[ Against all logic, it's still May 16, 2091. Currently, our heroes are just arriving at Stargazer Hall... although this former Twilight City opera house no longer answers to that name, for certain. It used to be home to musical performances; now it is home to the burgeoning reconstruction movement headed by, of all people, one Zak Krogstad. ] [ The trip here was uneventful... surprising, given the events of the early morning. Now the hour is approaching 1pm, not that one can tell from the Twilight City sky, of course. Xavier was quiet, even pensive the entire time, keeping to himself but looking surprisingly more serious than he was when the group first arrived. Something on his mind, perhaps? ] [ The doors loom! Standing guard are two of Zak's followers... will they recognize him? Given their relaxed posture and piecemeal outfits, it's not even certain they would recognize *themselves* without prompting! We shall see! GAME START! ] * Rochelle is walking along. She's pretty calm and has been pretty calm! Who's surprised? She's been keeping an eye on X, making sure he doesn't run off again. * Katherine is still in suit, holsters and pack still slung across her. Atypical, but hey, it's TC. Fashion is not part of how this place works. She says, "Place looks slightly less busted up." * Zak looks up at the concert hall, and for a very brief moment he looks like he's about to bolt. But he doesn't! Instead he starts walking up to the guards. "Got to keep up the schway image, grok? We put some time in whenever people starrt getting bored." he responds to Kat. [ Guard #1 -- we will call him "Biggs" -- watches the group approach, and runs through a variety of mugged expressions. Kat gets immediate apprehension because she is IN A SUIT and CARRYING HEAVY SHIT. Xavier gets a look of confused memory-searching, the universal symbol for "don't I know you?". Thankfully, Zak and Rochelle get the large goofy smile of recognition. "You back, jefe!" he says enthusiastically, turning and shoving the door open. Yeah, I back. Place been quiet? (oh god this is hard) (i don't speak stupid, i need a berlitz course) (They just send you a box with a hammer in it.) ("Apply directly to forehead!") [ Guard #2 -- heretofore dubbed "Wedge" -- gives something between a wave and the 'hail, Scroob!' salute from Spaceballs in response to that question. "You missed a frakkin' schway carnival, for real," he says. "Got the best nanopaste shit and everythin'." ] [ Having opened the door, Biggs turns back and nods his agreement. "Yeah, jefe. Only thing was the Krazors gettin' antsy... some geekwizard they got crackin' out their gear went AWOL, but they been keepin' it chill for now." ] * Katherine rolls her eyes behind her faceplate and begins to inspect her suit's claws. * Rochelle watches the conversation, processing what the dudes are saying without trouble, but she doesn't say anything. This is pretty much her brother's show. (I apologize for the lack of verisimilitude, it's just not my idiom.) Fan-fuckin-schwizzy. I'll suss out more once I'm upstairs. * Zak pauses, then adds "TC prevails, citizen," grins, and ducks inside. [ Biggs and Wedge snap sharp salutes, chant "OUR LIVES FOR AIUR" and then make way. ] * Rochelle hides her snicker and goes in, too! After Xavier. He'd better go. [ Actually they just nod and go back to slacking. ] * Katherine gestures inward for Roch and X, saying, "We got places to be." (YOU MUST CONTRUCT ADDITIONAL PYLONS) (I played that game way too much. And I wasn't even good at it.) (I wasn't either!) [ For his part Xavier actually seems to be doing better, here, than he was just a short time ago. He nods at the door 'guards' and heads inside after Rochelle. Biggs and Wedge give Her Crankiness a wide berth as she brings up the rear. ] * Katherine doesn't even pay attention to them. Once they're inside she asks, "You're not a recent escapee, are you Xavier?" [ He's actually walking the hallways like he knows them. "Define recent," Xavier throws back in an airy tone. TC reconstructionists of every shape, color, and state of dress are inhabiting the place now; each gives Zak (and to a lesser extent, Rochelle) a :D of greeting and various slangy catchphrases I'm not going to try reproducing. ] (Outside, a handful of shuriken bury themselves in Biggs and Wedge.) (Cham has the AC kick on. I have ninja Roch.) * Katherine replies, "What the guards were talkin' about." A small pause, then, "I'm wondering if they were talking about you, Xavier." (Sorry, give me 3m reprieve, need to finish up polishing these shoes) [ The gangly blond shakes his head at that. "I left years ago, not days ago." ] * Katherine replies, "Just checking. Sounds like they're having trouble keeping their talent." * Rochelle half-waves and nods at people as she passes by them. Wow, she is so much less anti-social than when Kat last saw her. [ Turning his head away, Xavier mumbles something under his breath. If anyone is actually paying attention, it sounds an awful lot like: "can't imagine why people would want to leave this freakin' hellhole." ] (I cannot use 'frak'. I am sorry. BSG does it and they do it stupid, I have bad associations.) * Katherine replies, "Yeah, still not sure how I managed to stick here a year either." She looks to the back of Zak's head. "Couldn't just send up a runner, man?" (I will move this along once I know what the heck we're doing here. ^_^) (Feel free to jabber until then.) Gotta put in an appearance. Place like this, people're just waiting for me to slip up, so they can make a run for city hall. For real. (Woo, shoe polish fumes.) [ You saunter past one of the larger concert rooms on your way. There's a brief pause as Xavier stops and cocks his head, then shakes his head and keeps walking. "At least no more lizard opera," he says in a bland tone. ] She wasn't that bad. Hey. I liked her singing, and it's better she was here than not, right? * Zak does a double-take, then shakes his head. "I keep forgetting you were here back then, man." [ The look on his face at this sudden triple-teaming very clearly says: wtf, people. ] Anyhow, you're right. Hettie moved back to Box City, but last time I checked there they said she'd gone somewhere else. * Katherine can't see his face! Ha ha. "Can't blame her." [[ It's not a big building, so in short order you arrive at Zak's office, or bedroom, or sauna, or whatever the hell he has, which I shall leave to him to describe. ]] Can't just hand out stones for the rest of your life. * Rochelle shrugs. "Still got mine." * Katherine is silent a few moments, before saying, "Yeah. Me too." [ That gets an expression of confusion from Xavier, who looks between the two women uncomprehending. ] * Zak arrives in front of a door which has "Zak" stencil-painted on it. Underneath that it has "Lord of teh Scum", scrawled in what looks like black permanent marker. He looks down at the graffiti for a moment, then opens the door to reveal what was probably once the theater owner's office. The back wall is all windows, looking out towards city hall - there's several clearly jury-rigged computer/database systems set up around the place, and a (.. .that cut off, didn't it.) (place, and a) (Cut: there's several clearly jury-rigged computer/database systems set up around the place, and a ) (Si.) ( place, and a large real oaken desk which has seen way better days, which was probably here before TC went to shit. There are also paper files, datapads, and empty alcohol bottles all over the place.) (Are any of my named NPCs around?) (Would you like them to be?) * Katherine doesn't explain it to Xavier. He can ask later! (No, because it will slow this down.) * Rochelle tromps in and grabs the nearest seat that isn't behind the desk. Sweet! * Katherine doesn't crush any of Zak's seats. "That Lord title new?" [ There is a note from Sarah on Zak's desk, as he sits at it. She has surprisingly neat and precise handwriting. "Boss: Off to shut up Krazors about guy that went missing couple days before carnival. Back in a few days. - S" ] [ Someone has also made a smiley face out of post-its on one of the database screens. ] [ Despite himself, the smiley face causes Xavier to crack something like a smile. Almost. ] * Zak sits down behind the desk, throwing one leg over the arm of the chair and leaning back until the chair looks like it's going to fall over. He picks up the note, grins, then grabs a datapad, thumbs in, and starts scrolling madly. "Some people think change ought to be like new sleek - insta-on." * Rochelle turns at Zak and asks, "Anything we gotta take care of?" * Zak tosses the datapad back on the desk. "Nope. TC didn't light itself up over Carnival, small fuckin' miracle. Everyone's still too hung-over to bitch about the subways still being down. Nothin' but this Krazor deal, and Sarah's on top of it." He stands up. * Katherine 's suit nods slightly. "Maybe some day this place will grow the fuck up." Never happen. * Katherine then steps back out of the room. * Rochelle gets to her feet, though. [ "I don't see why one guy is such a big deal," Xavier says, somewhat dismissively. "So someone got sick'a Twilight. Can't be that shocking." As he says this, however, his eyes seem to be drawn to the windows, and to City Hall. A bit of his former nervousness starts to make an appearance, but it's covered in a patina of annoyance. ] * Zak heads for the door, rubbing his chin. "Hey, if it could happen to Frosty, there's a slim chance everyone else might." He totally misses anything out of Xavier. Yeah, but they're gangers. Little posessive. * Katherine glances to Zak. "Assume whatever the want to have is theirs." [ "You can't own people," says Xavier the Idealist. ] * Katherine frowns, then says, "That'd be a nice world to live in." Dude, did you spend any time in TC with your eyes peeled back? [ Sucking in a breath through his teeth, Xavier growls out, "It's 'cause of what happened here that I think that. Freakin' gangs. Can we get this over with so I can go back to Stockholm?" ] * Katherine is silent a moment, then just replies, "Works for me," and then looks at Zak. "You gonna tell anyone about the wire sniper, or we gonna move?" Dropped a note in. Leave the gun here. (What gun? It melted.) (Well, 'dusted'.) (Nah, that was the box.) (They both did.) (The gun dusted too, yeah.) (Was unfortunate.) (Least of all for the gun.) (oops. Retcon, then.) (Shall we move ahead? Anything left to do here?) * Katherine nods and replies, "You got a vehicle here that'll get us there?" Probably, but it's only a few minutes' walk. (Is it that close?) (I thought it was a larger push.) (It seemed longer because of waves of mobs.) (Oh, well, then.) (Basically. Mobs, walls, blah blah.) * Katherine puts her hand to her head a moment, then shakes it. "Right, sure, let's go." (AHEAD FULL) (Woo hoo!) (Cats on the move!) (Also two weird guys.) [ With a few more 'schway'-ves (HAHA!) goodbye from followers, you leave the Hall and start toward City Hall. It's quiet; the path has the tense silence of the demilitarized zone, as Zak and Roch know it to be. The closer you get to City Hall and the center square, the more of Xavier's tension seems to come back. ] [ At one point, apropos of nothing, he furrows his brow and looks to the side, mouthing the word 'pajamas?' ] (HE'S GOING MAD, TAKE HIM DOWN) * Katherine is bringing up the rear this time, looking around, so she doesn't catch his crazy. * Rochelle is walking along. She was watching Xavier, so she might have caught it, but presently she's kind of zoning out as she looks ahead. Her brow knits a little, but she still doesn't focus. * Zak seems to be lost in his head like the rest of the group. (Okay, gonna warp this and hope it works.) 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Rochelle (2d6-2) and gets a natural 9 for a result of 7. (I think you did that backwards.) (Nope. I have a -2 base.) (Then +2 and -2!) (In any case, I made it, RIGHT on.) (Right on!) * Rochelle snaps out of it and rubs at her eyes. "Gotta make sure we're careful," she kind of mumbles. "Don't think the guns were all there is." * Katherine looks forward to Roch, then says as she draws her pistol, "Is that a think think, Roch, or a You are Weird think?" [ When Roch speaks, her voice cuts the silence like a gunshot even at low volume. The silence here is *oppressive* in its intensity. Xavier frowns at her a moment, especially when Kat follows it up with something that doesn't make a lot of sense, but he decides not to piss off the gun-toting woman for now and trudges onward. ] You're the weird one. (... fuck, there totally was something else I needed to do at Stargazer. Oh well.) (Cut that statement!) (Oh wait, no. Don't cut it. ;P) [ The view of City Hall grounds, ahead, is close; less than a block. For people who have a memory of it, it's like a time capsule: all that's left is rubble, dust, chunks of building. Evidence of what REALLY happened here has been carefully spirited away, of course; ATC's cleaning crews made sure of that. Thus the place is destroyed but nobody really knows *why*. ] * Zak frowns. "Sis, as much as I appreciate it, sometimes I wish you were less fuckin' vague." [ That gets a sharp laugh from Xavier. "Her and Miss Fortescue both," he mutters. "'It'll be obvious,' she said. Maybe she wants me to kill myself?" ] * Rochelle just gives her brother a baleful look, then turns to Xavier and says, simply and plainly, Maybe you will. [ He literally stops in his tracks at that, turning to bore a gaze of surprising intensity into Roch's face for a moment, before he bites out, "Maybe I freakin' won't. Just to spite the three of you." He then turns around and starts walking again. ] Hey, whoa, whoa. Look. this place is creepy, okay? Don't let it get to you. * Katherine is silent as she looks on at the area, and then her gaze snaps to Xavier. She frowns and moves forward after him quickly, not letting him get ahead of the group. "Maybe she sent you here to go crazy. Wouldn't be the first time that happened here." * Rochelle doesn't seem hurt. She just keeps walking. (Boy, none of you have a future as covert operatives, I'll tell you that.) ("I AM DEFINITELY NOT PSYCHIC." "I HAVE NO PRIOR CONNECTION TO THIS PLACE.") (hahaha) (Well, the only one who doesn't know about Rochelle's precog is Xavier.) (So she's not trying as hard to hide it as she did in ATC. Plus, seriously, she's kind of half gotten over her hang up about people knowing.) [ And with Kat's comment, it becomes clear that you're now kicking up the dirt and dust of the center square of Twilight City. Above, the sky is a dark color that seems to glow, strangely luminescent in its shadows, like in the middle of an eclipse. There's no wind, no sound. Just the sounds of your voices. Xavier seems about to say something to Kat... ] [ ...but rather than speak, he turns and starts walking into the piles of dusty debris. ] * Rochelle walks after Xavier without hesitation. "This what you were sent to do?" [ He doesn't answer, not immediately. Instead he just walks for a bit, and then comes to a stop, scuffing the dirt with his toe before half-turning back toward you and speaking in a quiet voice. "Why you three. Specifically, why you? What's... what's your connection?" It's the first time the question's come out of his mouth, as if just now occurring to him. ] * Katherine looks up at the weirdness of the glow, then back to Xavier. She tilts her suit's head at him. "What, is somethin' happenin to you?" [ "No. I just want to know." Having answered, he turns away and starts poking at other piles of debris, seemingly at random. ] * Zak looks to Kat, then Roch. Philosophy is not his element. * Rochelle blinks. "What'd you mean?" * Katherine shrugs and glances to Zak and Roch, before saying back, "We all know the place. And eachother. Bled for eachother, blah blah warrior comraderie." [ "Went crazy together?" Xavier asks as he looks, not turning to reply, still looking. ] We were here when Mad was in the hall. At the end, anyway. * Katherine says, "Wait, wait... you said years. But you said you were there then, too, right? Which is it?" [ That does make him stop, and he stands up, turning to look at the three of you. "They," he starts, waving a hand at the Krogstads, "stayed, I guess. I left. Nobody noticed and nobody freakin' cared, either. Maybe a year. Not sorry about leaving either." ] * Rochelle shrugs. "So you went where you wanted. Good for you." People should go where they want. [ It seems like the blond is about to turn and respond, when suddenly he stops and ducks down, knees bent. Squinting, he reaches down and sifts through the dirt with one hand, and then clearly picks something up. ] (Everybody gets to make a Psyche check. No, really.) (... wow.) TC can kind of be a prison, but it's got some real heart... (... wtf!) 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katherine (2d6) and gets a natural 6 for a result of 6. (Dude, I've got psyche! Sweet!) (Bare make!) (Unless dice decide to hate me.) 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Rochelle (2d6) and gets a natural 10 for a result of 10. (DR1) 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Rochelle (2d6) and gets a natural 8 for a result of 8. (Made!) 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Zak (2d6) and gets a natural 7 for a result of 7. (Jesus, I do not remember. What is Psyche?) (I don't either.) (Average of mind and soul, I think.) (HAHAHA fuckno.) [ The following things happen, in order: ] (That'd match my stat.) (Wait. Roll UNDER that number?) (Yeah.) (BESM 2, remember.) (Right. I'd have had to roll a friggin 5, so.) (I bought extra psyche boost stuff for Rochelle at the character creation.) (Ahaha. Poor Zak.) (I remembered that much.) (Her psyche score is ridiculous.) (Anyhow.) [ 1. Xavier does indeed pick something up. He then topples forward on his face, fulfilling Rochelle's recent vision to the letter. ] [ 2. Rochelle and Kat are assaulted by a sudden flood of quite vivid memories of the end days of ATC2, particularly everything that happened on this very spot. ] (Annnd this would be where I let Thren die, wouldn't it.) [ 3. So is Zak, but his are not his own memories... they're a jumble of everyone else's. Roch and Kat aren't adversely affected, at least not physiologically. Zak, however, is very heavily dazed because he just got Max Headroomed at the speed of plot. ] (Whuf.) (Probably doesn't help that he picked it up from both Roch's and Kat's perspectives!) (Only our own memories, though?) (Roch and kat only remember their own stuff, yes.) (Zak gets pastiche.) (Which is, understandably, more disorienting.) * Zak reels back, clutching at his head as he gets three distinct people's' memories in his head, as well as the hints of precognition.He manages to emit a strangled "F.... ffuck!" * Katherine reaches up to her head as she hunches over slightly, too, saying, "Agh, dammit--dammit, Thren..." she glances to Roch. * Rochelle 's eyes glaze over, and they dart about wildly as she remembers everything that happened. She winces and kneels, turning Xavier onto his back. * Rochelle does not look at Kat, thanks. * Zak drops to his knees, then over onto his side. "Hnnng." * Katherine moves forward towards Roch and Xavier at normal speed. Probably can't think at suit speed right now. [ This is not hard to do; he's thoroughly unconscious. It's a bit like playing with a very large rag doll. One arm flops out to the side, hand empty. The other is clenched in a fist so tight -- even in unconsciousness - that his knuckles are white. ] * Rochelle checks Xavier's pulse. "Check on Zak," she says in an extremely detached voice. [ He is alive! Surprisingly, for someone out cold, his pulse rate is Extremely! High! right now. ] * Rochelle works on Xavier's fist, then, trying to pry his fingers open. * Katherine grits her teeth and spits out, "Right," before moving over to Zak. "Zak, you jackass, you dead?" (Body check, at -2. He is GRIPPING.) 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Rochelle (2d6-2) and gets a natural 5 for a result of 3. (Woo, roll!) (ROCH HULK SMASH) * Zak is clutching his head, his eyes squeezed shut. "Can't... think..." (A handful of shuriken embed themselves in the laws of probability.) (*assassinates Xavier while Kat and Zak are distracted*) That's not a change. * Katherine says back to Roch, "Zak's having some mental shit too, but he's not dead." She puts her hand to her head again. [ Rochelle, through supreme effort, slowly pries Xavier's fingers apart one at a time. ] [ In his palm is a polished, powder-blue stone. ] (Fuck me.) * Rochelle spots the stone. "Oh, man," she says softly, before picking it out of Xavier's hand and maybe passing out herself. [ The stone is warm to the touch from having been deathgripped in Xavier's hand, but it doesn't do anything adverse to Roch merely from holding it. ] (Do the memories subside, or are they still going strong?) (They already subsided.) (Sweet.) (It was more of a pulse than a persistent effect.) (Except for Zak because... well to be blunt he failed his roll not to be fucked up.) * Zak slowly opens his eyes. * Rochelle encloses the stone in her own fist and leans over, patting Xavier's cheeks. "Hey!" * Katherine crouches down, sighs, and says, "You back? If not, take a deep fucking breath and think something about yourself. Tends to help me." (It does make sense that Zak would be the one who screwed up his roll. He's the one who doesn't get voices other than his own in his head. ;P) (Seriously!) [ The impact, however light, makes redness appear on Xavier's otherwise bloodlessly pale cheeks momentarily, but otherwise fails to register. ] * Zak tries hard to comply with Kat's request, and manages to make it to a seated position. "Oh. Oh man. That was trippy exquisite. Ow." What the hell'd you get? * Katherine looks away from Zak towards Roch and Xavier as she waits for the answer. 2d6+2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Rochelle (2d6+2) and gets a natural 11 for a result of 13. (Haha, no.) * Rochelle gives up and leans back, sitting heavily on the ground. She opens her fist, flipping the stone over with her free fingers as her eyes glaze. So much for checking on her brother's well being. (Also, hay kat) (ranged defense at 4 penalty plz) It ... was like both of you, in stereo. Plus someone else yammering in the background. 2d6+2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katherine (2d6+2) and gets a natural 10 for a result of 12. (That's not gonna do it.) * Rochelle murmurs, "Something. There's something... I can't see." * Katherine looks back to Zak and says, "Wait, what? Talking?" (Stop a sec) (We're in bullet time, don't wanna get too far ahead, heh ^_^) (*pokes Mecha*) (Sall good. ^^) (Oh, sorry.) [ From out of nowhere, a shell whips through the air and embeds itself in the shoulder of Kat's suit. It's thankfully far enough away that it presents no immediate threat to Zak, but... well, Kat's another story, and apparently that was a bullet designed to fight suits. (10) ] (and by shell i mean bullet, she didn't just get a blue shell) (Aww.) (That is reserved for the escape vehicle chase scene to follow) Oh, shit. ("We've almost made it out!" *SHELL'D*) * Rochelle snaps out of her staring and stands, pocketing the rock and reaching hastily for her gun. (> l) * Katherine is pushed to the side from the force of it, and then she grabs Zak and stands both him and her up by yanking him up with her free hand. She scans for the target with her gun hand. "Fucker! Where are you!" [ "Right here," comes a voice. Following it with the eye (not hard) reveals a figure standing on a nearby second floor balcony of a mostly-intact building. (more) ] [ He's of average height, with dusky skin and dark black hair that fades to silver-white at the tips, shoulder length. He wears jeans, a white shirt, and an old-style brown leather bomber jacket. He's also carrying a sniper rifle... a really heavy-looking one with more than a trace similarity to the autoguns from before. It is, not coincidentally, trained on Rochelle. ] * Katherine 's gun is trained on him immediately. "What's your game?" * Rochelle stares back at him. The gun's in her hand now, but said hand is relaxed at her side. * Zak stands very still, watching the man. [ That gets a smirk from the figure. He is lifting that rifle with one hand... steadily, in fact. He's not aiming through the scope but at this range, it's not necessary, either. "Solitaire," he says evenly. "Leave the geek and clear out, and I don't need to bore Catseye an unfortunate superfluous head hole. And I'm a damn quick shot, in case you're feeling brave." ] 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Rochelle (2d6) and gets a natural 9 for a result of 9. (DR2) 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Rochelle (2d6) and gets a natural 6 for a result of 6. (Oh, Kat and Zak: military sciences or engineering/gunsmith rolls, if you like.) (I do not ask Roch because I know her pretty well.) 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katherine (2d6-2) and gets a natural 4 for a result of 2. (5 point knockout.) * Katherine frowns behind her helmet. "Yeah, that don't seem all that likely." [ The figure shrugs the shoulder of the arm not holding a heavy rifle. "Gimmie a shot, then, pardon the pun. Oh, and while we're at it, you can put that stone down on the ground too, Catseye," he adds to Roch. "Gonna need that too." ] (You still with us, Cham?) (Sorry, there was suddenly eyebrow plucking) 2d6-1 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Zak (2d6-1) and gets a natural 6 for a result of 5. (Nope.) What for? [ "None of your damn business." ] 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Rochelle (2d6-2) and gets a natural 6 for a result of 4. * Rochelle hesitates for a brief moment, then reaches into her pocket and extracts a stone. She looks to Kat and Zak in askance. * Zak whispers. "Kat. Getting hotter around us." [ Not enough to feel a change in air temp, BUT: if Kat's suit has sensors for it, they do indeed register something thermodynamic going on in the air around Kat and Zak specifically. ] (KEEP TYPING ZACH ARGH.) * Katherine nods slightly, glancing to Roch, and then murmurs, "And it's not you?" She then says to the guy, "Not helping us want to walk away by setting us on fire." [ Now *that* catches him by surprise, a little bit; one eyebrow goes up. Then the heat becomes *obvious*, and Kat and Zak get to make body checks! Zak gets a -1 penalty for still being sort of effed up by visions. ] (Raw body? Acro?) 2d6-1 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Zak (2d6-1) and gets a natural 11 for a result of 10. (...) (Shouldn't it be a +1 penalty, but whatever. ^^) (Oh, yeah. If you have acrobatics you can apply that, I guess.) (YOU KNOW WHAT I MEANT.) (IT DOESN 'T MATTER I WHIFFED) 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katherine (2d6-2) and gets a natural 7 for a result of 5. (Make.) (But you didn't critfail, which is key.) (It's good to have a body.) (Zak needs to work out.) (Zak needs to blow the dicebot. Or some analog.) (.... false) 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Todd (2d6) and gets a natural 5 for a result of 5. [ Kat *predicted* that he would try to set them on fire. She may be surprised that this is not the case, as she leaps free at the right moment. Zak, still groggy from the mental hammering, is less quick on the draw but DOES get away somewhat. What *actually* happens is that from midair, a... metal cage materializes from nothing. Kat is not in it. Zak is MOSTLY not in it, but has one arm wedged between the bars. ] [ The figure, not expecting either of these results, curses, and his aim on Rochelle consequently slips somewhat. ] Zak! * Rochelle drops the stone in her hand, running for her brother and Kat. * Katherine leaps forward, rolling, and doesn't care about his stupid confusion. She comes up from her roll with her gun back on him again, aims, and fires. No time like the present! * Zak is halted in his attempts to flee by sudden bars. "Uh... oh shit." He focuses very, very hard on the bars." (Let's try to freeze these fuckers brittle.) (Okay. Now I think we need to do init.) (Not for combat really but just to make sure everything gets done in proper sequence.) What's BESM init? (+()) (d6+ACV) d6+5 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Rochelle (d6+5) and gets a natural 6 for a result of 11. d6+5 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Zak (d6+5) and gets a natural 1 for a result of 6. (OH NOW WHAT THE SHIT_ d6+11 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katherine (d6+11) and gets a natural 6 for a result of 17. d6+8 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Todd (d6+8) and gets a natural 1 for a result of 9. (Kat!) (If you are actually shooting, roll that bad boy.) * Katherine does what she just said! Jump, roll, fire! And then she's off towards him at high speed. 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katherine (2d6-2) and gets a natural 6 for a result of 4. (Make by 4.) (I forget if I handle defenses now or later.) (Now.) (You can tell I run combat a lot.) 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Todd (2d6-3) and gets a natural 10 for a result of 7. (My brain's filled with 4e mechanics right now.) [ Apparently Kat is a very quick shot, or lucky, or both: the figure sees the bullet coming and jumps to the side, but not fast enough ahead of the bullet. Strangely, when it gets near his body it appears to slow down in the air, as if hitting some thick substance, but it's not enough to stop the shot slamming into the sniper's shoulder, making him hiss in pain. ] (Roch!) * Rochelle reaches her brother, drops her gun, and starts helping him pull his arm out of the bars. (Body check!) 2d6-4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Todd (2d6-4) and gets a natural 5 for a result of 1. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Rochelle (2d6) and gets a natural 6 for a result of 6. (I fail! By two!) [ The figure, meanwhile, is entirely satisfied that Rochelle and Zak are momentarily out of his hair, and focuses entirely on Kat. With a practiced and highly swift movement, he drops the rifle and whips a large pistol out of his jacket, tapping off a few shots at Kat, which she must defend against! ] (Wait!) (DR3) 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Rochelle (2d6) and gets a natural 5 for a result of 5. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Rochelle (2d6) and gets a natural 7 for a result of 7. (Yeah, after spending DR4, I will accept a failure.) (Haha.) (Well: Body.) [ Rochelle succeeds only in chafing Zak's arm. That's wedged in there kinda tight. ] (Katrina?) (How many defenses?) (1.) 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katherine (2d6-3) and gets a natural 7 for a result of 4. (Make.) (You may dodge to your heart's content.) (Zak!) * Zak focuses his attention on the bars, and tries to cram heat from them into the already warm surrounding air. [ This is remarkably easy, which Zak may notice. The bars around his arm basically instantly ice over, then snap off. Interestingly, rather than clanging to the ground with a metallic sound, the pieces shatter, then drift away as grey dust. This looks familiar. ] * Katherine anticipates and sidesteps the shot, replying with amusement in her voice, "You should work on your shot with that old clunker." * Zak runs for cover, dragging his sister after him. You can almost hear the wheels turning in his head, though. (Okay. Mind checks!) (Sensory acuity counts.) (And we are wrapping up I swear.) 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Zak (2d6) and gets a natural 4 for a result of 4. (WOO, Dead on.) 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katherine (2d6) and gets a natural 7 for a result of 7. (Bare make.) (Heightened Awareness count?) (Yep.) 2d6-4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Rochelle (2d6-4) and gets a natural 11 for a result of 7. (DR5) 2d6-4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Rochelle (2d6-4) and gets a natural 7 for a result of 3. (Oh my lord.) (I'm going to start making you DR successes.) (I made that!) ("YOU MUST FAIL.") (Hey, I have six levels of DR. :D) [ A brief lull in the action reveals two things of interest. ] [ 1. The sniper's sniper rifle is so much familiar grey dust. ] (... weeeeird.) [ 2. The silence and the 'glow' of the sky are both getting... tangible. Sounds are starting to be muffled inches from your own mouths. And it's as if the light is *becoming* darkness you can see in, for lack of a better word. Like black light without the luminescent effect. ] [ This appears to unnerve the sniper, who doesn't take his gun from being trained on Kat, but lets his gaze dart to the side a bit. "Fuck..." he says, and it's hard to hear him at this distance as the silence gets progressively stronger. "I guess you can hold on to him for now, Ms. Hunter," he says to Kat, before *leaping* at the stone that Rochelle dropped. ] (Now is your brief chance to try and stop him if you wish!) (That said: pretty much everything is at 2 point penalty because the silence and the light are becoming *really disorienting*.) * Katherine says, as the sound gets weird, "I'm getting you all damn headsets." She sees his leap and then changes her run angle drastically to try to leap and grab him in a high speed tackle. * Rochelle reaches down and picks up her gun, assuming it also hasn't been dustified. (Well, if I can.) (You can! Roll away!) (Unarmed Attack (Grapple)? Acro? Riding?) (Unarmed grapple works, I think.) (You don't get an advantage from Speed because you're not the only one who has it, ahaha. Ahem.) (Ha.) (Let's plunk the flex skills into it. No time like the present to need a grab.) 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katherine (2d6-2) and gets a natural 8 for a result of 6. (... and I needed the skills!) (Zak trying anything as well?) (Well, maybe. Make by 2.) (Unless I can somehow ice him to the ground, it's unlikely.) (YOu can try if you want!) (LET US DO THIS THING) (I uh... roll your cryokinesis or whatever the hell it is and we'll figure something out.) (You could slip him up? It's like the oldest ice trick in the book.) (He's in the air, though.) (It is true. but added weight is going to fuck up his fall.) 2d6-4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Zak (2d6-4) and gets a natural 6 for a result of 2. (woo) (Okay.) 2d6-4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Todd (2d6-4) and gets a natural 8 for a result of 4. (Now how to describe this.) (And this is going to be a lot of narrating coming in, so give me a sec.) (Sure thing, boss. ^^) (If you make me accidentally kill him, you'll be next.) (The GM cannot be killed.) (I mean Zak.) (A handful of shuriken embed themselves in kat's righteous indignation.) (Hahaha.) [ Everything happens very quickly, and the wacky surroundings are not helping. In a completely wacky twist, Kat's tackle is intercepted by, of all things, a thick mattress which appears literally out of thin air. The impact causes her to veer off target and sail just *past* her target. ] (... I got Sertaed.) [ The sniper hits the ground, snatching up the stone... and finds himself suddenly and quite fully iced to the ground by one leg. He can stand, and tries to make a second jump to get the hell away, but Zak's more powerful than that, so nothing doing. Grimacing, he turns his gun toward his own leg, and looks like he's about to fire... ] [ Then the silence and darkness become total. There is a long moment of complete and utter visual and aural sensory deprivation. ] (You can literally neither see nor hear anything. Even in the suit.) (Can I sense anything?) (I... don't know.) (Like, am I still getting precog noise, even if it's just white noise?) (Makes all the difference in how Rochelle reacts. ^^) (Make a soul check at 2 penalty, we'll see what happens.) 2d6+2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Rochelle (2d6+2) and gets a natural 6 for a result of 8. (DR6, last one) 2d6+2 (Have some soul!) * Dicesuke throws the bones for Rochelle (2d6+2) and gets a natural 7 for a result of 9. (Damn.) (Yeah, Rochelle has seven soul, which is awfully good for ATC2. But not enough here!) * Katherine twists through the darkness, probably landing on... something. Perhaps not well. [ It lasts only a few seconds. When your senses come back, the sniper is gone. The ice that was holding him in place is *mostly* still there. Blood spatters the ground around it, however, as well as rapidily melting chunks of ice. ] * Rochelle looks around, completely blindly, and scrambles for Zak. She grabs his arm in a death grip comparable to what she had to deal with from Xavier and opens her mouth to scream... then stops herself, and a little while later she can see again. * Rochelle doesn't release her brother from the death grip, however. Slippery fuckin' bastard... Sis, you okay? * Katherine picks herself up off the ground, groaning as she sees him gone. "Dammit." She stands up. "Dammit, dammit. Why did Thren drop his stone... why did he WANT Thren's stone... what the fuck just HAPPENED?" I- I couldn't see. Is, um. Is Xavier there? (Is there no trail of blood?) (No. Drops of blood, but no trail.) [ Should anyone care to look, Xavier Aurin is indeed still there, on his back and thoroughly unconscious still. ] (We can get in some reactions, then we'll wrap things up. ^_^) * Katherine replies to Roch, "He's there," and walks over to him, saying, "Red Japan. All his hardware was Red Japan." Whatever, let's go! * Rochelle shuts her eyes tightly, takes a deep breath, and opens them again. She loosens her grip on Zak's arm. "Get him so we can go." * Zak shakes his head. "We've got to vamoose, right? No telling what the fuck that was." * Katherine puts her pistol away, and then picks up Xavier over her shoulder. "Glad to." She looks up at the sky and murmurs quietly, "Damned place." (Anything else?) (Not really. Rochelle wants to go!) (I can't imagine why.) (>_<) (I should scrape up some of that delicious blood.) (We can use it for science.) * Katherine shakes her head, then reaches into her bag, pulls out a fabric something, and presses it against the ground. "At least his blood doesn't turn to dust." (Well, against the wet bloody ground.) [ What a strange two days. Our heroes met Xavier Aurin, brought him to a city with memories for all four travelers... and are now presented with a large number of unsolved mysteries. Who was that sniper? What caused the mysterious darkness? Why did Thren's animal stone resurface? And what does all of this have to do with our intrepid protagonists? ] [ That, my friends, is a story for future telling. ] (NOTHING! Game is over.) [ END ACT ONE]