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Diabolus Ex Machina (Matrix crossover)

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lol whoops

Didn't see that coming!

I think we should probably kill the terminator. It's already damaged, and we don't seem to be too much. I think if we try to steal the databank it'll probably just grab us and we'll be stuff.

[X] Terminate the terminator.
 
prometheus110 said:
I can't gave you exact numbers, but you and the Terminator could both destroy it relatively easily if you wanted to though in this particular Terminator's case it'd be much harder as it only has one arm working properly.
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Click to shrink...

There goes that plan.

[X] Attack the machine while it's down.
The only good terminator is a dead one.
 
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Update 5 - Robo-squid versus Terminator
  • Threadmarks
    • Note: I didn't realize it at the time but if you'd chosen to grab the databank and run I'd have essentially just written this. So good work, SV. Also, just so everyone's clear, when I roll dice the lower results are better than the higher results. It's a holdover from when I played Warhammer 40k RPGs.

    [X] Attack the machine while it's down.


    With a hiss you lunge towards the still struggling machine, your clawed legs slamming into the ground one after another like pistons, and moments later you're standing over it. With a loud whirring sound you raise one clawed tentacle above your head before lashing out at the machine's grinning silver skull.​

    Your attack: 1d100 => 88
    Terminator's counter: 1d100 => 34

    Acting with a speed its bulk belies, the machine rolls aside mere moments before your arm connects with its head; your claw sailing clear past and striking the rock beneath with a loud crack. Before you can pull your arm clear the machine lunges forwards and grabs it in a vice-like grip before squeezing tightly.

    Simulated pain races up your superconducting nerves as the metal beneath the machine's deathgrip warps and buckles, and the arm begins to go slack as its electro-muscle bands snap. Activating your hoverpads to free your other arms, you lift up off the ground and pull the machine up with you before sending two quick jabs towards its chest.​

    Your attack: 1d100 => 45
    Your attack: 1d100 => 19
    Terminator can't counter.

    With a deafening screech your first claw scrapes against the machine's armoured chest, gouging out a deep groove in the unknown silver metal that makes up its body and knocking it around some to the detriment of your arm. Your second attack is more successful, your claw catching it flat in the chest and slamming it back into the ground with a loud crunch at the cost of a handful of metal pieces and electro-muscle fibres from your arm.​

    Your attack: 1d100 => 28
    Terminator's counter: 1d100 => 86
    Your attack: 1d100 =>33
    Terminator's counter: 1d100 => 73
    Your attack: 1d100 => 40
    Terminator's counter: 1d100 => 61

    Hissing with rage you launch blow after blow at the machine, your claws slamming into it with gunshot-loud bangs as it struggles to grab your arms. Silver metal flies into the air as you scrape and tear and gouge deeper into its chest cavity before, with a final roar, you grip its skull and slam it into the ground again and again. With a final crack its skull bursts apart in a shower of metal and glass and the robot's body finally lays still, its fist half-closed and raised into the air defiantly.​

    What will you do now?

    [] Grab the databank and fly:
    Towards the city
    Towards the gated community
    Back towards the electrical tower
    ​
    [] Leave the databank and fly
    Towards the city
    Towards the gated community
    Back towards the electrical tower
    ​
    [] Examine the machine

    [] Write in
     
  • Threadmarks
    • veekie said:
    [X] Examine the machine

    Wow, we were getting our ass handed to us
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    Only at first when it grabbed your arm in a death grip. As I mentioned before you want to roll low because my first RPGing experience was with percentile systems and that's stuck with me since.
     
    Terminator huh? Wonder what the Resistance will think of the Matrix machines. On one hand the whole, kicked humanities ass and put them in the Matrix would be a down point, on the other the Machines only went "skynet" because humanity in their world were literally asking for it for the longest time. And shot down any attempt at averting the war diplomatically before starting it themselves. And even when the Machines won, they didn't exterminate the human species like Skynet tries too, merely pugged them into a virtual world to keep the idiots from causing anymore problems then they already have.
     
    [X] Grab the databank and skedaddle back to the electrical tower.
    [x] If possible, grab a small piece of machine to analyse, preferably it's data storage system (or what is left of it)
     
    Update 6 - Cracking The Egg
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Grab the databank and skedaddle back to the electrical tower.
    [X] If possible, grab a small piece of machine to analyse, preferably it's data storage system (or what is left of it)

    Scooping up the databank with one tentacle and a piece of the machine's skull with another you take one last look at your foe's ruined body before turning away and launching yourself higher into the air with a burst of sand. Hoverpads thrumming with power you sedately accelerate towards the nearby electrical tower, carefully keeping your limp arm from scraping along the ground and damaging it any further as you travel. Within minutes you arrive at your destination and with a precisely calculated maneuver you grab the tower's trusswork and bring yourself to a halt just inside the cage of metal struts; the bars bending under the force of your grip and creaking loudly from the stress.

    Safe now, or at least as safe as you've ever been, you raise the fragment of the robot's skull up to your optic systems and begin your examination of it with your many-tooled arms.

    At six centimetres wide, eight centimetres long and with an average thickness of three centimetres the metal plate is surprisingly heavy for its size, indicating that it's composed of many dense elements. You'd need to use your nanofactory to properly analyse its constituent elements but you'd be surprised if it didn't contain a significant number of rare-earth metals.

    Activating one of your small drills with a high-pitched whir, you press it against the smooth surface of the silver metal and watch carefully as it slowly digs into it with a squeal of protest. Almost instantly you see heat spread out from the drill site like liquid as the friction between the two items rapidly heats up both and with a sudden crack your drill bit shatters into a storm of metal fragments that go spinning out into the air. Irritated you make a note to fabricate a new drill bit before moving onto your next test.

    Moving on to your next tool you raise another arm, this one equipped with a laser cutter, and hold it several centimetres from the surface of the stolen metal. With a loud crack that settles into a low buzz as the air between the two is ionized, your laser fires and a slender ruby beam emerges from the focusing lense and strikes the metal at a ninety degree angle. As with the drill, heat rapidly blooms from the impact site and spreads until the whole piece is glowing a warm red in your infrared vision. Seconds tick away rapidly, and growing impatient you increase the power of your laser cutter until warning messages start to bloom in your mind's eye. Finally, metal begins to melt and bubble around the impact site before, without fanfare, your laser finally penetrates the plate. Hastily shutting off your laser you check to see how long it took before mentally sighing. if you want to use your laser cutters against any more of these machines you'll have to hold them still for several seconds.

    Chittering angrily to yourself you lower the metal plate from your sight and raise the databank up to eye level.

    If I remember correctly… you think to yourself as you raise a manipulator tentacle up to the databank, a smaller tentacle questing forwards and touching a lighter coloured, coin-sized patch of metal.

    With an electronic chirp of acknowledgement the databank recognizes your codes and shuts down its beacon with a final squeal. Moments later your microphones pick up a series of soft clicks and whirrs as the specially designed gears of its unlocking system activate and a thin line of greater darkness appears halfway up its egg-shaped form. With a final, loud click the databank splits open and reveals an interface socket which you eagerly plug yourself into.​

    What do you find? (Choose one)
    [] Autonomous Land Exploration Vehicle (Medium)
    A dog-like, 1.2 meter long robot the ALEV is a long-ranged semi-autonomous exploration vehicle powered by a set of high-density batteries composed of several rare earth elements that can be recharged via your own onboard generator or external power systems. Capable of covering a dozen square kilometers of ground a day in ideal conditions the ALEV's exploration capabilities can further be enhanced with the addition of a Scout drone that can be captured, repaired and launched by the ALEV's onboard maintenance facilities.
    [] "Wasp" Light Defence Drone (Small)
    Though similar in size to the Maintenance drone the Wasp is suited for a very different task that requires both speed and aggression. Designed specially for the colonization effort, the Wasp is equipped with a set of small hoverpads, a prehensile electro-muscle tail tipped with a razor sharp claw and a set of sawblade-equipped arms that enable it to defend sensitive areas against human-sized or smaller interlopers. However all of this comes at a cost with Wasps suffering from both limited battery life and limited flight range meaning that they must stay close to the area they're defending
    [] "Sunflower" Solar panel array (Medium)
    At 50cm by 50cm the Sunflower is capable of generating over 500 watts of energy per array during optimal conditions thanks to the hundreds of tiny, independently tracking solar panels that it contains. Infinitely superior to the solar panel arrays of the distant past, the Sunflower requires only small amounts of rare earth elements per unit and is easily scalable though past a certain point it becomes significantly more efficient to use other designs.

    Withdrawing from the databank's systems you consider what you know about the area. You know that there's something in the city from the radio signal you intercepted though the sixty kilometre plus trip to the signal's source may be dangerous if there are any more of those machines wandering about. Additionally, you suspect that there might be something in the gated community nearby though you have no idea what it could be given how lifeless this place is. Thirdly, you could explore your surroundings as really don't have any idea of what's here. Finally, you could take the time to construct some small robots to assist you with any of these tasks.​


    What do you do?
    [] Head towards the city
    [] Head towards the gated community
    [] Explore the surrounding area (avoiding the gated community)
    [] Explore the surrounding area (including the gated community)
    [] Write in
     
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Autonomous Land Exploration Vehicle (Medium)
    [X] Head towards the gated community
     
    [X] "Sunflower" Solar panel array (Medium)
    [X] Explore the surrounding area (avoiding the gated community)
    We need energy
     
    [X] "Wasp" Light Defense Drone (Small)

    Any backup is better than no backup.

    [X] Construct some scout drones.
    -[X] Have them search and record the surrounding area (including the gated community).

    Why should we put ourselves at risk when we can have drones do it for us?
     
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    [X] "Wasp" Light Defence Drone (Small)
    [X] Construct some scout drones.
    -[X] Have them search and record the surrounding area as you investigate the gated community.
     
    RandomLurker said:
    [X] "Sunflower" Solar panel array (Medium)

    Our scouts could last longer with solar panels.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Power isn't actually an issue for your scouts, it's the maintenance needed for their hoverpads that limits their range. The scouts already come with solar panels that can supply enough power for their needs during the daytime and they have batteries to store energy for night time use.
     
    [X] ALEV
    [X] Construct some scout drones.
    -[X] Have them search and record the surrounding area (including the gated community).

    I feel like moving to improve our capacity to explore while staying at tentacle length is a good idea. The Wasp isn't really beefy enough given we're in Terminator land. Obviously there are humans, but honestly I think if we've got to defend something it'll be from T-600s or T-800s.
     
    [X] Autonomous Land Exploration Vehicle (Medium)
    [X] Construct some scout drones.
    -[X] Have them search and record the surrounding area as you investigate the gated community.
     
    Ehh, screw it I'll use a die roll to break the tie.

    Vote 1 winner:

    [X] Autonomous Land Exploration Vehicle (Medium)
    No. of votes: 3
    Cetashwayo, Ford Prefect, silentspirals

    Vote 2 winner:

    [X] Construct some scout drones.
    -[X] Have them search and record the surrounding area (including the gated community).
    No. of votes: 2
    RandomLurker, Ford Prefect

    [X] Construct some scout drones.
    -[X] Have them search and record the surrounding area as you investigate the gated community.
    No. of votes: 2
    ellipsis, silentspirals

    Tie to break vote 2. On a 1 the drones will explore the gated community, on a 2 the player will explore it:

    The drones will explore the gated community.
    prometheus110 threw 1 2-faced dice. Reason: Breaking tie Total: 1
    1 1
     
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    Winners:
    [X] Autonomous Land Exploration Vehicle (Medium)

    [X] Construct some scout drones.
    -[X] Have them search and record the surrounding area (including the gated community).

    Removing the databank from your sight you gently lower it into your nanofactory and begin the process of breaking it down into its constituent materials. As a source of refined metals and other hard to come by materials it'll be invaluable, especially given the damage the machine did to you in your brief encounter. With a loud hiss the armoured shutter covering your nanofactory slides shut over the databank, stowing it securely as the various processes inside begin their work. With the pod stowed you quickly drop down the electrical tower, swinging from truss to truss before letting go several meters above the rocky earth and falling to the ground with a loud crunch. Buzzing to yourself cheerfully you straighten up and begin to mark out parts of the tower you could safely disassemble before, with a final whistle, you begin the complicated task of self-surgery.

    The next few hours pass rapidly as you slowly begin to disassemble and digest the tower and turn it into useful matter. Your first priority, of course, was repairing the damage done to you during your brief encounter with the machine and soon enough your nanofactory is extruding electro-muscle fibres and armour plates until, after much cutting and welding, your arm snaps open and shut on command and flexes as easily as ever before. With that done you get to work on your next task, building the first of your scout drones.

    Hours pass quickly as you weld, cut, mould and assemble the myriad components that make up the scouts into five fly-like bodies that buzz impatiently as they wait for their batteries to be filled by the brilliant noonday sunlight. As you finish assembling the last of the scout bots you rock back on your legs and examine the tower; though it provided the bulk of the materials you needed to repair yourself and build the scouts it's still an imposing structure as you only removed a few kilograms of material from it. Turning back to the scouts you note happily that all five have finished charging and are waiting for your command and with cheerful beep you send them into the sky.

    Two of the drone immediately dart towards the gated community while the other three go North, East and West. Almost immediately your mind is flooded with data as the little machines scan anything and everything with their sensors, building up a detailed three dimensional map of their surroundings and streaming it directly to you. It doesn't take long before the two drones heading towards the gated community reach the site of your skirmish with the hostile machine and with an optimism that only the truly stupid AI's can manage they 'helpfully' mark the position of every major piece of scrap before heading on their way. Curiously you note that something appears to have disturbed the scraps as some of the pieces have shifted position.

    Moments later your curiosity turns to alarm as the feed from one of the scouts turns to static without warning when it's still a hundred metres out from the nearest building. A split second later the sharp crack of a rifle rings out over the landscape and washes over your second drone.
    ​
    Actions
    [] Flail your tentacles majestically
    [] Write in
     
    [X] Construct some maintenance drones
    -[X] Have them start to deconstruct the tower
    -[X] Also deconstruct the head

    We need materials.

    [X] Construct some more scouts
    -[X] Have a few drones circle around your general area and keep an eye out for anything coming this way.
    -[X] Send the rest to the city

    We don't want to be taken by surprised by anything and the city has buildings we could hide in instead of hiding in what amounts to a metal cage.
     
    Hey, I'm sorry to do this to everyone but I'm going to have to cancel this game. I don't really think I can make it interesting or stop it from devolving into a numbers-only game and so I'm going to stop it now so I can try and come up with a better idea.
     
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