"Just a regular dragon? Or the one that freezes everything around it? I've met the second one, but that won't be an easy fight. Still, it's in my way to get anywhere else, so I suppose I'll tackle the dragon first. I was wanting a mount anyway. Oh, and it looks like that presence that is invading our universe is using MC Escher as an architect, and paying him with a steady supply of LSD. Fucking eldritches and their lack of taste."
Onwards, to take a dragon and make it my mount. Or at least kill it if it doesn't want to let me ride it.
"No dice, it's this weird snake thing. You don't sound too surprised, then again I'd hope our frames wouldn't have much trouble with a regular overgrown lizard. Anyway, navigation's updated, your flight path's open."An augmented reality overlay activates showing your flight path as a green filter on the screens. The distance passes quickly beneath you the ride smooth and luxurious compared to the original model. As you approach the target the sensors highlight the area of interest, bringing up a thermal image of a large serpentine creature. Next comes the tactical uplinks from NEE units in the area, it is an unearthly silver and seems to perfectly reflect light incident on it in every wavelength meaning it shows up like a beacon to sensors.
The creature seems to be using a variety of attacks and tactics, the biggest and baddest of them all being some sort of giant orb of energy it periodically spits patterned after one of those yin-yang symbols, and ultimately pretty lacklustre compared to the fucking time-freezing ice. You can see the hammer of bullets and grenade fire into its metallic hide, slowly chipping away at it. Overall the battle seems even and you can quickly make a guess as to why; the creature is a balance of offence and defence with no real special capabilities. Its attacks may have this peculiar look to them, but they ultimately behave the same as regular ballistics. In other words, not much different to regular NEE frames, reducing the combat to just this extended slugfest.
1500 meters to target.
Iliana stands up from the impromptu bed of uniforms and shakily makes her way out of the tent, one hand pressing against her chest several times to check for elephants. After a few false starts, she manages to thank Malebranche, "I owe you so much for this, Malebranche, you... you brought me back to life. I mean, fuck your magic for killing me, but you brought me back to life. Thaaank you. I-I exploded. How did you? I." Iliana stops and regains her composure before continuing, "I need to take you up on the frame thing now. How does this work, I just pick one? I guess I'll have an Avalon, it sounds like if a Puppet wasn't supposed to be so disposable, and I think I can use the mobility."
Summon an AF01-AVALON and get in. While I familiarize myself with the controls, confirm some suspicions about the spell that killed me -a(comp 16).
magic
frame's waiting outside
You exit the tent and soon find your new frame inside a nearby makeshift maintainance bay, not exactly the place most people would expect to find an NEE frame, though also well-covered enough that only someone looking inside
would find it. You climb into the cockpit. You find that it's a different kind of beast to a LANDSKNECHT, cold, utilitarian, lacking all the personal customizations and creatures comfort of your frame, everything sleek and high-tech, a feel that is not nearly as comforting as one would think, probably in part as the words "sleek and high-tech" can also very well describe an emergency ward amongst other things.
Still all of the usual things are in the usual places. Your head says you know enough to control it, and your gut says you'll know how to use everything else too when it comes down to it.
[COMP: 10/5] Spell, -a
You feel yourself on a razor's edge between great success and terrible failure, not quite a fifty-fifty split either. It feels, more like a game of Russian Roulette. The kind of gamble that you can rely on, and that which will inevitably spell your doom.
I'm shouting at the elephant because I can.
"Keep them busy while I go shoot the things!"
Get me the fastest frame I can and just move and shoot targets of opportunity. Pass the data on the weakpoints off to people.
If they're *still* too fast for me, well...bother. Shoot what I can from out here. Maybe with the infinite ammo PDW, maybe with 59 gzdz, depending on what would work better.
[TRAN: -2] Resist
[UTAR vs. MDEF: 0 vs. 6] Opening fire with PUPPET battle rifle
[MDEF vs. UTAR: 9 vs. 1] Autocannon Construct #1 fires upon you
[3] ? ? ?
[MDEF vs. UTAR: 6 vs. 3] Autocannon Construct #2 fires upon the elephant
[5] ? ? ?
[LTAR vs. MDEF: 0 vs. 6] Elephant tries to trample
[LTAR vs. MDEF: 0 vs. 6] Autoscythe Construct #2 counters with a slash
[COMP: 6/4] Spell, 59 dzdz
[UTAR vs. MDEF: AUTOSUCCESS] Spell Attack
The elephant doesn't really respond, it just clicks and looks around with confusion, though seeing as your enhanced sight shows a barrage of shots about to streak into it and not you, it's doing a decent job regardless.
With a burst of speed, you rush into the air in a PUPPET frame as the octarine beam blazes through where you were just standing, your arm swinging down, rifle discharging a round straight down at it only for it to throw itself out the way at the last minute, the attack managing to only make it more angry.
Your pachiderm companion fares even worse. It somehow manages to dodge the barrage with an act of surprising agility, the stray bolts of dust disassembling whatever random rubble they hit save for an old generator that they seem to ricochet off of for some odd reason. And then, with an even more shocking display of speed, barrels straight into the enemy formation in an attempt to trample them. A rather short-lived attempt seeing as the autoscythe-wielding automaton manages to sidestep its charge and run its blade across the creature's side, cleaving deep into its body, causing the entire elephant to spontaneously collapse into a pile of startled woodland creatures.
The haze is beginning to close in on you, your cockpit reeks of fumes now. It's getting harder and harder to see. You're not sure what's coming, but you doubt you'll like it. And with this shooting business clearly not working, you decide to copy your late companion. Tossing the sword up, you bring your frame's now-free hand pointing downwards, great beams of lighting crashing forth, merging, arcing into your foes. As you catch the blade, you see that the constructs are no more, just cooling piles of slag, slowly vanishing into the constricting haze.
Summon my brand new smexy hat and put it on my head.
"Thanks Decon, and thanks to the sponsors! I do like a stylish momento."
Use Tradecraft [Luck]
Summon some new clothes (I hope) : "19 87 22"[COMP 14/18] (curious what difference order has in spells if any)
And a little bit of lucky wire for later: "70 83" [COMP 4/18] (will also help pin down exactly what cost is silver)
Put on clothes (if successful, and don't have spikes on the inside or something ridiculous) and grab my wire (again if I didn't f#k it up) and go have a detailed look at that safe. Does it look like a mundane safe? Anything weird about it? Is it biometric, lock or combination secured?
"Anyway Decon more jobs sounds good! But I'm very curious about this safe, and this apartment for that matter. I'm just going to take a crack at the bank here before we leave.. Any details on this job, or is there more than one to pick from?"
[COMP: 10/5] Spell, 19 87 22
[COMP: 2] Spell, 70 83
Your successful spell summons a stylish set of clothes akin to motorcycle leathers made of a similar material but it feels closer to vynil, the surface feels slightly water repellent with a smooth crinckly texture. As you put them on the clothes seem to learn and shift slightly to best accomodate you even changing their physical appearance to better match the non smart hat. With the final look being of a short brown jacket and matching trousers completing your mobster sheec outfit.
The safe is relatively mundane, seems to use a simple thumb scanner. Convenient, yes, secure, no. Could probably fuck with the wiring and get it open, would take a bit of time, but that you have in abundance. That, and magic. Lots and lots of magic. Might be possible to just transmute the entire thing into wax or something and jut cut it open too, though you'd need to somehow jam the wire into the solid safe or locking magic.
There are many opportunities for those willing to undertake their risks.
What sort of game do you wish to play is the question?
"I have magic red eyes. No, seriously. Can't explain it any better. And I got dropped in vicinity by a bus with a skeleton as a driver. Some really funky shit's going down here. Ah, do you mind if I borrow this?"
If he's fine with me borrowing the frame then finish it and have Princess Pink keep company the guy. If not, ask where he would like to be dropped off to and see if I can accommodate his requests.
Red: "Yeah, not gonna experiment with living folks. I'm not that desperate yet."
"Take it that is absolutely 110% fine by me.""Aww... but I'm bored and he is so pliable like a good little meat head. Though I did mean the frame rather than this adorable little meat man~"He seems less terrified by you now likely because the diadem means that he subconsiously knows that in a way you are trustworthy. The work on the frame takes quite a while of straining and welding just to put together the legs, attaching them also takes time and after several hours of frantic back breaking work the thing is mostly done.
It's a Vestige frame, not too surprising there, about the same size class as a LUPUS but sleeker, lighter. Plating's not as thick, construction's not as sturdy, faster though, you can tell that at least, and laden with a very sophisticated array of sensors, probably a spec ops frame by your reckoning. It's, got
things that a normal frame shouldn't. Black boxes. Loremaster Tech. You recognise them as vibrational dampeners, the kind used by starships to kill the tremors of their engines. Certainly not something you'd expect to see on a frame, much less one this small. Armaments consist of a back-mounted munitions launcher, not sure what's loaded with, and a machine-gun, chambered for caliber so low that it'd struggle to do much damage to most frames and sporting some kind of underslung bayonet that judging by its mechanisms, would function sort of like a captive bolt pistol on steroids. There's also six small drones attached to it, they don't seem to have any armaments.
The only thing to left consider is power as the current power source amounts to a well-contained demon core, not a
demon demon core mind you, no if it were some random magical infernal bullshit it'd probably be easier, no what you're dealing with is a miniature nuclear reactor that is quite liable to become a miniature dirty if not outright nuclear bomb at the drop of a hat, which while providing ludicrous amounts of energy isn't exactly something most insurers are willing to cover either.
((Frame Imprinted: 04CORF))James Heign:
"Not letting this happen."
Mechanical smarts say stop additional power from entering. Cut the cables leading into the wall with bound fire axe.
With a swift blow you run the axe head across the cable, severing them in a shower of sparks, this proves to be of distressingly little help as the wires rapidly re-fuse together, metal fusing to metal, all signs of the cuts slowly fading.
Damn it!
It must still have some of its repair functions online.
Find something fancier, more complex. Break it.
As you ponder this conundrum a synthetic voice speaks out a vaguely feminine which halts between complex syllables:
Unauthorized personnel; damage to capacitor stack 8; deploying droneA droplet of oil begins to form on one wall ballooning outwards as a dark black mass of shifting metallic gunk. It eventually pops off the wall and begins floating towards where the cables have patched themselves. It begins projecting a small laser onto the cable improving the fix. It doesn't appear to have noticed you yet or perhaps it is simply leaving your brutal and no doubt unpleasant murder for later.
Well, stick a fork in me. I gave it allies. Allied bees.
Shoot up one with a katana, whichever of the two is closer. Use luck, and cast dcd cd df -o (comp 10) at Autocannon Construct #2.
Clearly at least one of them will have my position now, so as a reaction, if one gets close, Deploy Frame around myself, 0-1 PUPPET/AF and GTFO. If I instead have taken out the ones that know my position, or none get close enough, try to cast vi-v01 (comp 4) at whatever remains/is closest.
The two begin rushing towards you weapons ready and the gunner begins firing at you with his magic laser gun, beams of octarine roaring out towards you.
[MDEF vs. UTAR: 2 vs. 1] Autocannon Construct #2 fires upon you
[MDEF vs. UTAR: 7 vs. 4] Firing upon Sanguine Automaton #1
A beam grazes your leg, exploding your flesh, making you stumble for a moment. The wound is bad, but it's treatable, definitely could've been worse, armor managed to repulse most of the energy. Your bubbles meanwhile strike your target's arm. Most of them at least, it managed to slice some of them appart with its accursed blade, but the ones that got through get to work tearing apar thte screeching construct's arm and are now moving onto the rest of its body.
You summon your frame which appears as a single instantaneous pop into reality just an abrupt transition rather than any discernable passing of time. The thrusters cycle up almost instantly and the outlets glow cherry red as the heat exhaust hits several hundred kelvin, the light frame leaping from the ground with a powerful jump that gives you second thoughts about the position of your stomach.
Author
Topic: Perplexicon - Down the Foxhole - Raining Mecha (Read 179519 times)