Scottsdale Forest Operation: Mountain Base Infiltration

[James Howlett]

Perception: [dice]0[/dice]
Just in Case: [dice]1[/dice]/[dice]2[/dice]
Conditions: Active Cybernetics: Sensor Hand (Heat: Temperature at 4-6 inch range, Motion detector: Bionics Sourcebook page 36-37, Radiation Detector: As per Geiger Counter, Gyro-Compass: All cardinal directions as well as up down, Amplified Hearing) Multi-Optic Eye: (Telescopic: 4-8x30 magnification, range: 6,000', Macro Lens: 2x to 8x magnification, range: 3', Passive Nightvision: 2,000', Thermo-Imaging: 2,000', Light Filters: Reduces glare.), Amplified Hearing.

When the case is opened and James can see the mask fully for the first time, he's taken aback by both the beauty of it and it's inherent darkness. James mulls over some thoughts, almost heretical to the Coalition States. Magic Items are similar to the concept of cybernetic enhancement. Using a foreign object to enhance oneself to being stronger. But to what end, Magic is a wildly unpredictable and some of it comes from demonic entities, but weren't there also angelic beings as well. James shakes his head at the thought. Obviously this mask is on the former, not the latter. It's good we will be putting the mask into the Black Vault... Though the Black Vault worries me as well. What if the enemy were to break in and steal the collected magic there. James shudders at the thought. We should make sure that doesn't happen.

There is a pause as more orders are handed out silently, and then CDS-26B turns to Howlett and Freeman. "Request. What are this unit's orders? Will this unit be staying on or will it be reassigned?"

James looks to the robot. "You will be coming with me for the foreseeable future. Make arrangements to put the base on standby. " James looks thoughtfully. "Have internal or external sensor detected any movement other than my team?"

"Sir, if we have time I would like to check out the Administration and R&D wing to see what the situation is in there. That's likely where most of the valuable data is going to be stored. I also want to see about taking a look at the geothermal generator as well as other critical systems to double check and make sure there's no faults in it or needed maintenance."

James thinks for a moment. "I do not believe that should be necessary. R&D may prove interesting though, Make a quick foray, take Torreto with you. Acquire a Power Core for the SAMAS we acquired. Grab a pair of robots to carry the core. Also, I'll need a half dozen of the small cores for some recon drones." James replies.

James clicks on the team channel. "Objective secured. Fifteen minutes to extraction, Gather intel, and meet at the front door. Avoid conflict with the Tectonic Entities." James closes the channel and switches to Ford. "Bring the APC to the front gate. Fifteen minute window. If you see any opposition, hammer it into paste."

James again switches to Freeman's private channel. "I'd like to keep some of these assets off the books. We are going to need something to fence so that we can afford our little side project. Pick a few choice Items and we will off load them with the others in Gallup, we can sell them off for some off the book cash flow."

[Karl]

(rolls carried over)

Karl clears his throat a moment at the mention of bringing Snoopy. Not in this case because he was going to object to that pair up, but more because he felt Howlett had overlooked something. "Sir, perhaps Mane or Ceasar should come with us?" he suggests. "If I understood correctly there's potential entities in the Admin & R&D section. If we go in there having one of them along could help us avoid any... complications." Can you even sneak around one of those things?

[James Howlett]

"Sir, perhaps Mane or Ceasar should come with us?" he suggests. "If I understood correctly there's potential entities in the Admin & R&D section. If we go in there having one of them along could help us avoid any... complications." Can you even sneak around one of those things?

James nods at Karl. "Take Caesar... you are correct, I am surprised I did not think of it first." James says with a far off look as if his mind is elsewhere.

[Snoopy Toretto]

Perception [dice]0[/dice]
JIC [dice]1[/dice]
JIC [dice]2[/dice]

Sensory Equipment [dice]3[/dice]/85% Use sensors to spot trouble. Frequent switching through modes.
Military Tactics [dice]4[/dice]/75% To see if what I'm describing actually makes sense!
Intelligence [dice]5[/dice]/52% Keeping an eye out for anything that indicates a larger problem, or more insight.
Detect Ambush [dice]6[/dice]/45% Looking for immediate danger.

Initiative [dice]7[/dice]

---

---

Snoopy has no issue partnering with Karl, he is however, surprisingly relieved when Caesar gets assigned to them. It's not just that he likes the dog boy, but he trusts the dog boy's instincts over the crazy kill cat. Since Karl is technically the important one of the three, Snoopy moves to be in the best defensive position to cover the tech guy, directing Caesar to do the same and keep his senses trained for any of these entities that everyone is so scared of. Snoopy doesn't know enough about them to be that scared, but he feels comfort from the weight of the rifle in his hands.

"Ready when your are corporal," Snoopy says after he and Caesar are organized. When they're out of ear shot, way out of earshot, Snoopy says quietly to Karl, "I don't know about you, but I'm glad we got the dog."

[Karl]

(Rolls carried over)

James nods at Karl. "Take Caesar... you are correct, I am surprised I did not think of it first." James says with a far off look as if his mind is elsewhere.

"Thank you sir." Karl responds smartly before waiting to make sure the others were ready to head down to the R&D/Admin section to check things out. I'd be giddy as a school girl if there wasn't some chance something nasty would pop up to rip our heads off....

"I don't know about you, but I'm glad we got the dog."

Karl by this point is already somewhat absorbed in the task of trying to check things out as best he can from the 'safe' side of the door, or otherwise checking out any available sensor readings/logs and what have you to get some idea of just what kind of hornet's nest they might be about to kick. "I'll hold my verdict on that one. Mane might be a little... unstable but he's no doubt the better fighter." however to soften any blow to Ceasar's ego he reaches out to pat the dog boy. "But I'd still have made the same call if it were up to me. Dog boys are supposed to have the better nose for trouble."

(To try and call up any potential footage, sensor readings or logs to try and get an idea of what was inside, and maybe how many)
Literacy: American 67% (Also to read any potential written warnings) [dice]0[/dice]
Sensory Equipment 57% [dice]1[/dice]
Computer Operation 57% [dice]2[/dice]

(To try and get some better idea of what they were dealing with, and how to potentially sneak around and not draw attention)
Lore: Demon/Monster 57% [dice]3[/dice]

Then turning his attention to Caesar he asks the dog boy "Let us know the moment you so much as get a feeling something's wrong. The data might be incredibly valuable but I'd rather say to heck with it and come back another day with a specialized team if we need to rather than die for it."

[Caesar]

Perception: [dice]0[/dice]
JiC d20/d100: [dice]1[/dice] / [dice]2[/dice]

Ignoring the psychic dread of the place had become gloriously tolerable, like breathing through your mouth at a garbage dump. That all changed once Egan pulled the mask from it's container briefly. His eyes watering, Caesar turns away and rips off his air filter. He was going to be sick. Good thing I didn't bring any ration bars after all.

Awful thoughts sprang up in Caesar's mind like mushrooms after a rain storm. One came up in particular: his last wrestling match with his old friend Goldie. Of all the constant sporting contests put on for Dog Boys - to build camaraderie, to bet on, or to just plain tire them out so they would be less trouble - wrestling as Caesar's favorite. His low center of gravity gave him an edge when he was on his feet. The only Psi-Hound in his unit better on the mat was Goldie.

The match started like it had a thousand times before in Caesar's mind, when he tried to figure out where he went wrong. They jockeyed for holds, with Goldie's long golden retriever arms giving him the advantage. Goldie faked a single leg and chased after Caesar as he jerked his hips back to dodge. He tried to twist Caesar off balance and trip him up with a leg reap, which worked, but as Caesar went down he was able to cartwheel out of it and land back on his feet. This was a move Caesar had been keeping to himself for a long while and, taking Goldie by surprise, he grabbed the golden retriever around the waist from behind. In a single, practiced motion his lifted Goldie off the ground and suplexed him onto the mat with a loud thud. Cheers from the Dog Boys and the Dead Boys watching.

Normally at this point Goldie would have broken out an attempted pin and put Caesar in a pin of his own, using his superior leverage to win. However, this time Caesar was able to stay on top of the dog. Goldie squirmed and squirmed, bucking like a freshly landed fish, but Caesar's grip held. For all of his superior control, he just wouldn't hold still. The son of a bitch just wouldn't take his pin.

It was then, without even thinking about it, Caesar's jaws opened and his teeth sunk into Goldie's neck. Goldie let out a loud whimper and nearby Dog Boys pounced on them all, trying to pull them apart, but Caesar was seeing red. The booming voice of a human officer scattered the Dog Boys and a familiar sharp pain started hitting him in the back - a neural mace.

Caesar didn't care. His vice-like bite, a hallmark of his species, held firm. The coppery taste of blood filled his mouth and he almost couldn't breath for the gore flowing over his nose. He growled continuously, louder when they tried to separate them. Another human, who initially slipped on all of the spilled blood, was trying to pry his jaws open using a deactivated vibro-knife as a lever. They were wasting their time. The neck was his. He wasn't giving it up alive or dead. Another commanding shout scattered the man with the vibro-knife and in the corner of his berserk vision he was a laser pistol pointed at him.

Back in the real world, Caesar shook his head and vomited. Definitely glad I didn't bring ration bars. He fought back a sob.

[Caesar]

((Rolls carried))

New rolls, to look for tectonic entities:
Sense Psychic and Magic Energy, [dice=total]0[/dice]/65%
Recognize Psychic Scent, [dice=total]1[/dice]/30%
Sense Supernatural Beings, [dice=total]2[/dice]/76%
Trap & Mine Detection, [dice=total]3[/dice]/30%
Detect Ambush, [dice=total]4[/dice]/60%
Detect Concealment, [dice=total]5[/dice]/55%
Lore: Demon & Monsters, [dice=total]6[/dice]/35%, to remember facts about tectonic entities

"Take Caesar... you are correct, I am surprised I did not think of it first." James says with a far off look as if his mind is elsewhere.

"Ready when your are corporal," Snoopy says after he and Caesar are organized. When they're out of ear shot, way out of earshot, Snoopy says quietly to Karl, "I don't know about you, but I'm glad we got the dog."

"Huh?" Caesar said. Once he figured out there were marching orders, he fumbled to get his air filter back on, his hands shaking, and hurried after Snoopy and Karl, on the double.

"Yeah, A-1 side of dog beef ready for inspection." Did that even make sense? Get it together, soldier!

Karl by this point is already somewhat absorbed in the task of trying to check things out as best he can from the 'safe' side of the door, or otherwise checking out any available sensor readings/logs and what have you to get some idea of just what kind of hornet's nest they might be about to kick. "I'll hold my verdict on that one. Mane might be a little... unstable but he's no doubt the better fighter." however to soften any blow to Ceasar's ego he reaches out to pat the dog boy. "But I'd still have made the same call if it were up to me. Dog boys are supposed to have the better nose for trouble."

Then turning his attention to Caesar he asks the dog boy "Let us know the moment you so much as get a feeling something's wrong. The data might be incredibly valuable but I'd rather say to heck with it and come back another day with a specialized team if we need to rather than die for it."

Finding his sense of humor again, Caesar transitioned back into reality.

"Oh, that half-baked piece of Lone Star flotsam? Forget it, when trouble goes down you want the tried-and-true model any day of the week. Those apparitions won't know what hit 'em!" He let out a lusty couple of dog barks.

Caesar lifted up Stuttering Sue and started putting out psychic feelers for trouble.

[Karl]

(Rolls carried over)

Karl actually looks somewhat concerned at Caesar's state. He genuinely liked most dogboys and Cesar had yet to change Karl's personal notion of that fondness. "You ok there Caesar?" he asks with genuine concern. "That whole creepy vibe thing getting to you or?" he left it an open question. "Just take your time, and let me know when you're good to go." Won't do to have him in a state like that when we need him. Seems to be getting better though...

[Egan Grey]

Perception: [dice]0[/dice]
JIC: [dice]1[/dice], [dice]2[/dice]

Upon first seeing the mask and during his boxing up of the artifact, Egan's mind is wandering back to the burbs as a kid. He finds the memory of a Burster that had gotten too drunk and the destruction that he was able to perform before the CS squad arrived. -Man, that was scary to watch, but amazing at the same time. Against civilians and shacks he was unstoppable...but the 4 man CS squad easily put him down without a problem.- The thought of having more power was always bouncing around in the back of his head since it didn't matter to anyone else that he couldn't do those things. They still treated him like some kind of monster if they found out what he could do. -I might as well have that power, give them something to really fear.- For a moment Egan contemplated putting on the mask and seeing what this artifact could do. Maybe he could get that kind of power through this thing, however, he quickly decided against it. -I won't sell my soul to some kind of demon to get it...- Closing the box and moving it out of the vault, Egan feels the presence lessen and his thoughts coming back to the issues at hand.

Moving over to where the Doc and most of the group is waiting with the AI, Egan sets the case down on a available counter and pops the top of the case to let him verify that they had accomplished part of the mission. With the case once again open, the mask made its nature felt by everyone around. This time the memory of the pedophile and his torture and eventually killing by the burbies popped up in vivid detail. The screams, pleading, and eventually confession poured forth from the man after hours and hours of torture. Only this time, Egan was seeing his hands red with blood and gore as if he had been the one doing the work. The feeling of satisfaction was still as pleasing as the first time the pedo choked and expired. Coming back to the present, Egan tilted his head sideways a little as a random thought popped into his head about the man who had actually done the work. -Huh, I wonder where he learned to do that?- Closing the lid once more, Egan secured the mask inside the case and stood by waiting for the order to move out.

[Caesar]

((Rolls carried))

Karl actually looks somewhat concerned at Caesar's state. He genuinely liked most dogboys and Cesar had yet to change Karl's personal notion of that fondness. "You ok there Caesar?" he asks with genuine concern. "That whole creepy vibe thing getting to you or?" he left it an open question. "Just take your time, and let me know when you're good to go." Won't do to have him in a state like that when we need him. Seems to be getting better though...

"Yeah, that mask hit me right in the brain. Ever have some dipshit turn on their flashlight while you were wearing nightvision goggles? It was like that crossed with a nightmare." Caesar slapped the butt of his rifle and checked to make sure the safety was off. "Anyways, it's over since Egan put it away. Lead the way, boss."

[Mane]

Perception: [dice]0[/dice]
JIC Rolls: [dice]1[/dice], [dice]2[/dice]

With visions of torment and cold cruelty fading from his vision, Mane almost completely missed the conversation going on around him. Even when his name was mentioned by Karl, the voices of the others seemed so distant and unreal. It wasn't until part of the team left to investigate the R&D/Admin section that the lion started to become coherent once more.

Not sure what to do, Mane decided to play bodyguard and stick close to Howlett. If nothing else, even if all the others perished in some freak accident or sudden ambush, so long as the LT survived, he knew that somehow the mission would be salvageable.

Besides, Mane didn't trust these machines and their robot master. They seemed too accommodating for this to be true. Then again, Mane did have a hard time trusting anything that didn't have a soul he could watch slip away if he killed it. Death was they only way to prove anything had that precious spark of life, and these things could never truly die; only be deactivated instead. Decidedly NOT the same thing.

[CS High Command]

Scottsdale Forest Operation: The Sleeping Threat
Date: June 8, 110 PA
Time: 19:40:00 by end of post.
Temp: 88 degrees F; 89% humidity
Weather: Clear, but muggy
Ley Line info: None within 5 miles
Location: Everyone: Karl, Snoopy, and Caesar are at the door to R&D; Everyone is in the Armor and Core Storage facility.
Map:
Lighting: Dim - Red emergency lights only. All in working order, however, with signs of maintenance.

Admin/R&D
The door is still sealed when they get down to Admin/R&D. Further, in accordance with a bio-hazard lock-down, a positive pressure airlock has been set up outside one of the doors. The counter on the door's readout shows it has been over 100 years since the area was breached. As they move through the airlock and into the admin area, they can immediately tell by the staleness of the air that this area has been recycling the same air for the entire time. And unlike the rest of the facility, air filters are not being changed out, so the faint smell of mold is evident. A scan of the air will tell them there are no contaminants.

Karl finds a secure terminal and uses the clearance he's been given to override any lockdowns. Most of the data is about power usage, recycling and recharging nuclear battery cores and extending the life of bio-neural circuitry. There is quite a bit on bio-neural circuitry. Karl begins to download it all, but it takes some work to get his coalition tablet to connect.
OOC: Give me three successful hacking rolls. Keep rolling until you make it.

Meanwhile, Snoopy and Caesar are in security mode. They identify three possible tectonic entity trash piles, and further in the facility at least two more. Caesar also confirms the presence of at least one other type of entity, but it has not yet taken notice. If it does depends entirely on how long it takes Karl to get done.

Armor and Core Storage
The robot replies to James. "There is movement to the northwest, but no definite contacts yet. I have spread the units around and stationed an aerial unit near your transport. It is what has detected movement. Will advise when situation changes."

Looking at what is around, Freeman and Howlett can easily make out some items they can sell. The rifles themselves, early versions of C-14s, will sell. The grenades themselves are usable as is. The plasma rifles, some predecessor to the C-27, would be another easy sell. Robot parts, especially servos and other hard to manufacture parts, would be an easy source of revenue. Also the cores themselves are another easy sell item. The two other SAMAS cores would make for an easy sell.

Regardless, they need to choose, and soon. Lunk says he will head back to the APC. Ford reports he is clearing the camo nets with everyone's help. Once that is done, they'll spin up and be down front. "I do have passive contacts a good ways out. They are pinging hard. Also got a confirmation that the other attack has started. Over and out."

[Karl]

Perception: [dice]0[/dice]
JIC: [dice]1[/dice] [dice]2[/dice]

(Please don't let the nasties notice me dice gods!)
Prowl 67% (-30% for armour) [dice]19[/dice]

Karl did his best to keep low and quiet as he worked, not wanting to draw the attention of the so far idle entities in the room. However as time started to tick down he got increasingly nervous, and for good reason. Come on... come on..... at this point he didn't even dare speak at all, even over the radio. He didn't even stop to think about the goldmine of data that was present. Right now he was solidly on the mission. After all, if the three of them pulled this off he'd have plenty of time to dig through it all later. All he had to do was do his best to make sure there was a later!


Computer Hacking 31%
[dice]3[/dice]
[dice]4[/dice]
[dice]5[/dice]
[dice]6[/dice]
[dice]7[/dice]
[dice]8[/dice]
[dice]9[/dice]
[dice]10[/dice]
[dice]11[/dice]
[dice]12[/dice]
[dice]13[/dice]
[dice]14[/dice]
[dice]15[/dice]
[dice]16[/dice]
[dice]17[/dice]
[dice]18[/dice]

[John Freeman]

Perception: [dice]0[/dice]
JIC: [dice]1[/dice] / [dice]2[/dice]

For a long moment the flurry of activity around him fades to background noise as Freeman stares at the mask. He has never been even close to psychic, unless you count a couple of card tricks he can do, but he can feel the evil emanating from the mask. Is this what dog boys feel when they sense magic, it's horrid Nonetheless his eyes stay fixed on the object and his mind swirls with thoughts of death and deception. The swirl lands on the most gratifying day of his life. Growing up as a con mans son in the 'burbs wasn't easy. Losing his father to a group of aggressive d-bees in a double cross was even harder. Rather than take to the streets and become a useless urchin, young John tracked the gang, found their hideout and called it in to the ISS. Perched hidden, he watched the raid unfold. Watched as the d-bees were cut to ribbons by laser fire, watched while the leaders were dragged out into the street and shot, watched while the headquarters was burned to the ground and watched as the entire neighbourhood razed in retribution. Watched, and smiled.

There is no money in revenge, his father once told him. And he was right, the Army pays shit. But revenge is sweeter than money, every time.

Snapping out of his daze, Freeman makes preparations to leave. Gathering the necessary supplies to keep off the books and fund their little side venture. He generally knew parts were worth more but would take longer to sell. Weapons were always easy to unload. Without over burdening himself he grabs some choice objects. When news comes on of the air raid underway he stops and smiles, memories of death still fresh in his mind. His smile widens as he considers the remaining shadow warriors coming to a facility under CS control and armed to to teeth.

"Hey boss, why don't we let the facility lead the shadow warriors into one of the big store rooms and have the robots mow them down from the catwalks?"

[CS High Command]

Mini-Update

As Karl is silently hunched over the terminal, making seemingly no headway, Caesar can see the one odd entity gliding their way. Judging by its movements, it sees them. It seems to giggle. It points to one of the piles, as if asking if they want to play. Caesar can't help but shake his head no, slowly, which draws a look of confusion from Snoopy. He doesn't feel malevolence from the entity, but more like a playful pup or child. He tries to think of some way to communicate without words his feelings for the being not to. Perhaps if it were distracted by something? If only he could remember how to handle this.

Snoopy is watching looks of consternation play over the dogboy's face, and he can tell something is happening. He tenses up on his weapon, ready to rock and roll.

Snoopy, give me two contingent rounds of combat actions. Assume up to five relatively easy to pop tectonic entities that will be charging you. This will cover you for your absence.
Caesar, you get to decide what happens by use of your powers, skills, and roleplaying. Consult your sheet and your skills and powers specifically. Give me a plan. You have two melee rounds to get this right. If not I'll let you know if there is combat.

[Snoopy Toretto]

Perception [dice]0[/dice]
JIC [dice]1[/dice]
JIC [dice]2[/dice]

Sensory Equipment [dice]3[/dice]/85%
Military Tactics [dice]4[/dice]/75%
Intelligence [dice]5[/dice]/52%
Detect Ambush [dice]6[/dice]/45%

Conditions: Combat flying: All Combat Maneuver Penalties are reduced by half, plus a +3% to counteract additional penalties. +2 to Dodge, +3 roll with impact/survive crash.

Initiative [dice]7[/dice]

---

---

Dog Boys are valuable for many reasons, but right now Caesar appears to be using one of his non-human senses. Clearly there is something in the room. Snoopy holds his rifle in a down-ready position ready to snap it up to fire in a heartbeat. He switches it to burst fire, just in case.

His ground fighting is not as elegant as his flying, but Snoopy is as well trained as any grunt. So when the threat appears, he fires off a series of short, controlled bursts. He fires, moves, fires, moves. It's challenging in the room with other people doing different things. His primary goal is to cover Karl, so the tech nerd can finish what he's doing.

---

Combat Summary:
Attacks per Melee: 8

Round 1
Actions:
1. Burst with CP-40 at enemy near Karl: [dice]8[/dice]; damage: [dice]9[/dice]
2. Single Shot with CP-40 at enemy near Karl: [dice]10[/dice]; damage: [dice]11[/dice]
3. Single Shot with CP-40 at enemy near Karl: [dice]12[/dice]; damage: [dice]13[/dice]
4. Single Shot with CP-40 at enemy near Karl: [dice]14[/dice]; damage: [dice]15[/dice]
5. Single Shot with CP-40 at enemy near Karl: [dice]16[/dice]; damage: [dice]17[/dice]
6. Dodge: (if needed): [dice]18[/dice]
7. Dodge: (if needed): [dice]19[/dice]
8. Dodge: (if needed): [dice]20[/dice]


Parries (if needed):
1. [dice]21[/dice]
2. [dice]22[/dice]
3. [dice]23[/dice]
4. [dice]24[/dice]
5. [dice]25[/dice]
6. [dice]26[/dice]
7. [dice]27[/dice]

Round 2
Actions:
1. Burst with CP-40 at enemy near Karl: [dice]28[/dice]; damage: [dice]29[/dice]
2. Single Shot with CP-40 at enemy near Karl: [dice]30[/dice]; damage: [dice]31[/dice]
3. Single Shot with CP-40 at enemy near Karl: [dice]32[/dice]; damage: [dice]33[/dice]
4. Single Shot with CP-40 at enemy near Karl: [dice]34[/dice]; damage: [dice]35[/dice]
5. Single Shot with CP-40 at enemy near Karl: [dice]36[/dice]; damage: [dice]37[/dice]
6. Dodge: (if needed): [dice]38[/dice]
7. Dodge: (if needed): [dice]39[/dice]
8. Dodge: (if needed): [dice]40[/dice]


Parries (if needed):
1. [dice]41[/dice]
2. [dice]42[/dice]
3. [dice]43[/dice]
4. [dice]44[/dice]
5. [dice]45[/dice]
6. [dice]46[/dice]
7. [dice]47[/dice]

[Egan Grey]

Perception: [dice]0[/dice]
JIC: [dice]1[/dice], [dice]2[/dice]

Egan takes a seat on the desktop that he used to show the mask, and places the crate onto his lap while waiting for further instructions. As Karl, Caesar, and Snoopy leave to have a look at the R&D wing Egan calls out after them. "Good Hunting." Sitting there waiting for things to happen, he hears the report of movement on the far edges of the facilities detection range and that their ride should be arriving shortly. He looks around at the ancient facility, racks of weaponry, and an AI that had been running the place for over three hundred years. -Could it? probably not....though I'll never know unless I ask.-
"Hey X." Egan addresses the AI. "what was the world like before the rifts?"

[Caesar]

Perception: [dice]0[/dice]
JiC d20/d100: [dice]1[/dice] / [dice]2[/dice]

Lore: Demons & Monsters, [dice=total]3[/dice]/35%

Caesar gets nervous once he notices the entity and Snoopy seems to have noticed his apprehension. This thing seems playful, but they feed on emotion, so he tries to play it off like nothing is happening. No sense in Snoopy feeding it bad vibes until he figures out what to do. He gives Snoopy a thumbs up and swat on the shoulder.

Think, think, think. Didn't I run into a few of these on Burbs duty? Wait, no, if this was a Tectonic Entity it would have attacked by now. It's a poltergeist. Still, better distract it.

"No one panic, but we have a ghost watching us. I need to keep it distracted so it doesn't cause trouble."

Shouldering his rifle, Caesar starts to dance, or what passes for dancing for the Dog Boy. Arms waving in the air, squatting his hips down and shaking his butt, even the Running Man and Cabbage Patch at one point. It didn't have to be good, it just had to be ridiculous, he figured. I'm glad 357 isn't here, I'd probably never hear the end of it.

[James Howlett]

Perception: [dice]0[/dice]
Just in Case: [dice]1[/dice]/[dice]2[/dice]
Conditions: Active Cybernetics: Sensor Hand (Heat: Temperature at 4-6 inch range, Motion detector: Bionics Sourcebook page 36-37, Radiation Detector: As per Geiger Counter, Gyro-Compass: All cardinal directions as well as up down, Amplified Hearing) Multi-Optic Eye: (Telescopic: 4-8x30 magnification, range: 6,000', Macro Lens: 2x to 8x magnification, range: 3', Passive Nightvision: 2,000', Thermo-Imaging: 2,000', Light Filters: Reduces glare.), Amplified Hearing.

"There is movement to the northwest, but no definite contacts yet. I have spread the units around and stationed an aerial unit near your transport. It is what has detected movement. Will advise when situation changes."

James nods. "That is likely the Shadow Warriors making their move on the complex." James looks at the Skelebot precursor and sighs. "Unit CDS-26B, I hereby change your designation to Aleksander, I would like to take the remaining SAMAS cores, please place a few robots on this detail. Move the remaining forces available to the entrances for the purposes of repelling intruders." James says to the newly renamed Robot Aleksander. "Freeman, any suggestions on how to best deal with the current situation. I personally think attacking the Shadow Warrior before they breech the facility is in our best interest. but maybe you have a better plan for this. Also, we should take as many of the weapons as we can, selling them will produce the much needed revenue that we need for future projects. Any other suggestions?"

[John Freeman]

Perception: [dice]0[/dice]
JIC: [dice]1[/dice] / [dice]2[/dice]

"Suggestions? Freeman asks, stalling for time. "Let's use the facility to our advantage, we have the robots repel them while we slip out another access point and hit them from the flank. If the airstrike was a big success then they are cut off from their main element and won't have any back up. We can wipe those rageddy-ass deebs right off the planet. It'll be as smooth as using two-ply toilet paper."

Intelligence [dice]3[/dice] /74% to determine the most likely way the Shadow Warriors will try to infiltrate
Military Tactics [dice]4[/dice] /44% to help devise a plan to flank and eliminate the enemy

After the battle planning Freeman smiles about the business of selling contraband, "Yeah weapons will be easy to liquidate. Some of those manuals and stuff could fetch a pretty penny but setting up a buyer would be risky and it would be easy for ISS to track it back to us if they buyer got pinched. Weapons, consumables, small stuff. Spread it around. WE'll leave money on the table but keep our asses in tact."

Undercover Ops [dice]5[/dice] /76%, to think of stuff that might be on an ISS watch-list and should be avoided
Find Contraband, Weapons, & Cybernetics [dice]6[/dice] /56%, to determine the items that will be easiest to unload
Streetwise [dice]7[/dice] /50%, to get a sense of what has the most street value

[Mane]

Perception: [dice]0[/dice]
JIC Rolls: [dice]1[/dice], [dice]2[/dice]

As Howlett and Freeman discussed business, Mane slowly paced the room, walking in circles as his eyes and senses stayed sharp. He resisted the urge to let his mind wander; not with members of his pride spread out throughout the complex. His duties at the moment may have been limited and lax, but in his mind that was a trap he would not let himself wander into.

OOC: When in doubt, skill dump!

***** Skill & Ability Rolls *****
Detect Ambush (80% base) [dice]3[/dice] ~ To analyze observations/activities in the area
Detect Concealment (75% base) [dice]4[/dice] ~ To recognize any camouflaging attempts by those sneaky bots or tricky Shadow Warriors
Tracking (people) (85% base) [dice]5[/dice] ~ To spot any signs of activity, like footprints in any dust or the like
Lore: Demons & Monsters (75% base) [dice]6[/dice] ~ To analyze observations/activities in the area
Lore: D-Bees (75% base) [dice]7[/dice] ~ To analyze observations/activities in the area
Lore: Faeries & Creatures of Magic (75% base) [dice]8[/dice] ~ To analyze observations/activities in the area
Sense Psychic & Magic Energy (70% base) [dice]9[/dice]
Sense Supernatural Beings:
* To ID (70% base) [dice]10[/dice]
* Tracking by this sense (26% base value, 57% if magically/psychically active) [dice]11[/dice]
Kitty Hearing:
* Judge Distance & Precise Location of Source (96% base) [dice]12[/dice]
* Recognize & Identify Prey by Sounds (88% base) [dice]13[/dice]
* Discriminate Multiple Target Locations (flat 75% base) [dice]14[/dice]
OOC: So in summary, eyes and ears a good, psychic senses are on in the fritz.

[Egan Grey]

((Rolls carried over))

Egan sits on the edge of the desk and absentmindedly strokes the case as if he is tracing the shape of the mask beneath the lid. He begins speaking out loud not really directing his words at any one person. "With the assault on the Shadow Warriors main base going on, the Papago Shaman will probably end up a casualty. Which will mean that the Papago will end up hostile to the CS." Egan chuckles and shakes his head before continuing. "Not that the CS would want the Papago as an Allie due to their use of magic, but it would be nice to not have yet another enemy out here, especially one that knows exactly where this base is." His words stop, as does his caressing of the case as his thoughts go back to his original question of the AI.
-I wonder if it will be able to answer my question or if it will not know what I am trying to find out. I mean it is only an AI tasked with maintaining a base so I'm not sure that it could really tell me anything about life outside of this place. And even if it did, I'm sure the LT or maybe even the Doc would shut it down from answering.- Egan wordlessly holds up his hands and shakes them a bit as if sarcastically mocking someone 'Ohh, look at the badass over here'. -Why does knowing what it was like back then a huge secret? I mean, if people actually knew what we had lost wouldn't that help bring people together?- With a sigh, Egan watches as the robots start gathering stuff together before something else runs through his head and he speaks again. "We could also draw them in and use some of the bots to lure them into the rooms with the entities and have them beat the crap outta them before mopping up the rest."

[CS High Command]

Scottsdale Forest Operation: The Sleeping Threat
Date: June 8, 110 PA
Time: 20:00:00 by end of post.
Temp: 88 degrees F; 89% humidity
Weather: Clear, but muggy
Ley Line info: None within 5 miles
Location: Everyone: Karl, Snoopy, and Caesar are at the door to R&D; Everyone is in the Armor and Core Storage facility.
Map:
Lighting: Dim - Red emergency lights only. All in working order, however, with signs of maintenance.

Admin/R&D
As Snoopy watches in fascination and amusement and Karl works furiously, Caesar puts himself in the middle of the dance circle, as it were. Snoopy and Caesar can both hear a vague beat and a "whoa whoa! whoa whoa! whooooa!" as Caesar dances. This goes on for nearly half a minute. As Karl gets done and turns around, he sees the dogboy dancing like a fool, and Snoopy unintentionally bobbing his power armored head with a beat. Only after this does Caesar realize the poltergeist has moved on. Of course he is facing away from Karl, but looking his way, in the middle of a deep booty shake as he realizes this.

After that moment of embarrassment (but for whom? It was Karl who was getting a fine piece of dogmeat shook in his direction?), the trio move out to leave the area as quietly as they came. As the airlock cycles, they find themselves out of the stale air and in the main hallway as some 25 soldier units and 20 canine like assault units are set up in a defensive half circle around the door, with empty crates carried in for cover. A few sheets of raw metal are propped up in between for extra cover. It's a textbook defensive formation to protect a static location. Some tactics, it occurs to them, transcend time.

Overhead, they note some spider and hover versions of the recon drones are providing extra eyes on the scene, and covering flanks. They've all seen this behavior from skelebots, but the addition of the recon drones and the mobile gun platforms of the quadrapeds is quite a good match. But such is the wisdom of the ancients, after all. For the first time the three of them now see the heavier weapon, mounted on the back of half the quadrapeds. A massive plasma rifle and a mini-missile to boot.

Armor and Core Storage
"Noted: This unit will answer to designation Aleksander. All SAMAS Cores to be loaded on transport. Confirmed. Would you like this unit to get a full set of tools and connecting attachments for installation of a SAMAS power module? Addendum: Would you like this unit to do the same for 2020 series rescue and infantry drone power sources? And how many would you like to gather?"

Aleksander actually cocks its head to the side at Egan's question. This odd quirk aside, it soon replies. "Complex. A unit will be by soon with a tablet with information."
Egan gets what amounts to a comprehensive encyclopedia, to include an urban dictionary section as well. Also included are all of the official statements from NEMA and the US Government leading up to the loss of communication.

Freeman is certain they will infiltrate the side entrance the Nightstalkers came in, or maybe the front door. Nothing better than what he has already stated comes to mind.

Ford and Galen land the transport in front of the door, and Lunk helps the bots load the gear in, unloading their bikes and snoopy's deathwing as he does. The power cores, rifles, and ammunition all take up the remaining space. Ford, for his part, loads up the lockers with all the plasma mini-missiles he can cram in (100). He then grabs e-canister clips (20) and stuffs them in other holes. The mask is placed underneath a panel in the floor, beneath the kitchenette.

By 8 pm local time, the transport is loaded and secured. The four bots that had helped load now move to join the firing line. Each takes up a LGR-360 and waits. About this time the bikes are put in hover-walk mode and moved inside. Lunk grabs two of the big plasma cannons and loads into the back of the transport, attaching a safety line to himself.

Ford comes to Howlett. "Um, Sir, do you want to get folks in the APC and ready for lift off once we dust these fools and just leave escort people on the ground, or do you want to leave most of the squad on the ground and pick up after we paste these incoming?"

After that is decided, the Transport takes back off and lands back atop the mountain, where a quick camo job is done to hide it from casual observation. There it waits to spring the trap.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
100 LGR-360s, 100 PR-470s, 50 PR-476, 100 plasma mini-missiles, 20 e-canisters (fit CS weapons and NEMA weapons)
LGR-360 "Terror Stopper" Laser Grenade Rifle

• Weight: 7 lbs.
• Damage:

• SDC Laser: 5d6 (1), 3d6x10 (5)
  MDC Laser: 3d6 (1) 6d6 (3)
  Grenade Launcher: HE Grenades do 3d6 to 12' radius

• Range: 2000 feet (laser); 1200' (grenade launcher)
• Payload: 21 MDC blasts; 20 SDC blasts = 1 MD blast; 8 grenades
• Modifiers: Laser Targeting and Optic Scope: laser targeting and telescopic and passive night vision scope provides +2 on aimed shots (only).

Note this is just like the C-14, except the C-14 lacks the low power setting and weighs a LOT more, and doesn't have as good a scope.
Can sell for 30,000 or better; not counting age or pedigree, just as a rifle

Code: Select all

[b]LGR-360 "Terror Stopper" Laser Grenade Rifle[/b] 
[img]http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff244/master_mikel/Rifts/EU/NEMA%20LGR-360%20Laser%20Grenade%20Rifle_zpsvczcdoc5.png[/img]
[size=85]• Weight: 7 lbs.
• Damage: [list]SDC Laser: 5d6 (1), 3d6x10 (5)
MDC Laser: 3d6 (1) 6d6 (3)
Grenade Launcher: HE Grenades do 3d6 to 12' radius
[/list]• Range: 2000 feet (laser); 1200' (grenade launcher)
• Payload: 21 MDC blasts; 20 SDC blasts = 1 MD blast; 8 grenades
• Modifiers: Laser Targeting and Optic Scope: laser targeting and telescopic and passive night vision scope provides +2 on aimed shots (only). 
[/size]

PR-470 "Hot Seat" Plasma Rifle

• Weight: 8 lbs.
• Damage: MDC Plasma: 6d6 MD
• Range: 1600 feet
• Payload: 7 MDC blasts per E-Clip; 21 MDC blasts from an e-canister; 28 combined
• Modifiers: Laser Targeting and Optic Scope: laser targeting and telescopic and passive night vision scope provides +1 on aimed shots (only).

This is a lot like the C-27, just lighter and with a better scope
Can sell for 60,000 or better; not counting age or pedigree, just as a rifle

Code: Select all

[b]PR-470 "Hot Seat" Plasma Rifle[/b] 
[img]http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff244/master_mikel/Rifts/EU/PR-470%20Plasma%20Rifle_zps0brr73lb.png[/img]
[size=85]• Weight: 8 lbs.
• Damage: MDC Plasma: 6d6 MD
• Range: 1600 feet
• Payload: 7 MDC blasts per E-Clip; 21 MDC blasts from an e-canister; 28 combined
• Modifiers: Laser Targeting and Optic Scope: laser targeting and telescopic and passive night vision scope provides +1 on aimed shots (only). 
[/size]

PR-476 "Incinerator" Plasma Canon

• Weight: 12 lbs.
• Damage:

• MDC Plasma: 4d6 MD (1) 1d6x10 (3)
  Plasma Mini-Missile: 1d6x10 MD

• Range: 1800 feet (Plasma); 1 mile (missile)
• Payload: 10 single MDC blasts per E-Clip, 21 MDC blasts from an e-canister - 31 combined; 1 mini-missile
• Modifiers: Laser Targeting and Optic Scope: laser targeting and telescopic and passive night vision scope provides +1 on aimed shots (only).

Can sell for 80,000 or better; not counting age or pedigree, just as a heavy weapon

Code: Select all

[b]PR-476 "Incinerator" Plasma Canon[/b] 
[img]http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff244/master_mikel/Rifts/EU/NEMA%20PR-476%20Plasma%20Cannon_zpsxcefqycj.png[/img]
[size=85]• Weight: 12 lbs.
• Damage: [list]MDC Plasma: 4d6 MD (1) 1d6x10 (3)
Plasma Mini-Missile: 1d6x10 MD
[/list]• Range: 1800 feet (Plasma); 1 mile (missile)
• Payload: 10 single MDC blasts per E-Clip, 21 MDC blasts from an e-canister - 31 combined; 1 mini-missile (any type)
• Modifiers: Laser Targeting and Optic Scope: laser targeting and telescopic and passive night vision scope provides +1 on aimed shots (only). 
[/size]

[Egan Grey]

Perception: [dice]0[/dice]
JIC: [dice]1[/dice], [dice]2[/dice]

When the AI responds, Egan is actually surprised. Taking the offered tablet, he squirrels it away inside his pack. -That is gonna be some good reading when I get some time.- When the transport arrives, Egan follows Ford's direction to shove the box and mask under the floor. "Don't mind the feeling of impending doom, its mostly just the package. And you might want to refrain from opening it up....it will just make things worse."

Stepping back and letting the rest of the group and bots finishing their loading, Egan takes his bike inside to get it out of the way and goes back to waiting. "So Bossman. Whats the plan?" Checking weapons, and going over things in his head to try and help out in the current situation, Egan can't figure out what would be the better course of action. -We have the firepower to wipe out probably the whole Shadow Warrior force if they decided to come here. But as soon as the raiding party gets here they will send out the coordinates and confirm the location with their base, so even when we paste those fuckers, this base will still be compromised should anything survive the air assault. Glad, I'm not having to make the decision.-

• Skill Rolls:
  [Intelligence – 63%, [dice]3[/dice], PASS] -To try and think of how they will approach and attack the base
  [Military Etiquette - 30%, [dice]4[/dice], FAIL] -To remember protocols about if they will send out the bases location
  [Detect Ambush (6th level) - 45%, [dice]5[/dice], PASS] -Keeping an eye out while loading is happening
  [Sensory Equipment (EP @ 7th) - 35%, [dice]6[/dice], FAIL] -Trying to get the most out of his equipment
  [Optic Systems (EP @ 7th) - 35%, [dice]7[/dice], FAIL] -Trying to get the most out of his equipment
  

[Mane]

Perception: [dice]0[/dice]
JIC Rolls: [dice]1[/dice], [dice]2[/dice]

Once Ford set down with the new APC, Mane instinctively knew exactly what he should do. Setting his weapon down (but not far away or out of sight) to free up his arms, the walking forklift got to task immediately loading up the APC, bare handedly hefting enormous stacks of large crates.

As he chugged along, easily lifting up impossibly heavy loads, and carrying them to APC's hold with a happy skip to his steps, Mane began to whistle an upbeat song his mother used to tweet out when she was busy with chores around the home; Whistle While You Work.

[Karl]

Perception: [dice]0[/dice]
JIC: [dice]1[/dice] [dice]2[/dice]

To Double check he isn't missing anything else of importance in the room:
Intelligence 60% [dice]3[/dice]
Techno-can 72% [dice]4[/dice]
Literacy: American 67% [dice]5[/dice]
Computer Operation 57% [dice]6[/dice]

To make solid backups of the data:
Computer Operation 57% [dice]7[/dice]

As Karl gets done and turns around, he sees the dogboy dancing like a fool, and Snoopy unintentionally bobbing his power armored head with a beat. Only after this does Caesar realize the poltergeist has moved on. Of course he is facing away from Karl, but looking his way, in the middle of a deep booty shake as he realizes this.

Karil takes a light breath, barely audible in his mask, holds up a finger like he's going to say something then decides best to save it for after they are out of immediate danger. After the pause he neatly packs up, takes one quick look around to make sure there wasn't anything else of potential great value he was overlooking and then makes his way out. Only once the door is closed safely behind them does he speak. "Caesar, I can't tell if you were hitting on Toretto in there or what, or you just got bored and have balls bigger than mane's fists." his tone wasn't reproachful but amused. "Anyway.." he trails off as he looks around at the situation they are now in.

As the airlock cycles, they find themselves out of the stale air and in the main hallway as some 25 soldier units and 20 canine like assault units are set up in a defensive half circle around the door, with empty crates carried in for cover. A few sheets of raw metal are propped up in between for extra cover. It's a textbook defensive formation to protect a static location. Some tactics, it occurs to them, transcend time.

Overhead, they note some spider and hover versions of the recon drones are providing extra eyes on the scene, and covering flanks. They've all seen this behavior from skelebots, but the addition of the recon drones and the mobile gun platforms of the quadrapeds is quite a good match. But such is the wisdom of the ancients, after all. For the first time the three of them now see the heavier weapon, mounted on the back of half the quadrapeds. A massive plasma rifle and a mini-missile to boot.

"Looks like they are getting ready for a party here." he then radio's on the team channel "This is Maddox, Data secured. On our way back." and with that he will start making his way back through the complex to rejoin the rest of the squad. Man, I can't believe we actually pulled that off.... "Thanks for the backup guys. Trust me, what I pulled out of there is going to make a huge difference for everyone back home. And possibly all the guys like us out on the front lines too."

As soon as Karl gets a chance, he will make backup copies of the data, preferably enough to hand one copy to every person on the team, starting with Howlett and Freeman. "I don't want to risk us loosing this data. It's enough to push a lot of our tech ahead of possibly even Triax."

[James Howlett]

Perception: [dice]0[/dice]
Just in Case: [dice]1[/dice]/[dice]2[/dice]
Conditions: Active Cyberware.

"Noted: This unit will answer to designation Aleksander. All SAMAS Cores to be loaded on transport. Confirmed. Would you like this unit to get a full set of tools and connecting attachments for installation of a SAMAS power module? Addendum: Would you like this unit to do the same for 2020 series rescue and infantry drone power sources? And how many would you like to gather?"

James thinks for a moment. "Yes to all of the above Aleksander. Make it five for the 2020 cores." James says not wanting to be too greedy. James watches the orchestra that he's begun, play out... only making minor directions as needed.

Ford comes to Howlett. "Um, Sir, do you want to get folks in the APC and ready for lift off once we dust these fools and just leave escort people on the ground, or do you want to leave most of the squad on the ground and pick up after we paste these incoming?"

After that is decided, the Transport takes back off and lands back atop the mountain, where a quick camo job is done to hide it from casual observation. There it waits to spring the trap.

James looks thoughtful for several long seconds. "We'll leave the majority on the ground, and pick up once the assault is finished." James says as he casually walks towards the entrance of the bunker to find a spot to wait.

Boxing SDC: [dice]3[/dice]

[Mane]

Perception: [dice]0[/dice]
JIC Rolls: [dice]1[/dice], [dice]2[/dice]

... the Transport takes back off and lands back atop the mountain, where a quick camo job is done to hide it from casual observation. There it waits to spring the trap.

Mane watched the ship take flight and disappear into the montain's foliage. Once out of sight, which didn't take long, he picked up his weapon and returned to Howlett's side in silence.

He watched in subdued amazement at the man's ability to take control of an impossible situation and manipulate his opponents like so many chess pieces. Mane considered it an honor to be one of Howlett's rooks and not one of the many pawns, like the many thoughtless robots moving about due to the man's brazen daring and measured stratagem.

Once in position in Howlett's presence, Mane stood ready for what was to come. There was​ no need to ask for orders. When the time came, the Lieutenant would speak, clearly and decisively. And on his breath would come the call for violence and death. And in a way, that was one of the things Mane found so facinating about the man. As a student of the many faces of death, the ability to incite and invoke the power of death with nothing more than​ a word, that Mane found amazing and worth of study.

... he casually walks towards the entrance of the bunker to find a spot to wait.

Mane fell in line and followed like a towering shadow, ready and eager for the battle to come.

[Snoopy Toretto]

Perception [dice]0[/dice]
JIC [dice]1[/dice]
JIC [dice]2[/dice]

Sensory Equipment [dice]3[/dice]/85% Looking around with his sensors
Military Tactics [dice]4[/dice]/75% Because I know jack-patooty about military tactics!
Detect Ambush [dice]5[/dice]/45% Looking around topside for any danger

---

For a change, Snoopy agrees with Karl, Caesar is nuts. The dog boy did whatever he was doing right though, they were undisturbed during their intel gathering exercise. There was talk of supernatural entities, and they saw none, that must mean Caesars grotesque booty shaking was somehow useful. Otherwise the dog boy is clearly insane, and may need to be put down.

He follows Karl and Caesar out, keeping a sharp eye out for whatever it was that had everyone concerned. He's not as intrigued by the goodies around them, he's thinking of getting out of this hole and back into the sky.

When he is finally back outside he looks around for a minute. He approaches Howlett with a slight amount of hesitation, but his desire to get airborne overrides any of that. "Sir, should I get the Wing back on a back in the air?"

[John Freeman]

Perception: [dice]0[/dice]
JIC: [dice]1[/dice] [dice]2[/dice]

The weapons make Freeman grin, all kinds of possibilities there. Taking some to use for quick cash he then turns his attention to defense.

"Alexsander, can you show me which alternative exits will put us on the flanks of the intruders at the front door?"

When Snoopy asks about the wing Freeman nods, "Once we spring our assault you can get airborne to provide air support and help keep flies off the apc."

[James Howlett]

"Alexsander, can you show me which alternative exits will put us on the flanks of the intruders at the front door?"

When Snoopy asks about the wing Freeman nods, "Once we spring our assault you can get airborne to provide air support and help keep flies off the apc."

James nods at Freeman. He's a damn fine officer, if only I were half the officer he was. James thinks as he stands there waiting for the action to happen.

[Egan Grey]

((Rolls carried over))

Standing there waiting for the action to begin, Egan remembers about the disks that he had collected in the spider bot room and takes them back out. He leaves 2 of each in his bag for himself as he walks over to the Doc. "Found these in the spider bot room. We probably already have the info in the data dump, but I figure hard copies could always come in handy." Handing the Doc a stack of disks inside their cases he continues. "If I remember correctly, these should be the manuals and parts lists for those drones."

Having given the disks over, Egan retreats to his bike and goes back to waiting for the action to begin.

[Caesar]

Perception: [dice]0[/dice]
JiC d20/d100: [dice]1[/dice] / [dice]2[/dice]
Conditions: See The Invisible, Sense Evil, wearing an air filter

[Sense Psychic and Magic Energy, [dice=total]3[/dice]/65%
Sense Supernatural Beings, [dice=total]4[/dice]/76%
Detect Ambush, [dice=total]5[/dice]/60%
Detect Concealment, [dice=total]6[/dice]/55%
Intelligence, [dice=total]7[/dice]/58%, what does Caesar remember about Splugorth fighters?
Re-activating See The Invisible (-4 ISP), activating Sense Evil (-2 ISP)

After watching the ghost fly harmlessly off, shaking in a way that could only be described as a kind of laughter, Caesar breathes a sigh of relief. "You guys are lucky you can't see half the shit I see."

"Caesar, I can't tell if you were hitting on Toretto in there or what, or you just got bored and have balls bigger than mane's fists." his tone wasn't reproachful but amused.

"Oorah, huge balls, sir! Biggest in the corp!"

Keeping Stuttering Sue at the ready, Caesar followed the officers and kept an eye (and a brain) out for trouble. He tried to remember the last time he danced that hard. Joe Prosek's birthday bash at Lone Star? What was the name of that chocolate lab that poured a beer down his shirt when he tried to grind on her? Who cares, we're in the field, time to focus!

[CS High Command]

Scottsdale Forest Operation: The Sleeping Threat
Date: June 8, 110 PA
Time: 20:20:00 by end of post.
Temp: 88 degrees F; 89% humidity
Weather: Clear, but muggy
Ley Line info: None within 5 miles
Location: Everyone: Karl, Snoopy, and Caesar are at the door to R&D; Everyone is in the Armor and Core Storage facility.
Map:
Lighting: Dim - Red emergency lights only, indoor and out. All in working order, however, with signs of maintenance.


The group prepares for the worst, and waits near one of the front, side doors - the one nearest Administration and the side of the building. Six Serpent Power Armor, three Brodkil, and a human or elf in mage armor (hard to tell because of the hood he wears). One of the brodkil escorts a man in native garb looking worse for wear. "I told you, the way was closed, the guardians were active. I have no way of entering unseen" The man was telling his captor in American. The hooded figure snaps a retort. "That's why I brought them along." he says indicating the brodkil and power armor It takes them a few minutes to override the door and have it slide open to find the deadly surprise waiting for them. The native they all recognize from the security footage back in Lone Star, all those many miles ago. This must be the shaman Minigan spoke of, and he hits the dirt to make himself a smaller target. Just as the tide begins to turn, the team prepares to hit.

Give me the following in your post:
A 1d20 roll for resolution
Conditions
your plan of attack. If you look back at the map, you'll see that the door in question is to the right of the main entrance they are going through. So you will hit them on their right side.

1-3 paragraphs, please. You hit them and each take down a power armor, and the mage and brodkil together. The fight lasts a minute. How much damage you take depends on your roll and your roleplay.

[Caesar]

Perception: [dice=total]0[/dice]
JiC d20/d100: [dice=total]1[/dice] / [dice=total]2[/dice]
Conditions: See The Invisible, Sense Evil, wearing an air filter

Resolution: [dice=total]3[/dice]

Once it became clear that a firefight was imminent, Caesar's heart started pumping. As everyone started to watch the door, Caesar ran for cover - a pillar, a barrel, anything sturdy looking. They had help - an awful lot of help - but he wanted to be ready to pitch in. OOC: Sorry, I'm on break at work and the browser security settings won't let me use the map or see any images.

After popping a squat and stepping around cover, Caesar pointed his pulse rifle at the doorway. What came through took him by surprise. The Splugorth were trouble, he knew that, but this was no slaver force. It was some very serious looking power armor and a couple of "sub-demons." Seeing these reminded him he never wanted to meet a real demon. The cloaked figure raised his hackles, triggering memories from Tolkeen. That wizard could be more powerful than the other's put together... or be another dabbling nerd. I don't intend to find out.

Once orders to fire came in, Caesar primarily targeted the robed figure, unless his fire seemed ineffective for whatever reason, then on any power armor or Brodkil that were closer than the rest of them. He fired burst shots, changing e-clips if needed. "Get 'em Sue! Go get 'em, girl!" he said to his rifle as the lasers leaped from the barrel. The more and more he fired, the more he started laughing.

[Karl]

Perception: [dice]1[/dice]
JIC: [dice]2[/dice] [dice]3[/dice]

"Oorah, huge balls, sir! Biggest in the corp!"

Karl had to grin at Caesar's enthusiasm, though he did gently rebuke the dogboy. "I'm not a sir Caesar, I work for a living." he says, using that age old line of reminding people he's an NCO. Clearly though since his tone was light, and not remotely harsh he wasn't angry or anything. Merely reminding the Dogboy of his proper rank. Wouldn't do to be called 'sir' when you weren't of the proper rank for it. And then it's off back to the armoury where Karl gets caught up on the situation. While he had perfectly serviceable weapons on hand at this point, he couldn't pass up the opportunity, such as it was, to help himself the the literal armory full of more advanced weapons. Given that he was expecting a proper fight, and wouldn't likely be needing them, he took the time to set his pack down with it's rather heavy load of tools and other equipment so he could weigh himself down instead with the newly acquired weapons and ammunition for the fight to come.

Resolution Roll: [dice]0[/dice]

With the hallway not offering much in the way of cover on it's own, Karl decided to go full bore on the firepower. Well, that and he finally had a chance at some good ol' revenge against the slavers that had held him as he saw it. Time to fry you bastards. Slinging one of the LGR-360's across his back and hauling one of the big PR-476's over a shoulder he takes up position and when the enemy breaches fires off the rocket while the group was still nicely clustered up before firing the plasma canon until it ran dry. He does his best to take cover during all the return fire to reload it one time before firing off a second mini-missile and empty the second E-canister at the enemy, focusing on one of the big suits of Kittani powered armour. He had to give the filthy slaving D-Bees some credit though. They made some seriously tough and nimble suits. Discarding the now depleted canon he then switched to his LGR-360, firing off a mix of grenades and laser fire before finally bringing down one of the Kittani suits. Emptying the rest of his E-clip into it just to be sure it stayed down he then ducked down again to pop in a new e-clip. At least we aren't going to be hurting for ammo any time soon.

As Caesar starts to laugh somewhat maniacally Karl grunts "Now I see why you get along with Mane so well." to the dogboy. Got a nice pack of psychopaths here, but at least they know to go after the right 'people'. As the Serpent armours fall and leave only the Broodkill and the Mage, Karl fires off the last of his grenades towards the mage. He couldn't quite recall the specifics but he knew something about lasers or the like not always working against them, and that there was not such thing as 'too much firepower' where a magic user was concerned. The Broodkill however were fortunately less of an issue where that was concerned and so he helped whittle them down E-Clip after E-clip, though didn't seem to hesitate to switch to the built in Vibro blades of his armour when one got too close. If anyone had any doubts as to Karl's ability to fight as well as he could fix stuff, here they could see him in full action. Dodging, ducking, weaving, stabbing and slicing he moved almost like a Juicer. He wasn't as fast or as accurate as one perhaps but for someone who wasn't combat augmented, nor in a suit of powered armour he sure could put the moves on.

Finally getting some distance he switched to his pistol to help finish the Broodkill off before switching back to his rifle again to help finish the rest of them, and the mage off. Even when the fight was over he quite coldly went about making extra sure the enemy were dead with some rather excessive 'coup de gras' where he felt needed before lifting the visor of his helmet to spit angrily on the last one. "Well.." he says looking to his fellow CS Troops. "When we get back, first round is on me."

[Snoopy Toretto]

Perception [dice]0[/dice]
JIC [dice]1[/dice]
JIC [dice]2[/dice]


Resolution: [dice]3[/dice]

---

Snoopy makes his way to one of the side doors, towards the location of his flying wing. As soon as he hears the shit hit the fan he runs to the wing as fast as the augmented power armor will allow him. Willing every ounce of speed out of the machines involved, he hooks into the wing and rockets straight up for a glorious few seconds. As he climbs, pulling max gs, naturally, he arms all his weapons and activates all his targeting, sensor and comm gear. At about 5000' he throws the wing into a lazy Immelmann, turning his sights towards the ground and the activity below.

Grinning madly inside the armor, Snoopy screams down towards the backs of the bad guys, blasting them with fire from lasers and the rail gun. He's obviously trying to kill them, but hopefully it's less obvious that he's trying to contain them and channel them into the much more dangerous kill zone of his comrades on the ground. He makes full use of his speed and maneuverability, but he never comes in so low as to be in danger of friendly fire, or in danger of hitting one of his people with his weapon systems. He is a big target in a lot of ways, so he draws plenty of fire, the energy blasts and projectiles pinging off his power armor and the wing. One particularly scary round pings off the white visor, leaving a smokey mark in his vision.

The Kittani armor are maneuverable as hell and may be the biggest technological threat. Snoopy has no idea how to deal with the monsters, though in the brief moments he's not all about living or killing, he tries at least to comb his memory, maybe some basic indoctrination covered these guys. Then it's back to blasting away at the enemy, driving always towards the deadly fire of the good guys. His shots fence the bag guys in, but they are starting to perceive his purpose, and returning fire as they try to break through. More shots blast him, nothing devastating. He may actually have to ask Karl for some repair help, that thought doesn't make Snoopy happy. Nor does the continued barrage, but knowing the less damage he takes the smaller a favor from Karl he'll have to ask. And that's incentive above and beyond surviving.

Besides all that, the mage is probably the biggest threat of all. Once Snoopy has herded the grunts into at least a temporary death zone, where they're are distracted by the rest of the squad, he turns his attention briefly on the mage and for a second pours all his firepower at the evil bastard. After that second though, he rockets away, taking pot shots at anything he can as he comes around for another pass. This time though, rather than a in-his-face high speed pass, Snoopy takes advantage of the range of the wing lasers and rail guns and fires from almost 4,000 feet away. He's not sitting still, of course, he moves in three dimensions and it's easy to keep evasive maneuvers going while firing at ground targets.

Now with speed approaching Mach 1, it doesn't make sense to stay at range the whole time, so at precisely random intervals Snoopy screams over the battlefield drawing attention and maybe fire, but giving him the opportunity for all his weapons to come into play. He takes targets of opportunity, but his destination is the mage. It's not a display of machismo, or showing off, it's carefully calculated to use the performance of his vehicle as a weapon too.

Snoopy does have plenty of confidence and fly-boy attitude, more smoking craters in his favorite armor only serve to push him harder, they do not slow him down or make him hesitate. Well, they might slow him down when they hit his engines, but that's sort of different. His maneuvers are always smooth and precise as he flies, evading enemy fire only to use that momentum to roll into an attack elsewhere. He is in the zone.

Being absolutely psychotic, Mane probably relishes the death. Freeman, Howlett and Egan, are probably consummate professionals, working as a coordinated team, devastating the enemy like true Coalition soldiers. With a genuine grin of pleasure, he looks for Caesar with is good natured zeal. Snoopy breathes deep, he maybe alone in the sky, but he has the force of his squad all around. He also knows that the might of the Coalition is always there as well. And Snoopy knows his role, he is death from above, and as trite as that sounds to him, it's a badge he wears proudly. Let the bastards die under his wings.

[Egan Grey]

Perception: [dice]0[/dice]
JIC: [dice]1[/dice], [dice]2[/dice]

Resolution: [dice]3[/dice]

Egan watched the door and pondered the outcomes that would befall the shadow warriors when they finally opened it up. -This is really gonna suck for them.- The bush that is Egan, bolts up off the seat of his bike that he had been waiting on and giggles. A few moments pass as a flurry of activity happens, punctuated every once in awhile by giggling and a head that pops up and looks around before ducking back down and finishing his prep. After a minute, he begins walking towards the front of his bike and closer to the door, his rifle swinging from its strap. As they override the security and the door starts to open, Egan begins swinging something around and around while whistling. As the team moves in to spring the trap, Egan lets the object fly and is rewarded with it wrapping around the neck and under the right arm of one of the power armor units.

Egan announces his presence with a click of a button which is quickly followed by a beep, the crackling of detcord, and three explosions in rapid succession. Armor plating and advanced robotic linkages disintegrate under the onslaught, sending the head bouncing off the ceiling and walls into the facility as the right arm is violently separated from the body and sent into the unit next to it. As the body slumps to the ground in the doorway, Egan pops back up from behind the bike he's using as cover and begins adding his fire to the remaining power armor units. He watches as one by one the power armor units fall, pausing only to change clips, and to occasionally send a grenade the mage's way just to piss him off.

Not wanting the Mage to get away, Egan switches over to the pump pistol and begins putting round after round after round in an attempt to keep him busy and eventually kill him. Standing up and walking forward, he continues to pump round after round from the pump pistol into the Mage, tossing the speed loaders off to the side as he advances singing to himself. -Killing assholes just for fun, Doo Dah, Doo Dah. Get them quick fore they can run, oh Dah Doo Dah Day!- After the last body falls, like Karl, Egan switches over to cleanup mode and moves from body to body making sure that each and every one of them are no longer part of the living before heading over to the shaman and making sure that he is.

[James Howlett]

Perception: [dice]0[/dice]
Just in Case: [dice]1[/dice]/[dice]2[/dice]
Conditions: Cybernetics.

Resolution Roll [dice]3[/dice]


James leans against the wall his eyes closed, behind his eyelids a plethora of information rolls by via cybernetic HUDs. The information doesn't tell him anything new, and that annoys James for the moment. James ignores the sounds around him as he switches through radio channels, listening to not only his team, but the command signal that keeps this facility running. Not understanding the noises, doesn't bother the genius doctor, quite the opposite it sooths him in its structured tones. James mind wanders among the several projects that he has going at the moment, finishing the mission is of the utmost importance, destroying the Shadow Warriors is almost petty in comparison. Soon after the fight he knows the team will be confused at their course, but to maintain the nature of their cover. James considers his team and concludes that Torreto may be the odd man out in the situation, but James is confident he'll get through it. When confirmation lights begin appearing on James HUD, he shuts down the other radio channels and focuses on the teams channel. Time to go to work.

As the doors open and the team begins to move, James steps out, his trench coat fluttering behind him. James strides confidently, as a man who doesn't fear death, doing the reaper's work in this world gone wrong. When James finds his first target, he points his arm at him and suddenly is armed with the smallest gun Banditio Arms manufactures. The gun roars as it propels its grenade round into the Shadow Warrior. James is suddenly on the move, his other hand holding the laser derringer as he continues to blast at his target. James is quick to pull the hand cannon from his gun belt launching even larger rounds into his target. James mind reals at the endorphins raging in his brain. James mechanical hands quickly reloading the shells in his gun. To observers, James is a whirling dervish of gunfire, not quite a gunslinger of old, but impressive none the less.

James orders concentrated attacks on power armor, Joining in on theses assaults using his pistol and explosives. Any regular troops that get too near quickly learn that James is a Demon with a knife, cutting and gutting with a skill honed over many years of medical work. James edges forward in the fight, oblivious to cover, a man on a mission. James looks up at the much larger Brodkil. "Time for you to go back to Hell Sub-Demon." James says, goading the creature to come closer. James ducks a clumsy swing and slides low to start cutting at the Brodkil's legs. James smiles as a small opening appears in one of the leg joints. James quickly draws another knife before burying the blade in the crack. A pinging noise can be heard as James hustles back just in time to see the Brodkil grimace at the wound before being engulfed in a violent explosion.

Once the threat is over, James orders the team to collect the spoils of the battle and dispose of the bodies, while assessing the damage caused by the assault. When it becomes clear that the Shadow Warriors had brought the Shaman with them, James smiles. Too easy. James walks towards the Shaman, stopping just shy of Freeman. "Sahali Acecha, I am Lieutenant James Howlett of the Coalition States. We are here to not only rescue you, but take the item you warned us of into custody. Do you require medical assistance?"

[Mane]

Perception: [dice]0[/dice]
JIC: [dice]1[/dice], [dice]2[/dice]

Resolution Roll: [dice]3[/dice]

Mane followed his commander, Howlett, into combat, giving the man room to maneuver, but never more than a few steps behind. His first duty was to the safety of the commander, and all else second.

When Mane gazed upon the enemy before him... the serpentine power armors, the sub-demon Brodkils, the weaver of magic, and all their associates, Maine's heart soared to heights that only eagles dared. Opponents of flesh and blood to be rent a sunder, and mortals souls​ that could be liberated from their mortal coils in the utmost violent fashion; the only thing that could make the moment it better is if he had a brand-new weapon his hand capable of unleashing unholy carnage. The murderous cat glanced down at his shiny-new cannon, still ripe with the waft of traces of its original packing ​greese. There is a God! he thought to himself.

Mane moved quickly into position for optimal advantage over the kill zone and cover from return fire. As he did so, he loudly began to sermonize, reciting from the holy book he had been reading. The very first passage that came to mind.

"Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who made my hands for war, my fingers for battle!"

The Papa Bear 5050 in Mane's hands sprang forth a symphony of death and thunder. Focusing initially on the sub-demon, a torrent of BigBore shotgun shells peppered the monsters chest with explosive force. While other weapons pack more power, the Papa Bear had a different trick; a far more useful strategy to help ensure victory. With each single shot that blasted against its intended target the monster was knocked off balance; alone, disorienting; fired in bursts, catastrophic and more than able to keep the enemy off balance, hampering their ability to fight back well, if at all!

With one of the Brodkil hammered to the ground, Mane changed the focus of his fire to one of the​ Serpentine power armor suits; Monkey in a slippery can. While not as easy to hit, and while the BigBore shotgun shells were less effective knocking it down, it was only a question of sufficient volume of fire to get the desired results. He alternated his fire among the heaviest threats, making it as difficult as possible for them to fight back at all under his suppressive fire.

Though Mane did enjoy the kill, keeping the enemy off balance was more crucial to the team's win. Active denial was just too large of an advantage not to press. Just the same the Papa Bear was more than satisfactorily savage its effect.

After the Shadow Warriors were defeated, Mane went down to gather a souvenir; one of the Serpent power armor's impressive-looking plasma axes! That, and the head of its Kittani pilot... for his collection and next taxidermy project. To his delight, the pilot was still alive, though barely and not for long. With a snap of his vibro blade and a flick of the cat's wrist, the head came free just as easily as can be.

Mane smiled as he looked into the eyes of the decapitated monkey-man, looking on with subdued amazement as the life dimmed from its eyes. He could swear he felt the head get lighter as his prey's soul departed... Such a satisfying feeling... Nothing could ever compare.

The call to bug out snapped Mane from his trance. And just that quickly his normal professional demeanour returned.

[John Freeman]

Resolution: [dice]0[/dice]

Sitting patiently in flanking position Freeman watches with delight as the Shadow Warriors open the front doors and get a face full of NEMA ammunition. As soon s they are engaged he gives the go signal.

“Hit them!”

Firing up his engines Freeman screams out the door hitting the formation on the right flank. His first instinct is to volley the whole area with micro-fusion grenades. But the presence of the shaman makes him hesitate, and hesitation kills. In the split second it takes him to switch weapons system the monkey men had already begin to organize and return fire. Jinxing as best he can at the last second the Lieutenant almost gets his wings clipped. Those guys are good.

Good and dead.

Throwing caution to the wind he charges toward the flank hoping to sow chaos in their ranks and put himself between the bad guys and the shaman. Spouting doubled barrelled plasma blasts all the way in, Freeman shakes off minor blows only deviating to avoid truly large munitions directed his way. It’s a blunt strategy and he pays the price, his armor taking a beating on the way in. But once in close, he’s deadly. Ducking between Brodkil and power armor he ensures the shaman is behind him, then fires plasma blasts moving slightly to try and get the enemy crossing fire and hitting one another. The confusion in their ranks is undeniable as the undisciplined Brodkil react to his proximity with a hail of fire that slams into one of the serpent power armors. When the armor is distracted by a blow from the wrong direction, and with the shaman safely on his six, Freeman unleashes a volley of grenades preventing the nimble armor from getting out of the way. The grenades land just as the serpent tail is fully extended in an attempt to leap out of the way. The resultant explosion rocks the armor and splits in right where the tail meets the body blowing both halves in different directions.

Hopefully the pilot too

Between fire from the 110th and blue on blue the fight is turning into a real mess. For his part, Freeman does not escape unscathed as he is forced at points to go to vibro-blade combat and be scratched and clawed by Brodkil to protect the shaman before the rest of the Nightstalkers close in. Slashing and hacking, toe-to-toe with the Brodkil Freeman just loses it for a second. This was a long mission, lots of ups and downs and too many frustrations. These monsters in front of him represented all his frustrations, fears, and failures and he was going to destroy them all in a cathartic rage.

In less than a minute it’s all over. Destroyed power armor, fallen Brodkil, and a dead mage. Looking toward the entrance where the shaman was taking cover Freeman laughs out loud.

“Hi we’re the Coalition and we’re here to help you.”

[CS High Command]

Scottsdale Forest Operation: The Sleeping Threat
Date: June 8, 110 PA
Time: 20:25:00 by end of post.
Temp: 88 degrees F; 89% humidity
Weather: Clear, but muggy
Ley Line info: None within 5 miles
Location: Everyone: Snoopy is on the roof, dazed and stunned; everyone else is down at the main door. Aleksander is climbing a ladder and moving towards Snoopy. Two other bots, not as heavily damaged, are moving to assist.
Map:
Lighting: It is dark outside

Standing in the middle of a bunch of enemies seemed like a good plan at the time to Freeman. And it worked. But there is a reason it's not suggested. The bruises he'd taken from the raw impacts as mechanical tails and brodkil fists pummeled him he could feel right now as he delivered his line to the shaman. He mutes the mic and locks his suit so he can slump in the harness, bruised as he is where it touches him, he literally cannot stand at the moment. While in the moment it was exhilerating. He had been a demigod, slugging it out and firing in close combat. He knew of hardened warriors who couldn't give as good as he gave. But that was because they paid attention to their bodies when they were told to retreat. Freeman had trusted in his suit, and the suit had paid the price. One of the cameras was gone on his helmet, there was a dent protruding into the HUD, but it had not broken, thankfully. The HUD itself still worked, except for the huge blindspot in the upper left quadrant. The suits indicator, normally super-imposed in that same corner stood out against the now black part of the screen. The jets showed damage - all of them. His torso and power systems showed red and yellow respectively (no leaks though), his weapons all showed damage, and the grenade launchers were bereft of ammunition. But the Kittani were all dead, the brodkil in pieces, and the tattooed human (?) mage had his face literally blasted in by Egan's pump pistol.

Mane, for his part, had shadowed Howlett and found himself in the eye of the hurricane, not being battered by it like Freeman. He and Howlett both are fairly light on damage, though both are completely dry of ammunition in all weapons, as well as his main weapon having spent its e-clip. Mane had ended the fight with 237 empty and stuffed back in its holster, a vibro-knife in one hand, and his Q1-02 in his other, engaging one of the brodkil one on one as the other pounded on Freeman. Howlett has spent every bit of ammunition on him, and his body armor is battered, but largely intact. Manes has fared similarly. Howlett ends the Brodkil pounding on Freeman with a grenade knife to the knee, followed by a vibro-blade slash from Freeman to the throat when he went down.

Egan's beautiful throw, ringing the power armor opening the door and under onslaught from the bots inside, confused the poor ape. He never even knew what hit him as the cord detonated at the weakest point in his helmet and literally decapitated both pilot and armor. His grenades are empty, his E-Clips are mostly gone, and his Pump Pistol reloads are dry. His armor is pounded but not in horrid shape. It's certainly not as bad as Karl's borrowed armor. Karl managed to use every bit of the ammunition he'd brought out for the two NEMA weapons, though his missiles had been very effective. He had watched with some annoyance as the mage was literally unharmed by his attacks, but Mane, the Doctor, Egan, and Freeman had that covered. He had watched as their prisoner, a man he'd seen before, scrambled out of the way, and ended up hiding where the road began to drop into the hill, hiding just below the pavement on the hill. He winces at the end, as his feels the bruises from some of those impacts. In particular he'd been tail whipped down onto the ground. his entire abdomen was on fire.

Caesar was beaten to hell and back. He'd gone close quarters with power armor and got the shit pounded out of him. He was woozy, but standing, as they finished. He'd twice been tail slammed into the ground, once thrown by a Brodkil, and twice thrown *into* Freeman. He'd been lucky he'd not been impaled on the spikes. He'd lost his helmet at that point. But Stuttering Sue, his best girl, she never faltered. He ran her dry 8 times, each time reloading. He'd gone to using his vibro-knife near the end, and cut the right hand of the mage off at the wrist when he misjudged where his armored bracer was. That had been the beginning of the end. Mane keeping them off balance had helped. He grins though, even as he winces from it. He'd done good!

Snoopy made a show of his high flying antics, but he paid the price in focus. Only Freeman had been more shot at. The only real danger was near the end. One of the last serpent power armors had grabbed hold of him as he dipped low to attack. He wasn't even sure they could actually get that high until it was in his face. He'd grabbed hold of the building itself and slammed them both into the roof at high speeds. Snoopy was actually cushioned a little by his assailant, but that didn't help much. Safety's disengaged and his wing actually completed the upwards arc, but he in his power armor laid atop the dead ape at the end of the fight. The crash he made was audible to all and James knows he would have to get up there and check him out.

The damage to the bots is pretty bad. The massed bots had taken multiple missiles from the Kittani missile shields, and multiple area effect spells from the magic users. Only as he died could they actually move, having been locked in place by a carpet of adhesion. They had managed to cut out of his magical net to continue firing. All told 2/3 are either destroyed or too badly damaged to salvage. The remaining third range from 25% to 75% damage levels. But they had held the facility with minimal damage to the facility itself. The bot Howlett renamed Aleksander moves to a nearby ladder and moves towards Snoopy, as do two of the less damaged ones. Others move to police the remaining bodies of the power armor.

Loot: You have one serpent power armor without a head (with headless kittani inside), and helmets from other armors you could salvage. It is at 85% armor otherwise. Otherwise they have K-4 laser pulse rifles (1 each), all dry of E-Clips. One has a NG-202 rail gun with an empty ammo drum. The Brodkil both had plasma swords, and the Serpent Armors all had their plasma axes.

The Shaman looks up as Freeman and Howlett approach him. "Like avenging demons you strike down my captors. I am glad that foolish man at your gate was not the example one should take of your people." He nods to the carnage. "You fight as we do, without mercy for evil and for keeps. I am glad you are here to take them Cosmic Awareness Fetish. It's evil cannot fall into the hands of these cretins. The suffering will be unimaginable for all. A barren continent, bereft of fields, forests, crops, and animals is all that would be left, if my many visions are to be believed. The only slim hope was the Skull of the Coalition." He points to Freeman's armor. "I now recognize that skull, completed with the dent near the left eye." At Howlett's question for medical assistance. "No, but I was going to offer the same to you. While you may not prefer it, the spirits are adept at healing if any of you have hurts. I know you may not wish it, but I must offer or the spirits would see me as ungrateful for their assistance." As far as anyone can tell, this old man is sincere. He is unphased by any rejections. "I offer only succor, not anything else, but I will respect your desires."

Butcher's Bill (gear already done)
Egan: -10 SDC
Howlett: -5 SDC
Mane: -20 SDC
Freeman: -17 SDC, -1 HP
Caesar: -85 SDC, -10 HP
Karl: -13 SDC
Snoopy: -27, -15 HP; Stunned for five minutes. Internal Injuries (undetermined)
Sahali Acecha: unhurt; radiating active magic, but he also radiates concern and admiration.

[Caesar]

Perception: [dice]0[/dice]
JiC d20/d100: [dice]1[/dice] / [dice]2[/dice]

Caesar re-clipped his vibro-knife to his utility belt. He was breathing heavy. Wincing in pain, he took off the tattered remains of his Brannaghan leather overcoat and threw it as far as he could; not very. So much for playing cowdog. He laughed a hearty laugh, having once again beaten death.

After the shaman offers to heal everyone, Caesar says, "Whatever the Doc says. I just... I got the wind knocked outta me." He finds a wall to lean against and drops onto his butt, again wincing at the pain. He holds his pulse rifle in his hands reverently. He gives it a big kiss, or near enough as a dog can manage. "That's my girl!"

[Egan Grey]

Perception: [dice]0[/dice]
JIC: [dice]1[/dice], [dice]2[/dice]

As the smoke clears and the dust settles, Egan slowly lowers his still smoking pump pistol. His heart is still hammering inside his chest as he glances around and takes stock of the situation. -Well, its not too bad.- runs through his head as he looks down at his damaged armor, -hopefully it can be fixed. If not, I guess it might be time to upgrade.- Walking around, Egan gathers his empty speed loaders and puts them back into their pouches on his bandolier. Standing back up, he can feel the bruises beginning to form and his body starting to stiffen. "Woooo!" Egan exclaims as he stretches out trying to lessen the the stiffness that he knows will come. "So we run a bounty program right? I might need some new gear here..." he pops open his face mask, a huge grin on his face as he points over at the headless serpent armor. "Just hope I don't lose and arm and a leg this time."

Helping with the loot gathering, Egan picks up one of the plasma swords and gives a couple awkward swings and stabs before putting it back into the pile. "Hmm, not really my thing, like my knives a little more." Once everything is gathered, He moves to keeping an eye out for any additional trouble that hopefully will not come as the Doc sees to the wounded.

[Karl]

Perception: [dice]0[/dice]
JIC: [dice]1[/dice] [dice]2[/dice]

Karl for his part retracted the vibro blade back into it's housing on his suit's armour before he found a place to just... sit for a moment. Even with his helmet still on it was obvious he was hurt, but trying to ignore it. Man it feels like I got hit by a truck... any offer of healing from the shaman is waved off, tiredly but politely enough otherwise. All he really wanted right now was a couple of painkillers and a good stiff drink. After a little while though he slowly gets up to start inspecting the damage. He isn't interested in the salvage, but rather the damage everyone's armour or equipment took. He didn't even have to do any real diagnostics to get a feel for how bad the damage was on the whole. The answer was quite clearly 'bad'. "Ceasar." He says speaking up to the dogboy. "You'll want to change that suit out as soon as possible. It might be salvageable but I wouldn't count on it to do much more than stop a vibro knife right now. Maybe." Snoopy's suit is given a once over too when he gets a chance "I think I can salvage it but it's going to need a proper overhaul. Same goes for the Super SAM." he says eyeing one of the thrusters in particular. "That one might be a write off. I think."

With the generic assessment done he goes to find some place to lean against, or sit down again. Wonder if I broke a rib? "I uh.. might be able to take a look at the damaged bots too and see what can be done. If you want sir."

(To eyeball guesstimate damage)
Vehicle Armourer 72% [dice]3[/dice]
Weapons Engineer 67% [dice]4[/dice]
Mechanical Engineer 67% [dice]5[/dice]
Robot Mechanics 37% [dice]6[/dice]

[John Freeman]

Perception: [dice]0[/dice]
JIC: [dice]1[/dice] / [dice]2[/dice]

As the adrenaline wears off, Freeman surveys the battle scene, carnage everywhere. Then, like a rush, pain washes over him and the din of system alarms from his armor ring in his ears. Overriding them he gives his head a shake, apparently it wasn't the alarms, his ears were actually ringing. It takes him a few moments to process that the shaman is speaking to him.

Stiffening at the offer of mystical healing Freeman shakes his head, a stupid idea in hindsight. Wincing he replies, "No thanks, we got a doc over there. He can patch me up the proper way." Freeman reflects for a moment on the idea of being instantly healed, No wonder magic types are so corrupt, never having to endure pain or to suffer or to want disconnects them from their humanity. Like a borg, only worse. Of course, it was not lost on Freeman that someone in the 'Burbs could make the same complaint about those living comfortably inside the fortress city - and they would be right. Disconnection from our suffering is what leads us astray.

Doing his best to listen to the shaman's self fulfilling prophecy Freeman focuses on finishing the mission.

"Okay, we found you. We found your fetish. What the hell do we do with it now? My opinion is a trip to the black vault. Way up high, in the very back near where the keep Alistair's Duncson grandpa's balls in a jar."

[James Howlett]

Perception: [dice]0[/dice]
Just in Case: [dice]1[/dice]/[dice]2[/dice]
Conditions: None.

James sees Snoopy laying atop the building unmoving. James runs to the building Leaping over half the height of the ladder to speed his ascent. Once James has cleared the roof, he quickly crouches near the pilot and presses the emergency release catch. "You are going to be okay..." James says quietly as the armor opens up. James begins scanning the downed pilot with his medical sensor hand. (Medical Doctor: Diagnosis [dice]3[/dice]/107% Pass) Once James has a reasonable assessment of his injuries, James digs out one of his IRMSS units and injects the pilot with the nano-machines. ([dice]4[/dice]/75% Pass) James works on the external injuries while the nano-machines work on the internal injuries. (Medical Doctor: Treatment [dice]5[/dice]/97% Pass)

Thinking on his medical knowledge, James is confident he can repair the damage, but he realizes he needs cleaner conditions before he can get in there to perform the surgery. The IRMSS will suffice to stabilize Snoopy so he can be moved, James finalizes in his mind before his next move. "I need a stretcher up here, Toretto is hurt bad." James radios across the teams band.

[Mane]

Perception: [dice]0[/dice]
JIC: [dice]1[/dice], [dice]2[/dice]

With monkey head in hand, and his trophy plasma axe in the other, both taken from the monkey man in one of the more battered snake-man power armors. Its 20-pound heft felt right in his beafy hands, and seeing it had a slot for an e-clip put a grin on his face. Today was a good day.

Knowing he'd need permission to keep it, Mane turned to Howlett and asked as simply as possible. "Hey, hu?" he asked holding the alien-tech weapon up with a hopeful expression in his eyes, hoping for an affirmative in reply.

As Mane got underway, easily ignoring the modest bruising he suffered as a consequence of the battle, he noticed his hunting partner having troubles. He saw the dog taking one hell of a beating during the fire fight, and it was clearly showing.

He finds a wall to lean against and drops onto his butt, again wincing at the pain. He holds his pulse rifle in his hands reverently. He gives it a big kiss, or near enough as a dog can manage. "That's my girl!"

As the dog was showing love to his weapon of choice, Mane approached. Crouching down to Caesar's sitting level and placing his spoils of war on the ground, the hulking cat put his hand on the Dog Boy's shoulder. "You look like you need a lift, Forty."

Barring any overt protests, Mane lifted the dog up and placed Caesar on his shoulders, permitting Caesar to ride him Master Balster-style, sitting aloft on his shoulders and with the dog's legs on his chest. Once aloft, Mane handed Caesar his monkey man head "Here, hold this for me." Grabbing his other prize again, Mane resumed his fill height, placing Caesar's head at about nine feet high, and happily went on his way with the murder-cat starting to whistle a merry little tune.

[Snoopy Toretto]

Perception? One must be capable first of perceiving.
Just in case? No longer is there any uncertainty, contingencies are pointless.

---

The dragon is back. He is the only solid thing in a void filled with gray fog. Fog may not be accurate. This space is so utterly devoid of any point of reference. It is featureless and infinite. Snoopy isn't awake. He is full aware he is not awake. This illusion he is experiencing is not real,but every sense is telling him otherwise. Snoopy knows that if he looks down, he will see nothing, he has no hand to wave in front of him. He just is, and persists only in his own mind.

So why is the dragon back? The thing Snoopy hates most keeps returning to his mind. In the short time since the dragon first appeared, he gas felt it creeping around the edge of his dreams. Snoopy steels himself against it every night and every morning. He knows it's a madness creeping up on him. He know that after the dragon tore his wingmate's head off, he has had it come up in psyche evals, but never so much as to be a problem.

This is different he feels the dragon challenging him, mocking him. Snoopy has not yet figured out what the dragon wants, but he knows the dragon is right. Snoopy does not agree with the serpant, a foul monster. Snoopy has principles, he has an unwavering love of his people and devotion to his country. He's not sure if he has a body.

Some part of his mind reaches out, converting thought into a tenuous connection with the physical world. Snoopy immediately recoils, a flash of red covering the grey for an instant. Pain. Pain dominates reality. The physical world exists, and he never wants to touch that world again.

The dragon laughs. The serpentine body does not move, the grotesque fanged jaw does not open, but the laughter is as plain as...Snoopy can't make a comparison in his state. Then the beast says, it's voice mocking and sibilant "If I told you to fight, to live, would you choose death out of spite?" There is a force that accompanies the not-sound of the voice that seems some how to push down on Snoopy's chest (when did he get a chest?) forcing Snoopy to fight or to submit.

Snoopy fights, pushing back in a motion reminicscent of breathing. The dragon laughs again, "So your will to live is stronger than your will to defy me. How much farther can you be pushed, I wonder. "

Snoopy starts to recover something resembling consciousness. He is in pain all over. Every fiber of his body screams with fire. His nerves tell him that movement is possible, but to do so would result in even more damage. He attempts to activate his radio. He mumbles, as loudly as he can, "This is Torreto. I'm hit bad, maybe on the roof, can't move, over."

Taking a concrete action helps ground Snoopy, the hallucination receding into nothing more than the nagging sense that he's missing something. It's accompanied by an even worse feeling, one he is already working to bury: doubt.

[Egan Grey]

((Rolls Carried Over))

Egan's feeling of elation at their successful decimation of the enemy is short lived as he hears the radio messages roll in. -Shit.-

"This is Torreto. I'm hit bad, maybe on the roof, can't move, over."

"I need a stretcher up here, Toretto is hurt bad."

Leaving the lookout responsibilities to the facilities drones, "On it." is his reply as Egan moves quickly to find a stretcher or if one is not available he grabs a foam lined shipping container for one of the man sized units and drags it up to where the Doc is. Once there, he follows the Doc's direction to help get Snoopy onto the stretcher and ready to go.