|
|
Post by kyquell on Dec 2, 2014 21:46:36 GMT -6
As Sivu goes from reading to reading, trying to find some flaw, some weakness, when he hears a cold, familiar voice state "You still cannot ascertain the problem? Disappointing. I trained you to be far better." Sivu looks up to see his Mentor looking at him with a disgusted look on his face. "You are a failure. You always have been a failure. Why do you think I sent you to Kal'Shebbol? Did you think yourself so talented, so exceptional that I entrusted you with a key task. Pitiful. You were sent so that I could finally be rid of you. I knew you would fail. I knew you would be imprisoned. I had hoped you would be executed as well, but unfortunately you were too slow to give Sarne time to carry out that sentence. You have been a waste of my time and resources from the very beginning, and you will never retake your place as my pupil again. You are of no use to me."
Sivu feels all of his insecurities tearing at his mind, and the guilt and failure overwhelms him in an almost crippling fashion, until that last sentence. Suddenly, he breaks from his emotional cage and angrily replies "False. The Mentor can find usefulness in the weakest and the most foolish. No tool is so damaged that he must cast it aside. You cannot be him. You are a lie! BEGONE!"
In a final flash of anger, Sivu throws his scanner through the apparition, and as it passes through, the body of his Mentor vanishes. His hypothesis was correct, but it came at the cost of the scanner's functionality.
Mechanics: Discipline Check 1P1A1B vs 1C2D. Net result 1 success, 1 advantage, 1 despair (failure already cancelled out). Despair causes the scanner to become damaged, advantage can pass along a boost die to whomever posts next.
----
Stev's suddenly standing in a ship's hallway, with no idea how he came to be there. He looks around to catch his bearings when he sees a familiar insignia emblazoned upon an adjacent door, the symbol of the Sabiador Slavers. Suddenly, he hears two screams in rapid succession from behind the door and he quickly opens it. As the door opens, he sees two bodies with their throats just slit fall to the ground. Although it's been over a decade since he last saw them, he immediately recognizes the recently-made corpses as belonging to his mother and father. Standing above the bodies is a Rodian with a Ryyk blade, cackling maniacally as he sees Stev and says "Oh, it looks like I just kept you from your family reunion. If you'd like, I've still got one more." He reveals behind him Stev's brother, the Rodian's hand grasping his throat as the young boy gasps for air. "Maybe if you hadn't spent so long with that little Rebellion of yours, you could've saved them. Still, since you took your time finding them, I guess I can take my time as I make you watch the child die." The Rodian begins squeezing the life out of the boy, cackling in triumph as the life slowly fades from the child's eyes.
Stev bellows "No!" as he takes a hard step forward, but then he suddenly feels a familiarity with the scene. The situation matches the recurring nightmares he's had. Sometimes the Rodian's replaced with a Human, and the final member of his family to die changes, but everything else is the same fear he's had to overcome dozens of times. As the scene dissolves and his eyes again see the underground chamber, Stev realizes that he was one step away from crossing into the dome. Had he tried to save his brother, he would've been provoked to charge straight toward the shadowy form and the arch.
He quickly backpedals away as he takes in the scene around him. Vandal's down, Amura and the PDs are dodging a collapsing ceiling, and everyone else has been pelted with enough boulders that they can barely stand. They needed to run, but how could they escape something powerful enough to conjure giant demons, enter people's minds, and influence an entire planet? His only trump card was that it wanted him alive, and it was time to play it. "Shadow, you best attempts have failed. It's clear to me that, while you want me alive, you won't be getting me unless I let you. So, it's time to strike a deal. Let's stop with the physical and psychic assaults and discuss this, otherwise neither of us will get what we want."
Mechanics: Discipline Check (Fear) 4A1B VS 1C2D. Net result 4 successes.
Discipline Check (Mind Control) 4A vs 4D. Net result 2 successes 1 threat. The threat'll bring his Strain damage up to 5, so he's a third of the way gone.
OOC: I was looking at the Recovery and Healing section of the book, and I couldn't find any way for characters to use an item or perform a check to heal Strain. Since Stev has a fully equipped Medical Backpack, would he have any smelling salts or something else of that nature to use to wake up Vandal and take off a bit of that Strain? |
|
|
|
Post by Art Teach on Dec 2, 2014 23:49:30 GMT -6
Each person attempts to fight their fear. Vandal, Sasha, and Boom fail each is fallen or in Boom's case running away from the dome. Ned'Ix from his vantage point well away from the dome still feels the fear overwhelm him. He curls into a ball on the ground.
Seeing Vandal fall Sigurd fights through his father's visage in a grimace of disappointment to assist Vandal. He drops a portable shield generator around the two of them that also covers Stev. He then begins to work with this medical skills and quickly has Vandal return to consciousness.
Aren aims for the dome blowing what was left of the top off and the pieces blow out around the group landing, bouncing off the walls and cavern ceiling. As the rubble clears half of the PDs are dragging the other half out of the low walls left around the arch. PD13 is not seen. You can feel that darkness has taken over the cavern filling it with a dark and dangerous force.
Amura stumbles out of the clouds of dust and smoke.
The Arch stands in a circle clear of rubble.
Stev for the first time sees memories he had locked away. Sees that day as if it was today. For the first time in a decade he remembers the face of the Rodian that tortured and enslaved his family. Stev offers himself to the entity. He sees the face of Gorak. Gorak was the leader of the Sabador Slavers. Breaking from the memory he calls a challenge to the entity and offers himself.
Gammer calls out,"No way! I just got you broken in. Entity you'll have to drag me with him."
The waves of fear end. "You are mine!" The entity howls triumphantly and greasy tendrils of smoke extend outward. The smoke wraps around Stev sliding into his mouth, rolling into his eyes blinding him. Stev can feel the darkness consuming him.
|
|
|
|
Post by kyquell on Dec 3, 2014 17:58:24 GMT -6
Sivu sees the smoke's assault, noting the unique opportunity presented. He opens up his comm and whispers "PDs, with the entity distracted this is the prime opportunity to attempt to remove the plaques from the archway. Move with all haste, for this could be our last opportunity to succeed." He then ducks down in cover and waits, holding out hope that the droids will find success where the organics could not.
----
Stev would comment on how he wanted to open up negotiations, not surrender, but he's a little busy dealing with evil tendrils in his brain. At least now the thing was physical, so he could start fighting back properly. He blindly grabs the smoky tentacles of evil and begins struggling to pull them out of his head, fighting and grasping with every ounce of strength in his body. He could feel the darkness closing in, but he was going to hold out as long as he could, since he just got an awfully good reason to want to live.
Mechanics: Brawl Check 2P3A vs 4D. Net result 1 success 2 advantages. I'm assuming Knockdown isn't an option, but could he use the advantages to knock himself out of its grasp? Oh, and if this thing even takes damage, that's 6 dealt to it.
|
|
|
|
Post by Art Teach on Dec 3, 2014 21:48:32 GMT -6
Stev pulls against smoke trying to get a breath that is not the greasy smokey darkness that fill his mouth with the taste of decomposed flesh. He breaks free long enough to catch a breath and is entangled again. Suddenly, The smoke breaks away and dissipates. He falls to the ground coughing up flem and stomach acids as he tries to remove the taint.
The glow dies within the rubble of the dome. Through the diffusing smoke a lone figure appears. PD13 comes forward holding a plaque in each arm.
The earth quakes and rock and rubble drops from the cavern above falling around you.
The darkness feels as though it has retreated and the cavern is just a cavern.
|
|
|
|
Post by Aren Sato on Dec 4, 2014 1:42:25 GMT -6
(Could you post an update of the map? I'd like to be sure of where everyone is.)
|
|
|
|
Post by Art Teach on Dec 4, 2014 7:24:13 GMT -6
Here it is. Attachments:
|
|
|
|
Post by Art Teach on Dec 4, 2014 10:55:32 GMT -6
As you catch your breath a regain control of your fear there is a second quake from above like something hit the ground hard above you.
Your com breaks the quiet. It is Blu his voice ragged and coughing,"Commander. .. Explosions...sabatogue... Muvon down... Gorak.. "
|
|
|
|
Post by Aren Sato on Dec 4, 2014 21:03:18 GMT -6
While others caught their breath, Aren did her best to carry Vandal, the rocket launcher and the carbine toward the rest of the team. The pistol had been tucked back into Vandal's holster. "I think she's stable, but she's clearly injured." When the transmission came through, she paused, tried to listen by proxy and watched for Stev's response.
|
|
|
|
Post by Art Teach on Dec 4, 2014 23:30:40 GMT -6
OOC: I think Sigurd applied a medpack to Vandal with his last medical roll. So After you bring her over she should be up if not a little wore for wear.
The com is still on but Blu is not responding you hear alarms and a rasping breath.
"Blu what is you SITREP? Blu?" Gammer is calling over the coms as he marches back to the team. "We need to get up there."
Stev looks to the tracker he planted on Gorak and sees it is quickly moving away from the area. It is moving to fast to be on foot. He must be in a ship.
|
|
|
|
Post by @IsNotABomb on Dec 5, 2014 1:59:55 GMT -6
((OOC: No idea. He's been far too vague for me to make heads or tails of what's going on. That and operating on an armored trooper firing a missile launcher is begging to be fragged. I dismissed it as someone else due to the whole immersion thing. At any rate, she's sitting pretty at 6 Wounds, a Stimpack being more than enough to top her off if she falls any lower.))
Vandal's armor groaned as she slipped from Aren's grasp and to the ground, making it a point to grab what was her's--a burnt, bloodied and battered brainbucket. She donned her helmet, her eyeplate and some flesh exposed, but her stance was unchanged. "I suppose I owe you." She said with pause, looking to Aren. There was silence while she headed over to her commander, loading a dose of stimm into her injector and rather idly sticking Stev knowing that he got cold-cocked himself. "Hold that. I have five more doses on hand." She noted. "That's enough for Sasha, Amura and three left over in case one of you gets hurt again." She noted, tossing aside the spent dose and loading yet another.
|
|
|
|
Post by Aren Sato on Dec 5, 2014 3:12:00 GMT -6
The Mandalorian seemed to stare at the Trooper. She shrugged at the mention of a debt. Lacking any other instructions for the moment, Sato followed Vandal over to Stev. The moment the dose had been applied and another was loaded, she handed the missile launcher off to Vandal with but a single word. "Swap." Immediately she stepped away and found a chunk of foundation to lean against while she awaited further instructions.
|
|
|
|
Post by kyquell on Dec 5, 2014 3:49:54 GMT -6
Between being possessed by an evil spirit, learning Gorak's true identity, hearing Blu's plight, and seeing Gorak about to fly away with the last working starship on the planet, Stev's brain takes a moment to keep from exploding inside his skull from the information overload. With Vandal's stim application, he finally seems to shoot back into reality, offering a quick nod of gratitude before yelling at Ned'Ix as quickly as possible "I'd better hear right now that you've got a remote anti-theft device that shuts down your ship's engines, otherwise we're all getting stranded on this rock by a combined mutiny from both of our crews!"
He looks at PD with the tablets and continues his rapid-fire commands "I don't know if we can destroy those things, so once the organics are out, try. If that fails, have one droid take one tablet each and run as far away from each other as possible, keeping a hold on the tablets at all times. Hopefully they'll stay separated."
He then turns back to face the team and states "We need to get away from the tablets for our safety, and we need to get back to the surface ASAP, because Gorak's running with the last ship!"
Stev'll then look around for the quickest route possible (When we blew out the roof, did we blow the top of the underground city? That might be faster than walking all the way and waiting for the elevator. Plus, if the Muvon's down, it might block the elevator altogether.) and get going. Blu and Brophar's lives could depend on each second, as could their way off Aariss. Plus, he definitely wasn't going to let Gorak get away so easily.
----
During the time before the explosion, Sivu gathered up his damaged sensor and, while chastising himself for letting emotion take control of him a moment, is at least pleased to see it remained mostly functional. He makes his way to inspect the crystals he previously observed when the rumble shakes the cavern, and as everyone reacts he begins estimating the time necessary for the party on foot to return to the Muvon, taking into account the varying speeds of the different crewmembers and, when he hears of the potential ship theft, determines the probability of any crew member entering effective weapon range of the starship before it exits the atmosphere. The probability is very, very slim.
OOC: Stev's more than a little flustered right now, so while he's too busy to explain HOW he's getting all this info, I'll fill everyone in. Stev's been getting bad feelings on Gorak since they first met, so before this last mission, he planted a tracker on the guy. It won't give any visual or audio data, but it gives a constant location feed at a planetary level, plus when it gets out of range, it sends a coded message with its coordinates whenever it detects an incoming ID frequency. He'll fill everyone in on that once they start moving, but I figured it's better to let you know sooner than later.
Also, thanks for the healing! That stim puts him up to full, so now all Stev has to deal with is 5 strain. Oh, that and a lot of internal strife, but I'd like to think that can't be quantified.
|
|
|
|
Post by Art Teach on Dec 5, 2014 8:44:00 GMT -6
The cavern above looks undamaged. The lift is the only way up. If it is not working the lift shaft could work. You do see the area the water in the cavern flows in and where it flows out.
One PD takes a tablet and goes one way. One goes the other. Four begin to dig crystals out of the rubble. PD13 follows his command team in whatever direction they travel.
|
|
|
|
Post by @IsNotABomb on Dec 5, 2014 10:42:23 GMT -6
((OOC: Well, we are entitled to a Discipline check to recover strain now that the encounter's over. I got a triumph, one success and an advantage.))
"Knot up. Once we get topside we can probably breach the ramp. It isn't ideal, but it'll prevent him from breaking orbit. The supply depot should have a communications array with which we can contact the FarStar to inform them of Gorak's betrayal." Vandal said rather calmly despite the mental violation she just experienced. "Wait. Wait." She thought for a moment.
((OOC: If I can, I'll expend a Destiny to introduce the following truth. I'd wait until it's acknowledged by das GM before replying were I you.))
"Wait. The Muvon. That was carrying the medical equipment right? I had a written warning I didn't have a chance to turn in. Bastards fudged the maintenance reports, I don't think it'll be able to break orbit until it's been recalibrated, and I don't think he can do that without landing."
((OOC: And I'll expend that other one, same things apply.))
"Blu unloaded the speederbikes and left those up top, right?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Art Teach on Dec 5, 2014 11:49:05 GMT -6
He doesn't have the Muvon. He left some supplies/ explosives on board the Muvon and blew the crap out of the old ship. He used the power backpack Unda uses on his heavy repeater to jump the reactor on Ned'ix starship to get it moving. You will find out Blu in the top turret of the Muvon kicked the turret view screen out and unloaded his entire missile rack into the ship. Gorak must make repairs before going into orbit or jumping.
Your destiny point will put the speederbikes out waiting for you. You just need to get to them.
|
|
