Light Quest: a CK2 Style Quest in an 8-Bit Dystopia

[Cyberphilosipher]

Orange Land, Blue Sky's Soldier Blues

(Commander Yuan Delta POV)

Some Fight for Honor, Others for Ideology, and some fight just for the hell of it.

Not everyone is built for this life…fewer still are able to live long enough to regret it.

I don't…but despite losing everything…losing a home and watching others, I still wonder, wonder about everything.

"Commander?!" A voice shouted awakening you from your makeshift desk, the Wutai government had been kind enough to give you something with a roof over your head for the duration of the contract.

Hmm… I wonder what's going on now?

The Runner screamed the report. "Blue Moon Scouts are doing a probing assault around the site."

Intrigue Check: Is this a Diversion?
DC:70
Rolled: D100 => 68+22=90

Ahh, so this was their plan…draw out your reserves in a pitched battle around the perimeter? Eh…it was almost clever.

Almost…being the keyword here. He'd gotten better about this and was keeping his reserves in check in case he needed it.

Ahh, Rogenski almost got the drop on you…almost being a keyword.

You needed to get this shit sorted…again, GD Industries really wanted these old ruin sites that Wutai was looking at. Now if you were a betting man, and you normally weren't…this was a land dispute over who gets to be the one to get to see what's inside.

Well, Wutai was paying you to keep it in their hands…so…you were going to have to deal with it.

Wasn't skin off your nose if anyone gets it, you get paid, and that is the end of it.

Now…

"2nd LT Nell!" You shouted to your aide as you heard a click to see a young woman finish loading her assault rifle.

"Sir!" She said.

"Run a message down to the Line, tell them not to leave the perimeter defense and chase them down this whole mess is a diversion." You said looking up at one of your maps on the table.

"A diversion?" She asked, confused and frightened.

"Yes, they're planning on trying to sneak a strike force in to try and sabotage our defenses, more then likely our radio system, hence you being a runner." You said trying to remain as cool and collected as you could despite being annoyed.

"And send a section of our reserves to cut them off why don't you!" You finished as she ran to make your order a reality.

"Sooner or later she's going to have to learn how to manage all of this herself…can't exactly force her to grow up soon, now can I." You said looking out at the battles coming forward.

"Where the hell are those Wutai conscripts…if they want to be bloodied and form the core of an actual army go out and actually deal with it…" You complained.

Martial Check: Blue Moon vs Orange Star

Orange Star: D100 => 47+5 (Wutai conscripts and Defences)=52

Vs

Blue Moon: D100 => 24 +5 (Good Diversion and penetration)=29

And you smiled…

It was over like clockwork.

They attacked, and you defended with a superior position and beat the hell out of them.

And if you were lucky they would lick their wounds and come back as soon as the job was over.

Of course, you were rarely this lucky at times, and the casualties had been taken, and you had to deal with other tasks of importance.

But you had other issues to sort out, among other things.

Payment for the month.

Nearing payday…did that mean the job was almost over?

Must be.

Well, time to find the next one, this place can keep its secrets, you didn't want to know any more about it…it would mean getting involved, and that rarely happens now, shouldn't happen anymore.

You learned along time ago about the price of getting involved…and you would never make that mistake again.

I only hope that I can get that lesson drilled into their heads…before I'm gone.

-----------------------

Contract Complete!

Reward: Loot and 15,000 Credits transferred to your account…

Wutai Conscripts have been Bloodied and given proper experience.

Dig Site Secure from GD Tech.

ORANGE STAR FOREVER!

Spoiler: Commander Delta

Commander Yuan Delta

Martial: 26 (A Hardened Military Commander from the Invader Wars, and veteran leader from the settling of Hyrule and various corporate conflicts, Delta is one of the finest leaders and fighters around for hire)

Diplomacy: 18 (Despite his Militant and violent disposition, Yuan is among many things a dependable and able diplomat and lesion between himself and the City)

Stewardship: 25 ("Fools study Stratagy, masters study logistics", Having survived several wars and kept his men alive across many of them Yuan is an able administrator and logistican.)

Intrigue: 22 (One does not carry one of the largest PMC's in the world without a good grasp on military Intelligence. )

Learning: 15 (A Well Educated Man forged in NATO doctrine and a Fine Military Education.)

Occult: 0 (He has little talent for or need of Magic…at all)

Traits:

"FOUNDER OF THE ORANGE STAR!"- Yuan is the Founder of the Orange Star Military Force and is an able military leader, diplomat and all-around competent leader of men (Special Actions within the Orange Star Forces, and a Bonus to Actions that improve the Units as a Whole)

"Veteran Commander"- Yuan has lived and Fought alongside the militaries of Earth, and the First major expeditions into Hyrule. As well as other conflicts, He is well-regarded and experienced. (+10 to commanding Forces/Martial Rolls involving Military Command.)

"Rival: Rogenski"- Yuan has something of a Professional rivalry with the founder of Blue Moon, Rogenski, its mostly on his end, but Yuan puts some effort into it...sometimes. (Roll a d4 on if Yuan bothers to indulge his rival's antics. on a 1-2, he does, and gets a +5 to diplomacy rolls with Blue Moon, on a 3-4, he does not and gains a -5 to diplomacy rolls)

AN: First Omake Attempt, and hope to build out the world to a manageable amount.

Enjoy.

 

[Chocobro Mamba]

/// Turn 1 Results ///​

Clean Up The Yard [1d100 = 94 - 10 (Light's Martial) + 25 (Roll's Martial) + 5 (Working Together) + 10 (Buckle Down and Focus) = 124] CRITICAL SUCCESS

Thoma Light - Log 003 - 200X

We've managed to do more work in only a handful of months than I had originally planned. The zone that surrounds our lab is almost completely clean and free of harmful elements. Even better, the device and the mech that it's connected to that Roll had created for me allows me to work remotely and distance my physical self from harm. As much as I've protested she's refused to let me work out there myself... and I cannot help but feel a little relieved. She even coded a little game out of it. I'm proud of her. She's exceeded even my greatest of expectations. My geothermal generator exceeded expectations as well. That little spark of genius also has my daughter to thank.

In just a few short months we've managed to do so much. It might be too early for such optimism, but I can't help but feel we'll be alright. But that's me getting off track. We've managed to find something. An old Metpharm facility that served as a biomonster nest, as well as something a little more interesting...​

To be continued in: Interlude - Tunnel Trouble

Reach Out To The Driller Commune [1d100 = 14 + 35 (Light's Diplomacy) = 49] SUCCESS

I have managed to make contact with Taizo Hori, one of the people in charge of the Driller Commune. He's happy to see us and I am happy to work with them as well. I've known of Taizo but we unfortunately ran in different circles. I respect the man for all he's accomplished, however. He looked tired. It can't have been easy taking up the tasks the SIM was doing. I only wish that they didn't have to do as much. Perhaps with some help we'll make this place somewhere worth living in?​

To be continued in: Interlude - Tunnel Trouble

Renovate the House [1d100 = 29 + 10 (Light's Stewardship) = 39] FAILURE

*There is a sound of clanging in the background*

Unfortunately not all news is good. We've come to a bit of an issue with renovating our new home. It seems the building is built on several pipe networks, which in retrospect explains why the house is not only abandoned but also shaped the way it was. Luckily we do have access to machines that can fix that problem but-

*The sound of clanging grows louder, more insistent, like somebody is beginning to beat on a piece of metal repeatedly*

Ah, oh dear. Roll's trying to do it herself. She really should listen to me sometimes. I may be old but I can still operate a machine! I'll have to cut this short, I need to go help her. ​

The house has not been renovated. The DC has been lowered slightly.

Look into the 'Human' Enemies in the Upper Works [1d100 = 74 + 10 (Light's Intrigue) = 84] SUCCESS

Ah, well. That's done with. Where was I...? Ah! We did manage to learn more about what enemies we may face while we're down here. Most of it is mutant in nature, as you'd expect. A group called the Mutant League controls the Upper Works part of the EA Zone and are a collection of several mutant 'teams', which constantly compete a violent variation of football in games both above the surface and below it. They're on fairly neutral terms with the "De Caps"- Er, "De Caps with a Z", a group that folded themselves in with the X-Syndicate. There exist two "teams" of the Mutant League nearby: "The Metro City Smashaz" and "The Pipeworkz Shellcreepaz". They're a bunch of violent thugs but they're not worse than the De Capz. Maybe we can get into contact?

The De Capz are cruel. A wild and violent bunch of mutants and the augmentation obsessed who use the tunnel networks to smuggle everything from weapons to people and make money from it- most of them going towards the Eggdyne part of The City. That... does not bode well. It looks like the rumors of people being used in the creation of the badniks might unfortunately be true. The mutant league seem to be a bunch of hooligans, especially what I hear about their bloodsport, but they pale in comparison to the De Capz. They're also more numerous than I'd heard, considering they're considered a small gang up on the City but given what I know now about the Pipeworks I shouldn't be surprised.

There are other gangs down here, but these two are perhaps the largest of them all. Of course, gangs aren't the only things to worry about. Biomonsters, created mostly by Metpharm for some unexplainable reason or the toxic runoff of the city, are incredibly dangerous. Even the least of them are capable of dealing with a bioroid and often need entire teams of people or a single person with as many firearms and explosives as they can carry. It was pure luck that we managed to catch a nest of them while they were hibernating off of the drillers they ate.

We found a couple of nests that we could go around and strike to make the place safer... but I think I'd rather focus on improving the defenses of our 'zone' first. The damage they did to Roll's machine was severe...

There's also been some noise about cults, but they don't come up here that often. I'll have to focus on that if we want to learn more about it. ​

Learned about Biomonsters, The Mutant Leauge and the De Capz / X-Syndicate.

Improve Geothermal Energy Reactor Research [1d100 = 73 + 30 (Light's Learning) = 103] CRITICAL SUCCESS

The research was a success- moreover Roll's thoughts on making the generator feed off of biohazardous waste and the more dangerous varities of underground plant life was a stroke of brilliance. It took some work to make sure there wasn't any dangerous aftereffects but in the end we've designed a generator that converts the more dangerous parts of the pipeworks into something that puts out clean energy and is even beginning to eliminate the dangerous gases that one can occasionally stumble into while they travel down here. It's a generator to clean the underground. Each step we take is another that unites the pipeworks. We'll need to work on it more if we want to make it smaller or more efficient but what we have is already enough to do a good amount of work. ​

To be continued in: Interlude - Tunnel Trouble

---

/// Personal Actions ///​

Buckle Down and Focus [~~~]

I had expected some level of stress to come with focusing so much of my being on working on making our home a little safer but I never imagined it would work out so well. I have Roll to thank for that, I imagine. Between her actively helping me with my work and even going out of her way to program and build a remotely operated construction machine for me to use so I wouldn't have to exert myself too much meant that any stress I might've gained was completely nullified. Roll. I'm proud of her, but I wish she would rely on her father some. ​

Stress gain nullified, new action unlocked. Remote Operate a Machine [3 Personal Actions]. 'Traumatized' trait halved for one turn.

Spend Time With Roll [1d100 = 77]

Roll is incredibly passionate about who she is and where she came from. Always eager to jump into things and learn more about them, but with enough of her senses about her to pay attention to the world around her. She seemed happy enough to help her father with building a few small toy machines to give to the kids over at the driller commune. Her machines follow her around like baby ducks, chirping after her even. They seem like basic prototypes of something she's making blueprints for but she's refused to show me, saying that it's 'a surprise'. I'm happy she's so enamored with her programming. Blues... was somewhat similar. Ah, I've gone and made myself unhappy. I wonder how he is doing. The city cannot possibly be treating him well.

Will he think I am replacing him? I can't think about that. Anyway! Roll! She has a tendency to boss around her creations and be a little cruel when she believes they need to be punished, but she also worries after them like a mother hen would her chicks. One of them even fell down a small crevice in the ground and Roll was nearly beside herself with worry until it poked it's head up and climbed out of the hole. It's cute. I don't think I have to worry too much. I may need to step in if she becomes too cruel but her punishments are pretty benign in nature.
​

She's preforming better than I expected, but seems a more unhappy than one would usually feel when things don't go her way. She's a bit of a perfectionist, it seems.

Learned more about your daughter, Roll.

Look After Father [1d100 = 100 + 1d100 = 14 = 114] EXPLOSIVE SUCCESS

DLN-002 "Roll Light" - Log 001 - 200X

I wonder if I'm doing this right? Do I sit in front of this screen and just talk, then? I think so. Anyway, hello! Dr. Light decided to let me have my own series of logs. He says they'll help gather my thoughts about things. What to talk about, I wonder? Ah! We managed to clean out the zone surrounding the lab for the most part, although I think it needs a little more reinforcing before it's good. I think Dr. Light agrees with me. He's a bit of a worrywart, though. Even when I made him that remote operated machine he still seemed like he wanted to be out there in person. I kept having to talk him down from it.

Humans are squishy, after all. He's older than most, too. Besides... I've seen the way he reacts to things. I don't think he notices when I catch him. He'll stare off into space or flinch when loud noises occur. Though... I guess that isn't that strange. Hmm... He'll wake up screaming from a nightmare and he'll occasionally call me 'Albert' when he's really spaced out. I don't think he's really processed what's happened to him, yet. I'm not sure how to help him. He really doesn't like conflict. I wonder why he seems so dead set on fighting against Doctor Wily, then. Hmm. I'm happy to help him in any way I can. I think pushing to make sure he doesn't have to be physically present should help a little, but I wonder if he might come to rely on it. Would it be a bad thing if he did?

Hmm. Something to think about. I think I like this 'Log' thing. Maybe I'll even make my own creations do it too. That could be fun. Anyway, back to work! I really need to make sure this lab space gets carved out. It won't feel like a real home until I do. Oh! I do have one other thing to say...​

To be continued in: Interlude - Tunnel Trouble

 

[Chocobro Mamba]

"...Be careful, Roll! The scans are showing this area to be particularly unstable!" Light called after his daughter, alerts coming through the VR device as a cute little pixelated version of his daughter popped up and began warning him about the instability of the last few tunnels they were clearing out.

The young girl in question simply bounced away ahead of him in her dusty pink mining gear as if the suit and the drill and pump she was carrying weighed next to nothing.

"It'll be fine, father. You designed me, after all. I can handle myself." his daughter explained, as if being designed by him made her somehow invulnerable to damage or malfunction. "You did outfit me with a device that allows me to detect these instabilities myself, you know!" she said, teasing him.

"Besides! After all of these months we finally get to really put that new generator we've been working on through its paces and check out that weird glitch we found while we were doing all of those scans way back when! Aren't you a little curious about that?" Roll asked, practically vibrating with excitement.

Light wasn't nearly as excited. He couldn't be, not with the dangers he was facing. The worst part about it was he wasn't really there next to his daughter, so if something happened to her and this machine broke down, he wouldn't be able to do anything about it from his side. The machine Roll had built for him through the use of old scrapped parts and a donated mining robot was a work of art and it made him genuinely proud of his daughter, more so than he already was. She was so smart and always curious about her surroundings- quick witted and passionate about both protecting him and her own work as well. She was as close to human as he could currently make and so far had surpassed all of his expectations…

… He just wasn't sure about using the machine. It was undeniably useful, especially during combat with some of the biomonster nests they had found while cleaning the debris. He was stronger, tougher and able to do far more than his physical self. He just… still wanted to be out there, helping his daughter in person.

To make matters worse, his arguments against using the machine were often shut down, usually in ways he could only grumble about rather than find fault in. And yet he was afraid. It made him wonder why he thought he could build a machine to fight Wily in the first place, to worry about their safety as much as he was doing now. He sighed through the connection, trying to put on a smile.

"I am, Roll. But we can get there while still being careful about this. Besides, we can't start until Taizo's boy Suzumu gets here, so there's no point in rushing there anyway."

Roll shook her head and sighed. "I wonder what's taking him so long. It's not like Network 48 is as much a maze as it used to be, anymore. I told him to be punctual!" she ranted, stamping her feet.

"Now, Roll. I'm certain the Hori family are quite busy people. He'll be here." Light chided softly.

That was an interesting character quirk of his daughter's. The tendency to hold others to strict standards, including her own creations. Those who fell short often regretted it. He'd been worried about it, but found she was equally as motherly to those who followed her, though in a sort of bossy way that made him scratch his head a little.

Roll simply humphed in response, leaning against a brick wall as she kicked a rock and grumbled something the device couldn't pick up on. Chuckling, Light began to set down the final generator and start putting it together. This particular location they'd chosen was a critical junction of the tunnels where the chemical spill had built up, completely blocking the last few tunnels he had left to explore and repair, so this last generator needed to be a bit larger than the other ones and required a pump to use effectively.

Tunnel Network 48 (or Network 48, as the locals called it) had changed quite drastically since Light and his daughter's arrival. Once an abandoned tunnel, its distance from most of the major underground safe zones like the Driller HQ meant that it rarely saw any maintenance; and that was before rumors of driller teams and explorers going missing had started happening. After that, it had become a wreck, full of debris, broken pipes and chemical and gaseous runoff that contained god-only-knew-what dumped there by Albert and the rest of his kind.

Clearing it out had actually taken much less time than anticipated, though was occasionally stymied by the fact that there were biomonster nests further within Network 48's winding maze.

The hardest part wasn't the bodies they'd found after clearing out the nests. Old bones and fresh corpses, some of which were so ruined they could only be identified through their driller equipment or ripped apart personal belongings. In one case, a heartbreaking message scribbled on the back of an incredibly outdated map. No, the hardest part was actually the people Light had made sure to get the bodies back to. He'd tried to make it a point to personally deliver them, but for a few he had to leave to the Driller Commune to deal with as they belonged to The City proper.

As a result, Light often got to witness the expressions of those who knew their family and friends were dead, but still hoped they were out there somewhere to change in various, heartbreaking ways. It drained him, but he always felt it was the only right thing to do.

Roll took it the worst. Light did try to teach her about Death, especially in this new world the two had found themselves in, but he imagined it was a completely different experience actually seeing the bodies. She grew quieter when she found them, more determined and violent with each biomonster nest they cleared.

Eventually, the job was (mostly) finished. People started to use the tunnel network more. At first it was mostly the Driller Commune, but then others too. The worst of the tunnels, the ones that terminated into lone, broken Lemmings half-buried in rubble or the areas deemed too dangerous were walled off and marked. Even the pipes were navigated and marked on a map, officially updating the area map to what the locals called "The Plumber Standard". He gave a copy of these maps to the Driller Commune, of course.

The last real job was the generators, which were completed and placed in places where they'd do the most good, though for this final one the Driller Commune sent out somebody to watch the machine at work.

Almost as if called by his thoughts, a bright pink and blue mining suit had appeared at the end of the tunnel, the smiling face of Suzumu Hori waving energetically as he raced towards the duo. The young man was bright, energetic and was a shining beacon of positivity in a place mostly devoid of it.

"Dr. Light! Dr. Light! I didn't miss the generator, did I?" The young man called, only to be stopped dead in his tracks by the hand of Roll.

"Now, you listen here, Suzumu Hori! I told you to be here way earlier! Dr. Light and I have been waiting for so long he's even dozed off to sleep!" the girl said angrily, the boy rubbing his helmet sheepishly. Before the boy could say anything, Light stepped in.

"Roll! That's no way to greet somebody, especially somebody who has taken time out of his day to come help with our project." Light scolded her, causing the girl to withdraw with a pout. The boy waved it off.

"Aw, don't worry Dr. Light. I'm sure she has her reasons. 'Sides, I was late. I just got sidetracked by ninjas! They were fighting with a group of anthro mutant frogs! They went like 'whoosh' with their attacks and some of them even transformed into objects! The big guy even turned into a bat that one with the glasses used to knock like, 50 of them away down a pipe! It was so cool!"

Roll didn't seem convinced. "Now who would believe a weird story like that?" she questioned, her arms folded with a glare.

This the boy seemed a little upset about. "I'm telling the truth! Look!" he said, bringing out a camera device… that was broken. "Oh, no! I must have broken it when I went down that pipe to get away from one of the ninjas!" he cried.

"Uh huh." Roll said, skeptically.

"It's true!"

Light cut in, finally finished with the generators. "Roll! We don't know enough about the underground to say for certain what he saw was true or not. There very well could be mutant anthros down here." he explained.

"Yeah, but why would actual ninjas be down here? That's a little far fetched, isn't it Dr. Light?" She asked.

"There are all sorts out there in the city, Roll. If I recall correctly there are ninjas out in the outlands. Or they could be a gang driven down into the Pipeworks. Or ninja themed couriers for some company above." Light said.

"...I suppose." Roll relented. With a huff, she turned to the boy, who was still fiddling with the broken camera. "I'm sorry. I'm sure what you saw really happened, but that doesn't mean I've forgiven you for being late!" she told the boy. She held out her hand. "Here. I'll fix it. It won't take much and I'll make sure to return it."

Suzumu's eyes brightened. "You really will?!" he asked. Roll rolled her eyes. "Yes. It might take a while, since my father and I are busy. But I'll get it done when I can."

Suzumu hugged her, causing the girl to blush and stammer. "Thank you! Thankyouthankyouthankyo-"

"Errgh! Enough!"

Light chuckled, content to watch the interaction between the two. "Alright! The machine is done!" he said, waving the machine's arms to get their attention. "Suzumu, would you like to do the honors? I'll have Roll explain what it does. Be nice, Roll."

"Yes!" the boy shouted excitedly, rushing over to the machine. Roll, more composed, walked over to the machine.

"Alright. This generator is a device that can run off of geothermal heat, chemicals or in desperation, any nearby biomass you can find in the underground and will convert it into clean energy. This conversion process can even extend to the air with a switch, but consumes a lot of power and generates a lot of heat, so avoid using it for extended periods of time!" Roll began to explain, pushing up a set of glasses she set on her face before she was interrupted by Suzumu with his arm raised.

"What happens if we leave it on too long?" He asked.

"It will overheat and damage the machine- not only that, but the machine will run too hot for humans to safely touch it. Luckily, yours truly put a failsafe that will simply shut it down before that happens!" she preened, her glasses twinkling.

"What's with the pump?"

"Ah! That's how it will suck up chemicals, especially for submerged areas like this. Watch!" she said, pressing a button and turning the machine on. Immediately it came to life, the pump animating with a cartoony sniffing sound before beginning to suck up the nearby chemical pool.

"Ta da!" Roll presented proudly. "When you turn it on it first checks for geothermal heat - it won't find any here because it's pretty cold - but then it goes for chemical waste and then biomass. I even added a little sound effect! So cool, right?" she asked excitedly.

Suzumu didn't share nearly the same amount of excitement, but still had a smile on his face. "Yeah, it's pretty cool! This would actually be super useful, actually!" he said. He turned to Light. "Hey, Dr. Light! Is it okay if you share this with The Driller Commune? I imagine we could do a lot of good with this!"

[ ] Of course! You'd already planned on it in fact. [Give generator schematics to the driller commune.]

[ ] …I'm not sure. Maybe. [Don't give them the schematics, but will unlock an option to do so.]

[ ] …I think I'll just build them some machines, instead. [Don't give the commune the schematics, but will unlock an option to build machines to give to them.]

[ ] … Sorry, but no. [Don't give them schematics. Send Suzumu home disappointed.]

---

It took two hours before the last of the fluid had been pumped out of the tunnel. Roll had ended up going back to retrieve another pump to make sure to speed up the process and Suzumu had left to get back to his own group. What Light found was interesting. This tunnel was almost perfectly clean- it went from brick stone and packed dirt to what looked to be metal chrome, though it'd been heavily corroded by the chemicals. The tunnel was just large enough for his machine to fit, but if he got into any fights he would be in trouble.

There were some arguments about who was to go first and in the end it was Roll that was chosen- not only because of her more advanced scanning systems, but she would be much more maneuverable compared to how cramped the machine would be. Light didn't like it, but was appeased when she told him that she'd make sure to stay close.

So down they went. The clock on the device read they had been walking for a good 30 minutes before they came to a door. They were confronted by a logo of a green amoeba with three dots connected by lines on the door, along with what looked like a damaged keypad. Metpharm. This was a Metpharm facility. Light was put on edge, something that even Roll could feel.

"What do you think Metpharm was doing down here?" She asked.

"Nothing good." Light answered.

"...Should we try and investigate?" Roll asked, stepping over to the keypad to investigate.

[ ] "...Yes." [Begins Mission - Stage 1-1: Metpharm Labs.]

[ ] "...Perhaps Later." [Unlocks option for the Metpharm Labs Expedition. You'll still close this area off so people don't wander in.]

[ ] "...No." [Some secrets are better left buried. Closes off the area permanently.]

---

GM's Note
​

I Live!

I did update the rules a little and added a whole section for bioroid creation you guys can check out above. I also gave Light an extra personal action to use and buffed his and Roll's character sheets, as well as added the item called The Donner Wels Machine, which affects the stats of whoever uses it. I changed the critical rules to be a little less ridiculous, as well. Other than that it's a bunch of little stuff. A few minor tweaks here and there to make more sense, that sort of thing.

As for the update itself... I still think I suck at character interactions. They feel pretty stilted to me, but maybe that's just me. I hope you guys enjoy it and sorry for the wait!

The vote closes in 24 hours. Let's say an moratorium's an hour.

 

[Chocobro Mamba]

"...Yes. It would be best for us to take care of this now, before anyone gets hurt." Light sighed.

Roll nodded her head and began to crack into the keypad. It didn't take her long at all before the door slid open, revealing the dark hallway within. The corridor was partially lit up by glowing pink moss and what appeared to be some kind of similarly glowing mushroom growth. The moss seemed to cover the entire area, blanketing the area and making it look like grassy patches were taking over the sterile white and green color palette of the laboratory inside. There were strange masses covered in moss as well, but it was too dark to see.

As they stepped into the corridor - Dr. Light having asked to go first - the light shined from the Donner Wels to better illuminate the area and the masses.

The masses were bodies. The mossy growth seemed to partially or fully overtake the corpses, where mushrooms started to sprout through the ratty doctors coats the corpses were wearing. They looked as if they had died before the moss got to them, puncture wounds all over their corpses, with much of the mushroom growths sprouting out from those same wounds. Light shivered, thankful he was currently remote piloting a machine.

"Roll, stay close. Whatever is in here is likely very dangerous." Light warned, "and don't touch those mushrooms!" he said, Roll's finger jerking away from the mushroom she was trying to poke at.

"What do you think happened here, father?" Roll asked him, warily stepping over a fallen corpse in her way. "These people looked like they died before all this stuff got to them."

Light hummed, his voice crackling through the speaker. "Nothing good. I'll admit to not being all that familiar with Metpharm, beyond their achievements in medicine and genetic enhancements. I thought they did good work… but that was before Albert and the rest of the city…" Light said, his voice trailing off.

"Whatever they're doing now is unethical and highly immoral. I hope I'm wrong about this, but I imagine they're responsible for our home's previous state. I thought about doing something similar myself a while back by breaking everything further to keep us hidden." Light guessed. "I just chose to make the Network 48 more livable and reintroduce it to the underground's inhabitants. It might be that I wasn't the only one with that idea."

Eventually they came to a large open area that branched off into three directions. There was a desk alongside one of the walls, on it was a smashed computer and a corpse sitting at the console, his head having a puncture wound dead center of his skull- mushroom growths sprouting out of the wound, his eyes and his mouth. It looked like he died screaming. Roll gave the corpse a wide berth, hiding behind the bulk of the machine slightly before a glint of a map caught her attention.

There was a map on one of the walls, though it was partially covered in moss. This seemed to be the main entrance. To the middle was the elevator down to the labs on the second floor as well as what looked to be the maintenance area tucked away in the far right corner, along with a bunch of meeting rooms. To the left was something called Containment and Processing, as well as Chemical Storage. The right wing seemed to have both the Security wing as well as personnel locker rooms and the common area.

"Hmm…" Light pondered. "If we want to learn anything from the computers in this place we'll need to find the power. That'll probably be in the maintenance area. It looks like there's also stairs here, so we can head down without it. We also need to be careful of whatever is still here, because I imagine nothing has escaped since the entrance was flooded. The longer we spend in this place the more likely we'll be noticed." Light said, grimacing. "I imagine whatever it is will be in the labs. It's just a feeling I have."

Roll nodded, smiling. "Well, whatever it is, we can handle it together!" she said, pumping her fist in the air. "So, which way should we go first?"

[ ] Head Left to Containment and Processing and Chemical Storage.
[ ] Head Right to the Personnel and the Security Wing.
[ ] Head Down to the Labs.
[ ] Head to Maintenance.
[ ] Check out the Desk.

---

Not a big update, but we're zooming in now so these will be pretty quick. Let's say 1 hour moratorium and the voting ends in 24 hours.

 

[Chocobro Mamba]

Light hummed. "I think we should go right. The personnel and the security wing are this way." he decided. Roll cocked her head. "Not the labs or maintenance?" she asked.

"...No. While I don't think we'll be able to find anybody alive down here, we can hope." he explained, beginning to step down the hallway towards the security wing. "Moreover, heading this way means we might come across a security or personnel keycard that we can use for the future. Hopefully."

"What if we come across an electronic door? We wouldn't be able to get into it." Roll asked.

"I'm sure we'll figure something out. If we have to, we can break into it with the Donner Wels." Light said, shifting the machine. "Now come along, Roll. I don't want us to split up."

"Ah! Wait a moment, why don't we check the desk first?" Roll said, rushing over to the desk.

Searching the Desk: 1d100 [97] + 10 = 107

"Uh… Doctor Light?" Roll said after a moment. "You may want to come look at this. The body… It's moving. Sort of. It's like it's on low power mode, or something."

Light moved over, concerned. Indeed. It was breathing, if only slightly. No life signs. That… wait. He saw it. The spike in his head. On closer inspection it looked like some kind of giant cactus needle covered in something fleshy, but it was pulsating with a soft pink glow. An infection, maybe? That would make this a drone. Infected via puncture wounds, even. Light didn't know what kind of creature could do that but Metpharm clearly found a way. A cactus needle, though? It looked like it was fired from something and to his memory he couldn't remember any kind of plant that did that sort of thing. Wait, wasn't there a creature from the outlands that did that…?

Agh. He couldn't remember. The more worrisome part of this was how it sensed things. The growths covered both its ears and its eyes. It… no, it's nostrils. It can smell. They weren't triggered likely because neither he or Roll were currently organic. Could they have lucked out that much? No, maybe there was another factor he was missing. Maybe another creature acted as a control mechanism? A sort of Hive Queen or Robot Master type deal?

Still…

"Good work for noticing that, Roll. We should be a little more careful not to wake them further from now on." Light said, using the machine to give her a thumbs up.

"Look, Dr. Light! There's more!" Roll whispered, shifting behind the desk. His breath caught at just how close she was to that… thing. She came out with some kind of handgun. After walking her through on how to check it, they found it to be loaded with some kind of incendiary rounds. A single round was missing from the magazine. Whatever that creature was was weak to fire, then? Or maybe it was just a last resort that failed. His own personal dislike of firearms warred with his desire to keep his daughter safe before he sighed and told her to arm herself with it.

"And be careful! That isn't a toy." He told her. She nodded. At least it was a ranged option. That drill and pump that the drillers had could be used as an effective weapon and his work in the tunnels had proven it, but he doubted it would be effective against whatever was down here. Light sighed. He wasn't expecting to step into a horror movie today. Hopefully he and his daughter fared better than those poor souls usually did.

The two quietly made their trek down the hall, this time with their weapons ready. They avoided stepping too close to the drones in fear of waking them and made their way down to the hall. The hall was carnage. It looked as if several scientists and security officers tried to flee down the hallway but were caught, pulled back and slaughtered. Moss covered bullet holes and what looked like scorch marks. What's worse was that there weren't only human bodies, either. Strange mushroom creatures that looked somewhat like the images of those mushroom people that lived further down in the pipeworks, but… wrong. They were sickly pink with distended heads covered in cactus spines and moss. There was also what looked like some sort of quadrupedal creature entirely made out of neon pink meat that was incredibly discomforting to look at. It was like a dog stripped of its skin, fur and bone, except the muscle and tendons were wrong and bent in the wrong places. It didn't have any eyes he could see, either.

"...What happened here?" Roll asked, horrified.

"The folly of man, I suppose." Light smiled, grimly. "I didn't think Metpharm was this far gone." He whispered, mostly to himself.

Then again, he didn't think Albert could blow him out of a window inside his own lab, either, could he? Was he just blind? Was everyone like this and he just tried to believe otherwise? He shook himself out of those thoughts. He needed to focus. The fighting seemed worse the further they went towards the security wing. Strangely, not nearly as much fighting could be seen heading from the personnel room. Was it because that's where those monsters came from? He didn't know.

"W-which way do we go, Dr. Light?" Roll asked.

Direction?
[ ] The Security Wing
[ ] The Personnel Wing
[ ] Head Somewhere Else
-[ ] Where?

Do you search the bodies? (This does include poking at the creatures.)
[ ] Yes.
[ ] No.

---

Man it's fun when you miss both of your own deadlines you set. So, I did end up rewriting this a little (the original had you go straight to the Personnel Wing and I didn't like it so much). As such, because I made another search roll in the personnel room, you guys have another 97 waiting in the wings for next roll, which you can use whenever. Hopefully this new version flows a little better.

There will be a 1 hour moratorium and voting ends in 24 hours.

 

[Chocobro Mamba]

"...The security wing. I still feel we'll find something useful in there." Light said. "Be careful not to touch the bodies, Roll. We don't know if they'll wake up and attack us or not."

Roll nodded her head. The two moved down the hallway, Light taking the front and Roll hanging back, her pistol readied. As the two went further down the hallway the fighting seemed to get worse, finding more and more of the moss covered bodies sprawled on the floor, bullet holes and needle spines embedded into the walls and even the body armor of a few of the corpses. One of them seemed like they were even shot in the back, possibly by accident.

Eventually, they made it to the security wing. Inside was a similar massacre. There was a pile of bodies in front of the barrier to the armory, as if they were trying to get inside and were fought off by the surviving security personnel. From what Light could see, they were able to fend them off successfully, as there was no breach in the door or the reinforced glass beyond a few cracks. He peered down inside the opening and found more bodies- this time of the security officers. The vents behind them were open, with one of the bodies hanging out of it. Pink moss covered the walls near the vents, as well as the bodies inside.

…The creatures came through the vents, then. Whatever they were attacked them while they were distracted. That would mean whatever ordered them around was pretty clever, enough to plan this out at least. It likely they even turned out the lights first and then attacked security, leaving the facility at whatever mercy it had in store for the survivors. They'd have to check the maintenance room to confirm that theory, though.

Light didn't see a way into the armory beyond the door and the slots in the front. It was also powered off. They could probably break through the door with Donner Wels, but the noise or at least the vibrations or whatever it was that they were triggered by would certainly wake the monsters. At least, the ones that weren't assuredly dead. He wasn't going to stop to count, since all of them were reading dead to his sensors.

Outside of the armory, there was a door to the locker rooms that were also covered with bodies, likely forced out by whomever wasn't lucky enough to make it into the armory area. The rest of the room was in disarray. There were tables and chairs thrown about, damaged vending machines and what looked like another room that read 'Security Feed' that was almost glowing pink from all the built up moss and some kind of growth was expanding from the doorframe. They weren't getting anything out of that. It looked like it was about to explode if something touched it.

Light hummed. The locker room or the armory. He turned to Roll.

"What do you think we should do? It doesn't look like we can get into the armory since everything is powered off, but if we do that we're almost certainly going to wake something up." He asked.

Roll seemed to think about it. "We'd likely have to fight either way. If I were locked in that locker room and monsters were trying to get in, I'd block the door using some lockers. But those monsters likely found another way through the vents, so I doubt there's any survivors. I could probably force it open, but the monsters inside could wake up." she said.

"I'm a little frustrated, though." she huffed. "If this was a testing facility like we presume it was, there should be a backup generator, especially for something as important as the security wing. Why isn't that running?"

"I doubt it would be any easier, Roll. We'd still need a keycard or something to get through. We don't know how long this facility has been down here, either. The backup could be all tapped out. Or the backup could have been tampered with. Whatever controlled these drones seems pretty clever." Light explained.

"Hrm." She pouted, before sighing. "Well, anyway. Most of these guys were shot dead. There probably won't be that many waking up if we do make some noise. We might not be able to close the entryway into the wing but as long as we don't use a gun we might not draw any more attention."

Light hummed and looked at the opening slots of the armory. It was large enough for people to fire through and still be protected by the hardened glass. It seemed large enough for Roll to slip through, but that would mean having to ditch the bulky Driller suit she wore and he didn't know how dangerous that would be. They would certainly have a security key in there and probably more weapons… but Light didn't like the risk.

But then again, staying in this facility too long was a risk as well, wasn't it?

[ ] Head to the Locker Rooms.
[ ] Break through the Armory Doors with Donner Wels
[ ] Have Roll slip through the opening slots of the Armory

[ ] Head somewhere else?
- [ ] Personnel Wing, Front Desk, Containment and Processing, Maintenance, Stairway, or Leave the Facility.

---

Surprise post! I managed to take some time and get it out immediately. I know we've just started and these are also going to be short since we're going from room to room but I'm wondering what you all think of them so far. Too slow? Anything to improve? I kind of like the slow-paced dungeon crawler vibe and it also goes well with the exploration/mystery deal that comes from what I see as the pipeworks part of the setting (mystery and exploration), but there's some part of me thinks interludes should be nice and snappy and laid out more like a traditional Mega Man or arcade style mission type deals.

Anyway, Moratorium is in 30 minutes and voting ends in about 12 hours.

 

[Chocobro Mamba]

It was actually a pretty difficult decision. Having Roll slip through the opening would be far quieter, but it would leave her alone and bereft of the protection from the Driller suit, even if it wasn't exactly made for this kind of situation. Wrecking the door would be far easier, but it would also certainly make enough noise to wake the drones. Or the vibrations from tearing through the door would, anyway. He wasn't quite sure what activated them beyond their olfactory senses, which were useless to them at this time.

"Alright, Roll. Get ready. I'm going to break through the door." He told Roll, who nodded and began to creep back to a position that would give her full view of the room. He pressed a few buttons on the controller, overclocking the bulky machine, rushing the door with a crash. The sound of tearing metal and breaking glass could be heard and he winced at the noise on instinct as the pink moss began to glow much brighter to an almost fluorescent hue and the drones began to move, their bones and muscles snapping and cracking as they rushed towards his machine.

Roll was the first to move, dashing through the first group with her drill and smashing through them, bowling over one of them and slamming the others into the walls with enough force that they gave an audible crack before they dropped and didn't move any further. The one that remained was immediately, almost ruthlessly executed with a drill jab while it was prone, its skull bursting pink gore onto the suit and its visor.

The creatures within the armory had awoken as well, but Light was slightly faster than they were. He wasted no time crashing into them, using the momentum from before to smash a few into the wall, crushing them between the wall and his machine, causing bone and long unused muscle to snap and pop. A thin spider's web of cracks could be seen where they impacted the wall, leaking pink fluid. The survivors he'd missed in his charge had managed to clamber onto his machine and began beating on it, but didn't do much at all in the way of damage. It all ended when Roll, having finished her fight, quickly leapt into action and used her drill to finish them off, the drill tearing through them with little resistance.

"Dr. Light! Are you alright?" Roll asked, panic in her voice.

"I- I'm alright, Roll. Just a little… shaken at the moment." he told her, using the machine to give her an awkward pat on the shoulder.

"What about you? These were people at one point. Are you…?" Light asked. His daughter huffed.

"More angry at whatever did this. I…" she started, looking down at her bloody drill. It was covered in pink gore. "...don't like killing people, even if it's just zombies who only used to be people. But even you said it yourself. The underground is dangerous. I won't always get to choose." She exhaled. "That doesn't mean I won't try diplomacy first, though. I think we'll be surprised at who might listen down here." she smiled.

She looked around. "Well... diplomacy with something that has the intelligence to converse with. That also isn't taking people over as drones. Hmm…" she hummed. "...This may be harder than I thought."

Light chuckled. "Don't worry. You're doing great." 'Better than me, in any case.' he thought to himself, solemnly.

All was quiet within the armory, and even the moss started to dim. They might have dodged waking up whatever intelligence was guiding these drones. It was good to know that loud enough noises did indeed wake them, even if it was more likely the vibrations that came with them. They went down pretty easily, too. Though that might just be because both of them were made of metal. They seemed to beeline straight for whatever made the noise, so they likely didn't, or couldn't, smell the two.

Light couldn't hear any banging from the locker room, so it was likely they were far enough away to manage not waking the other drones.

Before he could say anything, Roll bounced forward towards the armory doors. "Goodies!" she exclaimed, wrenching the door open and rushing in. Light was a little too big in his machine to really fit inside but tried to get a better look anyway. He shook his head with a smile.

Roll was currently trying to open the case to what looked like the precursor to the Driller Suit, an old armored MOPP suit that the military used back on Earth, though a little more advanced. It was heavier than the driller suit, but offered more protection. There were a few modern gadgets attached to it as well. With it was what looked like some kind of rifle that he recognized from the ships he fled from Earth in by the Telstar icon on the side, but he wasn't a gun nut and couldn't remember what it was called.

Eventually Roll managed to pry it open and get inside, quickly trading in her old suit for the new one. It looked a little big on her, but she seemed to take it in stride, holstering her handgun and securing the drill and pump around her waist. She slung the rifle over her back, giving Light a happy thumbs up that made him smile before going deeper within the armory.

She returned a little while later a little less happy, gripping what looked like a datapad and a couple of grenades, along with what looked like a keycard wrapped around her hand.

"Roll? What happened?" Light asked, concerned.

"...I managed to get one of the doors open and found a body. They looked like they were shot from behind, judging by the bullet wound on the back of the head." she explained, handing over the datapad before beginning to move out. He looked at Roll, before looking back at the datapad. Most of it was just back and forth messages from staff and other people. He opened the last message.

"K.

If you're reading this, you'll find that stuff you're looking for when you go grab a cola. It shouldn't be too hard. As for me? I'm leaving. This job was already stressful enough and that was before that asshole took charge and decided to play god with his little prophecy child. Apparently whatever was going on down in Site Alpha wasn't good enough for him. Wanted to make his own version. Well, good fucking luck to him.

I didn't survive Earth only to deal with more fucking aliens. If the bigwigs find out about what's going on in this place we're all fucked. Especially if they take a look at Containment and Processing. That's if 'Experiment 08' doesn't kill us first. I've seen the way it acts. It waits and watches for people to fuck up before it nabs 'em. The fact that we've got to feed it several bodies a day is worse. Had to spin up some kind of treasure story about Tunnel 48 to get more poor bastards down here to feed it. After we destroyed the place trying to keep it secret.

The hell does he get off using a Cactuar, anyway? Fucker's are mean and turn whatever they see move into pincushions. Smart little assholes, too. Adding onto whatever alien DNA they're using is asking for bad news. Human DNA, too. Dumbasses. I'm catching a ride with Trioptimum up to Citadel Station. Apparently they want my knowledge on those old school reactors. Better than this hellhole. Least I won't be turned into fodder or experimented on.

Look man. You should bug out too. I left you my keycard in my locker. The combi's 0451. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm taking this chance while everyone is busy and getting the hell out of here.

M. "​

Light looked down at the Keycard.

Marc Steinberg, Level 5 Security Access Card.

Well, that was the security card handled. It looked like this K. individual was shot from behind shortly after he got the message. Was it in the middle of the attack or before that? More information about the threat he was facing, too. It didn't bode well. But they were better armored, now. Those grenades could come in useful, too. Light wondered what they meant by 'grab a cola.' The vending machines here were broken and none of them appeared to be selling any kind of cola. There wasn't even a Nuka Cola machine, which he saw pretty much everywhere these days.

"Roll?" Light asked. She shrugged her head.

"...I'll be fine. We normally see the aftermath of those biomonster nests AND we've been trudging through corpses for about an hour. Just wasn't expecting to see somebody's body stuffed away in some nook after they were shot. They didn't take the keycard either, so it was probably personal, or something." She patted her cheeks, or rather the visor. "Ah well, we can deal with it later. For now, exploration!" she announced, pushing forward.

Light hummed, concerned. Or they didn't need it. It sounded like that new scientist in charge was a problem. He sighed. In the end she was right. They could talk about it later… though he might have to force the issue if she didn't bring it up herself. The mission was exploring this place and finding what happened here and it was quickly turning into "- and also deal with the monster in the basement, too". They were better equipped now, at least. The question was, did they try to head to the lockers next or did they go somewhere else?

[ ] The lockers are here. We may as well finish off the Security Wing.
[ ] Head Somewhere Else
--[ ] Personnel Wing, Front Desk, Containment and Processing, Maintenance, Stairway, or Leave the Facility.

You've gained: 3 Grenades [Each one is 5 Damage on a Successful Attack], A slightly too big Old Earth Armored MOPP Suit [-10 to Enemy Martial Rolls], A Telstar Marksman [Allows for Ranged Martial Attacks, +5 Martial], a Level 5 Access Card and a lot of bad feelings.

---

Alright! Next post is done. You guys have used the 97, which means you gain grenades and a keycard (along with some lore and a hint for another secret somewhere else). Roll did very well on the combat rolls. Ended her fight on Round 1 and came in with the steel chair drill on Light's Round 2. I think I've finally gotten into a rhythm to work on these posts, so they should start coming out a little faster. I think I'm gonna make this voting round 24 hours like usual, though.

Moratorium is 30 minutes. Voting ends in 24 hours.

 

[Chocobro Mamba]

Hey there everybody. I'm back and I still like this idea, but I'm currently not happy with how this quest has gone. The idea behind the quest was to play as Dr. Light recovering from his attempted assassination while building up to making what was going to be Mega Man (or Woman, if the questers wanted it), who would attempt to fight back against Wily/The Corporations while he tried to revitalize hope back into a city that was quickly losing it. I think some of the problems I kept running into were the crusader kings mechanics, for one. You were playing as a single person who built robots to help him do things he couldn't, which I don't think worked well enough with the current mechanics. At least, it didn't for me.

The second part was that for a robot building quest the options to actually build out the robots felt kind of anemic to me. It was the start of the quest, so you wouldn't have had too many options to start with, but they still felt like they didn't provide enough of a menu, so to speak. I also tried to translate them to CK2 mechanics and I just kept finding difficulties with doing that. Either the bonuses felt too strong, they overlapped with others or sometimes they just felt like they were too weak or provided bonuses you wouldn't see much use of in practice. Finally, the combat part of the quest also felt like it didn't exist- combat was a big part of Mega Man and leaving it up to a couple of martial rolls along with a few bonuses didn't feel right to me.

Like I said before, I still like this idea and this setting and I want to continue writing a quest within it. So I'm thinking of two ideas.

One, I revamp it. I keep everything you guys have had up to this point but I put it under a new system. Right now, I'm thinking of a hybrid sort of planquest with some expanded combat mechanics. That could change and I do welcome recommendations/advice. How it would work is you would have a set number of actions or dice for the week and would have to prioritize what you wanted done, with your creations and allies providing more help, allowing you to get more done. Essentially building up a faction from scratch if that's what you guys wanted. The traits and other stuff would be translated over- you'd essentially be reset to before the Metpharm Labs mission (though I am going to overhaul that as well). I'd also be expanding a few things I had plans for but didn't implement yet, like a general read on the state of the underground and your actions effects and the relationship of the other factions around you. Basically connect you into the world a little more.

The second option is that I shelf this quest idea for now and go for something a little more in line with the CK2 mechanics. This would be WutaiQuest, where you take control of a nation that has recently be put under the thumb of The Shinra Corporation and also are dealing with the potential problems/opportunities that comes from being within the Outlands. The benefit? You are away from the city and the watchful eyes of the megacorps, have what is essentially immediate access to magic/magitech since you're so close to the source, even if you have to develop it and get to carve out your own path. Also techno-barbarian/feudalism is a cool aesthetic. Think Final Fantasy 5-6. The drawbacks? You're essentially forced into being a resort town by Shinra and have to deal with monsters, bandits and other kingdoms with their own views on how things should go. Also, Castlevania and Outer Heaven may or may not be floating around out there to deal with as well.

Sorry to come back from a months long absence to essentially say the quest is frozen, but I wanted to pop in and say I'm still interested and not just drop it without a word.​