[IC] Four Horsemen: Wager

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mrdent12
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Re: [IC] Four Horsemen: Black Gold

Post by mrdent12 »

Kaito sees signs of life on one of the terminals that he missed before. It was faint, but happened to be the comms relay which they must have not even noticed was still powered. By the looks of he place, it probably didn't get much use when it was fully functional due to the lack of windows. Getting into the terminal is trivial enough and once everything is connected the broadcast is setup.

Back around the rig, the final alarm goes off as best any of the Horsemen can tell. Either the others fixed the damage done in the short amount of time the thralls had a chance to do it or just turned off the alarms. In either event, it likely means they are going to converge on Leon soon.
AP 21
Kaito 20
LR 19
Garald 18 <======
RG 13
Cognagion 4
MJ 4
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Sakuro
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Re: [IC] Four Horsemen: Black Gold

Post by Sakuro »

Garald Medvedev
HP: 0
CND: Healthy


The alarms ceased. Garald's cheek muscles clenched. They needed more time to blend one diversion into another. Giving the entire enemy force the opertunity to swarm over Cognagion's position wasn't worth the risk of loosing what they had already gained. So Garald tersely spoke over their Horsemen's mental link.

"Our distraction has expired. Soon the entire enemy force is going to converge on Cognagion. We can't let them have both items. I'm calling it, we're exfiltration."

Garald didn't wait for a response. As soon as the message was sent he broke away from his melee opponent and flew at Cognagion. Grabbing him up in the crook of his left arm the flying Russain didn't stop. Putting on the speed he bolted into the rig's interior, flew down hallways and corridors until he came to the terminal Kaito had just finished setting up and picked his entroptic misty form up with one hand. Then they were gone. Launching out of the oil rig, into the sky, and towards the horizon.

"Get the ring ready."
OOC wrote:Garald switches his Dynamic Array into full Flight speed, grabs Cognagion, grabs Kaito (he can physically interact with Incorporeal things), then flies off into the horizon. Using both his Move and Standard Action.


EDIT:
Here is an attack roll in case Kaito wants to resist Garald carrying him off. In that case he'd be using All-out Attack -/+5.

Grab Kaito AoA -5 Def/+5 to DC: 1D20+14 = [18]+14 = 32 That'll be DC 25 Strength or Dodge to resist the Grab Action.
Dynamic Array wrote: Flight 12, Enhanced Advantage 1 [Move-by Action] * 25
Last edited by Sakuro on Wed Oct 14, 2020 2:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
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mrdent12
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Re: [IC] Four Horsemen: Black Gold

Post by mrdent12 »

Garalds speed allows for all the Horsemen to be quickly pulled far from the rig. No one seems to give any chase either because they can't or have other more pressing saving people type priorities. Whichever the case, they are too far to see what is going on at the rig. It's open water, the shore, and the rig is a spec on the horizon. Likely not knowing the bracelet had been swiped already, Angelsteins eyes went to Leon as everyone left. The delay had worked well enough as he had intended even if their plan didn't quite work out.
AP 21
Kaito 20
LR 19
Garald 18
RG 13
Cognagion 4 <======
MJ 4
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Doctor Malsyn
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Re: [IC] Four Horsemen: Black Gold

Post by Doctor Malsyn »

Image The Cognagion
2 HP | LP 1
Status: Fatigued
-—o—-

"Ack-" Most thoughts of revenge are plunged straight out the window as Gerald snags him out of nowhere. Instead they were replaces with feelings of rage, and Rodger continued to struggle within Gerald's grasp the whole while. "Damnit, no! They had no idea that I could do this, but you just revealed it to them by singling me out! Gerald, Put me back, I need to, I need to fix this! I have to fix everything before it-"

On and on he rambles, becoming increasingly frantic, up until and after the Ring is used to take them away.
Last edited by Doctor Malsyn on Wed Oct 14, 2020 5:29 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: [IC] Four Horsemen: Black Gold

Post by Flynnarrel »

Kaito, in his corporeal form, holds up a hand to forestall Garald's exfiltration indicating his delicate set up to allow Rodger-Mike to cover their escape. At the speed of thought he conveys that if they want to leave he can catch up, but if they pause there's a small chance the Dove-Bearer would appear in this room and they can be ready. Either way, they can just use the ring from here if they're leaving.
No way Kaito can beat that.
Kaito is dismayed when Garalad's preternaturally strong arm, irresistable force that it was, encircled him. On the surface, the only choice now seemed to be whether to leave the tablet with it's connection to the comm port, or keep hold of it and let the flimsy AUX cable be ripped from the console. But Kaito knew what HE could do wih one of the electronics from the other team - the geocached data could let the other side know exactly where their headquarters are, the cookies could lead them to many of Kaito's bank accounts (though, without the passwords he has memorized [never saved] they couldn't access his funds, they could set up watchdog programs to monitor those accounts).

He held on to the tablet. It disconnected, undoing his work toward the plan Garald had instigated. Which was all sorts of dismaying.
"Something pithy this way comes."
mrdent12
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Re: [IC] Four Horsemen: Intermission

Post by mrdent12 »

Away from the rig, the Horsemen don't see the hoped for signs of damage in the distance or rescue groups yet. As they prepare to use the ring to teleport away, specks start appearing in the distance. While impossible to get detail, they look to be helicopters in the air and some boats in the water. With all the delegations waiting to visit the rig later int he day, it would make sense they would have security and the government would have a vested interest in making sure the rig was protected. Before being spotted though, the Horsemen vanish.

Back in relative safety, bar bracelet as a prize, the group has a chance to catch up with the news. Reports are coming in of a battle by the same two groups who attacked the rally. They don't go into names, but one clear line is that the Others who Cognagion had tried to portray as villains are credited with helping to repair the rig after everyone seemed to go crazy. Almost on cue, a spokes person claiming to speak for Putin, starts talking about how it was always a matter of time before Garald went mad. She cites a few instances, some real and some fake, of Garald going overboard that they say he was reprimanded for. In reality, Garald was rewarded, but the spokes person didn't bring that up.

Laying low for a day, the Horsemen start getting more news. Garalds "record" is conveniently leaked by the Russian military with a ton of redactions and likely fabrications. They weren't too much to where Russia disowned him yet, but they did urge him to come home for treatment. Through side channels, Garald is made aware that it is his last chance to come in and do his duty for Russia before they ruin him. Any good will not generated by Cognagion will be lost from the public, as Garald knows.

More reports on the internet start popping up about the heroism of the Others who didn't stay around for interviews. Signs of their work were evident on the rig though of doing quick patch jobs and blocking flows of oil. Workers in the control room report feeling the urge to press the wrong buttons, but falling into a deep sleep. When they awoke, the safety protocols were turned back on.

Elsewhere reported, Kaito sees posting online put up by his mother about her missing son. One more missing kid doesn't draw much attention in a media environment packed by real life superheroes, but alerts setup by Kaito make him aware of the posts. There isn't much word on his dad saying anything unsurprisingly.

Over the course of the rest day, Cognagion feels his network stabilizing, for now. The dove is till out there though and the network isn't growing like it used to. News reports talk about Roger being abducted by the Russians and Rogers family pleading for his return with news vans camped out in front of his house.
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Re: [IC] Four Horsemen: Intermission

Post by Doctor Malsyn »

Image The Cognagion
2 HP | LP 1
Status: ?!?!?
-—o—-

Rodger shut down shortly after they arrived back at their base, refusing to directly talk to anyone. The Bars bracelet was left in a secure location, with only an enthralled proxy willing to let Kaito and Gerald know. He was in complete damage control, rolling out memes, info graphics, and even a flat out smear piece dedicated wholly to tearing the Opposition a new one.

First he made sure that the facts remained muddled, spreading disinformation in a clever way to make it seem as though they'd never been at the rig. Instead he zero'd in on the fact that media were making the assumption it was Russia who had kidnapped his body, emphasizing their involvement in subtle ways while pointing out the suspiciously well-timed nature of the apparent 'heroic' efforts. The topic of drugs was started on some forums, while on some of the more esoteric he started the apparent conspiracy theory of experimental mind-control technology. Everything he could do to muddy the waters of what was true and false.

Another idea was forming in the depths of his expanded consciousness and will for each time he wove his abilities into a new post, for each time he used his raw skill at social networking and psychological manipulation. Rodger as a body was a liability, the Russian government was turning into a thorn in his side that he could no longer reliably manage. What he needed to do was arrange for Rodger's execution, leaving only just enough evidence to connect it to Russia without seeming like a suspiciously cut and dry smoking gun.

His next body... ...Well, Mike was still in cold storage. The entity was curious if he'd be able to bring it back to life.

Liberal uses of Propaganda and his raw skills of Deception and Persuasion, I'll leave it to you to figure how effective they are.
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Sakuro
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Re: [IC] Four Horsemen: Intermission

Post by Sakuro »

Garald Medvedev
HP: 1
CND: Healthy


Garald was prepared to ask Kaito to leave the room so that Cognagion could rage and vent at him without the younger member of their group having to be exposed to it. Cognagion fumed instead of exploded though, and Garald did nothing to prevent him from retreating into his work. Instead he clapped Kaito on the shoulder and held onto him firmly. Enough to prevent him from leaving before Garald had a brief few words with him.

"Good job today. The miscommunication with the steam aside, you did well. Perhaps you are disappointed about how your duel with the Opposition's hacker turned out. You made sure the cameras could not be used against us though. That is important. The glasses worked well also."

Garald's grip lessened, then his hand fell away from Kaito's shoulder.

"Take some time to decompress. Later I would like your help getting a head start on preparing for our next operation."
OOC wrote:If Flynnarrel wants to have an extended conversation between Kaito and Garald, I am good with that. After he finishes talking with Kaito there are some things Garald will do, and I will describe that next.
After his conversation with Kaito concluded Garald collects a tablet and settles down somewhere quiet to ruminate on what they had learned from their past experiences dealing with artifacts, empowered foes, and the geography of the war they waged. He looked for patterns in the past to estimate the future. He looked over recent and developing events, calling on Kaito to supply him with the information he felt he needed, and used this in an effort to gauge potential sites for their next battle with the Opposition.

Whether this bore fruit that Garald was satisfied with or not, he later moved onto reviewing his knowledge of regional powers and, supplementing that with any political or civil personalities Kaito could get him information on, Garald began his next endeavor: looking for targets that Cognagion could use to the Horsemen's advantage. He grouped them into regions, and their viability for projecting assets over distances in the event he could not accurately predict the location of their next battle. After pruning down the excess and Garald notes on the potential targets, their utility, and provided potential ideas for how Cognagion might be able to best gain advantage over them. Then, if the final result seemed seditious, he forwarded it over to the device Cognagion was using.
OOC wrote:Garald is going to try to predict where the Horsemen will have their next confrontation with the Opposition: Precognition: 1D20+12 = [14]+12 = 26

He'll also try to come up with a list of targets for Cognagion to manipulate in one way or another (socially, possession, short term power use, etc.) that could be used to get us access to resources or manpower for our next operation. If Kaito wants to help with that, the assistance would be welcome. Even if there Precognition/prediction for the next confrontation is not viable, Garald could try to come up with a short list of regional powers that may be able to transport whatever assets end up coming into play. Usually we have some forewarning from our visions anyway. Here is an Expertise Military check for Strategic/Tactical assessment and/or more specific knowledge of military figures. Expertise Military: 1D20+15 = [4]+15 = 19

If Kaito or Cognagion need help with something that would benefit from Garald's Quickness, such as information processing or tasks that don't require specialized training he'd more than likely be willing to assist.
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Flynnarrel
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Re: [IC] Four Horsemen: Intermission

Post by Flynnarrel »

Catastrophe

Kaito seems unconvinced by Garald's words. "No. The cameras would have let us narrow in on the teleporter and I lost those, the distraction I set up was not in a form useful to you, you said so yourself, I'm not sure the glasses revealed anything that gave us an edge back there, and let's not even talk about the last part other than to say leaving the Ring with me is not the smartest. I can't stop someone if they try to take it away from me. Heck, it seems *I* can be snatched away from where ever like a child's doll. You proved that. You should probably carry it." Kaito says, setting the Ring on a surface near Garald.

"Their team has a better hacker than me, a guy we can't catch, a guy not even you can hurt, a guy we can't see even when he's not sticking to the shadows like a ninja. Oh, and our other opposition is the literal Devil who has two former Horsemen. And, ya know, I still don't know what you mean when told me to 'go nuclear' if I needed to." he puts up his hands in confused surrender.

"So no, I can't say it was really a good job today." Kaito says, somewhat exasperated. "I'm not the soldier you want or the 'kill 'em all' guy you'd prefer; I know I'm what you're stuck with, and I know that sucks. I'll just... try harder I guess. This has just... stopped being fun. But whatever, we'll just get through this. Alright? I know Mike-Roger has people in place to blow up my parents at an order so I don't even think about turning so don't worry about me, okay? Let's just do this." He couldn't fault them for their insurance policy. He knew how they thought after all.

"I'll check if my translation program has uncovered any more of the doctor's notes on other artifacts."
"Something pithy this way comes."
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Sakuro
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Re: [IC] Four Horsemen: Intermission

Post by Sakuro »

Garald Medvedev
HP: 1
CND: Healthy


Garald's brow furrowed as Kaito lost himself in negativity and vented some of his frustration. When the teenager retrieved the Ring and set it down, the Russain's eyes followed the path of the youth's hand. But Garald did not move to take the artifact. Instead he returned his eyes to Kaito and heard out the remainder of his companion's concerns. Not interupting. After all was said and it seemed Kaito was giving verbal warnings that he might move off, that is when Garald responded.

"Sometimes one of us will have a good idea that changing circumstances later make a detriment to our goal. We may need to alter our tactics in an instant. That is not a failing. That is being adaptable. Today you found out you are not unrivalled with computers. Get over it. Improve. Study your enemy's methods. Prepare programs or code to counter them or exploit their weaknesses. Redirect their strengths to areas that do not benefit them."
OOC wrote:I might be thinking of 2e, but I believe one of the things you can do with the Technology Skill is create one-shot programs that give you a bonus or run things for you for a short time. If we have time, that may be something Kaito wants to do to get an edge on the competition for next time.
Garald paused briefly, giving Kaito a chance to consider what he had said. Then he went on. Garald wasn't a firebrand, but he remained staunch in his stoic determination. His morale was undiminished.

"Our enemy has many strengths, yet we still achieved our primary objective. This was not a lose. It wasn't even a stalemate. We had the Opposition dancing to our tune for nearly the entire engagement. I also have a plan to deal with their teleporter next time. If we had a significant failing, it was in communication between you and I. We will need to make an effort to be more clear in our meaning and intent."

When he talks about Kaito and himself failing to communicate, Garald makes a back and forth gesture between them with his left hand. There is another pause in his speech, then Garald tips his head towards the Ring.

"I will take the Ring if you carry the Gold Bars. You do not get to put aside all responsibility because you had a bad day and are no longer having fun."
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Flynnarrel
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Re: [IC] Four Horsemen: Intermission

Post by Flynnarrel »

Catastrophe

Kaito frowns. "The bad guys know what I look like. The Horseman of Whispers would be better for the Bars. They still have their anonymity and, I felt when Roger touched the bars, the Earth Treasure will give them a powerful attack and defense in the field. There may not always be influenceable people around with the Dove-Bearer in play. You know it's the smarter play for Roger-Mike to have it, at least until we get the Dove." Kaito says shaking his head.
"Something pithy this way comes."
mrdent12
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Re: [IC] Four Horsemen: Intermission

Post by mrdent12 »

Cognagions work is good enough to sow doubt and counter the propaganda machine of a country seasoned in the effort. A normal man would find it impossible, especially considering the mountains of evidence such as the security feeds of the rig being strategically leaked. The leakers had no interest in the Others, but bits were "anonymously" sent out to make Garald look bad as well as the Kaito. Despite all scientific evidence that the footage was real, Kaito is able to sow doubt its all some deep fakes by the news media with a decent sized chunk of the population. His network grew and shrunk in size, but it didn't matter in this case. He didn't need the world to believe his lies, just a small and influential segment that would spread them even without the influence. Disposing of Rogers body execution style was also simple enough. Garald knows enough about Russian tactics to make it look like an execution.

Garalds vision is blurred by by the fact the locations are truly arbitrary and tied to the object. Of the items left, one was decorated with food and the other of justice like symbol indicating they'll end up somewhere about food and justice respectively. The sheer amount of places is beyond even Garalds vision though. Military wise, the U.S military is the most obvious for being everywhere in the world followed by Russia and China to a degree. After that, it would all depend on the region the visions indicated.

In the books, Kaito doesn't learn much more than was previously revealed. There is some vague references to a reckoning. Tie breaker if you will. It doesn't go much into detail though after simply noting it only happened once and was quickly resolved for the side who chose humanity, again. The rest of the translation's depict both heaven and hell as childish with the already experienced attempts at swaying to their side all to no effect.
I'll allow Cognagion to get Mikes body back. Maybe his powers preserved it or something.
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Sakuro
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Re: [IC] Four Horsemen: Intermission

Post by Sakuro »

Garald Medvedev
HP: 1
CND: Healthy


Garald didn't nod in agreement, but his expression and body language didn't suggest that he disagreed with Kaito's assessment either. He silently regarded Kaito for a minute, slowing down the pace of their dialog. The silence didn't drag on long though and soon that steadily paced, even toned accented voice broke into the air again.

"This isn't about logic or reasoning your way through a problem. This is about you suffering a personal defeat or feeling vulnerable and then pushing away responsibility for fear of failing. I am not willing to let you do that. It can mess with your head. It weakens a person and you need to be stronger than you have ever been."

When he walked about messing with a persons head Garald pointed at Kaito's forehead. Then at insisting that Kaito needed to fortify his will, not do things that would degrade his self image, Garald motioned to the teen's chest. Near to the heart. Garald paused after that, seeming to take a moment of introspection before drawing a line in the sand.

"I will let you decide who carries what, and support you in convincing our comrade if need be, as long as you take responsibility for one of the artifacts. Otherwise I will carry neither, leaving both to be carried by our comrade. Or maybe no one."
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Flynnarrel
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Re: [IC] Four Horsemen: Intermission

Post by Flynnarrel »

Catastrophe

Restless during the silence, Kaito manages not to take out his tablet and check on any one of a dozen processes he has going, but it's a near thing.

Kaito just shakes his head. His mutterings are half in Japanese but this close Garald can pick up through a combination of English words and impressions through the link that the gist is: Stupid Risk, Dr. Phil.

He steps over and retrieves the Ring then turns and walks out.
"Something pithy this way comes."
mrdent12
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Re: [IC] Four Horsemen: Wager

Post by mrdent12 »

It’s been a week since the oil rig and the world is up in arms. News coming every direction about hoaxes, real attacks, disinformation, works on the rig giving reports, and every manner of media pundits keeping the recent events in the headlines. Garald in particular is a major topic of discussion in regards to his ties with Russia and their smear campaign against him. The chorus of voices has gotten so loud, the smaller nations have demanded a meeting of the U.N general assembly to have a seat at the table on how to resolve the issue. Ministers from the small states have demanded a seat at the table.

A day before the meeting is set to take place, the visions come back again. They come like a news reel of diplomats giving speeches ranging from demanding justice against one or the other powered groups to enlisting one of the groups, whoever the speaker deems good, to help solve the worlds ills. Of all the various speakers, depending on the topic, symbols quickly flash that the Horsemen recognize as either lady justice dressed in various garb or plates over flowing with food. There isn’t any set symbol, but there is an irresistible pull to converge on the event
In the midst of the news and visions, one of the bases lackeys hand delivers a message. She can’t quite say why she delivered it by hand, just that she felt it was the best way to do it. The envelope laced with gold is no bigger than the standard sized envelope, but on the front is golden writing in the center that just says Horsemen. When asked who delivered it, the woman blushed a bit. The person she describes was suave, British, and extremely charming to the point of making her fall in love with him instantly. His descriptions matches the devil previously met to a T.

Inside the envelope is an ornate invitation in the style one would expect for a fancy ball. It was for the U.N assembly, signed Luci. To satisfy a wager after all these years, you are invited to compete for the final two seals. We have ensured both will be present and both will be in play. I’ve wagered you will finally win after all these thousands of years, so don’t let me down., reads the invite.

The general schedule of the U.N meeting is already known, in a day the delegates are all expected to arrive with ceremonies starting promptly at 7am and speeches at 9 am with what is sure to be a lot of yelling and diplomatic pomp about what to do about the chaos in the world.
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