Well, this is a very unique take on narrative questing. It reminds me of Gazeteer's Petal's of Titanium with the whole 'choosing what to lose' mechanic you have.
It's a key, right? Again you feel that presence, that sensation of being surrounded by something that cannot be seen, cannot be felt, cannot be heard, cannot be smelt, and whatever it is, it ripples, tickling something your mind insists is your skin and your body disagrees about, and the cabinet in front of you unlocks.
There is a nigh-eternal moment when you can feel the power trying to hone in on the voice that is yours, drawn to something that is, in some sense, a reflection of yourself, and you wrench it aside, directing it instead at this Nattie. There was a name on the phone that was a Nattie, and if this is the same one...
You are dimly aware that you are both successfully walking and calling for Sasha, Jill, and Chef Nettleson, in that order, yelling for them to bring maps, but then your conscious mind is -
* * * *
Hurt. The foot is going to be a loss, maybe from the knee down even, you just know it, may the Wasp take the pig that hit you with that greasy fucking bullet. And now there's this person - no, thing, the Captain said it's a manifestation, except it sounds just like her and it's offering to come save you just like the Captain normally would and why can't the Captain come, why can't she...why can't...no, focus. Focus. You place your finger on the UI's stupid button, and steel yourself so you can say, as normally as possible: "We're holed up in the SBC branch of Imperial University. I've got fifteen left who can hold a rifle, maybe nine walking wounded, and a lot more hurt. How fast can you get to us?"
Hired into Threshold when she namedropped [XXXX], whom Nattie had previously met as a wild fling. Her paramour moved on. Nattie didn't. Took surprisingly well to the work and was known as the most thoughtful and curious of the Containment specialists, making her a natural fit for Project Throwback, Threshold's attempt to protect and promote those minds, books, and specialty skills which would enable a rapid transition from modern technology - unsustainable without global trade among many other mitigating factors - to an earlier, slightly anachronistic industrial-era model, ensuring that the successors of homo sapiens do not have to start back over from the Stone Age. Currently under siege by "pigs" who have declared Threshold's attempt to evacuate the University an "unlawful student protest".
* * * *
You snap back into yourself and note, with pleased surprise, that you are not bleeding and are in fact only mildly hungry. Fucking. Score!
Familiar Strangers has evolved; it is easier to use on the near-human, and you can use it on such beings if you can hear their voice or see their reflections.
You quickly jam your finger onto the button of the phone. "Hold a moment," you tell the call, and then you lift your finger and look around. Hey, the people you yelled for gathered with the map! And you made it to a table! Everything is coming up Orchid. "Sasha, find me a route from here to the University."
"Which one?" Sasha asks.
Oh. There's more than one. You shake your head. "Imperial. I need an idea of how long it'll take a dozen people to get there."
You're barely paying attention, but you catch the voice that is yours, this Captain, ordering the new voice - Hoch - to turn around immediately. "The farms are gonna have to wait," it - no, she - growls. "I'm not losing Nattie. If the skank can save her life, great, but I want you and your groundpounders to hold that position and be ready to escort them to safety."
"Understood," Hoch returns.
"Got it," Sasha says firmly. "Two routes, one's faster and more exposed but we're looking at twelve hours max. Eternity, but whatever."
You mash the button. "Nattie, we can reinforce in thirteen hours max, need some time to saddle up. Can you hold?"
"...Is there a universe where it's shorter than thirteen hours?" Nattie asks, and she can't keep the plea from her voice.
"There might be, but if we die on the way there you get no reinforcements," you answer. "What's the situation?" The moment you lift your finger from the button you look to Jill. "Get me -"
Nattie's voice cuts back in: "Those damn squadcars are on us. The university is under siege from the main gates, and anyone who shows their face gets shot at. No SWAT, praise be to Clever Jossil, but that looms too large in the collective consciousness to not be coming and once it does...once it does, dollars to doughnuts they storm the gates and everyone in here dies."
"Clarify," you request. "We haven't encountered these squadcars."
The voice that is yours cuts in: "You know how cops used to technically be people? Not any more. They've got firearms, an extremely hostile disposition, and I'm willing to bet you money Corporate is trying to eat whatever's left of the light behind their eyes. They die if you kill 'em, praises for small mercies, but they take some fucking killing."
In a brief concession to your burgeoning pyrophilia, you ask: "Do they burn?"
"About as well as people do," Nattie answers, in a pained voice. "It's how we've held out at all, but now the University is out of booze and I am not about to try and open the chem labs for something bigger."
Oh. Oh good. Fire is an option. Delicious. You mash your finger into the button: "Hold steady. We're coming. Orchid out."
Everyone around the table is giving you grim looks. Chef Nettleson, bless him, understands his role in this immediately; he walks away from the table and begins bellowing for the doctors, informing them to prepare to accept wounded and asking how his cooks can assist while also rounding up those cooks that are idle and ordering them in no uncertain terms to start preparing broth and other such meals for the severely wounded. Jill comes back, and you're left with some choices.
You will need someone you can trust to keep you steady. To stop you from becoming the beast that killed Corporate.
[ ] Who? (1-3, if you want to vote for more than one please format it as like, "A & B")
Bringing doctors with you will expose them to risk, but it might save the lives of people who can't be moved immediately.
[ ] Bring them
[ ] Do not
Extra hands at home should...
[ ] Tighten up the defenses
[ ] Start clearing the freeway carefully so vehicles might be able to move through and drag wounded out
You'll take...
[ ] The longer, safer route that is less exposed to potential sniper fire
[ ] The shorter, more exposed route which also passes by several liquor stores
Well, this is a very unique take on narrative questing. It reminds me of Gazeteer's Petal's of Titanium with the whole 'choosing what to lose' mechanic you have.
[X] Mostly guns (long-range, abundant ammo, loud)
[X] Sasha
[X] Do not
[X] Start clearing the freeway carefully so vehicles might be able to move through and drag wounded out
[X] The longer, safer route that is less exposed to potential sniper fire
Well well well, that's the third time now an update comes immediately after I make a post.
[X] Mostly guns (long-range, abundant ammo, loud)
[X] Jill & Sasha
[X] Bring them
[X] Tighten up the defenses
[X] The shorter, more exposed route which also passes by several liquor stores
We don't have the time to sneak in. It'll be loud and fast and will very likely draw pursuit. Jill has seen combat and has extra movement. Charles (the twink)... no, this is a tense situation and we can't use it to find out what he has to offer.
They are harried by the enemy and in a rough spot, loud can ease the pressure immediately once we get there, and also mean that they might get target paralysis between us and Nattie's folk. Plus, longer range will be better against the squadcars.
You will need someone you can trust to keep you steady. To stop you from becoming the beast that killed Corporate.
[x] Jill & Sasha
Bringing doctors with you will expose them to risk, but it might save the lives of people who can't be moved immediately.
[x] Bring One
We should bring the beefier first aid supplies, and someone else with medic training in the squad, but risking the actual doctors outside the base is too risky when both to and from could see an ambush.
Extra hands at home should...
[x] Tighten up the defenses
You'll take...
[x] The shorter, more exposed route which also passes by several liquor stores
Shorter route, but with home ready to hold off anyone following us back. Fast, loud, there and back as quick as we can
[x] Mostly guns (long-range, abundant ammo, loud)
[x] Jill & Sasha
[X] Bring them
[x] Tighten up the defenses
[x] The shorter, more exposed route which also passes by several liquor stores
You will need someone you can trust to keep you steady. To stop you from becoming the beast that killed Corporate.
[x] Jill
Jill has shown great skill at this, and has experience with grounding Orchid.
Bringing doctors with you will expose them to risk, but it might save the lives of people who can't be moved immediately.
[ ] Bring them
[ ] Do not
[x] Bring one
Risking multiple doctors on a risky mission is foolish, but we know going in that there are severely wounded who need to be quickly stabilized so they can be moved. One doctor can take charge, assess, and give orders more quickly than less trained individuals, without having the risk of losing all the doctors at home. This also lowers the risk to the rest of the people in the rescue party, and allows the doctors left begind to prepare for the incoming wounded.
Extra hands at home should...
[x] Tighten up the defenses
[ ] Start clearing the freeway carefully so vehicles might be able to move through and drag wounded out
The crowded freeway has likely been the primary boon in the defensibility of our home. Clearing it should probably be a last resort.
You'll take...
[ ] The longer, safer route that is less exposed to potential sniper fire
[x] The shorter, more exposed route which also passes by several liquor stores
We need those resources to get in, and ideally to block the path to follow us home. Plus time is our least available resource if we hope to save anyone.
[x] Mostly guns (long-range, abundant ammo, loud)
[x] Jill & Sasha
[x] Bring one
[x] Tighten up the defenses
[x] The shorter, more exposed route which also passes by several liquor stores
So i dont think its an option yet, but This encounter is probably one worth burning a gift on.
for now
If they have snipers we want people that can return fire.
I think we bring Jill and Sasha to keep us on a leash
Bring one doctor to help with the wounded who can at least give instructions for first aid so we can try to save as as many as possible
Lets turn this place into a fort so nothing gets in while we're gone
and Serial arsonist orchid round 3 lets go!
[x] Mostly guns (long-range, abundant ammo, loud)
[x] Jill & Sasha
[x] Bring one
[x] Tighten up the defenses
[x] The shorter, more exposed route which also passes by several liquor stores
[x] Mostly guns (long-range, abundant ammo, loud)
[x] Jill & Sasha
[x] Bring one
[x] Tighten up the defenses
[x] The shorter, more exposed route which also passes by several liquor stores
[x] Mostly guns (long-range, abundant ammo, loud)
[x] Jill & Sasha
[x] Bring one
[x] Tighten up the defenses
[x] The shorter, more exposed route which also passes by several liquor stores
Hmm. This may be tough. Good work with the familiar strangers choice though.
[X] Mostly guns (long-range, abundant ammo, loud)
[X] Jill & Sasha
[X] Bring one
[X] Tighten up the defenses
[X] The shorter, more exposed route which also passes by several liquor stores
The Jaklan Empire's history with the cultures now collectively known as the Sunset People has been, to be frank, traditionally rocky. When the Empire expanded west it found the land already quite occupied by nomadic peoples riding new animals, which would be dubbed 'horses' by later Imperial peoples who found it difficult to learn the language of the Sunset People. In this alone there is perhaps some grace to be granted to the colonizers, for the language of the natives is heavy on clicks and whistles that the human body has difficulty making if one does not grow up learning them, but here the grace runs dry, as early contact was often violent. An empire is a hungry thing.
The political will for an extensive war was, however, not there. Brutal losses in the Empire's northern expansion were still fresh in the mind of both citizens and soldiers, and the nomadic Sunset Peoples gave battle in ways the fledgling Empire was not yet ready to counter. The shed of blood would be ended by a combination of treaty, exhaustion, and a surprising cultural commonality. Though the Sunset People did not and to this day still do not traditionally recognize most of the gods of the Empire, instead venerating their ancestors and "spirits of the land" (here there is a long history of the shamans of the Sunset People settling on a turn of phrase they do not like, but which is 'least wrong'), they knew the face of one being the Empire called a god - their Everlasting Lady, known to the Sunset People as the Friend of Man, beloved by both cultures even if every last other detail was often argued over or disagreed upon. The burgeoning peace movement amongst Imperial citizens seized on this touchstone, lending their voices to a call for understanding that resonated well as the riders of the Sunset People reaped their share of Imperial blood on the field of battle.
The accords reached in 1397 Standard Imperial Calendar (SIC) acknowledged the rights of the Sunset People to their traditional roams in perpetuity and reigned in the evangelical Imperial Cults, themselves to face internal strife that would become the Canon Wars less than 15 years later, spilling more Imperial blood than the Sunset People ever had or, if we are to be honest, ever will, while agreeing to let the Empire settle land "between" these roams which had value to its hunger. Though many historians will argue, not without reason, that in the 300-odd years since the Sunset People, having won the wars, slowly but surely lost the peace, their rights have never been fully reneged upon by their former enemy. While some credit can be given to peaceful cultural exchange and a symbiotic relationship between the settlers of this "new west" and the Sunset Peoples, it would be remiss not to mention the no less than four Emperors whose deaths are, legally, at the hands of the Everlasting Lady, the very night after giving orders that would have contravened their agreements.
Unknown to history, the first of those, Empress Hilda Vonn, was actually killed by one of her palace maids in an act of passion for her infidelity to the young woman. But let it never be said that the Everlasting Lady misses a trick when she sees the chance to do her friends a solid.
Your Squad has assets that can be lost or expended, just like named characters do. Your current Squad consists of 9 Sentries and 3 Former Asset Protection Members; Jill and Sasha expend their assets separately, as do you, as does Doctor Hillborough, the young surgeon you're bringing with you and one of your three overall available doctors. These assets are as follows:
Health: Great Morale: Good Ammunition: Abundant Stealth: Limited Extranormal Awareness: Limited
Many hands make light work. Rounding up a dozen volunteers to go save lives is surprisingly easy, and you wonder if they really understand what's at stake before you remember, with a stunning vividness, that most of these people were rescued from Corporate. They do know. They've already had one fate worse than death; what's just dying in comparison? You have to wipe a tear from your eye before anyone else sees it, though Sasha gives you an odd, knowing look. Those not coming relay orders to tighten up the defenses, double the watch, and post snipers on the roof, while others pack ammunition for the warriors or snacks, food, and medicine for the relief effort. You scare up one Doctor Hillborough, a surgeon who just finished his training when the world changed forever; he doesn't have all the tools he'd like, but some of the saws available to him here can cut through bone and that's going to have to be good enough.
You take Jill and Sasha aside into a huddle. Well. "Huddle". Sasha is shorter than Jill and you are shorter than both, you just stand up straight while the two of them bend over so much that the obvious juvenile joke is too easy even for your unrefined sense of humor. Also you're not certain why that joke would be funny. "I'd like the two of you with me," you murmur. "...You've both got good heads on your shoulders, and...I'm not sure I do. I can't lose my shit on this one."
Sasha opens her mouth, but Jill interrupts with a quiet shake of her head, and Sasha closes her mouth again. "You've got me, flower," Jill agrees in a low murmur. "You want a level head insteada doin' somethin' heroic but maybe tactically unsound, right?" Here Jill looks directly at Sasha.
Your newly-buzzcut'd friend seems to receive some kind of message. "Yeah, I can do that," she agrees. "Lemme go pack some guns. Been a hot minute since I won any target shooting prizes but -"
You hug them both fiercely. After a moment, they hug you back, but it can't last; too much to do, too much to see to.
As the team sets out, keeping the fragile and unarmed doctor in the middle of your formation, you get out your phone and open up Threshold Internal again. Let's see, let's see...you can't start a call without including the Captain (she seems to have moderator privileges), so you select her, Nikkie, and this Hoch, as the ones who are most relevant to this operation.
"Orchid, with the relief force," you begin. "We're moving out, ETA 7 hours by the most direct route. We're bringing a surgeon, but if Project Throwback has access to medical tools at the University he passes along his compliments and his request that they be made ready for the most wounded."
Finger off the button finger OFF the button -
"Acknowledged," Nattie says, and the relief in her pained voice isn't hidden at all. "Anything else we should know?"
Finger ON the button: "Three of my combatants are former Asset Protection out of Bayview, long lances of glass extruding from their backs. They are friendlies. Watch your fire."
This time it's the voice that is yours: "Heh. Just like old times, huh. Hey, skank?"
You hesitate. Sasha leans in and puts her finger on the button: "Hey, Sasha with the relief force, we hear you slutbucket please proceed."
It takes you a moment to realize that the wheezing laughter isn't just from you, but also from the voice that is yours. "Gods above," this 'Captain' barely manages, between breaths. "Oh I needed that. Listen. You save Nattie's life, we're square. Keep the arm and the eye. We never gotta talk ever again. But if Hoch gets there and Nikkie's dead? You'll wish for death before I give it to you."
Sasha goes to press the button, red-faced and angry, but you touch her wrist and shake your head.
Finger on the button.
Deep breath.
"Acknowledged. Orchid out."
* * * *
The shorter path is a bit of cunning on Sasha's part. Conventional old-world wisdom would say that the routes through the freeways would be faster, but that's accounting for traffic that no longer exists. Instead, your team exits into what Jill dubs "Uni town"; it had another name, which no one used except on official forms and addresses, and even then evidently a lot of times the municipal government let that shit slide. To your eyes it is a rat's nest of tall buildings, offices, bars, and other such things that support the university and its students, but Jill seems almost wistful about it. The three of you identify some liquor stores nearer to your target which you will hit before you come up on the university gates, themselves a fascinating artifact of ancient architecture; according to Sasha, the place started as a for-real castle, back in the day, and is still accessible only from one direction via a gate at the bottom of the hill.
"Modern military equipment would make the walls a joke," Sasha opines. "But until SWAT shows up, the pigs don't have that."
Three hours into the march you call a rest for fifteen minutes, and get some water into everyone. You go around patting folks on the shoulder, making sure they're doing okay, thanking them for volunteering. You get a lot of nervous smiles.
And then you... (Pick 1)
[ ] Move out
[ ] Take the doctor aside so you can try to describe what you felt via Familiar Strangers
[ ] Stumble on a private conversation between Jill & Sasha
I've been dropping the ball a bit on offering moments to develop some relationships so like any responsible QM permit me to huck it directly at you and deny all responsibility for my failure.
