[IC] MnM 3e - In the Shadow of Imperator: Deadline

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Sakuro
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Re: [IC] MnM 3e - In the Shadow of Imperator:Terrible Purpose

Post by Sakuro »

Diego reaches out to Colonel Costa through the cyber-neural network that connects all of the Ascendants. As he does his world goes black. Goes silent. Then, within his mind's eye, he precieves a vertially shifted storm, stretched out and thin until the storm composed the egdes of a oval shaped portal with wrippling gray water at the center. The storm-portal pulled at Diego with irresistible force, drawing him into the portal. He is ripped from his own mind and then … and explosion.

It is dark. Diego is wearing fatigues. A breastplate of body armor. An exo-frame and tactical helmet. There is a mag rifle in her hands. He is hunkered down behind some rocks outside of a gates in a mountain compound that had just been blown open. Around him are similarly attired soldiers and, giving attack orders not too far off is Colonel Costa, using gestures to emphasize her commands. There is a woman talking her. A Sergeant. Then the Colonel shouts for any stragglers to 'move it!' before moving in on the gate herself.

Everyone else sees Diego go solid as he crouched down near Reaper. Then his form goes limp and begins to fall to the ground. Before making contact his physical form breaks apart turning into a black cloud that hovers low to the floor like a menacing fog.
OOC wrote:Diego is pulled into Colonel Costa's mindscape. Make a DC 20 Will check. If he fails the save, Diego does not realize he is Diego and thinks he is just another soldier under the Colonel's command. Diego also get's 1 HP.

Yes, Reaper can be placed on her own table. There are five tables with built in scanning equipment in the room. Iona is not physically strong, however, and Diego just went unconscious and reverted to his base for: a cloud. She will need help moving Reaper. Diego … dealing with him will require some unusual means.
It is as Iona starts in on sharing her theories and ideas with Peter and Dr. Sokolov, when Peter looks over to the doctor it is perhaps the first time he actually looked at the man since leaving the Ascension chamber. As he does he notices for the first time there are hundreds of AR monitors floating around Sokolov and an array of control icons that he manipulates during his work. To everyone else Dr. Sokolov is making unusual gestures with no apparent purpose. To Peter, he is interfacing with a very complex AR system.

"Good observation Iona. Sooner or later Null always abandons those who need and trust in them. Usually when they need them most."

Dr. Sokolov responds to Iona when she comments on Null's recent actions and Diego responds with warnings of Null's displeasure. He looks at neither party, however. Instead his gaze roams over the space around him as is looking for something. Later, after attention is draw to Reaper's condition, and later Diego's, he actually focuses his attention on the scene. Rather than concerned he appears intrigued.

"A curious development. Yes. See what you can find out. You are full of so many ideas, but gather information before proscribing a course of action my dear. Look before you leap and all."
OOC wrote:To assess the unconscious state of Colonel Costa and Reaper make a Physician roll and a Technology roll. Peter may lead the Tech roll, and if Iona wants to she may Aid.

If you want to just start defibrillating them with the intent to wake them, proceed. There are options built into the tables to allow for this. In this instance make a Treatment roll and a Technology rolll.
After a minute Dr. Sokolov speaks up again, and as he does he points at the monitors that had been brought up at the center of the room earlier. New data feeds into the screens showing portions of diagnostic data during the Ascension process and what Peter and Iona had gathered more recently from the Colonel during their more details scans. Further, there are meteorological readings.

"Look at this. The storm began near the end of the Ascension process. About the time she started yelling in the chamber. Following the rise of energetic absorption since her exit from the chamber, there is a parallel increase to the size of the storm. She must be creating the meteorological changes. Whatever she is drawing on to fuel this, it is considerably more than ambient energy. More than the just western hemisphere's power grid."
Evelyn Gracen, in AEGIS Squad
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Re: [IC] MnM 3e - In the Shadow of Imperator:Terrible Purpose

Post by EnigmaticOne »

Peter Ezima
HP: 2
COND: -1, Staggered

Peter, though somewhat mentally removed from expression of past emotions - physically showing them anyway - had to cut off the temptation to curse as Diego went down too. In his gaseous state, he was unreadable, but for now start with Alex/Reaper. "Hitori, please move Alex onto one of the other tables."

A corner of his mind filed away the note that Dr. Sokolov was too using augmented reality, though whether this was due to similar Ascendant abilities or his own technological developments was yet unknown. Sokolov's estimates of the sheer amount of energy in play confirmed his belief that containment was not feasible.

Sleeping, shock or stupor, the Colonel had to be brought out of it - but Peter needed as much information as possible to determine how this was best accomplished.
Assessing their state: Technology: 1d20+16 32
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mrdent12
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Re: [IC] MnM 3e - In the Shadow of Imperator:Terrible Purpose

Post by mrdent12 »

Diego Gonzalez
HP: 2
CND: -2 toughness
Form: mist


Her Ascension dream or nightmare...Colonel Costas mind must have been trapped in it unlike his own which he escaped. He wasn't foolish enough to assume he was the only one to experience a vision...no dream. Costas was more like a nightmare though. Diego was almost dragged into it as well before reaffirming his mission and digging into his core belief in the mission. Costas had to escape it and he was going to help her. She had to remember the mission.

Whatever fueled them in their Ascension forms must be going in overdrive with the colonel and drawing in the storms plus the power. So maybe freeing her mind would free what was left of her body. While he didn't know who that seargent talking to Costa was, he didn't have time to ask for introductions. Costas was on the move.

Sprinting in the armour he had only read about in intelligence reports, he recalled the whole thing about all life being the dream of a butterfly or evil demon depending on who you asked. Right now, it was the dream of a kindred Ascended who needed help. Surprisingly, the suit was very responsive. "Wake up colonel! You need to wake up!", screamed Diego as he leveled his mag rifle and shot at one or two enemy soldiers along the way.
Will save 17 That won't do for someone who is more willful than most
Will save 28 although a roll wasn't really required as he would have passed no matter the roll...
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Supernaturalist
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Re: [IC] MnM 3e - In the Shadow of Imperator:Terrible Purpose

Post by Supernaturalist »

Iona
HP:2
Cnd: Normal
PP:0

A lot is happening all at once. The various candidates -one by one - appear to collapse into unconsciousness. The one called "Diego" seems to fall before de-solidifying into a dark cloud. How on Earth do we monitor him in that state?

The young woman looks over to the monstrous figure named "Hitori". "Hitori! Your strength is needed. Please place the one called "Alex" up onto an examination table! The table next to me here is fine."

Iona then looks to Peter. "You can make walls. Can you make containers? One to hold Diego and place him on a table?"

So, the Doctor says that the storm is not "feeding" the Colonel, but the other way around. What power source is she drawing from?
Could I safely "shock" her out of her unconscious state?

OOC: Here's my Physican roll to assess the unconscious state of Reaper and the Colonel: Supernaturalist:1D20+15 → 25(10 + 15). So, a 25. Here is my technology roll to Aid Peter: Supernaturalist:1D20+9 → 18(9 + 9). So, an 18.
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Re: [IC] MnM 3e - In the Shadow of Imperator:Terrible Purpose

Post by Nareik123 »

Reaper
HP: 2

Reaper sketched a salute when the Colonel gave her instructions. She knew that this wasn't real l, she knew that this was all imaginary but at the same time, she also had a hunch that whatever this was, was some kind of mental construct of the Colonels battle with whatever was going on with her post Ascension. She had to win this battle, whatever she was doing. And distracting them would be catastrophic. She nodded and gave a few orders for squaddies to follow her in a textbook advance pattern she had done routinely. Then she heard Diego start yelling at Costa. This caught Reaper by surprise, someone followed her into the neural link. Of course, it made sense but Reaper did want to slap the man. Instead she made for Diego, keeping him and the area covered with her mag rifle. When she got close, she yelled in her most drill sergeant esque voice.
"Trooper Diego, with me!"
OOC: Expertise Soldier to try and recognise the battle.https://orokos.com/roll/725007 24 in total.[/quote{
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Camus
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Hitori Zanzo

Post by Camus »

Image
HP: 1
LP: 2-1: 1
CND:

Hitori simply nods and proceeds to place people where he is instructed. He had little understanding of everything that was going on, and decided to leave it to the experts.
心のコスモ を 抱きしめて 遥かな 銀河 へ
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Sakuro
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Re: [IC] MnM 3e - In the Shadow of Imperator:Terrible Purpose

Post by Sakuro »

OOC wrote:Peter does not have access to his Array right now. He can't Create anything.

With Iona's Aid, Peter's roll is raised by +2, to 34.
The psychology of the Ascendants is unlike anything else that exists in the world. Iona has no precedence to compare to. The neuroactivity from both Reaper and Costa is very active, however. As though they are still processing and thinking through things. What effect would shocking them have? It might just end up hurting them from what she can tell. There she can see nothing to suggest that electro-shock would be beneficial.

The scanners on the table are unable to register the cyber-neural network that Peter knows exists between the Ascendants. Despite this he can see from the scanner's readings that the Reaper and the Colonel's nanites have synchronized. While their physical compositions remain unique, the signals each nanite network are sending amongst the individual person have become identical. It as though they are doing, or experiencing, the exact same thing or working towards the same goal.

A moment later, there is discord. Signals show distress, and the two nanite networks begin reacting as though to some outside threat. Physically Reaper and Costa's bodies jerk and Diego's cloud-form churns violently …


In Costa's mindscape Diego rushes onto the scene, firing off his weapon and calling out to the Colonel, urging her to wake up. Silvia has passed through the blast doors when she hears him. Pausing the Colonel turns in Diego's direction, a cross look on her face. It looks like she is about to scold him. Then there is gunfire. The Colonel is hit with a spray of rifle fire while she is distracted by Diego's shouting. There is a flash of pain, as though Diego and Reaper had been shot themselves. Then the world resets.

There is an explosion. A blast door in a mountain complex is blown open. You are hunkered down behind cover. The Colonel is shouting orders to a group of soldiers, which you are apart of. Attack orders. Her right hand motions through the air to emphasize her commands.
OOC wrote:Reaper realizes that the mountain complex they are attacking is the Cheyenne Mountain Complex (that is a link to the wiki page) in Colorado. Reaper also knows that during the war there was an attack launched against this site, though it resulted in a withdrawal without the assault's objective being achieved. What that objective is, Reaper does not know.

Reaper, Diego … make a DC 25 Will check. This is a Damage effect.
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Camus
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Hitori Zanzo

Post by Camus »

Image
HP: 1
LP: 2-1: 1
CND:

Hitori looks blankly at Iona with his soulless eye sockets. "Funny, you are dead." he muses mostly to himself. This was not a time to be interrupting the efforts of both the robotic woman.
心のコスモ を 抱きしめて 遥かな 銀河 へ
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Re: [IC] MnM 3e - In the Shadow of Imperator:Terrible Purpose

Post by mrdent12 »

Diego Gonzalez
HP: 2
CND: -2 toughness
Form: mist


So she was trapped in her own mind loop? Diego was on the other side during the war a lot in deep cover, so he wasn't sure which battles Sanders had been a part of or if this was even a battle she had really fought. It might have been symbolism of some kind. Still, someone saying his name certainly snapped him out of it. Before he could find the voice though it all reset.

So it started with a rush over the trenches so to speak. If waking her up didn't work, he would need to keep Costas safe. Rushing on command, he tries to stay close to the colonel as he thinks a normal soldier would without looking suspicious. Keeping his weapon raised, he stays vigilant for any weapons aimed at her. Whoever screamed his name may have been another Ascendant, possibly Alex...Reaper, so hopefully they got the idea. The last think Diego wanted to dow as distract Costas again.
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Re: [IC] MnM 3e - In the Shadow of Imperator:Terrible Purpose

Post by Supernaturalist »

Iona
HP:2
Cnd: Normal
PP:0

Iona is fearful of attempting to"awakening" the Colonel through an electric shock. Whatever is going on within their minds, the young cyborg sees no other safe alternative but to let the "dream" play out.

The slow death of the Colonel's nanite-body cannot continue, however. The woman could quite possibly perish before her dream ends. The energy that was killing her nanite-body had to be reduced, stopped, or absorbed. The first two require accessing the energy-source, which seems impossible to Iona. The last is more plausible, but still not very easy.
OOC: Is there a technological option on the high-tech examination-table that will allow Iona to cool - either through chemical, refrigeration, or any other means - the body of Colonel Costa? If not, then I'm gonna have to get creative with the use of my powers. Although I'm finding a viable power stunt that could dampen or absorb kinetic energy to be difficult to justify given my powers. On the other hand...Peter could encase the Colonel in ice. That's an inorganic material. If there are no table-options then I'll proceed to the dialogue below.
"Peter, I fear that the Colonel's body might not survive the dream-state she is experiencing. We need to buy her time to resolve this state and awaken. Could you encase her in a cold-material...ice perhaps? We need to bring her temperature just low enough that her nanite-based physiology can survive and repair itself."
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Re: [IC] MnM 3e - In the Shadow of Imperator:Terrible Purpose

Post by EnigmaticOne »

Peter Ezima
HP: 2
COND: -1, Staggered

On the one hand, Peter might concede that Iona had a point and something of that sort might be necessary - at least the synchronization suggested that when it ended, Alex and Diego would recover as well. On the other hand, her questions butted up against the problem that Null had removed those abilities and left, leaving him handicapped (and the clear instructions to not give away Ascendant secrets).

"I don't think I can yet." was the safest he could come up with. "Perhaps the facility has tools that can aid here."
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Nareik123
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Re: [IC] MnM 3e - In the Shadow of Imperator:Terrible Purpose

Post by Nareik123 »

Reaper
HP: 1


Alex watched as Costa got shot, then the world reset. She felt the pain of the wound as if she was the one who recieved it, but through gritted teeth and raw determination to not let down the colonel, she bit back the pain and raised the mag rifle. She listened to the Colonel as she gave out orders, before grabbing the attention of local squadies and ordering them to follow her in a loud drill sergeant voice. She kept pace with Diego, following the colonel, attempting to keep her pattern as erratic and as jerky as possible to try to jink enemy shots without really changing direction, she kept her eyes out for enemy personnel, ordering her makeshift squad if people would listen to her to check their fire sectors to keep any enemies off Costa's back. If one thing made sense to Reaper, Costa must truimph in this illusion, and Reaper will do anything she can to keep the Colonel fighting.
OOC: Will Save is 14 https://orokos.com/roll/725285. Pop a Hero point to re-roll that. New roll is exactly 25 with the HP re-roll bonus.. https://orokos.com/roll/725286.
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Re: [IC] MnM 3e - In the Shadow of Imperator:Terrible Purpose

Post by Sakuro »

Peter and Iona are left to their own devices, studying Reaper and Colonel Costa's neural pattersn and the Colonel's body without interuption from Dr. Sokolov. At least for awhile. Once the two of them start brainstorming ideas out in the open Sokolov pulls his attention away from his own work to listen to what Iona is saying.

"I have a cryo-containment unit here that should be adequate for your idea. It isn't designed for someone of the Colonel's physical make up … or the energy build up she is experiencing. You will need to make adjustments yourself."

The doctor's left hand then rose in Iona's direction and gauntlet covered fingers fluttered through the air. Peter could see him manipulating some AR icons … though the iconography rapidly changed. Too fast for him to make sense of. Then a flick of the wrist was given and something flew into Iona. Iona experienced this as a digital key uploading into her. Something that would allow her access to another room on this floor, which she suddenly knew the location of.

"The cryo-containment unit and nothing less."

Dr. Sokolov warned, then returned to his own work.
OOC wrote:Peter and Iona … Hitori just told Iona that she was dead. How do you characters react to that statement?

When Iona makes use of the cryo-containment unit, she will need to make an Expertise Science check to manually adjust it's settings or make tweaks to it to suite Colonel Costa's unique psychology and the rising energy build up.
The people in Costa's mindscape do react to your actions, according to your rank and your relation to them. Enemies fire on you … not just the Colonel. Lower ranking personnel follow orders from Reaper. Diego has no rank, so his orders are ignored, and in fact he's told to shut up and fall in line if he tries to boss around someone with an actual rank listed on their armor. Following the maxim of the modern general, Colonel Costa does not lead from the front. Only after her orders are handed out does she commit herself to the battle, and from a central position rather than point or rear.

The blast doors of the mountain complex were breached right away. Guards taken out quickly both inside and out. Then your assault force moved in. Without being distracted by Diego this time, the Colonel is able to avoid being shot by a hidden gunner making good use of cover. The distance to the doors is covered quickly. You're inside now. Dust from the initial breaching round that blew open the door forms a sparse cloud around your knees. The attack was a surprise and defenders are not as entrenched as they could have been. Surviving guards are pulling back, attempting to secure a door at the end of the hall to block your progress. One rips a grenade off his belt and tosses it at your advancing party …
OOC wrote:Reaper and Diego are both intent on helping Colonel Costa achieve whatever her goal is. Rather than play out a dungeon crawl, we're going to run this mostly narratively.

How this will play out is I will describe an obstacle for you, then you will each describe how you try to overcome it and make a roll with a trait you feel is fitting for how your character would overcome that obstacle (Attack for attacking enemies, Stealth for sneaking, Expertise Soldier for coordinating a squad, etc.). There will be a base DC (which will remain hidden). Depending on how well suited I feel the trait you used is to overcoming the obstacle I may either raise or lower the DC for your character.

The goal will be to achieve 6 successes between the two of you before you get 5 failed checks. Flavorwise, each time one of you fails a check something bad happens to the Colonel, then mindscape resets. But you are able to proceed through events with the knowledge you have gained and adjust your strategies.

Presently, aside from normal combat issues, you have a grenade being tossed at your group, and some soldiers trying to close a security door to bar your passage.
Evelyn Gracen, in AEGIS Squad
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Re: [IC] MnM 3e - In the Shadow of Imperator:Terrible Purpose

Post by Supernaturalist »

Iona
HP:1
Cnd: Normal
PP:0

Iona is deep in thought when Hitori makes a comment about her being "dead". It takes a few seconds for his words to "process" given her concentration on other things.

"Wait...what? I'm not 'dead'....artificial perhaps, but not dead. I do not know if I am programmed to feel "aware" or if I really am aware, but the Good Doctor has done a wonderful..." Iona is suddenly interrupted by Dr. Sokolov's words.
Sakuro wrote: Thu May 09, 2019 4:40 pm
"I have a cryo-containment unit here that should be adequate for your idea. It isn't designed for someone of the Colonel's physical make up … or the energy build up she is experiencing. You will need to make adjustments yourself."

"The cryo-containment unit and nothing less."

Dr. Sokolov warned, then returned to his own work.
OOC wrote: When Iona makes use of the cryo-containment unit, she will need to make an Expertise Science check to manually adjust it's settings or make tweaks to it to suite Colonel Costa's unique psychology and the rising energy build up.
"Yes, Doctor..." Iona says turning her gaze from Hitori to Dr. Sokolov, "...I'll retrieve the cryo-unit and nothing else." At that, she hurries out of the main lab and down the hall just a few doors to a storage room. Full of various advanced technological devices, Iona is aware of the cryo-unit only by the grace of Dr. Sokolov's signal.

Wow. That looks a little heavy. I won't be able to carry that thing. But this should do it.

OOC: Iona will use her Move Object power within her Magnetic Control array to bring the cryo-unit to the main lab. If this is not feasible, then I'll edit my post.
Iona re-enters the laboratory with a bulky, cuboid object floating behind her. The object has a keyboard and monitor built into it. As she reaches the center of the room, Iona moves her right hand around and points at the base of Colonel Costa's table. The heavy object glides over beside the examination table before gently coming to a rest on the floor.

Iona then glances back to the hulking abomination that is Hitori. "I don't mean to be rude, but you are the strongest thing...er...person in the room. Could I trouble you to place the Colonel in the cryo-unit and then place the whole unit back on top of the examination table?"
OOC: Assuming that Hitori obliges, I'll proceed with the adjustments to the cryo-unit once the Colonel is inside. Now for my Expertise: Science Roll to make the proper modifications to the unit: Supernaturalist:1D20+15 → 20(5 + 15). So, a 20. I don't like the roll, so I'll use a HP. I'm down to 1 HP now. Supernaturalist:1D20+15 → 16(1 + 15). I get to add 10 to my new roll since it was less than 10. So, my final roll is a 26.
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Re: [IC] MnM 3e - In the Shadow of Imperator:Terrible Purpose

Post by EnigmaticOne »

Peter Ezima
HP: 2->1
COND: -1, Staggered

Peter gave Hitori a disapproving look, as the man-monster still couldn't keep from making potentially offensive comments at a time like this. Of course, he meant, and what that meant regarding Iona, was something Peter would ask the specifics of at a much later and private time.

Iona gracefully let it go and brought in the cryo-box. Once it was set up Peter prepared to monitor the data feeding back and use it to help fine-tune the modifications.
Aid with Technology and -5 modifier:
Aid: 1d20+11 17
HP reroll: 1d20+11 16+10 = 26
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