their parts, but they need to be there for you to do so.
Advantages:
LOADSAMONEY
Political Connections
Requisitions
Henchmen
Disadvantages:
Paradigm Difficulty: HARD MODE
Public Figure
Useless Without Assistants
VOID ENGINEERS
Space. The final frontier. A source of many unknown mysteries. To make the universe safe, one must understand the universe, and that is where the Void Engineers come in. By exploring, colonizing, and otherwise exploiting space, they control reality. The Void Engineers are relatively pragmatic and starved of resources, fighting a mysterious war no other members of the Union can understand or appreciate, but they are necessary. A more potent military arm than even Iteration X, there are a lot of shared influences in their enlightened science.
The Void Engineers specialize in Dimensional Science, a sphere of Enlightened Science which allows FTL travel, alteration of reality metrics, and seeing into the "spirit worlds", such as the human collective unconscious (the Dreaming), Autocthonia, or other places. It also provides for some interesting offensive abilities.
Void Engineers tend to vulgar, powerful forms of magical ability, used to the looser rules of the Umbra. However, whereas Iteration X is gritty cyberpunk or shiny transhumanism, Void Engineers tend towards more Space-Opera uses of enlightened science. Common foci include battleships, orbital assets, high-tech gadgets like tricorders and phasers, and high-tech military ordinance.
[ ] EXTRATERRESTRIAL COMBAT AGENT
You're a Void Engineer, but not a pilot or astronomer. No, you're a space marine. You've faced down werewolves, vampires, and in one case a (demi) god with nothing but your suit of Iteration X forged powered combat armor and a plasma cannon. You've seen things nobody would believe, survived things nobody has any right to. The problem is that because of that, everyone suspects you. They suspect that something about you is broken, and that eventually you'll either snap, defect, or kill yourself, and all of them are waiting to see what it is. They're probably right.
Advantages:
If It Bleeds, I Can Kill It
Cutting Edge Gear
Various Strange Contacts
Disadvantages:
Untrusted
Space. The final frontier. A source of many unknown mysteries. To make the universe safe, one must understand the universe, and that is where the Void Engineers come in. By exploring, colonizing, and otherwise exploiting space, they control reality. The Void Engineers are relatively pragmatic and starved of resources, fighting a mysterious war no other members of the Union can understand or appreciate, but they are necessary. A more potent military arm than even Iteration X, there are a lot of shared influences in their enlightened science.
The Void Engineers specialize in Dimensional Science, a sphere of Enlightened Science which allows FTL travel, alteration of reality metrics, and seeing into the "spirit worlds", such as the human collective unconscious (the Dreaming), Autocthonia, or other places. It also provides for some interesting offensive abilities.
Void Engineers tend to vulgar, powerful forms of magical ability, used to the looser rules of the Umbra. However, whereas Iteration X is gritty cyberpunk or shiny transhumanism, Void Engineers tend towards more Space-Opera uses of enlightened science. Common foci include battleships, orbital assets, high-tech gadgets like tricorders and phasers, and high-tech military ordinance.
[ ] EXTRATERRESTRIAL COMBAT AGENT
You're a Void Engineer, but not a pilot or astronomer. No, you're a space marine. You've faced down werewolves, vampires, and in one case a (demi) god with nothing but your suit of Iteration X forged powered combat armor and a plasma cannon. You've seen things nobody would believe, survived things nobody has any right to. The problem is that because of that, everyone suspects you. They suspect that something about you is broken, and that eventually you'll either snap, defect, or kill yourself, and all of them are waiting to see what it is. They're probably right.
Advantages:
If It Bleeds, I Can Kill It
Cutting Edge Gear
Various Strange Contacts
Disadvantages:
Untrusted
TUTORIAL
Would you like to play through a tutorial mini-quest to understand some of the concepts? In this tutorial, you will be playing as Christopher Westin, Project MKKARMA Agent, leading a squad of Strike Force Zero recruits to horrible death. The tutorial will take place simultaneously with chargen votes.
[ ] Yes, I would like a tutorial.
[ ] No, I am HARDCORE and not a FILTHY CASUAL.
Last edited by a moderator:
Tutorial I-III
TUTORIAL I: QUO NEMO SEQUI POTEST
TIME: 04:00 LOCAL TIME
2nd Lieutenant Christopher Westin,USMC Men in Black
Saudi Arabia
On Liaison to UN Strike Force Zero
The ARC's hold is silent as the strike team heads in. Inside the Iteration X hybrid transport/attack helo are ten men, armored in black tactical gear, just like you. You are here to lead them-probably to nearly certain death. Taking out Reality Deviants tends to be that way. "Listen up." you say, emotionlessly. You've never been good at emoting, not since your indoctrination and training. That part hearkens back to a hazy youth you barely remember. A youth before you joined the military, before you ended up crashing into a tree during paradrop training, and before you spent years being rebuilt into a new person. A weapon to save the world as.
They nod, muttering. You're not a great leader, but you know a lot more than they do about the things they fight. They don't trust you, but you don't need them to.
"Our target is a Reality Terrorist named Jibril al-Bara. He's associated with the local Taftani, which means that he's probably a rogue psion. Remember, no matter what he's carrying, he is considered to be armed and dangerous. No surrender requests here, this is a kill mission. Anyone with him so much as waves a leek in your direction? Take him out. You are authorized weapons-free. Civilian casualties? Try to minimize them, but if it's saving civs or killing the target, don't hesitate."
Taftani. They're one of the Crafts allied with the Nine Mystic Traditions. They refuse to hide their magic, trying to force people to embrace their way of living or die trying. Even after the Dimensional Anomaly shut down extraorbital assets and called the Ascension War to an end, they refused to end their Reality Terrorism. Normally, you wouldn't be doing this, but when some freak sandstorms bring down a pair of F-22s, people notice. And when people notice, the Technocracy has to shut them down. In a way, it's their fault.
"Green light. ETA in one minute." The automated voice of the ARC mission computer is smooth and female.
You grab your helmet from the rack alongside everyone else, dropping its mirrored combat optics over your own eyes. While you do so, you calm yourself again. You think back to the training they gave you in the KARMA center, the special combat knowledge. Endless hours of firearms usage have embedded themselves into your very nature, allowing you to take shots at perfect accuracy with the same level of effort most people spend to breathe. (Entropy 1, Forces 1)
The world becomes an exaggerated false-color pastiche of IR and nightvision. [IDENTITY CONFIRMED. AGENT WESTIN, WELCOME BACK. COMBAT ENHANCEMENT SOFTWARE ACTIVE.] Your fatigues blur into the background, thanks to the smart cloth's limited active camouflage ability. In the smart HUD, you glow a bright orange, as do all your other soldiers as they fade into concealment.
"All right. Mission is a go. Let's go kill this guy and be back in time for breakfast."
The doors slide open, whisper-quiet. You take one of the ropes down and hit the ground quietly with the rest of your team. You motion for them to hold up and you...
[ ] Draw your rifle and then move in. It's a standard Technocratic assault rifle, firing armor-piercing flechettes from caseless ammunition blocks. Technically it's ridiculously advanced but it's not actually a Device. Take down anyone who so much as looks in our direction, then take down the target. (Tactical approach).
[ ] (1.5 x) Nah, we're doing this quick and silent. Use Mjolnir. Aezir Industries's (a Syndicate subsidiary) best product. It's an antimateriel rifle in handgun form, firing a 15mm round at 750 meters per second, and with a Raptor Silencer it's quieter. It needs Enlightened recoil dampening technology just to fire at all. One of these weapons costs about $25,000 USD. Have your team secure the perimeter, and then move in yourself.
[ ] We should do this quick, quiet, and stealthily, so we're bringing knives to a potential gunfight, but as long as we stay quiet...
[ ] (0.4 x) Fuck this, he's too much of a risk. Get the ARC to raze the village, then shoot any survivors. No witnesses.
[ ] (+0.2 x) Take a moment to prepare a Procedure. Sure, it'll make you more noticeable, but it'll also make you way more dangerous. (Suggest a Procedure). Choose another action in conjunction (which isn't ARC Razings), and stunt the procedure.
[ ] Write-In.
BASIC ROLLS
Basic rolls are simple enough, roll Xd10s and tell me the results, using TN7 by default. (Xd10E7 for rolz.org). In fact, I'll probably end up doing them in the background myself, unless you guys want to enjoy the true power of awful dice or something.
VIRTUE/VICE
Virtue and Vice play into your character's ability to deal with people. You will eventually establish one. Your Virtue lets you regain WP by fulfilling it. Your Vice lets you regain WP by indulging it, and costs WP if you want to suppress it for a scene.
Westin's Virtue is Machine. He is a cold professional weapon, emotions minimized by years of conditioning and combat experience. He regularly pushes himself beyond the limits of flesh. Beneath his body, there is more than a man, there is an idea, and ideas are bulletproof. (Unless the firer has Entropy 5). His vice is Idealist. For all the horror he's seen, he believes in the righteousness of his cause. He may kill, but he is still moral.
ENLIGHTENED SCIENCE & PARADOX
Dependent on the Spheres and Skills your character has, you will have a greater or lesser ability to manipulate the environment. Westin has Life 3, Entropy 3, Dimensional Science 3, Forces 2, and Mind 1.
What does this mean?
Life 3-can alter self or simple creatures, can heal or harm complex creatures. Can heal self or heal/harm simple creatures (Life 2). Can sense Life. Having Life at even 1 dot lets you see your full health status.
Entropy 3-Can affect predictable patterns like machines, causing them to degrade or not degrade. Can affect probability. Can sense probabilities. Entropy is Westin's favored sphere, which means he gains a bonus when using it as the primary sphere of a Procedure.
Dimensional Science 3-Can translate dimensionally or create a disruptor beam dealing Bashing/Lethal/Aggravated damage. Can translate small objects between dimensions. Can see into alternate dimensions.
Forces 2-can increase or decrease the intensity of forces, such as heat, kinetic energy, light, etc. Can sense forces (seeing infrared, radar, etc).
Mind 1-Can enhance one's own mind. Perfect recall, sensing other minds, multitasking.
You can weave together these spheres to create more complex effects. For example, the effect Westin just used is a Entropy 1/Forces 1 Procedure. With 3 successes, he's adding 3 automatic successes to attacks he makes with firearms.
Paradox is bad. The more you accumulate, the deadlier paradox backlashes are. Accumulate paradox backlashes by using vulgar Procedures or, in the case of superhuman agents, using superhuman attributes. Westin has 1 dot of permanent Paradox, which never goes away. This is due to his prosthetic arm, which provides him +5 Strength for tasks using that arm. Augmented agents will often have permanent Paradox.
WESTIN'S STATUS PANEL
Willpower: 10/10
Health Levels: -0/-0/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-4/Incapacitated
Prime Energy: 4/4
I am near the peak of human potential in every method of combat, and I am superhumanly agile. I am as tough as Rasputin and strong enough to be an Olympian. I am an expert hacker, terrorist, con man, and assassin. However, I find it hard to relate to others and people find me incredibly scary and inhuman at times.
TUTORIAL II: SNEAKING MISSION
10/10 SF0 soldiers still alive (keep them all alive to get a Special Achievement: Wait, How Did You Get My Account Password?)
You move your hand quickly, precisely, to signal to the rest of the SF0 soldiers. Secure the perimeter. Engage any retreating hostiles. This is good. You want minimal casualties, and you can get places where a squad of special forces with heavy weapons cannot.
"So you're going to be doing it alone and hog all the glory, eh?" One of them questions. MacTavish, British, ex-SAS. You ignore it. He is irrelevant. He hasn't seen the things you've seen, he hasn't faced the things you've faced. He was recruited out of the SAS. Where the only things he's fought, things he still considers dangerous, are guys with rocket launchers. He hasn't faced down a 5 meter tall biomechanical horror with just a handgun. To be fair to him, it's a very, very good handgun. The finest ballistic weapon that Aezir Industries has built, in your opinion. The new MJOLNIR VI they're selling is probably more practical for the average agent, requiring far less strength to wield, and with laser-guided gyrojet ammunition to allow even mediocre shooters a good probability of hitting the target. But the old IVs, these antiques, they have the stopping power to take out armored vehicles and attack helicopters, plus their design just makes them so damn intimidating.
"Cut the chatter. Do what I say and you might live to see tomorrow." You were never good at socialization. Not since your resurrection. Instructions? Sure. Bullshit? Okay. But you've never been good at connecting. You've just had a mask you present to others. A weapon, just like everything else you are. You screw the chunky Raptor silencer on the weapon itself. Like you, a weapon wielded to slay the enemies of humanity. You carry it in one hand, typing on your PDA with another. You're already stealthy, but now you need to be invisible. Fortunately, like everything else the NWO has, there's an app for that.
[Engaging Metamaterial Stealth Functions and Active Noise Cancellation]
(Coincidental Forces 2, Entropy 2, for +1 net difficulty. This adds +2 automatic successes on Stealth rolls. Two Procedures are currently active, adding +1 difficulty to all further Enlightened Science rolls.)
Before, you were hard to see. Now, with the photoreactive active camouflage running at peak effectiveness, you are invisible. You move through the village. Like any primitive village before dawn, it is quiet, almost like the grave. Only a few houses have any sort of light, and you think it probably comes from candles. This is one of the places which is a typical no-go zone for Union agents, teeming with hemophages, lycanthropes, and rogue psions. Enemy territory. You take a jump, grab onto the edge of a roof, and lift yourself up to take a look. You need to find your hostile and fast. In a few hours, the sun will rise, and your operation will be incredibly obvious. Not only will that be incredibly inconvenient, it would have... political ramifications, considering that the technology and personnel you have can only come from western powers. A black ops attack in Saudi Arabia? The geopolitical ramifications themselves would be apocalyptic, especially if the Reality Terrorists make sure NWO media agents can't erase the evidence.
"Trouble, Lt." One of the soldiers, Zao, says. "Looks like contacts approaching. Eight foot-mobiles, two camels. They look unarmed, but I know what you said about how everything might be a threat in the pre-mission brief." Good. He knows what he's doing. He might end up working for the Union proper, instead of being told that he works for a shadowy international strike force hunting aliens hiding among the population. "Do we engage?"
How are finding Jibril al-Bara? Choose one or write-in. Stunts may give bonus dice. Do not roll until the votes are finally tallied up.
[ ] Just do regular investigation. You're a trained commando, finding a wizard living in a village can't be that hard. Roll 7d10 Perception + Awareness (using rolz.org in the dice room 'panopticonquest' can do it, unless you want me to use my dicebot [which is literally Hitler]).
[ ] Jibril al-Bara knows what he's doing. Otherwise he'd have been assassinated long ago. The advantage of tradecraft, though? Is that it's predictable. And you're just as good as he is at it. Possibly even better. Roll 8d10 Arete 4 + Entropy 3 + Specialty to use an Entropy 1 Procedure: Sense Fate (you are literally looking for the places which are most likely to kill you.)
[ ] Maybe if you set off a distraction of some sort, you might be able to get him moving and in the open, where you and your backup can ID him. And fortunately, you have explosives. Roll 6d10 Int + Terrorism.
[ ] Forget it, get the SF0 soldiers to help you search. They're here for a reason, and not just to cheerlead you.
[ ] Write-In.
What are your orders to the soldiers?
[ ] Disperse and hide. They don't see shit, won't be shit.
[ ] Do not engage unless they act in a hostile manner first. Maybe they'll be friendly. Or pretend not to notice.
[ ] (0.8x) Engage quietly. Take them out silently. [This violates your vice but is congruent to your virtue: You need to spend 1 WP to use this option]
[ ] (0.4x) Fuck it. Get the ARC to rocket the convoy. The distraction will probably make it easier for you to sneak in. [This violates your vice: You need to spend 1 WP to use this option]
WESTIN'S STATUS PANEL
Willpower: 10/10
Health Levels: -0/-0/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-4/Incapacitated
Injuries: None
Prime Energy: 4/4
Standing Effects: (Every 2 Standing Effects Add +1 Difficulty To Further Enlightened Science Rolls)
[ ] Vote To Deactivate: Focused Aim: 3 automatic successes on Firearms-based rolls (Entropy 1, Forces 1)
[ ] Vote To Deactivate: Active Stealth: 2 automatic successes on Stealth rolls (Forces 2, Entropy 2)
I am near the peak of human potential in every method of combat, and I am superhumanly agile. I am as tough as Rasputin and strong enough to be an Olympian. I am an expert hacker, terrorist, con man, and assassin. However, I find it hard to relate to others and people find me incredibly scary and inhuman at times.
TUTORIAL III: PALE HORSE
You murmur quietly into the helmet mic. "All elements, cover and quiet. If these guys are legit, just stay out of sight and let them go by. Keep your weapons on them and be ready to eliminate them if they so much as breathe wrong. I'm going to check a trace on our target with special sources." You click off after a quiet mutter of acknowledgements from the team.
You can see the map of the village, etched into memory. There are certain requirements for someone who spends their days avoiding nigh-omniscient robot assassins and the potential for orbital strike. The building must be located in a specific area. There must be good sight lines, and it must protect from detection from likely flight paths. Should there be an engagement, it must be possible to evacuate easily, possibly underground. You correlates possible locations with these factors and known occupancy data, eliminates possibilities methodically, one after another. There is only one left.
You move towards it very, very carefully. Fortunately, there are no curious eyes out watching you, and even if they were, they would barely notice. You see a glimpse of Al-Bara's head through the window, and you know you have a target. He seems suspicious, but that's the normal state for someone who's survived so long with a Union kill order on them. Rampant mind-destroying paranoia that leads people to make small mistakes.
The sound of suppressed gunfire, then the explosion of an RPG, shake the town. Things have gotten incredibly noisy. "Unknowns are engaging. Returning fire."
Your target hears the explosions and gunfire, and starts to move. You have a shot. Do you?
[ ] Take the shot.
[ ] Don't take the shot. He might have some sort of bullshit magical protection against regular bullets. No, you need special ammunition for this one.
[ ] Write in a stunt and Effect. Note that your offensive spheres are Life 3 (can deal damage to living things, bypassing most armor, and may also deal Aggravated direct pattern damage) and Dimensional Science 3 (Set phasers to stun/kill/disintegrate). Most uses of offensive Life or Dimensional Science are vulgar. This means a difficulty penalty.
[ ] Spend Quintessence on additional successes. Each point of Quintessence spent gives you an automatic success on the magic roll in question.
[ ] Spend Willpower on the roll. Each point of WP spent gives an automatic success.
And what do you do with the new unknowns? Sure, they're outnumbered, but those rocket launchers they have look mighty dangerous. And who knows, some of them might be were-snakes or were-camels or were-somethings.
[ ] Leave your men to fend for themselves. This way you'll probably have a ride home in case they're packing, fuck if I know, angry genies in magic lamps or something.
[ ] Take out al-Bara and find a good place to give them some covering fire. It helps, and it's not as obvious as sending in a multi-million dollar ARC.
[ ] GUNSHIP INTERRUPT
WESTIN'S STATUS PANEL
Willpower: 10/10
Health Levels: -0/-0/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-4/Incapacitated
Injuries: None
Prime Energy: 4/4
Standing Effects: (Every 2 Standing Effects Add +1 Difficulty To Further Enlightened Science Rolls)
[ ] Vote To Deactivate: Focused Aim: 3 automatic successes on Firearms-based rolls (Entropy 1, Forces 1)
[ ] Vote To Deactivate: Active Stealth: 2 automatic successes on Stealth rolls (Forces 2, Entropy 2)
I am near the peak of human potential in every method of combat, and I am superhumanly agile. I am as tough as Rasputin and strong enough to be an Olympian. I am an expert hacker, terrorist, con man, and assassin. However, I find it hard to relate to others and people find me incredibly scary and inhuman at times.
TIME: 04:00 LOCAL TIME
2nd Lieutenant Christopher Westin,
Saudi Arabia
On Liaison to UN Strike Force Zero
The ARC's hold is silent as the strike team heads in. Inside the Iteration X hybrid transport/attack helo are ten men, armored in black tactical gear, just like you. You are here to lead them-probably to nearly certain death. Taking out Reality Deviants tends to be that way. "Listen up." you say, emotionlessly. You've never been good at emoting, not since your indoctrination and training. That part hearkens back to a hazy youth you barely remember. A youth before you joined the military, before you ended up crashing into a tree during paradrop training, and before you spent years being rebuilt into a new person. A weapon to save the world as.
They nod, muttering. You're not a great leader, but you know a lot more than they do about the things they fight. They don't trust you, but you don't need them to.
"Our target is a Reality Terrorist named Jibril al-Bara. He's associated with the local Taftani, which means that he's probably a rogue psion. Remember, no matter what he's carrying, he is considered to be armed and dangerous. No surrender requests here, this is a kill mission. Anyone with him so much as waves a leek in your direction? Take him out. You are authorized weapons-free. Civilian casualties? Try to minimize them, but if it's saving civs or killing the target, don't hesitate."
Taftani. They're one of the Crafts allied with the Nine Mystic Traditions. They refuse to hide their magic, trying to force people to embrace their way of living or die trying. Even after the Dimensional Anomaly shut down extraorbital assets and called the Ascension War to an end, they refused to end their Reality Terrorism. Normally, you wouldn't be doing this, but when some freak sandstorms bring down a pair of F-22s, people notice. And when people notice, the Technocracy has to shut them down. In a way, it's their fault.
"Green light. ETA in one minute." The automated voice of the ARC mission computer is smooth and female.
You grab your helmet from the rack alongside everyone else, dropping its mirrored combat optics over your own eyes. While you do so, you calm yourself again. You think back to the training they gave you in the KARMA center, the special combat knowledge. Endless hours of firearms usage have embedded themselves into your very nature, allowing you to take shots at perfect accuracy with the same level of effort most people spend to breathe. (Entropy 1, Forces 1)
The world becomes an exaggerated false-color pastiche of IR and nightvision. [IDENTITY CONFIRMED. AGENT WESTIN, WELCOME BACK. COMBAT ENHANCEMENT SOFTWARE ACTIVE.] Your fatigues blur into the background, thanks to the smart cloth's limited active camouflage ability. In the smart HUD, you glow a bright orange, as do all your other soldiers as they fade into concealment.
"All right. Mission is a go. Let's go kill this guy and be back in time for breakfast."
The doors slide open, whisper-quiet. You take one of the ropes down and hit the ground quietly with the rest of your team. You motion for them to hold up and you...
[ ] Draw your rifle and then move in. It's a standard Technocratic assault rifle, firing armor-piercing flechettes from caseless ammunition blocks. Technically it's ridiculously advanced but it's not actually a Device. Take down anyone who so much as looks in our direction, then take down the target. (Tactical approach).
[ ] (1.5 x) Nah, we're doing this quick and silent. Use Mjolnir. Aezir Industries's (a Syndicate subsidiary) best product. It's an antimateriel rifle in handgun form, firing a 15mm round at 750 meters per second, and with a Raptor Silencer it's quieter. It needs Enlightened recoil dampening technology just to fire at all. One of these weapons costs about $25,000 USD. Have your team secure the perimeter, and then move in yourself.
[ ] We should do this quick, quiet, and stealthily, so we're bringing knives to a potential gunfight, but as long as we stay quiet...
[ ] (0.4 x) Fuck this, he's too much of a risk. Get the ARC to raze the village, then shoot any survivors. No witnesses.
[ ] (+0.2 x) Take a moment to prepare a Procedure. Sure, it'll make you more noticeable, but it'll also make you way more dangerous. (Suggest a Procedure). Choose another action in conjunction (which isn't ARC Razings), and stunt the procedure.
[ ] Write-In.
BASIC ROLLS
Basic rolls are simple enough, roll Xd10s and tell me the results, using TN7 by default. (Xd10E7 for rolz.org). In fact, I'll probably end up doing them in the background myself, unless you guys want to enjoy the true power of awful dice or something.
VIRTUE/VICE
Virtue and Vice play into your character's ability to deal with people. You will eventually establish one. Your Virtue lets you regain WP by fulfilling it. Your Vice lets you regain WP by indulging it, and costs WP if you want to suppress it for a scene.
Westin's Virtue is Machine. He is a cold professional weapon, emotions minimized by years of conditioning and combat experience. He regularly pushes himself beyond the limits of flesh. Beneath his body, there is more than a man, there is an idea, and ideas are bulletproof. (Unless the firer has Entropy 5). His vice is Idealist. For all the horror he's seen, he believes in the righteousness of his cause. He may kill, but he is still moral.
ENLIGHTENED SCIENCE & PARADOX
Dependent on the Spheres and Skills your character has, you will have a greater or lesser ability to manipulate the environment. Westin has Life 3, Entropy 3, Dimensional Science 3, Forces 2, and Mind 1.
What does this mean?
Life 3-can alter self or simple creatures, can heal or harm complex creatures. Can heal self or heal/harm simple creatures (Life 2). Can sense Life. Having Life at even 1 dot lets you see your full health status.
Entropy 3-Can affect predictable patterns like machines, causing them to degrade or not degrade. Can affect probability. Can sense probabilities. Entropy is Westin's favored sphere, which means he gains a bonus when using it as the primary sphere of a Procedure.
Dimensional Science 3-Can translate dimensionally or create a disruptor beam dealing Bashing/Lethal/Aggravated damage. Can translate small objects between dimensions. Can see into alternate dimensions.
Forces 2-can increase or decrease the intensity of forces, such as heat, kinetic energy, light, etc. Can sense forces (seeing infrared, radar, etc).
Mind 1-Can enhance one's own mind. Perfect recall, sensing other minds, multitasking.
You can weave together these spheres to create more complex effects. For example, the effect Westin just used is a Entropy 1/Forces 1 Procedure. With 3 successes, he's adding 3 automatic successes to attacks he makes with firearms.
Paradox is bad. The more you accumulate, the deadlier paradox backlashes are. Accumulate paradox backlashes by using vulgar Procedures or, in the case of superhuman agents, using superhuman attributes. Westin has 1 dot of permanent Paradox, which never goes away. This is due to his prosthetic arm, which provides him +5 Strength for tasks using that arm. Augmented agents will often have permanent Paradox.
WESTIN'S STATUS PANEL
Willpower: 10/10
Health Levels: -0/-0/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-4/Incapacitated
Prime Energy: 4/4
I am near the peak of human potential in every method of combat, and I am superhumanly agile. I am as tough as Rasputin and strong enough to be an Olympian. I am an expert hacker, terrorist, con man, and assassin. However, I find it hard to relate to others and people find me incredibly scary and inhuman at times.
TUTORIAL II: SNEAKING MISSION
10/10 SF0 soldiers still alive (keep them all alive to get a Special Achievement: Wait, How Did You Get My Account Password?)
You move your hand quickly, precisely, to signal to the rest of the SF0 soldiers. Secure the perimeter. Engage any retreating hostiles. This is good. You want minimal casualties, and you can get places where a squad of special forces with heavy weapons cannot.
"So you're going to be doing it alone and hog all the glory, eh?" One of them questions. MacTavish, British, ex-SAS. You ignore it. He is irrelevant. He hasn't seen the things you've seen, he hasn't faced the things you've faced. He was recruited out of the SAS. Where the only things he's fought, things he still considers dangerous, are guys with rocket launchers. He hasn't faced down a 5 meter tall biomechanical horror with just a handgun. To be fair to him, it's a very, very good handgun. The finest ballistic weapon that Aezir Industries has built, in your opinion. The new MJOLNIR VI they're selling is probably more practical for the average agent, requiring far less strength to wield, and with laser-guided gyrojet ammunition to allow even mediocre shooters a good probability of hitting the target. But the old IVs, these antiques, they have the stopping power to take out armored vehicles and attack helicopters, plus their design just makes them so damn intimidating.
"Cut the chatter. Do what I say and you might live to see tomorrow." You were never good at socialization. Not since your resurrection. Instructions? Sure. Bullshit? Okay. But you've never been good at connecting. You've just had a mask you present to others. A weapon, just like everything else you are. You screw the chunky Raptor silencer on the weapon itself. Like you, a weapon wielded to slay the enemies of humanity. You carry it in one hand, typing on your PDA with another. You're already stealthy, but now you need to be invisible. Fortunately, like everything else the NWO has, there's an app for that.
[Engaging Metamaterial Stealth Functions and Active Noise Cancellation]
(Coincidental Forces 2, Entropy 2, for +1 net difficulty. This adds +2 automatic successes on Stealth rolls. Two Procedures are currently active, adding +1 difficulty to all further Enlightened Science rolls.)
Before, you were hard to see. Now, with the photoreactive active camouflage running at peak effectiveness, you are invisible. You move through the village. Like any primitive village before dawn, it is quiet, almost like the grave. Only a few houses have any sort of light, and you think it probably comes from candles. This is one of the places which is a typical no-go zone for Union agents, teeming with hemophages, lycanthropes, and rogue psions. Enemy territory. You take a jump, grab onto the edge of a roof, and lift yourself up to take a look. You need to find your hostile and fast. In a few hours, the sun will rise, and your operation will be incredibly obvious. Not only will that be incredibly inconvenient, it would have... political ramifications, considering that the technology and personnel you have can only come from western powers. A black ops attack in Saudi Arabia? The geopolitical ramifications themselves would be apocalyptic, especially if the Reality Terrorists make sure NWO media agents can't erase the evidence.
"Trouble, Lt." One of the soldiers, Zao, says. "Looks like contacts approaching. Eight foot-mobiles, two camels. They look unarmed, but I know what you said about how everything might be a threat in the pre-mission brief." Good. He knows what he's doing. He might end up working for the Union proper, instead of being told that he works for a shadowy international strike force hunting aliens hiding among the population. "Do we engage?"
How are finding Jibril al-Bara? Choose one or write-in. Stunts may give bonus dice. Do not roll until the votes are finally tallied up.
[ ] Just do regular investigation. You're a trained commando, finding a wizard living in a village can't be that hard. Roll 7d10 Perception + Awareness (using rolz.org in the dice room 'panopticonquest' can do it, unless you want me to use my dicebot [which is literally Hitler]).
[ ] Jibril al-Bara knows what he's doing. Otherwise he'd have been assassinated long ago. The advantage of tradecraft, though? Is that it's predictable. And you're just as good as he is at it. Possibly even better. Roll 8d10 Arete 4 + Entropy 3 + Specialty to use an Entropy 1 Procedure: Sense Fate (you are literally looking for the places which are most likely to kill you.)
[ ] Maybe if you set off a distraction of some sort, you might be able to get him moving and in the open, where you and your backup can ID him. And fortunately, you have explosives. Roll 6d10 Int + Terrorism.
[ ] Forget it, get the SF0 soldiers to help you search. They're here for a reason, and not just to cheerlead you.
[ ] Write-In.
What are your orders to the soldiers?
[ ] Disperse and hide. They don't see shit, won't be shit.
[ ] Do not engage unless they act in a hostile manner first. Maybe they'll be friendly. Or pretend not to notice.
[ ] (0.8x) Engage quietly. Take them out silently. [This violates your vice but is congruent to your virtue: You need to spend 1 WP to use this option]
[ ] (0.4x) Fuck it. Get the ARC to rocket the convoy. The distraction will probably make it easier for you to sneak in. [This violates your vice: You need to spend 1 WP to use this option]
WESTIN'S STATUS PANEL
Willpower: 10/10
Health Levels: -0/-0/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-4/Incapacitated
Injuries: None
Prime Energy: 4/4
Standing Effects: (Every 2 Standing Effects Add +1 Difficulty To Further Enlightened Science Rolls)
[ ] Vote To Deactivate: Focused Aim: 3 automatic successes on Firearms-based rolls (Entropy 1, Forces 1)
[ ] Vote To Deactivate: Active Stealth: 2 automatic successes on Stealth rolls (Forces 2, Entropy 2)
I am near the peak of human potential in every method of combat, and I am superhumanly agile. I am as tough as Rasputin and strong enough to be an Olympian. I am an expert hacker, terrorist, con man, and assassin. However, I find it hard to relate to others and people find me incredibly scary and inhuman at times.
TUTORIAL III: PALE HORSE
You murmur quietly into the helmet mic. "All elements, cover and quiet. If these guys are legit, just stay out of sight and let them go by. Keep your weapons on them and be ready to eliminate them if they so much as breathe wrong. I'm going to check a trace on our target with special sources." You click off after a quiet mutter of acknowledgements from the team.
You can see the map of the village, etched into memory. There are certain requirements for someone who spends their days avoiding nigh-omniscient robot assassins and the potential for orbital strike. The building must be located in a specific area. There must be good sight lines, and it must protect from detection from likely flight paths. Should there be an engagement, it must be possible to evacuate easily, possibly underground. You correlates possible locations with these factors and known occupancy data, eliminates possibilities methodically, one after another. There is only one left.
You move towards it very, very carefully. Fortunately, there are no curious eyes out watching you, and even if they were, they would barely notice. You see a glimpse of Al-Bara's head through the window, and you know you have a target. He seems suspicious, but that's the normal state for someone who's survived so long with a Union kill order on them. Rampant mind-destroying paranoia that leads people to make small mistakes.
The sound of suppressed gunfire, then the explosion of an RPG, shake the town. Things have gotten incredibly noisy. "Unknowns are engaging. Returning fire."
Your target hears the explosions and gunfire, and starts to move. You have a shot. Do you?
[ ] Take the shot.
[ ] Don't take the shot. He might have some sort of bullshit magical protection against regular bullets. No, you need special ammunition for this one.
[ ] Write in a stunt and Effect. Note that your offensive spheres are Life 3 (can deal damage to living things, bypassing most armor, and may also deal Aggravated direct pattern damage) and Dimensional Science 3 (Set phasers to stun/kill/disintegrate). Most uses of offensive Life or Dimensional Science are vulgar. This means a difficulty penalty.
[ ] Spend Quintessence on additional successes. Each point of Quintessence spent gives you an automatic success on the magic roll in question.
[ ] Spend Willpower on the roll. Each point of WP spent gives an automatic success.
And what do you do with the new unknowns? Sure, they're outnumbered, but those rocket launchers they have look mighty dangerous. And who knows, some of them might be were-snakes or were-camels or were-somethings.
[ ] Leave your men to fend for themselves. This way you'll probably have a ride home in case they're packing, fuck if I know, angry genies in magic lamps or something.
[ ] Take out al-Bara and find a good place to give them some covering fire. It helps, and it's not as obvious as sending in a multi-million dollar ARC.
[ ] GUNSHIP INTERRUPT
WESTIN'S STATUS PANEL
Willpower: 10/10
Health Levels: -0/-0/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-4/Incapacitated
Injuries: None
Prime Energy: 4/4
Standing Effects: (Every 2 Standing Effects Add +1 Difficulty To Further Enlightened Science Rolls)
[ ] Vote To Deactivate: Focused Aim: 3 automatic successes on Firearms-based rolls (Entropy 1, Forces 1)
[ ] Vote To Deactivate: Active Stealth: 2 automatic successes on Stealth rolls (Forces 2, Entropy 2)
I am near the peak of human potential in every method of combat, and I am superhumanly agile. I am as tough as Rasputin and strong enough to be an Olympian. I am an expert hacker, terrorist, con man, and assassin. However, I find it hard to relate to others and people find me incredibly scary and inhuman at times.
Tutorial IV; Act I: Five Metal Dragons; Update I: SSDD
TUTORIAL IV: All Things Devours
You move slowly, precisely, quietly to avoid attention. Your arms come up in a slow, organic movement which combines aiming and thumbing the selector to switch to the special ammunition. It's all drilled rote and probabilistics. There is an optimal way to eliminate a likely-guarded and armed opponent. It is the path with the highest chance of success, which does not hit the target where they are strong and goes for where they are weak. Any other choice would be suboptimal. Simple enough.
[HV Viral selected,] informs his HUD. [Mission status is War Crime-OK. Authorization approved for category-VI bioweapon]
You level the pistol at the exposed head, exhale slowly, and squeeze the trigger, throwing everything you have into making this shot count.
The Mjolnir coughs, its normal thundering roar muted to a quiet whisper. And the man disintegrates. He melts from the bioreactive payload, even as he tries to turn around to return the favor or run. His eyes liquefy and run out of their sockets before he can finish turning, failing to even see you. His muscle and organs liquefy into grey sludge. His bones crystallize as he falls, shattering as he hits the ground. You watch impassively to confirm the kill, scanning his body to make sure he is actually dead.
"Target is down. Status report?" You ask.
"Izanagi is down, took a near-miss from a RPG. Rest of us are fine. The fuck are these guys doing? We can't seem to hit them." You understand that they've probably been equipped with charms and... alchemical concoctions. Definitely not your normal terrorists, definitely associated with your target.
"Sending in fire support. Panther Zero-One, you are cleared to engage autonomously. Drop them."
"Roger. Engaging all hostile targets." The cool female voice of the ARC's AI responds. The helicopter ripples into appearance as its metamaterial cloaking device deactivates, chin turret unfolding its lethal payload. You can see its targeting solutions as it precisely targets the enemy, even as bullets seem to coincidentally never get through the protections the Reality Terrorists are equipped with. "Confirm deployment of Primium Ordinance." The antimagical alloy is incredibly expensive, it's not something to waste.
"Confirmed. Single shot only. Activating precision targeting."
The IX-80 15mm Heavy Electromagnetic Repeater barks ten times in one second. Eight men die, and two camels go down, perfect headshots.
"Mission accomplished. Let's get out of here." you say. It's just in time, as you cough violently and vomit. You must have inhaled some partially active bioweapon there from the disintegrating Reality Terrorist, and even Progenitor-designed inoculations are not enough to make that totally harmless.
(Gained 1 Paradox, rolled for Backlash at the end of the scene and got 2 successes. Ended with a 2 point Paradox Flaw)
.
JB I-SSDD
Given the massive upsurge in votes for Veteran Spy, it looks like that's going to end up everyone's agent. (amusingly enough the second and third place were literally 1 vote behind). So, now, more chargen votes while things get explained to you. Jamelia Belltower is a veteran NWO spy, she's seen it all and done it all. Over sixty years old, and she doesn't look like she's aged a day over 25, she would be the Da Vinci of Espionage. If Da Vinci was female. And Middle Eastern. And had a personal kill count larger than the standing armies of some nations. This is a pretty new assignment, a command and leadership role. She's done leadership before, but only on an ad hoc basis, versus actual day-to-day administration.
Ms. Belltower has a Broad set of subtle Spheres. She has Mind 2, Correspondence 2, Time 2, Matter 2, Life 2, Entropy 2, and Forces 2, and Arete (Enlightenment) 4. She has a powerful Avatar (Avatar 5) and is incredibly lucky in dangerous situations (Daredevil Merit: Whenever making a risky roll where failure is incredibly dangerous or certain death, reduce the difficulty by 1 and add +2d to the roll). She has access to the Union's Requisitions, giving her the ability to gain whatever tools she needs (should she roll well enough), like powered armor, heavy machine guns, and in at least one case a tank, access to the Union's Secret Weapons, which allow her to gain access to various experimental devices that may or may not be useful. Like the time when she was given an advanced cosmetics kit on a Chantry assault. She has Cloaking, making her phenomenally hard to notice by the unattentive.
Her artificially halted aging, due to the fact that she has abandoned all her Sleeper connections long ago and nobody knows how old she should be, has not resulted in Paradox. Yet. Longevity vaccines do end up often resulting in heavy genetic damage over time. Her primary method of applying Enlightened Science is one of the three paradigms listed below (this affects paradigm preferences, she can use any of these in-paradigm as a Technocrat. It also affects backgrounds). Choose one. Again, stunting unrolled votes may give you bonuses to your voting power. Notice that they correspond to Bourne/Bond/Bauer respectively. This is 100% intentional.
[ ] Conditioning. Back in the 80s, she was one of the first recipients of INVISIBLE BEAR (Gamma-0). It was basically a complete psychological rebuild from the ground up, an Iteration X/Progenitor/NWO program to do deep level brain hacks. Rewiring fight or flight to have instincts relevant to post-modern combat, optimizing brain function for enhanced cognition, movement precision, and reaction speed. Oh yeah, and they actually removed her ability to feel pain and made the shock reflex provide some actual damage control benefits. It's not the same as a fully genemodded agent, but it's an edge, and when you use the functions they've loaded into your cognition you can hold your own with any one of them. On the other hand, she has a powerful painkiller addiction. (+Enhancement -Addiction)
[ ] Secret Weapons. James Bond's got nothing on her. Jamelia has a suit made out of shapeshifting self-repairing nanomaterial, a pistol that fires microexplosives, and her stylish $10,000 watch shoots lasers from it. All of it costs, but sometimes you have to admit that Iteration X gets things right. Sometimes the suit makes the woman as much as the woman makes the suit. You've also used weirder gadgets, like nanokill lipstick, a rocket launcher purse (admittedly that was an old design), and oh right, a NWO issue hovercycle with a time dilation unit and a pair of railguns on it. Okay, admittedly the engine cut out on it and you were in the infirmary for a week after that chase, but it was so worth it. (+Swag)
[ ] Experience. All that work teaches you a lot about fieldcraft and tradecraft. She might not be able to do the same things that someone with mods or gear do, but that's irrelevant. Give her a good pistol and a kevlar vest and she'll get the job done all the same. (+Luck, +Badassery Points, -Stuff)
Her Construct's other agents are... an interesting mess of eclectic talents. They include:
Henriette Langley, Assault Walker Pilot. On one hand, in her element she's approximately as subtle as any other Iteration X exowalker pilot. That is to say, not at all holy shit subtle and Henriette are not even on speaking terms. On the flipside, heavy hardware comes in handy. Sometimes. If used in incredible moderation. The fact that she's a great helicopter pilot and stunt driver make her potentially useful in subtle operations, or "subtle" operations gone wrong, wherein your car is being chased by a dozen demon possessed Yakuza. (True story, happened to Jamelia in the 90s). Of course, the reason she's here is clearly because someone didn't want her back in her home Convention. You'll have to figure out why. Henriette is an expert in Matter, with Matter 4. Her other spheres, however, are pretty poor, with her only other spheres being Forces 3 and Prime 2.
Rose Ashford, Experimental Progenitor Bioweapon. Keeping the trend of "discarded but nevertheless incredibly useful killing machines with minimal subtlety", you have Rose. Well, 'minimal subtlety' would be a lie. She looks normal. If it wasn't for her pale skin, fangs, and too-red lips. Okay, she looks normal... for a vampire. You have a file on her that says that she was a Progenitor experiment into integration of hemophagic tissue into combat operatives, and that the baseline chassis is Project RECOIL material-organically distributed diamondoid bones, carbon nanotube mesh armor, enhanced physical capability. She seems to have a sunny personality from what you've actually read of her psych report, except when she occasionally (it's rare trust me, we'll have the bugs fixed eventually) flips out and tries to murder everyone. Oh yeah, and there were ethical issues with the project at some point. Skill-wise? She's good with knives, fast, tough, and lethal, and is okay at subterfuge and infiltration. She's not a very powerful mage but she does provide one of your two sources of Dimensional Science support.
Donald Sykes, Syndicate Executive. Hey, finally someone Jamelia can understand. Okay, she never liked the kinds of guys who never get their suits dirty, but they're never useless. So he's got an award for revealing bribery and a Nephandi cult in the Union somehow (it apparently involved an accident and demon money, sure he says he meant to do it but you figure that the Nephandi just got a terminal case of bad luck), and in response to shaking the boat the Syndicate dumps him on this Construct. Figures. They at least gave him a raise while they were at it, so he's got a seven-digit annual income and an eight-digit net worth. As far as skills he brings, he has corporate connections and is a Correspondence/Primal Utility/Time mage. There is an official reprimand on his record for "potential Reality Terrorist sympathies". Looking at it, apparently he was using modified crack cocaine as a method of accelerating his body and mind, like an Ecstatic would (not a dirty Ecstatic. Those would probably just have an orgy for it).
Siddharth Rajesh, Void Engineer SPACE MARINE. And the Union, being as progressive as it is, had to fill the last slot with a token minority. Mr. Rajesh hails from the Singaporean navy and then the Void Engineers, who booted him because of... ethical inflexibility. Which means that he plasma cannons and jackboots first, and asks questions about never. And Janina had entertained thought that after Sykes you were going to get a well-balanced group of subtle, professional, agents overall. Yeah no. On the other hand, his loyalty to the Union is impeccable, and he's going to obey any commands the TU gives him, up to and possibly including firing that plasma cannon on a bunch of orphans (if you can claim they were Reality Deviant orphans) in a nunnery (it has to be a Celestial Chorus nunnery though). He provides the other Dimensional Science source for your team, and has a suit of Iteration X built Immortal Warrior power armor, as well as a NSN Plasma Caster. His spheres include Forces 3, Dimensional Science 3, and Matter 3. He is only moderately more subtle than Henriette.
So what is Janina doing?
[ ] There's nothing going on yet, you've just got to set up, and they haven't met you. You have plenty of time to do... anything. (Write-in).
Also, do you want:
[ ] Second Person
[ ] Third Person
Remember to choose a primary paradigm from the three choices above. Choices are repeated again below for your convenience:
[ ] Conditioning. Back in the 80s, she was one of the first recipients of INVISIBLE BEAR (Gamma-0). It was basically a complete psychological rebuild from the ground up, an Iteration X/Progenitor/NWO program to do deep level brain hacks. She was one of the most successful test subjects. Rewiring fight or flight to have instincts relevant to post-modern combat, optimizing brain function for enhanced cognition, movement precision, and reaction speed. Oh yeah, and they actually removed her ability to feel pain and made the shock reflex provide some actual damage control benefits. It's not the same as a fully genemodded agent, but it's an edge, and when you use the functions they've loaded into your cognition you can hold your own with any one of them. On the other hand, she has a powerful painkiller addiction. (+Enhancement -Addiction)
[ ] Secret Weapons. James Bond's got nothing on her. Jamelia has a suit made out of shapeshifting self-repairing nanomaterial, a pistol that fires microexplosives, and her stylish $10,000 watch shoots lasers from it. All of it costs, but sometimes you have to admit that Iteration X gets things right. Sometimes the suit makes the woman as much as the woman makes the suit. You've also used weirder gadgets, like nanokill lipstick, a rocket launcher purse (admittedly that was an old design), and oh right, a NWO issue hovercycle with a time dilation unit and a pair of railguns on it. Okay, admittedly the engine cut out on it and you were in the infirmary for a week after that chase, but it was so worth it. (+Swag)
[ ] Experience. All that work teaches you a lot about fieldcraft and tradecraft and a million other incidental skills. She might not be able to do the same things that someone with mods or really great gear do, but that's irrelevant. Give her a good pistol and a kevlar vest and she'll get the job done all the same. (+Luck, +Badassery Points, +Skills, +Willpower, -Stuff)
You move slowly, precisely, quietly to avoid attention. Your arms come up in a slow, organic movement which combines aiming and thumbing the selector to switch to the special ammunition. It's all drilled rote and probabilistics. There is an optimal way to eliminate a likely-guarded and armed opponent. It is the path with the highest chance of success, which does not hit the target where they are strong and goes for where they are weak. Any other choice would be suboptimal. Simple enough.
[HV Viral selected,] informs his HUD. [Mission status is War Crime-OK. Authorization approved for category-VI bioweapon]
You level the pistol at the exposed head, exhale slowly, and squeeze the trigger, throwing everything you have into making this shot count.
The Mjolnir coughs, its normal thundering roar muted to a quiet whisper. And the man disintegrates. He melts from the bioreactive payload, even as he tries to turn around to return the favor or run. His eyes liquefy and run out of their sockets before he can finish turning, failing to even see you. His muscle and organs liquefy into grey sludge. His bones crystallize as he falls, shattering as he hits the ground. You watch impassively to confirm the kill, scanning his body to make sure he is actually dead.
"Target is down. Status report?" You ask.
"Izanagi is down, took a near-miss from a RPG. Rest of us are fine. The fuck are these guys doing? We can't seem to hit them." You understand that they've probably been equipped with charms and... alchemical concoctions. Definitely not your normal terrorists, definitely associated with your target.
"Sending in fire support. Panther Zero-One, you are cleared to engage autonomously. Drop them."
"Roger. Engaging all hostile targets." The cool female voice of the ARC's AI responds. The helicopter ripples into appearance as its metamaterial cloaking device deactivates, chin turret unfolding its lethal payload. You can see its targeting solutions as it precisely targets the enemy, even as bullets seem to coincidentally never get through the protections the Reality Terrorists are equipped with. "Confirm deployment of Primium Ordinance." The antimagical alloy is incredibly expensive, it's not something to waste.
"Confirmed. Single shot only. Activating precision targeting."
The IX-80 15mm Heavy Electromagnetic Repeater barks ten times in one second. Eight men die, and two camels go down, perfect headshots.
"Mission accomplished. Let's get out of here." you say. It's just in time, as you cough violently and vomit. You must have inhaled some partially active bioweapon there from the disintegrating Reality Terrorist, and even Progenitor-designed inoculations are not enough to make that totally harmless.
(Gained 1 Paradox, rolled for Backlash at the end of the scene and got 2 successes. Ended with a 2 point Paradox Flaw)
.
JB I-SSDD
Given the massive upsurge in votes for Veteran Spy, it looks like that's going to end up everyone's agent. (amusingly enough the second and third place were literally 1 vote behind). So, now, more chargen votes while things get explained to you. Jamelia Belltower is a veteran NWO spy, she's seen it all and done it all. Over sixty years old, and she doesn't look like she's aged a day over 25, she would be the Da Vinci of Espionage. If Da Vinci was female. And Middle Eastern. And had a personal kill count larger than the standing armies of some nations. This is a pretty new assignment, a command and leadership role. She's done leadership before, but only on an ad hoc basis, versus actual day-to-day administration.
Ms. Belltower has a Broad set of subtle Spheres. She has Mind 2, Correspondence 2, Time 2, Matter 2, Life 2, Entropy 2, and Forces 2, and Arete (Enlightenment) 4. She has a powerful Avatar (Avatar 5) and is incredibly lucky in dangerous situations (Daredevil Merit: Whenever making a risky roll where failure is incredibly dangerous or certain death, reduce the difficulty by 1 and add +2d to the roll). She has access to the Union's Requisitions, giving her the ability to gain whatever tools she needs (should she roll well enough), like powered armor, heavy machine guns, and in at least one case a tank, access to the Union's Secret Weapons, which allow her to gain access to various experimental devices that may or may not be useful. Like the time when she was given an advanced cosmetics kit on a Chantry assault. She has Cloaking, making her phenomenally hard to notice by the unattentive.
Her artificially halted aging, due to the fact that she has abandoned all her Sleeper connections long ago and nobody knows how old she should be, has not resulted in Paradox. Yet. Longevity vaccines do end up often resulting in heavy genetic damage over time. Her primary method of applying Enlightened Science is one of the three paradigms listed below (this affects paradigm preferences, she can use any of these in-paradigm as a Technocrat. It also affects backgrounds). Choose one. Again, stunting unrolled votes may give you bonuses to your voting power. Notice that they correspond to Bourne/Bond/Bauer respectively. This is 100% intentional.
[ ] Conditioning. Back in the 80s, she was one of the first recipients of INVISIBLE BEAR (Gamma-0). It was basically a complete psychological rebuild from the ground up, an Iteration X/Progenitor/NWO program to do deep level brain hacks. Rewiring fight or flight to have instincts relevant to post-modern combat, optimizing brain function for enhanced cognition, movement precision, and reaction speed. Oh yeah, and they actually removed her ability to feel pain and made the shock reflex provide some actual damage control benefits. It's not the same as a fully genemodded agent, but it's an edge, and when you use the functions they've loaded into your cognition you can hold your own with any one of them. On the other hand, she has a powerful painkiller addiction. (+Enhancement -Addiction)
[ ] Secret Weapons. James Bond's got nothing on her. Jamelia has a suit made out of shapeshifting self-repairing nanomaterial, a pistol that fires microexplosives, and her stylish $10,000 watch shoots lasers from it. All of it costs, but sometimes you have to admit that Iteration X gets things right. Sometimes the suit makes the woman as much as the woman makes the suit. You've also used weirder gadgets, like nanokill lipstick, a rocket launcher purse (admittedly that was an old design), and oh right, a NWO issue hovercycle with a time dilation unit and a pair of railguns on it. Okay, admittedly the engine cut out on it and you were in the infirmary for a week after that chase, but it was so worth it. (+Swag)
[ ] Experience. All that work teaches you a lot about fieldcraft and tradecraft. She might not be able to do the same things that someone with mods or gear do, but that's irrelevant. Give her a good pistol and a kevlar vest and she'll get the job done all the same. (+Luck, +Badassery Points, -Stuff)
Her Construct's other agents are... an interesting mess of eclectic talents. They include:
Henriette Langley, Assault Walker Pilot. On one hand, in her element she's approximately as subtle as any other Iteration X exowalker pilot. That is to say, not at all holy shit subtle and Henriette are not even on speaking terms. On the flipside, heavy hardware comes in handy. Sometimes. If used in incredible moderation. The fact that she's a great helicopter pilot and stunt driver make her potentially useful in subtle operations, or "subtle" operations gone wrong, wherein your car is being chased by a dozen demon possessed Yakuza. (True story, happened to Jamelia in the 90s). Of course, the reason she's here is clearly because someone didn't want her back in her home Convention. You'll have to figure out why. Henriette is an expert in Matter, with Matter 4. Her other spheres, however, are pretty poor, with her only other spheres being Forces 3 and Prime 2.
Rose Ashford, Experimental Progenitor Bioweapon. Keeping the trend of "discarded but nevertheless incredibly useful killing machines with minimal subtlety", you have Rose. Well, 'minimal subtlety' would be a lie. She looks normal. If it wasn't for her pale skin, fangs, and too-red lips. Okay, she looks normal... for a vampire. You have a file on her that says that she was a Progenitor experiment into integration of hemophagic tissue into combat operatives, and that the baseline chassis is Project RECOIL material-organically distributed diamondoid bones, carbon nanotube mesh armor, enhanced physical capability. She seems to have a sunny personality from what you've actually read of her psych report, except when she occasionally (it's rare trust me, we'll have the bugs fixed eventually) flips out and tries to murder everyone. Oh yeah, and there were ethical issues with the project at some point. Skill-wise? She's good with knives, fast, tough, and lethal, and is okay at subterfuge and infiltration. She's not a very powerful mage but she does provide one of your two sources of Dimensional Science support.
Donald Sykes, Syndicate Executive. Hey, finally someone Jamelia can understand. Okay, she never liked the kinds of guys who never get their suits dirty, but they're never useless. So he's got an award for revealing bribery and a Nephandi cult in the Union somehow (it apparently involved an accident and demon money, sure he says he meant to do it but you figure that the Nephandi just got a terminal case of bad luck), and in response to shaking the boat the Syndicate dumps him on this Construct. Figures. They at least gave him a raise while they were at it, so he's got a seven-digit annual income and an eight-digit net worth. As far as skills he brings, he has corporate connections and is a Correspondence/Primal Utility/Time mage. There is an official reprimand on his record for "potential Reality Terrorist sympathies". Looking at it, apparently he was using modified crack cocaine as a method of accelerating his body and mind, like an Ecstatic would (not a dirty Ecstatic. Those would probably just have an orgy for it).
Siddharth Rajesh, Void Engineer SPACE MARINE. And the Union, being as progressive as it is, had to fill the last slot with a token minority. Mr. Rajesh hails from the Singaporean navy and then the Void Engineers, who booted him because of... ethical inflexibility. Which means that he plasma cannons and jackboots first, and asks questions about never. And Janina had entertained thought that after Sykes you were going to get a well-balanced group of subtle, professional, agents overall. Yeah no. On the other hand, his loyalty to the Union is impeccable, and he's going to obey any commands the TU gives him, up to and possibly including firing that plasma cannon on a bunch of orphans (if you can claim they were Reality Deviant orphans) in a nunnery (it has to be a Celestial Chorus nunnery though). He provides the other Dimensional Science source for your team, and has a suit of Iteration X built Immortal Warrior power armor, as well as a NSN Plasma Caster. His spheres include Forces 3, Dimensional Science 3, and Matter 3. He is only moderately more subtle than Henriette.
So what is Janina doing?
[ ] There's nothing going on yet, you've just got to set up, and they haven't met you. You have plenty of time to do... anything. (Write-in).
Also, do you want:
[ ] Second Person
[ ] Third Person
Remember to choose a primary paradigm from the three choices above. Choices are repeated again below for your convenience:
[ ] Conditioning. Back in the 80s, she was one of the first recipients of INVISIBLE BEAR (Gamma-0). It was basically a complete psychological rebuild from the ground up, an Iteration X/Progenitor/NWO program to do deep level brain hacks. She was one of the most successful test subjects. Rewiring fight or flight to have instincts relevant to post-modern combat, optimizing brain function for enhanced cognition, movement precision, and reaction speed. Oh yeah, and they actually removed her ability to feel pain and made the shock reflex provide some actual damage control benefits. It's not the same as a fully genemodded agent, but it's an edge, and when you use the functions they've loaded into your cognition you can hold your own with any one of them. On the other hand, she has a powerful painkiller addiction. (+Enhancement -Addiction)
[ ] Secret Weapons. James Bond's got nothing on her. Jamelia has a suit made out of shapeshifting self-repairing nanomaterial, a pistol that fires microexplosives, and her stylish $10,000 watch shoots lasers from it. All of it costs, but sometimes you have to admit that Iteration X gets things right. Sometimes the suit makes the woman as much as the woman makes the suit. You've also used weirder gadgets, like nanokill lipstick, a rocket launcher purse (admittedly that was an old design), and oh right, a NWO issue hovercycle with a time dilation unit and a pair of railguns on it. Okay, admittedly the engine cut out on it and you were in the infirmary for a week after that chase, but it was so worth it. (+Swag)
[ ] Experience. All that work teaches you a lot about fieldcraft and tradecraft and a million other incidental skills. She might not be able to do the same things that someone with mods or really great gear do, but that's irrelevant. Give her a good pistol and a kevlar vest and she'll get the job done all the same. (+Luck, +Badassery Points, +Skills, +Willpower, -Stuff)
Update II: Know Yourself, Know Your Team
JB II: Know Yourself, Know Your Team
Jamelia frowns as she checks the files and grabs another handful of headache pills. They haven't showed up yet. Well, she needs to work out what the files aren't mentioning about them. Pulling out a pencil from her suit pocket, she begins to make annotations in the margins of the print-outs. She needs to know where their weak points are, where they'll break, where she can apply pressure to make them like her - or hate her, if that benefits her more. That's what she does. That's what she's good at.
It's simple enough, given all the data she has. There's more than enough to build a psychological model around them. First, the engineered and programmed. Iteration X and the Progenitors have their own... stabilizing methods, making their agents easy enough to read.
Henrietta looks solid, but she seems like she might crack under pressure. She's got PTSD, definitely, but there's more to it than that. She's positively phobic of what lurks beyond the stars, and it seems that she's physically assaulted someone for mentioning the Computer. There's a few psych reports that say she was rescued by Void Engineers on an ill-fated extradimensional assault. Details on this are extremely thin, but it looks like it's just as much that she doesn't want to be in Iteration X and listening to their command chain as they don't want her here. Insinuating that she might be transferred back if she performs unsatisfactorily is going to be more than enough leverage, but given her tendency to violently lash out (one Japanese Iterator has written '~tsun~ ~tsun~' in the comments, which you managed to undelete) that may also be risky. She doesn't inherently like or dislike killing, but she loves piloting, and if you want to do something unsubtle, she'll approve 100%.
Rose is psychologically stable. Except for the occasional bouts of violence, related to the fact that within her chest sort of beats the heart of a hemophage and using that biomod tends to lead to berserker episodes. Something about stress atavism when activated. She's got undying faith in the Technocratic Union, but is an idealist, rather than a pragmatist, who thinks (bless her naive soul) that if you just set a great example everyone will eventually follow you. You suspect that, and her cheery facade, may have something to do with the whole 'stress atavism' thing. Throw some verbal approval and do the 'right' thing (rather than the 'hard decision') and she'll follow anyone who sets a great example or talks an enemy down. She approves of nonviolent solutions and loathes vampires as bloodsucking parasites.
The Construct's local actual bloodsucking parasite, Donald Sykes, wants personal power and to make the world better, in approximately that order. Money, for him, is a method of getting both. Appealing to his enlightened self-interest and the long game will get his approval, while he disapproves of shortsighted actions that may make things immediately better but tend to end up creating worse problems down the line. He can be bought, but when he's bought he stays bought, so if you're giving him kickbacks you can be pretty sure he's going to stay on your side instead of sell you out. Honor among Syndics, after all. Telling him that his actions might be short-sighted, and convincing him of it, or that he's breaching a contract, will be the fastest way to get him to stop doing something you don't want him to do.
And finally, you have Siddharth, who loves his job. He approves of fast, terminal solutions to Reality Deviance and the Technocratic Union's hardline stance. If you want his approval, and if you want him to be happy, just take the easy way in with maximum violence and minimal subtlety. Plasma cannon first, ask later. Show no mercy to Reality Terrorists, and he will approve wholeheartedly. He doesn't like constructs much, either. You can't quite get a grasp on the reason, but Jamelia suspects a bad experience with a HITMark or something akin to that. Either that, or he's been compared to them excessively. It might be the latter, given that he acts like one a lot of the time. He also has a bit of a chip on his shoulder for being dumped earthside, where there's all that nasty grime and paradox flying around to jam up his cool toys.
It's certainly a team, Jamelia concludes. Maybe not... okay, definitely not the team she'd take, but it's better than nobody. A message pops up on her computer screen as she finishes her analysis and writing the notes.
FROM: "NWO Administrative Services", COMMAND.IT.NWO.TU
TO: "Jamelia Belltower", JB451.OP.NWO.TU
CC: None
Limited CC: HL81.Shock.ItX.TU, RA156.DC.Prog.TU, lodzomoney.Fin.Syn.TU, SR1984.BCD.VE.TU
SUBJECT: Operation MERCILESS AMPHIBIAN
Union assets have detected artifact retrieval and smuggling activity by Reality Terrorists. This activity is dealing in Extradimensional Entity remains as well as stolen artifacts of Reality Terrorist significance. Your Construct's mission is to investigate this activity, gather intelligence on the ringleaders, and shut down any large-scale activity they seek to accomplish. Your Construct is allowed BROAD leeway in how to accomplish this.
You have been tasked with investigating artifacts related to the recent breakin at the Museum of History in Moscow. Other sites will be investigated by other Constructs, and you have no need to concern yourselves with these sites. Finally, deep cover agents have found artifacts and xenobiological samples being exchanged for other mystical items and occult favors in Hong Kong and Pyongyang confirmed to be related to this smuggling line. Time Motion Manager Analysis, combined with Ivory Tower parapolitical modeling, shows a 32.4% likelihood that the activity may have some relation to Entropic Rogue Psions ("Nephandi") and their allies. There is a 21.6% likelihood that Marauders may be involved.
This mission will use the temporary Priority Code METATRON. This is a 2B Priority Code and will allow the override of local mission assets with current mission priority 1A or below. Should heavy support be needed, this mission will use the Emergency Code MEGIDDO. MEGIDDO is a 5E Priority Code and will allow the override of assets with mission priority 4D or below. As standard procedure, we seek to remind you that abuse of Emergency Codes may result in sanctions including demotion, reduction in responsibility, psychological evaluation and reconditioning, mental reprofiling, and termination from employment.
Relevant information is attached. Note that due to security reasons, this data is scrambled under PANGOLIN/L linguistic encryption. If your PANGOLIN security inoculations are not up to date, please update your security inoculations. This encryption is LETHAL and any attempts to decrypt the information without proper authorization may result in permanent and severe brain damage.
One hour in, Jamelia thinks, and she's already gotten something new and interesting. It doesn't seem like a milk run, but it does seem like something to keep in mind. She considers where to go first and look for more clues to this little Reality Terrorist plot.
[ ] Hong Kong. She's familiar with it, everyone speaks English, you might be able to find out something about what's going on. You know that Asia is basically "Technocracy Internal War", wherein the Technocracy's control is shaky because nationalist sympathies have overwhelmed internal loyalty. If you're hiding something, it's going to be in Hong Kong. Furthermore, the Technocracy does have tight control there, even if most of it is in the hands of the Syndicate.
[ ] Moscow. Hey, even after the fall of the Soviet Union and the advent of capitalism, there's plenty of NWO types and disgruntled Syndicate types who supported Communism and thought it was a much, much better way of getting the Masses to enlightenment and understanding of human nature than, you know, capitalist hogwash. There's also a lot of organized crime types who can be bribed, and Sure, it means you'll have to step lightly and not mention that you know the DOSH KING, but there's enough NWO and embittered retirees that you can just worm your way into their good graces and find out what you need to know fast.
[ ] Pyongyang. The Technocracy has very little hold there. Which, of course, is exactly why it's such an awful dark age shithole ruled by men worshipped as god-kings. You'll be in hostile territory at that point, but it also means that whatever you're investigating there is probably happening in the open, with very little discovery time necessary. Of course, it means you have to bring some serious firepower, because you can't rely on suborning the local law enforcement-the local law enforcement works for the other guy and is very, very much against you.
And who do you bring along? You may be able to bring additional agents on-board as you go through a city.
[ ] (1.2x for HK, 1x normally, 0.7x for Moscow) Donald. He's wealthy enough that he could go any of these places unimpeded, and he's at least as good as you are . Sure, he can't handle himself all that well in a fight, but you don't plan to be getting into many fights. On the other hand, he can provide support from the office with very little issue, and if you do end up in a running gun battle with OMON or something you'll probably not want a guy who can't handle himself in a running gun battle with a platoon of special forces types around.
[ ] (1.1x) Rose. She's okay at the 'hiding in plain sight' thing, especially if there are a lot of hemophages around, and... who are you kidding, they're everywhere. Besides, she can just excuse the teeth with a rare genetic disorder, and she provides the ability to get into a fight with an angry werewolf without the obvious issue of trying to cover up a 6 meter tall killer mecha getting into a gunfight in a crowded street. You'll have to help her pack anti-rejection medicines along with your own pills, and read her user manual (misogyny and objectification, ho!) but it'll be worth it to have combat support that doesn't scream "Hey look at us, we're a shadowy conspiracy with hyper-advanced technology that secretly rules the world".
[ ] (1.1x for Pyongyang, 0.8x otherwise) Siddharth. Subtlety is your specialization. Killing things with a heavy plasma cannon? That's his. And he's very good at it. Also, as a bonus, he can fit through most doors and into buildings. Admittedly, he has a love of mass destruction and a horribly vulgar weapon but he'll only fire when you tell him to.
[ ] (1.1x for Pyongyang, 0.7x otherwise) Henrietta. Look, you can handle all thesubtle stuff just fine. Sometimes you just need a GIANT DEATH ROBOT to interrupt things. And by 'sometimes' we mean 'surprisingly often'. Especially if you plan in getting into fights with, say... tanks.
Jamelia frowns as she checks the files and grabs another handful of headache pills. They haven't showed up yet. Well, she needs to work out what the files aren't mentioning about them. Pulling out a pencil from her suit pocket, she begins to make annotations in the margins of the print-outs. She needs to know where their weak points are, where they'll break, where she can apply pressure to make them like her - or hate her, if that benefits her more. That's what she does. That's what she's good at.
It's simple enough, given all the data she has. There's more than enough to build a psychological model around them. First, the engineered and programmed. Iteration X and the Progenitors have their own... stabilizing methods, making their agents easy enough to read.
Henrietta looks solid, but she seems like she might crack under pressure. She's got PTSD, definitely, but there's more to it than that. She's positively phobic of what lurks beyond the stars, and it seems that she's physically assaulted someone for mentioning the Computer. There's a few psych reports that say she was rescued by Void Engineers on an ill-fated extradimensional assault. Details on this are extremely thin, but it looks like it's just as much that she doesn't want to be in Iteration X and listening to their command chain as they don't want her here. Insinuating that she might be transferred back if she performs unsatisfactorily is going to be more than enough leverage, but given her tendency to violently lash out (one Japanese Iterator has written '~tsun~ ~tsun~' in the comments, which you managed to undelete) that may also be risky. She doesn't inherently like or dislike killing, but she loves piloting, and if you want to do something unsubtle, she'll approve 100%.
Rose is psychologically stable. Except for the occasional bouts of violence, related to the fact that within her chest sort of beats the heart of a hemophage and using that biomod tends to lead to berserker episodes. Something about stress atavism when activated. She's got undying faith in the Technocratic Union, but is an idealist, rather than a pragmatist, who thinks (bless her naive soul) that if you just set a great example everyone will eventually follow you. You suspect that, and her cheery facade, may have something to do with the whole 'stress atavism' thing. Throw some verbal approval and do the 'right' thing (rather than the 'hard decision') and she'll follow anyone who sets a great example or talks an enemy down. She approves of nonviolent solutions and loathes vampires as bloodsucking parasites.
The Construct's local actual bloodsucking parasite, Donald Sykes, wants personal power and to make the world better, in approximately that order. Money, for him, is a method of getting both. Appealing to his enlightened self-interest and the long game will get his approval, while he disapproves of shortsighted actions that may make things immediately better but tend to end up creating worse problems down the line. He can be bought, but when he's bought he stays bought, so if you're giving him kickbacks you can be pretty sure he's going to stay on your side instead of sell you out. Honor among Syndics, after all. Telling him that his actions might be short-sighted, and convincing him of it, or that he's breaching a contract, will be the fastest way to get him to stop doing something you don't want him to do.
And finally, you have Siddharth, who loves his job. He approves of fast, terminal solutions to Reality Deviance and the Technocratic Union's hardline stance. If you want his approval, and if you want him to be happy, just take the easy way in with maximum violence and minimal subtlety. Plasma cannon first, ask later. Show no mercy to Reality Terrorists, and he will approve wholeheartedly. He doesn't like constructs much, either. You can't quite get a grasp on the reason, but Jamelia suspects a bad experience with a HITMark or something akin to that. Either that, or he's been compared to them excessively. It might be the latter, given that he acts like one a lot of the time. He also has a bit of a chip on his shoulder for being dumped earthside, where there's all that nasty grime and paradox flying around to jam up his cool toys.
It's certainly a team, Jamelia concludes. Maybe not... okay, definitely not the team she'd take, but it's better than nobody. A message pops up on her computer screen as she finishes her analysis and writing the notes.
FROM: "NWO Administrative Services", COMMAND.IT.NWO.TU
TO: "Jamelia Belltower", JB451.OP.NWO.TU
CC: None
Limited CC: HL81.Shock.ItX.TU, RA156.DC.Prog.TU, lodzomoney.Fin.Syn.TU, SR1984.BCD.VE.TU
SUBJECT: Operation MERCILESS AMPHIBIAN
Union assets have detected artifact retrieval and smuggling activity by Reality Terrorists. This activity is dealing in Extradimensional Entity remains as well as stolen artifacts of Reality Terrorist significance. Your Construct's mission is to investigate this activity, gather intelligence on the ringleaders, and shut down any large-scale activity they seek to accomplish. Your Construct is allowed BROAD leeway in how to accomplish this.
You have been tasked with investigating artifacts related to the recent breakin at the Museum of History in Moscow. Other sites will be investigated by other Constructs, and you have no need to concern yourselves with these sites. Finally, deep cover agents have found artifacts and xenobiological samples being exchanged for other mystical items and occult favors in Hong Kong and Pyongyang confirmed to be related to this smuggling line. Time Motion Manager Analysis, combined with Ivory Tower parapolitical modeling, shows a 32.4% likelihood that the activity may have some relation to Entropic Rogue Psions ("Nephandi") and their allies. There is a 21.6% likelihood that Marauders may be involved.
This mission will use the temporary Priority Code METATRON. This is a 2B Priority Code and will allow the override of local mission assets with current mission priority 1A or below. Should heavy support be needed, this mission will use the Emergency Code MEGIDDO. MEGIDDO is a 5E Priority Code and will allow the override of assets with mission priority 4D or below. As standard procedure, we seek to remind you that abuse of Emergency Codes may result in sanctions including demotion, reduction in responsibility, psychological evaluation and reconditioning, mental reprofiling, and termination from employment.
Relevant information is attached. Note that due to security reasons, this data is scrambled under PANGOLIN/L linguistic encryption. If your PANGOLIN security inoculations are not up to date, please update your security inoculations. This encryption is LETHAL and any attempts to decrypt the information without proper authorization may result in permanent and severe brain damage.
One hour in, Jamelia thinks, and she's already gotten something new and interesting. It doesn't seem like a milk run, but it does seem like something to keep in mind. She considers where to go first and look for more clues to this little Reality Terrorist plot.
[ ] Hong Kong. She's familiar with it, everyone speaks English, you might be able to find out something about what's going on. You know that Asia is basically "Technocracy Internal War", wherein the Technocracy's control is shaky because nationalist sympathies have overwhelmed internal loyalty. If you're hiding something, it's going to be in Hong Kong. Furthermore, the Technocracy does have tight control there, even if most of it is in the hands of the Syndicate.
[ ] Moscow. Hey, even after the fall of the Soviet Union and the advent of capitalism, there's plenty of NWO types and disgruntled Syndicate types who supported Communism and thought it was a much, much better way of getting the Masses to enlightenment and understanding of human nature than, you know, capitalist hogwash. There's also a lot of organized crime types who can be bribed, and Sure, it means you'll have to step lightly and not mention that you know the DOSH KING, but there's enough NWO and embittered retirees that you can just worm your way into their good graces and find out what you need to know fast.
[ ] Pyongyang. The Technocracy has very little hold there. Which, of course, is exactly why it's such an awful dark age shithole ruled by men worshipped as god-kings. You'll be in hostile territory at that point, but it also means that whatever you're investigating there is probably happening in the open, with very little discovery time necessary. Of course, it means you have to bring some serious firepower, because you can't rely on suborning the local law enforcement-the local law enforcement works for the other guy and is very, very much against you.
And who do you bring along? You may be able to bring additional agents on-board as you go through a city.
[ ] (1.2x for HK, 1x normally, 0.7x for Moscow) Donald. He's wealthy enough that he could go any of these places unimpeded, and he's at least as good as you are . Sure, he can't handle himself all that well in a fight, but you don't plan to be getting into many fights. On the other hand, he can provide support from the office with very little issue, and if you do end up in a running gun battle with OMON or something you'll probably not want a guy who can't handle himself in a running gun battle with a platoon of special forces types around.
[ ] (1.1x) Rose. She's okay at the 'hiding in plain sight' thing, especially if there are a lot of hemophages around, and... who are you kidding, they're everywhere. Besides, she can just excuse the teeth with a rare genetic disorder, and she provides the ability to get into a fight with an angry werewolf without the obvious issue of trying to cover up a 6 meter tall killer mecha getting into a gunfight in a crowded street. You'll have to help her pack anti-rejection medicines along with your own pills, and read her user manual (misogyny and objectification, ho!) but it'll be worth it to have combat support that doesn't scream "Hey look at us, we're a shadowy conspiracy with hyper-advanced technology that secretly rules the world".
[ ] (1.1x for Pyongyang, 0.8x otherwise) Siddharth. Subtlety is your specialization. Killing things with a heavy plasma cannon? That's his. And he's very good at it. Also, as a bonus, he can fit through most doors and into buildings. Admittedly, he has a love of mass destruction and a horribly vulgar weapon but he'll only fire when you tell him to.
[ ] (1.1x for Pyongyang, 0.7x otherwise) Henrietta. Look, you can handle all thesubtle stuff just fine. Sometimes you just need a GIANT DEATH ROBOT to interrupt things. And by 'sometimes' we mean 'surprisingly often'. Especially if you plan in getting into fights with, say... tanks.
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Update III: Operation is Go
JB III: Operation Is Go
It's clear to Jamelia which one of the locations is the best one to start from. Pyongyang is too risky, and although she's done no-intel no-backup operations, doing so is a waste of Union resources. Their advantage over Reality Terrorists was infrastructure, cooperation, and sociopolitical influence. Throwing that all away just because they'd be lazy there? Risky. It'd definitely be a fast operation, but it'd also have a very high chance of ending in tragedy. Moscow is where it all started, but there's no guarantee that there'd still be any clues left if they were halfway decent about covering their tracks. So it had to be Hong Kong.
Jamelia purses her lips, thinking.
Pulling out her PDA, she accesses a standard requisitions form. She's been to Hong Kong plenty of times, and she knows the issues. Last time she miscalculated how long it would take to get to a location with hostile Enlightened interference obstructing the road network, and she ended up having to commandeer a moped from one of the Masses. It would be useful to have a transport option on site - though it'd be better to go for the covert rather than the eye-searingly overt. No HK-302 unmanned attack chopper, sadly. No, a light, agile car... maybe even a bike. She does like a good motorcycle, preferably with auto-stabilizers and the kind of engine more applicable to F1 racers. Keep this reasonable, though - it'll be a help, but it's not vital, and by keeping to a standard request she won't burn favors she could need later.
Having filled in the form, she contracts the PDA and flips it into a phone. Scrolling down the list of contacts, she considers a few, and selects one.
"Hello," she says, once the encrypted connection has its link. "Rodriguez, it's J."
She can hear the amused hum from the other end of the link. Rodriguez is a Vanessa, a genetically optimized clone supersoldier - though a male one - retired from field use due to unexpected congenital aggression issues with a minority of the geneline. Shame, really - he'd never flipped out and torn out a man's throat with his teeth. He speaks with a mechanical rasp from the synthesizer which replaces his damaged voicebox, from where an Etherite killbot slit his throat (and severed an arm) in Casablanca. Jamelia had torn that thing's 'cold fusion' (how ridiculous, it was a nuclear thermopile, not cold fusion) reactor out, and managed to stabilize him, but he was retired from the field and ended up in a supplies division. "Ah, J," he buzzed. "And how are you?"
"Fine, fine." She paused, clearing her throat. "Listen, Rodriguez, heading to Hong Kong," she says, crisp and efficient. Just the way he likes it. State everything as functionally as possible "Low visibility, investigation. Possibly links to RD smuggling ring, Cat-B or worse artifacts."
"Yes." A pause. "Bugs or holdout?"
He still has it. "Preferably both," she says. "We're looking for leads."
"Dense telephone network, high exchange rate. Recent upgrades," he says. His mind is moving faster than the replacement voicebox can. "Hmm. Yes. Interceptors?"
"Something like that would be good," she agrees. "As for holdout, something fairly close to mundane, but I need an edge in case things go south."
"See what I can do," he agrees. "No promises, but... we'll see. We'll have your package ready for you onsite."
Well, she's done what she can. Now to meet the team and tell them. She can see them enter and get to work on CCTV, and even that creates a model. Rose is five minutes early, eager to please and seeming actually enthusiastic about their work. Siddharth is there a few seconds later, probably because he enjoys his job. Henrietta is there at the exact time, like clockwork. And Donald is ten minutes late, as befits someone who people tend to wait for, rather than someone used to waiting for others. She calls them into the meeting room to take a look at them in person. They look like how they do in the photos.
Donald is tall and blond, with the physique of someone who hits the gym more for looking good than for the effectiveness benefits. Union healthcare generally gives that-if the Progenitors can't keep you alive doing whatever you do, they'll at least make sure you leave a beautiful corpse. The second thing she notices about him is the slight bloodshot quality to Donald's eyes. Drug use, probably a constant habit. It might be inconvenient or beneficial, or more likely equal parts of both.
"Are you on drugs, Mr. Sykes?" Jamelia asks pointedly. "Actually, nevermind. What are you using and why?"
"A standard blend of custom amphetamines and Progenitor-tailored nootropics. I was closing a deal yesterday and I also wanted my personal time." He smiles infuriatingly and runs a hand through his messy blond hair. That explains why he smells of perfume, Jamelia thinks.
Henrietta is thin, waifish, and haunted, with orange-red hair that seems unnatural ("augmentation side effect", the dossier said), missing one eye ("regeneration inhibited by Reality Terrorist parapsychic ability"). The other is subtly unnatural, designed to compensate for loss of depth perception by acting as a compound eye. It's clear that it doesn't track what she's focusing, the facade of human emulation being literally skin deep.
Rose is sitting with her hands in each other, in anticipation and maybe a bit of fear. Like most Progenitor combat constructs you've seen, there's something primal about her even though she's dressed like any other young professional, something obviously inhuman just in her bearing alone, even if the layman on the street wouldn't notice. An interplay between sex and violence, eyes that are simultaneously kind and hint at the ability to commit great cruelty, and that's before you get to the fangs protruding slightly, her too-dark hair that seems to drink up light, and her too-pale skin ("atavistic features"). Like many Progenitor combat constructs or Iteration X HITMarks, she has that manufactured, implausible beauty, not a blemish in sight and proportions implausible for her line of work. Jamelia resists sighing at old habits.
Siddharth is the only normal looking one around. He could probably pass for someone unimportant if he cared to, which he does not. The suit and tie fit him poorly, and he holds himself unnaturally still, a posture that only comes with spending too much time in a powered combat suit. He turns, and you can see fading red rashes on the back of his dark-skinned neck-interface feedback injuries. He scans the room habitually, with the efficiency and speed of a trained commando.
At least they're performing as advertised. "Listen up," she says. "You've all gotten the message about what we're here to do, so let's go and actually do it. Donald, you're with me. Try to keep that habit of yours under control. We're going to Hong Kong."
"And the rest of us?" Rose asks. She manages to make a professional question sound like it came from a lost puppy afraid of being abandoned again.
Jamelia considers for a moment and responds.
How are you approaching Hong Kong? Note that this approach will affect the type of equipment you get from your Requisitions/Secret Weapons.
[ ] You know there's a lot of Kuei-Jin (asian hemophage) gangs around in HK. They're almost certainly involved in any sort of artifact smuggling. So find the nearest bunch of Triads and start kicking their faces in until they give you some answers. Oh, yeah, and let's not forget. If you capture any alive, you can give them to the local Progenitors to have them turned into delicious Prime Energy. Roll Intelligence + Investigation (7d) to find one and then gun them down at a meeting or a sauna or something. Enhance this roll with Procedures if you can justify them.
[ ] Check in with the local Constructs and law enforcement, get their intelligence reports, and then use those to track down leads. Roll Manipulation + Bureaucracy (8d) to get access to their intelligence and resources, since you'll have to convince them why a western upstart needs their intelligence data and their intelligence gathering infrastructure. Enhance this roll with Procedures if you can justify them.
[ ] You're pretty good at schmoozing. Schmooze. Pretend to be someone interested in acquiring ancient history and get yourself right into that artifact deal. This should work pretty well, just grease some palms, do some sneaking and quiet recon, and create a false ID. Roll Manipulation + Subterfuge + Quality (9d) to schmooze your way in. Enhance this roll with Procedures if you can justify them.
[ ] (+0.1x) Use Donald. You brought him for a reason. Hong Kong is the Syndicate's turf, he can probably get access to something. Choose another option for Jamelia to do while he does his job.
[ ] ASSUME DIRECT CONTROL of Donald Sykes. His story will run concurrently with Jamelia's.
Only one sidestory can be active at one time, so this locks out the ASSUME DIRECT CONTROL option in the second vote.
[ ] Just let him do his job his way. Roll 11d for his schmoozing with other executives. You can, however, still stunt this roll.
What are you doing with the rest of your Construct?
[ ] (1.2x) Find some way to use them to track down leads in another one of the hubs. Send them to either Moscow or Pyongyang. Give them an approach and some faces to crack (the three approaches for Hong Kong can be analogized).
[ ] ASSUME DIRECT CONTROL of one of the team leaders. Only one sidestory can be active at one time, so this locks out the ASSUME DIRECT CONTROL option in the first vote.
[ ] Let them do their job their own way. This may or may not end in tragedy.
[ ] (1x or less) Bring one or more of them in as backup. The problem is that if there are Nephandi they will be tracking agent movements, and several agents showing up in one region with no real history of being there all the time? Suspicious. Whereas one or two agents is not suspicious, since the Union's men and women move around all the time.
This vote has hidden modifiers dependent on which agents you choose to accompany you. Less subtle = worse, more = worse.
[ ] (0.7x) Leave them here. They're not exactly subtle, and you don't have any good leadership material among them. Henrietta is a bit too broken, Rose has no leadership skills or experience, and Siddharth is an okay leader but he is also a plasma toting psychopath.
[ ] Write-In.
Fake Edit: If you do not know what Jamelia's Enlightened Science can do, you are free to ask in thread, and I will answer as best as I can as quickly as I can.
It's clear to Jamelia which one of the locations is the best one to start from. Pyongyang is too risky, and although she's done no-intel no-backup operations, doing so is a waste of Union resources. Their advantage over Reality Terrorists was infrastructure, cooperation, and sociopolitical influence. Throwing that all away just because they'd be lazy there? Risky. It'd definitely be a fast operation, but it'd also have a very high chance of ending in tragedy. Moscow is where it all started, but there's no guarantee that there'd still be any clues left if they were halfway decent about covering their tracks. So it had to be Hong Kong.
Jamelia purses her lips, thinking.
Pulling out her PDA, she accesses a standard requisitions form. She's been to Hong Kong plenty of times, and she knows the issues. Last time she miscalculated how long it would take to get to a location with hostile Enlightened interference obstructing the road network, and she ended up having to commandeer a moped from one of the Masses. It would be useful to have a transport option on site - though it'd be better to go for the covert rather than the eye-searingly overt. No HK-302 unmanned attack chopper, sadly. No, a light, agile car... maybe even a bike. She does like a good motorcycle, preferably with auto-stabilizers and the kind of engine more applicable to F1 racers. Keep this reasonable, though - it'll be a help, but it's not vital, and by keeping to a standard request she won't burn favors she could need later.
Having filled in the form, she contracts the PDA and flips it into a phone. Scrolling down the list of contacts, she considers a few, and selects one.
"Hello," she says, once the encrypted connection has its link. "Rodriguez, it's J."
She can hear the amused hum from the other end of the link. Rodriguez is a Vanessa, a genetically optimized clone supersoldier - though a male one - retired from field use due to unexpected congenital aggression issues with a minority of the geneline. Shame, really - he'd never flipped out and torn out a man's throat with his teeth. He speaks with a mechanical rasp from the synthesizer which replaces his damaged voicebox, from where an Etherite killbot slit his throat (and severed an arm) in Casablanca. Jamelia had torn that thing's 'cold fusion' (how ridiculous, it was a nuclear thermopile, not cold fusion) reactor out, and managed to stabilize him, but he was retired from the field and ended up in a supplies division. "Ah, J," he buzzed. "And how are you?"
"Fine, fine." She paused, clearing her throat. "Listen, Rodriguez, heading to Hong Kong," she says, crisp and efficient. Just the way he likes it. State everything as functionally as possible "Low visibility, investigation. Possibly links to RD smuggling ring, Cat-B or worse artifacts."
"Yes." A pause. "Bugs or holdout?"
He still has it. "Preferably both," she says. "We're looking for leads."
"Dense telephone network, high exchange rate. Recent upgrades," he says. His mind is moving faster than the replacement voicebox can. "Hmm. Yes. Interceptors?"
"Something like that would be good," she agrees. "As for holdout, something fairly close to mundane, but I need an edge in case things go south."
"See what I can do," he agrees. "No promises, but... we'll see. We'll have your package ready for you onsite."
Well, she's done what she can. Now to meet the team and tell them. She can see them enter and get to work on CCTV, and even that creates a model. Rose is five minutes early, eager to please and seeming actually enthusiastic about their work. Siddharth is there a few seconds later, probably because he enjoys his job. Henrietta is there at the exact time, like clockwork. And Donald is ten minutes late, as befits someone who people tend to wait for, rather than someone used to waiting for others. She calls them into the meeting room to take a look at them in person. They look like how they do in the photos.
Donald is tall and blond, with the physique of someone who hits the gym more for looking good than for the effectiveness benefits. Union healthcare generally gives that-if the Progenitors can't keep you alive doing whatever you do, they'll at least make sure you leave a beautiful corpse. The second thing she notices about him is the slight bloodshot quality to Donald's eyes. Drug use, probably a constant habit. It might be inconvenient or beneficial, or more likely equal parts of both.
"Are you on drugs, Mr. Sykes?" Jamelia asks pointedly. "Actually, nevermind. What are you using and why?"
"A standard blend of custom amphetamines and Progenitor-tailored nootropics. I was closing a deal yesterday and I also wanted my personal time." He smiles infuriatingly and runs a hand through his messy blond hair. That explains why he smells of perfume, Jamelia thinks.
Henrietta is thin, waifish, and haunted, with orange-red hair that seems unnatural ("augmentation side effect", the dossier said), missing one eye ("regeneration inhibited by Reality Terrorist parapsychic ability"). The other is subtly unnatural, designed to compensate for loss of depth perception by acting as a compound eye. It's clear that it doesn't track what she's focusing, the facade of human emulation being literally skin deep.
Rose is sitting with her hands in each other, in anticipation and maybe a bit of fear. Like most Progenitor combat constructs you've seen, there's something primal about her even though she's dressed like any other young professional, something obviously inhuman just in her bearing alone, even if the layman on the street wouldn't notice. An interplay between sex and violence, eyes that are simultaneously kind and hint at the ability to commit great cruelty, and that's before you get to the fangs protruding slightly, her too-dark hair that seems to drink up light, and her too-pale skin ("atavistic features"). Like many Progenitor combat constructs or Iteration X HITMarks, she has that manufactured, implausible beauty, not a blemish in sight and proportions implausible for her line of work. Jamelia resists sighing at old habits.
Siddharth is the only normal looking one around. He could probably pass for someone unimportant if he cared to, which he does not. The suit and tie fit him poorly, and he holds himself unnaturally still, a posture that only comes with spending too much time in a powered combat suit. He turns, and you can see fading red rashes on the back of his dark-skinned neck-interface feedback injuries. He scans the room habitually, with the efficiency and speed of a trained commando.
At least they're performing as advertised. "Listen up," she says. "You've all gotten the message about what we're here to do, so let's go and actually do it. Donald, you're with me. Try to keep that habit of yours under control. We're going to Hong Kong."
"And the rest of us?" Rose asks. She manages to make a professional question sound like it came from a lost puppy afraid of being abandoned again.
Jamelia considers for a moment and responds.
How are you approaching Hong Kong? Note that this approach will affect the type of equipment you get from your Requisitions/Secret Weapons.
[ ] You know there's a lot of Kuei-Jin (asian hemophage) gangs around in HK. They're almost certainly involved in any sort of artifact smuggling. So find the nearest bunch of Triads and start kicking their faces in until they give you some answers. Oh, yeah, and let's not forget. If you capture any alive, you can give them to the local Progenitors to have them turned into delicious Prime Energy. Roll Intelligence + Investigation (7d) to find one and then gun them down at a meeting or a sauna or something. Enhance this roll with Procedures if you can justify them.
[ ] Check in with the local Constructs and law enforcement, get their intelligence reports, and then use those to track down leads. Roll Manipulation + Bureaucracy (8d) to get access to their intelligence and resources, since you'll have to convince them why a western upstart needs their intelligence data and their intelligence gathering infrastructure. Enhance this roll with Procedures if you can justify them.
[ ] You're pretty good at schmoozing. Schmooze. Pretend to be someone interested in acquiring ancient history and get yourself right into that artifact deal. This should work pretty well, just grease some palms, do some sneaking and quiet recon, and create a false ID. Roll Manipulation + Subterfuge + Quality (9d) to schmooze your way in. Enhance this roll with Procedures if you can justify them.
[ ] (+0.1x) Use Donald. You brought him for a reason. Hong Kong is the Syndicate's turf, he can probably get access to something. Choose another option for Jamelia to do while he does his job.
[ ] ASSUME DIRECT CONTROL of Donald Sykes. His story will run concurrently with Jamelia's.
Only one sidestory can be active at one time, so this locks out the ASSUME DIRECT CONTROL option in the second vote.
[ ] Just let him do his job his way. Roll 11d for his schmoozing with other executives. You can, however, still stunt this roll.
What are you doing with the rest of your Construct?
[ ] (1.2x) Find some way to use them to track down leads in another one of the hubs. Send them to either Moscow or Pyongyang. Give them an approach and some faces to crack (the three approaches for Hong Kong can be analogized).
[ ] ASSUME DIRECT CONTROL of one of the team leaders. Only one sidestory can be active at one time, so this locks out the ASSUME DIRECT CONTROL option in the first vote.
[ ] Let them do their job their own way. This may or may not end in tragedy.
[ ] (1x or less) Bring one or more of them in as backup. The problem is that if there are Nephandi they will be tracking agent movements, and several agents showing up in one region with no real history of being there all the time? Suspicious. Whereas one or two agents is not suspicious, since the Union's men and women move around all the time.
This vote has hidden modifiers dependent on which agents you choose to accompany you. Less subtle = worse, more = worse.
[ ] (0.7x) Leave them here. They're not exactly subtle, and you don't have any good leadership material among them. Henrietta is a bit too broken, Rose has no leadership skills or experience, and Siddharth is an okay leader but he is also a plasma toting psychopath.
[ ] Write-In.
Fake Edit: If you do not know what Jamelia's Enlightened Science can do, you are free to ask in thread, and I will answer as best as I can as quickly as I can.
Update IV: First Encounter Assault Recon
JB IV: First Encounter Assault Recon
Jamelia smiles politely. "I'm intending to carry out a two-pronged, relatively-low attention operation in Hong Kong," she explains, professionally. "Donald will enter separately. He will be tasked with liaising with the local Union assets. I respect a professional for what he does, and his record stands for itself," she adds, with a nod in his direction. "I hardly need to stand over his shoulder and micromanage every last thing he does."
"Now," she continues, "Rose, you're coming with me. We'll be entering the country together. Local haemophages are a known RD-presence, and have positively IDed links to artifact smuggling. We'll follow a standard door kicking operation, using statistically calculated locations for maximum return for minimal risk and shake them down, see what turns up. We'll try to keep it looking like a normal bit of Union harassment against parasites. We'll see if we can take at least one of them alive - or whatever the appropriate phrase is," she corrects herself. "Not only will we be taking a threat off the streets if we do that and we can interrogate it, but the haemophage can be handed over to Donald for use as leverage to get in with the local Progenitors. They value specimens. That'll make his job easier, and if we let him take the credit for it, we disguise our own presence." Of course, Jamelia doesn't mention that she's offering the credit to Donald by doing that, as payment for his loyalty. He probably has guessed it already, and the others don't need to know.
"Ma'am, thank you for giving me this opportunity to prove myself. I won't let you down." Rose responds meekly. "It is important for you to know that I don't know very much about the... Kuei-Jin, the Cathayans as the local hemophages call them. Just that they have very strange powers and behave very differently. They still can be killed, though."
"Noted." Jamelia replies. She turns to Henriette and Siddharth. "I understand you might be eager for action," she says, aiming the comment more at Henrietta than Siddharth, "but Hong Kong is sensitive turf. I've done operations there before, and the local Union representatives can get touchy. We don't want to get on their wrong side, because we need access to their assets. However," she adds, raising a hand, "I want to keep you close. Close enough that, if needs be, you're only hours away. To that end, I'm looking for a low-key placement within a few hours of Hong Kong. This will disguise what we're up to, your skills will still be of use when you're in 'reserve', and vitally, if things go wrong and the enemy is more heavily positioned in Hong Kong than we know at the moment, I can have you on site quickly."
"Ma'am." Both respond.
"All right, you know what you're going to be doing. Rose, Donald, you've got a trip to Hong Kong to set up. Henriette, Siddarth, you'll be heading to the Philippines. You're going Aswuang hunting."
"Oh hell yes." Siddharth says, grinning. "Gonna get to burn some Pinoy RDs!"
Jamelia sighs at his overenthusiastic response as she leaves the meeting room to set up for Hong Kong. Donald is likely to fly out immediately, first class (as always), with an unrealistically good schedule. She has her own work to do. There are NWO contacts to look at, weapons and equipment to requisition. Primium ammunition in 10mm and other Union-standard calibers, additional men and materiel, and possibly some level of experimental technology. She looks up Hong Kong constructs and finds one that looks promising. Led by a Thomas MacMillian, one of the old guard left there by the handover of Hong Kong to Chinese control. Bitter, easily manipulated. Looking for some chance to see glory now that nationalistic cheerleading has replaced Reality Deviant hunting for the most part. The equipment he would have available would be outdated but... easier to hide traces of. She types a memo to have the prototype equipment sent to Construct HK-Alpha-24-N, and gets herself and Rose a plane ticket to Hong Kong. Her cover is a wealthy businesswoman, heading to Hong Kong for international expansion, along with her secretary and executive assistant.
The plane trip is uneventful. There is no sabotage, no terrorist plot, and definitely no attempt to shoot the plane down with stolen Russian surface to air missiles.
Exiting the airport, Rose looks at Jamelia meekly and stammers a question. "I was looking at the mission parameters you gave me, and I was wondering if you actually needed me around for this or if I could go off on my own for a little bit... I'd really like to see the world. I don't have any equipment I need from the Construct anyways." She smiles slightly. "After all, I am military equipment."
She is right, you don't actually need her right now. "Just make sure you're around when we're doing the assault." Rose blinks several times, apparently not expecting that answer, and profusely thanks Jamelia before leaving. Jamelia has no worries that she'll shirk her duties. Like any combat construct, she was made for a purpose, and her psychological profile shows that she has accepted it. Furthermore, her need of Union infrastructure to avoid long-term complications from xenografts meant that she couldn't shirk her assignments even if she wanted.
Jamelia walks to the parking lot, finds an empty vehicle registered to the Union, checks it over for explosives and bugs, and gets in to visit the Construct which she has made an appointment with. She carefully drives it to the Construct, in the basement of a nondescript office building. Jamelia feels slightly nostalgic upon entering. There's a chaingun turret mounted in the ceiling, slowly tracking her as the sensors scan her biometrics and ensure she's an agent. Newer Constructs have far more subtle security, up to and including 'angelnet' nanotech immune systems that simply dissolve hostile entrants without proper protection.
"Welcome, Agent Belltower. Please proceed to Meeting Room A." She gets the sense that the Construct has largely stayed unused, the agents in the facility spending most of their time on irrelevancies rather than critical missions. This is good for her. MiB skills, embedded so deeply they might be instinct, do not degrade, even the largely flawed Series I's abilities stay sharp until they die of genetic complications. MiB bodies do not degrade until some catastrophic cascade failure occurs that 1980s biotech cannot compensate for, and then they fall over and die. The fact that there are a few, blank-faced, stony-eyed, still looking at her means she has manpower for this mission. Thomas MacMillian is an old soldier whose glory days have passed, ex-SAS, a midranking NWO agent perfectly content to live out his retirement yet still seeking to get something that he can be recognized for put on his portfolio when unofficial retirement becomes actual retirement to a Construct that handles data archiving or historical records.
"Agent Belltower. Or is it Director now? I remember you from that one op in Xi'an. Good work." He gives her his hand to shake. His hair is graying, signs of a low priority for life extension. He'll probably live to 2050 assuming no improvements in anti-senesence technology at the rate he's getting his anagathics. He doesn't seem to mind.
"Director MacMillian. Thank you for agreeing to meet with me." She responds, shaking his hand. "We needed local assets for an operation against Reality Terrorists, and with all the issues going around with disunity and questionable judgment, you were the only trustworthy ones."
He smiles at that. Bingo, Jamelia thinks. She's figured him out. "Yeah, the locals are all glaring at each other nowadays. Nationalism, you know. They didn't get it beaten out of them back 70 years ago. God I hope we don't have a repeat of history here. One great schism and truce is enough." Jamelia is inclined to agree. "Spend most of their time requisitioning equipment and personnel to passively-aggressively block the others from doing anything, lest they get more glory and influence. Only the Void Engineers managed to escape this, and that's probably because most of the new ones are from one nation." It has been interesting that almost all of the Void Engineer's massive expansion has been amed in China, but the mysteries of the Void Engineers were not her current objective. "But you're not here to listen to an old man talk about how it was better in the past. Such thoughts shouldn't even be entertained. Your packages are in the armory and you have Agents Shen, Ji, Wang, Yang, and Chang assigned to your command. Try not to get all of them killed, I don't get many replacements anymore. They're in the armory with your gear, apparently you've already signed off on Primium ammunition to be distributed?"
Jamelia nods. "Thank you for your Construct's assistance."
"Welcome. Just go kick some hemophage ass for me and make sure to write it in the report. If there's anything else we can provide, we'll be more than willing."
She follows the signs to the armory, down a flight of stairs deep into the Construct itself. There are five clones, ashen-skinned and faces impassive. Early generation Men in Black, these constructs were built in an era when genetic engineering technology was not quite as developed as today. Like Victors, they had numerous flaws, but theirs were largely and fortunately physical-they pushed fewer limits, were far closer to human performance ranges, and suffered less for it. Jamelia has worked with them on numerous occasions, and takes a good look at them. They stare back, but deep in their eyes there is intelligence, awareness, and maybe even something that mystics might call a soul. These are still in good working order. The four men and one woman are dressed in blue-black military-style fatigues of the Hong Kong Special Duties Unit, the "Flying Tigers", and heavy SWAT-style body armor is laid out on the table in front of them, as are blunt, boxy high-tech assault rifles. X-9 Modular Weapons Systems, Jamelia recognizes them as. Effective and powerful, especially if their underbarrel grenade launchers are used liberally. Boxes of 35mm grenades have also been laid out alongside the 40-round magazines of gold-and-black banded primium ammunition. One of them, Ji, the heavy weapons specialist, is carrying a medium machine gun designed along similar lines.
"Commander. We have been assigned to you for a raid on the 24K triad, which you have said is connected to a worldwide Reality Devi-Reality Terrorist plot. We will follow your orders to the best of our ability, and have already been equipped with Primium ammunition as per your orders. Your equipment has been laid out on the table." There is an ominous black box with the seal of Q Division and the Void Engineers' Beijing Research and Execution Manufactory on it. Jamelia opens it tentatively. It could be useful, or it could be a dud.
Inside, there is a large, futuristic handgun, clearly too advanced for Sleeper technologies. A small pamplet also sits inside. The cover only has a few words on it, all in big bold lettering. "TYPE 28 DEW-LOCALIZED SINGULARITY GENERATION SYSTEM. BETA TEST VARIANT. NOT FOR USE IN POPULATED AREAS."
"Upon your command and preparation, we will follow you on the assault against the 24K triad." The MiB hivemind interrupts. Jamelia can't tell which of the four males said it, and spends a few seconds pondering the mystery until Donald interrupts with a phone call.
"Go for Belltower."
"Hey boss, it's Don. I just got off the phone with the police commissioner of Hong Kong, and along with some of my old friends here, we were talking about how awful it was that there was such a high rate of organized crime in the shadier parts of Hong Kong. Now, seeing that the Hong Kong police force has had all these successful anticorruption initiatives, I suggested that maybe given all the international investment coming in and making the city wealthy, he should start forcing out the last of that sordid crime-ridden history."
"And? That wasn't your mission."
"Well, he didn't agree outright, but he said he'd "consider" it. You are go. Also, it wasn't my mission, but it was my call. The Syndicate's been keeping watch on the artifact trade and letting it happen as long as they didn't get too complacent. We've got a few locations, and more importantly we have the big sellers and buyers. "Looks like the 24Ks are involved, and the local hemophage boss, 'Devil Law', yes that's a real name, yes I know you're laughing, seems to be selling some kind of ancient bullshit magic sword to interested buysers soon."
"And?" Jamelia does not correct him. She did not laugh, or even chuckle. The name is amusing, certainly, but she's seen her share of amusing names.
"He runs a gambling house in one of the crappier districts of Hong Kong. He generally is smart enough to leave our ops alone, so I don't know what the hell persuaded him to pick this hot potato up. So we've got our anomaly. I can forward you the intelligence ASAP. Go read it on the way as you move in."
Some Time Later
The black van stops quietly outside of the illegal underground gambling palace where Demon Law rules his shadow fiefdom. Her PDA is showing that Rose is already there, pretending to be one of the rich shiftless socialites seeking the illegal thrill of throwing money at organized crime for no point. This is it, Jamelia thinks. This is where things either go as planned or go to hell. Even with an acute sense of just how little she knows, she is still calm. She knows enough on how to kill them. Fire, primium, headshots. She does not understand their parahuman abilities, but like with every Superstitionist she's fought, she can simply improvise. And she has backup. She makes sure the multi-threat armor vest is correctly fastened, draws her sidearm...
VOTE ON NEXT ACTION
[ ] ...and she grabs a conventional X-5 Protector. Sure, it's not as stylish or as powerful as the "Singun", but it also doesn't have the risk of, you don't know, catastrophically failing into a horrible singularity and consuming the city block in a black hole or something. And you definitely have Primium ammunition for the X-5. You can always fake a report later about how the Singun broke on a test firing or something.
[ ] (0.9x) ...and she puts her hands on the Singun, which activates. She's facing a lot of enemies, and some of them are really powerful. She figures that if a vampire can eat a black hole to the face and not die, it probably deserves to live. If you choose this option, choose one of the two modifiers below.
[ ] RTFM. Look, you're handling a weapon of mass destruction. Sure, it might look like a handgun, but one of the finest hazing rituals in the NWO is giving some newbie who doesn't know it an overcharged holdout designed for augmented agents on their first day at the range and laughing as they break both their wrists firing a pistol chambered for 12.7mm HVAP. +Singun Knowledge, -Preparation Time
[ ] Don't RTFM. You don't have time, and the quickstart guide is simple. "Point Singularity Generator at enemy. Pull trigger. Laugh." +Preparation Time, -What Does The Red Button Do?
Because of Jamelia's Hypertechnology score, she can figure out that the Singun is built on FTL drive principles. It uses high level Correspondence (Correspondence 4) and Dimensional Science (Dimensional Science 3) to create a wormhole, except with no actual exit point. Instead, the matter is randomly thrown around everywhere. Such a weapon is likely to bypass almost all Superstitionist defenses, but is likely incredibly unreliable (it is Vulgar As Hell [TM]). To deal with this unreliability, it brute-forces the effect, using an inefficient amount of Prime Energy to smooth out space-time.
PREPARATION EFFECTS: JAMELIA
Jamelia has had hours in a near-optimal place to prepare for this assault. Choose or write-in any number of Procedures to have prepared ahead of time. Note that multiple Procedures raise the difficulty of further Procedure rolls. Note also the ability to vote against other people's votes. This is solely because of the special nature of Procedures.
[ ] Hook into the MiB Hivemind. You'll need to know what they're doing. (Mind 2, All parties are assisting each other, granting bonuses)
[ ] You need to make sure you don't get hurt. Fortunately, your armor vest is one of those really nice piezoelectric ones. You just need to boot it up and it'll harden to diamond-hard the moment anything strikes it. (Forces 2, +protection)
[ ] Pain is weakness leaving the body. You don't feel it, but even better. There's something in your subconscious, something you can tap for that desperate strength and endurance that you generally only see in action heroes and mothers rescuing their children from certain death. (Life 2, Mind 2, stabilize yourself at your -4 HL, wound penalties reversed). They can tear you up, but you know better than anyone just how much trauma a human body can take and as long as you don't give up, it won't kill you.
[ ] You need to shoot straight and make sure they don't touch you. Fortunately, you have some of the best training in the world. Fighting multiple superhuman hostiles? As easy for you as breathing. (Entropy 1, Forces 2, Correspondence 1, Mind 1, bonuses to attack rolls as long as they are being made against superhuman enemies, as well as DVs against said enemies. Alternatively, add combat bonuses to single Abilities).
[ ] Vote against one of the Procedures. This is solely because of the fact that too many Procedures running at once can be detrimental to your ability to improvise.
[ ] Write-Ins.
PREPARATION EFFECTS: ROSE
[ ] Get ready for a fight. Activate skin reinforcement, make sure your medichines are running in overdrive, pump yourself full of synthetic hyperadrenaline. You'll want to go loud and fast.
[ ] Don't go to full combat readiness. This way you might be able to stab someone in the back as they think you're just a "Kin-Jin" with no stake here, or better yet, some kind of ghoul or revenant or something, or even better, a Sleeper.
[ ] Go for stealth instead. Fully mask any inhuman traits so that you can best stab someone in the back.
NEW GAME MECHANIC: SHOCKWAVE CODES
In high-threat circumstances, Technocratic Constructs can activate SHOCKWAVE codes. These codes, such as the infamous Code RAGNAROK (used for existential threats and authorizing full use and target designation of strategic ordinance by the highest ranking agents, possibly even allowing junior agents to designate for strategic-yield orbital strikes) are used in desperate situations and can often allow for "Get Out Of Jail Free" use. Shockwave Codes are not always available. If not made explicitly available, you may ask if they are possible (because sometimes I might forget), but otherwise may not vote for them. Jamelia, as an agent in GOOD standing with the Union, currently has access to THREE Shockwave Codes an arc. Note that abuse of Shockwave Codes for excessive force or just to cover up an agent's own mistakes may cause reductions in standing.
You will be able to tell that an option is a Shockwave Code because a Shockwave Code option will always be bold and in ALLCAPS. Some options will take more than one Shockwave Code. Because of your assignment of friendlies, you have these Shockwave Codes available. You do not have to choose a Shockwave Code. Ever.
[ ] STANDBY FOR TITANFALL. Use Matter Transmission technology to immediately drop Henrietta, armed with an assault walker, into the fray from the Iteration X assault carrier Brice Hill (yes, Iteration X has its own aircraft carrier. What, did you think the Void Engineers were the only people with battleships?). This costs ONE Shockwave Code.
[ ] ASSAULT DROP. Get Siddarth, as part of a joint squad of Iteration X Shock Corps members and Void Engineer marines, to drop in. This costs ONE Shockwave Code.
[ ] CHINA INTERRUPT. Pull strings in the NWO to get a PLA Special Operations Force platoon with "Manchurian Candidate" neural programming dropped in. They're Project WIDDERSHINS, like INVISIBLE BEAR but without the inconsistency, like IRON MOUNTAIN but without the emotional... instability. When active, they're emotionless killers who feel no pain or fear, and will mechanically take down anything threatening the mission. This costs TWO Shockwave Codes.
Jamelia Belltower's Status
Willpower: 7/7
Prime Energy: 5/5
Health Levels: -0/-0/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-4/Incapacitated/Dying
Current Effects: ???
Shockwave Codes: 3/3
Jamelia smiles politely. "I'm intending to carry out a two-pronged, relatively-low attention operation in Hong Kong," she explains, professionally. "Donald will enter separately. He will be tasked with liaising with the local Union assets. I respect a professional for what he does, and his record stands for itself," she adds, with a nod in his direction. "I hardly need to stand over his shoulder and micromanage every last thing he does."
"Now," she continues, "Rose, you're coming with me. We'll be entering the country together. Local haemophages are a known RD-presence, and have positively IDed links to artifact smuggling. We'll follow a standard door kicking operation, using statistically calculated locations for maximum return for minimal risk and shake them down, see what turns up. We'll try to keep it looking like a normal bit of Union harassment against parasites. We'll see if we can take at least one of them alive - or whatever the appropriate phrase is," she corrects herself. "Not only will we be taking a threat off the streets if we do that and we can interrogate it, but the haemophage can be handed over to Donald for use as leverage to get in with the local Progenitors. They value specimens. That'll make his job easier, and if we let him take the credit for it, we disguise our own presence." Of course, Jamelia doesn't mention that she's offering the credit to Donald by doing that, as payment for his loyalty. He probably has guessed it already, and the others don't need to know.
"Ma'am, thank you for giving me this opportunity to prove myself. I won't let you down." Rose responds meekly. "It is important for you to know that I don't know very much about the... Kuei-Jin, the Cathayans as the local hemophages call them. Just that they have very strange powers and behave very differently. They still can be killed, though."
"Noted." Jamelia replies. She turns to Henriette and Siddharth. "I understand you might be eager for action," she says, aiming the comment more at Henrietta than Siddharth, "but Hong Kong is sensitive turf. I've done operations there before, and the local Union representatives can get touchy. We don't want to get on their wrong side, because we need access to their assets. However," she adds, raising a hand, "I want to keep you close. Close enough that, if needs be, you're only hours away. To that end, I'm looking for a low-key placement within a few hours of Hong Kong. This will disguise what we're up to, your skills will still be of use when you're in 'reserve', and vitally, if things go wrong and the enemy is more heavily positioned in Hong Kong than we know at the moment, I can have you on site quickly."
"Ma'am." Both respond.
"All right, you know what you're going to be doing. Rose, Donald, you've got a trip to Hong Kong to set up. Henriette, Siddarth, you'll be heading to the Philippines. You're going Aswuang hunting."
"Oh hell yes." Siddharth says, grinning. "Gonna get to burn some Pinoy RDs!"
Jamelia sighs at his overenthusiastic response as she leaves the meeting room to set up for Hong Kong. Donald is likely to fly out immediately, first class (as always), with an unrealistically good schedule. She has her own work to do. There are NWO contacts to look at, weapons and equipment to requisition. Primium ammunition in 10mm and other Union-standard calibers, additional men and materiel, and possibly some level of experimental technology. She looks up Hong Kong constructs and finds one that looks promising. Led by a Thomas MacMillian, one of the old guard left there by the handover of Hong Kong to Chinese control. Bitter, easily manipulated. Looking for some chance to see glory now that nationalistic cheerleading has replaced Reality Deviant hunting for the most part. The equipment he would have available would be outdated but... easier to hide traces of. She types a memo to have the prototype equipment sent to Construct HK-Alpha-24-N, and gets herself and Rose a plane ticket to Hong Kong. Her cover is a wealthy businesswoman, heading to Hong Kong for international expansion, along with her secretary and executive assistant.
The plane trip is uneventful. There is no sabotage, no terrorist plot, and definitely no attempt to shoot the plane down with stolen Russian surface to air missiles.
Exiting the airport, Rose looks at Jamelia meekly and stammers a question. "I was looking at the mission parameters you gave me, and I was wondering if you actually needed me around for this or if I could go off on my own for a little bit... I'd really like to see the world. I don't have any equipment I need from the Construct anyways." She smiles slightly. "After all, I am military equipment."
She is right, you don't actually need her right now. "Just make sure you're around when we're doing the assault." Rose blinks several times, apparently not expecting that answer, and profusely thanks Jamelia before leaving. Jamelia has no worries that she'll shirk her duties. Like any combat construct, she was made for a purpose, and her psychological profile shows that she has accepted it. Furthermore, her need of Union infrastructure to avoid long-term complications from xenografts meant that she couldn't shirk her assignments even if she wanted.
Jamelia walks to the parking lot, finds an empty vehicle registered to the Union, checks it over for explosives and bugs, and gets in to visit the Construct which she has made an appointment with. She carefully drives it to the Construct, in the basement of a nondescript office building. Jamelia feels slightly nostalgic upon entering. There's a chaingun turret mounted in the ceiling, slowly tracking her as the sensors scan her biometrics and ensure she's an agent. Newer Constructs have far more subtle security, up to and including 'angelnet' nanotech immune systems that simply dissolve hostile entrants without proper protection.
"Welcome, Agent Belltower. Please proceed to Meeting Room A." She gets the sense that the Construct has largely stayed unused, the agents in the facility spending most of their time on irrelevancies rather than critical missions. This is good for her. MiB skills, embedded so deeply they might be instinct, do not degrade, even the largely flawed Series I's abilities stay sharp until they die of genetic complications. MiB bodies do not degrade until some catastrophic cascade failure occurs that 1980s biotech cannot compensate for, and then they fall over and die. The fact that there are a few, blank-faced, stony-eyed, still looking at her means she has manpower for this mission. Thomas MacMillian is an old soldier whose glory days have passed, ex-SAS, a midranking NWO agent perfectly content to live out his retirement yet still seeking to get something that he can be recognized for put on his portfolio when unofficial retirement becomes actual retirement to a Construct that handles data archiving or historical records.
"Agent Belltower. Or is it Director now? I remember you from that one op in Xi'an. Good work." He gives her his hand to shake. His hair is graying, signs of a low priority for life extension. He'll probably live to 2050 assuming no improvements in anti-senesence technology at the rate he's getting his anagathics. He doesn't seem to mind.
"Director MacMillian. Thank you for agreeing to meet with me." She responds, shaking his hand. "We needed local assets for an operation against Reality Terrorists, and with all the issues going around with disunity and questionable judgment, you were the only trustworthy ones."
He smiles at that. Bingo, Jamelia thinks. She's figured him out. "Yeah, the locals are all glaring at each other nowadays. Nationalism, you know. They didn't get it beaten out of them back 70 years ago. God I hope we don't have a repeat of history here. One great schism and truce is enough." Jamelia is inclined to agree. "Spend most of their time requisitioning equipment and personnel to passively-aggressively block the others from doing anything, lest they get more glory and influence. Only the Void Engineers managed to escape this, and that's probably because most of the new ones are from one nation." It has been interesting that almost all of the Void Engineer's massive expansion has been amed in China, but the mysteries of the Void Engineers were not her current objective. "But you're not here to listen to an old man talk about how it was better in the past. Such thoughts shouldn't even be entertained. Your packages are in the armory and you have Agents Shen, Ji, Wang, Yang, and Chang assigned to your command. Try not to get all of them killed, I don't get many replacements anymore. They're in the armory with your gear, apparently you've already signed off on Primium ammunition to be distributed?"
Jamelia nods. "Thank you for your Construct's assistance."
"Welcome. Just go kick some hemophage ass for me and make sure to write it in the report. If there's anything else we can provide, we'll be more than willing."
She follows the signs to the armory, down a flight of stairs deep into the Construct itself. There are five clones, ashen-skinned and faces impassive. Early generation Men in Black, these constructs were built in an era when genetic engineering technology was not quite as developed as today. Like Victors, they had numerous flaws, but theirs were largely and fortunately physical-they pushed fewer limits, were far closer to human performance ranges, and suffered less for it. Jamelia has worked with them on numerous occasions, and takes a good look at them. They stare back, but deep in their eyes there is intelligence, awareness, and maybe even something that mystics might call a soul. These are still in good working order. The four men and one woman are dressed in blue-black military-style fatigues of the Hong Kong Special Duties Unit, the "Flying Tigers", and heavy SWAT-style body armor is laid out on the table in front of them, as are blunt, boxy high-tech assault rifles. X-9 Modular Weapons Systems, Jamelia recognizes them as. Effective and powerful, especially if their underbarrel grenade launchers are used liberally. Boxes of 35mm grenades have also been laid out alongside the 40-round magazines of gold-and-black banded primium ammunition. One of them, Ji, the heavy weapons specialist, is carrying a medium machine gun designed along similar lines.
"Commander. We have been assigned to you for a raid on the 24K triad, which you have said is connected to a worldwide Reality Devi-Reality Terrorist plot. We will follow your orders to the best of our ability, and have already been equipped with Primium ammunition as per your orders. Your equipment has been laid out on the table." There is an ominous black box with the seal of Q Division and the Void Engineers' Beijing Research and Execution Manufactory on it. Jamelia opens it tentatively. It could be useful, or it could be a dud.
Inside, there is a large, futuristic handgun, clearly too advanced for Sleeper technologies. A small pamplet also sits inside. The cover only has a few words on it, all in big bold lettering. "TYPE 28 DEW-LOCALIZED SINGULARITY GENERATION SYSTEM. BETA TEST VARIANT. NOT FOR USE IN POPULATED AREAS."
"Upon your command and preparation, we will follow you on the assault against the 24K triad." The MiB hivemind interrupts. Jamelia can't tell which of the four males said it, and spends a few seconds pondering the mystery until Donald interrupts with a phone call.
"Go for Belltower."
"Hey boss, it's Don. I just got off the phone with the police commissioner of Hong Kong, and along with some of my old friends here, we were talking about how awful it was that there was such a high rate of organized crime in the shadier parts of Hong Kong. Now, seeing that the Hong Kong police force has had all these successful anticorruption initiatives, I suggested that maybe given all the international investment coming in and making the city wealthy, he should start forcing out the last of that sordid crime-ridden history."
"And? That wasn't your mission."
"Well, he didn't agree outright, but he said he'd "consider" it. You are go. Also, it wasn't my mission, but it was my call. The Syndicate's been keeping watch on the artifact trade and letting it happen as long as they didn't get too complacent. We've got a few locations, and more importantly we have the big sellers and buyers. "Looks like the 24Ks are involved, and the local hemophage boss, 'Devil Law', yes that's a real name, yes I know you're laughing, seems to be selling some kind of ancient bullshit magic sword to interested buysers soon."
"And?" Jamelia does not correct him. She did not laugh, or even chuckle. The name is amusing, certainly, but she's seen her share of amusing names.
"He runs a gambling house in one of the crappier districts of Hong Kong. He generally is smart enough to leave our ops alone, so I don't know what the hell persuaded him to pick this hot potato up. So we've got our anomaly. I can forward you the intelligence ASAP. Go read it on the way as you move in."
Some Time Later
The black van stops quietly outside of the illegal underground gambling palace where Demon Law rules his shadow fiefdom. Her PDA is showing that Rose is already there, pretending to be one of the rich shiftless socialites seeking the illegal thrill of throwing money at organized crime for no point. This is it, Jamelia thinks. This is where things either go as planned or go to hell. Even with an acute sense of just how little she knows, she is still calm. She knows enough on how to kill them. Fire, primium, headshots. She does not understand their parahuman abilities, but like with every Superstitionist she's fought, she can simply improvise. And she has backup. She makes sure the multi-threat armor vest is correctly fastened, draws her sidearm...
VOTE ON NEXT ACTION
[ ] ...and she grabs a conventional X-5 Protector. Sure, it's not as stylish or as powerful as the "Singun", but it also doesn't have the risk of, you don't know, catastrophically failing into a horrible singularity and consuming the city block in a black hole or something. And you definitely have Primium ammunition for the X-5. You can always fake a report later about how the Singun broke on a test firing or something.
[ ] (0.9x) ...and she puts her hands on the Singun, which activates. She's facing a lot of enemies, and some of them are really powerful. She figures that if a vampire can eat a black hole to the face and not die, it probably deserves to live. If you choose this option, choose one of the two modifiers below.
[ ] RTFM. Look, you're handling a weapon of mass destruction. Sure, it might look like a handgun, but one of the finest hazing rituals in the NWO is giving some newbie who doesn't know it an overcharged holdout designed for augmented agents on their first day at the range and laughing as they break both their wrists firing a pistol chambered for 12.7mm HVAP. +Singun Knowledge, -Preparation Time
[ ] Don't RTFM. You don't have time, and the quickstart guide is simple. "Point Singularity Generator at enemy. Pull trigger. Laugh." +Preparation Time, -What Does The Red Button Do?
Because of Jamelia's Hypertechnology score, she can figure out that the Singun is built on FTL drive principles. It uses high level Correspondence (Correspondence 4) and Dimensional Science (Dimensional Science 3) to create a wormhole, except with no actual exit point. Instead, the matter is randomly thrown around everywhere. Such a weapon is likely to bypass almost all Superstitionist defenses, but is likely incredibly unreliable (it is Vulgar As Hell [TM]). To deal with this unreliability, it brute-forces the effect, using an inefficient amount of Prime Energy to smooth out space-time.
PREPARATION EFFECTS: JAMELIA
Jamelia has had hours in a near-optimal place to prepare for this assault. Choose or write-in any number of Procedures to have prepared ahead of time. Note that multiple Procedures raise the difficulty of further Procedure rolls. Note also the ability to vote against other people's votes. This is solely because of the special nature of Procedures.
[ ] Hook into the MiB Hivemind. You'll need to know what they're doing. (Mind 2, All parties are assisting each other, granting bonuses)
[ ] You need to make sure you don't get hurt. Fortunately, your armor vest is one of those really nice piezoelectric ones. You just need to boot it up and it'll harden to diamond-hard the moment anything strikes it. (Forces 2, +protection)
[ ] Pain is weakness leaving the body. You don't feel it, but even better. There's something in your subconscious, something you can tap for that desperate strength and endurance that you generally only see in action heroes and mothers rescuing their children from certain death. (Life 2, Mind 2, stabilize yourself at your -4 HL, wound penalties reversed). They can tear you up, but you know better than anyone just how much trauma a human body can take and as long as you don't give up, it won't kill you.
[ ] You need to shoot straight and make sure they don't touch you. Fortunately, you have some of the best training in the world. Fighting multiple superhuman hostiles? As easy for you as breathing. (Entropy 1, Forces 2, Correspondence 1, Mind 1, bonuses to attack rolls as long as they are being made against superhuman enemies, as well as DVs against said enemies. Alternatively, add combat bonuses to single Abilities).
[ ] Vote against one of the Procedures. This is solely because of the fact that too many Procedures running at once can be detrimental to your ability to improvise.
[ ] Write-Ins.
PREPARATION EFFECTS: ROSE
[ ] Get ready for a fight. Activate skin reinforcement, make sure your medichines are running in overdrive, pump yourself full of synthetic hyperadrenaline. You'll want to go loud and fast.
[ ] Don't go to full combat readiness. This way you might be able to stab someone in the back as they think you're just a "Kin-Jin" with no stake here, or better yet, some kind of ghoul or revenant or something, or even better, a Sleeper.
[ ] Go for stealth instead. Fully mask any inhuman traits so that you can best stab someone in the back.
NEW GAME MECHANIC: SHOCKWAVE CODES
In high-threat circumstances, Technocratic Constructs can activate SHOCKWAVE codes. These codes, such as the infamous Code RAGNAROK (used for existential threats and authorizing full use and target designation of strategic ordinance by the highest ranking agents, possibly even allowing junior agents to designate for strategic-yield orbital strikes) are used in desperate situations and can often allow for "Get Out Of Jail Free" use. Shockwave Codes are not always available. If not made explicitly available, you may ask if they are possible (because sometimes I might forget), but otherwise may not vote for them. Jamelia, as an agent in GOOD standing with the Union, currently has access to THREE Shockwave Codes an arc. Note that abuse of Shockwave Codes for excessive force or just to cover up an agent's own mistakes may cause reductions in standing.
You will be able to tell that an option is a Shockwave Code because a Shockwave Code option will always be bold and in ALLCAPS. Some options will take more than one Shockwave Code. Because of your assignment of friendlies, you have these Shockwave Codes available. You do not have to choose a Shockwave Code. Ever.
[ ] STANDBY FOR TITANFALL. Use Matter Transmission technology to immediately drop Henrietta, armed with an assault walker, into the fray from the Iteration X assault carrier Brice Hill (yes, Iteration X has its own aircraft carrier. What, did you think the Void Engineers were the only people with battleships?). This costs ONE Shockwave Code.
[ ] ASSAULT DROP. Get Siddarth, as part of a joint squad of Iteration X Shock Corps members and Void Engineer marines, to drop in. This costs ONE Shockwave Code.
[ ] CHINA INTERRUPT. Pull strings in the NWO to get a PLA Special Operations Force platoon with "Manchurian Candidate" neural programming dropped in. They're Project WIDDERSHINS, like INVISIBLE BEAR but without the inconsistency, like IRON MOUNTAIN but without the emotional... instability. When active, they're emotionless killers who feel no pain or fear, and will mechanically take down anything threatening the mission. This costs TWO Shockwave Codes.
Jamelia Belltower's Status
Willpower: 7/7
Prime Energy: 5/5
Health Levels: -0/-0/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-4/Incapacitated/Dying
Current Effects: ???
Shockwave Codes: 3/3
Update V: When The Chips Are Down
JB V: When The Chips Are Down
She's in place. She's blending in.
In theory.
But all Rose Ashford can think about is how much she stands out. She's half a head taller than most of the men in here, looks like a (too pale) supermodel, and she's trying to avoid opening her mouth because when she gets nervous like this her teeth tend to extend. She's surrounded by wealthy Chinese businessmen, and she's keeping to the roulette tables because she's just not very good at card games.
She knows she's a worrier and that she tends to head through life in a state of mild concern that she's doing something wrong and at the moment all the adrenaline and v-adrenaline in her system would be making her shake if she hadn't been engineered to remove that feature, but at the moment she feels entirely justified in her worry. Unless that's a sign that she's worrying too much? Is she?
Oh, and Thorn is talking to her.
Her psychologists say Thorn is a stress-induced rationalisation, a way of separating out the atavistic urges from her normal mentality, and most of the time she can believe them. Ah, but when her blood's pumping and she's close to the kill, then it gets hard to believe that. Thorn starts being more independent. Thorn starts knowing things. Things Rose doesn't know.
You know, her reflection says in the metal rim of the roulette table says in a voice like fingers on wineglasses, tilting her head, I wonder what Director Belltower is going to do? She's just another NWO spook who wants to use you. Like all the other ones. You're just a collection of levers for her to pull. Just like a Technocrat. Like all Technocrats.
Thorn looks like a pretty, perfect china doll. Her green eyes glitter with terrible malice, and her lips are the red-brown of dried blood. Thorn looks almost exactly like her.
"She's nicer than the others," Rose whispers. "Go away."
Her reflection sniffs. There's going to be blood, she sings. Oceans of blood. How many of these shallow cattle around you are going to be dead by the end of today? Slaughtered animals, lowing as they sit around laughing in their wealth and unearned privilege. Rich, red, crimson blood washing out of holes torn open by metal bullet-teeth. What a waste.
"Excuse me," Rose says, smiling, to her crowd of admirers. The cigarette smoke hangs heavy in the air, and she's confirmed the target isn't among this group. And maybe Thorn will leave her alone.
And then she catches sight of him. The social flows are clear, as well as the fact that, you know, he's sitting on a fancy chair and has a bunch of bodyguards around him. The boss is a short man, wearing a white suit and a black shirt. The top three buttons of the shirt are undone, revealing something which to an onlooker probably looks like a dragon tattoo, but which Rose strongly suspects is painted on. He has two vampires beside him, too; a petite woman wearing a red dress, a red demon mask, and is carrying - of all things - a polearm, its head concealed with a red leather bag. The incredibly handsome man beside her isn't wearing a mask - dear God, he's gorgeous - and is wearing a tuxedo and has no visible weapons. Although he's either wearing a codpiece, has a weapon stuffed down his trousers, or is very happy to see someone. She's inclined to think a) or b).
He's by blackjack tables, so Rose drifts in that direction. She can feel her heart beating harder, her core temperature dropping as bloodflow gets diverted to her muscles, and she can smell their dead flesh. She doesn't want them dead yet, as much as eliminating a few parasites would be helpful. They're there to be taken alive. "Alive." How can something still live with an unbeating heart a static mind? Closing her eyes, she opens them again in the way which enables her innate sensitivity for extranormal lifeforms and... and, well, prey and rivals. She's looking for extranormal lifeforms in the room. Such as the ones which might be concealed within the artefacts they're looking for. If she pounces the boss, she wants to be sure she won't get some nasty blood-boiling weapon in the chest.
And now she just has to get closer, and wait. She doesn't want to fight all three of them, so hopefully when the distraction comes, the other two won't stay with him. Maybe she'll tear his arms off. Haemophages are much worse at dealing with amputations than partial damage. At the very least, she should be able to blind him. Enemies without eyes are much easier to deal with. Or...
Well, you'll get your chance, Thorn observes, her shadow waving a hand mockingly.
"What?" she whispers.
Three, two, one, Thorn sings.
And then everything goes to hell. Metaphorically. Rose's system responds in turn, synaptic accelerators turning the world to precise slow motion, stabilizing her movements, allowing her to take a precise account of exactly what is happening from millisecond to millisecond. She feels her heart, normally inert, start to stir again, pumping the incredibly rich vampire 'vitae' through her system.
The door breaks down with a solid kick, and five armored paramilitaries carrying Union-issue weapons step out. The implanted HUD in her eyes, inserted in the growth tank at the same time her entire circulatory system was replaced with advanced 'wet' nanomachinery, shows them as friendly, Men in Black, tactical clones. Jamelia steps out behind them, weapon raised, wearing an armored vest over a black business suit. For a moment, there is a silence as Union employees and hemophages glare at each other. Everyone stops, staring slackjawed at the occurrence. Then all hell breaks loose. The boss, "Devil Law", Rose can't help but giggle at the name, runs with inhuman speed and closes the door behind him. One of the tattooed gang types has his head burst into flame. The others draw their weapons, one female hemophage in a seemingly painted-on red dress throwing her mark aside with a bone-breaking crunch and spinning a polearm out from under the table. Another, the handsome leech, tears his tuxedo off with a ripping sound and throws it at Jamelia before charging her with a loud battlecry.
Two more, dressed in leather jackets and biker gang chic, grab guns and join into the fray. Uzis, they look like, definitely illegal weapons. They start firing, tracking towards the MiBs who are already dispersing, overturning slot machines and gambling tables to serve as concealment and possibly cover against low-powered rounds. But the NWO's finest are faster by milliseconds. They do not evade, they simply calculate the movements of the incoming attackers and fire.
Primium flechettes miraculously miss panicking businessmen, government officials, and trophy wives/husbands by millimeters even as they seek to use the crowds as cover. Others are not so lucky, being targeted not by precisely engineered Technocratic hardware, but trigger-happy undead monsters. In the accelerated frame of her response, she can see them fall from gunshots. Thorn smiles. I told you so. When war comes, nobody cares about the sheep. Rose tries to ignore the hallucination. She does what she can, moving as innocently as possible in a way to shield a few people from the fusillade. Silk tears as she takes hits, she feels the stinging sensation of impacts on her skin, but her body is rated for more than mere small arms fire. And she's saved a few lives. Thorn, thankfully, doesn't comment.
Rose knows a few things about Cathayans, as the local vampires call them. They have strange powers and even stranger habits. They claim to be descended from the defenders of all of Creation, the ten thousand legendary immortals who fought against the encroachment of primordial monsters, and were cursed for their betrayal of their oaths. They lie their asses off at every opportunity. And they are incredibly hard to kill. But not hard enough. The NWO soldier-clones ignore the carnage happening right alongside and behind them, and their fire tracks to the rapidly, superhumanly, dodging Cathayans. One of them stands there, body barely moving. Flow Like Blood. Thorn supplies, smiling. That's what they call it. A technique name you wouldn't know, because you aren't here to understand your enemy, and that way you'll never beat them. Flechettes embed themselves behind her. She seems to be invincible, immortal, a horror monster that bullets can't faze-
-and then the three MiBs focusing on her reconfigure their shots into a complex spiral, a mathematical pattern impossible for any contortions to dodge, accelerating the fire rate of their weapons to the 2,000 rpm maximum burst rate. She blinks for a moment, her ice princess look shattered by the surprise, and her eyes flit down to see that she is toppling, a gunshot having removed her kneecap and lower leg. And then she disintegrates under the remainder of the burst, perforated a dozen times, disgusting black rot exploding out of her back.
The second one does not show the same economy of movement, running right along the wall like some kind of cheap kung-fu flick protagonist as rounds explode behind him. Concentrating on outpacing MiB 1's aim, he fails to realize that he is walking into a crossfire. A quick burst saws both his legs and his pelvis off, and a trio of pistol-caliber rounds knock him down and dead. But she has a different objective here. She looks at the stairs downward, where the boss is clearly running, probably after grabbing any important artifacts. He's her objective, she needs to take him out. Her genetics mutate, reconfiguring leg muscles for additional strength and explosive fast-twitch performance. And the undead heart sitting in the middle of her chest does what she demands of it, flushing vampiric essence right into her body. It feels good, an orgasmic rush, and she reminds herself that she can't let the atavistic urges take control, she needs to stay strong. She rides the wave of sensation through a world rendered molasses- slow, slamming her shoulder into a closed metal door and breaking it down as the Cathayans, Kuei-Jin, and gangsters are distracted by Jamelia's intervention. She heads downstairs at a speed that would get her tickets on the highway.
One Minute Ago:
Jamelia has the driver circle the area while she gets a look at the buildings. The weather is sweltering and humid, and the streets are packed, so she has plenty of time to think. The apartment blocks look like they're seventies in origin. Poorly maintained. Shabby. All the money is in the secret basement filled with rich gamblers. Funny. She's more used to the rich being in the penthouses.
Underground. Lots of people. That means they need to breathe, because they're hardly going to all be hemophages. That means they need ventilation. That means they need access routes to the surface, for the airflow. And given the size of the operation and the way that rich people don't like breathing the kind of poor quality air which the poor get, that means they'll need their own air con and ventilation. Find that and it's a way in.
But there's another thing. Haemophages really don't like fire. And there's no smoke without fire, according to people who've never used smoke offensively. Jamelia is not one of these people. And it's likely that those ventilation systems are overtaxed, considering the current heatwave in Hong Kong. Wouldn't it be a shame if they caught fire in this heat and started pumping smoke into the underground casino? Well, no, it wouldn't be a shame at all. Because there's another fun thing about human psychology. In the case of fire, people run to save their valuables. Like their illegally smuggled artefacts which their buyers will take the loss thereof very personally.
Jamelia smiles pleasantly to herself. Time this right, and she'll get the civilians out of the way, the hostile will be heading right for where she wants to go, and there'll be a nice aura of confusion which means any response to her team will be crippled. Rose, inside, will be prepared for this and be able to spot the suspicious individuals who act in non-typical ways. Yes, chaos is her friend. But then again, she is a graduate of NYX.
She starts fiddling with one of the air conditioners, and then curses as the multitool in her hands breaks. Poor maintenance, she tells herself. She realizes that she's cut herself, but ignores the injury.
"All right. Plan B. We kick in the doors. No civilian casualties."
"Stacking for breach and clear." The five MiB move like one mind with five bodies, which, to be fair, is more or less how they work, with personalities so similar and so closely integrated on tactical networking implants. She has access to their tactical network, she can move along one of them. It is like having extensions of her self, extra minds to help think, to help process information, cloud computing principles combining with cutting edge combat training. "Make sure your fire arcs are good, and you've got solid locks on the targets before you take the shot." She pulls her PDA out of a pocket, uploads a program to the mesh network. "Streak Targeting". It's a modified version of a sniping assistance program, one that calculates precise trajectories and ensures that if you aren't in a position to get a guaranteed hit, you won't fire. Her version is modified, so that it simply doesn't fire if there's a neutral or friendly target in the way of the round trajectory, a 21st-century reinterpretation of the interrupter gear that revolutionized WWI air combat. Jamelia loves her military history.
The MiB stack and break down the door, laser sights displaying on visible spectra for pure intimidation value, black armor engineered for intimidation. "HONG KONG SPECIAL POLICE! GET ON THE GROUND AND PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!" she shouts. She knows she doesn't look like HK Police. This is irrelevant. Her support team will be here after the fight, modifying memories, adjusting evidence, and making sure it looks just like a normal police raid. As a bonus, it means that there will be a lot of rich corporate types that the Union can manipulate, further cementing control. She waits for their response. "Open fire the moment they so much as twitch." The response from the Kuei-Jin when they finally stop being too flabbergasted to act is unexpected.
Jamelia frowns for a moment as the tuxedo-wearing haemophage tears off his garments and hurls them at her. She steps to the side, on the solid grounds that she is not a laundry basket and she's not some wet behind the ears newbie who has never had someone try the ol' "blind them with a discarded garment" trick. Stupid Russian operatives with an obsession about historic guns. And sure as rain is rain, moving quickly - too quickly - behind the tuxedo is a nearly naked hemophage who is revealed to be wearing tight speedos. He has a large weapon. Oh, and he's also carrying a jian.
Ducking his first chop at her head - which, fair enough, would have been detrimental to her health - she leaps to the side onto the blackjack table, sending cards and chips flying. Rolling off the side, she keeps low, and grabs a handful of poker chips as she does. Not because they're particularly high denomination ones, no, but to hurl in the face of the hemophage whose skull has caught fire. Shit. Haemophages don't like their heads catching fire. The ones back home only do that in extraordinary circumstances, like when she shoots them in the mouth with a hotshot round. Fortunately the reject from the front cover of a heavy metal album is distracted by the improvised projectiles, but it's now spitting fire. Fortunately, the fire is intercepted by the poker chips, melting them in midair.
What other surprises might these phages have? Jamelia's attention flashes momentarily to her HUD, and sighs in relief. The red-clad psycho going after the MIBs is being much more conventional. There is a certain kind of reality deviant who seem convinced that men fall helpless into their arms if they show flesh and wear tight clothing. Jamelia prefers not to rely on such tactics, partly because they're demeaning, but mostly because they don't actually reliably work unless you have a comprehensive psychological profile of the target or (more usually) have saturated the air with certain kinds of chemical agent first. However, Men in Black have no libido whatsoever, and skintight little red dresses do nothing for them, except reveal that you're not wearing armour underneath. And as a veteran Men in Black hivemind, Reality Deviants coming at the team armed with a spear is an entirely predictable thing. If the hemophage was meant to shock and awe, neither objective works, and moving in perfect synchronization the armored figures fall back in good order, the nearest kicking a table over to get in the way of the overly-wide swing the target makes. Her blade slams right into the table, cutting it in half and sending splinters flying everywhere.
VOTE TIME:
You have one more action, at a -2 dice penalty (because both you and the MiBs have multiple action penalty reducers). There are four remaining KJ on this level. The mortal gangsters are currently drawing their weapons, because they are not nearly as badass as Kuei-Jin and are in a state of complete shock.
Chippendale Ninja is going to smugly smile his stupid bishounen smile and then move his sword back for a follow-through attack against Jamelia, using Black Wind (he has 2 remaining actions).
Stripper Dress Lady will be proceeding to exhale a strange cloud of... something. Your HUD is showing biohazard warnings.
Ghost Fire Dude will join in with spitting fire at him.
One of the Kuei-Jin is a pretty handsome looking guy in a suit who is-wait, is he getting bigger and tearing his way out of his clothes? Yeah, guys, you've got Ang Lee's Incredible Hulk here.
Choose one or two enemies to focus fire upon. If you are voting for a single target, please write in your post whether you mean 'you want to shoot this guy but don't care if we shoot two targets' or 'shoot this guy and only this guy'. Remember to stunt and to explain your reasoning.
[ ] Chippendale-Man! He's trying to kill you. Personally. Also, the fact that he thinks prancing around in a Speedo and assless chaps is going to distract you is personally offensive.
[ ] The Lesbian Stripper Ninja. Strike a blow for the Technocracy and for feminism in one fell swoop. Also, she doesn't seem to have any armor so that's probably not a problem. And who knows what cloud might be?
[ ] GHOST RIIIIIIDER. Look, you've heard that guys with their skulls on fire can survive entire magazines of M-16 fire, but M-16s don't normally chamber Primium rounds. Also, who knows what blue damnation fire can do to people? You certainly don't want to find out.
[ ] The Suit Guy. First, he looks the most respectable out of all these losers, which means he's probably important. Second, he is hulking out. You've learned from werewolf fighting that you never let an enemy go full Hulk.
[ ] (0.5x) Ignore them all, help Rose chase down the boss.
[ ] Evade them and catch your breath, you can't take too many attacks before you run out of gas and get tagged. This counts as one of your two targets, and means that the 5 MiB you have will fire on one target instead.
[ ] Write-In.
Be Rose:
[ ] (1.5x) These hemophages are causing so much pain. Disobey orders and help take them down before they hurt more people.
[ ] Follow your orders and chase the boss downstairs. He's pretty noticeable, tall well-muscled Asian guy with dragon tattoos. (roll Rose's 12d Dexterity + Athletics, stunt the roll). This requires the suppression of Rose's Vice for the scene.
[ ] Write-In.
[ ] Procedure Write-In (Rose's spheres/etc are below). If you choose this, choose another one of the options.
You voted for Rose to go in quietly, so she has no active effects. On the other hand, she has the heart of a vampire and the physique of one, so that's not actually as much of a problem as it'd be for Jamelia. Rose is a phenomenally lethal Damage Control combatant, with the spheres Life 3, Dimensional Science 3, Forces 2, and Mind 1. She has Enlightenment 3. Besides for her immense combat augmentation, which has a toll in that she looks obviously like a vampire, but provides her with inhuman durability, strength, and speed as well as incredibly fast healing, she possesses a genetic memory that provides her with low-level knowledge on just about everything, but is actually legitimately an expert in Medicine in her own right. She is very beautiful and surprisingly good at convincing others, but is eerie and offputting in her beauty. Her Virtue is Charmer. She tries her hardest to make people like her, and she regains WP when other people end up doing so. Her Vice is Idealist. For a superhuman weapon she's awfully nice, and she loses WP when she's causing civilian casualties or doing anything questionable. Her current equipment is a knife with a programmable bioprinter in its hilt (it's a focus, allowing her to use her Life/etc. spheres without cutting herself like an emo witch and embarassing the Technocracy) and a X-5 Protector. She can load various types of special ammunition as a focus, such as bioweapon rounds.
As an expert in hemophage biology, she still knows little about Asian vampires (the Kuei-Jin you are fighting) but does know that Life Procedures are useless against vampires for some reason (alien biologies that aren't truly alive). Dimensional Science 3 will work just fine, though, as will Forces-enhanced blows. Her Enlightened Science is based off of her own enhanced biology and mutable cell structure-a touch of body horror, a touch of vampire fiction. Somehow, there's a perverse beauty in her Procedures, with effects and appearance that seems to harken back to fantasy. There's a reason she's not the most popular thing around.
Rose's Status
Willpower: 8/8
Prime Energy: 3/3
Health Levels: -0/-0/-0/-0/-1/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-2/-2/-4/-4/-4/Incapacitated/Dying. Regenerates 1 Bashing/Lethal HL a round no matter what. Heals Aggravated damage at normal speed.
Current Damage: 1 Aggravated HL (at -0)
Vampire Heart: 9/10 Blood Points-Spend 1 Blood Point to gain an automatic success on Strength rolls, get an extra action for the turn, or heal 2 Bashing/1 Lethal health level instantly.
Undead Strength: 1 Aggravated HL to activate, adds up to its rating in automatic successes to Strength rolls for feats of strength and damage.
Predator's Pheromones: 6/6 Prime Energy. Activate to add +3 automatic successes on social rolls based off of sexuality, majesty, or simply dominating someone else's will.
Current Effects:
Undead Strength: +3 automatic successes to Strength rolls for feats of strength and damage.
DV: 14/14
Shockwave Codes: None (Not In Leadership Role)
Jamelia Belltower's Status
Willpower: 6/7
Prime Energy: 3/5
Health Levels: -0/-0/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-4/Incapacitated/Dying
Current Effects: (+1 difficulty to all Procedure rolls)
MiB Hivemind: Synchronized with MiB Hivemind, Combat Bonuses, Concentrated Fire
Combat Training: Improved ability to avoid/engage superhuman targets (+2 to DVs, +2 automatic successes against them)
Streak Targeting: Attacks will not hit bystanders
DV: 7/9 (note this does not refresh after a turn). 9/11 against superhuman opponents.
Shockwave Codes: 3/3
She's in place. She's blending in.
In theory.
But all Rose Ashford can think about is how much she stands out. She's half a head taller than most of the men in here, looks like a (too pale) supermodel, and she's trying to avoid opening her mouth because when she gets nervous like this her teeth tend to extend. She's surrounded by wealthy Chinese businessmen, and she's keeping to the roulette tables because she's just not very good at card games.
She knows she's a worrier and that she tends to head through life in a state of mild concern that she's doing something wrong and at the moment all the adrenaline and v-adrenaline in her system would be making her shake if she hadn't been engineered to remove that feature, but at the moment she feels entirely justified in her worry. Unless that's a sign that she's worrying too much? Is she?
Oh, and Thorn is talking to her.
Her psychologists say Thorn is a stress-induced rationalisation, a way of separating out the atavistic urges from her normal mentality, and most of the time she can believe them. Ah, but when her blood's pumping and she's close to the kill, then it gets hard to believe that. Thorn starts being more independent. Thorn starts knowing things. Things Rose doesn't know.
You know, her reflection says in the metal rim of the roulette table says in a voice like fingers on wineglasses, tilting her head, I wonder what Director Belltower is going to do? She's just another NWO spook who wants to use you. Like all the other ones. You're just a collection of levers for her to pull. Just like a Technocrat. Like all Technocrats.
Thorn looks like a pretty, perfect china doll. Her green eyes glitter with terrible malice, and her lips are the red-brown of dried blood. Thorn looks almost exactly like her.
"She's nicer than the others," Rose whispers. "Go away."
Her reflection sniffs. There's going to be blood, she sings. Oceans of blood. How many of these shallow cattle around you are going to be dead by the end of today? Slaughtered animals, lowing as they sit around laughing in their wealth and unearned privilege. Rich, red, crimson blood washing out of holes torn open by metal bullet-teeth. What a waste.
"Excuse me," Rose says, smiling, to her crowd of admirers. The cigarette smoke hangs heavy in the air, and she's confirmed the target isn't among this group. And maybe Thorn will leave her alone.
And then she catches sight of him. The social flows are clear, as well as the fact that, you know, he's sitting on a fancy chair and has a bunch of bodyguards around him. The boss is a short man, wearing a white suit and a black shirt. The top three buttons of the shirt are undone, revealing something which to an onlooker probably looks like a dragon tattoo, but which Rose strongly suspects is painted on. He has two vampires beside him, too; a petite woman wearing a red dress, a red demon mask, and is carrying - of all things - a polearm, its head concealed with a red leather bag. The incredibly handsome man beside her isn't wearing a mask - dear God, he's gorgeous - and is wearing a tuxedo and has no visible weapons. Although he's either wearing a codpiece, has a weapon stuffed down his trousers, or is very happy to see someone. She's inclined to think a) or b).
He's by blackjack tables, so Rose drifts in that direction. She can feel her heart beating harder, her core temperature dropping as bloodflow gets diverted to her muscles, and she can smell their dead flesh. She doesn't want them dead yet, as much as eliminating a few parasites would be helpful. They're there to be taken alive. "Alive." How can something still live with an unbeating heart a static mind? Closing her eyes, she opens them again in the way which enables her innate sensitivity for extranormal lifeforms and... and, well, prey and rivals. She's looking for extranormal lifeforms in the room. Such as the ones which might be concealed within the artefacts they're looking for. If she pounces the boss, she wants to be sure she won't get some nasty blood-boiling weapon in the chest.
And now she just has to get closer, and wait. She doesn't want to fight all three of them, so hopefully when the distraction comes, the other two won't stay with him. Maybe she'll tear his arms off. Haemophages are much worse at dealing with amputations than partial damage. At the very least, she should be able to blind him. Enemies without eyes are much easier to deal with. Or...
Well, you'll get your chance, Thorn observes, her shadow waving a hand mockingly.
"What?" she whispers.
Three, two, one, Thorn sings.
And then everything goes to hell. Metaphorically. Rose's system responds in turn, synaptic accelerators turning the world to precise slow motion, stabilizing her movements, allowing her to take a precise account of exactly what is happening from millisecond to millisecond. She feels her heart, normally inert, start to stir again, pumping the incredibly rich vampire 'vitae' through her system.
The door breaks down with a solid kick, and five armored paramilitaries carrying Union-issue weapons step out. The implanted HUD in her eyes, inserted in the growth tank at the same time her entire circulatory system was replaced with advanced 'wet' nanomachinery, shows them as friendly, Men in Black, tactical clones. Jamelia steps out behind them, weapon raised, wearing an armored vest over a black business suit. For a moment, there is a silence as Union employees and hemophages glare at each other. Everyone stops, staring slackjawed at the occurrence. Then all hell breaks loose. The boss, "Devil Law", Rose can't help but giggle at the name, runs with inhuman speed and closes the door behind him. One of the tattooed gang types has his head burst into flame. The others draw their weapons, one female hemophage in a seemingly painted-on red dress throwing her mark aside with a bone-breaking crunch and spinning a polearm out from under the table. Another, the handsome leech, tears his tuxedo off with a ripping sound and throws it at Jamelia before charging her with a loud battlecry.
Two more, dressed in leather jackets and biker gang chic, grab guns and join into the fray. Uzis, they look like, definitely illegal weapons. They start firing, tracking towards the MiBs who are already dispersing, overturning slot machines and gambling tables to serve as concealment and possibly cover against low-powered rounds. But the NWO's finest are faster by milliseconds. They do not evade, they simply calculate the movements of the incoming attackers and fire.
Primium flechettes miraculously miss panicking businessmen, government officials, and trophy wives/husbands by millimeters even as they seek to use the crowds as cover. Others are not so lucky, being targeted not by precisely engineered Technocratic hardware, but trigger-happy undead monsters. In the accelerated frame of her response, she can see them fall from gunshots. Thorn smiles. I told you so. When war comes, nobody cares about the sheep. Rose tries to ignore the hallucination. She does what she can, moving as innocently as possible in a way to shield a few people from the fusillade. Silk tears as she takes hits, she feels the stinging sensation of impacts on her skin, but her body is rated for more than mere small arms fire. And she's saved a few lives. Thorn, thankfully, doesn't comment.
Rose knows a few things about Cathayans, as the local vampires call them. They have strange powers and even stranger habits. They claim to be descended from the defenders of all of Creation, the ten thousand legendary immortals who fought against the encroachment of primordial monsters, and were cursed for their betrayal of their oaths. They lie their asses off at every opportunity. And they are incredibly hard to kill. But not hard enough. The NWO soldier-clones ignore the carnage happening right alongside and behind them, and their fire tracks to the rapidly, superhumanly, dodging Cathayans. One of them stands there, body barely moving. Flow Like Blood. Thorn supplies, smiling. That's what they call it. A technique name you wouldn't know, because you aren't here to understand your enemy, and that way you'll never beat them. Flechettes embed themselves behind her. She seems to be invincible, immortal, a horror monster that bullets can't faze-
-and then the three MiBs focusing on her reconfigure their shots into a complex spiral, a mathematical pattern impossible for any contortions to dodge, accelerating the fire rate of their weapons to the 2,000 rpm maximum burst rate. She blinks for a moment, her ice princess look shattered by the surprise, and her eyes flit down to see that she is toppling, a gunshot having removed her kneecap and lower leg. And then she disintegrates under the remainder of the burst, perforated a dozen times, disgusting black rot exploding out of her back.
The second one does not show the same economy of movement, running right along the wall like some kind of cheap kung-fu flick protagonist as rounds explode behind him. Concentrating on outpacing MiB 1's aim, he fails to realize that he is walking into a crossfire. A quick burst saws both his legs and his pelvis off, and a trio of pistol-caliber rounds knock him down and dead. But she has a different objective here. She looks at the stairs downward, where the boss is clearly running, probably after grabbing any important artifacts. He's her objective, she needs to take him out. Her genetics mutate, reconfiguring leg muscles for additional strength and explosive fast-twitch performance. And the undead heart sitting in the middle of her chest does what she demands of it, flushing vampiric essence right into her body. It feels good, an orgasmic rush, and she reminds herself that she can't let the atavistic urges take control, she needs to stay strong. She rides the wave of sensation through a world rendered molasses- slow, slamming her shoulder into a closed metal door and breaking it down as the Cathayans, Kuei-Jin, and gangsters are distracted by Jamelia's intervention. She heads downstairs at a speed that would get her tickets on the highway.
One Minute Ago:
Jamelia has the driver circle the area while she gets a look at the buildings. The weather is sweltering and humid, and the streets are packed, so she has plenty of time to think. The apartment blocks look like they're seventies in origin. Poorly maintained. Shabby. All the money is in the secret basement filled with rich gamblers. Funny. She's more used to the rich being in the penthouses.
Underground. Lots of people. That means they need to breathe, because they're hardly going to all be hemophages. That means they need ventilation. That means they need access routes to the surface, for the airflow. And given the size of the operation and the way that rich people don't like breathing the kind of poor quality air which the poor get, that means they'll need their own air con and ventilation. Find that and it's a way in.
But there's another thing. Haemophages really don't like fire. And there's no smoke without fire, according to people who've never used smoke offensively. Jamelia is not one of these people. And it's likely that those ventilation systems are overtaxed, considering the current heatwave in Hong Kong. Wouldn't it be a shame if they caught fire in this heat and started pumping smoke into the underground casino? Well, no, it wouldn't be a shame at all. Because there's another fun thing about human psychology. In the case of fire, people run to save their valuables. Like their illegally smuggled artefacts which their buyers will take the loss thereof very personally.
Jamelia smiles pleasantly to herself. Time this right, and she'll get the civilians out of the way, the hostile will be heading right for where she wants to go, and there'll be a nice aura of confusion which means any response to her team will be crippled. Rose, inside, will be prepared for this and be able to spot the suspicious individuals who act in non-typical ways. Yes, chaos is her friend. But then again, she is a graduate of NYX.
She starts fiddling with one of the air conditioners, and then curses as the multitool in her hands breaks. Poor maintenance, she tells herself. She realizes that she's cut herself, but ignores the injury.
"All right. Plan B. We kick in the doors. No civilian casualties."
"Stacking for breach and clear." The five MiB move like one mind with five bodies, which, to be fair, is more or less how they work, with personalities so similar and so closely integrated on tactical networking implants. She has access to their tactical network, she can move along one of them. It is like having extensions of her self, extra minds to help think, to help process information, cloud computing principles combining with cutting edge combat training. "Make sure your fire arcs are good, and you've got solid locks on the targets before you take the shot." She pulls her PDA out of a pocket, uploads a program to the mesh network. "Streak Targeting". It's a modified version of a sniping assistance program, one that calculates precise trajectories and ensures that if you aren't in a position to get a guaranteed hit, you won't fire. Her version is modified, so that it simply doesn't fire if there's a neutral or friendly target in the way of the round trajectory, a 21st-century reinterpretation of the interrupter gear that revolutionized WWI air combat. Jamelia loves her military history.
The MiB stack and break down the door, laser sights displaying on visible spectra for pure intimidation value, black armor engineered for intimidation. "HONG KONG SPECIAL POLICE! GET ON THE GROUND AND PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!" she shouts. She knows she doesn't look like HK Police. This is irrelevant. Her support team will be here after the fight, modifying memories, adjusting evidence, and making sure it looks just like a normal police raid. As a bonus, it means that there will be a lot of rich corporate types that the Union can manipulate, further cementing control. She waits for their response. "Open fire the moment they so much as twitch." The response from the Kuei-Jin when they finally stop being too flabbergasted to act is unexpected.
Jamelia frowns for a moment as the tuxedo-wearing haemophage tears off his garments and hurls them at her. She steps to the side, on the solid grounds that she is not a laundry basket and she's not some wet behind the ears newbie who has never had someone try the ol' "blind them with a discarded garment" trick. Stupid Russian operatives with an obsession about historic guns. And sure as rain is rain, moving quickly - too quickly - behind the tuxedo is a nearly naked hemophage who is revealed to be wearing tight speedos. He has a large weapon. Oh, and he's also carrying a jian.
Ducking his first chop at her head - which, fair enough, would have been detrimental to her health - she leaps to the side onto the blackjack table, sending cards and chips flying. Rolling off the side, she keeps low, and grabs a handful of poker chips as she does. Not because they're particularly high denomination ones, no, but to hurl in the face of the hemophage whose skull has caught fire. Shit. Haemophages don't like their heads catching fire. The ones back home only do that in extraordinary circumstances, like when she shoots them in the mouth with a hotshot round. Fortunately the reject from the front cover of a heavy metal album is distracted by the improvised projectiles, but it's now spitting fire. Fortunately, the fire is intercepted by the poker chips, melting them in midair.
What other surprises might these phages have? Jamelia's attention flashes momentarily to her HUD, and sighs in relief. The red-clad psycho going after the MIBs is being much more conventional. There is a certain kind of reality deviant who seem convinced that men fall helpless into their arms if they show flesh and wear tight clothing. Jamelia prefers not to rely on such tactics, partly because they're demeaning, but mostly because they don't actually reliably work unless you have a comprehensive psychological profile of the target or (more usually) have saturated the air with certain kinds of chemical agent first. However, Men in Black have no libido whatsoever, and skintight little red dresses do nothing for them, except reveal that you're not wearing armour underneath. And as a veteran Men in Black hivemind, Reality Deviants coming at the team armed with a spear is an entirely predictable thing. If the hemophage was meant to shock and awe, neither objective works, and moving in perfect synchronization the armored figures fall back in good order, the nearest kicking a table over to get in the way of the overly-wide swing the target makes. Her blade slams right into the table, cutting it in half and sending splinters flying everywhere.
VOTE TIME:
You have one more action, at a -2 dice penalty (because both you and the MiBs have multiple action penalty reducers). There are four remaining KJ on this level. The mortal gangsters are currently drawing their weapons, because they are not nearly as badass as Kuei-Jin and are in a state of complete shock.
Chippendale Ninja is going to smugly smile his stupid bishounen smile and then move his sword back for a follow-through attack against Jamelia, using Black Wind (he has 2 remaining actions).
Stripper Dress Lady will be proceeding to exhale a strange cloud of... something. Your HUD is showing biohazard warnings.
Ghost Fire Dude will join in with spitting fire at him.
One of the Kuei-Jin is a pretty handsome looking guy in a suit who is-wait, is he getting bigger and tearing his way out of his clothes? Yeah, guys, you've got Ang Lee's Incredible Hulk here.
Choose one or two enemies to focus fire upon. If you are voting for a single target, please write in your post whether you mean 'you want to shoot this guy but don't care if we shoot two targets' or 'shoot this guy and only this guy'. Remember to stunt and to explain your reasoning.
[ ] Chippendale-Man! He's trying to kill you. Personally. Also, the fact that he thinks prancing around in a Speedo and assless chaps is going to distract you is personally offensive.
[ ] The Lesbian Stripper Ninja. Strike a blow for the Technocracy and for feminism in one fell swoop. Also, she doesn't seem to have any armor so that's probably not a problem. And who knows what cloud might be?
[ ] GHOST RIIIIIIDER. Look, you've heard that guys with their skulls on fire can survive entire magazines of M-16 fire, but M-16s don't normally chamber Primium rounds. Also, who knows what blue damnation fire can do to people? You certainly don't want to find out.
[ ] The Suit Guy. First, he looks the most respectable out of all these losers, which means he's probably important. Second, he is hulking out. You've learned from werewolf fighting that you never let an enemy go full Hulk.
[ ] (0.5x) Ignore them all, help Rose chase down the boss.
[ ] Evade them and catch your breath, you can't take too many attacks before you run out of gas and get tagged. This counts as one of your two targets, and means that the 5 MiB you have will fire on one target instead.
[ ] Write-In.
Be Rose:
[ ] (1.5x) These hemophages are causing so much pain. Disobey orders and help take them down before they hurt more people.
[ ] Follow your orders and chase the boss downstairs. He's pretty noticeable, tall well-muscled Asian guy with dragon tattoos. (roll Rose's 12d Dexterity + Athletics, stunt the roll). This requires the suppression of Rose's Vice for the scene.
[ ] Write-In.
[ ] Procedure Write-In (Rose's spheres/etc are below). If you choose this, choose another one of the options.
You voted for Rose to go in quietly, so she has no active effects. On the other hand, she has the heart of a vampire and the physique of one, so that's not actually as much of a problem as it'd be for Jamelia. Rose is a phenomenally lethal Damage Control combatant, with the spheres Life 3, Dimensional Science 3, Forces 2, and Mind 1. She has Enlightenment 3. Besides for her immense combat augmentation, which has a toll in that she looks obviously like a vampire, but provides her with inhuman durability, strength, and speed as well as incredibly fast healing, she possesses a genetic memory that provides her with low-level knowledge on just about everything, but is actually legitimately an expert in Medicine in her own right. She is very beautiful and surprisingly good at convincing others, but is eerie and offputting in her beauty. Her Virtue is Charmer. She tries her hardest to make people like her, and she regains WP when other people end up doing so. Her Vice is Idealist. For a superhuman weapon she's awfully nice, and she loses WP when she's causing civilian casualties or doing anything questionable. Her current equipment is a knife with a programmable bioprinter in its hilt (it's a focus, allowing her to use her Life/etc. spheres without cutting herself like an emo witch and embarassing the Technocracy) and a X-5 Protector. She can load various types of special ammunition as a focus, such as bioweapon rounds.
As an expert in hemophage biology, she still knows little about Asian vampires (the Kuei-Jin you are fighting) but does know that Life Procedures are useless against vampires for some reason (alien biologies that aren't truly alive). Dimensional Science 3 will work just fine, though, as will Forces-enhanced blows. Her Enlightened Science is based off of her own enhanced biology and mutable cell structure-a touch of body horror, a touch of vampire fiction. Somehow, there's a perverse beauty in her Procedures, with effects and appearance that seems to harken back to fantasy. There's a reason she's not the most popular thing around.
Rose's Status
Willpower: 8/8
Prime Energy: 3/3
Health Levels: -0/-0/-0/-0/-1/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-2/-2/-4/-4/-4/Incapacitated/Dying. Regenerates 1 Bashing/Lethal HL a round no matter what. Heals Aggravated damage at normal speed.
Current Damage: 1 Aggravated HL (at -0)
Vampire Heart: 9/10 Blood Points-Spend 1 Blood Point to gain an automatic success on Strength rolls, get an extra action for the turn, or heal 2 Bashing/1 Lethal health level instantly.
Undead Strength: 1 Aggravated HL to activate, adds up to its rating in automatic successes to Strength rolls for feats of strength and damage.
Predator's Pheromones: 6/6 Prime Energy. Activate to add +3 automatic successes on social rolls based off of sexuality, majesty, or simply dominating someone else's will.
Current Effects:
Undead Strength: +3 automatic successes to Strength rolls for feats of strength and damage.
DV: 14/14
Shockwave Codes: None (Not In Leadership Role)
Jamelia Belltower's Status
Willpower: 6/7
Prime Energy: 3/5
Health Levels: -0/-0/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-4/Incapacitated/Dying
Current Effects: (+1 difficulty to all Procedure rolls)
MiB Hivemind: Synchronized with MiB Hivemind, Combat Bonuses, Concentrated Fire
Combat Training: Improved ability to avoid/engage superhuman targets (+2 to DVs, +2 automatic successes against them)
Streak Targeting: Attacks will not hit bystanders
DV: 7/9 (note this does not refresh after a turn). 9/11 against superhuman opponents.
Shockwave Codes: 3/3
Update VI: First Blood
JB VI: First Blood
Jamelia winces, but calls out new orders through the mind-link. Those nearby attackers would shred her vat-grown backup to bits if she let them, and the paperwork for dead MiBs is a bitch-and-a-half to handle. If she gets sworded, well, then there'd be a problem. She could probably finish the mission while bleeding out. She's done it before. But it's inconvenient. Obedient as ever, the Men in Black take cover and open fire on the Affronts Against Good Taste. In retrospect, she thinks, she you could've picked better epithets for the both of 'em.
Too late now.
Indeed. She can see the timing of their firing arcs as they track across a crowd, menacing green lasers crisscrossing the gambling arena. Jamelia simply has to survive the amorous advances of a psychopathic vampire with a thing for near-nudity and a big honking sword. Admittedly, the vampire is also murderous, but with vampires you can rarely tell the difference between lust and violence. Jamelia's on the move even before the first attack hits. The Affront Against Good Taste (Male Edition) leads with an overhand strike, a powerful attack which would use his forward momentum to slice open anything in its way like...well, like a sword through butter. She can see the magically-altered weapon shining in the red emergency lights, the wielder's face contorted into a many-toothed smile as he brings the weapon to bear against the slow, squishy human. Good thing she's out of the way, then. Physical and mental augments work in unison, getting Jamelia just barely out of the way of the jian as her feigned stumble carries her past the vampire. The blade cuts through a slot machine, which whistles and flashes and sprays coins everywhere, pelting the vampire with his fake blond-dyed hair. Jamelia shoots him a few times for emphasis.
She'd meant to hit center-of-mass, but Mr. I-Cannot-Into-Fashion's way too fast for that. He gets out of the way of the first few bullets, but her third shot catches him right across the cheeks. (the nether ones, that is) He screams and swings again with that monster sword, and this time she's a little too slow. The razor-edged tip of the blade catches her across the arm as she pirouettes out of the way, opening up a solid gash into her forearm, and her mindstate adjusts for the sudden loss of grip strength in her left hand. The pistol sags heavy in her grip, and she grabs hold of it with her right hand to keep from dropping the thing.
The two face off for a momentary pause, ancient evil against modern ev-...kinda-sorta...it's complicated. She's drawn the enemy's vitae, and Chippendale Man won't be messing around now. Both of their backups are busy murdering their counterparts, and for the next few moments it's just the two of them. Jamelia steps back behind cover to buy her another second, trying to draw a solid bead on her latest underdressed attacker. He approaches cautiously, using the cover to shield his attack this time; there's no taunts, no snarls or insults. She's made him respect her, and he takes the time to individually dodge each bullet from her latest three-round burst before leaping at her. His blond hair moves dramatically to frame his too-pretty face as he grins.
Goddamn vampires.
Ducking under her attacker's blade, Jamelia finds herself missing MiB-replacement paperwork already. And then she catches movement out of the corner of her eye. The lady in the painted-on dress and the mask has her blade to one of the MiB's necks, smiling smugly. "So. Any last requests before I send your soulless kind to hell, Metal Dragon?" She asks. The MiB, in a rare moment of individuality, responds.
"Yes. I would like to tell you a secret."
"What?"
"I was the decoy." She can't tell, but Jamelia swears that the MiB is grinning.
"WHAT?!" She yells. One of the MiBs, deceptively agile in their heavy assault armor, vaults one of the roulette tables and shoves his rifle, point-blank, into her side, firing both barrels. Flechette, the ammunition type is labeled in TacNet. She jumps back reflexively but ineffectively, superhuman strength smashing her through another game table, sending chips and cards flying everywhere to be shredded by high-velocity ammunition. She is on the ground for mere moments, but even as she flips herself off of the ground the MiB squad retargets smoothly to send five streams of silver metal at her, even as one of them dodges the soul-fire from Ghost Rider. Her upper body disintegrates into a cloud of undifferentiated gore. Her lower body flops to the ground in an obscene come-hither pose. There is something wrong, Jamelia notices-and she spots out of the corner of MiB 3's eye, the woman's head, using prehensile hair, viscera, and her spinal cord to attempt to crawl away, probably to regenerate the body. She ignores it for now-there are other, more dangerous threats.
[Target down. Engaging next target.]
The hemophage attacking her dodges through the streams, taking hits that score blemishes across his face and body, injuries that seem to bleed like real human wounds would, but he barely slows. Jamelia knows that the injuries are too superficial, that he's clearly using some sort of supernatural reinforcement, but there's still something very alive, human, about it. He smiles, apparently genuinely, staying still long enough for shots to only score a handful of wounds. "For so long, I have not felt real pain. Thank you for the lesson. Sadly, all teachers must be outpaced." He sheathes his sword for a moment, and all is still as the MiB drop the expended magazines and reload, quickly aiming again.
There is a blur of movement as he draws a perfect attack on empty space. Jamelia realizes what is happening, what Reality Deviant claptrap is going on, that he will be attacking through space with some sort of hemophage bullshit, and dives to the side. It is not quite enough. Her X-5 falls into two pieces as the blade cuts perfectly through it and across the multi-threat vest she wore over her suit. She feels a bruise as the force of the blow launches her into the air and slams her into a video slot machine, causing the electronics inside to spark and flare. She ignores the injury and gets back up. The hemophage is clearly wounded, neat holes in his torso and across his broad, tanned chest. He is moving slower, ever so slightly slower, ever so slightly weaker. More vulnerable. Jamelia finishes standing, sees the gash opened through the vest and the shattered scales of the armor, feels the fractured rib that might become a problem a few hours later but right now is irrelevant.
Especially since the man in the suit has finished his transformation. His head now touches the ceiling, twisted into a cruel iron mask. His body is now covered in scraps of Hugo Boss silk and heavy green-brass scales, an ancient and obscene language inscribed upon them. Muscles ripple with crackling and obvious magics, and rusty talons, each the size of two-handed swords, spark as they slide together. "I see," it snarls, each breath tinged with the scent of rot and torment. "Young magi, in their arrogance, playing with toys they do not understand. To learn your lesson, to understand your place on the Wheel, let me help take those toys away from you."
It grabs one of the video poker machines like it was a toy, and then throws it one-handed at phenomenal velocity.
Rose
Rose freezes. This feels... wrong. Yes, Director Belltower is being very precise and every shot is hitting only their target, but the monsters aren't so precise. She should go back. She should help kill these vampires that are killing innocents, but... no, she shouldn't. She wants to. That's not the same thing. Her conditioning was very clear about the difference between what she wants to do and what she should do. Usually, she's glad about that, because she shouldn't try to drink the blood of the living (she has blood packs for that when she needs to refuel), but at moments like this, it really hurts.
She doesn't want to let the people die. She should chase after the boss. The vampires are the ones killing people - Director Belltower is protecting the people by killing the vampires and none of her bullets are missing - so the vampires need to be not around people any more. But she has to chase after the boss.
If they're following her into the corridors then they won't be in a densely packed room... And it's not like she's ignoring her orders, Rose rationalises. She's... she's helping her team, because she going to lure some of the enemies after her, which will prevent casualties and when the 'phages are chasing after her, that'll open them up to be taken out cleanly by the MIB and the Director. Which will prevent a waste of... of expensive ammunition!
Pitching her voice low, letting all manner of ultrasonic and infrasonic edges into it which will mean it cuts through the noise of the gunfight and makes its way right to the ears of the haemophages (while maybe possibly not being heard so well by her team, not that she's doing anything wrong, of course), she snarls "Devil Law! Prepare to die! I'm coming for you," in Mandarin, and barges through the door chasing after him. Just the atavistic urges speaking, of course. The fact that man in the tuxedo and the woman in the painted-on dress might remember that they were his bodyguards when they hear that and go after him to protect him... well, she's just helping her team by distracting the enemies. She doesn't want extra enemies around when she's going after a hard target. Of course not.
They don't. But the one with a flaming skull for a head and the Triad thugs, including the not-quite human ones, the ones with the strange biological symptoms, ones like her, give chase down the stairwell. She's faster, of course. Far faster. She vaults over the banister and drops three floors in a heartbeat, landing on bent knees in a spray of dress. The heels on her designer shoes snap from the impact and she kicks them off. She doesn't need them, if something would pierce her skin it would easily get through any footwear, even a steel-toed boot. She almost regrets having bought them today, but it was fun while it lasted. It was fun-
Pretending to be human? Pretending to be a princess? Pretending to be the hero? Thorn's voice asks.
"Shut up." Rose retorts, as she slams her shoulder into the metal door and forces it open, giving chase. She's right, there is broken glass and rusty nails here, probably deliberately set to ensure anyone chasing who didn't have the supernatural toughness of a hemophage would have to slow down. Useful against mundane hunters, but not against her.
Because you're identical to them. A deluded pawn of a much larger game thinking that you're going to make a change to this dying world.
She ignores it, concentrates on Devil Law and the mob chasing behind her. One of them seems to have learned parkour somewhere and hits her with buckshot. She feels the sting and the bruising, but little more. Her skin is rated against a lot more than shotgun pellets from close range, let alone the rest of her. She doesn't even slow. She snaps her purse open, draws a blued-steel blade with a deep channel in the middle. A Tebbit Knife, rated for bioweapons deployment. It's her weapon of choice. She needs the boss alive, but hemophages can live through a lot. Use a bioreactive payload, remove a few limbs, and they'd still live-diminished, but they didn't need to move around for a brain trawl to work.
She rounds a corner, sees Devil Law standing there, carrying a massive blade like the ones hemophages have been known to carry, save this one is faint reflective green rather than pure silver. He's apparently realized he can't run, or that he might be running into a trap, and has changed his mind. Or maybe you've put yourself into one. Thorn sniggers. Ah the brave heroine, yet again helpless and needing rescue. Rose hears Cantonese yelling and swearing behind her, the sound of a massive mob. And she realizes that she may have gotten herself into serious trouble. One elder vampire she might have been able to take without preparation. One, plus whatever ghoul-equivalents they had, plus another vampire, plus mortal patsies? Much, much harder. Your impulsiveness is going to be the death of you. But how can you kill something that was never truly alive?
"So. The Metal Dragons have come to ensure that the Ages will continue to diminish as they have for the last five?" Devil Law sneers. "I suspected as much. The corrupt rulers of the Sixth Age will not let their power be challenged. Fortunately, there are those Betrayers who also seek redemption. The world has been broken for unfathomable eons, ever since the betrayals of the First Age and the dereliction of our duties. To restore it, the current order must be destroyed and a new one paved in its place. We will bring this empire down. We will burn the Metal Dragons on the funeral pyre where empires died. And you will finally understand." He hefts the massive, more than two-meter long sword as if it was a simple long sword. "You will finally understand the gravity of the sin you have committed, one so great that no words can justify it, no words can even explain it."
Vote Time:
Enemy Actions:
Stripper-Man uses Dragon Dance AND Black Wind together to get a ridiculous number of extra actions and go into uncontrollable berserker fun times. If he had pain inhibitors to turn off while in Ripper mode, he would totally be turning them off. He will be using the first to murder your MiBs, and then the rest will probably also involve MiB murder.
Head-Woman seeks to slither away, given that she is currently a spinal cord and random viscera attached to a pretty face.
Hulk is going to pick up a video poker machine and throw it right at a MiB. He is not taking any extra actions. Yet. Given his stats, he probably doesn't need to.
Jamelia: Choose ONE, or if you can stunt a justification for multiple ones.
[ ] (0.8x) Oh Holy Shit. That guy just went Full Hulk. Fall back. Fall back! Grab the vampire lady's head and run. Tell Rose to meet you at alternate extraction.
[ ] When you let someone go full Hulk, you better bring some heavier firepower. Fortunately, you made sure to have some heavier weaponry sent here. Now, if you can only remember which slot machines you covertly replaced with ones with Javelins (the missile, not the ancient weapon) inside.... Matter/Correspondence effect. Warning. This is Vulgar.
[ ] (1.2 x) Shoot the Hong Kong Hulk with the Singun once. That's why you brought it here, right? Warning. This is Vulgar.
[ ] (1.1 x) Shoot the Hong Kong Hulk with the Singun multiple times. Because fuck that guy. Warning. This is Vulgar.
[ ] (0.9x) Shoot Stripper-Man with the Singun. Stripper-Man, Stripper-Man, does whatever a stripper can! Can he be eaten by a black hole?! Yes.
[ ] Write-In a Procedure to either keep the MiBs alive or not. Note that you may only make a Procedure roll once every turn.
[ ] SHOCKWAVE. Because holy shit Hong Kong Hulk. (Choose a Shockwave code. Remember that right now you are underground and cannot drop a giant robot on people yet).
MiB:
[ ] (SPECIAL) Fall back! MiB are pretty expensive, after all. I mean, look, some clones might only cost 180,000 yen, but MiB are not loli clones who shoot lightning and cost closer to 180,000 USD. (1.5x if you choose to retreat, may only be chosen if Jamelia chooses to retreat)
[ ] (SPECIAL) Die Well. Welp, it was nice knowing you guys. Well, actually it wasn't because you're basically monosyllabic emotionless robots, but still. Also, you're here to die for us. (2.0 x if you choose to retreat, may only be chosen if Jamelia chooses to retreat)
[ ] (1.2x) Grab the disembodied head. Look, she's valuable intel. Well, maybe. And you can totally dissect her later. Or have her rendered down into Progenitor-favorite Prime Energy. Wonder how much you need to send in to get another cute bioweapon? Maybe a cat this time.
[ ] Shoot Stripper Gigolo Raiden. He's someone they can definitely actually hurt. And with five of them all taking him out, he's going to go down fast.
[ ] (0.8x) Switch to HEAP rounds and try to hurt the Hong Kong Hulk with concentrated fire. I mean, he's probably retardedly tough, but maybe 35mm HEAP might cause a few injuries? Might.
Rose:
[ ] (0.8x) Keep him rambling about this "First Age" nonsense and how the "Metal Dragons" have ruined everything. He's completely batshit insane, but you can buy yourself time, for Jamelia to follow you and bring him down or something. This will require a social roll. Just as another reminder, Rose's Predator's Pheromones only allow her to enhance social rolls which involve either her own sexuality, dominating another's will, or personal majesty.
[ ] (1.2x) Attack now and blindside him. Sure, he has a sword the size of a surfboard, but you've fought worse. Just fast-cast a Procedure and go. Choose any procedure or just attack normally. Remember the activated bioware options Rose possesses may be used.
[ ] Plant a tracker on him somehow and then run away. You're not here to kill him singlehandedly, after all. Just tag him, and maybe he'll run off and reveal his buyers for you.
[ ] (0.01x) Thorn sometimes knows what she's doing. Beg her for help. This is a violation of your Idealist Vice and also probably not the best of ideas, and thus will cost 2 Willpower.
Rose's Status
Willpower: 8/8
Prime Energy: 3/3
Health Levels: -0/-0/-0/-0/-1/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-2/-2/-4/-4/-4/Incapacitated/Dying. Regenerates 1 Bashing/Lethal HL a round no matter what. Heals Aggravated damage at normal speed.
Current Damage: 1 Aggravated HL (at -0): System overstress
Vampire Heart: 9/10 Blood Points-Spend 1 Blood Point to gain an automatic success on Strength rolls, get an extra action for the turn, or heal 2 Bashing/1 Lethal health level instantly.
Undead Strength: 1 Aggravated HL to activate, adds up to its rating in automatic successes to Strength rolls for feats of strength and damage.
Predator's Pheromones: 6/6 Prime Energy. Activate to add +3 automatic successes on social rolls based off of sexuality, majesty, or simply dominating someone else's will.
Current Effects:
Undead Strength: +3 automatic successes to Strength rolls for feats of strength and damage.
DV: 14/14
Shockwave Codes: None (Not In Leadership Role)
Jamelia Belltower's Status
Willpower: 6/7
Prime Energy: 3/5
Health Levels: -0/-0/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-4/Incapacitated/Dying
Current Damage: 2 Lethal (at -0): Cracked rib, lacerated back.
Current Effects: (+1 difficulty to all Procedure rolls)
MiB Hivemind: Synchronized with MiB Hivemind, Combat Bonuses, Concentrated Fire
Combat Training: Improved ability to avoid/engage superhuman targets (+2 to DVs, +2 automatic successes against them)
Streak Targeting: Attacks will not hit bystanders
DV: 6/9 (note this does not refresh after a turn). 8/11 against superhuman opponents.
Shockwave Codes: 3/3
Jamelia winces, but calls out new orders through the mind-link. Those nearby attackers would shred her vat-grown backup to bits if she let them, and the paperwork for dead MiBs is a bitch-and-a-half to handle. If she gets sworded, well, then there'd be a problem. She could probably finish the mission while bleeding out. She's done it before. But it's inconvenient. Obedient as ever, the Men in Black take cover and open fire on the Affronts Against Good Taste. In retrospect, she thinks, she you could've picked better epithets for the both of 'em.
Too late now.
Indeed. She can see the timing of their firing arcs as they track across a crowd, menacing green lasers crisscrossing the gambling arena. Jamelia simply has to survive the amorous advances of a psychopathic vampire with a thing for near-nudity and a big honking sword. Admittedly, the vampire is also murderous, but with vampires you can rarely tell the difference between lust and violence. Jamelia's on the move even before the first attack hits. The Affront Against Good Taste (Male Edition) leads with an overhand strike, a powerful attack which would use his forward momentum to slice open anything in its way like...well, like a sword through butter. She can see the magically-altered weapon shining in the red emergency lights, the wielder's face contorted into a many-toothed smile as he brings the weapon to bear against the slow, squishy human. Good thing she's out of the way, then. Physical and mental augments work in unison, getting Jamelia just barely out of the way of the jian as her feigned stumble carries her past the vampire. The blade cuts through a slot machine, which whistles and flashes and sprays coins everywhere, pelting the vampire with his fake blond-dyed hair. Jamelia shoots him a few times for emphasis.
She'd meant to hit center-of-mass, but Mr. I-Cannot-Into-Fashion's way too fast for that. He gets out of the way of the first few bullets, but her third shot catches him right across the cheeks. (the nether ones, that is) He screams and swings again with that monster sword, and this time she's a little too slow. The razor-edged tip of the blade catches her across the arm as she pirouettes out of the way, opening up a solid gash into her forearm, and her mindstate adjusts for the sudden loss of grip strength in her left hand. The pistol sags heavy in her grip, and she grabs hold of it with her right hand to keep from dropping the thing.
The two face off for a momentary pause, ancient evil against modern ev-...kinda-sorta...it's complicated. She's drawn the enemy's vitae, and Chippendale Man won't be messing around now. Both of their backups are busy murdering their counterparts, and for the next few moments it's just the two of them. Jamelia steps back behind cover to buy her another second, trying to draw a solid bead on her latest underdressed attacker. He approaches cautiously, using the cover to shield his attack this time; there's no taunts, no snarls or insults. She's made him respect her, and he takes the time to individually dodge each bullet from her latest three-round burst before leaping at her. His blond hair moves dramatically to frame his too-pretty face as he grins.
Goddamn vampires.
Ducking under her attacker's blade, Jamelia finds herself missing MiB-replacement paperwork already. And then she catches movement out of the corner of her eye. The lady in the painted-on dress and the mask has her blade to one of the MiB's necks, smiling smugly. "So. Any last requests before I send your soulless kind to hell, Metal Dragon?" She asks. The MiB, in a rare moment of individuality, responds.
"Yes. I would like to tell you a secret."
"What?"
"I was the decoy." She can't tell, but Jamelia swears that the MiB is grinning.
"WHAT?!" She yells. One of the MiBs, deceptively agile in their heavy assault armor, vaults one of the roulette tables and shoves his rifle, point-blank, into her side, firing both barrels. Flechette, the ammunition type is labeled in TacNet. She jumps back reflexively but ineffectively, superhuman strength smashing her through another game table, sending chips and cards flying everywhere to be shredded by high-velocity ammunition. She is on the ground for mere moments, but even as she flips herself off of the ground the MiB squad retargets smoothly to send five streams of silver metal at her, even as one of them dodges the soul-fire from Ghost Rider. Her upper body disintegrates into a cloud of undifferentiated gore. Her lower body flops to the ground in an obscene come-hither pose. There is something wrong, Jamelia notices-and she spots out of the corner of MiB 3's eye, the woman's head, using prehensile hair, viscera, and her spinal cord to attempt to crawl away, probably to regenerate the body. She ignores it for now-there are other, more dangerous threats.
[Target down. Engaging next target.]
The hemophage attacking her dodges through the streams, taking hits that score blemishes across his face and body, injuries that seem to bleed like real human wounds would, but he barely slows. Jamelia knows that the injuries are too superficial, that he's clearly using some sort of supernatural reinforcement, but there's still something very alive, human, about it. He smiles, apparently genuinely, staying still long enough for shots to only score a handful of wounds. "For so long, I have not felt real pain. Thank you for the lesson. Sadly, all teachers must be outpaced." He sheathes his sword for a moment, and all is still as the MiB drop the expended magazines and reload, quickly aiming again.
There is a blur of movement as he draws a perfect attack on empty space. Jamelia realizes what is happening, what Reality Deviant claptrap is going on, that he will be attacking through space with some sort of hemophage bullshit, and dives to the side. It is not quite enough. Her X-5 falls into two pieces as the blade cuts perfectly through it and across the multi-threat vest she wore over her suit. She feels a bruise as the force of the blow launches her into the air and slams her into a video slot machine, causing the electronics inside to spark and flare. She ignores the injury and gets back up. The hemophage is clearly wounded, neat holes in his torso and across his broad, tanned chest. He is moving slower, ever so slightly slower, ever so slightly weaker. More vulnerable. Jamelia finishes standing, sees the gash opened through the vest and the shattered scales of the armor, feels the fractured rib that might become a problem a few hours later but right now is irrelevant.
Especially since the man in the suit has finished his transformation. His head now touches the ceiling, twisted into a cruel iron mask. His body is now covered in scraps of Hugo Boss silk and heavy green-brass scales, an ancient and obscene language inscribed upon them. Muscles ripple with crackling and obvious magics, and rusty talons, each the size of two-handed swords, spark as they slide together. "I see," it snarls, each breath tinged with the scent of rot and torment. "Young magi, in their arrogance, playing with toys they do not understand. To learn your lesson, to understand your place on the Wheel, let me help take those toys away from you."
It grabs one of the video poker machines like it was a toy, and then throws it one-handed at phenomenal velocity.
Rose
Rose freezes. This feels... wrong. Yes, Director Belltower is being very precise and every shot is hitting only their target, but the monsters aren't so precise. She should go back. She should help kill these vampires that are killing innocents, but... no, she shouldn't. She wants to. That's not the same thing. Her conditioning was very clear about the difference between what she wants to do and what she should do. Usually, she's glad about that, because she shouldn't try to drink the blood of the living (she has blood packs for that when she needs to refuel), but at moments like this, it really hurts.
She doesn't want to let the people die. She should chase after the boss. The vampires are the ones killing people - Director Belltower is protecting the people by killing the vampires and none of her bullets are missing - so the vampires need to be not around people any more. But she has to chase after the boss.
If they're following her into the corridors then they won't be in a densely packed room... And it's not like she's ignoring her orders, Rose rationalises. She's... she's helping her team, because she going to lure some of the enemies after her, which will prevent casualties and when the 'phages are chasing after her, that'll open them up to be taken out cleanly by the MIB and the Director. Which will prevent a waste of... of expensive ammunition!
Pitching her voice low, letting all manner of ultrasonic and infrasonic edges into it which will mean it cuts through the noise of the gunfight and makes its way right to the ears of the haemophages (while maybe possibly not being heard so well by her team, not that she's doing anything wrong, of course), she snarls "Devil Law! Prepare to die! I'm coming for you," in Mandarin, and barges through the door chasing after him. Just the atavistic urges speaking, of course. The fact that man in the tuxedo and the woman in the painted-on dress might remember that they were his bodyguards when they hear that and go after him to protect him... well, she's just helping her team by distracting the enemies. She doesn't want extra enemies around when she's going after a hard target. Of course not.
They don't. But the one with a flaming skull for a head and the Triad thugs, including the not-quite human ones, the ones with the strange biological symptoms, ones like her, give chase down the stairwell. She's faster, of course. Far faster. She vaults over the banister and drops three floors in a heartbeat, landing on bent knees in a spray of dress. The heels on her designer shoes snap from the impact and she kicks them off. She doesn't need them, if something would pierce her skin it would easily get through any footwear, even a steel-toed boot. She almost regrets having bought them today, but it was fun while it lasted. It was fun-
Pretending to be human? Pretending to be a princess? Pretending to be the hero? Thorn's voice asks.
"Shut up." Rose retorts, as she slams her shoulder into the metal door and forces it open, giving chase. She's right, there is broken glass and rusty nails here, probably deliberately set to ensure anyone chasing who didn't have the supernatural toughness of a hemophage would have to slow down. Useful against mundane hunters, but not against her.
Because you're identical to them. A deluded pawn of a much larger game thinking that you're going to make a change to this dying world.
She ignores it, concentrates on Devil Law and the mob chasing behind her. One of them seems to have learned parkour somewhere and hits her with buckshot. She feels the sting and the bruising, but little more. Her skin is rated against a lot more than shotgun pellets from close range, let alone the rest of her. She doesn't even slow. She snaps her purse open, draws a blued-steel blade with a deep channel in the middle. A Tebbit Knife, rated for bioweapons deployment. It's her weapon of choice. She needs the boss alive, but hemophages can live through a lot. Use a bioreactive payload, remove a few limbs, and they'd still live-diminished, but they didn't need to move around for a brain trawl to work.
She rounds a corner, sees Devil Law standing there, carrying a massive blade like the ones hemophages have been known to carry, save this one is faint reflective green rather than pure silver. He's apparently realized he can't run, or that he might be running into a trap, and has changed his mind. Or maybe you've put yourself into one. Thorn sniggers. Ah the brave heroine, yet again helpless and needing rescue. Rose hears Cantonese yelling and swearing behind her, the sound of a massive mob. And she realizes that she may have gotten herself into serious trouble. One elder vampire she might have been able to take without preparation. One, plus whatever ghoul-equivalents they had, plus another vampire, plus mortal patsies? Much, much harder. Your impulsiveness is going to be the death of you. But how can you kill something that was never truly alive?
"So. The Metal Dragons have come to ensure that the Ages will continue to diminish as they have for the last five?" Devil Law sneers. "I suspected as much. The corrupt rulers of the Sixth Age will not let their power be challenged. Fortunately, there are those Betrayers who also seek redemption. The world has been broken for unfathomable eons, ever since the betrayals of the First Age and the dereliction of our duties. To restore it, the current order must be destroyed and a new one paved in its place. We will bring this empire down. We will burn the Metal Dragons on the funeral pyre where empires died. And you will finally understand." He hefts the massive, more than two-meter long sword as if it was a simple long sword. "You will finally understand the gravity of the sin you have committed, one so great that no words can justify it, no words can even explain it."
Vote Time:
Enemy Actions:
Stripper-Man uses Dragon Dance AND Black Wind together to get a ridiculous number of extra actions and go into uncontrollable berserker fun times. If he had pain inhibitors to turn off while in Ripper mode, he would totally be turning them off. He will be using the first to murder your MiBs, and then the rest will probably also involve MiB murder.
Head-Woman seeks to slither away, given that she is currently a spinal cord and random viscera attached to a pretty face.
Hulk is going to pick up a video poker machine and throw it right at a MiB. He is not taking any extra actions. Yet. Given his stats, he probably doesn't need to.
Jamelia: Choose ONE, or if you can stunt a justification for multiple ones.
[ ] (0.8x) Oh Holy Shit. That guy just went Full Hulk. Fall back. Fall back! Grab the vampire lady's head and run. Tell Rose to meet you at alternate extraction.
[ ] When you let someone go full Hulk, you better bring some heavier firepower. Fortunately, you made sure to have some heavier weaponry sent here. Now, if you can only remember which slot machines you covertly replaced with ones with Javelins (the missile, not the ancient weapon) inside.... Matter/Correspondence effect. Warning. This is Vulgar.
[ ] (1.2 x) Shoot the Hong Kong Hulk with the Singun once. That's why you brought it here, right? Warning. This is Vulgar.
[ ] (1.1 x) Shoot the Hong Kong Hulk with the Singun multiple times. Because fuck that guy. Warning. This is Vulgar.
[ ] (0.9x) Shoot Stripper-Man with the Singun. Stripper-Man, Stripper-Man, does whatever a stripper can! Can he be eaten by a black hole?! Yes.
[ ] Write-In a Procedure to either keep the MiBs alive or not. Note that you may only make a Procedure roll once every turn.
[ ] SHOCKWAVE. Because holy shit Hong Kong Hulk. (Choose a Shockwave code. Remember that right now you are underground and cannot drop a giant robot on people yet).
MiB:
[ ] (SPECIAL) Fall back! MiB are pretty expensive, after all. I mean, look, some clones might only cost 180,000 yen, but MiB are not loli clones who shoot lightning and cost closer to 180,000 USD. (1.5x if you choose to retreat, may only be chosen if Jamelia chooses to retreat)
[ ] (SPECIAL) Die Well. Welp, it was nice knowing you guys. Well, actually it wasn't because you're basically monosyllabic emotionless robots, but still. Also, you're here to die for us. (2.0 x if you choose to retreat, may only be chosen if Jamelia chooses to retreat)
[ ] (1.2x) Grab the disembodied head. Look, she's valuable intel. Well, maybe. And you can totally dissect her later. Or have her rendered down into Progenitor-favorite Prime Energy. Wonder how much you need to send in to get another cute bioweapon? Maybe a cat this time.
[ ] Shoot Stripper Gigolo Raiden. He's someone they can definitely actually hurt. And with five of them all taking him out, he's going to go down fast.
[ ] (0.8x) Switch to HEAP rounds and try to hurt the Hong Kong Hulk with concentrated fire. I mean, he's probably retardedly tough, but maybe 35mm HEAP might cause a few injuries? Might.
Rose:
[ ] (0.8x) Keep him rambling about this "First Age" nonsense and how the "Metal Dragons" have ruined everything. He's completely batshit insane, but you can buy yourself time, for Jamelia to follow you and bring him down or something. This will require a social roll. Just as another reminder, Rose's Predator's Pheromones only allow her to enhance social rolls which involve either her own sexuality, dominating another's will, or personal majesty.
[ ] (1.2x) Attack now and blindside him. Sure, he has a sword the size of a surfboard, but you've fought worse. Just fast-cast a Procedure and go. Choose any procedure or just attack normally. Remember the activated bioware options Rose possesses may be used.
[ ] Plant a tracker on him somehow and then run away. You're not here to kill him singlehandedly, after all. Just tag him, and maybe he'll run off and reveal his buyers for you.
[ ] (0.01x) Thorn sometimes knows what she's doing. Beg her for help. This is a violation of your Idealist Vice and also probably not the best of ideas, and thus will cost 2 Willpower.
Rose's Status
Willpower: 8/8
Prime Energy: 3/3
Health Levels: -0/-0/-0/-0/-1/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-2/-2/-4/-4/-4/Incapacitated/Dying. Regenerates 1 Bashing/Lethal HL a round no matter what. Heals Aggravated damage at normal speed.
Current Damage: 1 Aggravated HL (at -0): System overstress
Vampire Heart: 9/10 Blood Points-Spend 1 Blood Point to gain an automatic success on Strength rolls, get an extra action for the turn, or heal 2 Bashing/1 Lethal health level instantly.
Undead Strength: 1 Aggravated HL to activate, adds up to its rating in automatic successes to Strength rolls for feats of strength and damage.
Predator's Pheromones: 6/6 Prime Energy. Activate to add +3 automatic successes on social rolls based off of sexuality, majesty, or simply dominating someone else's will.
Current Effects:
Undead Strength: +3 automatic successes to Strength rolls for feats of strength and damage.
DV: 14/14
Shockwave Codes: None (Not In Leadership Role)
Jamelia Belltower's Status
Willpower: 6/7
Prime Energy: 3/5
Health Levels: -0/-0/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-4/Incapacitated/Dying
Current Damage: 2 Lethal (at -0): Cracked rib, lacerated back.
Current Effects: (+1 difficulty to all Procedure rolls)
MiB Hivemind: Synchronized with MiB Hivemind, Combat Bonuses, Concentrated Fire
Combat Training: Improved ability to avoid/engage superhuman targets (+2 to DVs, +2 automatic successes against them)
Streak Targeting: Attacks will not hit bystanders
DV: 6/9 (note this does not refresh after a turn). 8/11 against superhuman opponents.
Shockwave Codes: 3/3
Update VII: You Only Die Twice
JB VII: You Only Die Twice
The hulking-out monster vampire could be a threat, Jamelia thinks as she staggers back, faking weakness. These hemophages, "Cathayans", seem to have a much different set of abilities than the vampires she's used to. Normal vampires didn't grow half again as tall and deflect primium flechettes off of their rusty copper scales inscribed in language she doesn't recognize.
Could is the operative word here. The idiot meathead in the suit hasn't paid attention to what he's actually picking up. Games machines aren't a perfect homogeneous block. And they're bolted to the floor. The strength of the bolts is greater than the strength of the machine, which nowadays is a pretty cheap shell with a low end computer inside and a securely fastened cash box which isn't actually part of the exterior structure. Because, you know. It makes it harder for people to steal the machine. The video poker machine comes apart in his hands. Had he known about it, he could have taken the cash box and flung it, but instead all he is left with is a disintegrating shell of cheap plastic. The demon-vampire-...thing... throws the unaerodynamic plastic anyways, which flies unpredictably and hits a cowering gambler in the head, one of the few who didn't take the time to run away in the last few seconds. He'll probably have lacerations and maybe a mild concussion, but that's all. "Better luck next time," she says. The vampire-demon roars in frustration.
Which leaves the psycho exhibitionist, male variety. [Ji.] The one word order flashes over the tactical net. Nothing more is needed. The Men in Black understand her purpose. Their purpose. Smoothly and cleanly the clone with the medium machine gun tosses the primium-loaded weapon to Jamelia, who snatches it out of the air. Ji, for his part, draws his quick-extend electrified baton and dives on the head which is trying to escape, trying to tag and bag it.
Falling to one knee as she embraces the weight of the weapon, Jamelia spins, ignoring the frisson of pain from the blow stopped by her ballistic vest and levels the medium machine gun at point blank range against the male haemophage. "Dodge this," she tells the fucker. And she and the four other Men in Black open up, five silver streams converging onto his position. His blade flashes out and catches flechette after flechette in a beautiful arc of blued metal, but he is too slow, the angles are too great, and eventually he makes a mistake. And then it's all over. The primium flechette catches the flat of the blade, breaks it. Another hits him in the biceps, and yet more shatter bones in his legs and arms. He topples. Even so, he looks infuriatingly smug, lying on the ground bleeding-bleeding? Hemophages don't bleed, not like normal people.
Jamelia puts the muzzle point-blank to his heart, spears him a dozen times through the chest. Strangely enough, perversely enough, the shots don't seem to kill, rather they seem to put him into the same stasis normal, decent vampires go into when staked by a large wooden pole. She doesn't mind. It means she has prisoners. People to interrogate. She sees Ji out of the corner of her eye, hitting the head of the other vampire who thought less clothing meant more combat effectiveness with a mean-looking shock prod. The bloody spine stops twitching. She only has one problem left. [Suppress him.] she commands, and the MiB reload, four empty magazines clattering to the ground simultaneously. Ji draws an X-5, fires explosive shells at the vampire's face. The rest spray him. Rounds bounce off of the heavy armor of the Kuei-Jin's demon form, shattered flechettes ricocheting as they hit at shallow angles, embedding themselves in slot machines, game tables, and video poker machines. Electronics burn as the rounds find important or volatile components, but thankfully nobody is hit by the ricochets.
She draws the singun with her off hand, moves it onto the behemoth, and waits for the tone of position lock. She pulls the trigger and prays the weapon will work. The weapon's slightly-less-than-100% efficient power transfer and slightly-less-than-100% efficient cooling system causes her a flash of pain as she burns her hand. She ignores the sensation of cooking flesh and the frying bacon smell. The vampire seems unaffected for a moment. And then, with the loud pop of air rushing into vacuum, most of his torso disappears and she can see right through him. He puts his arms to his chest comically, his eyes go slack as he realizes just how much injury he has taken, and his body topples to the ground with a bone-jarring thump. "Area clear!" she shouts. "Grab the captives and let's get out of here."
Rose
Her body is a weapon, built like any other machine, Rose knows. Knows, doesn't like to think about, but knows. And the way that she combines actual understanding of the laws of the universe with elements of haemophage biology means she's rather better at applying it that the original sources. It had been an interesting, albeit painful discovery that she could slip through the Dimensional Anomaly in the same way that her inhuman genesource might be able to turn onto a mist to slip under a door. She hated doing it. It hurt. But very few things could track her in this manner. And at the moment, it looked like she was doing to need it to get out of here.
[Preparing dimensional translation] the text displayed directly to her optic nerve states. [Preliminary conversion protocols beginning. Initiate when ready.]
There's another thing about her, and that she's a Technocractic construct. She's tracked. Her blood is flooded with tracking nanites and things she doesn't even understand. She could bet that Director Belltower could make a call and have her location returned near-instantly. But that means her blood is flooded with tracking nanites. Behind her back, she slices thin cuts on the fingers of her offhand with her knife. Now both her knife and her hand are ready. She just has to touch him with either, and he'll be marked. And if he tries to drink her blood or gets her blood on him when he stabs her... well, she'd like to avoid that, but it'd do too.
Now, to play for time. She lets her eyes widen in shock, and she frowns. "Metal dragons? Betrayers?" she says breathily. She is vulnerable. She is weak. She is outnumbered. She's not going to go down without a fight, but if he keeps on talking, she might be distracted enough that he won't have to lose any other men. Yes. That's just what she looks like. "I don't understand. Please, please," she begs, gazing at him through hooded lids, nervously looking from left to right, "can't we talk about this?" She inhales deeply, partly to get a heaving chest, but mostly to super-saturate her blood with oxygen for the trip through the Dimensional Anomaly. Though the heaving chest is a bonus. Slumping, she affects a slightly hunched position which means he won't view her as a taller threat. All these little changes in posture and mannerism which she never learned, but which were hard-baked into her are almost unconscious, but designed to make her look vulnerable, harmless, even attractive to predators.
What a good little whore grown by old men, Thorn sings. Doing just what they made you to do. Unfortunately, the weapon he's handling isn't the kind this behaviour will help with. He's already holding it upright.
Thorn isn't right there, Rose thinks, even as the blood trickles down from her sliced open fingertips. Her aura of vulnerable female sexuality is just a ploy, and if she wasn't planning to tag him and retreat, if he let his weapon fall she'd be pouncing on his neck. "I haven't heard of any betrayal," she adds, leaning forward. "I'm... worried we might not have been working with full information. We could," she licks her lips, "clear everything up if you'd just explain." Another deep breath. "Please?"
"Of course you haven't. But I'm glad you're willing to listen. Perhaps you might understand." He leans in, maybe to confide in her, maybe to get a better view. Maybe nothing. A man like him is used to being around whores. But very few of them live to spill his secrets. "The Metal Dragons love to erase history, rewrite it so that they are the ones in the right. The Great Betrayal, by those who would eventually become you, ended the First Age, created by the glorious heroes of that world."
"Great Betrayal?" Rose asks. She stays passive, meek. She inches herself slightly closer, as if partially convinced. "They kept that from me."
"As they would. Their crime was so great, they broke reality to erase it. Once, there were glorious invulnerable heroes, who existed to keep the world safe from demonic depredations. These heroes were slaughtered by their advisors because of fear and jealousy, men and women who would eventually become the 'Lightning People'-your Five Metal Dragons and the Nine Mystic Traditions. In those days, we were the Wan Xian. The myriad immortals, serving under the Scarlet Queen and the Ebon Dragon. We, out of foolishness, believed you. We trusted you. And for our part in the betrayal, we were cursed. Our very Essence was cursed, such that we would never be able to breathe, that we would have to steal it from others who still remembered how to take breaths."
"I'm sorry." Rose apologizes almost reflexively. She's been treated like a scapegoat or nonperson enough that she knows how someone with power expects her to act. "Please tell me how I can help make this right." You could start by understanding the actual truth, Thorn adds. Instead of pretending to listen yet letting it all go in one ear and out the other.
"And what happened to you Lightning People? Nothing!" Devil Law screams incoherently. "Nothing. We listened to YOUR predictions, and we paid for it. Yet you gained even more power, even more influence even as we faded, because you covered up your sins by breaking the wheel of fate itself. So when the Exalted Ones whispered that there was a way to change this curse, that there was a way to make this betrayal right, we took it. Some of you, at least, finally understand the gravity, the magnitude of the sin you have committed, a sin so steep that it must be fixed should we see the glories of the First Age again." Rose lets him ramble, waits until he points his comically large sword at her. "So do you now understand? Do you understand why you must pay for the sins of the past?" The Kuei-Jin asks. He suspects trickery. He suspects that she might have something up her sleeve, but until then, she's harmless, right? "Give in and tell me everything you know, and perhaps you may not have to die here."
The half-vampire touches his sword, runs her bloody fingers up the blade, caresses his calloused hand and moves up his arm. She smiles with half-lidded eyes, seductively. It comes as instinct. "No." she says. And she disappears in a cloud of bloody mist just as he swings that massive blade of his. She almost vomits at the pain of the dimensional transition, but manages to keep her composure. The massive blade hits her anyways, the weapon clearly possessing some sort of extradimensional properties, and it cuts a gash through thin silk and a deep red line across her stomach. But she has already gotten away, running through the sewers of the extradimensional hellscape that she has appeared in, ignoring the things with too many limbs and eyes looking at her hungrily. She reappears in the main casino, looking at the destruction with concerned eyes. Without a word, she goes to tend the wounded with her medical skills.
"What happened down there?" Jamelia asks. She seems concerned.
Seems is the operative word, dear. Thorn tells her. She only cares about your performance as a weapon. Like one of those half-flesh half-metal golems. "I am a weapon, command me Director-sempai, but please be gentle this is my first time~" Thorn finishes, in a faux-cute tone. You aren't fooling anyone. You're just a lonely little girl who doesn't know what she's doing, who whores herself out for approval, who is too weak to change the evil you can already see and too deluded to recognize this fact. Rose balls her hand into a fist, punches fingernails through reinforced skin. The pain shuts Thorn up for a moment.
"He got away." Rose says. "I got some of my blood on him and his sword, but I was outnumbered and wouldn't have survived if I had tried to capture him." She waits for disappointment, or perhaps punishment from her supervisor. She wants to be punished, because she's failed and only by being punished can she atone. She gets no answer, because as Jamelia turns towards her, there is the rapid-fire stamping of feet. A half-dozen Iteration X hardsuits armed with electromagnetic weapons, armor painted the off-black of inactive chameleonware coating are facing her. Their weapons are lowered, but still readied.
Jamelia reads their IDs. Three Iterators, a Progenitor, and two NWO operatives. This is awfully peculiar. "Identify yourselves! Spire."
"Star." The leader says. "Comptroller Thomas Wong. I'd like to congratulate you on your good work, but we'll take it from here. We're with Panopticon, and we'd like you to turn over all artifacts and evidence you have. Direct orders from Control, you see. We're afraid there's some EDE taint-" he pronounces it "Eddie", instead of saying the letters "E-D-E", "and that the items might be corruptive. You've got an experimental biological combat chassis here and who knows how its biotech is going to react with this kind of nasty EDE crap. Furthermore, we wouldn't want a star agent like you to suffer from Reality Deviant control." Rose shrinks against a wall at being called an 'it'.
"Two of the hostile Reality Terrorists have escaped." Jamelia responds curtly, considering the rest of his request. She subvocalizes into her throat mike. "Donald."
"Yes boss? Look, I'm enjoying myself right-"
"I need everything you can find on Panopticon. Now. " Her tone makes it clear she has no time for his partying.
"Yes ma'am. On it." Donald knows when he can wheedle for more time, and when he needs to act. This is time to act.
"We've already got guys on the job, we're tracking the RDs as we speak." Wong confidently says in response to Jamelia's statement. "There's no way they can escape. But we really need you to turn over any artifacts you find to Containment immediately. Just to make sure nothing goes wrong, you know? Here, take a look at our orders."
Jamelia takes a look at the orders, compares them to her decryption keys. They look legitimate. Either they're telling the truth or they have the best forger you've ever met working with them.
Vote Time:
Major Decisions:
[ ] Give them the artifacts and the bodies. Yeah, they seem awfully suspicious and their timing was incredibly convenient, but that doesn't actually mean anything. Sometimes coincidences happen.
[ ] (1.2x) Give them the artifacts, keep the dead KJ. They just wanted the artifacts and 'evidence', those aren't evidence, those are prisoners. Technical correctness is the best kind of correctness.
[ ] (1.5x) Give them the obvious artifacts, but keep some important stuff to yourself. You'll need to figure out some way to hide them, though. There's a good chance whoever they are might (Write-in a stunt/Procedure to hide something).
[ ] (1.5x) Don't give them the artifacts. Look, you're not going to back down for any random two-bit steelhead who thinks having big (fake) muscles and a railgun means they can get authority over your task. "Direct orders from Control" my ass. Sure, the ID codes check out. But everyone knows Control's been incommunicado for over ten years. (Write-in a social stunt to convince them to back down)
[ ] Write-In.
About Rose:
[ ] Criticize her for not following orders. She's a good fraction of your team's firepower, and you need to know that she's reliable. She needs to understand that personal feelings don't come ahead of mission success.
[ ] Be neutral about what she's done. She just made a rookie mistake. Given that she's literally about five years old that's not actually a problem. If she's going to want to take certain actions and is willing to face the consequences, there's nothing wrong with what she's done.
[ ] Be nice to her. She's a good girl, and more importantly she is easily manipulated by someone she trusts and could be an excellent ally. You would of course be encouraging her to take risks like this in the long run, but that shouldn't be a problem.
Be Donald:
[ ] (0.8x) Go public with your requests on Panopticon. It doesn't seem like some sort of secret society, otherwise they wouldn't have introduced themselves as such. You'll need to know.
[ ] (1.2x) Make your requests for information, but make them discreet. You're not going to get yourself shot just because the boss poked a hornet's nest.
[ ] (-0.3x) All right, it's time to dig into your (somewhat more) hedonistic past. You have contacts on the Other Side. They might know something about Panopticon. This option combines with one of the two above options.
[ ] Write-in.
Rose's Status
Willpower: 7/8
Prime Energy: 2/3
Health Levels: -0/-0/-0/-0/-1/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-2/-2/-4/-4/-4/Incapacitated/Dying. Regenerates 1 Bashing/Lethal HL a round no matter what. Heals Aggravated damage at normal speed.
Current Damage: 1 Aggravated HL (at -0): System overstress
Vampire Heart: 9/10 Blood Points-Spend 1 Blood Point to gain an automatic success on Strength rolls, get an extra action for the turn, or heal 2 Bashing/1 Lethal health level instantly.
Undead Strength: 1 Aggravated HL to activate, adds up to its rating in automatic successes to Strength rolls for feats of strength and damage.
Predator's Pheromones: 5/6 Prime Energy. Activate to add +3 automatic successes on social rolls based off of sexuality, majesty, or simply dominating someone else's will.
Current Effects:
Undead Strength: +3 automatic successes to Strength rolls for feats of strength and damage.
DV: 14/14
Shockwave Codes: None (Not In Leadership Role)
Jamelia Belltower's Status
Willpower: 5/7
Prime Energy: 2/5
Health Levels: -0/-0/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-4/Incapacitated/Dying
Current Damage: 4 Lethal (at -1): Cracked rib, lacerated back. Severe burns.
Current Paradox: 2
Current Effects: (+1 difficulty to all Procedure rolls)
MiB Hivemind: Synchronized with MiB Hivemind, Combat Bonuses, Concentrated Fire
Combat Training: Improved ability to avoid/engage superhuman targets (+2 to DVs, +2 automatic successes against them)
DV: 9/9 (note this does not refresh after a turn). 11/11 against superhuman opponents.
Shockwave Codes: 3/3
Bonus Points: Spot how badly DEVIL LAW gets his history wrong for an undetermined bonus (non) prize!
The hulking-out monster vampire could be a threat, Jamelia thinks as she staggers back, faking weakness. These hemophages, "Cathayans", seem to have a much different set of abilities than the vampires she's used to. Normal vampires didn't grow half again as tall and deflect primium flechettes off of their rusty copper scales inscribed in language she doesn't recognize.
Could is the operative word here. The idiot meathead in the suit hasn't paid attention to what he's actually picking up. Games machines aren't a perfect homogeneous block. And they're bolted to the floor. The strength of the bolts is greater than the strength of the machine, which nowadays is a pretty cheap shell with a low end computer inside and a securely fastened cash box which isn't actually part of the exterior structure. Because, you know. It makes it harder for people to steal the machine. The video poker machine comes apart in his hands. Had he known about it, he could have taken the cash box and flung it, but instead all he is left with is a disintegrating shell of cheap plastic. The demon-vampire-...thing... throws the unaerodynamic plastic anyways, which flies unpredictably and hits a cowering gambler in the head, one of the few who didn't take the time to run away in the last few seconds. He'll probably have lacerations and maybe a mild concussion, but that's all. "Better luck next time," she says. The vampire-demon roars in frustration.
Which leaves the psycho exhibitionist, male variety. [Ji.] The one word order flashes over the tactical net. Nothing more is needed. The Men in Black understand her purpose. Their purpose. Smoothly and cleanly the clone with the medium machine gun tosses the primium-loaded weapon to Jamelia, who snatches it out of the air. Ji, for his part, draws his quick-extend electrified baton and dives on the head which is trying to escape, trying to tag and bag it.
Falling to one knee as she embraces the weight of the weapon, Jamelia spins, ignoring the frisson of pain from the blow stopped by her ballistic vest and levels the medium machine gun at point blank range against the male haemophage. "Dodge this," she tells the fucker. And she and the four other Men in Black open up, five silver streams converging onto his position. His blade flashes out and catches flechette after flechette in a beautiful arc of blued metal, but he is too slow, the angles are too great, and eventually he makes a mistake. And then it's all over. The primium flechette catches the flat of the blade, breaks it. Another hits him in the biceps, and yet more shatter bones in his legs and arms. He topples. Even so, he looks infuriatingly smug, lying on the ground bleeding-bleeding? Hemophages don't bleed, not like normal people.
Jamelia puts the muzzle point-blank to his heart, spears him a dozen times through the chest. Strangely enough, perversely enough, the shots don't seem to kill, rather they seem to put him into the same stasis normal, decent vampires go into when staked by a large wooden pole. She doesn't mind. It means she has prisoners. People to interrogate. She sees Ji out of the corner of her eye, hitting the head of the other vampire who thought less clothing meant more combat effectiveness with a mean-looking shock prod. The bloody spine stops twitching. She only has one problem left. [Suppress him.] she commands, and the MiB reload, four empty magazines clattering to the ground simultaneously. Ji draws an X-5, fires explosive shells at the vampire's face. The rest spray him. Rounds bounce off of the heavy armor of the Kuei-Jin's demon form, shattered flechettes ricocheting as they hit at shallow angles, embedding themselves in slot machines, game tables, and video poker machines. Electronics burn as the rounds find important or volatile components, but thankfully nobody is hit by the ricochets.
She draws the singun with her off hand, moves it onto the behemoth, and waits for the tone of position lock. She pulls the trigger and prays the weapon will work. The weapon's slightly-less-than-100% efficient power transfer and slightly-less-than-100% efficient cooling system causes her a flash of pain as she burns her hand. She ignores the sensation of cooking flesh and the frying bacon smell. The vampire seems unaffected for a moment. And then, with the loud pop of air rushing into vacuum, most of his torso disappears and she can see right through him. He puts his arms to his chest comically, his eyes go slack as he realizes just how much injury he has taken, and his body topples to the ground with a bone-jarring thump. "Area clear!" she shouts. "Grab the captives and let's get out of here."
Rose
Her body is a weapon, built like any other machine, Rose knows. Knows, doesn't like to think about, but knows. And the way that she combines actual understanding of the laws of the universe with elements of haemophage biology means she's rather better at applying it that the original sources. It had been an interesting, albeit painful discovery that she could slip through the Dimensional Anomaly in the same way that her inhuman genesource might be able to turn onto a mist to slip under a door. She hated doing it. It hurt. But very few things could track her in this manner. And at the moment, it looked like she was doing to need it to get out of here.
[Preparing dimensional translation] the text displayed directly to her optic nerve states. [Preliminary conversion protocols beginning. Initiate when ready.]
There's another thing about her, and that she's a Technocractic construct. She's tracked. Her blood is flooded with tracking nanites and things she doesn't even understand. She could bet that Director Belltower could make a call and have her location returned near-instantly. But that means her blood is flooded with tracking nanites. Behind her back, she slices thin cuts on the fingers of her offhand with her knife. Now both her knife and her hand are ready. She just has to touch him with either, and he'll be marked. And if he tries to drink her blood or gets her blood on him when he stabs her... well, she'd like to avoid that, but it'd do too.
Now, to play for time. She lets her eyes widen in shock, and she frowns. "Metal dragons? Betrayers?" she says breathily. She is vulnerable. She is weak. She is outnumbered. She's not going to go down without a fight, but if he keeps on talking, she might be distracted enough that he won't have to lose any other men. Yes. That's just what she looks like. "I don't understand. Please, please," she begs, gazing at him through hooded lids, nervously looking from left to right, "can't we talk about this?" She inhales deeply, partly to get a heaving chest, but mostly to super-saturate her blood with oxygen for the trip through the Dimensional Anomaly. Though the heaving chest is a bonus. Slumping, she affects a slightly hunched position which means he won't view her as a taller threat. All these little changes in posture and mannerism which she never learned, but which were hard-baked into her are almost unconscious, but designed to make her look vulnerable, harmless, even attractive to predators.
What a good little whore grown by old men, Thorn sings. Doing just what they made you to do. Unfortunately, the weapon he's handling isn't the kind this behaviour will help with. He's already holding it upright.
Thorn isn't right there, Rose thinks, even as the blood trickles down from her sliced open fingertips. Her aura of vulnerable female sexuality is just a ploy, and if she wasn't planning to tag him and retreat, if he let his weapon fall she'd be pouncing on his neck. "I haven't heard of any betrayal," she adds, leaning forward. "I'm... worried we might not have been working with full information. We could," she licks her lips, "clear everything up if you'd just explain." Another deep breath. "Please?"
"Of course you haven't. But I'm glad you're willing to listen. Perhaps you might understand." He leans in, maybe to confide in her, maybe to get a better view. Maybe nothing. A man like him is used to being around whores. But very few of them live to spill his secrets. "The Metal Dragons love to erase history, rewrite it so that they are the ones in the right. The Great Betrayal, by those who would eventually become you, ended the First Age, created by the glorious heroes of that world."
"Great Betrayal?" Rose asks. She stays passive, meek. She inches herself slightly closer, as if partially convinced. "They kept that from me."
"As they would. Their crime was so great, they broke reality to erase it. Once, there were glorious invulnerable heroes, who existed to keep the world safe from demonic depredations. These heroes were slaughtered by their advisors because of fear and jealousy, men and women who would eventually become the 'Lightning People'-your Five Metal Dragons and the Nine Mystic Traditions. In those days, we were the Wan Xian. The myriad immortals, serving under the Scarlet Queen and the Ebon Dragon. We, out of foolishness, believed you. We trusted you. And for our part in the betrayal, we were cursed. Our very Essence was cursed, such that we would never be able to breathe, that we would have to steal it from others who still remembered how to take breaths."
"I'm sorry." Rose apologizes almost reflexively. She's been treated like a scapegoat or nonperson enough that she knows how someone with power expects her to act. "Please tell me how I can help make this right." You could start by understanding the actual truth, Thorn adds. Instead of pretending to listen yet letting it all go in one ear and out the other.
"And what happened to you Lightning People? Nothing!" Devil Law screams incoherently. "Nothing. We listened to YOUR predictions, and we paid for it. Yet you gained even more power, even more influence even as we faded, because you covered up your sins by breaking the wheel of fate itself. So when the Exalted Ones whispered that there was a way to change this curse, that there was a way to make this betrayal right, we took it. Some of you, at least, finally understand the gravity, the magnitude of the sin you have committed, a sin so steep that it must be fixed should we see the glories of the First Age again." Rose lets him ramble, waits until he points his comically large sword at her. "So do you now understand? Do you understand why you must pay for the sins of the past?" The Kuei-Jin asks. He suspects trickery. He suspects that she might have something up her sleeve, but until then, she's harmless, right? "Give in and tell me everything you know, and perhaps you may not have to die here."
The half-vampire touches his sword, runs her bloody fingers up the blade, caresses his calloused hand and moves up his arm. She smiles with half-lidded eyes, seductively. It comes as instinct. "No." she says. And she disappears in a cloud of bloody mist just as he swings that massive blade of his. She almost vomits at the pain of the dimensional transition, but manages to keep her composure. The massive blade hits her anyways, the weapon clearly possessing some sort of extradimensional properties, and it cuts a gash through thin silk and a deep red line across her stomach. But she has already gotten away, running through the sewers of the extradimensional hellscape that she has appeared in, ignoring the things with too many limbs and eyes looking at her hungrily. She reappears in the main casino, looking at the destruction with concerned eyes. Without a word, she goes to tend the wounded with her medical skills.
"What happened down there?" Jamelia asks. She seems concerned.
Seems is the operative word, dear. Thorn tells her. She only cares about your performance as a weapon. Like one of those half-flesh half-metal golems. "I am a weapon, command me Director-sempai, but please be gentle this is my first time~" Thorn finishes, in a faux-cute tone. You aren't fooling anyone. You're just a lonely little girl who doesn't know what she's doing, who whores herself out for approval, who is too weak to change the evil you can already see and too deluded to recognize this fact. Rose balls her hand into a fist, punches fingernails through reinforced skin. The pain shuts Thorn up for a moment.
"He got away." Rose says. "I got some of my blood on him and his sword, but I was outnumbered and wouldn't have survived if I had tried to capture him." She waits for disappointment, or perhaps punishment from her supervisor. She wants to be punished, because she's failed and only by being punished can she atone. She gets no answer, because as Jamelia turns towards her, there is the rapid-fire stamping of feet. A half-dozen Iteration X hardsuits armed with electromagnetic weapons, armor painted the off-black of inactive chameleonware coating are facing her. Their weapons are lowered, but still readied.
Jamelia reads their IDs. Three Iterators, a Progenitor, and two NWO operatives. This is awfully peculiar. "Identify yourselves! Spire."
"Star." The leader says. "Comptroller Thomas Wong. I'd like to congratulate you on your good work, but we'll take it from here. We're with Panopticon, and we'd like you to turn over all artifacts and evidence you have. Direct orders from Control, you see. We're afraid there's some EDE taint-" he pronounces it "Eddie", instead of saying the letters "E-D-E", "and that the items might be corruptive. You've got an experimental biological combat chassis here and who knows how its biotech is going to react with this kind of nasty EDE crap. Furthermore, we wouldn't want a star agent like you to suffer from Reality Deviant control." Rose shrinks against a wall at being called an 'it'.
"Two of the hostile Reality Terrorists have escaped." Jamelia responds curtly, considering the rest of his request. She subvocalizes into her throat mike. "Donald."
"Yes boss? Look, I'm enjoying myself right-"
"I need everything you can find on Panopticon. Now. " Her tone makes it clear she has no time for his partying.
"Yes ma'am. On it." Donald knows when he can wheedle for more time, and when he needs to act. This is time to act.
"We've already got guys on the job, we're tracking the RDs as we speak." Wong confidently says in response to Jamelia's statement. "There's no way they can escape. But we really need you to turn over any artifacts you find to Containment immediately. Just to make sure nothing goes wrong, you know? Here, take a look at our orders."
Jamelia takes a look at the orders, compares them to her decryption keys. They look legitimate. Either they're telling the truth or they have the best forger you've ever met working with them.
Vote Time:
Major Decisions:
[ ] Give them the artifacts and the bodies. Yeah, they seem awfully suspicious and their timing was incredibly convenient, but that doesn't actually mean anything. Sometimes coincidences happen.
[ ] (1.2x) Give them the artifacts, keep the dead KJ. They just wanted the artifacts and 'evidence', those aren't evidence, those are prisoners. Technical correctness is the best kind of correctness.
[ ] (1.5x) Give them the obvious artifacts, but keep some important stuff to yourself. You'll need to figure out some way to hide them, though. There's a good chance whoever they are might (Write-in a stunt/Procedure to hide something).
[ ] (1.5x) Don't give them the artifacts. Look, you're not going to back down for any random two-bit steelhead who thinks having big (fake) muscles and a railgun means they can get authority over your task. "Direct orders from Control" my ass. Sure, the ID codes check out. But everyone knows Control's been incommunicado for over ten years. (Write-in a social stunt to convince them to back down)
[ ] Write-In.
About Rose:
[ ] Criticize her for not following orders. She's a good fraction of your team's firepower, and you need to know that she's reliable. She needs to understand that personal feelings don't come ahead of mission success.
[ ] Be neutral about what she's done. She just made a rookie mistake. Given that she's literally about five years old that's not actually a problem. If she's going to want to take certain actions and is willing to face the consequences, there's nothing wrong with what she's done.
[ ] Be nice to her. She's a good girl, and more importantly she is easily manipulated by someone she trusts and could be an excellent ally. You would of course be encouraging her to take risks like this in the long run, but that shouldn't be a problem.
Be Donald:
[ ] (0.8x) Go public with your requests on Panopticon. It doesn't seem like some sort of secret society, otherwise they wouldn't have introduced themselves as such. You'll need to know.
[ ] (1.2x) Make your requests for information, but make them discreet. You're not going to get yourself shot just because the boss poked a hornet's nest.
[ ] (-0.3x) All right, it's time to dig into your (somewhat more) hedonistic past. You have contacts on the Other Side. They might know something about Panopticon. This option combines with one of the two above options.
[ ] Write-in.
Rose's Status
Willpower: 7/8
Prime Energy: 2/3
Health Levels: -0/-0/-0/-0/-1/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-2/-2/-4/-4/-4/Incapacitated/Dying. Regenerates 1 Bashing/Lethal HL a round no matter what. Heals Aggravated damage at normal speed.
Current Damage: 1 Aggravated HL (at -0): System overstress
Vampire Heart: 9/10 Blood Points-Spend 1 Blood Point to gain an automatic success on Strength rolls, get an extra action for the turn, or heal 2 Bashing/1 Lethal health level instantly.
Undead Strength: 1 Aggravated HL to activate, adds up to its rating in automatic successes to Strength rolls for feats of strength and damage.
Predator's Pheromones: 5/6 Prime Energy. Activate to add +3 automatic successes on social rolls based off of sexuality, majesty, or simply dominating someone else's will.
Current Effects:
Undead Strength: +3 automatic successes to Strength rolls for feats of strength and damage.
DV: 14/14
Shockwave Codes: None (Not In Leadership Role)
Jamelia Belltower's Status
Willpower: 5/7
Prime Energy: 2/5
Health Levels: -0/-0/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-4/Incapacitated/Dying
Current Damage: 4 Lethal (at -1): Cracked rib, lacerated back. Severe burns.
Current Paradox: 2
Current Effects: (+1 difficulty to all Procedure rolls)
MiB Hivemind: Synchronized with MiB Hivemind, Combat Bonuses, Concentrated Fire
Combat Training: Improved ability to avoid/engage superhuman targets (+2 to DVs, +2 automatic successes against them)
DV: 9/9 (note this does not refresh after a turn). 11/11 against superhuman opponents.
Shockwave Codes: 3/3
Bonus Points: Spot how badly DEVIL LAW gets his history wrong for an undetermined bonus (non) prize!
Update VIII: White Lies, Black Ops
JB VIII: White Lies, Black Ops
"All right, Comptroller. We've already been hacked and our records damaged by Virtual Adepts recently, so forgive us if we've got some minor trust issues."
He nods stiffly behind the armor. "Right. We understand. But we need those artifacts. There's some anomalous biohazard on them." Jamelia notices that he doesn't seem to know more than that. She probes.
"What kind? I've got some level of medical knowledge, and Rose here is more than qualified as a biologist and a doctor." Jamelia says innocently. Rose blushes slightly at the compliment.
"Not sure. That's... um... classified." Wong responds. Jamelia notices that there's communications going on in their internal network, and further transmissions to and from their base, wherever it is. There is no apparent response. "Look, if Control's sending us messages, it's probably because it's really important." But Jamelia's already planted that seed of doubt in their minds.
She presses her advantage. "Doesn't that seem suspicious? A respected administrator like you gets a bunch of sealed orders way above your clearance, despite the fact that there shouldn't be much if anything above your clearance, and..." she pauses, lets that sink in "...what exactly did they tell you to do with the artifacts in question afterwards?"
"They said to incinerate all of it. Biohazard, like I said."
"See, isn't that awfully suspicious? I mean, you've got a Progenitor on your team. You have access to their lab facilities, right?" The man nods. "You know what they're storing in those. If we can contain 99.98% fatal zombie viruses and not care, what's a little EDE pathogen? Why aren't we studying it to make sure we have a cure? And if it's something that can't be cured, why didn't you just burn the place ahead of time?"
"We were coming here to burn it all." Wong jerks a stiff armored finger at one of the MiB, carrying a heavy binary-fuel flamethrower, and Jamelia notices the miniature thermic lance underneath Wong's railgun. "Look, I admit the orders are a bit shady, but if anyone's faking orders from fucking Control we're boned anyways." He's not a complete Iteration X meat puppet, Jamelia concludes. Good.
Unfortunately, he's smart enough to question both his orders and Jamelia's excuses. "So really, I'm going to continue assuming that Control isn't compromised, that the orders are legitimate, and that we're supposed to set everything on fire. You can take recordings and do whatever you can on the field, but no physical samples. Hurry up, the boss might have other RD buddies he's going to beg for reinforcements." Wong pauses. "And I don't know about you, but I've gotten into enough fistfights with guys who can kick holes through tanks for a lifetime."
Donald
Donald swipes his MIDAS card through the keycard reader of the Mnemon Financial Building. It's late night, there are no employees there save security and the receptionist, an unfailingly polite petite Asian woman.
"Mr. Sykes, thank you for visiting." He nods in response to the meat security, bemused by the fact that the real security is the HITMark V sitting behind the receptionist's desk. He takes the elevator up, unlocks his office, checks that the VR headset and neural interface are there, as well as his stash of quasi-legal pharmaceuticals and alcohol. Good.
Going through official channels will be too slow, and the Technocratic rumor mill has problems with both speed and reliability. But he knows a few people who he's done favors for. They might officially be enemies, but as long as there is mutual benefit in having unofficial channels of information sharing, there will always be neutral ground. The Spy's Demise is that ground, a virtual bar where ostensible enemies can share a (virtual) drink and shoot the shit. For him, it looks like any other realspace bar. He knows that the perceptions, and the way it presents, will be slightly different to everyone. He nods to the bouncer-he's often here sharing his (virtual) largesse with friends and potential friends-and walks into a raucous scene. Virtual avatars, ranging from the realistic to the utterly fantastical, are chatting with each other. Every form of fantasy is represented at the bar tables and the dance floor. He catches snippets of conversation.
"-so I met this werewolf who seems to like me and isn't taking no for an answer. I figured you might want a pelt or something-"
"-You've got this magic sword I kind of want back, and in exchange I'll give you back the hardsuit we sort of 'borrowed'-"
"-there's a bunch of hotheads who want to crack your Construct and I don't think that's a good idea, so if you'd mind scaring but not killing them we could maybe work something out-"
"-look, noetic theory is the future. Seriously, look at how the subdimensions work-"
"-so I was there, surrounded by mind flayers in a hot air balloon, and then you wouldn't fucking believe who showed up to bail my ass out-"
He looks around for someone he knows.
Choose One:
[ ] Do what you can here to investigate (stunt a Procedure or just do normal investigation).
[ ] (1.5x) He's showing weakness. You can probably get him to agree with you if you keep pressing.
[ ] (1.5x) Give him most of what he wants, then take the corpses. Again, he just said the artifacts were potentially contaminated, not the bodies. You've heard of weirder things happening.
[ ] Write-in.
Also, Donald gets to poke into Neutral Territory!Break Reality Choose A Contact to ask about Panopticon:
Stunts/Descriptions on this roll may actually and legitimately change characterizations or make your vote more valuable.
[ ] Some Virtual Adept Codeslinger. Sure, he/she's some kind of crazy bitcoin-obsessed lolbertarian who thinks you're part of crony capitalism, but if you wanted information, that's a good place to look.
[ ] An Akashic Kung Fu Actor. Isn't that cute? He/she thinks that by making movies that Consensus can accept their paradigm. You got rich, he/she got some media exposure, both of you won. Or think you have. Of course, that ended up putting him/her at odds with the rest of the Traditions Establishment, which is where you come in.
[ ] The Knight of Radamanthys drinking alone at the table. You know that person. Sure, you're probably on the kill list of the crazy brainwashed Greek assassin supersoldier, but there's a whole fuck of a lot of people who are way worse than you, and given that you've paid at least lip service to a "commitment to human rights and fundamental dignity" you could legitimately point Euthanatoic mercenary commando goon squads at your business rivals and have them shot. Besides, you owe him/her for setting those vampire bankers (and no, you aren't just repeating yourself) on fire so you could expand yet again.
[ ] The Etherite alt-med type. Etherites are pretty closely hooked into the Technocratic Union's rumor network, since a bunch of them are, quote-unquote, "conscientious objectors" (and the rest are quacks). Rose would probably kill you very painfully if she knew that you were a majority owner of one of those alt-med chain stores and thus "promoting pseudoscientific quackery", but there's no faster way to discredit and marginalize a concept than to commercialize it and watch as the Edgy Rebels decide that it's too 'mainstream' and then abandon it. Worked with spiritualism, it'll work here. Until then, why not get rich off of it? They think they'll break the pattern, and until then they think you're on their side. Sort of.
[ ] Write-in.
Rose's Status
Willpower: 7/8
Prime Energy: 2/3
Health Levels: -0/-0/-0/-0/-1/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-2/-2/-4/-4/-4/Incapacitated/Dying. Regenerates 1 Bashing/Lethal HL a round no matter what. Heals Aggravated damage at normal speed.
Current Damage: 1 Aggravated HL (at -0): System overstress
Current Paradox: 4
Vampire Heart: 9/10 Blood Points-Spend 1 Blood Point to gain an automatic success on Strength rolls, get an extra action for the turn, or heal 2 Bashing/1 Lethal health level instantly.
Undead Strength: 1 Aggravated HL to activate, adds up to its rating in automatic successes to Strength rolls for feats of strength and damage.
Predator's Pheromones: 5/6 Prime Energy. Activate to add +3 automatic successes on social rolls based off of sexuality, majesty, or simply dominating someone else's will.
Current Effects:
Undead Strength: +3 automatic successes to Strength rolls for feats of strength and damage.
DV: 14/14
Shockwave Codes: None (Not In Leadership Role)
Jamelia Belltower's Status
Willpower: 5/7
Prime Energy: 2/5
Health Levels: -0/-0/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-4/Incapacitated/Dying
Current Damage: 4 Lethal (at -1): Cracked rib, lacerated back. Severe burns.
Current Paradox: 4
Current Effects: (+1 difficulty to all Procedure rolls)
None
DV: 9/9 (note this does not refresh after a turn). 11/11 against superhuman opponents.
Shockwave Codes: 3/3
"All right, Comptroller. We've already been hacked and our records damaged by Virtual Adepts recently, so forgive us if we've got some minor trust issues."
He nods stiffly behind the armor. "Right. We understand. But we need those artifacts. There's some anomalous biohazard on them." Jamelia notices that he doesn't seem to know more than that. She probes.
"What kind? I've got some level of medical knowledge, and Rose here is more than qualified as a biologist and a doctor." Jamelia says innocently. Rose blushes slightly at the compliment.
"Not sure. That's... um... classified." Wong responds. Jamelia notices that there's communications going on in their internal network, and further transmissions to and from their base, wherever it is. There is no apparent response. "Look, if Control's sending us messages, it's probably because it's really important." But Jamelia's already planted that seed of doubt in their minds.
She presses her advantage. "Doesn't that seem suspicious? A respected administrator like you gets a bunch of sealed orders way above your clearance, despite the fact that there shouldn't be much if anything above your clearance, and..." she pauses, lets that sink in "...what exactly did they tell you to do with the artifacts in question afterwards?"
"They said to incinerate all of it. Biohazard, like I said."
"See, isn't that awfully suspicious? I mean, you've got a Progenitor on your team. You have access to their lab facilities, right?" The man nods. "You know what they're storing in those. If we can contain 99.98% fatal zombie viruses and not care, what's a little EDE pathogen? Why aren't we studying it to make sure we have a cure? And if it's something that can't be cured, why didn't you just burn the place ahead of time?"
"We were coming here to burn it all." Wong jerks a stiff armored finger at one of the MiB, carrying a heavy binary-fuel flamethrower, and Jamelia notices the miniature thermic lance underneath Wong's railgun. "Look, I admit the orders are a bit shady, but if anyone's faking orders from fucking Control we're boned anyways." He's not a complete Iteration X meat puppet, Jamelia concludes. Good.
Unfortunately, he's smart enough to question both his orders and Jamelia's excuses. "So really, I'm going to continue assuming that Control isn't compromised, that the orders are legitimate, and that we're supposed to set everything on fire. You can take recordings and do whatever you can on the field, but no physical samples. Hurry up, the boss might have other RD buddies he's going to beg for reinforcements." Wong pauses. "And I don't know about you, but I've gotten into enough fistfights with guys who can kick holes through tanks for a lifetime."
Donald
Donald swipes his MIDAS card through the keycard reader of the Mnemon Financial Building. It's late night, there are no employees there save security and the receptionist, an unfailingly polite petite Asian woman.
"Mr. Sykes, thank you for visiting." He nods in response to the meat security, bemused by the fact that the real security is the HITMark V sitting behind the receptionist's desk. He takes the elevator up, unlocks his office, checks that the VR headset and neural interface are there, as well as his stash of quasi-legal pharmaceuticals and alcohol. Good.
Going through official channels will be too slow, and the Technocratic rumor mill has problems with both speed and reliability. But he knows a few people who he's done favors for. They might officially be enemies, but as long as there is mutual benefit in having unofficial channels of information sharing, there will always be neutral ground. The Spy's Demise is that ground, a virtual bar where ostensible enemies can share a (virtual) drink and shoot the shit. For him, it looks like any other realspace bar. He knows that the perceptions, and the way it presents, will be slightly different to everyone. He nods to the bouncer-he's often here sharing his (virtual) largesse with friends and potential friends-and walks into a raucous scene. Virtual avatars, ranging from the realistic to the utterly fantastical, are chatting with each other. Every form of fantasy is represented at the bar tables and the dance floor. He catches snippets of conversation.
"-so I met this werewolf who seems to like me and isn't taking no for an answer. I figured you might want a pelt or something-"
"-You've got this magic sword I kind of want back, and in exchange I'll give you back the hardsuit we sort of 'borrowed'-"
"-there's a bunch of hotheads who want to crack your Construct and I don't think that's a good idea, so if you'd mind scaring but not killing them we could maybe work something out-"
"-look, noetic theory is the future. Seriously, look at how the subdimensions work-"
"-so I was there, surrounded by mind flayers in a hot air balloon, and then you wouldn't fucking believe who showed up to bail my ass out-"
He looks around for someone he knows.
Choose One:
[ ] Do what you can here to investigate (stunt a Procedure or just do normal investigation).
[ ] (1.5x) He's showing weakness. You can probably get him to agree with you if you keep pressing.
[ ] (1.5x) Give him most of what he wants, then take the corpses. Again, he just said the artifacts were potentially contaminated, not the bodies. You've heard of weirder things happening.
[ ] Write-in.
Also, Donald gets to poke into Neutral Territory!
Stunts/Descriptions on this roll may actually and legitimately change characterizations or make your vote more valuable.
[ ] Some Virtual Adept Codeslinger. Sure, he/she's some kind of crazy bitcoin-obsessed lolbertarian who thinks you're part of crony capitalism, but if you wanted information, that's a good place to look.
[ ] An Akashic Kung Fu Actor. Isn't that cute? He/she thinks that by making movies that Consensus can accept their paradigm. You got rich, he/she got some media exposure, both of you won. Or think you have. Of course, that ended up putting him/her at odds with the rest of the Traditions Establishment, which is where you come in.
[ ] The Knight of Radamanthys drinking alone at the table. You know that person. Sure, you're probably on the kill list of the crazy brainwashed Greek assassin supersoldier, but there's a whole fuck of a lot of people who are way worse than you, and given that you've paid at least lip service to a "commitment to human rights and fundamental dignity" you could legitimately point Euthanatoic mercenary commando goon squads at your business rivals and have them shot. Besides, you owe him/her for setting those vampire bankers (and no, you aren't just repeating yourself) on fire so you could expand yet again.
[ ] The Etherite alt-med type. Etherites are pretty closely hooked into the Technocratic Union's rumor network, since a bunch of them are, quote-unquote, "conscientious objectors" (and the rest are quacks). Rose would probably kill you very painfully if she knew that you were a majority owner of one of those alt-med chain stores and thus "promoting pseudoscientific quackery", but there's no faster way to discredit and marginalize a concept than to commercialize it and watch as the Edgy Rebels decide that it's too 'mainstream' and then abandon it. Worked with spiritualism, it'll work here. Until then, why not get rich off of it? They think they'll break the pattern, and until then they think you're on their side. Sort of.
[ ] Write-in.
Rose's Status
Willpower: 7/8
Prime Energy: 2/3
Health Levels: -0/-0/-0/-0/-1/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-2/-2/-4/-4/-4/Incapacitated/Dying. Regenerates 1 Bashing/Lethal HL a round no matter what. Heals Aggravated damage at normal speed.
Current Damage: 1 Aggravated HL (at -0): System overstress
Current Paradox: 4
Vampire Heart: 9/10 Blood Points-Spend 1 Blood Point to gain an automatic success on Strength rolls, get an extra action for the turn, or heal 2 Bashing/1 Lethal health level instantly.
Undead Strength: 1 Aggravated HL to activate, adds up to its rating in automatic successes to Strength rolls for feats of strength and damage.
Predator's Pheromones: 5/6 Prime Energy. Activate to add +3 automatic successes on social rolls based off of sexuality, majesty, or simply dominating someone else's will.
Current Effects:
Undead Strength: +3 automatic successes to Strength rolls for feats of strength and damage.
DV: 14/14
Shockwave Codes: None (Not In Leadership Role)
Jamelia Belltower's Status
Willpower: 5/7
Prime Energy: 2/5
Health Levels: -0/-0/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-4/Incapacitated/Dying
Current Damage: 4 Lethal (at -1): Cracked rib, lacerated back. Severe burns.
Current Paradox: 4
Current Effects: (+1 difficulty to all Procedure rolls)
None
DV: 9/9 (note this does not refresh after a turn). 11/11 against superhuman opponents.
Shockwave Codes: 3/3