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The Accumulation of Capital (Syndicate/MCU)

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Tutorial XVI
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    • 4 versus 11 = failure

    In a single smooth motion, you reach up to grab one of the creature's flailing legs only to have your grasping hands snatch air as the animal, sensing your intent, pulls away and continues to sail through the air. A split-second later, the world bursts apart into a kaleidoscope of colours as Shaw's viral grenade activates and your DART chip is assaulted by hundreds of self-modifying viruses.

    With the suddenness of lightning, turquoise, crimson, and jade green lights flash into and out of existence around your head as visual processors are corrupted and repaired at the speed of thought. Meanwhile, deafeninng thunderclaps flare into being with the regularity of a ticking clock as aural filters crash, reboot, and crash again. Instantly your slide, once powerful and controlled, slips into a tumble and with a bone-rattling crack, you fall to the ground in a cloud of pain.

    A heartbeat later the world returns to normal as your DART chip starts rebooting, and you find yourself lying flat on the ground in a disorienting haze of nausea and pain. After what feels like hours of aimless confusion, you remember the murderous animal with a start, and the icy clarity of fear and adrenaline floods into your veins and banishes the haze. Slowly rising to your unsteady feet, you turn around and catch sight of your team pressed against the walls of the corridor —guns hanging forgotten on their straps— and shaking their heads as if trying to get water out of their ears. Before you can call out to them, some dark, shapeless mass twitches in the dark gulf that lies between you and your team, and you realise with a start that the same counter-viral process going on in your head must surely be going on in the Hyena's.

    What do you do? - 30 minute vote
    [] Try to kill the Hyena-thing now while it's stunned.
    [] Go to Johansen and make sure that he's alright.
    [] Wait to get your strength back and then kill it.
    [] Wait for your weapons to finish rebooting and then kill it.
     
    Last edited:
  • Threadmarks
    • Actually, it's pretty late, so I'll finish this tomorrow.
     
    [x] Wait to get your strength back and then kill it.

    This thing's strength is more genetic than ours, hopefully it will be stunned longer.
     
    [x] Wait to get your strength back and then kill it.

    No idea how to proceed. Regaining strength seems like a faster process than rebooting the weapons, though, given how much more money goes into making of an Agent.
     
    Tutorial XVII
  • Threadmarks
    • [x] Wait to get your strength back and then kill it.
    No. of Votes: 4
    Asmodemus
    ALanos
    Navarque
    Nevill

    Winner total: 4

    Propping yourself up against a nearby wall, you watch the Hyena-thing warily as its barrel-like chest rises and falls in time with its ragged breathing and occasionally spasming as the tortured animal shudders powerfully, a keening whine sounding out every time it does so. As time passes, the rest of your team recovers from the debilitating effects of the viral grenade and check on Johansen's prone body while eying the Hyena for any sign of movement. With an encouraging thumbs up to you, and apparently satisfied that the hyena isn't just playing dead, Niall and Asha grab Johansen's prone body before retreat further down the corridor until they've cleared a wide gap between them and the thing's twitching body.

    With glacial slowness, you feel strength begin to return to your limbs and presently they stop shaking quite so embarrassingly. After a moment of feeling sorry for yourself and with the hyena's shudders and whines steadily getting weaker, you decide that you've waited long enough and push yourself away from the wall with a half-hearted exhalation before cautiously picking your way towards the animal and arriving beside it.

    Now that you can get a close look at what's been done to the animal's body, you almost feel sorry for it. Everywhere you look you see electrical burns, long ribbons of scar tissue from countless surgeries, and oozing lesions. Given the single-minded aggression it showed toward you, you're also pretty sure it has a DART-derivative plugged into its brain, stimulating the part responsible for the fight part of fight-or-flight, and giving it directions like a laser guided bomb. Since New Epoch cultists probably couldn't afford half of the things you're pretty sure are plugged into its body and brain, let alone get their hands on a hyena, you're pretty sure that Cayman-Global are responsible for this god awful mess of a weapon. Sighing, and with a feeling like something doesn't add up, you kneel down and finish the job before it can wake up. It's neither pleasant nor clean.

    Rising up from the animal's cooling body, you join the others around Johansen and breathe a sigh of relief as he twitches back to life in response to an adrenaline shot from Asha. Carefully, you listen to Asha as she tells you that the hyena broke his shooting arm in two places when it bit him and that its charge probably bruised a good number of his ribs. If you're honest, it could be a lot worse considering that liquid armour wasn't made to stop an animal that can crack giraffe bones with its jaw before it's modified. Still, Johansen's broken arm is a problem and with a curt order which he gladly follows, you send him to the back of the team and take his place up front before continuing your interrupted advance.

    Suddenly, the bright blue interface of your DART chip springs back into life with a musical tone and a moment later, to your great annoyance, the too-cheery tone of an incoming call follows it. Opening it, the haggard face of Collin Florence, the Scottish leader of the distraction team, pops into view in the top right of your vision and his thick brogue starts flowing before you have a chance to ask for a report.

    "We've got a problem, boss," he says so quickly that his words flow into each other.

    "We've taken out the original guards but more guys keep popping up like weasels from below. Every time we think we've beaten them back with more men and-" For a moment he seems to squint at you before swearing loudly.

    "Hold a mo'." He says, and an instant later a long burst of tinny fire jackhammers into your head before cutting off as quickly as it appeared.

    "Sorry boss, they tried to pull a fast one on us. Anyway, like I said they keep coming back with more men and heavier gear, and it looks like they've got a patrol coming around behind us. I dunno how long we can keep them distracted like this before we start dropping. I think we've gotta pull back, ya ken?"


    How do you respond? - 30 minute vote
    [] Order the distraction team to pull a fighting retreat and fall back from the base. It might piss off your superiors, but your team is the only one that can stop whatever it is these bastards have planned.
    [] Order them to stand and fight. This is too damn important to let things like sentiment get in the way. You don't know what'll happen if you fail here, but you know that it won't be good.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • [x] Order the distraction team to pull a fighting retreat and fall back from the base. It might piss off your superiors, but your team is the only one that can stop whatever it is these bastards have planned.

    Can we get a list of who's on what team and what they are armed with?
     
    Nevill said:
    [x] Order the distraction team to pull a fighting retreat and fall back from the base. It might piss off your superiors, but your team is the only one that can stop whatever it is these bastards have planned.

    Can we get a list of who's on what team and what they are armed with?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Yep, it'll just take a little bit of time.
     
    Team Status
  • Threadmarks
    • Distraction Team:

    collin florence
    Weapons: Takoshi Light Machine Gun, APP-3 Semi-Automatic Pistol.
    Armour: Reactive Armour (40% effectiveness remaining).
    Special: N/A
    Status: Active.


    simone howcroft
    Weapons: Kusanagi ACR-10 Assault Rifle, APP-3 Semi-Automatic Pistol.
    Armour: Liquid Armour (80% effectiveness remaining).
    Special: EWAR gear (2x viral grenades and 1x EMP grenade remaining).
    Status: Active.


    jessica li
    Weapons: LTB Thermite Gun, APP-3 Semi-Automatic Pistol.
    Armour: Reactive Armour (50% effectiveness remaining).
    Special: N/A.
    Status: Active.


    eddard sampson
    Weapons: EMWS-56 Gauss Gun, APP-3 Semi-Automatic Pistol.
    Armour: Liquid Armour (70% effectiveness remaining).
    Special: N/A.
    Status: Wounded (sprained wrist, bruised ribs).


    shaun tan
    Weapons: Takoshi Light Machine Gun, APP-3 Semi-Automatic Pistol.
    Armour: Reactive Armour (65% effectiveness remaining).
    Special: N/A.
    Status: Active.



    Infiltration Team:

    asha idowu
    Weapons: Modified Kusanagi ACR-10 Assault Rifle (Silenced), APP-3 Semi-Automatic Pistol (Silenced).
    Armour: Standard issue EuroCorp Enforcer armour
    Special: N/A
    Status: Active.


    shaun johansen
    Weapons: TAR-39 Assault Rifle (Silenced), APP-3 Semi-Automatic Pistol (Silenced).
    Armour: Liquid Armour (70% effectiveness remaining).
    Special: N/A
    Status: Wounded (broken arm, bruised ribs).


    kylie niall
    Weapons: TAR-39 Assault Rifle (Silenced), APP-3 Semi-Automatic Pistol (Silenced).
    Armour: Liquid Armour (100% effectiveness remaining).
    Special: N/A
    Status: Active.


    leopold shaw
    Weapons: TAR-39 Assault Rifle (Silenced), APP-3 Semi-Automatic Pistol (Silenced).
    Armour: Standard issue EuroCorp Enforcer armour
    Special: EWAR gear (3x viral grenades and 2x EMP grenade remaining).
    Status: Active.


    you
    Weapons: TAR-39 Assault Rifle (Silenced), APP-3 Semi-Automatic Pistol (Silenced).
    Armour: Standard issue EuroCorp Enforcer armour
    Special: N/A
    Status: Active.

     
  • Threadmarks
    • So our best gear is with the Distraction Team, huh. Makes me want to reconsider and order them to stand to the last buxx man.
     
    Tutorial XVIII
  • Threadmarks
    • [x] Order the distraction team to pull a fighting retreat and fall back from the base. It might piss off your superiors, but your team is the only one that can stop whatever it is these bastards have planned.
    No. of Votes: 1
    Nevill

    With your order sent and a clock now ticking, you take your rifle back from Asha and order your team to follow you on the double before turning and jogging down the corridor. With silence sacrificed for speed, meter after meter of shadowy corridor now flies past you with the tattoo of rubber soles on bare steel, and slowly you begin to feel the air around you warm until it's back to a more humane temperature. After only half a minute or so of this most unstealthy movement, the darkness of the corridor starts to lessen as a dim white light fades into view from up ahead. With a sharp gesture of your hand, you order the others to stop before slowing down yourself to a cautious advance, rifle held at the ready.

    Blinking, you emerge into the dim white light of a hexagonal room easily five meters across and three high. Looking around in marked surprise at the suddenness of the change, you see that in every wall bar one lies the entrance to a corridor identical to your own, while the one free wall has a series of rungs welded into it that lead up towards what looks like a metal sheet. From out of the tunnel to your right, you can hear vague snatches of conversation from at least two people, South Americans by the sounds of it, while from above you comes the sputtering of emergency generators.

    If you had to guess, you'd say that you've stumbled into a transfer junction for the 'bots that use the tunnels.

    What now? - 1-hour vote
    [] Climb up the ladder.
    [] Go down the tunnel towards the voices.
    [] Write in?
     
  • Threadmarks
    • [x] Climb up the ladder.

    I think the gunship is long overdue. If this doesn't disable AA-defence, I don't know what will.
     
    Tutorial XIX
  • Threadmarks
    • [x] Climb up the ladder.
    No. of Votes: 2
    Nevill
    Navarque
    Total No. of Voters: 2

    Signaling the rest of your team to fall in behind you, you stride over to the ladder and give one of the rungs an experimental tug. Satisfied that it's (probably) not going to come loose and drop you on your arse, you sling your rifle over your shoulder and withdraw your APP-3 from its holster before mounting the ladder and looking up towards the hidden generators.

    "You guys know what to do if I get shot in the face, right?" You idly ask your team.

    "Avenge you?" Offers Johansen, with a somewhat forced grin.

    "Complain to management, duh." Says Asha seriously.

    "Ha, ha," you drawl as you start climbing.

    "This is going in your performance reports."

    Luckily, your face remains unshot and soon find yourself only a few centimetres below the metal plate which separates you from the generators above. Giving the plate a light push, you're pleased to discover that it isn't locked. Either Cayman-Global's security made a big oversight when it came to securing this place or else they never expected anyone to be able to try sneaking in while simultaneously setting the front door on fire.

    With a slow and careful push, you raise the steel plate a few centimetres into the air. In front of you, stretching as far as you can see, is a cavernous concrete and steel chamber filled with alternating rows of batteries and generators. On top of each man-sized battery you see, a single one of which could power a home for at least a year, sprouts a complex web of power and data-cables which wire them together into a single network that could probably keep this place supplied through a nuclear war and beyond. The generators, meanwhile, are linked together by fuel pipes thicker than your arm and sprout evacuation pipes that run so hot you can see the heat shimmering off of them.

    Behind you, meanwhile, lies an armoured door that likely leads out into the base-complex proper. Given the size of the room and the fact that none of it is visible from underground, you guess that between the excitement of the fight with the hyena and the general darkness of the service corridor, you must have been travelling downwards for quite a while before you found the junction.
    =====

    Could I get a 3D6 to check the room?
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Tutorial XX
  • Threadmarks
    • 13 versus 11 = success!

    As you check the room for any potential hostiles, you freeze as you hear a quiet humming coming from somewhere nearby. Activating your DART overlay for a moment, you're almost overwhelmed by the amount of electrical activity flooding the room until your DART filters out the majority and reduces it from blinding bright to merely annoying. Slowly, a thin-lipped smile spreads on your face as you spot an out of place device seemingly hovering in mid-air. Given its size, the dense collection of EM sources it has, and the estimated storage capacity, it's probably something like a diagnostic rather than a gun and right now, its owner is standing behind a battery and is completely unaware of you.

    That gives you options.

    [] Climb out and attempt to capture them. They might have some useful intel.
    [] Climb out and shoot them while they're unaware of you. You can't risk them alerting others.
    [] Climb out and get them to bugger off. It's irrelevant what they do, this place is going to get pounded into dust as soon as you shut down the generators.
    [] Write in?

    Edit: I'll be resolving this tomorrow as it's midnight and I am dumb for staying up so late :V
     
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Climb out and shoot them while they're unaware of you. You can't risk them alerting others.
     
    [x] Climb out and shoot them while they're unaware of you. You can't risk them alerting others.

    G'night, sweet prince.
     
    On one hand, we might have been had by our execs - there are things here that don't match the intel we were given.
    On another, the less questions you ask, the sounder you sleep. We aren't paid to ask questions. Hmm.

    [X] Climb out and attempt to capture them. They might have some useful intel.

    Eh, alright, I'll bite.
     
    Hmm, looks like we have a draw for now. Does anyone mind casting a deciding vote?
     
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