File: starmap_thread8.png (606 KB, 940x952)

606 KB PNG

>>40884083
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on, cowboy,” Dani suddenly says, her voice piercing through the serene humming noise from the being of light in front of you. You can feel them at your back, just as dumbstruck as you. Dani comes up beside you with her gun raised, pointed forwards “What the hell? What is this? What are you?”

The being made of light seems to turn its head slightly in her direction, but doesn't say anything. Through the silence between your rifle and it, you start to feel uneasy. You think it's... thinking? Dani shuffles uncomfortably in her spot.

You think the strange humming is getting a little louder.

>Open fire, the last thing you need is for your team to be melted by alien-ghost lasers.
>Lower your rifle, step forward, and ask what it meant by you 'playing a part'.
>Retreat the fuck out of there.
>Throw another grenade.

>>40884104
>>Lower your rifle, step forward, and ask what it meant by you 'playing a part'.

Archived: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/40884083/

>>40884104
>Lower your rifle, step forward, and ask what it meant by you 'playing a part'.

>>40884104

>Open fire

Is no one else skeeved as fuck by this thing? Just me?

>>40884104
>Lower your rifle, step forward, and ask what it meant by you 'playing a part'.

>>40884104
>Lower your rifle, step forward, and ask what it meant by you 'playing a part'.
maybe not step forward

>>40884104
>>Lower your rifle, step forward, and ask what it meant by you 'playing a part'.

Throwing another grenade is tempting though

>>40884104
Don't lower the rifle, but talk it out. Stall for time.
Meanwhile, gesture for everyone else to fall back. Really though, it's to get our allies a chance to call for back-up.

>>40884213
As amusing as filling a mana-ghost full of lead would be, I doubt it'd actually achieve anything aside of annoying it.

>>40884104
>Open fire, the last thing you need is for your team to be melted by alien-ghost lasers.
better safe than sorry

>>40884104
>Just ask a question, but don't change position
No need to change the status quo

>>40884104
>Lower your rifle, step forward, and ask what it meant by you 'playing a part'.

minus the lowering of the weapon. Even if it's just for appearance sake, you don't lower your weapon in front of a potential enemy

>>40884083
Bythe way, gave to say one of the best quest on tg right now. Unique setting, great characters, and a story I want to follow forever. Thanks SDA

>>40884104

>Hold your ground, ask what it meant

>>40884104
>Lower your rifle, step forward, and ask what it meant by you 'playing a part'.
Minus the stepping forward part

File: elyon.jpg (12 KB, 236x448)

12 KB JPG

>>40884104
You pat a hand on Dani's shoulder, and she turns around to see you giving her a solemn look. She seems to relax when you turn your head towards the being, your head held up high. Strangely enough, the humming seems to calm down as the being's head turns towards you.

“...I am Gavin,” you croak out; this thing already knows your name. You feel like it could melt your eyes out at any second, but you stare in fear that you might offend it by looking away. “...What do you mean by that? Playing a part?”

You can't be sure, but you think that humming is its breathing. It seems to change tone at your words.

“I a͘m̡ Elyon.” the being speaks, its 'voice' drawling out the words. You swear it's speaking to you directly to your mind, but evidently, the others can hear it as well. “Things are... u̴nśtable as of late. And I can tell you that your u̡niv̶e͢r̶se will never be the same wit͟hi̸ń the coming months.” You gulp, but let it continue. At least it's not harming you. “My kind has been obs҉e̷r̷ving yours for eons. We kept our distance, as we saw no need to make contact... until now. We are f̨eẁ, but we live for a very long time.” It takes a step down forward, the tendrils of light emanating from its 'flesh' following it as it moves. “Tell me G͘a̧vin, what do you know about the Harb͜įnger?”

You take in a breath, still trying to absorb in the information of the situation. “I don't know anything about it. I have been trying to find out, but it eludes me,” you answer. With one hand behind your back, you gesture to your crew to fall back, slowly.

“I wouldn't do that, if I were you,” it says, causing you to freeze up. “This room is defensible, and there will be more coming this way from outside.”

Its words are still calm, but the warning seems to grab straight at your heart. You look over to Dani with wide eyes, and she returns a blank stare. You turn back towards Elyon.

>>40885083
“How do you know that?” you ask with your rifle still raised. Your scepticism is eating away at you, but you know that you have to ensure the safety of your crew.

“I was held c͞a̷pt́ive by these humans for...” It seems to pause to think. “...Several weeks. I know their plans and tactics. Their thóug̶hts, their futures...”

“Wait, plans? What plans?” Dani edges in, her voice curious. “Futures? What the hell does that mean?”

“That last one... was a j̧o͞k͘e,” it responds, its voice still the same tone as it was before. You blink, and you think you can feel Dani inwardly cringe.

“If you were held captive, then why are you here?” she asks, taking a step forward. “And where are the Hounds that kept you here?”

“I broke free wh̀èn҉ their ranks began to di͘sa̡ssemble. You made a loud entrance.” Elyon's head points downwards, and you take a peak at the ground. You didn't notice it before, but there are patches of ash on the ground. A lot of them seem to lay around a large metal cylinder, presumably where it was kept captive.

You exchange another look with Dani, and she seems to have noticed it, too.

“I would suggest you to p̴re͟p̷are yours͡e̶lves, they will be here soon,” Elyon says.

>Open fire and get rid of this thing before it does the same thing to you. Then, hold up in this room before the assault comes.
>Fall back and get out of the cave.
>Do as it says and start setting up positions. Continue to ask questions about the Harbinger.
>Throw a grenade.

>>40885098
>>Do as it says and start setting up positions. Continue to ask questions about the Harbinger.

>>40885098
>>Do as it says and start setting up positions. Continue to ask questions about the Harbinger.

>>40885098

>energy being standing over ashes
>yeah, i'm pretty sure those used to be people

>Open fire and get rid of this thing before it does the same to you.

>>40885098
>Do as it says and start setting up positions. Continue to ask questions about the Harbinger.
It may want to fuck with our heads but at least it probably doesn't want to kill us right now, let's focus on the people who do.

>>40885098

>Do as it says and start setting up positions. Continue to ask questions about the Harbinger.

>>40885098
>Do as it says and start setting up positions. Continue to ask questions about the Harbinger.

>>40885098
You let out a sigh and turn your head towards Dani. “Okay, let's just do as he says and set up... I don't think we have much else of a choice,” you say, and Dani slowly nods her head. It doesn't look like she thinks there's much else of a choice, either. She turns around to the group.

“Alright, you heard him. Get into defensive positions, we're gonna hold down this room,” she says, and you hear your group beginning to move, but no one seems to want to walk past you towards the being of light.

You reluctantly lower your rifle, and you think you can hear the humming in the room lower in volume. At the same time, the light emanating from Elyon dims, and you suddenly find it more bearable to look at hi m.

“I assure you that I mean you no h͡a̴rm, but I have been s̴e̛eking you out,” it says to you while your crew goes around the room.

You look around to see a lot of metal crates to use as cover; off to the right, you see Ley'ra and Ivan working together to push a metal crate towards the entrance to the cave. On the left, you see Devon piling up some crates for a higher wall for cover, while Dani speaks into her mic, presumably to her other squad members in the other part of the cave.

“Though, I am so͟r͞ry about the drone. I don't quite like being caught on camera,” Elyon continues.

“That's... fine,” you say as politely as possible, still facing him. “What exactly are you?”

“I am an Ifraix. We have been a̸r҉ou̴nd for eons.” For some reason, you can't really bring yourself to believing that you're still alive. Have you died and gone to hell? You're having a conversation with a space ghost, right now. “Sometimes you h͡u̡m͏ans mistakenly call us Heralds.”

>>40885584
“Wait... you're a Herald?”

“I just said w͝ę are not Heralds.”

“What do you mean by mistakenly calling you that?”

“Oh, Gavin,” Elyon chuckles. It's weird because it sounds like the voice of a thousand undead souls chuckling at once, but at the same time, it's calm. “You undou͟b͞te҉dly have many questions. Shall we not focus on that which aims to kill us?”

“...And you're going to fight with us?”

“If you would wish me to, yes.”

>Allow him to fight with you. You're curious to see how he presumably turned those people into ash.
>Politely tell him that you got this. You're not curious to see how he presumably turned those people into ash.

>>40885597
>Allow him to fight with you. You're curious to see how he presumably turned those people into ash.

San -1

>>40885597
>Allow him to fight with you. You're curious to see how he presumably turned those people into ash.

>>40885597
>>Politely tell him that you got this. You're not curious to see how he presumably turned those people into ash.

>>40885597
>Allow him to fight with you. You're curious to see how he presumably turned those people into ash.

>>40885597
>Allow him to fight with you. You're curious to see how he presumably turned those people into ash.

He been seeking us specifically, so he's could be a walking Deus ex Machina if things really go wrong.
Elyon responds to "he", right?

>>40885597
"Will this lead to ome of those convoluted things where if you help us fight we have to back you back increasing amounts of favors?

>>40885597
>>Allow him to fight with you. You're curious to see how he presumably turned those people into ash.
Could use an extra hand.

>>40885597
>Allow him to fight with you. You're curious to see how he presumably turned those people into ash.
Also go to Dani. Maybe we could pull as many pirates as we can towards us and when they reacha large enough mass have the remain members outside pin them from behind.

>>40885597
“Yeah... if you can take on a room full of bandits, I don't see why not,” you answer. “But, will this lead to one of those convoluted things where if you help us fight, we have to help you with some sort of favour?”

Elyon seems to chuckle at this. “The favour I ask of you was not my decision, nor anybody's, but the fate of the universe does hang in the balance.”

Damn, you hate when that happens.

He nods his head at this when you hear footsteps approaching from your right.

“We're um...” Ley'ra pauses, her rifle clutched between her hands as she tries to regard you even though there's a bright blue space ghost to her right. “We're set up. As we can be, Gavin.”

“Uh... good. Good job, Ley'ra.” She blinks, and you blink back. “Just... stay out of the way when Elyon goes in, okay?”

Ley'ra very quickly glances at the space ghost in question, seemingly hoping that Elyon didn't see her. “Okay.”

“Er, no offence, Elyon,” you recover.

“None t̷aḱen,” he answers, letting out a small chuckle. “I would probably adv́i҉s͟e that myself, anyways.”

“So, what's the plan?” Dani says, coming up to your group. She takes a place beside Elyon, seeming unphased by his strangeness.

“We do as Elyon suggests and hold down this room,” you tell her, making sure the rest of the room hears you. “I'm sure we can defend this room just fine. How is Tac's group?”

“Oh, they've cleared out a good portion of the tunnels already. I've warned them of reinforcements, so I think they should be fine.”

“Okay, good. Are comms up again?”

“Yes. I also got ahold of Pete, he was panicking.”

“Huh.”

“And he's sent reinforcements already.”

“...Wow. That's a good thing?”

“Yeah, I guess.” She glances around the group, staring at Elyon in particular. “Once the bastards start falling back, we're going to push them back, got it?”

>>40886140
“Got it,” you respond. Ley'ra nods her head as well. You look over to Elyon. “And... do you need a weapon?” you ask him.

“No, I have my own,” he answers, gesturing to a small metal disk-like object fastened to his hip. “Though, it is shor̵t̨ ranged. I will only use it if th͡ey get close.”

“Heads up!” Devon's voice yells from across the room. “We got company!”

Your immediate group exchanges glances, and all of you except Elyon take off towards the crate-barriers at the entrance to the room. Dani takes a spot beside Devon on the right side of the entrance, while Ley'ra goes towards the left where Beth and Ivan are.

“Beth, hang back a little, we need you alive,” you order.

“Ah... alone with the spirit-guy?” she whispers harshly.

“...Ivan, go with her. Provide us suppressive fire if we need it.”

“I can do that, comrade,” he answers with a small bow of his head. He turns to Beth. “Let's go, Bethany.”

The girl in question nods her head and follows Ivan to the back of the room. Glancing back, you see Elyon slowly approaching the entrance, now.

>Take position beside Dani and Devon, they're likely going to see most of the fire from their position on the right.
>Take position by Ley'ra, she could use support on the left side of the entrance.
>Hang back with Beth and Ivan.

>>40886168
>>Take position by Ley'ra, she could use support on the left side of the entrance.
Everyone gets a buddy

>>40886168
>Take position by Ley'ra, she could use support on the left side of the entrance.

>>40886168
>Take position by Ley'ra, she could use support on the left side of the entrance.
2x per

>>40886168
>Take position by Ley'ra, she could use support on the left side of the entrance.

By the way, I am going to keep this thread short. I've still got things to do later.

>>40886264
Nooo! What about our double-feature?

>>40886442
Not this weekend, but one weekend coming up. I've got some vacation days to burn for you guys.

>>40886168
>Take position by Ley'ra, she could use support on the left side of the entrance.

>>40886168
“Look alive, they're approaching quick,” Devon whispers lowly on the comms. You quickly make your way to Ley'ra's side and plant yourself behind the barrier, sitting on the ground. Upon looking at her, she gives you a small smile.

“Shit, it sounds like a lot of them,” Dani curses. You look over to her to see her shifting uncomfortably in her spot.

“Shoot on sight?” Devon asks. “Your call, Dani.”

“The hell do you think? Of course,” she snaps. “So, Ley'ra, what can we expect?”

“Well, they're overly cocky. They aren't trained soldiers, they're really just a bunch of guys who picked up guns,” Ley'ra answers.

“Ugh. Thugs?”

“Yeah. But don't underestimate them too much, their cowardice turns into stupidity and unpredictability in the midst of a fight and will charge in--”

She's cut off from a loud burst of fire from Devon's rifle, which was directed towards the cave entrance. From your position, you can't see what he shot at.

“Shit, Devon! What the hell!” Dani snaps again, frantically aiming down the cave.

“You said shoot on sight.”

“That startled me.”

“Pussy.”

“Fuck--”

Another burst of fire releases from his rifle, and you start to hear the yells from down the cave. You pop out from cover to still see nothing from your angle, but you remain aimed there with Ley'ra by your side. Dani's rifle joins in on the burst fire.

After a few more bursts from their rifles, the firing stops. A few moments of silence passes before Dani whispers onto the mic. “I think that's four do--”

“Grenade!” Devon cries. Sure enough, an object flies through the room entrance and lands right in front of your barrier.

>Duck behind the barrier.
>It's almost within arm's reach; pick it up and toss it back.
>Write in.

>>40886502
>>Duck behind the barrier.
Almost isn't good enough for me.

>>40886502
>Duck behind the barrier.

>>40886502
>>Duck behind the barrier.

>>40886502
>Duck behind the barrier.
I like having arms.

>>40886502
Yeah, naw

>Duck and cover

>>40886502
>Duck behind the barrier.

>>40886528
>>40886566
>>40886608
Roll a 1d100.

Rolled 66 (1d100)

>>40886716

Rolled 32 (1d100)

>>40886716

Rolled 44 (1d100)

>>40886716
Praying

Rolled 4 (1d100)

>>40886716

>>40886751
THAT would have been painful

>>40886751
>>40886750
We rolled literally the same second, thank God I showed up first.

Rolled 16 (1d100)

>>40886502
FAIL

Seeing the grenade land almost right in front of you, the first thing you do is duck. Almost immediately after ducking, your hearing suddenly leaves you with nothing but a high-pitched ringing, and the crate beside you bumps into you rather painfully. You stumble to the side a bit and roll, but you find that you're mostly unharmed. You can hear very muted yelling through the ringing, and upon looking up, you see Dani looking straight at you with a worried expression. The ringing begins to subside.

“Are you okay?!” Dani yells again, and you briskly nod your head. In your peripheral vision, you see two men approaching the entrance of the cave with rifles pointed forwards. You immediately lift your rifle. However, as Dani looks behind you, her expression changes to shock. You glance to your left to see Ley'ra on the ground, clutching her left shoulder with her teeth gritted.

“Keep shooting, brother,” Devon says, suddenly next to you. He crouches down to Ley'ra and pulls out a small med kit that was attached to his back.

>Check to make sure Ley'ra's okay. She looks hurt, but you aren't sure how serious it is.
>Fire your rifle at the two oncoming bandits.
>Throw a grenade (2 frags, 1 hi-ex left)

>>40886839
I only roll good when curbstomping little girls it seems.

>>40886887
>>Check to make sure Ley'ra's okay. She looks hurt, but you aren't sure how serious it is.

We can't let her die, she's pregnant!

>>40886887
>Fire your rifle at the two oncoming bandits.
Clear the entrance...
>Throw a grenade (Frag)
...and disencourage followers,

>>40886887
>Fire your rifle at the two oncoming bandits.

>>40886887
00-04: Critical Failure
05-49: Failure
50-95: Pass
96-100: Critical Pass

66 was the highest.

U wot m8? Whatever.

>Fire your rifle at the two oncoming bandits.
>Throw a grenade (Frag)

>>40886887
>Fire your rifle

>>40886887
>Fire your Rifle at the two oncoming bandits

We don't need to gawk, we need to defend

>>40886887
>Fire your rifle at the two oncoming bandits.

>>40886887
>>Fire your rifle at the two oncoming bandits.

Devon told us to keep shooting. He's taking care of her wounds, we take care of noone else getting injured.

>>40886931
Best 2 out of three.

>>40886887
>Throw a grenade (2 frags, 1 hi-ex left)
frag

>>40886955
Update you rules pastebin then, its out of date.

>>40886923
>>40886926
>>40886943
Roll a 1d100.

Rolled 81 (1d100)

>>40886972

Rolled 21 (1d100)

>>40886972

>>40886972
...

>>40886969
Pastebin says
>I will take the first 3 rolls and determine the pass/fail in a best-of-three basis.
I suppose I worded it weirdly, I meant best 2 out of three, not the best out of the three. Sorry for the confusion.

Rolled 32 (1d100)

>>40886972

>this thread will be a shorter one
Thank god for that, following these threads while on course isn't very easy.

Damn that Infantry armor isn't all that good is it.

>>40887197
Actually it saved her life.

>>40886887
FAIL

Leaving Devon to take care of Ley'ra, you immediately let out a burst of fire from your rifle, and Dani joins in. To your dismay, the men duck behind the entrance to the room unscathed, and they're quite close at this point.

You unhinge a frag grenade from your bandolier and pull the pin, moving to toss it towards the entrance. However, one of the men's rifles peaks around the corner of the rocks and opens up blind, full-auto fire into the room. Your toss is thrown off and the grenade lands just shy of the room entrance, and you duck behind the barrier to avoid the fire. After a few seconds, the grenade detonates, but it doesn't achieve much.

“Right. I need you to relax, it doesn't look too serious,” Devon says to your left to Ley'ra. You hear footsteps approaching from behind, and you hear Beth join Devon by Ley'ra's side. Meanwhile, bullets ricochet against the metal barrier, but you and your crew are safely behind it. “Alright love, can you pour this on the wound? I'm going to cut open her sleeve,” he says to her.

“Alright,” Bethany responds with a calm voice. Ley'ra lets out a few grunts, but at least she's not screaming. You glance over to see her with her eyes and teeth clutched tight; there's blood on her upper left arm.

The firing stops and you quickly pop out from cover to take a peak. It seems that the firing bandit ran out of ammunition. To your dismay, you hear more footsteps joining their sides as more and more of them arrive.

“Shit, take over for a sec, love,” Devon says to Beth. He sits up to your side and pops up from cover.

>>40887434
Another rifle peaks around the corner of the rock before he lets loose a small burst of fire, the bullets landing close to the rifle. The hand immediately retreats, but Devon tosses a grenade towards the entrance. This time, the grenade soars past the entrance to where the bandits are, and after some yells, the grenade detonates. The explosion sends ringing throughout the caves, but you don't think it got them all.

“I'm throwin' another one,” Dani yells, loud enough for you to hear but not for the bandits to hear. She tosses her own frag, and sure enough, it catches the bandits off guard judging by the yells. You and Devon duck under the barrier once again as the explosion rings out, undoubtedly taking more bandits with it.

However, a second, much louder explosion rings out from the left side of the room. A large cloud of smoke expands from the wall of the cave.

“Shit, they got breachers!” Dani yells. There's only one barrier near that area.

>Reposition to the barrier and hold off whatever comes through there.
>Order Ivan to get to that barrier.
>Politely ask Elyon to do something about that.

>>40887451
>>Politely ask Elyon to do something about that.

Aw yeah Stardust Quest!

>>40886264
Blast it!

>>40887451
>Reposition to the barrier and hold off whatever comes through there.
>Order Ivan to get to that barrier.

>>40887451
>Politely ask Elyon to do something about that

how did we fail with an 81?

>>40887528
We need 2 passes.

>>40887451
> politely ask Elyon to do something about that

>>40887528
>>40887536
Do you guys prefer a 2/3 roll method or a best-roll-out-of-three method?

I would think that a best-roll-out-of-three is too easy, but considering I'm a relative newfag to /tg/, I'm not sure what's really the norm. What do you guys think?

>>40887580
so far 2/3 isnt working, but I have no idea what the actual odds of success are.

>>40887580
Best roll out of three is the most normal on /tg/.

I think you need to add alot of modifiers (negative or positive) to the 2/3 or else its just a literal coinflip with how your pass fail thresholds are.

>>40887599
Like pretty much 50%

>>40887599
I would think that best 2/3 is pretty even. The odds of having 2/3 passes vs 2/3 fails should be even. Having only 1 pass out of the three reduces the chance of failure to a third, at least I'd think.

>>40887451
At this point I'd get 1 person to cover the breaches while another repositions to the barrier, then perhaps have the covering person bound to the barrier while the person at the barrier covers. As much as I trust Elyon to fuck shit up, I consider him a VIP and thus too important to risk in fighting.

>>40887580
I Like best out of three better, honestly I like a 3d10 or 3d20 system. In any case whatever you choose you can always adjust the dc.

>>40887630
So is everyone okay with going the best roll out of three, then?

>>40887668
sure.

>>40887639
You are exactly right. The question is do you want most of the rolls to be just heads or tails?

>>40887668
I'm okay with it, just you may have to increase DCs a little. Make them more dynamic or add modifiers often.

>>40887668
yup

>>40887692
How do I deal with it if most of them are going to be passes, though? I'm quite sure there will never be a crit fail then, right?

>>40887668
Depends, it you want to make it slightly more difficult (such as we're tired or somehow slightly debilitated) you can switch back to best 2/3.

>>40887788
raise dc by 15?

>>40887788
You almost had a critfail here >>40886751

You can keep the 1-4 critfail 96-100 crit.

Just look at the situation, look at the highest roll and think either 'yeah Gavin is skilled enough to pass with that roll' or 'Nah that isn't enough'

Then throw in degrees of success or failure if you need to.

>>40887788
I know other QMs often auto accept crits, success or fail.

>>40887788
>I'm quite sure there will never be a crit fail then, right?
HAHAHA No
Never ever ever say this
Crit fails happen on the whims of the dice gods as frequently or infrequently as they desire you could have 10 crit fails in one session with a probability of 1%

>>40887788
most of the time crit fails are auto accepted, and modifiers don't count.

You get two 99s, followed by a 1? Then you blow your own leg off and an anon gets told to stop rolling dice because he's a shithead

>>40887857
>>40887863
Alright, I'm going with this then. Best of three, crits are auto accept.

>>40887959
iight
I'll assume you are keeping the same crit range.

>>40887959
I'm just going to put our current bad run down to Space Ghosts being bad luck.

>>40888020
Fucking Space Ghosts

File: 250px-Phantom_spaceman.png (62 KB, 250x147)

62 KB PNG

>>40888029
Phantom Space Man?!

>>40888057
Moltar from planet ghost

>>40887451
“The dust begins to overtake the room, but you and Dani still have your rifles aimed down the main entrance. Dani looks to you, but you return a stoic glance before turning back towards Elyon.

“Uh, hey Elyon--”

“I thought you wo̧u̡l̸d͠ never ask, Gavin,” he responds immediately, and you see him draw the circular object from his side.

With a surprising amount of speed, he dashes towards the breach, his blue light piercing through the cloud of dust. The humming turns into a lower pitched thrum, and you see blue sparks light up the cloud like a lightning storm. Gunshots are heard from within, and soon after, screaming.

“What the f--”

“Shit shit shit!”

“Aaah! Aaah! Ahhurkkkghhl...”

You shoot a cringey glance to Dani, who mirrors your expression. She shrugs and points forward.

“U-uh, Ivan?” you yell backwards, getting his attention. “Do you mind uh, covering Elyon? Make sure he's... okay? That no one gets through.”

From the back of the room, the facemask-clad man gives you a stare before a slow nod. “Yes... I can do that.” He reluctantly turns towards the breach with his rifle aimed, observing the blue flashes of light and screams from within the dust cloud. You think you can see Elyon swinging around some sort of bright-blue sabre.“I think he is doing okay, comrade.”

You turn forwards again, being mindful of the breach to your left which you think Elyon has covered.

“I think most of them are taken care of in the front end,” Dani says, still aiming towards the entrance. “Do you want me to go check it out?”

>Cover Dani while she moves forward and begin advancing to push the bandits out from the caves.
>Stay and hold down the room.
>If the other group isn't busy, call them for backup and regroup.

>>40888185
And I forgot my trip. I should stop cross-board posting.

>>40888185
>>Cover Dani while she moves forward and begin advancing to push the bandits out from the caves.
>If the other group isn't busy, call them for backup and regroup.
Flank em

>>40888185

>Cover Dani while she moves forward and begin advancing to push the bandits out from the caves.
>If the other group isn't busy, call them for backup and regroup.

>>40888185
>Cover Dani while she moves forward and begin advancing to push the bandits out from the caves.

>>40888185
So, who else thinks we might end up seeing Locust and/or his siblings when we're leaving the cave?

>>40888185
>Cover Dani while she moves forward and begin advancing to push the bandits out from the caves.

>>40888185
>>Cover Dani while she moves forward and begin advancing to push the bandits out from the caves.

>>40888185
>Cover Dani while she moves forward and begin advancing to push the bandits out from the caves.
>If the other group isn't busy, call them for backup and regroup.

Make sure we know exactly where they are. The last thing we want is blue on blue.

>>40888337
Not likely

>>40888185
“Alright, let's start advancing. You go, I'll cover,” you say, and she nods. “But first, can you call the other group? Let's get out of here and regroup.”

“Sure can. Keep the entrance covered,” Dani says, pulling herself back into cover before talking onto comms to Tac's group.

Meanwhile, you glance to the side to see Ley'ra's upper left arm bandaged up pretty thoroughly, but her eyes are open and her teeth are no longer clenched in pain. She looks up to you with a little smile, her right hand still clutched around her rifle.

“She's alright, nothing she hasn't felt before,” Devon says to you, noticing your concern. “Definitely a better patient than any of the guys, heh. Josho would be crying like a bitch from a toe stub.”

“Thanks, Devon,” you compliment, thankful that Ley'ra's alright.

“Just doing my job, brother,” he says, sitting up and refastening his medkit to his back. He pokes over cover with his rifle trained downwards with you. You note that the screaming from the breach has subsided. “The shrapnel didn't go to deep, thanks to her armour cushioning the blow a little. Even so, it was a small thing, woulda tore right through her shoulder.”

“Is she out of commission?”

“Give her a few--”

“I'm okay,” Ley'ra says, leaning upwards against the barrier with you two. She has her rifle already clutched in her hands. “Though... I don't think I should be point for now.”

“I'll take point,” Dani says, poking out of her cover once more. “Seems Tac's group has been doing some fire fighting on their own, but they've cleared out their section. Found a lot of stolen weapons.”

“Alright, are we moving out then, Dani?” you ask. She responds with a simple nod.

“Mhm.”

You look back to Ivan and gesture him to come over, receiving a nod from him. You look over to the cloud of dust to see Elyon emerge, looking just as ghostly as he always has.

>>40888919
You look back to Ivan and gesture him to come over, receiving a nod from him. You look over to the cloud of dust to see Elyon emerge, looking just as ghostly as he always has.

“They are nothing but du҉s͢t͢, now,” he says, walking out of the cloud dramatically with his arms at his sides.

“Do you have to do that?” Dani asks, making you cringe.

“It is about the present̵a͢ti̢on, Daniela.”

“Ugh, let's go. Cover me,” she says to you, hopping over her cover. You, Devon and Ley'ra train your rifles down the entrance while she approaches, quickly planting herself by the side.

When she gestures you to move, you go first, sprinting to her side with your group behind you, single file. Devon gets beside you, and then Bethany and Ley'ra behind him. Ivan soon joins the group, while Elyon stays at the back.

After a quick peak around the corner, Dani gives you a little nod and you steel yourself with your rifle held tightly between your hands. She walks around the corner and you follow close behind; you try not to pay attention to the dead bodies on the floor. It seems that about six of them were killed, the rest must have retreated out of cowardice. That's when you see your disabled drone still on the floor.

>Ask Ivan to carry it, even if it seems a tad heavy.
>Attempt to bring it back online with your smart-ring.

>>40888935
>>Attempt to bring it back online with your smart-ring.

>>40888935
>Attempt to bring it back online with your smart-ring.
Should probably leave it if it's dead weight.

>>40888935
>>Attempt to bring it back online with your smart-ring.

>>40888935
>Attempt to bring it back online with your smart-ring.

By the way, quick 30 min dinner break.

>>40888919
>>Attempt to bring it back online with your smart-ring.
I'm kinda worried about Ley'ra, but now it's not the time to check on her more carefully...

>>40888935
> Attempt to bring it online

I am back and writing now.

>>40889725
What do you even do in real life? Uni? Shittty retail job?

>>40890046
Full time at a tech branch for a bank. Also part time info sec student.

>>40888935
“Hold,” you say, patting a hand on Dani's shoulder. She gives you a questioning glance, and when you point to the dead drone, she nods her head.

“Ah, yes. About that, the drone should be functional now,” Elyon says from the back, his featureless face pointed at the drone. “Just don't point it at me.”

The screams from those men are called back in your mind. “Yeah, I won't.”

You navigate over to your drone control menu and find that the drone is otherwise undamaged, only that it is shut off. With a quick selection, you cause the drone to start again. Almost immediately, you see the drone whir to life, quickly lifting off from the floor. You quickly tell it to move towards the front of the group so it doesn't face Elyon. Much to your delight, the drone obeys relatively sound.

Dani gives you a smirk before turning back towards the front. After you order the drone to advance, Dani follows the drone's wake.

“Dani,” you whisper, getting her attention.

“Mm?” she hums in response, continuing to walk forwards.

“Make sure you know where the other guys are, we don't want to fire upon each other.”

“Oh, don't worry about that,” she says as the drone turns a corner. After disappearing around the turn and after you emerge, she continues. “We've got beacons to ping each other, we'll know when they're close. Besides, can't you track your drones' positions?”

“Oh yeah, I can.” You bring up your smart-ring while you move, navigating to a small radar that tells you that your other drone isn't too far, now.

That's when you hear gunshots beginning to echo from down the cave. Dani quickly picks up her pace and you quicken your steps to keep up, Devon close behind you.

You turn another corner and see light at the end of the tunnel, but not before the fork that split up your group into two. There, you see a group of Blackhawk mercs in a defensive position, facing towards the cave entrance.

>>40890454
“Tac! We're approaching from your five-o-clock! What's going on there?” Dani yells through the loudening gufire. She quickly taps a few options on her gauntlet while she jogs, and you begin to hear the voices of Tac.

“Got us pinned down at the entrance here,” Tac's voice says through the comms. “Must be at least two dozen of 'em outside. Probably much more.”

Your group finally gets to Tac's group, and you signal to your crew to hang back while you, Dani and Devon go up to observe. Two of the Blackhawks are crouched behind the rocky wall on your side of the fork while the other three are on the other side. Devon walks up to the closest one to you and exchanges a fist-bump with him. Meanwhile, a hail of bullets ricochet of of the cave walls from outside.

“Good to have you back,” the Blackhawk who's presumably Tac says to Dani. “We found a lot of stolen weapons on the oth--what the shit is that?” Tac says in shock, looking over Dani's shoulder behind you at the source of the ethereal blue light.

“Oh... uh, that's--yeah. We found a thing,” Dani says, sheepishly. Tac very slightly tilts his head. “Don't worry about it.”

“Well, what do we do now? Hold out? Call for reinforcements?” Tac asks, looking between you and Dani.

“We already called for reinforcements,” Dani says, looking back. “Let's just wait for them to arrive.”

“Wait, but who's gonna come? Barely anyone at Hel.”

“They've got a VTOL or two. I'm sure if Pete was convincing enough that we were in deep shit, they'll come.”

“They have a lot of hardware out there, I don't think that'd be enough. We should probably do something.”

>>40890470
“What do you suggest we do then?”

That's when the blue light from behind you brightens, and before you realize it, Elyon is beside you.

“Hah, a charge into the f͝r̢ay?” he says with his thousand-voice mind-telepathy thing. “If yo̕u would al͞l̸ow me to, I will lead it.”

“What the actual fuck?” Tac asks, recoiling from the voices in his head. The other Blackhawk seems to recoil as well.

>Hold out in the cave and hope that the reinforcements are enough to handle the Hounds.
>Send your drones out first to clear a path, then storm the area.
>Send Elyon out first to clear a path, then storm the area.
>Throw a grenade.
>Tell someone else to throw a grenade.

>>40890490
>>Send Elyon out first to clear a path, then storm the area.
Fuck it man, I'd rather risk him then anyone else.

>>40890490
>Send Elyon out first to clear a path, then storm the area.

>>40890490
>Send your drones out first to clear a path, then storm the area.
So these Hounds came from outside? They better not have torched our buggies.

>>40890490
>>Send Elyon out first to clear a path, then storm the area.

>>40890429
>info sec
I look forward to seeing this reflected in the quest/CYOA as a comms/info guy myself

>>40890490
>Send Elyon out first to clear a path, then storm the area.

>>40890840
I won't make it too heavy, but the jargon will mostly be with Pete/Slash.

>>40890490
“I say we send Elyon out first. He took on quite a few guys himself.” Tac and the other Blackhawk give you a blank stare. “He's a space ghost.”

“I a̧m̷ ͡an Ifraix,” Elyon corrects.

“Wait, what? Seriously, what are you?” Tac asks, but Dani steps forward.

“Just let him do it,” she says with a glance to Elyon. “Trust me.”

“I can vouch for that,” Devon edges in.

Tac looks between Elyon, Dani, Devon and you, and shrugs. “If Dani and Devon say it's good, then why not.”

“Very well. I would sug͞g̨e̶st you to stay back a bit when I g̛o ͟i͢n͢, for your own safety,” Elyon explains, earning a snort from Dani.

“Show off,” she mutters.

“Says the human wearing t̡igh̀t̶ pants,” he retorts, drawing the circular object from his waist. It seems as though the hail of bullets from outside has died down a little, but you're pretty sure they're still out there.

“Excuse me?” Dani snaps, but Elyon simply walks past her and towards the tunnel entrance.

“Are... are we going?” The Blackhawk by Tac says. Everyone exchanges confused glances as Elyon picks up his pace to a sprint.

“We're going,” Dani says, taking off. Devon and Tac follow suit, as do the rest of the Blackhawks. You look back to your immediate crew.

>Tell them to hang back, especially since Ley'ra is injured.
>Order them to charge with you, you need all the numbers you can get.

>>40891093
>>Order them to charge with you, you need all the numbers you can get.
I don't think Ley'ra would appreciate slowing the group down. She know her limits.

>>40891093
>Order them to charge with you, you need all the numbers you can get.

>>40891093
>Tell them to hang back, especially since Ley'ra is injured.
Elyon sure is snarky for an ancient space ghost.

>>40891093
>Order them to charge with you, you need all the numbers you can get.

Once more! Into the fray!

>>40891093
>Tell them to hang back, especially since Ley'ra is injured.

>>40891093
>charge
Make it a section attack, charging will get people killed

>Tell them to hang back, especially since Ley'ra is injured.

>>40891093
> Order them to charge with you, you need all the numbers you can get

Tally Ho!

>>40891093
>Tell them to hang back, especially since Ley'ra is injured.

>>40891197
Okay Liam Neeson

>>40891093
>Tell them to hang back, especially since Ley'ra is injured.

>>40891093
>Order them to charge with you, you need all the numbers you can get.
What if we have the injured inside a circle formation during the charge?

>>40891093
>>Order them to charge with you, you need all the numbers you can get.

but ask Ley'ra how she is

>>40891391
>you don't use a circle formation for charging, it's gotta be an extended line. Usually injured are left out, or they have to suck it up.

>>40891481
Not if you charge with a wedge, then the injured can be inside a "circle" with no rear

>>40891481
Did not mean to greentext there

>>40891093
“You guys good?” you ask your crew, your eyes on Ley'ra in particular. They each return a nod, and Ley'ra's eyebrows are furrowed in determination. “Let's go.”

You take off into a sprint with your crew at your back, following close behind the Blackhawks. You also order your drones to follow. Up at the front, you see Elyon emerge from the cave entrance with his... circle thing raised. The Blackhawks begin to slow down, reluctant to leave the cave entrance before Elyon is met with a rain of bullets. However, the bullets meet some sort of invisible shield surrounding Elyon, the aura blinking blue each time it is struck.

The humming that accompanied Elyon's presence begins to raise in volume, as if he's beginning to breathe faster. As soon as the Blackhawks emerge from the cave, they use the cover provided by Elyon to shelter behind the metal barriers and sandbags at the front of the cave entrance. When you finally exit the cave entrance, you bolt over to the left behind the metal barrier with your crew. That's when Elyon suddenly charges straight forward, bringing his shield with him.

“Down the flanks, let's go! Tac's group to the right, we're on the left!” Dani orders, and everyone nods correspondingly. She peaks around the left side of the barrier, and then gives the signal that it's good to go. She begins to march around the barrier with Devon close behind, and you behind him.

As soon as you leave the barrier, you see several groups of bandits down at the foot of the hill, firing upwards almost seemingly without a direction. Elyon is already there, and his shield still holds fast against the focus fire. He moves like lightning, his feet almost skating across the ground. When he gets to his first target, he swings his weapon like a sword, and a blue energy sabre projects from it. The bandit gets sliced through the midsection, and he immediately collapses to the floor.

>>40891560
Wedge is almost never used for section/squad attacks. It's always an extended line unless shit is really hitting the fan. You want the max firepower facing towards the enemy. Wedge is used for combat patrols over open terrain. Casualties are just never taken

>>40891647
You hear Tac's group begin to open fire, encountering some bandits on their end. Meanwhile, Dani jogs down to a large boulder and signals for your group to take cover behind it. When everyone is accounted for, she peaks around the corner again before signaling it's time to go. Once again, you follow her and Devon around the boulder and jog forward.

However, as soon as the boulder comes to pass, you see three bandits out in the open with their rifles trained on Tac's group at the other side of the hill. They're fairly distant from your group, but you think you might be able to crack a shot at them.

>Fire your rifle at them. (-10 to success; distance)
>Throw a grenade. (-10 to success, distance)
>Order your drones to strafe them. (-10 to success, distance)

>>40891731
>>Order your drones to strafe them. (-10 to success, distance)
Even if they don't kill they can still distract

>>40891731
>Order your drones to strafe them. (-10 to success, distance)

>>40891731
>Order your drones to strafe them.

We have a formation to keep

>>40891731
>Order your drones to strafe them. (-10 to success, distance)

>>40891731
>Order your drones to strafe them. (-10 to success, distance)

>>40891731
Rifle and drones, suppression is the name of the game. Once we win the firefight and suppress them then we can close with and destroy them with grenades and point-blank automatic fire

>>40891747
>>40891753
>>40891771
>>40891774
>>40891783
Roll a 1d100.

Rolled 100 (1d100)

>>40891826

>>40891843
well now. good job

>>40891843
>>40891826

Do we keep rolling?

Rolled 89 (1d100)

>>40891843
Well shit.

>>40891887
I don't think there's a point.

File: 1409446935705.gif (1.99 MB, 250x158)

1.99 MB GIF

>>40891843

>>40891843
> critical on the use of drones
ALLAHU ACKBAR!

File: kane.gif (787 KB, 480x360)

787 KB GIF

>>40891843

>>40891843
Pete! You glorious electronic wizard!

>>40892096
Am I missing a reference here?

>>40892183
Pete aka "Slash Singer" is the one in charge of the drones for this mission. Now I know they're mostly automated, but I'd like to think he's gonna do some technological wizardry to pull off this strafing run.

funny how the subject of criticals came up this thread and behold the Dice Gods have deemed it fit to flex their muscles.

File: Danger Drone.png (676 KB, 800x731)

676 KB PNG

>>40892254
That or our drones encounter with Space Ghost had some unforseen side-effects.

>>40891731
PERFECT PASS

Very loud bursts of rapid machine gun fire catch you off guard, and Dani immediately ducks behind the nearest rock.

“Damn, they're using our machine guns!” Dani yells, pointing towards the buggies at the foot of the hill. There, you see the bandits having mounted the buggy turrets, firing upon Tac's group and Elyon. Elyon's shield starts to glow very bright, seeming like it's going to break under the heavy calibre fire. Elyon immediately dashes towards the closest boulder and takes cover behind it, skewering another bandit and slashing another there.

When the machine gun fire gets directed to you, you jump into the cover of Dani's boulder along with your crew. However, you still see the three men in the open firing on Tac's group. With the menu already up on your smart-ring, you order your drones to attack them.

From the entrance of the cave, you see your drones fly up into the air before descending on the unsuspecting bandits. Once they get halfway down the hill, both of them open fire with their machine guns blaring. Almost immediately, two of the three men drop dead, bloodied and flesh ripped apart from the high calibre fire. The third dives under cover of a nearby rock.

However, upon dipping down to the bottom of the hill, one of the drones begins to malfunction. While the other drone lifts up and begins to circle around for another strafe, the malfunctioning drone begins to fly erratically before losing air.

“Ah, boss? Gavin?” Pete's voice says through the comms. You share a glance with Ley'ra before speaking.

“Pete? What's going on?” you ask, your eyes on the drone now flying upside-down.

“Don't know what's wrong with the drone, but something's definitely messed with its tracking computer.”

“Well, can you fix it?”

“Not till I get a look at the hardware.” You hear him shuffling some objects around on his desk. “But I can do a manual override.”

“Well, al--”

“Oi... what? It's moving...”

>>40892863
Looking up, you see the drone begin to stabilize before floating in place, ominously. You can't help but notice some sort of blue glow emanating from it.

That's when machine gun fire hits the drone directly... before getting deflected by a similar shield to Elyon's.

“Mmh... I sen͘s͠e...” Elyon's voice suddenly pipes up, still sounding as though he was in your mind. “...Iosa?”

“...Ely̸on?” a new voice speaks in your head, holding a similar thousand-voice aura to it. This one's female.

“Iosa? I have not seen yo̷ư in eons.”

“Elyon... whe͏re̡ am I? Have I been... sum̨m͏óned?”

“You must have҉ been bridged.”

You look over to your companions, and they all look to you with questioning glances. You can't help but shrug.

“Gavin? What the hell is going on?” Pete asks through the comms.

“Don't ask me, I have no idea,” you respond.

“Iosa, since you're here c̶̥̠͉̼̖͔̳l̠̪dl͍͙l̛͖ͅt̴̖k̛͕͈̥̰̜c̣͈̫rc̴͓̖̺̱̲͇̥m͎̹f͔̺͚t̕t͇̦̳̮h̝̬͓͇̭̳b̬̭̫̪̞̳ạ͓̭͉͇̟v̰̦̝͘d͏̖̞̜̹̺͚n̴̩͇t̬͍͔͈̮̤͜s̟z̪͕̣̜͍͘?” Elyon 'asks', or at least you think.

“Srr͓͙͍,̧͉̗̣͙w̺̥̩̹̗͔h̝̖̖͎͙͚̗m̡̠̲̦̳n̰͞p͜ṭ̗͍̀.“

As Elyon speaks to your... drone, their voices become more and more complex until you think he's speaking in... feelings? Age? Honestly, you don't really care anymore. You kind of stopped caring awhile ago.

>>40892883
As Elyon speaks to your... drone, their voices become more and more complex until you think he's speaking in... feelings? Age? Honestly, you don't really care anymore. You kind of stopped caring awhile ago.

That's when the drone flies down and suddenly begins to strafe the bandits, at the buggies, almost not missing a shot.

“A̧̯̕͢h҉̹͙͕̣̙͎z̸͍̜̠̳̳͉̗̮h̡͍̹b҉̴̯̰̹̻̠̜͝h͍̹͎̣͚͜z̸̡̧͔!”

“Okay, this is fucked up,” Dani comments from the side, looking over the rock. Elyon seems to have joined in and is now helping clear out the last of the bandits with your presumably space-ghost-possessed drone with startling efficiency. A strange, single blue tendril of light connects between the two of them as they dance between the vehicles, the Hounds having given up fighting and are attempting to retreat.

You'd tell Elyon to stop, but you're a little scared right now, to be honest.

-

And with that, I'm gonna have to bring this thread to a close. Sorry for the abrupt ending, but I'm quite sure that next weekend's session will be relatively... interesting.

Honestly I was not expecting this. I'm as shocked as you guys.

>>40892918
Oh god what the hell is going on.

>>40892863
Wait, did not we not leave some people behind to babysit the buggies. That's a major rookie mistake.

>>40892937
This happened >>40891843

I blame you guys.

>>40892953
Nope, we did not. I did leave an option to have the drones guard the buggies, but I think drone-possession-by-space-ghost is more fun.

>>40892918
>>40892883

HAH called it >>40892699

Sad to see it close. Can't wait till the next one though, thanks mate!

>>40892994
Can we open next session with, "See, told you, space ghosts. Totally possessing my drone which, when you're done, I'd like it back. Was a gift."

>>40892994
>I think drone-possession-by-space-ghost is more fun.
Oh God, how long until Space Ghosts possessing the ship?

Thanks for the quest session, SDA. See ya next time!

THANKS SDA! IN SDA WE TRUST!

>>40893055
Fuck it man let them have it. Lets just get the hell out of here. Give the Blackhawk crew a ride too, holy shit.

>>40893130
But it's a space ghost gril. What if we can waifu it?

>>40893399
Well when you put it like that...

I mean no! Run the fuck away.

>>40884159
I just realized that I fucked up the archive and named this thread #2 instead of 8. There's no way of fixing that?

>>40893399
Not really my type, I dont even know if its safe to hold her hand so...

>>40893540
That's lewd, Anon.

File: nigga no.jpg (57 KB, 600x600)

57 KB JPG

>>40893399
>pic related

>>40893528
You can email the guy apparently.

>>40893581
Says the man who wrote he smut, with butt stuff and toys.

Battlemage quest when?

>>40892994
But leaving drivers with the vehicles is standard military procedure everywhere.

>>40894163
We have the excuse of never having done this before, don't know what our Blackhawk buddies have to say for themselves.

>>40894271
Well, they do seem like rear-line troops poster in a backwater area. So they're probably relatively inexperienced and also POGs