[Date: Tuesday, April 5th. Time: 1:00 p.m.] [Location: Cape Town, South Africa] [It's a pleasant, if chilly and overcast, afternooon in South Africa. You guys were just hanging out around town catching local flavor while the U.S.S. Abercrombie repaired and resupplied, and Alysha and Sonia went off somewhere in a tiny car. And then you got a distress signal from Sonia's car, which can talk and is apparently named Aileen. They were attacked (oddly enough, by people looking for Sonia, not Alysha) and kidnapped on the way back from the airport. So Montana stole you a car and you're headed to the rescue! I guess?] [That's a lot of words.] [Start!] 2d6+5 * Dicesuke rolls 2d6+5 for Sonia and gets a natural 3 for a result of 8. (yay) (/me shows dicy the love.) (eff that guy) (Flamenwurfer. When you absolutly gotta wurf some flamen.) * Montana is not a wheelman, but he does know how to drive. Good thing, too, since he's driving. He's pretty set on getting to Sonia, as he's also shattering the speed limit (assuming there actually is one). * Aileen is only on comms, and totally helping Montana's mood by talking a lot. ~This is bad but exciting. Maybe she'll help me learn how to drive better after this, you've all been driving ugly boxy trucks and ignoring me.~ (Aileen is on the general comms and not just Montana's, right?) * Gordo is buisily holding onto the inside of the car and muttering about how this'd be so much faster and safer in a chopper." (Correct.) (Yes, feel free to reply! Montana is kind of busy driving while I look up a log.) [There sure is a speed limit! Plus, being a large city, traffic. Uuuuu.] 2d6+5 * Dicesuke rolls 2d6+5 for Sonia and gets a natural 6 for a result of 11. 2d6+4 * Dicesuke rolls 2d6+4 for Sonia and gets a natural 9 for a result of 13. ~ Would we even all fit? ~ * Shiho is holding onto the 'oh shit' handle but looks pretty calm. ~So, you're a... car?~ * Aileen replies, ~ Well, no, but the vans are so ugly. Hey, gunfire, musta seen me! ~ ~ There is such a beast as functional ele-CHRIST Monty, I thought you were going to run us off the road! ~ * Nigel continues to point out where to turn and such. ~It's really fascinating. Is your sentience mystical or technological?~ * Montana yells back, also over comms, ~I ain't the driver usually! That's Sonia's job!~ * Aileen says, ~ I'm the, uh... autonomous control component of the Wave. Which is Sonia's car. Uh, sentience? Now you sound like papa. ~ * Nigel raises an eyebrow. ~Hm... Who is papa?~ Nigel casually points out the next turn as he asks. * Aileen continues, ~ Sorry, brother-man, I don't think we know eachother that well. C'mon, Monty, you can drive whatever piece of junk you stole! ~ ~If it makes you feel any better, Montana, the driver for my last group was much worse than you. You've never really feared for your life until you've been in a car with Benny at the wheel.~ *Aileen adds, ~These guys aren't very good with guns. Wonder if they've got another rocket.~ * Nigel shrugs at Aileen's comment. ~As you say, miss. The answer to my question seems to be technological, though. Fascinating.~ (Maybe swap those) * Montana grins despite himself. ~Y'sure about that? I've been afraid for my life a hell of a lot. And watch what you say there, darlin', y'might jinx it.~ * Gordo lets go of the coms button to hold onto the ohshit handler better. "That's the second most frightening thing I've been tol today." ~How many of them are there, Aileen?~ * Shiho says, almost fondly, ~He took us off a cliff once.~ *Aileen replies, ~I'm not sure. Only one van, though. Off a cliff? Sounds fun!~ ~ Only if you've wings. ~ ~It was pretty scary at the time, but it makes for a good story. And it got us away from the people we were running away from. ...Wait, how old are you mentally, in comparison to a human? This isn't like telling a seven year-old to jump off the roof, is it?~ *Aileen replies, ~Um... I'm 15? And I'm human. Why are you acting so weird? Heya, there's the rocket launcher!~ [The good news is you're almost to the highway!] * Montana takes a hard right a little too hard, but he rights the car well enough. Whoops. * Shiho blinks. ~Sorry. When I heard 'autonomous control center,' I just assumed you were some kind of AI.~ ~Y'alright with that launcher, Aileen?~ * Aileen replies a moment later, ~Yeah, I don't know how they hit Sonia before. Musta surprised her.~ A vibratory giggle. ~That's silly. There's no such thing as a real AI.~ Mooonty! Keep us on the road! * Nigel furrows his brow and nods thoughtfully. ~And they'd get soooo boooored.~ ~I didn't used to believe in magic, what do I know about AIs?~ * Aileen comments, ~ Magic is pretty neat. Sonia doesn't like it much, but it has to be real, right? How far away are you all? ~ * Montana is ON the road. Geez, Gordo. (Can I even tell how far away we are? Oh wait, Nigel's the one with the geeps.) * Nigel nods. ~It is real, Aileen.~ He looks at the GPS coordinates ~We're getting close. Especially now that you've stopped moving. Should be there soon. Hang in there.~ * Aileen replies, ~They went into a garage! And won't let me in. Rrr. Lemme see...~ [You're on the highway now, making good time! It shouldn't be long til you get there..... Wherever there is.] * Montana clearly decides the best thing to do now is speed up! SO HE DOES. * Gordo says a quick prayer. ~No fuckin' faith in me, Gordo, I swear...~ ( Montana, gimme a crazy driving roll! ) (Sweet!) 2d6+6 * Dicesuke rolls 2d6+6 for Montana and gets a natural 9 for a result of 15. (Not bad!) [Montana drives like a crazy-ass mo' fo', nearly running some guy off the road. He makes great time down the highway, though, and you quickly reach the exit! The exit that takes you back into town, albeit in a more industrial, less populus, section. As you approach the coordinates, you spot the building: A meat-packing plant, occupying more than half a city block. You can spot Sonia's tiny little car waiting outside.] * Aileen is waiting, but by this point she's not just a car, she's that hollowed out shiny suit, leaning against a wall. She vibrates and waves, and you can hear over comms, ~In here! Hurry!~ * Montana mutters, "God damn, she's also the fuckin' suit. Of *course* she's the suit." He parks - thankfully not crashing into anything in the process - and gets out of the car. * Aileen _prances_ up to Montana and almost preens looking up at him. ~C'mon, c'mon, Monty, I don't have any weapons!~ * Shiho gets out of the car and draws her sword. * Gordo slides out of the car. "Ya know where in there they've her?" * Montana loooks at the suit, kind of dumbfounded. "Yeah, uh... do you need one?" * Aileen replies, making a different vibratory noise, ~Noooo, she's all off now.~ She waves both blobbyhands at the door. ~I can try maybe, but goooo!~ * Nigel gets out of the car and looks over at Aileen before just nodding and turning towards the building. "Right." * Montana decides that's good enough, it seems, as he's already running for the building, pulling his mask down over his face as he does so. (Brett: Are there windows that one could, say, jump through?) * Shiho hurries to the building. (Or crawl through?) * Gordo draws his gun, and checks status of ammo and safty before asking Aileen. "This may be a waste o breath, but how good are you at being quite an sneaky?" (Are there any windows in their house?!) (WELL ARE THERE?) ( ARE THERE? ) ( Oh wait I should know. ) (Clearly these men come from a bad way of life.) ~Sneaky? I'm a big silver art installation!~ [There are, but it's a big building. Of course, if someone had infrared...] (Well, her plan is just to make a distraction by going in the nearest window.) ( that works ) * Aileen starts climbing up one of the walls, towards a nearby window, and says, ~I'll distract them and run around a lot! You get Sonia! This'll be fun! ~ (I do! What've we got?) * Gordo opens his mouth to say something and then just shakes his head. "Godspeed." He takes off after the other peole who have to walk. (I have the mask on.) * Nigel shakes his head and runs over to the building. ~You sound like me when we are being attacked by demons and mysterious reality warping black fog.~ * Aileen replies, ~Do I? I don't know you, but if you're like your brother, I bet you're pretty good.~ That shimmering giggle again, and then she goes for the crash through the window plan. [Aileen crashes through a window!] [I mean, there's not much to say, really. There was a window, and she crashed through it. She's inside a large room now.] (I have infrared, do I get anything? ^^; ) (And what entrances are there?) ( There's a front door, a side door, and the garage door in the back. ) * Aileen just keeps running forward, trying to find dumbfaced people or Sonia. [That isn't hard. Several masked men dressed in camo-fatigues, armed with assault rifles, burst into the room and open fire on Aileen.] ( gimme ) d3 * Dicesuke rolls 1d3 for Brett and gets a natural 3 and a modified 3, a CRITICAL SUCCESS! "Astonishing! May I borrow your pituitary gland for a moment? You'll get it back good as new, I promise!" ( 3 defense rolls ._. ) (Okay, as much fun as this is, Montana needs Infrared info, so the main team can actually do something.) (And if you didn't want me to make 3 defense rolls, don't roll a 1d3. c.c;) ( Just 2 then ) (Okay, now give the other team the ability to act, please?) (Sorry, asking Brett a pile of annoying questions.) * Montana glances at the building, mask now over his face, then gestures for everyone to follow as he runs around the side to the back. * Gordo runs after Monty! (Full defense.) 2d6+8 * Dicesuke rolls 2d6+8 for Sonia and gets a natural 12 and a modified 20, a CRITICAL SUCCESS! "Ah, then this IS the reality where you're kicking ass. My apologies, I'll amend my notes." 2d6+7 * Dicesuke rolls 2d6+7 for Sonia and gets a natural 4 for a result of 11. [Aileen is able to avoid the initial onslaught of gunfire.] * Nigel follows Montana. * Shiho follows Monata. * Aileen dodges around with a lot of weird hops, then jumps back out the window to crawl into another one. ~They found me!~ [Meanwhile, the rest of you follow Montana to the side entrance!] [You totally do!] [It's definitely an entrance!] [On the side!] [Of the building!] [Meanwhile, some if not all of the guards are chasing Aileen.] ~ Aileen continues being a very attractive suit of shiny metal as she runs around. At faster than human speeds, even with her weird physiology. [You all mill around the side entrance looking silly.] * Shiho tries to open the door. (What sort of a door are we looking at? Cheap thing falling off of its hinges, hundred pound blast proof monstrosity? A piece of plywood with "Dor" written on it?) (THE MIGHTY DOR) [A metal door that seems to be unlocked, because Shiho just opened it, revealing a long corridor with several rooms.] (Yay unlocked doors!) * Gordo goes in and briefly checks side rooms for fighting and/or Sonia as he passes them. [Shiho holds the door open for Gordo while he goes in and the rest of you mill about the outside of the building doing nothing.] * Shiho follows after Gordo. * Montana moves it moves it. * Nigel walks in as well, and draws his crossbow as he does so. ( Gimme.... mmmm..... Hearing checks, I guess. ) 2d6+5 * Dicesuke rolls 2d6+5 for Gordo and gets a natural 7 for a result of 12. 2d6+7 * Dicesuke rolls 2d6+7 for Shiho and gets a natural 2 and a modified 9, a CRITICAL FAILURE! "We've developed an implantable luck generator you could try, if you aren't using that liver..." 2d6+7 * Dicesuke rolls 2d6+7 for Nigel and gets a natural 10 for a result of 17. 2d6+6 * Dicesuke rolls 2d6+6 for Montana and gets a natural 5 for a result of 11. d4 * Dicesuke rolls 1d4 for Brett and gets a natural 1 and a modified 1, a CRITICAL FAILURE! "Excellent! We've been looking for a test subject. Hold on to this horseshoe and penny while I alert the Leprechaun Entrapment Brigade, we'll have you fixed in no time..." [Nigel hears something he recognizes as faint breathing, just a bit too late to shout a warning before a woman just appears from nothing, jabbing fingers tipped with sharpened metal nails into Shiho's stomach. She flips backwards to gain some distance before adopting some sort of fighting pose, clawed fingers dripping with blood.] ( gimme init rolls ) 2d6+6 * Dicesuke rolls 2d6+6 for Gordo and gets a natural 7 for a result of 13. 2d6+8 * Dicesuke rolls 2d6+8 for Montana and gets a natural 7 for a result of 15. 2d6+11 * Dicesuke rolls 2d6+11 for Shiho and gets a natural 12 and a modified 23, a CRITICAL SUCCESS! "Ah, then this IS the reality where you're kicking ass. My apologies, I'll amend my notes." [The woman is black, her hair long, loose in the back, braided on the sides. At first glance, she looks naked. But she's actually wearing a skin-tight brown suit that's nearly the same color as her own skin.] * Shiho screams, both in pain and in shock, and stumbles back a few steps. (Getting stabbed gives you high intiative.) 2d6+5 * Dicesuke rolls 2d6+5 for Nigel and gets a natural 8 for a result of 13. (You just wanna stab them back.) [Shiho, Woman, Montana, Gordo, Nigel] * Shiho jerks herself forward, as if mentally reminding herself that backwards is the WRONG direction, and slashes out at the woman. 2d6+7 * Dicesuke rolls 2d6+7 for Shiho and gets a natural 5 for a result of 12. [The woman weaves out of the way, swaying backwards and letting the blade pass over her.] [She counters by not countering at all, instead targetting Gordo, her fingers extending via wires that make them like bladed whips. The suddeness of the attack catches everyone by surprise. Especially Gordo, who gets three large gashes across his belly.] ( that's a crit ) [Montana!] * Gordo groans and clutches at his belly which is now shreaded. * Montana turns to face her, and suddenly a whip is lashing out from one hand in a trip attempt, followed by a gunshot from the other. (Whip, then gun.) 2d6+6 * Dicesuke rolls 2d6+6 for Montana and gets a natural 7 for a result of 13. 2d6+6 * Dicesuke rolls 2d6+6 for Montana and gets a natural 9 for a result of 15. [The woman deftly dodges Montana's whip, but the gun shoots her in the shoulder, causing it to spark with electricity. She glances at it, frowning.] [Gordo!] * Gordo takes his gun hand off of his stomache and attempts a bit of petty revenge. 2 2d6+6 * Dicesuke rolls 2 2d6+6 for Gordo and gets a natural ( 7 9 ) for a result of ( 13 15 ). * Montana tilts his head, his face expressionless thanks to his mask. "Ain't that interestin'." ( Oops, totally blanked there, sorry ) (I think it's catching.) [The woman manages to evade one of Gordo's shots, but another grazes her leg, causing more electrical sparks rather than blood.] [Nigel!] * Nigel levels his crossbow with the woman, narrows his eyes and fires. 2d6+7 * Dicesuke rolls 2d6+7 for Nigel and gets a natural 6 for a result of 13. (Does that miss?) (I assume I should DR) ( It did, yeah ) (DR) 2d6+7 * Dicesuke rolls 2d6+7 for Nigel and gets a natural 7 for a result of 14. (Bollocks) [Actually Nigel just barely manages to hit, though his crossbow doesn't seem to get much penetration through the now apparent metal body of the woman. He just manages to graze her arm a little.] [Shiho!] * Shiho , looking more pissed off as Gordo gets hurt, does her best to full out stab a bitch. (Full Attack) 2d6+10 * Dicesuke rolls 2d6+10 for Shiho and gets a natural 10 for a result of 20. [Shiho stabs her pretty good, though driving the sword through her is like trying to drive a sword through a computer. Still, she severs some sort of tubes that leak a white-ish yellow liquid. That's probably important.] [But the woman doesn't actually seem to be in pain, and with Shiho leaving herself open, she takes the opportunity to strike back.] 2d6+4 * Dicesuke rolls 2d6+4 for Shiho and gets a natural 4 for a result of 8. (DR) 2d6+4 * Dicesuke rolls 2d6+4 for Shiho and gets a natural 10 for a result of 14. [Shiho moves with lightning fast reflexes. Unfortunately for her, the woman is just a bit faster, leaving a long gash down Shiho's arm as she pulls back.] [Shiho's very much not looking too good at this point. Of course, neither is the woman.] [Montana!] (What sort of penalty, normally, to shoot that big nasty gash Shiho left in the lady?) ( Mmmm.... Time to look up called shot rules. XD ) ( I'm gonna say +6, since it's probably a vital spot ) ( Or classified as a vital spot, anyhow ) ( Or wait ) ( Hmmm ) ( Well, still +6, but we'll call it bypassing armor ) ( I guess. I mean it's not really a vital spot or a weak point. It's just an injury. And the book doesn't say what to do for called shots against injuries. ) ( So yeah, we'll go with that. ) ( -6, not +6. ) ( I'll get the hang of 3e some day ) (Well, it depends on how you'd rule it.) (I'd guess -3, but if you say -6, okay.) (Full attack.) ( I guess we could call it -3 for reduced armor instead ) (It's up to you. ^^) d2 * Dicesuke rolls 1d2 for Brett and gets a natural 1 and a modified 1, a CRITICAL FAILURE! "We've developed an implantable luck generator you could try, if you aren't using that liver..." (If it bypasses armor, that's fine!) (He is shooting right into her gut.) (It'd make sense.) ( Yeah let's just go with bypassing armor ) * Montana aims at the gash Shiho left behind and fires. 2d6+7 * Dicesuke rolls 2d6+7 for Montana and gets a natural 10 for a result of 17. [Montana shoots the woman in the gut, or what passes for one, his bullet hitting some box-like thing that countinuously sparks electricity on impact.] [She reels from the hit, but stays standing.] [Gordo!] * Gordo tries to take the stabby robot lady down! (2x full attack, aiming for the same spot) 2 2d6+6 * Dicesuke rolls 2 2d6+6 for Gordo and gets a natural ( 9 8 ) for a result of ( 15 14 ). [Despite her injuries and Gordo's well aimed shots, the woman weaves first to the left, then right, doding both his bullets with expert precision.] ( Another crit o.o ) [Nigel!] (Full attacking) (Lady luck likes robots. We learned this back whenever Ten got in a fight.) * Nigel gasps as Shiho takes another hit. He narrows his eyes, drops his crossbow to the ground and runs at the woman, thrusting his sword forward as he does so. 2d6+9 * Dicesuke rolls 2d6+9 for Nigel and gets a natural 6 for a result of 15. (That hit? I have one more DR) ( Actually it does. ) (Okay) ( Wait, did he aim at the injury like Montana and Gordo, or not? ) (No.) ( Ok ) (He's just trying to hit her and do some damage) (She looks pretty damaged already) [Either way, Nigel's sword enters her chest, and sparks fly as he damages something vital. She slides off his blade and falls to the ground, eyes open and unblinking. She doesn't move, though she twitches from electrical currents still running through her body.] * Nigel quickly retrieves his sword and heads over to Shiho. "Shiho... Are you alright?" * Montana looks down at the woman. "Fuckin' Christ," he says, then glances at the others. "Y'all good to move?" * Shiho is taking short, rapid breaths. It takes her several tries to put her sword in her sheath, and then she just covers her stomach with her good arm. "I don't think so. Um. Probably not." * Gordo eyes her for a moment in case she decides to sudden spring back to life. "'That a bot, y'think?" He then looks down in hopes that his guts wont spill out if he moves is hand. * Aileen says over comms, ~Have you found her yet? There's lots of guys with guns here! So noisy! ~ [You hear Alysha in one of the rooms up ahead, practically shrieking. "Stop!! I can pay you! I can get you anything you want! Stop!"] * Shiho groans. "Shit, the boss." She starts moving forward haltingly. * Montana winces. "Right. Uh, someone stick by Shiho." And he starts moving to the next room(s). ... How is she? (Trying to be reasonably sneaky about it, though moving fast. But I'm not waiting for everyone else here.) * Nigel nods and takes his shirt off, ripping it in half to make cloth "Press this on it." He places an arm around her. "Not so fast. We'll get to her. Lean on me. Let's go get her, okay?" * Gordo sticks with Shiho, being slightly less mauled. * Nigel looks ahead to Montana and then back at Gordo and nods. "Okay, Shiho... just uh... don't try anything okay. I'll go save Miss Johnson. I promise. You just keep pressure on the wound, okay?" ( Ok... This is going to take some description. Here goes! ) We'll keep the hall guarded till yer done. If you say things like that and the boss gets hurt, I will seriously maim you. ( I guess gimme Nigel and Montana in #mc5-2 ) * Nigel nods and lets go of Shiho, carefully... "Don't worry... I won't come back unless she is with me or I am already maimed. You won't need to do it." He smiles slightly and runs off. * Gordo leans against the wall to give a smaller profile. "So, I'm thinking we need a medic..." The medic would just get hurt. You know he would. * Shiho leans against the wall, next to Gordo. "We'd need, you know," she flaps the hand on her bad arm around uselessly, "ten medics. Backup medics." * Gordo raises a finger. "Better plan, we don't teach the car to drive, we teach her to be a medic." Perfect. We'll just let Sonia know we're turning her car into a medic. * Shiho laughs, then groans. "I certainly never thought my life would turn out like this." * Gordo nods. "Same here, just wanted to fly. And here we be." You know, if you want to go help the others, I'm sure I'll be fine. I have a gun and a working arm. And I've a gut wound. Here's hoping the local hospitals are up ta snuff. But yer right that I can still walk. Speaking of that. I think I should sit down now. * Shiho slides down the wall slowly, wincing when her butt hits the ground, and carefully pulls out her pistol and holds it in her lap. [Bonding over stomach wounds.] (Nearly as good as bonding over beer) * Sonia can be heard over comms saying, ~Dreamer, I'm awake, end emergency protocol.~ You just stay awake and on guard in case I mis... ~Sonia?~ ~Yeah, we're mostly fine. Having a depth perception problem. Trying not to think about it.~ ( I just noticed Shiho's pretty short :O ) ( Alysha's actually taller than her :O ) ( And Gordo's even shorter than Shiho o.o ) (... The hell, that's supposed to be a 5 ( Holy crap, Sonia too O: ) ( Oh. ) (Really?! Shiho's fairly bitsy.) ( Gordo's sheet says 4'9" XD ) (I typod Gordo should be 5'9") ( Still, Alysha's the tallest woman in the group. That seems wrong o.o ) (Man, when did that happen? And why did I never notice?) (Ha, well, personality-wise it seems wrong, but. It's not that hard to imagine.) (The US out-sizes people by a few inches around the world, in general.) (Most women are finished growing (up) when they're Alysha's age.) (And yeah, Alysha's an adult by height.) * Gordo offers Shiho and hand up. "Let's be off then." Fuck. Okay. * Gordo coms. ~We're headed out the back. ~ * Shiho takes Gordo's hand and grits her teeth as she stands. Her shirt's dark and wet around her wounds. ( This is true, but I always pictured Alysha as naturally on the short side :P ) (So make her shorter.) ( Nah. 5'5" is fine. ) ( That's slightly less than the average. ) (US average) (Shiho is 5'3") (*idly remembers when he was making Taki and went, okay, average height of a woman in Japan... minus 2 inches for being short, minus two more for young... and wound up a foot and a half shorter than the male characters even after making her taller once.) ( Hah, I remember that. XD ) (Heh heh.) (AFK feeding cats.) [The others emerge from down the hall, along with a balding, bearded white guy in a lab coat. Alysha's got a blood-spotted bandage around her head and is walking a bit hunched, an arm over her stomach, but otherwise looks alright. Sonia looks worse, what with one of her eyes missing.] * Nigel has a sword pointed at the guy in a lab coat and then turns to Gordo. "Gordo, keep a gun aimed at this guy. If he tries to run, shoot him... like in the legs or something, I guess... or... you know, wherever." * Sonia is carrying a large doctor's bag. Her single eye is flitting between faces. No sunglasses, what a shame. Other than looking like she was in an explosion and a car crash, clothes-wise, she looks great! * Shiho also still has her arm over her stomach. "Boss, matching wounds? Really?" * Sonia also has an empty, but bloodless, eye socket! Whee! [The man glances down at the still-occasionally-twitching body of the woman who attacks you, sighs, and shakes his head. "Still needs revisions, I see."] * Montana is sticking close to Sonia. At Shiho's question, he snorts out a laugh. Holy shit, Sonia! Can you get that put back? (Back) [Alysha grins weakly at Shiho. "Some asshole thought I was a punching bag."] * Sonia 's eye goes to Shiho and she says, "Yeah, it's just metal." * Gordo aims his gun ad the guys kneecaps. "Not a gut wound? We could all match." Bigger problem: this company, GilaCorp, has new management, and they seem to be getting fucking pushy. * Nigel keeps an eye on the doctor as he moves over to Shiho "See. Told you we'd get her." and whispers. "Hey, can you walk, okay?" But we're leavin' anyway, so let's... do that. * Shiho frowns at the whispering. "Yes?" She moves to Alysha's side and walks at about the same pace, also kind of hunched over. Her gun's still in her good hand. [Alysha nods. "There's still some armed guards running around this place. Let's get out of here."] ( And for that matter, I suppose we could just end here o.o ) (Yup!) [End! Here!]