[SESSION START. NARRATION INCOMING. NO COACHING FROM THE PEANUT GALLERY, PLEASE. THE RED ZONE IS FOR LOADING AND UNLOADING ONLY.] You have been on the road for 28 hours. I'll let you all think about that while I move on to the rest. ( Dear goddess. I hope Sayuri's riding with Maggie. ) (I hope so too. c.c;) (I have a motorcycle, lalala, It doesn't talk, lalala...) ( ...I could fix that. E_E ) (Not if you wish to have testicles afterwards.)\ ( ... ((_@ ) (*hides*) ( ...fuck. Too late now. ) (By the by, Yu, did we take breaks? I mean, I have good thighs, but not THIGHS OF DOOM.) The car finally stops moving at about midnight, at which point Dejiko has your little caravan pulled over to the side of the road. There are three vehicles in this caravan; Marguerite's motorcycle at the lead, KITT in the middle, and an old beat-up looking Caddilac, driven by Richard, in the rear. (Yes, you took breaks. Mostly for eating and using the restroom, but hey.) (Microsleep, baby.) The cars (plus motorcycle) pull to the side of the interstate. There is scarcely any traffic at all. Dejiko steps out of the van and does some stretching exorcises. And y'all can go now. ^_^ * Marguerite pulls off her helmet and gets off the cycle, wincing a little as she does so. ( KITT's interior, by the way, looks just a tad bit different. There are patches of wiring visible, lots of visible duct tape, and panels missing, exposing formerly hidden systems. ) * Robert climbs out of KITT's driver's seat and stretches a bit. * Jacqueline shuts off her game and stumbles out of the van(?). * Yoji climbs out and yawns. * Rina stumbles out of the van, too. And falls on her face. Er, watch out for that first step, Rina. * Yoji helps Rina up. ...too late. * Sayuri wobbles off the motorcycle, and shakes her head. * Rina blinks blearily. "Hey, we stopped." She wobbles a little, then shakes her head. * Togo gets up off the floor of the van, shakes his head slightly, and walks unsteadily from the van. He now has glasses on. You okay? Richard steps out of his car, and his grandfather, Paul, gets out of the passenger seat. Paul comments that he's really too old to be going on road trips, anymore. * Jacqueline blinks a few times, unused to staring at anything other than a computer screen. Not used to moving and moving and moving an- I'm surprised my stomach doesn't hurt more than it does. Damn. I suppose I should be glad I'm not riding a horse. * Marguerite rubs her thighs gingerly. "I'm too used to European countries, which you can drive across in a day." You know you could always leave that poor little thing behind and ride in me. I'm much more comfortable on long trips. * Sayuri shakes her head and stretches, wincing obviously. * Jacqueline blinks at Togo. "Hey. You had a spare pair of glasses?" Dejiko finishes her stretches, and clear her throat in a 'listen up' sort of way. The day this bike stays somewhere I am not is the day the coroner's called. Dejiko smuggled out a pair, apparently. What's up, boss? * Rina stifles a yawn. "Now all we gotta do is get 'im a trophy." She hops up and down a little. * Yoji stretches his legs. * Togo stretches. Lots of nasty loud snaps, crackles, and pops. * Marguerite looks up at Dejiko expectantly. (Rice Krispies!) *** Atom has quit IRC (Quit: ) Please, Rina. Keep doing that. ( Essentially. ) * Yoji looks at KITT and blinks. * Sayuri looks over at KITT with disapproval. * Rina eyes KITT... and stops. Alright. I'll be blunt. We are about to engage in a desperate maneuver. I'd previously given us a few weeks to get to this stage, but since we're all over the news now, we have to step things up a bit, unfortunately. * Marguerite grumbles. We're not gonna have to run the rest of the way, are we? * Rina snickers. I sure hope not. ...what're we doing? KITT drives well, but I'm not sure he can run. * Togo rubs his head. "'course we wouldn't have a coupla quiet days..." We cannot operate in this country while the I13 has it under martial law, and if they can do this so easily in America, then nowhere else would really be safe, either. Unless we all want to meet nebulous if gruesome fates, we have to strike immediately, which is what we're about to do. * Rina ticks things off on her fingers. "So we're *not* going to meet nebulous if gruesome fates?" Bah. That's just a matter of time. * Sayuri shivers. Too late! No it isn't. We aren't gonna lose. ^_^ Nah. Our unending optimism'll keep us alive. * Robert blinks. Two more miles down this stretch of road is the base of operations of the I13. * Rina giggles. ...I did _not_ just hear Togo crack a joke. * Marguerite raises her eyebrow. Musta been the wind. * Rina blinks. ...definitely the wind. I disbelieve it. * Yoji gives Togo a funny look. ... whoa, whoa, BASE? ... It is, obviously, going to be well-defended. KITT has been modivied to get us past their outer perimeter defenses, which is good. Once inside, it will be you and I, as well as whoever my friends from Hong Kong sent. ...-A- base of operations, or -THE- base of operations? (Gah. BRB.) (Back.) ... ballsy. They'll never expect it, and if we can do it, we'll cripple their operations. ...no wonder you wanted me to make such heavy mods. Ah. True Mercenary's Odds. * Marguerite grins widely. "This is going to be fun." I don't care what I have to do to deserve this. * Rina pushes her chin up so she's not gaping anymore. * Sayuri frowms. "Well, I'm not not being paid to die." Don't worry, Sayuri. I'm not going to let you die until you admit that I'm a sentient being. You sure they don't have a back-up base, though? You're not being paid at all. Exactly. We'd best be getting paid. I don't do anything for free. Except maybe revenge. * Togo cocks his head slightly. Well, presumably our pay is in plunder. What, you wanna LOOT the place? We take anything that's not nailed down, and if we can pry it up, it's not nailed down. Presuming, of course, that we live to actually carry it away. Bah. Dejiko said we're still earning pay, and I intend to collect. That's how you operate when you've got nowhere friendly to resupply. Or we could do it to neutralize the people trying to kill us. * Rina rolls her eyes. "Who cares." She looks over at Dejiko. "What're we gonna do once we're past the perimeter?" Well, they ARE our enemies... * Sayuri frowns. * Marguerite shrugs. "Looting's alright with me." Once past the perimiter, we'll be inside. We'll have guards to worry about, and they will be good. But I am confident that we are better. As soon as we find any sort of computer access, we'll have Sayuri use it to bring up floor plans, and then we will have to fight our way through the shortest corridoor to wherever the ruling council of the I13 happens to be. ... Wait. The ruling council? ...the ruling council is here? The whole thing? * Marguerite grins, and begins to dig around in her satchel. She comes up with her fingerless gloves, and puts them on. ...ruling council? Wait. ... really ballsy. Stupid too. I like it. Are they insane, or just stupid? This is gonna be just like that thing Xivilai showed us. Xivi... what? Say, Dejiko, can I get one of their heads for my trophy room? * Rina nods and swallows. "Yup." * Sayuri shivers, and says softly, "I hope not. I'm not ready..." And I don't know how to attack people's minds yet, like I did in that vision... Yes, the entire ruling council is here. They will not be here forever; we're in the midst of their anual get-together. * Togo chuckles. "My vision already happened... guess that could be seen as a nad omen." ( BAD omen ) * Jacqueline scratches her head. * Rina grins at Togo. "Mine didn't. I haven't had ice cream once since then." Mine hasn't. I don't think it has, anyway. * Yoji hugs his arms. "I don't like this..." l We must strike now, while we can. Are there any other questions? * Togo nods. "Then we'll have to make sure you get outta this alive, ne?" One quick thing I gotta do, if you don't mind, Dejiko. * Sayuri (frowns. "I got to get my mind OUT OF THE MUD. Stop typing l when I'm lost.") Yeah. How're we gonna strike, when we actually reach them? I mean, are we gonna plant a bomb, or run in there screaming, or what? Mine can't come true yet...cause I don't know how to do what I did in it. But then again, I wasn't in my vision. I'm happy just having seen it. * Jacqueline pouts. "What hasn't come true? I don't get it." * Togo turns to Mad Dog. "I'm still pissed that you interfered... but I understand why you did it. Don't like it, but I understand it." * Rina looks over at Jackie. "Visions of the future. It's a long, weird story. I can explain it on the way, I guess." Like a horoscope? Yeah, but with pictures. We'll have to figure that out once we're inside, Rina. Attacking them directly may be our only real option, although if there's a convenient chute marked "Reactor core access; please do not drop bombs down here", it'd be foolish to pass it up. Everyone has things they need to do, Togo. * Jacqueline frowns. "Best I've had was a fortune cookie telling me everyone admires my inner spirit." * Togo nods. "I'd rather not let it distract me, so I just wanna say one thing, then I'll be able to drop it." * Marguerite pulls out Bubba and fires up the warming sequence. Alright. Is everyone ready? * Togo grabs Mad Dog in a head lock. "... noogie." *noogienoogienoogienoogie* Ready. I guess. * Rina grins at Jackie. "That's 'cause they do." * Robert salutes. Ready, sir. * Rina blinks at Togo, then cracks up. * Togo steps away. "There. We're even." * Sayuri would fall over. If she didn't have her eyes closed. Not really, but I won't be getting any more ready. * Rina falls over giggling. "R- r- hee!" Dejiko notices Togo noogieing Margie and smirks. * Yoji BOGGLES at Togo. * Marguerite drops Bubba, which beeps a few times. She blinks a few times, then chuckles. ...It's good to see you getting back to your old self, Togo. Work in progress, but I'm tryin'. * Marguerite picks up Bubba, still grinning. "Dammit, Togo, if this misfires during battle because I dropped it, I hope it hits you." * Rina sits up on the ground, still giggling. "Ready." She gets to her feet. If it does, I promise not to haunt you * Sayuri opens her eyes, but says nothing. Just looks down. He lies. Don't worry. Bubba's gone down flights of stairs, and his coils've still held. "Alright. Everyone gett into KITT. Yes, that means you, Marguerite, Sayuri. KITT will be shielded against the premeter sensors, but your bike won't be." * Marguerite sighs. * Robert hops in the driver's seat. I wish the upgrades had involved a mute button. Don't worry, Maggie. I won't bite. Yeah, but you'll talk. * Jacqueline gets in the van. * Togo strides over and hops in. * Rina climbs in. I could do worse. * Yoji gets back in the van. * KITT starts playing a random Kenny G song. * Sayuri walks over to the van slowly, and leans against a wall. Dejiko gets back in the van. "Please behave now, KITT." If you insist. * KITT stops the infernal song. * Marguerite climbs in the van. "Never heard this before." * Yoji is really pale right now. (Everyone in?) You okay, Yoji? No. What's wrong? What if this is that battle that we saw in the castle? I'm not ready! * Rina looks over at Yoji. "Um, Yoji." You'll be ready. Xivilai said that they're things that could happen. Not would. Battles are battles, Yoji, and all you can do is meet the future. Then I'll shoot the guy. Bah. Who cares what the fortune cookie said, anyhow? * Rina grins at Jacqueline. KITT, engage cloak. ...thanks. * Sayuri huhms, and reaches back to her bookbag. * KITT emits a dull hum from the nether regions of his machinery. Cloak engaged. * Yoji smiles. "No use getting worked up about it." ^_^ * Togo small-grins. "Spoken like a pro. You're learnin'." * Rina shrugs and looks out the window. "Hope we win. They've got a lot to answer for." We're going to have to be moving fast as soon as we start jamming thier communications. Everybody ready? * Sayuri pulls out her book, and extracts from it a small card. Yup. Yeah. * Marguerite listens to Bubba beep as he hits the right temperature. "More ready than ever." * Togo takes out his guns, checks the ammo, and pops the clips back in. KITT, give them the raspberry. ...jamming initiated. * Robert gets this mission moving. * Sayuri looks at the card oddly. *** Demota has quit IRC (Read error: Broken pipe ) * Rina fidgets. * Jacqueline frowns. "This all seems so sudden." * Marguerite slips a new clip into her DE, and then slips on the laser sight. s'why it has a shot in hell of working. Opportunities arise quickly, Jackie. * Rina half-whispers from next to Jacqueline, "I think that's 'cause it is." * Jacqueline frowns. Fortune favors the bold and the stupid. If you say that this is just like some game I'm going to get upset. *** Demota has joined #ChibiRPG We're a bitta both. * Jacqueline opens her mouth, but thinks better of it. So we *should* be in good shape. * Rina snickers. "Just a bit?" That's strange. I thought that fortune favored fools and children. Must be why they picked you for this mission, KITT. And we're both of those, too. Point. I know I'm both, and not afraid to admit it. You're supposed to turn here, Robert. * Robert swerves offroad into the ditch. * KITT takes the transition from road to rough with only a slight drop in speed. * Marguerite slams against the wall. "JESUS!" *BEEP BEEP BEEP* We're sorry, your call cannot be completed as prayed. Please check your deity and try again. For a second it looks like you're about to plow right into the ground, as the ditch has fairly deep sides. You move right through the 'ground', however, and soon find yourself in a tunnel lined with concrete. Ack! Wah! Whee. * Sayuri oofs against a wall, although she's still looking at her card thingy. Well, that was certainly an interesting experience. The tunnel leads down a ways, and then levels out, emptying into a cavernous underground chamber. Off in the distance ahead of you is a large, strange looking bulding of multicolored glass and metal. Looking out the windows gives you a view of the 'perimeter defenses'; there are dozens of A-class bots milling around, although they seem to be oblivious to you. ( ...holy shit. Atsalotta A-class bots. ) Madre de Dios. Eep. Holy sweet Jesus. I think that would actually take more plasma rounds than I have on me. * Rina stares. "We're hidden, we're hidden, we're hidden, we're hidden..." ...I'm helluva tough, but not _that_ helluva tough. ...Has anyone thought of how we're going to get out of here? Sure. Sayuri. ... shoulda bought the nuke. Definately shoulda bought the nuke. If we're lucky, Sayuri can seize control of the base defenses. * Sayuri blinks, and looks up. "Wha?" Yeah! ( And then she can make the bots dance the Can Can! ) If you don't mind, please keep loud noises to a minimum. * Sayuri waves her hand in front of the card and shoves it in a pocket, and pulls out her laptop. "Right, right... not dying... I need something to work with here." Not yet. On the way out. Oh. * Sayuri shakes her head woozily. * Rina turns in her chair to look at Sayuri with concern. "You okay?" * Robert continues driving on towards the base. * Marguerite pays careful attention to the layout of the base. * Sayuri ums. "Yeah... yeah... Okay... sure." The base is actually closer, now; in fact, you're almost there. KITT, take over. Get us as close as you can to the entrance. * Robert releases the wheel. From looking at the base, you can tell that the architect who designed it was clearly on something mind-bending. You fail to comprehend how some of it's features keep from falling off. * KITT takes over smoothly and approaches the entrance. * Rina tilts her head and watches Sayuri a bit more, then goes back to sitting normally. * Sayuri shoves random things back in her bookbag, and looks around nervously. * Marguerite arranges things in her satchel, then cinches it up. * Yoji looks over at Sayuri. * KITT pulls up with the sliding door parallel to the entrance, leaving just about a quarter of an inch more than is necessary to open it. * Marguerite grins and starts whistling. "Hopeless missions are the best." Since when was it hopeless? No mission is ever hopeless. Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more... Why do you always say that? The entrance is a pair of sliding class doors, reminiscent of those found in super markets and some corner stores. Once KITT is in front of them, they part with a soft and cheerful o/~ ding-dong o/~ tone. But would you give a kingdom for me, Togo? (class->glass) Amazing. Let's get a move on. * KITT pops open the sliding door. * Marguerite hops out, scanning the area. * Togo hops out. "'cause I love that play, and if you help get us out of this, sure." * Jacqueline hops out, drawing her sword. There is one person standing on the other side, well away from the door, calmly waiting for you. * Rina unbuckles and gets out, barely managing not to trip this time. * Sayuri walks out, stretching her hands nervously. * Rina blinks. "Um." * KITT slips out of the driver's seat and out the sliding door. * Yoji gets out. * Marguerite stops. "This does not bode so well." ( ... ) * Robert slips out of the driver's seat and out the sliding door. (Heh!) (*snerk*) ( ...I hate it when that happens. ) ( An out-of-body experience! ) Please be quick, ladies and gents. I don't know how long it'll be before I'm spotted on a visual sweep. * Rina bites her lip. "I think we've already been spotted." ...this is not so good. So it would appear. Unless he's one of the contacts Dejiko mentioned. The man is over six feet tall, has terribly mussed hair, and is in need of a shave. Is is well-built, but not thick with muscle like Richard is. He wears a t-shity, blue jeans, and a brown trenchcoat. In his right hand he holds a bouquet of roses, and at his back is slung an awfully large rifle. ( Saiken! He's been having a hell of a time tracking us since we left him in Hong Kong :P ) Er... Dejiko? This wouldn't be an old boyfriend or something, would it? (Ha!) "'Bout time you guys showed up. Come on it, I'm not gonna get things started 'till you're all here." Dejiko shakes her head. "No. Although he does seem familiar." A friend, I hope. Dejiko gets out of the car, as does Richard. I'll be waiting. ( Is everybody out now? ) ( Yes. ) * KITT closes his doors and pulls slowly away, doing his best to take up a relatively hidden position. (Think so.) (Yeah.) Friend or foe? Who's this? Wrong answer gets you a plasma dinner platter. (Note: those of you who saw either Yoji or Xivilai's vision back at the Castle recognize this man.) * Sayuri looks at the man suspiciously. (howso?) * Rina stares and murmurs, "Foe." ...oh no. It's him. Who? "Foe," says the man, "Yeah, I'm afraid I am here to kill you all, unless you decide to leave, of course. And ...Dejiko, is it now? I'm terribly saddened that you don't remember me. I guess I won't be needing these, then." He raises the bouquet of roses, pointing them at you all. You can just barely make out a trigger at the spot where he's holding it. He's gonna try to kill Dejiko. * Sayuri gasps, and shivers. No... no... * Togo levels his guns. "No, he's meat." ( Rose gun? Boo. ) * Marguerite aims. No... Dejiko looks at Yoji. "I beg your pardon?" * Robert steps in front of Dejiko. Everyone roll ranged defense. Yes, everyone. This guy killed you in Xivilai's vison. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Rina (2d6) and gets 9. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Sayuri (2d6) and gets 9. 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Marguerite (2d6-2) and gets 1. 2d6-2 (Can I throw up a shield? ) * Dicesuke throws the bones for Togo (2d6-2) and gets 6. 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Robert (2d6-3) and gets 4. 2d6-4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Jacqueline (2d6-4) and gets 6. ( Barely made it. ^_^;; ) ( Just made it. ) (So dead.) (Oh yes. Wanna use me as a shield?) ( Made by 1. this is gonna suck. ) Dejiko frowns at Yoji's statment, and then dodges the lead shot heading towards you all. ( I wanna use MY shield ) (Yes, Yoji, you can throw up a shield.) (I was talking to Sayuri. ;P) * Yoji concentrates, and a spherical disturbance forms around him. Everyone who failed their defense roll takes 10 damage. Unless you're like Yoji and have a shield to hide behind. ( Quick! Hold back before it hits you and it'll only take off a sliver of your life bar! ) (*laughs* Hey, how did we take damage? Just from a shot?) ( A shotgun, basically. ) ( It ricochet'd off all of you :P ) The man unslings his rifle and puts a very large clip into it. "Now, for the rest of that 'killing you' bit." ( A shotgun boquet. Perfect for a shotgun wedding. ) (Everyone roll initiative. ^_^ ) d6+7 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Robert (d6+7) and gets 9. d6+8 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Jacqueline (d6+8) and gets 10. d6+6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Yoji (d6+6) and gets 8. d6+6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Marguerite (d6+6) and gets 8. d6+8 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Togo (d6+8) and gets 10. d6+5 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Sayuri (d6+5) and gets 10. d6+6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Rina (d6+6) and gets 8. ( anyone else see a pattern here :P ) ( ... ) ( Rolls of 3 or less, except for Sayuri. ) ( Nah, pretty much everybody rolled a 2, actually. ) ( Improbable, but not impossible. ) Order: Order: Dejiko, Togo, Jackie, Sayuri, Robert, Man, Richard, Rina, Margie, Yoji. ( Good thing Man rolled bad as well. ) ( I give everybody equally bad rolls. ) Dejiko dashes at the man with incredible speed, kicking him in the side of the head, kneeing him in the kidney, and delivering a punch right to his addam's apple. The man pouts like his feelings are hurt, but gives no other indication that he is aware that all this just happend. * Rina stares. ... Uhoh. "Aww, Dejiko. You really don't remember me. Oh, well." Togo's turn. * Togo moves left, pops in some armor-piercing rounds, and fires. 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Togo (2d6-3) and gets 5. 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Togo (2d6-3) and gets 3. Togo's bullets hit their mark, one finding itself a new home in the man's shoulder, and the other clipping his ear, right next to a scar that was probably made in a similar fashion. The man still doesn't seem to notice this. He's got to be battle-amped or something. Damn. ( Shall I? ) Jackie's turn. (Sure.) * Jacqueline dashes for the man, slashing at him with the sword as she passes. 2d6-4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Jacqueline (2d6-4) and gets 4. The man chuckles and makes a halfhearted grab for Jacqueline as she passes; she evades it and leave a cut low on his side, which begins to slowly leak blood. The man chuckles and shakes his head. Sayuri's turn. * Sayuri runs behind a pillar. Yay! (Go Sayuri go!) Robert's turn. * Robert reaches into his coat and pulls out his massively oversized autopistol. ( That's all. No lightning draw for me. ) The man looks at all of you, and decides that Dejiko is his top priority. He fires his rifle twice at her, and she dodges both shots nimbly. Richard runs up to the man and slams his massive fist into the other man's face. The man's head isn't so much as budged by this attack, and Richard withdraws slightly, cursing and rubbing his hand. * Rina blinks at Richard, then shakes her head. Rina's turn. * Rina runs forward and attempts to kick the man. 2d6-4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Rina (2d6-4) and gets -1. Rina succeeds, her foot slamming into the man's sternum. The man actually seems to notice this, looking at her and grinning. "Hey, you're a tough one, aren't you? This may be interesting after all." Margie's turn. * Rina hops back and glares evil death, then smiles cutely. "Mebbe." * Marguerite grins. "Time to make the bacon." She fires off a burst of plasma at the man. 2d6-5 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Marguerite (2d6-5) and gets -2. The man takes the plasma burst to his chest, and his shirt and jacket are boiled off of his chest. He takes a moment to wipe some ash off of his chest, frowning. The remnants of his shirt on his right shoulder are on fire. ( ...meep? ) * Marguerite stares. "That can't be right. I hit him dead on!" ...this guy ain't human. * Rina frowns as she tilts her head. "Augmented?" "That hurt, y'know," comments the man idly. Yoji's turn. "I'm impressed. That should have chewed through your ribcage." * Yoji points an open hand at the man, firing a wave of force at him. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Yoji (2d6) and gets 5. The man chuckles. "Yeah, well." He takes the wave of force to his right side, which appears to do little more than put the fire out there. He notices Yoji, however, and says "Now you, are a problem. I'm not fond of psions." Eep. * Yoji takes a few steps back. ( Damn you, Yu! You never gave me a chance to get the powers I need to fight this guy! ;_; ) Dejiko attacks then, using a faintly glowing sword reminiscent of Jackie's. She slashes at the man twice, leaving a bleeding 'X' on his chest, and then stabs him through the gut, holding her blade there for a second before pulling it back out and backflipping away from the man, who pouts again. "Aww. You wound me to the core, Dejiko. Well, sort of, anyway." Togo's turn. * Togo frowns, raises one gun, and fires a shot at the man's head 2d6-1 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Togo (2d6-1) and gets 8. ( Hit. Barely. ) The bullet ricochets off of the man's forehead. The man chuckles. "Not bad." Jackie's turn again. ( So his forehead's tougher than his shoulder? =P ) * Jacqueline takes the opportunity to slash at the man's back, since she's behind him anyhow. (The fellow has a hard noggin. :P) 2d6-4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Jacqueline (2d6-4) and gets 2. The man is slashed in the back, and is cut fairly deep, and bleeds, but doesn't seem to care. This is the final step in doing his jacket in, however. Outside, the sounds of explosions come to your ears. None of them near you, thankfully. Sayuri's turn. * Sayuri reaches her hand out past the edge of the pillar, and suddenly a tall, familiar women with golden hair, all clad in black is there. (Xivilai, for thoe playing along at home.) * Marguerite 's jaw drops open., * Robert gapes. * Yoji boggles. * Rina stares. ... backup. Cool. * Rina nods slowly and swallows. "Gotta agree." * Jacqueline blinks. "Um... Ok." The man you've been fighting has a similar reaction, as his jaw gapes and his eyes bulge wide. "YOU!" he shouts. This is going to be great fun. ( I didn't know Sayuri was a Summoner. I didn't know Xiv was an Aeon, either. ) * Yoji looks back and forth between the man and Xivilai. (Not quite the same, babe.) * Rina looks from the man to Dejiko to Xivilai. She frowns as the gears start clicking in her head. Xivilai turns towards him and smiles coldly. "I see your vocabulary hasn'y improved much." Robert's turn. * Robert takes advantage of the man's distraction to fill the air with hollow point bullets. 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Robert (2d6-3) and gets 8. ( Or I could miss entirely. ) A select few bullets patter against the man's skin, but he pays no heed to this. * Robert looks at his wildly shaking hands. ...I've been compensating for Reason too much lately. Instead, he re-slings his rifle and, bellowing with rage leaps through the air towards Xivilai, bringing both fists down on the spot where she was until she dodged with a kind of speed that must be violating physics, anding up about fifty feet behind the fellow. The man's fist hit the floor with enough force to break it, as thick slivers of concrete jump up around the place where his fists hit. (Xivie... TELEPORT!) Richard uses his good hand to pull out a large pistol and fire at the man's back, for all the good it seems to do. Rina's turn. * Rina runs at the man again and tries to punch him. 2d6-4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Rina (2d6-4) and gets 6. Rina lands a solid punch to the man's back, and the man turns, stands, and growls angrily at her. * Rina sticks her tongue out at him. Margie's turn. * Marguerite shoots another blast at the man. 2d6-5 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Marguerite (2d6-5) and gets 2. (Meanwhile, the explosions outside hae stopped.) The man reaches his hand out towards the incoming blast and 'catches' is. The blast explodes against his hand and leaves it blackened and smoldering, but the man still doesn't seem to notice these little things. Yoji's turn. * Yoji just stares at the man, and continues to back away. ( That's all. ) Xivilai holds out her hand and says "Gift of Pain". The man is sliced apart by invisible blades and his pieces are shuffled like a deck of cards before being put back together again. The man screams in agony and collapses, curling into a fetal position and shivering. (End combat.) * Marguerite shivers. * Rina stares. ... * Sayuri is looking down at the floor. * Yoji shudders. * Jacqueline blinks a bit, then puts her sword away. God forbid I ever get on your bad side, Xiv... ... effective. * Robert shudders and puts his gun away. * Rina shakes her head, then looks over at Xivilai. "Did Sayuri ask you to be here?" Effective or no, I don't like it. * Sayuri looks up, slowly, and shudders, dry-washing her hands. Xivilai is smiling a rather malicious-looking smile. "Yes, she did. Although that is not the reason I chose to come." * Robert blinks at Sayuri. ( "You came to return my spare pair of glasses? How sweet!" ) * Rina looks down at the man. "Oh." She considers, then blinks. "It was him, wasn't it? Him or Dejiko or both." Shit. Somebody's coming, and whoever he is, he did _something_ to those bots out there. Xivilai looks at Rina. "Yes, and how clever of you to figure it out, little one." * Yoji scratches his head. "Who is this guy?" * Jacqueline scratches her head. ( ... Blargh. :P ) What are you talking about, Rina? * Rina looks up at Xivilai. "I guess. It's been bugging me since we saw..." * Togo leans against a wall, eyeing the far door. Dejiko frowns and looks out the door, which takes this opportunity to get blown off it's hinges. The same cheerful o/~ ding- dong o/~ tone sounds. Um. Xivilai sent us back to stop a future she didn't want to happen. And I saw some of the window thingie she was looking in. Dejiko died, remember? To that guy. I guess I don't have to fry anyone's brain after all. * Marguerite thinks for a brief second before the door dies, which causes her to whip her gun up at the door. * Yoji sighs in relief. * Rina points at the curled up man. "So, I figured she wanted to save Dejiko, or kill the man, or both. I wanted to ask her, but I was too scared." She smiles sheepishly. * Robert swings around, taking this lull as an opportunity to put away his pistol and ready Reason. * Jacqueline faces the door, but doesn't draw her blade yet. * Yoji whirls and faces the door. * Togo raises his guns. "Less talk, more shoot." * Rina looks up at the door. * Sayuri is still just standing there, and says softly, "More death for me." A man enters through the door. He is large and has short white hair. He wears a black trenchcoat, although it is parted in front, revaling an odd shirt with a pyramid and eye on it. * Rina relaxes. * Yoji blinks. * Marguerite eyes the shirt. Her eyes narrow. * Robert scowls. * Togo lowers the guns. Slightly. * Jacqueline waits long enough to see who it is before turning back to face Xivilai. The man speaks in a rich, arrogant tone of voice. "Hello, children, your ...'back-up' has arrived." Well, it looks like an insane plan is all it takes to bring _all_ the weirdos out of the woodwork. Xivilai turns to this man and raises an eyebrow. "I was not aware we needed 'back-up'." * Rina rolls her eyes and cheerfully kicks the fetal-positioned man in side. "Hey, is he never gonna be okay again, or do we hafeta kill him 'cause he'll recover and try to smoosh us under his little toe?" * Sayuri looks up at Xivilai, and back down at the floor. (I also kill the Typo Demon. How in the world did that happen?) * Jacqueline blinks at Xivilai, then turns to Dejiko. "Wait, if you knew she was going to show up and take care of this guy, why didn't you say so?" The man eyes Xivilai, who eyes him back. "Ah, you. It's been a while. I doubt you remember me however, madam." I'm confused. Xivilai frowns and concentrates. "Ah, as a matter of fact I do recall you. A moment, please." The man nods. "Of course." You're not the only one. * Marguerite rolls her eyes. "Wonderful. Illuminati." She stows Bubba and bends down to retie a boot. * Jacqueline kicks the ground. "Urgh. I wish someone would tell me what's goin' on." Xivilai turns to you all and says "A moment, please. I have matters of buisness to discuss with this ...thing, elsewhere." * Rina blinks. "Thing?" * Yoji sighs. "Nobody tells us what's really going on." * Sayuri looks up and chuckles. "Welcome to my world, Yoji." The newcomer dissapears, followed by Xivilai. Not long after that, a sound like rolling thunder can be heard deep within the building, followed by several explosions. * Rina nods and sits down, then smacks the man upside the head. "Hey, sounds like they're having fun." (Or not. @_@) So it does. So... we're sitting here doing nothing for what particular reason? I'm sure there have to be real guards in here somewhere. Maybe they can fight it out, and the I13'll be collateral damage? Dejiko frowns, and begins to pace. "This... I don't know what to make of this. They seem to be fighting further inside this same building, but why?" * Rina semi-powerposes. "The secret plan all along!" "That's a possibility, Rina. A distincy possibility. But I didn't plan it." He' Fnord. * Sayuri says softly, "We'd better get moving. One way or the other." He's Illuminati. He's got plans for plans for sneezing. * Yoji looks at Robert. "What's that mean?" (Jesus, people are being loud over here. @_@) ... so what are we doing? Are we goin' after the I13, or are we cutting our losses and taking whatever damage they do as a gain? Don't worry about it, Yoji. "That's the thing, Marguerite. This man *was* Illuminati. Fifty years ago. And then he dissapeared. He's apparently learned a bit of magic while he was gone." Wonderful. The only thing worse than an Illuminatus is an ex-Illuminatus. But... um... Xivilai called him a "thing". Yeah. Dejiko shakes her head. "If it was anything more than an insult, I don't know about it." I almost thought she was talking about this guy here for a second. * Yoji looks at the Man. * Rina twiddles her thumbs, then pokes at her gunshot wound, which is healing at a remarkable rate. * Jacqueline sighs. "I hate this." I think we should get moving like right now. (The Man is still unconcsious, or dead, or unwilling to move.) Xiv can find us easily. * Sayuri shudders, and closes her eyes briefly, before opening them. "Alright. Moving which way?" * Yoji looks at the man and closes his eyes. After the I13. s'why we came, right? * Rina giggles at Dejiko. "You don't know either, do ya?" Well, nobody told me we were clueless on which way to go. Sayuri? Can you get floorplans? * Rina gets to her feet and kicks the man one more time. "Asshole." She turns back to Dejiko. I'd need some sort of connection. I doubt this is an open network. Then let's go find one. "Well, then, I'm telling you. I don't think Xivilai cares enough to bother with killing the I13 unles they attack her, and they probably aren't that foolish, and I have strong reservations about leaving that man more or less alone in the center of the I13's power." * Robert starts with the reception desk, if there is one. So, what, we take him away with us? Isn't he one of them? There is a reception desk. It has a large logo on the front labeled "I13; TAKING OVER TOMORROW'S WORLD, TODAY." Sayuri? There anything you can use here? * Yoji is still over by the man's body, by the way. There is a computer console on the desk. * Rina is, too. :P The man isn't moving much, although you think you can see him breathing. * Marguerite pinches the bridge of her nose. "We've got to get moving somehow. Can someone drag him or something?" * Sayuri walks over. "I'd assume so, unless it's written in swahili." She sits down, and the observant would see the shivering hands. There is another explosion from deep inside the building, and the world seems to shake with it. I wouldn't be surprised if it _was_ written in swahili. * Togo nods. "Do we take Mr. Invincible with us, leave him be, or..." (The computer terminal isn't written in Swahili; it's written in English.) * Yoji is rocked, but maintains his concentration. * Rina nods at Togo. "Could just kill him and get it over with." She looks over to Dejiko. * Togo is jolted. "... oh, that did *not* help my head..." Dammit, dammit, dammit! Cause and effect kills the best strike missions. Okay, let's do this the hard way. * Marguerite points her plasma rifle dead at the man's head. "Anyone have any reservations?" Dejiko shakes her head. "No. Leave him. Even if he recovers from that, it won't matter." ... * Yoji opens his eyes. Are you sure about that? Can't make out anything in his head. * Rina moves away from the man and blinks. "Y'sure?" * Yoji stands up. Okay. If we can leave him, then let's get moving! * Togo leans back against the wall, and slowly lowers himself to the floor. "I was about to say 'overkill', but it's a moot point." The longer we stand still the more they can set up. Or flee. Getting floorplans will save time in the long run. * Sayuri curses. "I swear. None of the world's moset SECRET organizations have ANY sort of goddamn imagination." Togo, you feeling okay? * Marguerite growls, and clutches Bubba's grip. No, not really. * Rina looks over at Togo. "What's wrong?" Fighting off a concussion from that headshot. Good thing I don't have vision to be screwed up. ...great. * Robert takes a moment to dial up Reason's sensors. * Yoji looks at Togo, a puzzled expression on his face. * Jacqueline frowns. "Maybe you should stay with KITT?" I'll be okay. I fought with it when it was fresh, I'll fight with it now. Sure, Togo. Well, if you pass out, I'll carry ya. I'll try not to drop you too much. I think you should stay with KITT, though. Dejiko goes over to the desk so she can look over Sayuri's shoulder. * Marguerite paces impatiently. * Jacqueline nods. "Fighting with a concussion CAN'T be good." Well, that was simple. * Sayuri points at the screen. "Maps, and positions." * Togo grins. "No, it can't. But it's a challenge, and I never could resist a challenge." Great. Get printouts, download them, or whatever. Let's get moving. * Rina rolls her eyes. "Idiot." * Togo slowly pushes himself upright, albeit a bit unsteadily. 'sides, I couldn't just leave you guys without any comic relief. * Sayuri prints the stuff out, then. "They're in that meeting room." ...sure. Alright. * Jacqueline grins a bit. Let's go, people. Dejiko nods. "Then that is where we will go." * Rina snickers. "'Kay." Just tell me which direction to go, Sayuri. And stay behind me. * Marguerite lifts Bubba. "Show me the way, and I'll cut the grass." There is another gound-shaking explosion, and alarms begin to go off; 'klangklangklang' and 'ahoooga'. * Sayuri grabs the printouts, and points. "Thatway, then." Dejiko nods and takes off down the hall. * Togo winces. "Klaxons. Just what I needed." * Robert proceeds in that direction at a steady jog. * Rina runs after her. * Yoji whispers to Rina. "What happened with Togo after he killed that guy? He's so different now." * Togo runs after Dejiko. * Marguerite follows right behind. * Yoji runs after everyone. * Jacqueline follows after. Behind me, Dejiko. * Rina makes sure she's running alongside Yoji. "He's just been livin' for revenge, y'know? He's got to think about other things, now. Like actually living." Let me lay down supression fire before you get all up close and personal. * Sayuri walks as fast as she can, directing. A trio of guards come around a corner in front of Dejiko, who takes them all out without so much as stopping her forward motion. "Keep going straight or take this corner?" ...or not. * Yoji nods. * Sayuri looks down and up quickly. "Turn the corner. Dejiko turns the corner, keeping maybe a dozen feet ahead of the rest of you. Another explosion shakes the building. * Marguerite stays even with Robert. "What the fuck are they doing?" * Rina stumbles and falls, then climbs back to her feet. ... Hope they're not blowing up anything important. * Togo stumbles badly, but keeps his footing and gets back in stride. Whatever it is, it's very, very violent. So it's probably either a fight, or sex. I really don't want to think about that. * Yoji staggers a bit but keeps running. Neither do I. * Robert keeps trotting along, apparently untroubled by the shaking ground. Dejiko turns and shouts "Look out!" about an eight of a second befre you hear machinegun fire coming from behind you. Although it gives new meaning to "The earth moved", I suppose. WHOA! * Yoji continues to match his pace with Rina. * Sayuri chuckles and shakes her head. Hello! * Robert swings around. * Rina whirls around. Margie, Togo, and Robert make ranged defense rolls. 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Robert (2d6-3) and gets 6. 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Marguerite (2d6-3) and gets 7. Wah! (Damn.) ( I failed by one. Shield comes into play. ) Robert manages to block the fire coming at him, but Margie takes two rounds in her shoulder. (Hey, Togo. You there?) 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Togo (2d6-2) and gets 8. * Marguerite takes a step back and grits her teeth. ( Sorry, bathroom. ) Togo takes two rounds to his chest, which don't get through his jacket but hurt anyway. (Damage?) (Twenty for Margie; same minus armor for Togo.) * Togo stumbles back, obviously not having his full equilibrium, but steadies himself, wincing. Roll initiative. (I have armor too.... ;_;; d6+7 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Robert (d6+7) and gets 8. d6+6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Marguerite (d6+6) and gets 7. d6+6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Rina (d6+6) and gets 12. d6+8 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Jacqueline (d6+8) and gets 9. d6+6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Yoji (d6+6) and gets 11. d6+8 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Togo (d6+8) and gets 10. d6+5 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Sayuri (d6+5) and gets 7. Order: Rina, Yoji, Dejiko, Togo, JAckie, Robert, Margie, Sayuri, Grunt1, Grunt2, Grunt3. (Three of them?) (Go, Rina!) (Yes.) ( Bah. They're just grunts. ) * Rina runs forward and tries to tackle the first grunt. 2d6-4 (Gah. BRB.) * Dicesuke throws the bones for Rina (2d6-4) and gets 0. ( Or am I thinking of Goons? I forget. ) (Beats me. The GM just ran off, though. :P) ( Grunts are lower on the heirarchy than goons. ) ( They're just above mooks. ) ( Really? Where are peons located, then? ) ( Peons are below the mooks, I think. ) ( They're non-combat. ) ( That's possible? O.o ) ( Well, not below them, really. Off to the side. ) ( They can fight, though. They just suck. I hate it when I have to have my peons defend my base. ) *** Demota has quit IRC (Quit: ) (Actually, I thought grunts were above goons were above mooks. Ah, well.) Rina tackles one of the grunts to the ground. The grunt hits his head on the floor, but manages to stay awake enough to ask if she isn't a bit young for him. Yoji's turn! * Yoji fires a psychokinetic blast at one of the guards who's still standing. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Yoji (2d6) and gets 8. ( Makes me wonder whatever happened to Richard. ) ( Miss, obviously. ) Yoji's blast wreaks havoc on a piece of wall that is completely away from everyone. (And Dagnabbit, I forgot about Richard.) Dejiko dashes past most of you and beats one of the grunts up but good, hitting him more times than was probably needed. ( Is said grunt down? ) (Yes.) Togo's turn. * Togo fires at the third grunt, wincing visibly at the noise. 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Togo (2d6-3) and gets 1. 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Togo (2d6-3) and gets 4. The grunt takes both bullets, but manages to stay upright. Jackie's turn. * Jacqueline charges at the grunt who refused to go down when he was shot, throwing a kick at his head. 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Jacqueline (2d6-2) and gets 5. Jackie kicks the man in the head, who decides to take a nap now. Robert's turn. ... * Robert waits for a clear shot, since everybody rushed right in. Suddenly, the air begins to crackle, and the hairs on the back of your necks stand on end. You feel a vague sense of dread that you can't define. Meanwhile, it's Margie's turn. * Marguerite tenses. * Rina shivers. * Yoji hugs his arms. (There's only one left, and Rina's tackled him, right?) I wonder...if Xivilai's doing something? (Yup.) * Marguerite shoots for the remaining goon. (Penalty?) (+4. And if you hit Rina, she'll be mighty pissed.) (You do realise that she is practically sitting on top of the guy, right?) (Yeeeecch. Screw that, I'm holding action.) ( Good. c.c;;; ) ( You see my dilemma? ) Grunt1 squirms, but fails to free himself from Rina's mighty little hands. Rina's turn. * Rina decides now is a good time to smash the grunt's face in. So she does that. (Do I need to roll?) (No.) The grunt takes the punch and his cheek goes 'crack' and deforms. He looses consciousness. End combat. Let's get moving again. Which way, Sayuri? * Jacqueline quickly makes her way back. * Yoji looks at Marguerite. "Are you alright?" * Rina nods and gets to her feet. * Togo affixes silencers to his pistols, and gets moving. I'm fine. I've had worse. * Sayuri blinks, and shakes her head, pointing, "Down the way we were going, not far." * Robert hustles that way. Dejiko nods and starts jogging in that direction. * Marguerite keeps pace with Robert. * Rina runs after them. As you make your way down the hall, the air grows warmer. * Marguerite looks around. "I don't like this." * Yoji runs after everyone else. * Sayuri moves along slowly, but not falling behind. Why's it warming up like this? (As best she can.) Hard to say. Whatever it is, it can't be good. Soon you reach a door at the end of the hall, which Dejiko opens. The room inside is thick with flames, and Xivilai is standing right in front of you. The strange man is on the other side of the room, glowing. * Marguerite holds up her arms. "Perfect." What? Why weren't we invited to the barbeque? What about the council? ... right. Any other way around? * Rina blinks. "Who knows." Xivilai seems to hear you enter, and she wheels on you, her eyes growing wide. She begins to shout, but doesn't get very far, as a brilliant white explosion erupts from the room you and your vision goes black. [END SESSION.]