Staccato bursts of gunfire and scattered explosions echo into the conference room from the battlefield as you hover over Abigail's writhing form, lips set in a thin line as she struggles to suck in rasping breaths, frothy bubbles building up over the gunshot wound in her chest with every ragged breath. "How long has she been like this?" You ask urgently, eyeing the redhead's deviating trachea while you push one hand underneath her to sweep her back, your fingers quickly finding a shoddily applied bandage over her shirt.

"I'd say about fifteen or twenty minutes, son. She patched Abi up pretty fast after she took the damned bullet, but then started having trouble breathing...it's only gotten worse since then." Tom answers, nodding towards Angel with concern clear in his voice, "I've seen men with that wound before, Jack, she-"

You shoot the veteran a pointed look, "Maybe so, Tom, but I wasn't there for them. I'm here now, and I can handle this." You reply quickly, drawing a mixed look of concern and hope from the three other healthy people in the room, before turning your attention back to the redhead, "Abi, can you hear me?"

The French girl swallows thickly before trying to nod, though she only manages a slight dip of her head, "Y-yes, I-" She starts painfully, pausing to gasp desperately before continuing weakly, "Jack, I-I'm scared..."

Your stomach twists painfully at her admission, though you do your best to keep that fact to yourself as you reach out to rest a hand on her shoulder reassuringly, "It's going to be okay, Abi. I'm here now, and I'm not going to let anything happen to you. We're going to make it through this together, you got me?" The redhead starts to open her mouth to reply, but before she can you squeeze her shoulder, "You don't need to say anything, just nod if you want."

Abi nods weakly, frightened tears welling up in the corners of her eyes before escaping and running down the sides of her deathly pale face as she tries to blink them away. It's clear that your friend's symptoms are indicating tension pneumothorax, and, as you spare the redhead one last look before digging into your medkit, it takes everything you have to maintain the clinical attitude you know you're going to need in order to do your job properly.

It also seems that, while Angelicia did her best with what she had on hand, the bandage that she applied to the exit wound on Abi's back is going to need to be replaced, while whatever binding she'd previously had across her chest is long discarded. It's possible that you could replace it over her clothes, like the mechanic had, which may help to keep her warm given the obvious shock she's in, though it would also make your work less effective.

>Continued

>>1018893
What should you do first?

>Treat her collapsed lung first, without an open airway she's as good as dead. Leave her top on while you treat her to help with the shock she's experiencing.
>Treat her collapsed lung first, without an open airway she's as good as dead. Remove her top first, now is not the time to worry about modesty, and shock is a secondary concern right now.
>Replace the bandage on her back immediately, if she bleeds out you can't fix her lung. Put the bandage over her top, maybe it'll help more than you expect.
>Replace the bandage on her back immediately, if she bleeds out you can't fix her lung. Get rid of her top, it's hindering your work, and it's soaked through anyways.
>Write-in.

Regardless of your choice, roll 3d10.

Rolled 2, 6, 1 = 9 (3d10)

>>1018899
>Treat her collapsed lung first, without an open airway she's as good as dead. Remove her top first, now is not the time to worry about modesty, and shock is a secondary concern right now.

Rolled 5, 2, 9 = 16 (3d10)

>>1018899
>Treat her collapsed lung first, without an open airway she's as good as dead. Remove her top first, now is not the time to worry about modesty, and shock is a secondary concern right now.

Rolled 1, 8, 10 = 19 (3d10)

>>1018899
>>1018899

Rolled 6, 3, 1 = 10 (3d10)

>>1018899
>>Treat her collapsed lung first, without an open airway she's as good as dead. Remove her top first, now is not the time to worry about modesty, and shock is a secondary concern right now.

>>1018929
>>1018930
>>1018963
>>1018968

>Writing to patch up her lung and get rid of that shirt.

>16[9], 23[16], 26[19]. Success.

It only takes you a few seconds of digging through your kit to find the supplies you're looking for, and you quickly pull them out and arrange them on the table before turning your attention back to your friend. "Abi, I'm going to have to get rid of your shirt in order to help you, alright?" You explain quickly, as you start cutting off the redhead's top with the scissors from your kit before calling out to the rest of your friends, "Angel, come help me with this. Reece, Tom, go keep a look out and check on Nueve for me, please."

While you don't bother looking up from your work at the sounds of the rest of your team moving, you're hardly surprised to hear Julius' objection, "Doc, I-"

Just as the swordsman starts speaking you finish cutting away at the cloth and reach up to pull it apart, giving the punk mechanic a grateful nod as she helps to tear it away from the your friend, exposing the gunshot wound in Abi's chest. "Julius, I know you want to help, but I don't need any more hands here. What I -do- need is somebody to check on Nueve to see if he's still stable, and somebody to help Freida keep an eye out so we don't all die."

As you open up the package of gloves and tug them on, you finally look up at Reece, frowning as he stares at Abigail before slowly nodding. "Alright, Doc...you're the boss. Just...you know where I am if you need help."

You nod quickly at him as he starts towards the door, "You're right, I do. And you are helping, Julius. More than you would be in here." You reply, before grabbing your needle off the table and tugging the cap from it. "Angel, open up those wipes and disinfect from here to here. Make sure to get her wound too." You instruct, pointing out what you want her to do while you finish prepping.

>Continued.

>>1019016
"Got it, Doc." The punk mechanic replies, quickly following your instructions before looking up at you again, concern written clearly across her face as she eyes the medical supplies, along with Abi who swallows thickly at the sight of the large-gauge needle. "What now?"

You let out a low sigh, leaning over Abi and pressing forcefully against her chest until you count her second and third rib, doing your best to ignore her uncomfortable squirming, "Alright, Abi, I'm not going to lie to you. This is going to hurt, but it'll help you to breath easier. You ready?" You wait for her to nod before bringing the needle to bear, "Alright, here we go. One, two, -"

You plunge the decompression needle into her without giving her the chance to tense on the third count, tearing a weak and rasping cry from her, "Ass'ole..." She manages to wheeze, drawing a soft chuckle from both you and Angel.

"Careful, Abi, or I'll bring Tom back in and have Angel go out to stand guard." You quip back, doing your best to keep your friend's spirits high as you slowly pull the needle back out, an audible stream of air escaping through the catheter you leave behind with it. "Alright, we're going to leave this in, Abi. You should be able to breath much easier now. Angel, hand me the tape."

The mechanic nods, quickly grabbing it off the table and handing it over, before grabbing one of the bandages you set off to the side as you do your best to make sure that the tube you left behind in your friend's chest is well secured. "Okay, Doc, you ready for this?"

You glance up from your work with a short nod, "Yeah, give me just a sec, Angel." You mutter, cutting off the end of the tape and setting it back down before grabbing the bandage from your friend and opening it up.

"How's that working out for you, Abi? Breathing easier yet?" You ask, nodding to the catheter as you press the bandage over the larger hole in her chest, smoothing it out quickly, drawing another grunt of pain from her.

>Continued.

>>1019089
"Euh, eet's better. Eet steel 'urts like 'ell zough." The redhead answers weakly, offering you a shaky smile as her breaths slowly become deeper and less ragged. "Zank you, Jack...I 'sought zat..."

You shake your head, reaching up to pat her on the shoulder gently and offering her an understanding smile of your own, "It's okay, Abi. I told you, I'm not going to let anything happen to you, or any of our friends. We're all alone out here, we've got to stick together." You reply, squeezing her shoulder before letting go and nodding to her, "Alright, I need you to turn over on your side. No, other one, where I stabbed you. Careful not to mess up my work though, I might make you do it yourself if you do."

Angel grins at your antics while the French girl just rolls her eyes weakly as she follows your instructions, "Ass'ole..." She mutters, drawing a full laugh from both you and the punk mechanic.

"Looks like someone other than me is wise to your games, Doc." Angel grins, leading you to let out an overly dramatic sigh and shake your head as you peel open another bandage and start pressing it over your friend's exit wound.

"Roguish charm, Angel, we've been over this again and again. I'm starting to think you're deliberately ignoring me." You finish up applying the bandage and gently reach up to tap your patient's shoulder, "Just remember, one of us patched you up while the other stood around insulting my integrity."

The redhead lets out a weak cough, wincing immediately afterwards, "I remember, Jack. I remember zat you stabbed me in ze chest too. I don't zink Angel 'as ever done zat."

Your shoulders slump in mock defeat while the mechanic grins triumphantly and Abi does her best to look smug with a catheter sticking out of her chest. "To save your life!" You object quickly, before shaking your head, "Well fine, I guess if you're going to be that way then I won't give you these pain killers and the thermal blanke-"

"I take eet back! You are ze best, Jack, I don't even care zat you cut up my new top! Can I 'ave ze medicine now?"

You let out a soft hum, pretending to give it heavy thought even as you tug the thermal blanket from your kit and set it on the table next to the redhead before gently tugging the side of her cloak to cover her exposed chest as much as you can. "Well, I suppose since you asked so nicely." You reply, grinning underneath your helmet as you dig into your bag for a bottle of pills.

"Aww, you made her blush, Doc." Angel grins, her eyes dancing in amusement as Abi shoots her a betrayed glare and tugs the hive-patterned cloak as close against her as she can without hurting herself more, a light dusting a pink standing out brilliantly against her still pale face.

>Continued.

the character limit per post is 3000 here, you don't have to break down the update into the same number of post as when you ran on /tg/.

Highly debatable if this is a good thing or a bad thing.

>>1019193
"Hmm, I can't imagine what that could be about." You reply simply, doing your best to keep the smile on your lips out of your tone, "Alright, Abi, take these with some water. I'm going to go and check on Nueve and the others to see how they're doing. Angel, can you lay that blanket out for her and try to make sure she doesn't go any further into shock?"

Angel nods quickly while Abi tries to follow suit as best as she can, "No problem, Doc. It might be a good idea to see if Nueve has some kind of sitrep too. I'm not hearing nearly as many explosions out there anymore."

"Right...I noticed that too." You sigh tiredly, "Still sounds like plenty of fighting though." You finish, before grabbing your bag off the table and making your way out into the hallway, back towards where you left Freida and the lieutenant. As you leave, you can swear you hear Abi mutter something to the mechanic about being a traitor, forcing you to bite back one last chuckle, even as the reality of the situation sinks back in.

It takes you a little longer than expected to navigate your way back to the lobby with no guide other than the echoing sounds of gunshots and explosions, but once you make it you're somewhat relieved to see that your friends are, more or less, still alright. The soft clicks of your shoes on the concrete floors draw the concerned eyes of each person, as well as the very brief aim of both Freida and Tom, only for them to nod to you before returning their attention to making sure none of the synths approach what's left of the building.

A frown tugs at your lips as you watch them for a few moments before glancing towards Nueve, only to notice him staring at you blankly, his forehead lit up in a pale cyan while Reece clumsily digs through his own meager med kit, clearly distracted from whatever he's actually looking for. You can't help but shake your head at the situation, wondering whether or not you should check in with your friends on overwatch, or if your talents would be put to better use making sure that Julius and the K'tulu Lieutenant are still alright.

What do you want to do?

>Check in with Freida and Tom. You've patched Nueve up just about as well as you can, given the current circumstances.
>Talk to Julius and Nueve. It wouldn't hurt to make sure Nueve is still alright, and you're sure Reece would appreciate knowing that Abi is doing okay.
>Write-in.

>>1019275
>Talk to Julius and Nueve. It wouldn't hurt to make sure Nueve is still alright, and you're sure Reece would appreciate knowing that Abi is doing okay.

>>1019195
I'll keep that in mind. I'll try not to take too long on the updates. Sorry about that.

>>1019275
>>Talk to Julius and Nueve. It wouldn't hurt to make sure Nueve is still alright, and you're sure Reece would appreciate knowing that Abi is doing okay.
Signs to Freida and Tom that we'll get to them shortly, make sure to ask if they're okay.

>>1019275
>>Talk to Julius and Nueve. It wouldn't hurt to make sure Nueve is still alright, and you're sure Reece would appreciate knowing that Abi is doing okay.

>>1019281
>I'll try not to take too long on the updates.
I wouldn't worry about that, thread can stay up far longer than on /tg/ before hitting autosage. It's not a race, if it takes an hour then so be it.

>>1019275
>Talk to Julius and Nueve. It wouldn't hurt to make sure Nueve is still alright, and you're sure Reece would appreciate knowing that Abi is doing okay.

>>1019280
>>1019289
>>1019301
>>1019344
>Writing to talk to Reece and the one-legged Lieutenant.

>>1019352
Do they have robotic limbs in this universe? I kinda have missed a chunk of this quest so I have to play catch up in the archive. To be honest I haven't seen this quest in so long I kinda thought it had died.

You glance back towards Tom and Frieda, briefly eyeing the sloppy tourniquet on the older man's arm with concern before making your way towards the expedition leader, waving purposefully at the two of them as you pass by. "I'm going to check in on the Lieutenant." You start, nodding towards the pale alien, "I won't be long, but if either of you need anything, let me know."

Freida glances at you shortly in acknowledgement before returning her attention to the battlefield, while Tom's gaze follows you for a bit longer lingering concern clear on his face, though you manage to push it to the back of your mind for now as you approach Julius, "How are you holding up, Lieutenant?"

Nueve's bioluminescent markings dim a little as his eyes seem to focus in on you, rather than just following you across the room, while Reece jumps a little at your question, apparently unaware of your presence until now. "About as well as could be expected, Mister Yarrick. It hurts...and I am not sure what is happening anymore, but..." The K'tulu trails off as his eyes drift to what's left of his leg, pausing for a moment before continuing quietly, "How is your friend doing?"

You feel a small amount of regret as you watch him stare at his leg, unsurprised at his response, before letting out a soft sigh, "It was a close call, she's got a collapsed lung, but as long as she's kept out of the fighting she'll make a full recovery." You reply, offering Julius a short nod as he lets out a sigh of relief and finally allows a small smile to cross his face.

"Damn good thing we've got you around, Doc."

A tired chuckle escapes you, despite the situation, as you kneel down next to the two of them, "Like I told Abi, we've got to take care of each other, right?" The swordsman nods in agreement, while Nueve watches on silently, "Alright, so I'm going to go and talk to our friends in a minute. Before I go, though, do you want anything for the pain, Lieutenant?"

Nueve's forehead briefly brightens, only for him to grimace, "I would love painkillers, Doctor, but I don't think it would be a good idea. I'm not sure how much use I would be to you if you needed me in that state."

You nod in understanding, the Lieutenant does make a decent point, though you're not sure how much use he's going to be in his state anyways. You could just let him deal with the pain, or leave him with a dose of painkillers that are compatible with his physiology for him to decide, but on the other hand, there's not much point in forcing him to sit in pain if it's not necessary.

What do you want to do?

>Go ahead and give him a dose. He's safe here, and it's not as if you need him to be able to aim a weapon right now.
>Let him decide. Leave him with a half-dosage of pain-killers, if he wants them then he can have them, but you're not going to force it on him.
>Leave him for now. If you need him later, it might be best to just have him deal with the pain for a while.
>Write-in.

>>1019532
They do. They're fairly accessible for many species, if somewhat expensive. For Humans, it's a more complicated story. Cybernetics designed for human use are rare and expensive, given their likely origin. Humans -can- use the cybernetics designed for other species that are compatible enough, though.

Also, I'm going to go and smoke, now that that's out.

>>1019618
>>Let him decide. Leave him with a half-dosage of pain-killers, if he wants them then he can have them, but you're not going to force it on him.

>>1019618
>Leave him for now. If you need him later, it might be best to just have him deal with the pain for a while.

Alrighty, back from my nicotine break. Looks like we're gonna head into final destination territory. As a reminder, only post >1 or >2 based on your vote.

To let Nueve decide, vote >1

To just let him deal with the pain for now, vote >2

>>1019719
>2

>>1019754
>Writing to have him tough it out, for now at least.

>>1019618
>Let him decide. Leave him with a half-dosage of pain-killers, if he wants them then he can have them, but you're not going to force it on him.

You let out a soft hum, nodding your head, "Alright, Lieutenant, if you think you can deal with it, then I'll take your word for it." You say, snapping your medkit closed and returning it to the magnetic latch on your waist. "Hate to say it, but it's probably for the best anways, I don't have too many more doses of the stuff that wouldn't send you into anaphylactic shock."

The K'tulu grimaces at your admission, shifting against the wall in an attempt to sit up straighter, "I would rather avoid that, if at all possible, Mister Yarick."

"You and me both." You mutter, pushing yourself back to your feet and reaching down to tap Julius' shoulder, "I'll probably have you switch out with Tom soon, if you're feeling up to it, I want to take a look at his arm first, though."

"Sounds good to me, Doc. Got any idea how we're going to get out of here?"

You pause for a moment at the question, before slowly shrugging, "I'm not sure, yet. I'm sure we'll come up with something, though."

Reece offers you a weak grin as he nods in agreement, "Fair enough, we've managed to get out of worse situations before, yeah?"

Your hand squeezes the swordsman's shoulder gently before letting it go and turning to make your way towards Freida and Tom, "Right...let me know if things get worse over here, alright?"

"Sure thing, Jack." He replies, before turning his attention back towards the alien as you leave.

You start to raise her hand in a wave as you near your friends on overwatch, only to duck down in a small amount of alarm as several rounds fly over your head to bury themselves into the opposite wall. Your hand darts to your pistol, but before you can even properly make it to cover both Tom and Freida's rifles roar to life, spitting out several bursts each until a small series of explosions echo in the distance.

By the time you've pressed yourself up against the wall next to Freida, the two of them have finished off whatever it was that was trying to break through their line, and Tom is offering you a confident smile, while Freida simply quirks an eyebrow at you, "Are you alright, Doctor?"

"Pretty sure, I'll let you know if I end up with any new holes, though." You reply, a grin tugging at your lips beneath your helmet, despite your heart trying to beat its way out of your chest, "How are you two holding up? Anything major going on? And how's that arm, Tom?"

>Continued.

>>1020012
"Ah, it's fine, son. If anything I need to let up on it a little bit. Don't much care for the idea of losing it over a little bit of blood." The older man answers dismissively, leading you to roll your eyes at the bravado. "I'm more worried about what's going on with the kid."

Freida's gaze returns to the battlefield, though she nods in agreement, "I'd like to know how Abigail is doing as well, Doctor. You don't seem too concerned, so I assume she's okay?"

"Well...I wouldn't exactly call dealing with tension pneumothorax 'okay', but yeah, she'll be fine as long as we keep her safe until we can evac her. I'd feel better if we could get some fresh blood in her, though." You admit, peering around the wall cautiously. "Speaking of that, do either of you have any ideas on that?"

Tom's mouth twists into a frown at your question, "Not yet, damned robots seem to be blocking our signal or something. Every once in a while we'll hear something in the static, but we haven't been able to make it out."

Your heart sinks a little at the news, glancing at Freida to see her nod in confirmation, "It is not as bad as it was earlier, now that biggest machines are destroyed, but there's still that one that blew up the first trucks in the convoy." The Israeli explains, carefully pointing out the wrecked forms of the synths and the one remaining giant among what's left of the swarms of smaller synthetics. You notice several areas around the battlefield where the distinctly arachnid shaped robots seem to be drawn too, accompanied by small explosions and muzzle flashes.

"So no word from anybody else that's left then..." You mutter to yourself, drawing nods of confirmation from the two of them, "And unless I can get to my chest in the trucks, then I'm going to run out of supplies soon enough."

At the mention of your chest, Freida's gaze finally breaks from the battlefield to cast a skeptical look at you, "You can't be serious, Doctor...do you really plan on trying to get through that mess for medical supplies that might not even exist anymore?"

You blink in surprise at her disbelief, before shrugging, "Maybe...I'm mostly trying to figure out our options, here." You reply, "Unless you've got any better ideas, at least this will make sure we've got enough supplies to last until we can figure something else out."

"Son, I understand your thinking, but you might want to reconsider. We can't move the K'tulu or the girl, and I'm not sure I like the idea of you heading back out there alone." Tom reasons, concern clear in his expression, "Besides, wouldn't it be better to try and meet up with one of the other groups?"

Freida nods in agreement, "He's right, Doctor, if you're going to leave again then I think it should be to make contact with somebody else. If we can do that, then we might be able to figure out how to actually get out of here."

>Continued.

>>1020239
A tired sigh escapes you as you listen to them, though you can't say that what they're saying isn't true. On the other hand, though, you -are- going to need more medical supplies if this goes on for much longer. Of course, Freida's not wrong about leaving the building being a huge risk...maybe you should hold off and try to figure out a better plan.

What should you do?
>See what you can do about meeting up with another group. There's power in numbers, after all.
>Try and get your supplies back. All the numbers in the world aren't going to do you any good if they're all bleeding out.
>Stay put for now. Heading out into an active battlefield may not have been your best idea.
>Write-in.

>>1020247
>See what you can do about meeting up with another group. There's power in numbers, after all.
If we can link up with another group, maybe we can make a push for the truck and the supplies chest. The other groups will probably need those supplies as well.

>>1020247
>See what you can do about meeting up with another group. There's power in numbers, after all.

>>1020247
>>See what you can do about meeting up with another group. There's power in numbers, after all.

>>1020247
>See what you can do about meeting up with another group. There's power in numbers, after all.

Hate to do this to you guys, but I'm going to go ahead and take a short break to get something to eat. Promise I'll get it taken care of as quickly as possible and then I'll start in on writing as soon as I get back. And I'll do my best to make it more interesting.

>>1020304
>>1020312
>>1020322
Back, and writing to make contact with another group.

>>1020343
Good to have you back, dude. I didn't catch your twitter update, but I've been following since the initial thread, so I'm glad you've returned!

You take a few minutes to consider your options, debating whether or not you should ignore your friends' advice before finally nodding in agreement, "Alright, you're right. Best bet's probably to go ahead and get over to one of those groups out there." You decide, before peering out from behind your cover again to survey the battlefield.

"Well, at least you aren't planning on a complete suicide mission." Freida mutters, joining you in looking out of cover and pointing towards one of the larger swarms of synthetics around a burnt out building, "If I had to guess, I'd say that the majority of our people are in there."

You quirk an eyebrow at her reasoning, and despite the fact that your face is covered she seems to pick up on your skepticism, "I don't see too many ways in there, though."

The Israeli shrugs, "There are fewer of them on the South side...you might be able to get in that way. If you'd rather stay here, though..."

You shake your head, "No...it makes sense. Doesn't mean I have to like it, though." You shoot back, a small amount of amusement finding its way into your voice, "What do you think my odds are?"

Despite the serious situation, a smirk tugs at your lips as Freida rolls her eyes at your tone, "Do you really want to know, Doctor?" She retorts, exasperation clear in her tone, though you notice her glance between your scarf and her own before shrugging and finally answering as you continue looking at her expectantly, "Better than most of our friends, I suppose."

Tom lets out a short laugh, drawing both of your stares, before shaking his head, "The two of you remind me of another couple of friends I had, back in London." He says, shooting the both of you a grin before pushing himself up off his knee with a quiet grunt, "Well, if you're determined to get out there, son, then I'm not gonna let you go alone. We'll have a better chance of making it if it's the two of us anyways."

Freida directs a pointed look of disapproval at the older veteran, "You are not going anywhere."

A look of surprise flashes across Tom's face and he starts to open his mouth to protest, only for you to interrupt, "She's right, Tom. You might be fine for holding down the fort, but I'm going to let you not go out there with that arm like it is. We've already almost lost Abi today...we don't need any more casualties."

The older man's mouth sets in a thin line as he stares at the two of you rebelliously, only to slowly seem to realize as he looks at you that you're not going to budge on the issue before slumping back against the wall with a huff, "Fine...but you should take somebody with you to watch your back. It's not like we need -everybody- here."

>Continued.

>>1020709
Freida's gaze narrows at him, seemingly trying to decide if she believes he won't try and join you anyways, before finally nodding in agreement. "He's right, Doctor...unless you're going to try and sneak your way over there, somebody should go with you. I'm sure that Julius and Tom could keep an eye on the Lieutenant if we leave. Somebody should let Angelicia know what we're doing first, though.

While he's not actually in the conversation, Reece looks up at the three of you, apparently having heard some of the conversation from across the room. From the look on his face, he's clearly concerned about your plan, though it doesn't look like he's going to stop you. Of course if you wanted you could have him go with you...you suppose you could have Angel join you instead, but seeing as how she's been taking care of Abi this entire time, she'd probably be more useful here.

What do you want to do?
>Head out with Freida. It probably would be a good idea to have somebody watching your back, and she earned that scarf for a reason.
>Ask Julius if he wants to join you. It would be better to have Freida stay here and hold down the fort, in case something happens.
>Pull Angelicia from the meeting room. It may be a risky move, but on the other hand, she's the one that all the other aliens know as being in charge.
>Head out on your own. It's not worth the risk to have one of your friends join you. If you go alone you'd be a smaller target, and there'll be more people here in case something happens.
>Write-in.

File: 11949374_427812720740185_(...).jpg (13 KB, 451x352)

13 KB JPG

Well, I suppose that I'll go and fix myself a drink. I'll be ready to write once we have a verdict.

>>1020763
>Ask Julius if he wants to join you. It would be better to have Freida stay here and hold down the fort, in case something happens.

>>1020973
>Writing to bring Reece along.

File: Julius 1.jpg (119 KB, 786x1017)

119 KB JPG

You nod in agreement with Freida, only to hold out a hand to stop her as she pushes herself away from her cover to go and talk to Angelicia, while simultaneously waving Julius over to you, "Hold on, Freida. I won't say that I shouldn't take somebody with me, but I also think it'd probably be better to have you stay here and hold things down while we're gone." You tell her, quickly continuing as she stares defiantly at you, "We need to make sure that Abi and Nueve are safe, and I think that you're the best bet and making sure that happens."

The Israeli's frown softens slightly at your explanation, even if she seems somewhat discontent at your decision, "I...can understand your point of view, Doctor. I would prefer to go with you, but if you are determined to go with Julius, then I'll stay here."

You briefly consider arguing the point with her, before thinking better of it and turning to Reece as he comes to a stop next to you, "Hey, man, what's up? Something about going outside?" He asks, glancing curiously between the three of you.

"Yeah...we need to get into contact with the rest of the expedition, and it's looking like we're gonna have to go on a walk to do that." You answer, nodding towards the building Freida pointed out earlier before looking back to him, "Interested in coming along?"

A grin spread across Julius' face at the offer, "Can't believe you've gotta ask, Jack. Of course I'll come." He replies, almost immediately, only for a more serious expression to return to his face as he gives his armor a once over, "You think the glowstick is going to be alright without you, though?"

A disapproving frown crosses your lips at the swordsman's question, though you decide against complaining about it for now, "He should be fine. Freida and Tom are going to keep an eye on him, just in case, but he's stable."

"Well, if that's good enough for you, then I'm good to go whenever you are."

You nod, glancing down at your own armor as well, just in case, before pressing up against a lower section of the wall again, "Alright, I know that our comms aren't working too well right now, but if something happens try and let us know somehow. If nothing else, use another of those smoke grenades."

"Will do, son. Keep your head down out there, both of you. Unless you want Freida and Angel coming out there to kick your asses." Tom replies, patting both you and Reece on the back before taking cover again.

A short laugh escapes your lips while Freida simply rolls her eyes again, "That's the plan, Tom. We'll see you two again in a little while." With that you take a deep breath and vault over the wall and sprint towards a collapsed pillar that leads out into what used to be a courtyard between between several of the buildings, followed closely by Julius.

>Continued.

>>1018885
What the hell? When did you come back from the dead? Glad to seeya

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>>1021298
The roar of gunfire and explosions across the old city center returns in full, leading you to realize that despite the lack of larger synths dominating the field, the battle is apparently still far from being over. It doesn't take long for you to reach the end of the downed pillar, and you share a brief look with Reece before running out from behind your cover towards the shattered remains of a large fountain with several overturned and rusted vehicles scattered around it. Only seconds after you reach your new cover several drones similar to the ones you and Nueve fought on your way to meet up with your friends scream through the air above you.

A sigh of relief escapes you as the drones continue on their path instead of swinging back around, while Julius lets out his own quiet laugh, only for you to step around the fountain's base and find yourself staring at a pair of spider-like synths being led across the courtyard by a larger robot with what looks like a cannon attached to it. Your breath catches as you immediately throw yourself back into cover, half expecting the cannon on the lead synthetic to obliterate the fountain.

Several seconds of silence pass before the realization that the robots apparently didn't see you sets in, leading you to peek around the corner again along with Reece. "Shit, that was lucky, man. Look at the gun on that thing..." The swordsman mutters, drawing a reluctant nod from you.

"No kidding...think there's any chance of sneaking around them?" You ask, casting your glance towards the increasingly light cover on your path with a concerned eye.

"Maybe..." He shrugs, "I'd hate to run into it again later though. I mean, we've got the drop on it now, it would be easy to take out the other two and deal with it, or at least do some serious damage to its armor with a grenade or something."

"Makes sense...I'd really rather not get blown up by a cannon though. I'm too pretty to die like that." You reply, drawing a snort from Reece as he shakes his head.

"Up to you, Jack. You're the one that's gotta patch me up if things go sideways."

You roll your eyes at the answer from the swordsman, before turning your attention back to the slowly approaching patrol. You're not sure how those things see, but if they haven't noticed you yet then there's at least a chance you might be able to sneak around them and avoid getting into that fight altogether. Of course, Reece does have a point about being able to ambush them if you attack now. Regardless, if you stay here too much longer, you're not going to have much a choice in how this fight starts.

>Choices in next post.

>>1021583
What should you do? Regardless of your choice, roll 3d10.

>Ambush the synths with one of your plasma grenades. If you're lucky it'll kill at least a couple of them, or at least damage the armor of the big one.
>Use your psionics to ambush the patrol leader. [Psi energy cost: 3]
>Use your psionics to blast away one of the smaller synths. [Psi energy cost: 2]
>Open fire on the lead robot with your rifle.
>Shoot one of the smaller synths with your rifle.
>Try to sneak around the patrol. You'd rather not start a fight you can't win. [Difficult]
>Write-in.

>>1021587
Could we throw some stone or something in the over direction to see if they react to the sound/movement?

>>1021644
No reason you can't. You'd still need to roll to see whether or not it worked out for you though.

>>1021401
Also, I just came back today. Been meaning to run again for a while, but I just haven't had the time again until recently. Sorry for the ridiculously long absence.

Rolled 3, 2, 5 = 10 (3d10)

>>1021676
Well, here's my roll for that.

Rolled 4, 10, 4 = 18 (3d10)

>>1021587
>>1021698
I'll help you out so we don't fail at throwing rocks.

>>1021698
>>1021721
We'll need one more roll, either way. At the pace we're going tonight, I'm probably either going to end up ending the thread soon or picking it back up sometime tomorrow once I get off work, assuming it's still up and there's any interest left. Regardless, thanks to everybody that's been playing so far tonight, and an extra thanks and apology to everybody that's come back. You guys are rock stars.

>>1018885
Man I missed this one, didn't know you were running it still.

>>1021793
I enjoy running it. Probably going to call it a night on this thread here soon and pick it back up tomorrow, or start 17.5 if it's fallen off the board. If we get our last roll soon then I'll probably write out that update, and maybe one or two more, but I've been going for about ten hours now, so I probably need to take a break so I'm not dead at work tomorrow.

Alright, I'm calling it for tonight. I may be around for any questions you guys might have, but I'm too tired to write anything else worthwhile tonight. In the meantime, since I just found out that we can't archive on sup/tg/ proper anymore, here's our new archive link.

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?searchall=Galaxy+Quest

If there aren't any questions beyond that tonight, then I'd say expect me to be back to posting again sometime around 16:30 GMT - 6 tomorrow, assuming there's enough interest for it.

>>1021813
>>1021862
Sorry for not rolling, I didn't see you needed players.

I'm running my own so it'd be kinda hard to catch up. If you come back tomorrow I'll try and be around.

>>1022039
It's no problem, I didn't expect to have a particularly strong showing after the gap in threads. Just hope that if I continue running then things will eventually pick back up. If not, then that would be unfortunate, but life goes on. If GQ ends up having to officially be put to rest then I'll probably start something new.

>>1022059
Fuck your running again hawk?

Rolled 4, 4, 6 = 14 (3d10)

>>1021587
>Ambush the synths with one of your plasma grenades. If you're lucky it'll kill at least a couple of them, or at least damage the armor of the big one.

Looks like I'll be back sooner than expected, things are going slow today, so I'll run again in one or two hours, assuming it stays like this.

>>1022646
Nice!

Home from work now, getting something to eat and all that jazz, and then I'll get to writing to chuck rocks.

>>1022988
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEdg4glpCkg
>It was a big rock...

Welcome back Hawk

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>10, 18, 14. Failure.

Your mind races as the patrol closes in on you, bringing the cannon on the lead synth into focus as it swivels around to survey its surroundings. Suddenly a thought occurs to you and, after shooting a quick look at the scattered cover around you, you snatch a piece of rubble that probably broke off of the fountain years ago and turn to Reece. "Alright, here's the plan, I'm going to try and distract them with this, and once they're looking for this we'll go for the burnt out bus over there." You explain, pointing out what you can only assume was an equivalent to the public transit system in Velik Leis' capital.

The swordsman looks at the stone in your hand with a skeptical look before following your hand to the bus before letting out a quiet sigh and nodding, "Your call, Jack, but if this goes bad then you owe me a drink."

You roll your eyes at his skepticism before turning your attention back to the patrol, taking a deep breath, and hurling the piece of rubble towards the collapsed statue behind the synths. As soon as the stone sails over the patrol the larger robot's cannon starts tracking it and Julius takes off for the downed bus, but before you can even start to follow him your eyes widen in surprise as the cannon swivels towards the fountain and hums to life up while the smaller synths split up to scurry towards the two of you, apparently having calculated the trajectory of the rubble. "Oh, shi-"

Before you're even able to fully formulate your sentence a turquoise beam erupts from the cannon and blasts the upper portion of your fountain apart, the distinct smell of burning plasma permeating the air around you as you throw yourself to the ground, just barely avoiding having your head disintegrated.

Several shots ring out from Reece's direction, and your head snaps to him to see that he's already opened fire on the other robot with his pistol in one hand and the plasma-coated blade in the other. The sound of metal legs skittering across concrete force you to return your attention to your own situation, though and by the time you've managed to scramble back to your feet one of the spider-mechs is closing in on you while the larger synthetic's cannon is charging up for another shot. It's clear, at this point, there's no avoiding this fight, the question is what you should do...your whip might be able to make quick work of the smaller robot, but you doubt it'd do much good for the patrol leader, and you're not particularly enthused about the notion of getting close enough to use it on the thing.

Of course you could blast the spider away with your psionics, and that might buy you some time to deal with the leader, but if the smaller robot survived it might cause you more problems than if you just took it out of the fight now.

>Options in next post.

>>1023262
What do you want to do?

>Close in on the spider-drone with your plasma whip. It should cut through it like butter, right?
>Blast the synth away with your psionics. The patrol leader is the biggest threat here.
>Blow the damned thing away with your shotgun. You're not taking any risks here...of course a shotgun won't do much for the bigger synth.
>Write-in.

>>1023268
Can't believe I forgot this, but regardless of your choice, roll 3d10.

Rolled 9, 2, 8 = 19 (3d10)

>>1023268
>Blow the damned thing away with your shotgun. You're not taking any risks here...of course a shotgun won't do much for the bigger synth.
For some reason auto update isn't working.

Rolled 7, 8, 7 = 22 (3d10)

>>1023268
>>Blow the damned thing away with your shotgun. You're not taking any risks here...of course a shotgun won't do much for the bigger synth.

>>1023268
>Blow the damned thing away with your shotgun. You're not taking any risks here...of course a shotgun won't do much for the bigger synth.

Rolled 5, 9, 2 = 16 (3d10)

>>1023367

>>1023309
>>1023325
>>1023367
Alright! Writing to make robot salsa.

>19, 22, 16. Great success!

Your hand practically tears the shotgun from your back as the synthetic scuttles onto the statue and leaps off it in an attempt to skewer you on its spindly front legs, before the gun can even finish unfolding you pull the trigger just in time for a slug to shred through the thin under-armor of the cybernetic arachnid's abdomen, sending it rocketing off course to collapse in a twitching heap a few feet away from you. Finally, you get your first good look at the machine as it sprays an oily mixture of black and greens across the ground, and while it's clearly not designed after an actual spider the similarities are enough to make your skin crawl. Before you can examine it further, though, the synthetic lashes out at you with a warbling screech, and you're bright back to reality as you scurry backwards from it and blast two more rounds into its crumpled form, ending its erratic twitching and wreaking havoc on whatever it was that made the thing keep working.

Despite the temptation to shoot the downed robot a couple more times, just to make double sure, you turn your attention back to the rest of the courtyard, and immediately duck back down behind the fountain as another beam of plasma lances through the air towards you, close enough that your shields briefly flicker. "Warning! Shield integrity at eighty-three percent."

"Yeah, thanks for the reminder..." You grumble, trying to ignore the flashing warning as your eyes search for your friend, only to see him inside the bus trying to close the distance with the remaining spider-drone. You can't help but wince as you see several deep-looking cuts across his arms and face, though it looks as if the synthetic is even worse off, as you notice two sparking stubs where its legs used to be. While it seems like the swordsman is holding his own fairly well, you wonder if maybe you should try and help him. Of course, it might be a better idea to concentrate on the larger robot.

Shields: 83%
Psi Energy: 10/10
Plasma Grenades: 3

What do you want to do? Regardless of your choice, roll 3d10.

>Try to crush the last drone with your psionics. [Costs 2 Psi Energy]
>Let Reece deal with the other spider, but try to meet up with him.
>Attack the patrol leader with your psionics. [Costs 3 Psi Energy.]
>Toss a grenade at the lead synth.
>Move to better cover and shoot at the larger robot with your rifle.
>Write-in.

Rolled 2, 7, 10 = 19 (3d10)

>>1023657
>Toss a grenade at the leaf synth

Rolled 1, 4, 2 = 7 (3d10)

>>1023657
>>Attack the patrol leader with your psionics. [Costs 3 Psi Energy.]

>>1023657
>Attack the patrol leader with your psionics. [Costs 3 Psi Energy.]

>>1023683
>canadian robots

Rolled 9, 10, 3 = 22 (3d10)

>>1023709
Woopsie daisy.

Rolled 3, 8, 10 = 21 (3d10)

>>1023657
>Attack the patrol leader with your psionics. [Costs 3 Psi Energy.]

>>1023683
>Blow it up!
>>1023706
>>1023709
>>1023715
>Shoot it with your mind bullets!

Fixing a new drink, and then writing.

>>1018885
Oh hey, I remember this quest. I have to catch up, I think I only caught the first two threads.

>19, 7, 22. Success.

While you're tempted to help your friend, you decide to trust that he'll be alright, and instead turn your attention back to the lead synth just in time to see its main cannon charging up to fire again. Instead of ducking back behind the quickly disappearing fountain, however, you decide to take a page from Angel's book and vault over the wrecked cover, violet light dancing across your arms as you sprint towards the robot, forcing yourself to ignore a panicked shout from Reece before throwing your entire weight into a slide just before the plasma cannon lets loose again, obliterating your shields with another near miss as you disappear beneath the patrol leader. 'WARNING: SHIELD INTEGRITY COMPROMISED! TAKE IMMEDIATE COVER!'

As soon as you find yourself looking up at the underside of the giant robot you slam your fists forward, teeth clenched tightly as you unleash a psionic blast from both of them, warping the undercarriage of the machine irreparably and twisting two of the legs in the opposite direction as it flips over onto its side, turret spinning wildly as it tries to adapt to its new angle and track your movements at the same time. Rather than give it that chance, however, your scramble to your feet and fling another blast of energy into it before ripping it away, tearing a jagged hole in the armor.

Underneath your helmet sweat pours down your face while various warnings flash across your HUD. While you've clearly done some serious damage to the synthetic, if you let up at all then you might lose most of your advantage. On the other hand, while you'd assumed that Julius was shouting at you, if he's actually in trouble then wasting any more time on this thing could be a fatal mistake...of course you could just try and escape, you doubt that this thing is going to be going anywhere ever again.

Shields: COMPROMISED!
Psi Energy: 7/10
Plasma Grenades: 3

What should you do? Regardless of your choice, roll 3d10.
>Finish the robot off with your psionics. There's no way you're leaving this thing in one piece.
>Throw a grenade into the hole and hope that blows the entire thing up. You'll need to get to a safe distance before it goes off, though.
>Leave it, for now. Check on Julius to make sure he's alright.
>Make sure Reece is alright and get out of here. Surely this thing's finished already, right?
>Write-in.

Rolled 2, 9, 1 = 12 (3d10)

>>1023895
>>Finish the robot off with your psionics. There's no way you're leaving this thing in one piece.

>>1023895
>Throw a grenade into the hole and hope that blows the entire thing up. You'll need to get to a safe distance before it goes off, though.
>Check on Julius to make sure he's alright.
Is throwing a grenade time sensitive at all in regards to checking on Julius, because that seems really quick, if half assed, and doesn't seem to impede getting to Julius quick. Or is it a strictly one or the other thing? Because in that case Julius first.

Rolled 8, 6, 9 = 23 (3d10)

>>1023928
oops

Rolled 5, 4, 5 = 14 (3d10)

>>1023895
>Finish the robot off with your psionics. There's no way you're leaving this thing in one piece.
I got this senpai.

>>1023928
No reason you can't mash them together. Falls under the category of write-ins.

>>1023928
You know what? I'll back this.

Rolled 9, 10, 10 = 29 (3d10)

>>1023895
>>Throw a grenade into the hole and hope that blows the entire thing up. You'll need to get to a safe distance before it goes off, though.

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>>1023973

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>>1023973
Wow

Looks like the consensus is to solve our problems with explosives and make sure Julius is still in one piece.

It's a simple roll, so that's good, but have you guys been making your sacrifices to the dice gods?

Rolled 8, 4, 1 = 13 (3d10)

>>1023994
By the amount of nat 1s in my quest: no.

Rolled 8, 8, 9 = 25 (3d10)

>>1023895
>Throw a grenade into the hole and hope that blows the entire thing up. You'll need to get to a safe distance before it goes off, though.
>Check on Julius after dropping the grenade.

>12, 23, 14. Success. Barely...

You take a couple of seconds to catch your breath and admire your work as the walking tank struggles in vain to regain its footing, before swiveling on your heel at the mixed sound of a small explosion and rending metal from the burnt out bus, followed by a familiar voice filtering through a slowly dissipating cloud of smoke. "Ahh, shit...you out there, Doc?"

A frown of concern passes over your face, and you almost forget about the overturned wreck in favor of checking on your friend before stopping and snatching one of the smooth orbs from your belt, "I'll be there in just as sec, Reece, how are you holding up?!" You shout back, depressing the trigger and tossing the grenade haphazardly into the synth before taking off in a sprint towards the bus.

"Ah, yeah..." The swordsman starts with a cough, slowly emerging from the cloud of smoke just in time for you to dive and tackle him back into the bus, seconds before your plasma grenade detonates and sets off a chain of smaller, but no less deafening, explosions inside the tank. "Holy shit, Doc...how 'bout some warning, next time?"

A small laugh escapes you at his slightly incredulous tone as you pull yourself back to your feet with the help of the bus and shake your head as the smoke finishes clearing, leaving the two of you in the relative silence of the battlefield for a moment, "Where's the fun in that?"

"Maybe in not getting blown up..." He retorts, before sighing as he accepts your hand and lets you help pull him up as well. You take a moment to look him over for any serious injuries as he brushes himself off, and find that he's sporting a series of deep cuts that looks like they could use stitches...but nothing more serious, at least on the surface.

"Are you alright? Those look a bit deep." You ask, nodding to the the bleeding slashes.

Julius shakes his head, seeming entirely unconcerned with himself, "I'm fine. Nothing you can't fix later. What about you, though? What the hell were you thinking, charging that thing? That cannon almost tore you in half!"

You shrug and cock your head while a grin plasters itself across your face beneath your helmet, "Maybe...but it looked cool, right?" You reply, drawing an incredulous laugh from the swordsman.

"Jesus, man...maybe I should've told Freida to come with you after all. At this rate you're going to get us killed. Oh, and by the way, after all that bullshit you owe me three drinks now."

"Sure, Reece, I'll make sure you get them once we get back to Earth." You reply jokingly, before sighing and starting to step forward, "Alright, I think we've wasted enough time, we've still got to get to th-"

>Continued.

>>1024301
>three drinks
We'll need to negotiate that.

>>1024301
Before you can finish your sentence your comm unit crackles to life, static fills your ears for several seconds before a slightly broken message comes through. "-ovas need assis- we are pinned dow- -he old broadcasting statio- I say aga- -is Doeud of th- -ilver Nova Mercena- -pany, we are low on medica- -pplies, but have plenty o- -eavy weapons! Ove-"

You blink in shock at the sudden and familiar voice coming across your comms, before realizing that you must have just got close enough to wherever the other medic is holed up to pick the medical frequency back up. You start to bring your hand up to respond, only for another, less broken message to filter through. "Negative, Novas, I'm sorry, but we don't have the manpower to make it to the broadcast station right now. If you can make it to the burnt out community center, we still have medical supplies, and are organizing a push to take out the last of the command units. Otherwise, you'll have to hold out until this is finished, over."

Static dominates your comm unit again as a frown tugs at your lips, "-n't stay here! Synthet- -re going to overrun us soon, an- -he numbers to push to th- -mmunity center. I say again we -quest immediate assistan-" Before the rest of the message can finish an earsplitting explosion reverberates in your ear, followed by white noise.

You share a concerned look with Reece as the message cuts off, "Doeud, wasn't that..."

"Yeah...he split off to join his company instead of joining the rest of the medical team and officers in the trucks." You reply slowly, shaking your head, "I wouldn't be surprised if he was the only other medic we have right now..."

A heavy silence lingers between the two of you for several moments before Julius sighs, "I know what you're thinking, Doc, and you know I'm with you no matter what, but you heard the same thing I did. There's no guarantee he's still alive, and we've got a clear shot to the community center. Maybe it'd be better to just accept our losses and meet up with the other group, like we'd planned before."

You stare down at the ground, explosions and gunfire echoing around the courtyard from the larger battlefield as you consider your friend's point. He's not wrong...Doeud could already be dead, and even if he isn't, from what you remember of the layout of area while you were in the air, the area between you and the broadcast station is where some of the worst fighting is. On the other hand, if he is still alive then you'd hate to abandon him and his company to die...you can't patch everybody up on your own, and he did say that his group still had heavy weapons left. It's also possible that you could convince somebody from the community center to go with you, if you were persuasive enough, but if not then you'd be wasting valuable time.

>Options in next post.

>>1024481
What should you do?
>Keep on course to the community center. You hate to leave Doeud hanging, but there's no way you're going to be able to get across the battlefield without help.
>Break off towards the broadcast station. You'll be damned if you're going to abandon Doeud, and even if he is already dead, you'll probably need those weapons. [Roll 3d10]
>Split off for the broadcast station, but send Julius to the community center. Maybe he can get you some help... [Roll 3d10]
>Write-in.

>>1024496
>Keep on course to the community center. You hate to leave Doeud hanging, but there's no way you're going to be able to get across the battlefield without help.

Rolled 10, 5, 5 = 20 (3d10)

>>1024496
>Split off for the broadcast station, but send Julius to the community center. Maybe he can get you some help...

Rolled 6, 9, 6 = 21 (3d10)

>>1024496
>Break off towards the broadcast station. You'll be damned if you're going to abandon Doeud, and even if he is already dead, you'll probably need those weapons. [Roll 3d10]

Rolled 7, 4, 2 = 13 (3d10)

>>1024496
>Break off towards the broadcast station. You'll be damned if you're going to abandon Doeud, and even if he is already dead, you'll probably need those weapons. [Roll 3d10]

Rolled 5, 4, 6 = 15 (3d10)

>>1024496
>Break off towards the broadcast station. You'll be damned if you're going to abandon Doeud, and even if he is already dead, you'll probably need those weapons. [Roll 3d10]

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>>1024499
>Keep to the task at hand.
>>1024500
>Send Reece to the community center.
>>1024525
>>1024546
>>1024559
>Go be a big damned hero.

Gonna take a short break to grab food and cigarettes, and then I'll start writing.

Rolled 3, 5, 10 = 18 (3d10)

>>1024596
>what could go wrong
Absolutely nothing, boss!

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1.43 MB GIF

Back! I've got nicotine and food, and I'm writing now.

>>1024807
Holy shit, you're running again.

The silence between you and Julius hangs in the air for several moments before you finally shake your head with a frustrated sigh and look up at him, "I can't leave him to die, Reece." You start, bringing a hand up to hover over the comm sensor in your helmet, "You don't need to come with me, though, you could go ahead to the community center and let them know that we're on our way."

The swordsman crosses his arms, looking almost insulted at the suggestion, "As if, Jack. If it were me going out there, then you'd never let me do it alone. That's a two way street, man, so if you're going then so am I."

You start to open your mouth in protest, only to realize as you look at your friend that he's not likely to change his mind. "Thanks, Reece, I appreciate it." You reply, receiving nothing but a nod from the dark-skinned man before going ahead and activating your comm unit while starting to move across the courtyard in the opposite direction of the community center. "Enque, I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can this is Jack Yarick. We're on our way to the broadcasting station now. If you could tell your people not to shoot us, I'd appreciate it."

For a moment all you hear in response is static, but just as you make it out of a courtyard through the shattered remains of a conference room another broken message manages to make it through the interference, "-nk you, Ja- Yari- -ill be waiting fo- -cond floor. Ove-"

You glance back at Reece at the message, noting the slightly surprised look on his face, before keying your comms again, "Alright, we'll be there as soon as possible." You reply shortly, cutting the call off again as you peek around the cover of the collapsed wall to survey the battlefield.

Julius lets out a low whistle, shaking his head at the absolute decimation of the already dilapidated ruins, "Robots sure are good at fucking up your day..." He mutters, drawing a nod from you.

"Well, seeing as how they're probably all messed up in the head, it makes sense." You speculate, before shrugging as the swordsman offers you a confused look, "I mean, they've got to be from the people that built these ruins, right? Unless there's some other group of aliens on the planet that nobody bothered to tell us about."

"I guess that'd make sense, yeah..." He replies, before crouching down and extending his sword to point out a path towards the crumbling broadcast station, "There's not too many of them along here...if we're quick we might even be able to get across without getting shot."

You quirk an amused eyebrow at his wording, "Good, because I don't want to have to dig a bullet out of you if you're too slow." You reply, before nodding and pulling your pistol from its place on your waist. "Ready?"

Reece directs an unamused expression as another explosion echoes in the distance, "Of course not, Doc. Now stop asking stupid questions and let's go be heroes...again." He replies, before bounding over his cover to sprint along the street.

>>1025117
Time to be big damn heroes.

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>>1025117
A frustrated sigh escapes you at your friend's advance and you shake your head before rounding the corner to follow him, "Great...now we're definitely getting shot."

Almost as soon as you leave the cover of the building, you're engulfed in the absolute chaos of the battlefield, stray rounds whizzing past your body and impacting violently with your regenerated shield as you do your best to rush from cover to cover, and firing of several rounds at a damaged spider-drone before it can move to attack you. Just as you near the halfway point of the sprint, several smaller explosions erupt around you, sending you hurtling to the ground as a small pod of drones soars by overhead. You quickly force yourself back to your feet, determined to carry on, only to be forced back behind cover as a mixed team of humanoid and spider synthetics break onto the path, immediately opening fire to cut you and Reece off from each other.

The familiar report of Julius' pistol alongside his plasma sword cuts through the battle, and you look out from behind your carbon-scored cover to see him slice through one of the spider's abdomens before ducking behind cover himself. You fire off several rounds with your own pistol, in the hopes of suppressing the bipedal robots, but to little effect, beyond giving you the chance to take in your enemies. From the looks of things, there are two humanoid synthetics laying down suppressing fire from an old guard shack leading into a parking garage, while three more spider-drones split off to skitter towards you and Julius.

From past experience, you know that the spiders are fairly easy to kill, assuming you're able to hit them, but you've never fought any of these other synthetics before, and all you're able to really know about them is the fact that they've got four arms, and one of them has a plasma rifle built into it...thankfully it doesn't seem like the rate of fire on the built in weapons are particularly good.

Shields: 63%
Psi Energy: 7/10
Plasma Genades: 3

You have a few options at the moment, so what should you do? Regardless of your choice, roll 3d10.

>Keep using your pistol for now. It may not have as much power behind it as your other weapons, but the EMP rounds that you bought seem to be doing their job.
>Switch over to your rifle, it'll be more accurate and it's more powerful than your pistol.
>Use your psionics to cause havoc with the group. [Psi energy cost: 2]
>You don't have time to be hiding in cover. Use your whip and charge one of the robots.
>Write-in.

Also, which synthetic should you target?

>One of the closer spider drones. You've no interest in letting them get any closer to you.
>The spider drone headed for Reece. If he's not worrying about that spider, then he can try to flank the other enemies.
>One of the bipedal synths. It's going to be impossible to fight these things if those robots manage to pin you down.

Rolled 1, 6, 1 = 8 (3d10)

>>1025361
>>Use your psionics to cause havoc with the group. [Psi energy cost: 2]
>The spider drone headed for Reece. If he's not worrying about that spider, then he can try to flank the other enemies.

Rolled 10, 7, 8 = 25 (3d10)

>>1025361
>Use your psionics to cause havoc with the group. [Psi energy cost: 2]

>The spider drone headed for Reece. If he's not worrying about that spider, then he can try to flank the other enemies.

Rolled 8, 1, 4 = 13 (3d10)

>>1025361
>Use your psionics to cause havoc with the group. [Psi energy cost: 2]
>The spider drone headed for Reece. If he's not worrying about that spider, then he can try to flank the other enemies.

Rolled 2, 1, 9 = 12 (3d10)

>>1025361
>Use your psionics to cause havoc with the group. [Psi energy cost: 2]
>The spider drone headed for Reece. If he's not worrying about that spider, then he can try to flank the other enemies.

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>Those rolls...
>>1025374
>>1025380
>>1025386
>>1025390
>Writing to use space magic on Reece's spider.

Rolled 1, 10, 1 = 12 (3d10)

>>1025447
The dice gods are merciless.

>8, 25, 13. Failure.

Your psionics flare to life again as you reach out towards the drone skittering in your friend's direction, briefly lifting it off the ground, but before you can do anything more than that the spider closest to you lunges towards you, screeching angrily as it slashes one of its legs across your chest, tearing a shout of pain from you and shattering your concentration. The robot you were targeting crashes roughly back down to the road beneath it and the indigo energy engulfing it dissipates while sweat pours down your face as you stumble backwards, wincing at the blossoming pain in your chest.

Sensing its advantage, the drone that attacked you surges forth again, lashing out as you raise your hand in an attempt to mimic a shield you saw Angelicia make, only for your psionics to fizzle out completely. You do your best to bite back your scream as the machine's leg pierces your hand, leaving you staring briefly in shock at the bloody appendage penetrating the back of your glove before, with gritted teeth, you blast the spider away from you. Its oily 'blood' sprays across your armor as the leg it stabbed you with breaks away from the rest of its body, giving you just enough time to pull the intruding object from your hand, despite knowing the dangers of doing so.

You only have a moment to glance towards Reece and see that he's managed to take advantage of your botched attack before being forced back on the defensive as the two spider drones skitter angrily in your direction again, though thankfully it seems that the bipedal synthetics are more concerned with Julius, for the moment at least. Your mind races in an attempt to formulate a plan that won't end up with you or your friend dead, though the pulsing pain from your hand and chest certainly aren't helping anything. It seems like you're stuck in melee range of the drones now, so using your rifle is right out...seems like this might be a good time to break out your whip, or maybe try again with your psionics, though you're starting to feel the onset of exhaustion from expelling so much energy.

Shields: 63%
Psi Energy: 5/10
Plasma Grenades: 2

What should you do? Regardless of your choice, roll 3d10.
>Shoot one of the drones with your pistol. At this range, it'd be difficult to miss them...assuming they stand still long enough, anyways.
>Break out your plasma whip. This is what it was made for, right?
>Blast one of the spiders away with your psionics. It'll be easier to deal with them if you don't have to fight them both at the same time. [Psi energy cost: 2]
>Use your psionics to crush them both like bugs. You've had enough of this. [Psi energy cost: 3]
>Write-in.

Rolled 8, 4, 2 = 14 (3d10)

>>1025641
>>Break out your plasma whip. This is what it was made for, right?

Rolled 4, 1, 1 = 6 (3d10)

>>1025641
>Break out your plasma whip. This is what it was made for, right?

Rolled 3, 3, 9 = 15 (3d10)

>>1025641
>Break out your plasma whip. This is what it was made for, right?

>>1025649
>>1025660
>>1025670
>Whip it.

It's a damn good thing you guys read the manual for this thing...

Rolled 3, 8, 8 = 19 (3d10)

>>1025641
>Shoot one of the drones with your pistol. At this range, it'd be difficult to miss them...assuming they stand still long enough, anyways.

>15, 7, 16. Success. Only because you read the whip's manual, though.

Adrenaline rushes through your body as you reach for the cylinder on your belt and activate it with a snap towards the quickly approaching spiders, sending a stream of plasma searing through the air to wrap around the drone that stabbed you. The second that the whip coils around your enemy you reverse the gesture with a snarl, pulling the weapon tight around the squirming robot for just long enough to cut through its armored body like butter. The sight of its companion being torn in half gives the second synthetic a moment of pause, which is all you need as you step forward and lash out again with the whip and slice through three of its legs with crackling plasma.

The spider collapses to the ground, its remaining legs clicking erratically against the road in an attempt to push itself away from your approaching form while simultaneously discourage you from getting too close. Rather than risk being impaled again you slash at the downed robot again, amputating the majority of is appendages, before raising your pistol in your other hand and firing three rounds into the drone's body, watching with a somewhat grim satisfaction as it convulses for a few seconds before finally powering down.

As soon as you're sure that the spider isn't going to spring back to life and skewer you, you turn your attention back towards Julius and the last two synths, only to see one of them collapse as a stray bullet from across the street buries itself into its power core. The remaining robot pauses for a moment, almost seeming surprised at its partner's death, before returning to laying down suppressing fire on your friend as he ducks behind cover, your heart sinking a little as you notice the blood trail he's leaving behind him. You're tempted to make a beeline towards the swordsman, though if you don't take care of the last synth soon, then who knows what it might do...or the attention it could attract?

What should you do?
>Break off from combat to check on Reece. You're not going to have him dying on your watch.
>Close the gap between you and the synth, and open fire on it with the pistol.
>Get into some proper cover and shoot the damned thing with your rifle. No sense in getting sloppy now.
>Turn the robot into scrap with your psionics. This needs to end. Right now.
>Write-in.

Rolled 6, 8, 6 = 20 (3d10)

>>1025913
>Turn the robot into scrap with your psionics. This needs to end. Right now.

>>1025913
Probably goes without saying, but roll 3d10, regardless of your choice. Sorry 'bout that guys.

Rolled 1, 3, 1 = 5 (3d10)

>>1025913
>Break off from combat to check on Reece. You're not going to have him dying on your watch.

>>1025934
No need to remind us, dice are starting to be mean tonight.

Rolled 8, 10, 3 = 21 (3d10)

>>1025913
>Get into some proper cover and shoot the damned thing with your rifle. No sense in getting sloppy now.

>>1025913
>Turn the robot into scrap with your psionics. This needs to end. Right now.

>>1025931
>>1025966
>Put on another light show.
>>1025947
>Go check on Julius.
>>1025957
>Just shoot the damned thing.

>Writing to break it with our mind.

Heads up, we'll probably be drawing to a close on episode 17 here soon. Still have to work tomorrow, so I need to head to bed sometime in the next few hours. Still have a little ways to go, though.

>20, 5, 21. Success.

Your gaze lingers on Julius for a few moments as he slumps against his cover, breathing heavily, until a bolt of plasma barely misses disintegrating his head as it flies inches above it, prompting you to break from your own cover and make a break for your friend, violet energy flaring back to life around you as you go. The remaining synth's head swivels towards you, followed shortly by its rifle, but before it can get off more than a single inaccurate shot your hand thrusts forward and unleashes a twisting bolt of energy at it. A panicked alarm rings through the air as it moves to dodge the blast, only for it to be rocketed into a wall, its chassis caving in from the force of the impact.

Despite the synth's destruction you slide into cover next to the swordsman, choosing to keep your momentum rather than take the risk of another stray bullet tearing through your shields. As soon as you come to a stop you push yourself back up to your knees and let out a ragged gasp as you're harshly reminded of the new hole in your left hand. "Ahh, well crap, that's going to hurt for a while." You spit out, wincing at the pain in your chest as well, before turning your attention back to Julius and scan his body for the source of his blood trail, immediately finding it in what you immediately recognize as a stab wound on his calf, along with a plasma burn on his left arm that he's clearly nursing. It looks like he's already applied a hasty tourniquet to his leg, though there's not much either of you can do about his arm, not unless you want to break out your medkit in the middle of the battlefield, anyways. "I told you that you should've went to the community center." You mutter jokingly, before nodding at his leg, "Do you think you can walk on that?"

Reece lets out a pained laugh and nods, before looking pointedly at your hand, "I dunno, Doc, you're not looking so hot yourself. Are you sure that you should be out here?" He asks, shifting against his cover with a groan, "And yeah, I can walk on it...not very well, but we don't have that far left to go."

A snort escapes you at his answer and you shake your head as you dig into your kit, blindly searching for a bandage before pulling it out and tearing open the seal on it. "None of us should be here, Julius. But this is what we do now, right? I mean, we've already fallen through the cracks of the system...it's either this or end up working retail. Strange as it is, I think I enjoy this more." You answer in an upbeat, if somewhat pained, tone as you wrap your hand up roughly.

The swordsman blinks at you in surprise before shrugging with a soft chuckle, "Makes sense, I guess, it's just a little strange, ya know? You seem like you're adapting to this place even better than I am, and I was trained for...well, not -this-, but stuff like it."

>Continued.

>>1026157
You quirk an eyebrow beneath your helmet at your friend's logic, "Reece, I don't think that anybody can really be prepared for all...this. And you're doing fine...everybody is, considering the circumstances. It's like I told Angel on the Deculion though; as far as I'm concerned, my job is to help people. Sometimes helping means making sure idiots that swing swords around in a world with guns don't die," You say, nodding pointedly at him, ", and other times it means making sure that people that want to hurt innocent people can't do that."

"Uh huh..." He replies, directing a skeptical look at you, "And the reason that you're exploring ruins and hip deep in killer robots is..."

"To protect my friends." You answer in a matter of fact tone, before pausing with a shrug, "And also for adventure and profit. Never said I was any more sane than the rest of you, Julius. Just a competent medic." With that said, you push yourself up again, letting out a hiss at the slightly dulled pain in your hand, "Alright, let's get going. We might be getting close, but we're not actually big damned heroes yet, buddy."

Reece lets out a sigh, staring at your offered hand for a few seconds before reaching out and pulling himself up with a groan, "Ahh, is it too late to veto that and just be regular heroes? I mean, we're probably not even going to get a bounty for saving these guys."

"Maybe not, but we're still on the clock for Talis, remember? Besides, I told Enque that I'd help him, and you're the one that insisted on coming along, so yeah...it's a bit too late." You reply with a grin as you take the lead the way into the broadcast station.

Despite the chaos surrounding you, you've at least managed to get across the square in one piece, more or less. Of course now all you've got to do is find Enque's group and figure out a way to get them out of here before you all get blown up...what could possibly go wrong?

>End of Episode 17.

>>1026231
Neat

>>1026231
Thank you for running, Hawktail!

>>1026157
>You seem like you're adapting to this place even better than I am, and I was trained for...well, not -this-, but stuff like it.

I think we'll need to point out at some point that military training is litteraly "adapt and overcome" and that this mindset will make anything novel blased after a few moment, his grunt mindset has already discarded the fact that he's not on earth and it is "the same old shit" for him already, it's only the non grunt part of his mind who's still trying to cope with the strangeness of the situation AND his grunt mindset who makes him feel like he's having a hard time adapting.

Now as a medic, we're the first human to come into contact with aliens physiology and their workings, it's like we've been told christmas as come early and will stay for a longtime, hence why we seems to take to this as a duck to water.

He thinks of this situation as just another mountain to climb while the sky's the limit for us.

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Sorry for the slightly more abrupt ending than I'd promised, I just realized what time it was, and figured that this would be just as good as a cutoff point as officially linking up with Enque. Maybe better, since that'd make a better opening for the next thread.

Anyways, if there are any questions, I'm sure I'll be lingering around here for a little while. I'm not one-hundred percent sure when the next thread will be, since I haven't got my full schedule for the week yet, but once I figure out the best time I'll post it on twitter.

>>1026245
Mind if I ask you a question on previous planning?

I don't know if someone's asked you this before, but do you usually spend some time planning in advance and to what detail do you usually go?
I know "no plan survives contact with the players" but I honestly don't understand how you can tell a big story like this without at least some idea of where all the pieces are and will probably be.

>>1026245
One thing /qst/'s done right is threads can stay up for a very long time thanks to the slower pace, you could post a small update, go to sleep, wake up and go to work while anons will respond only for you to write the next batch before you go to sleep and repeat the pattern for a few days before reaching page 11.

>>1026258
I'd like to say that I've got it all planned out...but in reality I've got a few corner pieces that I plan on having come into play if they're wanted by the players. Everything else is -mostly- on the fly. I knew I wanted to present the option to meet up with Enque before I even started the thread, I wasn't entirely sure how I was going to go about it until you left to meet up with the rest of the expedition, though. Of course, if you'd ignored him, then it would have progressed to meeting up with the rest of the expedition's forces and planning out the last push...unless you wanted to stick with your friends, anyways.

>>1026270
I see, thanks for sharing, mate. I'll take my leave to sleep and hope to play in the next one!

>>1026273
Of course! Hope to see you there, have a good evening.

>>1026275
Have a good night buddy