Incidentally, I'm not answering OOC in the SB thread. I'd prefer this thread not be discussed directly over there, please.
CD: I think you'll like what I've got written this week, then. There's discussion of how Sadistic Science, Inc. stays afloat, in a character-building way.
As for who's doing what, the other camp was an independent expedition, which we raided. They raided it shortly after, and ran into Tre and Cinque. That worked out REAL WELL for them.
There's probably some useful data in there, yes. Probably nothing really irreplacable- this is a mook factory with added base of operations, more than anything else. That said, I'm the team member least suited to going in and getting it. Grenade is my lowest setting. I usually start at tank, and go up to airstrike.
**********
The outer wall was more imposing than I'd expected. It was at least five times Tre's height if it was an inch, the top of it lined with turrets of various sizes. None of them were active at the moment, judging by the lack of active fire control, patrolling guards in the area, and lack of weapons tracking towards us.
[Malleus, Argus Eyes. Sixteen eyes, in grid formation around the outer ring.]
[ARGUS EYES]
With the standard double chime, sixteen balls of blue energy appeared around me at head level. All of them silently flew off into the compound, spreading out at a rapid pace.
Cinque gave me a look. "What are you doing?
[ARGUS NETWORK ESTABLISHED]
I grinned. "New spell I cooked up. Should give us an idea where everybody is before we go in."
[Passive search for linker cores in the outer ring. Establish positions.]
[SEARCHING...]
Each Eye, a modified Area Search construct, began to 'listen' for the background emanations put out by linker cores.
[COLLATING...]
Cinque nodded. "We should hurry. Our target could be in immediate danger."
Once each Eye had collected a list of contacts and directions, those lists were sent to Malleus, which sorted through them, creating a unified list. Whenever it looked like two or more Eyes had detected the same core, he used their combined data to triangulate a more exact position, and passed the revised data on to me.
[ARGUS EYE MAGE IDENTIFICATION COMPLETE. FIFTEEN PROBABLE CONTACTS FOUND. SWITCHING NETWORK TO TRACKING MODE.]
I saw her start to move towards the wall, and held up a hand to stop her. "Just give me a few more seconds, please. It's almost ready."
[Initialize AR overlay. Display locations and distances for all living beings. Allies purple, enemies red.]
[DONE]
Dots appeared in my vision, superimposed over the (fairly scenic) view of the fortress I had from the extraction point. Most of the dots were in the inner fortress; there were two on the far side of the outer wall, and a third off in the inner ring to the right, but that was it. The outer ring was essentially depopulated.
...of course, the dots were all gray. Took me a second to realize why. When I did, I smacked myself upside my head. Mal doesn't know which dots are enemies, and which one's our objective! Why didn't I catch that sooner?!
[Can we set Tre and Cinque up with this information?]
[Then do it. I want them kept informed.]
Cinque blinked, then began scanning back over the compound, a small grin tugging at one side of her face. "I'm impressed. This is actually quite useful. Does it update in real time?"
I smirked, shifting the Malleus on my right arm to second form. "Sure does. IFF isn't automatic, though, so let me know when you ID contacts. I'll add them to the overlay." As I talked, I was thinking my way through a second spell.
[Record audio profile for the following spell, and link to Project Mosquito.]
"For now, I'm going to clear you a path. Arcane Bolt."
In front of Mal's outstretched barrel, a large blue circle spun into place with the usual double chime. A blue ball of mana swirled into coherence in front of it, whirling rapidly as it charged up, the jet-engine noise making my intent fairly clear.
[Malleus, target the base of the outer wall. Sustained blast, traversing upward to target the base of the inner wall by the end.]
[FIRING SOLUTION CALCULATED. READY.]
"Wizard Shoot."
"ABFEUERN."
With the sound of a single, drawn-out explosion, a torrent of blue light burst from the ball of mana. The outer wall held up initially, cracking and crumpling slowly, but eventually collapsed under the force of the spell, letting the remainder past into the compound. The buildings there weren't nearly so tough; they just sort of exploded as the blasts touched them. When the mana I'd collected ran out, I lowered my arm slowly, zooming in on the area downrange.[i]Hole in the wall... check. Trench gouged all the way to the fortress... check. Hole in the second wall... no check. It's damaged, but not broken. Maybe I can play that off?
I bowed to Tre and Cinque, sweeping one arm (with Mal retracted, so I didn't hit anybody) in a dramatic gesture towards the hole in the wall below. "Your path awaits, my ladies. Would you like me to get the door?"
Cinque snorted, while Tre just shook her head slightly. Both of them kept a straight face the whole time. Bah. Everybody's a critic. I did see Cinque zoom in, staring through the hole; after a good look, she nodded. "I can finish what Imma started. We should go."
Tre considered this for a few seconds. "Imma, distract the defenders. Draw as much attention as you can. We'll go in and retrieve the spy."
A chance to try out those new spells I mathed out? This couldn't have worked out any better. "Gladly." All three of us slid down the side of the hill, towards the hole in the wall. Tre and Cinque ran through, continuing on towards the inner wall. I strolled through the hole, stretching nonchalantly. Pity I never learned to whistle- it'd be perfect for the occasion.[/i]
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
I've been writing a bit.
CD: I think you'll like what I've got written this week, then. There's discussion of how Sadistic Science, Inc. stays afloat, in a character-building way.
As for who's doing what, the other camp was an independent expedition, which we raided. They raided it shortly after, and ran into Tre and Cinque. That worked out REAL WELL for them.
There's probably some useful data in there, yes. Probably nothing really irreplacable- this is a mook factory with added base of operations, more than anything else. That said, I'm the team member least suited to going in and getting it. Grenade is my lowest setting. I usually start at tank, and go up to airstrike.
**********
The outer wall was more imposing than I'd expected. It was at least five times Tre's height if it was an inch, the top of it lined with turrets of various sizes. None of them were active at the moment, judging by the lack of active fire control, patrolling guards in the area, and lack of weapons tracking towards us.
[Malleus, Argus Eyes. Sixteen eyes, in grid formation around the outer ring.]
[ARGUS EYES]
With the standard double chime, sixteen balls of blue energy appeared around me at head level. All of them silently flew off into the compound, spreading out at a rapid pace.
Cinque gave me a look. "What are you doing?
[ARGUS NETWORK ESTABLISHED]
I grinned. "New spell I cooked up. Should give us an idea where everybody is before we go in."
[Passive search for linker cores in the outer ring. Establish positions.]
[SEARCHING...]
Each Eye, a modified Area Search construct, began to 'listen' for the background emanations put out by linker cores.
[COLLATING...]
Cinque nodded. "We should hurry. Our target could be in immediate danger."
Once each Eye had collected a list of contacts and directions, those lists were sent to Malleus, which sorted through them, creating a unified list. Whenever it looked like two or more Eyes had detected the same core, he used their combined data to triangulate a more exact position, and passed the revised data on to me.
[ARGUS EYE MAGE IDENTIFICATION COMPLETE. FIFTEEN PROBABLE CONTACTS FOUND. SWITCHING NETWORK TO TRACKING MODE.]
I saw her start to move towards the wall, and held up a hand to stop her. "Just give me a few more seconds, please. It's almost ready."
[Initialize AR overlay. Display locations and distances for all living beings. Allies purple, enemies red.]
[DONE]
Dots appeared in my vision, superimposed over the (fairly scenic) view of the fortress I had from the extraction point. Most of the dots were in the inner fortress; there were two on the far side of the outer wall, and a third off in the inner ring to the right, but that was it. The outer ring was essentially depopulated.
...of course, the dots were all gray. Took me a second to realize why. When I did, I smacked myself upside my head. Mal doesn't know which dots are enemies, and which one's our objective! Why didn't I catch that sooner?!
[Can we set Tre and Cinque up with this information?]
[Then do it. I want them kept informed.]
Cinque blinked, then began scanning back over the compound, a small grin tugging at one side of her face. "I'm impressed. This is actually quite useful. Does it update in real time?"
I smirked, shifting the Malleus on my right arm to second form. "Sure does. IFF isn't automatic, though, so let me know when you ID contacts. I'll add them to the overlay." As I talked, I was thinking my way through a second spell.
[Record audio profile for the following spell, and link to Project Mosquito.]
"For now, I'm going to clear you a path. Arcane Bolt."
In front of Mal's outstretched barrel, a large blue circle spun into place with the usual double chime. A blue ball of mana swirled into coherence in front of it, whirling rapidly as it charged up, the jet-engine noise making my intent fairly clear.
[Malleus, target the base of the outer wall. Sustained blast, traversing upward to target the base of the inner wall by the end.]
[FIRING SOLUTION CALCULATED. READY.]
"Wizard Shoot."
"ABFEUERN."
With the sound of a single, drawn-out explosion, a torrent of blue light burst from the ball of mana. The outer wall held up initially, cracking and crumpling slowly, but eventually collapsed under the force of the spell, letting the remainder past into the compound. The buildings there weren't nearly so tough; they just sort of exploded as the blasts touched them. When the mana I'd collected ran out, I lowered my arm slowly, zooming in on the area downrange.[i]Hole in the wall... check. Trench gouged all the way to the fortress... check. Hole in the second wall... no check. It's damaged, but not broken. Maybe I can play that off?
I bowed to Tre and Cinque, sweeping one arm (with Mal retracted, so I didn't hit anybody) in a dramatic gesture towards the hole in the wall below. "Your path awaits, my ladies. Would you like me to get the door?"
Cinque snorted, while Tre just shook her head slightly. Both of them kept a straight face the whole time. Bah. Everybody's a critic. I did see Cinque zoom in, staring through the hole; after a good look, she nodded. "I can finish what Imma started. We should go."
Tre considered this for a few seconds. "Imma, distract the defenders. Draw as much attention as you can. We'll go in and retrieve the spy."
A chance to try out those new spells I mathed out? This couldn't have worked out any better. "Gladly." All three of us slid down the side of the hill, towards the hole in the wall. Tre and Cinque ran through, continuing on towards the inner wall. I strolled through the hole, stretching nonchalantly. Pity I never learned to whistle- it'd be perfect for the occasion.[/i]
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
I've been writing a bit.