Myrrhine 2010/12/21(Tue)21:13 No. 265715 ID: 0331e9
File 129299480510.png - (19.48KB , 800x600 , 1 murka ripoff.png )

Myrrhine Di Silvarada is a Field Marshal in the Grand Army of the Union Di Sharlo Libratao. The USL is a large nation ruled by a Minister named Revoille. Revoille is not particularly adept at ruling, but he was elected Minister for life. His saving grace is a sense of his own incompetence and a council staffed with enough professionals that the Union is a major power. The coffers of the Union are well-stuffed. The Grand Army is sizeable and aggressive.

Myrrhine 2010/12/21(Tue)21:13 No. 265716 ID: a257c4
File 129299482253.png - (29.03KB , 800x600 , 2 asia ripoff.png )

Myrrhine Stuzol is a Captain in the Stadvoskei Expeditionary Force. The Stadvoskei are a small nation surrounded by four larger nations that would prefer to see them wiped off the map. Their lands are restricted mostly to craggy steppes and inhospitable desert. They have kept themselves from destruction with the internationally recognized force of their firepower. Every Stadvoskeian is trained in the ways of soldiering by their nation, and trained in the ways of survival by their unforgiving lands. There have been three invasions into Stadvoskei in the last ten years, and none have been successful.

Myrrhine 2010/12/21(Tue)21:14 No. 265718 ID: 3f8223
File 129299487311.png - (19.16KB , 800x600 , 3 mistery of druids.png )

Myrrhine XVI is an Oikalosian Priestess. The Oikalosians are a new nation, a splinter off of a dying empire called Intalos. Oikalos has been around for twenty years, ever since the Church of Eupholis took power and led a revolution against the decadent Intalosians. The new theocracy eventually gave way to monarchy, which after yet another revolt has now turned into a democracy. Still prevalent is the Church, now secularized into less a religious than a social and military order. Worship of Eupholis has been deemphasized. It is time for Oikalos to discover its own potential as a nation.

Which Myrrhine is our Myrrhine?

Oikalos. Would vote Stadvoskei, but I've always wanted to see a theocracy start to get good.

Myrrhine XVI, of course.

Viva la French

Oikalos

USL or Stadvoskei

Oikalos.

>>265718
this one

>>265715
This one. We shall spread "Liberty" to those less free unfortunates.

Myrrhine XVI or Myrrhine Di Silvarada

Myrrhine 2010/12/22(Wed)13:39 No. 265827 ID: 506ac2
File 129305399356.png - (11.74KB , 800x600 , 4 so short.png )

Myrrhine XVI is born into the church. She's three when Oikalos becomes a nation. At the age of ten, she joins the cloth (at this point now morphing into their roles as citizens rather than clerics) and from there the Oikalos Armed Forces.
She grows, but not too much. She ends up 5'1", a height the charitable would call "petite" and the honest would call "short". Her figure fails to cooperate with her chosen vocation, and develops in a curvy manner that separates her from her lean, long-limbed fellows.

Myrrhine 2010/12/22(Wed)13:40 No. 265828 ID: 506ac2
File 129305401584.png - (14.93KB , 800x600 , 5 ghostbusters.png )

The difference is made up for (sort of) when she graduates from training, and is allowed to wear the powered armor of the military.

Myrrhine 2010/12/22(Wed)13:41 No. 265831 ID: 506ac2
File 129305409810.png - (6.25KB , 800x600 , 6 your ahmur.png )

Myrrhine is trained in (choose):

LIGHT ARMOR: She is speedier, stealthier, and lighter than her more heavily-armed colleagues. Light armor trades protection and utility for mobility and freedom of movement. She is trained in athletics, hit-and-run tactics, long-range marksmanship, and other techniques to keep her away from the enemy's blades and bullets.

MEDIUM ARMOR: She chooses adaptability. Medium armor provides front-line protection with the ability to, say, look up. Medium training also encompasses first aid and utility techniques to ensure support along with firepower.

HEAVY ARMOR: She doesn't move fast, or quietly, but when she gets to where she's going there is no dislodging her. Heavy Armor isn't a solid block of metal, but it's close. It has a high capacity for shock absorption, giving her the stability needed to use heavy weapons on the go. Heavy armor comes with training on shock-and-awe tactics and how to use your chosen power armor to maximize mobility without breaking your bones.

light of course

Light. Show off dem curves, girl.

Medium

>>265831
Heavy armour.
Partially because of the slight irony of it, but also because light armour and acrobatic dodging is for wussies!

>>265831
Medium, of course.

Medium armor.

>>265831
medium

>>265831
Hmm, heavy or medium? Both seem kind of nice. Oh what the hell. Heavy for the delicious irony and the reduced target profile that a small person in a heavy armour creates. It's going to make it easier to survive where all the tall ones bite it. And it's powered armour, so it's not like it will actually be all that taxing for the wearer.

light armor!

>>265831
I say medium.

Myrrhine 2010/12/22(Wed)16:13 No. 265890 ID: 506ac2
File 12930632333.png - (39.37KB , 800x600 , 7 the sparrow looks up at the machine.png )

Myrrhine wears medium armor. She's a conventional soldier, but she likes to think she's a capable one. She also fancies herself a good commander. She likes her platoon, even though it's small. For the most part, they like her too, she thinks.

Today, though, she's on her own. For now, at least. Her two squads of men are on reserve, ready to come to her aid with just a radio call. But they're giving her a wide berth, and she can understand why.

Myrrhine is going into the Vault. She has climbing gear, a bolt-action rifle, a combat knife, her training, and some granola.

Myrrhine 2010/12/22(Wed)16:14 No. 265891 ID: 506ac2
File 129306324067.png - (25.56KB , 800x600 , 8 Vault 101.png )

Myrrhine is in the doorway of the vault. She steps across the threshold and a bank of sleepy fluorescent lights shudder awake above her with a cracking sound that rolls out to the end of the cave and back to her. She sees a large statue in the center of the chamber, flanked by two high, pale pillars. Further off, a low, square cluster of buildings grow out of the ground like ivory mushrooms. The far side of the Vault is still in shadow.
Myrrhine's task is to explore this place, mark any potential dangers, find any potential loot, and leave.

Well, best get to exploring, then.

Firstly, gawk in marvel at the stunning features of the man depicted in the statue and picture him taking you into his arms, sweeping you off your feet and carrying you into his bedroom...

Then stop fooling around and get to investigating inside those buildings.

Myrrhine 2010/12/22(Wed)17:36 No. 265922 ID: 310377
File 129306815932.png - (19.26KB , 800x600 , 9 i think i lost my headache.png )

>>265897
He is nothing special. Myrrhine prefers her gentlemen anatomically correct. And she has no room for distractions in a place as dangerous as a vault.

She moves on into the buildings at the far side of the clearing. The door's open.
There are two cots inside, one with a footlocker in front of it. Slumped against the wall is a body in USL power armor, minus a third of its head.

>>265922
Check the body for ID/dogtags so his fate will be known to those at home. Also, investigate the box and that odd sword above you- possibly get out of the way in case it's a trap or something.

What kind of place is this Vault exactly?

Myrrhine 2010/12/22(Wed)18:08 No. 265936 ID: 310377
File 129307008989.png - (11.27KB , 800x600 , 10 Shocking.png )

Myrrhine has no interest in the identity of a USL soldier. Eupholis bless his soul, etc, but better him than her. A vague search reveals some dog tags in their weird language but nothing interesting. Looks like the body was field-stripped. There isn't even ammo for the gun.

The sword on the wall is a standard Electrified Shortsword. You can slash with it, or if the enemy is more heavily armored you can try to stab then hit the button and fry their armor. It's stuck onto the shield behind it with three small fasteners. Myrhinne can't see how the shield is hanging on the wall.

Vaults are complexes built into mountains or dug out of the ground. No one is entirely sure who built them, but they are useful as fortresses, and the undiscovered ones (about 2/3rds of them) sometimes contain some lost treasure of ages past, or something.

quickly ignore the trap and lets check the room for more traps to be ignored.

anamyze the ffotlocker expecting a birthday cake. with explosive candy.

and napalm frostings.

Myrrhine 2010/12/22(Wed)18:46 No. 265955 ID: 310377
File 129307241141.png - (22.70KB , 800x600 , 11 hats.png )

Myrrhine takes comfort in the fact that if the hung sword was some kind of diabolical trap, it probably would have already killed her.

She checks the footlocker. A few USL Dollars (useless), some four-leaf clover boxers with "Lucky You" written on the inside of the fly (useless), and a USL Grunt's helmet. Myrrhine could put it on for an increase to armor compared to her Priestess hood, but a decrease in sight radius and an unpleasant increase in hat hair.

No offense, but your hat looks -really- silly. But it's not worth it to lose your sight. Hm, throw the helmet at the shield, and is there anything else in this room?

Myrrhine 2010/12/22(Wed)21:05 No. 265978 ID: c152fb
File 129308073029.png - (20.39KB , 800x600 , 12 i think i lost my headache.png )

Myrrhine has a flash of regret over the glorified booksock she wears on her head. She loves Oikalos, yes, and the USL helmet is sure to be filled with a pastiche of sweat, loose hair, and dandruff, but-
No. Her quick eyes are too valuable, and if we're looking at it from a fashion standpoint, the colors just don't match. She hefts the helmet at the sword and shield, instead. Effects are minimal.
It appears that unless something else is eye-catching, this room is exhausted potential.

>>265978
Hey, unless it's an art glitch, there's a small dot on the side of the 'bottom' bed, it might be a button or something.

Head back outside, and check the other buildings. You don't happen to have any light sources on you, do you? The vault looks pretty dark.

Myrrhine 2010/12/22(Wed)21:22 No. 265982 ID: c152fb
File 129308172577.png - (25.69KB , 800x600 , 13 Vault 101.png )

Myrrhine doesn't have a light. Usually the vault is lit artificially from within, like the entrance hall. There are some sections that are unlit, though, so finding a source of light would be a good idea.
Myrrhine is halfway outside when she hears a loud clump noise on the roof, followed by another one. She flattens against the wall, and hears voices speaking Sharlo, the USL language, outside. She was taught to understand spoken Sharlo. One voice is saying something she can't quite understand and the other is saying, Look, I told you I heard the boom. The lights are on. Someone came in.

Did Myrrhine mention the USL and Oikalos are more or less at war? They're more or less at war. Maybe she should mention that.

quickly and silently report to your friends. they are either dead or will save you.

by now try to hide. 2 can still work on a surprise holy smite attack.

>>265982
Yeah, I'm going to have to recommend that you stay low.

>>265982
Flatten yourself against the wall. Sneak around the corner. If there's a stair there then get out of sight and wait for them to come down it. If it's not a stair there then just stay there and wait for them to go down and try to enter the doorway. Then you shoot the fuckers in the back. If you think you have a fair chance at getting them down that is.

Myrrhine 2010/12/23(Thu)13:39 No. 266174 ID: 310377
File 12931403994.png - (13.77KB , 800x600 , 14 deal or no deal.png )

Her heart pounding, Myrrhine opts for discretion over valor. She stays low, ducking back inside and out of sight and flattening herself against the wall.
She fumbles for her radio. It's tuned to the channel she needs. Her men are waiting for her on the other side, and her rifleman Deacon did make her promise to radio in if she was in serious danger. The problem is that getting them here would make some noise, and she can still hear the enemy tromping around on the roof, babbling in their gap-mouthed tongue. They seem hesitant to drop down to her level. If she whispers, and keeps the volume down, or if they sufficiently distract each other, she might be able to avoid their detection...

>>266174
Didn't they teach you to signal in silent code by pulsing the send button (and thus pulsing the carrier frequency at the recipient end)?

Myrrhine 2010/12/23(Thu)14:23 No. 266194 ID: 506ac2
File 12931430191.png - (26.02KB , 800x600 , 15 i think i lost my headache.png )

If they had, this wouldn't be a problem. Myrrhine knows how to communicate traditionally or with bursts of static (which also make noise). Silenced morse signalers are standard issue to Light Armor soldiers only. If she is going to signal, she is going to have to make some noise.

The two soldiers are still talking. One of them laughs. His footfalls take him to closer to the edge of the building.

Just stay quiet and get your rifle ready. Aim at the entrance so you can shoot whatever moves through.

>>266174
Well we need to take them out. Sadly you didn't get any explosives, those could have been good for this.

Ok, lets observe for a while longer and see what they do. Then radio your guys and tell them to make a big racket when coming in. Prepare to ambush the dudes on the roof if they go to invesigate. If they just stay up there then start firing through the roof to hit them.

Myrrhine 2010/12/23(Thu)17:33 No. 266284 ID: 310377
File 129315439325.png - (24.62KB , 800x600 , 16 make my day.png )

Myrrhine pads back to the opposite wall and aims her rifle down toward the doorway, just in time. There's a scuffling sound from above, then a whump as one of the USL soldiers lands in front of the door. He's not looking toward her but out at the bank of lights on the far wall, trying to see if there's anyone out there.

Wait for it. If he turns: shoot! If not. Yay! Nobody spotted you!

>>266284
Can you penetrate the armour at this distance? If not the body then the head?

Myrrhine 2010/12/23(Thu)18:20 No. 266307 ID: d96936
File 129315722777.png - (52.65KB , 800x600 , 17 boom headshot.png )

The soldier starts to move, and Myrrhine follows him with the sights. With a rifle like this one the place you want to aim isn't necessarily the head: a good amount of the time it'll penetrate, but USL helmets can be unyielding. The best way to secure a kill on a USL suit is to hit the neck, and the neckguard is actually lower in front than in back.

The USL soldier walks away a few paces. Then he turns and starts to say something to his comrade, stares Myrrhine straight in the face, and catches a bullet in the neck. He does not scream as he falls.

Myrrhine 2010/12/23(Thu)18:21 No. 266308 ID: d96936
File 129315726948.png - (22.20KB , 800x600 , 18 oh sheeyit.png )

Myrrhine feels the kick of the butt against her shoulder, and lets reflexes guide her hand in snapping the bolt back and chambering another round. The metallic crunch-noise of the mechanism is professional, reassuring.

Less so is the grenade that drops into the room a second after she rises from cover. The red circle is its lethal radius. Myrrhine does not know how much time she has.

Apparently you are outside it's lethal radius. Duck!

Kick over the bed so its on its side and giving more cover, throw the helmet (If you still have it) or a clip at the grenade to knock it further away, then throw yourself prone down next to the far wall.

I know how grenades work, but there isn't really anything you can do in such a situation besides hoping for the best.

Myrrhine 2010/12/23(Thu)19:18 No. 266330 ID: d96936
File 129316073686.png - (27.82KB , 800x600 , 19 boom.png )

(Reupdating after a last second save by Conil)

Myrrhine pulls the table down backward and rolls against the wall. She hefts the helmet again, this time at the grenade. It clatters a foot or so back, then detonates with a curtain of force that knocks the sword loose, cracks a window, shreds the dead soldier, and slams the table up against Myrrhine. Her left arm feels like someone took a baseball bat to it, but the power armor ensures it's not broken. Her ears are ringing and her eyes are streaming, but she's okay, and she's held onto her rifle.

>>266330
Keep behind cover, and be ready for someone or something to come through that doorway.

Right, radio in for reinforcements now that things have gone loud, then run up to the doorway to cover there then take potshots at any enemies that come into view. Killing them is optional, if you've got reinforcements coming, you just need to stay alive until they arrive.

Could stay behind cover where you are, but controlling the door is preferable, if you have time, because if they take cover at it, you're boxed in, they could just take potshots at you.

Oh, and if power armor makes you strong enough, move a bed over to the doorway as a barricade for even more cover.

Myrrhine 2010/12/23(Thu)19:43 No. 266341 ID: d96936
File 129316220541.png - (76.24KB , 800x600 , 20 killing spreeee.png )

Myrrhine steels herself, then comes up out of cover, ironsights first.

She catches the second soldier coming in, expecting a discombobulated, easy catch. He gets as far as the Fr- in Freeze when she decorates the back wall with him.

She chambers a new round. As her ears recover, she hears the voice of one of her deacons over the radio. They're reporting hearing shots fired. Please respond, Priestess. Myr, are you there? Do you need backup?

Call in that you just killed two soldiers, and that they seemed to be alone. There might be more further in though.

As for right now, loot the bodies. They might have a lightsource on them, or the helmets might have nightvision (Or perhaps other useful features). If they don't... I wonder if you could blow out the front of the helmets with your rifle (Or one of theirs, if you don't want to waste the ammo for your own gun). Try to reduce how much they narrow your vision so you can wear one for the increased protection, without having to worry about reduced vision.

Myrrhine 2010/12/23(Thu)21:13 No. 266367 ID: d96936
File 129316759360.png - (12.18KB , 800x600 , 21 candygram.png )

Both of the helmets are now bloodstained and warped beyond wearing from the bullets Myrrhine put in them. She finds a couple heavy duty, metal flashlights, the rifles of both soldiers, the ammo they had, a USL Meal, and two grenades. She pulls out her radio (now slightly cracked) and responds to the Deacon of her rifleman squad...

Myrrhine 2010/12/23(Thu)21:13 No. 266368 ID: d96936
File 129316759659.png - (23.06KB , 800x600 , Juliet.png )

...Juliet LXI.

Juliet is a paragon Oikalos footsoldier. She's a shrewd tactician, specializing in mobility and flexibility, and is trained in first aid. She chooses to use the basic ironsights on her gun to maximize awareness at a cost to accuracy. Myrrhine has never seen her so much as break a sweat in combat. She's a natural leader, and has won the resepct of her men. But her parents, unfortunately, chose to support the wrong side during the war for independence, and her family name has been excommunicated from the church. She can never rise above the rank of Squad Leader until the excommunication is repealed. This is looking more and more likely every day, as the church softens its once-zealous ways, but there's still a certain bitterness about Juliet at times. She fights hard for her redemption, though, and Myrrhine doubts whether she has a treacherous bone in her body. Juliet is exactly the kind of woman you'd want at your back.

Myrrhine 2010/12/23(Thu)21:13 No. 266369 ID: d96936
File 129316760084.png - (25.63KB , 800x600 , Alexei.png )

...Alexei Ducol.

Alexei is a Stadvoskeian, a one-time soldier of fortune who found more steady employ within the army of Oikalos. He likes the nation's spirited attitude and hospitality to a warrior like himself (especially that of the ladies of the Church, whom he was delighted to find had sworn no vows of chastity), and is more loyal than many priests. A childhood as a steppe hunter has turned him into one of the finest snipers Myrrhine has ever seen. He's an artist with a bolt-action rifle. He's trained in explosives, and he has the stealth ability to get up close, wire a target, and retreat to a safe distance before the detonation. When duty calls, he is a silent killer, capable of stealthy kills from far away or from close up.
When duty is not calling, he talks. A lot. His motormouth has gotten him in trouble with the brass on a few occasions, and just about the only way to shut him up is to put him in a combat situation. He can come off as cocky and self-aggrandizing, but he's easy to get along with, friendly with all his troops, and Myrrhine knows he'd follow her anywhere. But that might just be because he likes looking at her butt.

Choose one Rifleman deacon. The choice is permanent.

Alexei. There's overlap if we take Juliet, so let's go for versitility first.

Alexei. You deserve a man who can treat you right and kill people at long distance.

Uh, Alexei.

>>266369
Snipers are totally awesome. Let's go with Alexei!

Juliet. Soldiers work the best in dedicated Squads. If we had more 'men' I'd vote for Alexei, but alas...

>>266396

See: >>265890

>Her two squads of men are on reserve, ready to come to her aid with just a radio call.

So, yes, we have more people.

>>266398

But not at the moment. Short-term.

Myrrhine 2010/12/23(Thu)23:02 No. 266402 ID: c152fb
File 129317416246.png - (14.69KB , 800x600 , 22 caller id.png )

Myrrhine tells Alexei she can hear him. Se hasn't finished exploring the vault yet. She ran into some problems, but they're out of the way.

Oh good, says Alexei, in his mild Stadvoskei accent. How iz hiz favorite bite-sized priestess? All limbz accounted for?

Myrrhine fills him in on the story. He seems impressed. He says he doesn't like the sound of USL flunkies fucking around in there. His guys don't really want to set foot inside a vault, but he can whip them into heading inside. Does she need someone watching her ass in there?

Hell yeah. There's a USL presence in the vault so it's time to bring more force to bear.

Fortunately Alexei is the first who comes to mind when you think of exploring and assaulting strange tunnels in the dark.

No need to bring them in yet. (as long as you can carry all the loot you just got).

At least have a squad cover the entrance in case any more soldiers show up from the outside, or worst case, to provide covering fire in case you need to make a quick escape.

Myrrhine 2010/12/25(Sat)14:17 No. 266593 ID: 506ac2
File 129331546681.png - (25.52KB , 800x600 , 23 Vault 101.png )

Myrrhine expresses concern about covering the entrance. Don't stress it, says Alexei. The other squad'll handle it. He doesn't feel good about leaving her alone in there. Myrrhine hears his men compaining in the background, but he tells them to Shut the fuck up and do your day jobs, you pussies.

Myrrhine walks back outside to see Alexei leading his men inside. He waves at her from the entrance. Howdy, Priestess, he says. Nice place you've got here. Love what you did with the big naked stone guy. Where do they go now?

>>265982
There was a rope they rappled down on, and it doesn't seem to be there anymore. Be wary. I suggest going up onto the ledge first to ensure it's clear, and maybe set up a sniper nest for Alexi.

Myrrhine 2010/12/25(Sat)16:30 No. 266642 ID: 310377
File 129332340213.png - (26.21KB , 800x600 , 24 Vault 101.png )

You're right. The rope's gone. Myrrhine gets her climbing gear out, and tosses a grappling hook up to the next ledge. She calls for Alexei to spot her. Happy to oblige, he says. He and his snipers climb up on top of the building and watch her wriggle her way up the rope. One of them finds something lying on the roof, but the other says That might be a booby trap, Thom. No touchy.

Myrrhine 2010/12/25(Sat)16:30 No. 266643 ID: 310377
File 129332340472.png - (21.95KB , 800x600 , 25 all along the watchtower.png )

Myrrhine clambors up onto the ledge in darkness and peeks up over it. The entire next floor is unlit, except for two large stadium lights picking out an oasis of illumination on the floor, a couple hundred meters away. A tower looms up into the darkness, with an inactive searchlight on top. There's a USL soldier inside, along with two more on the ground. One of them has the gorilla profile of a Heavy soldier. They don't appear to be aware of the action downstairs, yet.

Hrmf. Pity you don't have night-vision goggles or anything. Still, Alexi has a squad of snipers? That is awesome. Hrmm... Ok, ya either gotta take these guys out, or move further in, and despite the rather awkward position you have for attacking, leaving live enemies behind you is just plain a bad idea. If you think you can get everyone on top of the ledge without setting off any booby traps or mines or anything, set stuff up... One sniper to take out the guy in the watchtower (And then to shoot anybody that tries to man the spotlight), one to shoot the guy in normal armor, and two to shoot at the heavy. Aim for the face, or for the joints on the legs. Have everyone fire at the same time, or as near to it as you can.

>>266643
Oh, you've got snipers?

Then, yeah, >>266657 seems reasonable.

Myrrhine 2010/12/25(Sat)17:10 No. 266676 ID: 310377
File 129332583470.png - (23.51KB , 800x600 , 26 all along the watchtower.png )

Myrrhine tells Alexei and his snipers to climb up and be quiet. She points out her targets to them and assigns shooters. Alexei will handle the guard tower, one sniper will take the right soldier, and two will take down the Heavy.

Alexei lines his men up, whispers something about wind speed, then breathes a countdown. On Mark, the snipers fire in tandem, four muzzle flashes and four percussive thwomps echoing through the cavern. The window on the guard tower shatters. Its guard drops. The soldier on the right's head dissolves into a red mist. The heavy on the left is brought to his knees by a shot to the leg, but his movement throws the other sniper off, and the second bullet just pings off his armor. You are some kind of fuckup machine, Pius, says Alexei as he works the bolt. A fuckup machine from another planet.

Someone in the dark to the right shouts out a warning. The heavy appears to be struggling to get to his feet. They know where Myrrhine and her squad are, now.

Get Alexei to lead the way quickly and quietly to the tower. If you two can commandeer the searchlight then you can use it to highlight and blind the enemy. Send one of the snipers out in the dark to provide flanking fire and tell rest of the squad to play defensively by moving, providing pinning fire and staying in cover while watching out for grenades.

Ok. Myrrhine, grab one of the flashlights, grab one or two of the other men and give one of them another flashlight, and start moving up. Try to keep quiet as well, they know you're there, but in a few moments, they won't know precisely -where-. Alexi and the remainder will move off to the side so the enemy don't know quite where they are anymore, either, and they'll provide covering fire on anything that becomes trouble (Like that heavy if he manages to get back up). Now, nightvision exists, but is rare, so in all likelyhood they're gonna have to rely on flashlights too. Try to see if they turn theirs on so you can shoot 'em if not... Well, I guess you're gonna have to use yours. Here's hoping you just took out most (Or at least half) of them.

>>266683
Oi, mate, we can't even -see- any cover, for all we know there's a couple of them a few meters in front of us. The darkness is gonna be the biggest player in this fight.

Myrrhine 2010/12/25(Sat)17:49 No. 266695 ID: 506ac2
File 12933281659.png - (36.12KB , 800x600 , 27.png )

Myrrhine grabs Alexei's arm and tells him to lead them up to the tower. He gets up and they head over to the left, leaving the two other snipers behind with orders to stay mobile.

Myrrhine and Alexei head right until Alexei finds the wall of the cavern. They move along it toward the tower.

Off toward the right, Alexei's snipers kip up and get mobile. One fires off another shot at the heavy, but it's mostly for cover fire's sake, and it glances off his lower leg. The soldier who called out earlier flicks on a flashlight. The beam catches a tail of one of the snipers' cloaks, and the Heavy reacts with a burst of automatic fire. He misses the snipers, for now.

>>266695
Hrmm... Ok, from the looks of it, I don't know if there are any more soldiers about, so if you can take out that guy with the flashlight and not get shot by the heavy's machinegun, you should be able to take out the heavy at your leisure (Or hell, maybe even capture him, if you so wish).

So. Myrrhine and Alexi need to shoot the guy with the flashlight, maybe draw some heat off the snipers (Heck, considering how narrow the vision for USL helmets is, and how it's likely even worse for the heavy, he might not even see you). Snipers need to get the hell out of where the heavy is shooting, or hit the deck. Either blast the guy with the flashlight, or concentrate again on killing the heavy, precision shots.

Priority one: Get rid of that damn light.

Priority two: Kill heavy.

Myrrhine 2010/12/25(Sat)21:23 No. 266742 ID: 310377
File 129334099129.png - (45.43KB , 800x600 , 28 soulja boy.png )

You low motherfucker, mutters Alexei, not breaking his guiding grip on Myrrhine and pulling out his handgun. Cover your ears, hon, he says. Without giving her a chance, he rapidly empties the clip toward the flashlight. The beam bobs wildly and drops. Its thump corresponds with the click of the spent magazine dropping onto the floor.

Myrrhine 2010/12/25(Sat)21:23 No. 266743 ID: 310377
File 129334100198.png - (33.40KB , 800x600 , 29 all of the lights.png )

But the beam catches the snipers in its focus for a split second more as it falls, and the Heavy takes advantage, shrugging off yet another bullet to his arm and firing again. He catches one of the snipers. Myrrhine can hear the thwack, and a pained grunt. It's too dark to see how bad he's hit.
A split second later, another bullet slams into the Heavy's arm, this one catching him in the elbow and going through the joint. He falls to his bloodied knees, and the gun drops, the bullets pinging off the ceiling. He struggles still to pick it up again, but his body is starting to refuse to respond.

Alexi and unwounded sniper, move up and take the heavy prisoner, or just kill him if you need to. Myrrhine should get over to the wounded sniper and apply first aid. Turn on your flashlight so you can see what you're doing, I think the battle is about over.

>>266745
Fuck, wait, no, no! There's somebody trying to man the watchtower spotlight. Wounded sniper should call out how wounded he is if he (She?) can, unwounded sniper blasts the guy in the watchtower window, Myrrhine and Alexi finish off the heavy and keep moving up to the tower.

...And check out what the heck that small-ish light to the right of the flashlight is!

(Sorry for tons and tons of posts.)

>>266745
>>266747
>>266748
Damn dude, usually it takes several people to have an argument of suggestions like that.

Good spot on the tower though. Field medicine unfortunately has to wait for either cover or confirmed lack of hostiles, preferably both.

Myrrhine 2010/12/26(Sun)16:30 No. 266954 ID: 310377
File 129340981678.png - (57.90KB , 800x600 , 30 the dark is rising.png )

Myrrhine calls for one of the snipers to take out the guy in the tower, but no shot comes. She can see by the dull glow of the flashlight that the unwounded sniper is dragging the wounded one behind a rock formation picked out by the beam of the flashlight. The target is about to turn the light on. No time to get someone else to shoot. Reflexively, she raises her own rifle, inhales, and takes the shot herself.
It misses the man, but it hits the spotlight just as it's turning on, cascading sparks out the broken window.

Myrrhine 2010/12/26(Sun)16:35 No. 266956 ID: 310377
File 129341012231.png - (44.78KB , 800x600 , 31 cover.png )

The insubordinate sniper and his wounded friend are now both safely behind cover. The Heavy takes hold of his gun, but a hipfired bullet from Alexei knocks him onto the floor, and this time he has the sense to stay down.

>>266956
Tell Alexi to cover you and keep his eyes out while you advance up to the next cover slightly to the left of where you're at. Around 11 o'clock I would say.

Once you're there you cover for Alexi while he advances towards the next cover. Leapfrog until you're at the tower. Once you have secured the area you can check up on the wounded guy.

>>266756
I'd recommend patching up the wounded.

hard to complete a mission with dead people.

>>266961
The other sniper is already handling that. Myrr and Alexi should secure the area. Then stuff like looting and applying field dressings can be handled.

Myrrhine 2010/12/26(Sun)17:14 No. 266970 ID: 310377
File 129341244165.png - (45.03KB , 800x600 , 32 bang.png )

>>266960
Myrrhine gives the order and heads toward the tower.
Alexei is headed toward cover when a grenade the USL trooper threw, unnoticed in the gloom, detonates near him. The illumination created by the explosion is over too quickly to see what happened to him, but Myrrhine can hear him swear loudly from behind the stone wall. She fights the sick feeling of uncertainty of what has happened to him
The soldier in the tower is back behind cover. Myrrhine hears the pop of a sniper rifle somewhere behind her, so there's someone laying fire on him, but she's not sure if Alexei is well enough to shoot or if it's one of the snipers.

>>266970
Well fuck. Still, only one way to go. Need to take out that fucker in the tower and secure the area. Do the other sniper have a radio? If so then ask him to keep the fucker in the tower down. If not then I guess you're just going to have to trust him. When you get close you will also have to take out on of the lights to produce some more shadow that you can hide in while covering the last stretch to the tower.

>>266970
If Alexei was able to curse loudly, as you said, he can't be that bad off.

Damn, getting to that guy is going to be a bitch.

Myrrhine 2010/12/26(Sun)17:58 No. 267000 ID: d96936
File 129341511692.png - (38.26KB , 800x600 , 33 all of the lights.png )

Myrrhine calls out into the dark for everyone to keep the covering fire up, then moves up to the tower, stepping gingerly around the wounded Heavy. Her bolt chatters and slams another bullet into the chamber. She sends it at the nearest light, putting it out and cutting the light in half. She slams into the wall of the tower and feels along until she finds the door. From here she can hear the strangely comical whizz of the bullets ricocheting off the tower. Looks like the snipers are keeping that USL man down.

>>267000
Well then, time to sneak in with rifle at the ready. Try to keep stealthy and he might not notice your approach, making it possible to take him out with a single shot and then loot the place with all the stuff intact. If you can't do that though then just toss in a grenade, just be aware of the possibility that the bastard might make it through somehow. Don't want to end up like that other guy that assumed his grenade had done all the work.

Myrrhine 2010/12/26(Sun)19:06 No. 267025 ID: 506ac2
File 129341918039.png - (29.63KB , 800x600 , 34 Full coverz.png )

Myrrhine enters the tower and heads up the stairs, keeping to the outside to minimize creaking. Stop worrying about Alexei. Focus. The stairs lead to a door, the door leads to a hallway, and the hallway leads to the last USL soldier, crouched behind cover. He doesn't appear to have heard Myrrhine, but as she sneaks a look and ducks back, her shoulderpad scrapes against the wall.
The soldier freezes.
Guiseppe? he calls out. Myrrhine freezes.
Guiseppe? he says again. All is still and quiet but for the pinging trails of the bullets.

I think Guiseppe is a name. He must think you're an ally. That, or it's a challenge, code-word, to figure out if you're an ally. Doesn't change things either way. Call out and demand his surrender (In his language, not yours, obviously). Tell him he's surrounded, and the only one left. ...Well, that, or I guess you could pop out and shoot him. Your choice.

Myrrhine 2010/12/26(Sun)21:06 No. 267074 ID: d96936
File 129342641755.png - (29.91KB , 800x600 , 35 Full coverz.png )

Myrrhine doesn't know much USL, but "You're surrounded; Surrender" is something she was trained to say. Estadu ensadu, she calls. Us'resignu.
N'us'avanso, says the soldier, starting, pointing his gun at the door. Cag! Matedu mo compadria. Estadu cag d'boc. I'Curro ure transladure!
Myrrhine does not know what the fuck.

Us'resignu!

Uhhhhhh. Fire off a shot and then repeat the call for surrender?

>N'us'avanso Cag! Matedu mo compadria. Estadu cag d'boc. I'Curro ure transladure!

im not sure but it seems like

not us advancing "cag"! (untranslatable, killed?) company(female). we are (untranslatable). i (request?) a translator!

A sticky pickle...
How to take him out safely?
Got any grenades?

Myrrhine 2010/12/26(Sun)22:20 No. 267101 ID: 506ac2
File 129343082695.png - (32.32KB , 800x600 , 36 SACRE BLEU.png )

Myrrhine fires a round off. Us'resignu! she commands, in her loudest voice.

The USL squeaks at the sound of the gunshot, and Myrrhine hears a clattering sound. I'resignu! Cag! Nu'Matedi! he says.

...Coward. Make him your bitch.

Awesome. Call in on your radio to Alexi and hi squad that you took the last guy prisoner, check to see if he has any more weapons, then escort the prisoner down to 'ground level'. Hand off 'Point a gun at his head' duty to somebody else, then treat the wounded. Maybe call in the second squad for assistance. We can figure out where to go from here after doing all that.

>>267101
Nice. Go in, strip him of weapons and armour. Check if there's anything that looks that it requires your immediate attention in the tower.

If not then call up your guys, see how they are and then we start the interogation. Doesn't matter if he's roughed up a bit.

Let us get all of our people up in the tower so we can see to the wounded. Strip this guy of weapons and armor.

Myrrhine 2010/12/27(Mon)16:35 No. 267248 ID: c152fb
File 129349652841.png - (36.05KB , 800x600 , 37.png )

Myrrhine orders the soldier to take his armor off at gunpoint, then calls out the window for everyone to come up.
Alexei arrives, toting a scrounged first aid kit and supporting a hobbling Pius. Apparently he was hit in the leg and he can't really walk on his own all that well.
Myrrhine notes the arm, but Alexei laughs it off. He says he's fine, it was just some shrapnel to the shoulder. He's okay. He says Thom is downstairs guarding the Heavy, who's alive but in a pretty bad way. He asks what they're planning to do with him and with this weaselly little turd who messed his arm up.

>>267248
Probably take them a bit closer to the entrance and shoot them once you're done here. Unless you got the time and manpower to take them to some place where they can be held securely. But don't say that, you don't want the prisoners to know that.

But first comes interogation. Alexi can probably play the bad one in this quite well, he's got motivation atleast. One of you need to understand what he's saying though. Anyway, go good cop bad cop a bit, rough him up a bit maybe. And don't ask leading questions. Keep to simple stuff like who he is, why they're here and stuff like that. Keep going until you get some satisfying answers, then press him some extra to make sure his storystays consistent.

Do we have anybody who speaks their godawful moonspeak? If we can disarm them and tie them up, there's no reason to execute them.

We need information, though.

Myrrhine 2010/12/27(Mon)18:41 No. 267262 ID: d96936
File 12935041057.png - (12.55KB , 800x600 , 38.png )

"Who are you?" asks Myrrhine.
"Cue?" The soldier looks confused.
"Name. U'Numbri."
"Firenze Di Dego."
"Why are you here?" demands Alexei.
"Cue?"
"Fuck's sake," mutters Alexei, giving him a kick. He says it's probably a better idea if they just shoot him.
Myrrhine asks if tehre's anyone who speaks Sharlo, and Alexei says yeah, the Shock Trooper deacon does enough to get by, but they're all the way back outside and they're guarding the entrance. Do you really want to call them?

Well its not like they have to come IN here. We can just use the radios.

Myrrhine 2010/12/27(Mon)19:51 No. 267268 ID: 310377
File 129350828228.png - (22.44KB , 800x600 , Nina.png )

Myrrhine decides she can just translate over the radio. She keys into channel and calls her Shock Trooper Deacon...

...Nina III.

Nina, despite being only a few years older than many of her soldiers, has earned from them the affectionate nickname "Mom". She is kind, easygoing, and extremely protective of the soldiers under her care, to the point of motherliness. This reflects itself in her combat style. Nina wears Heavy Armor and a thick buckler. She's a walking wall armed only with a magnum, which she isn't particularly accurate with but which can knock holes in most armor. But if you put Nina in charge of a squad, you're not worried about offense. Nina is here to soak up fire. And make cookies.

Myrrhine 2010/12/27(Mon)19:51 No. 267269 ID: 310377
File 129350831164.png - (19.08KB , 800x600 , Saul.png )

...Saul X.

Saul is a Believer. He is confident in the existence of heaven and his place in it, making him close to fearless in combat. He wears the robes of the ordained even in combat, a rare practice nowadays. When he talks, he says what he needs to say quickly and quietly. When he fights, it's with whatever blade or melee weapon he can get his hands on and with his weapon of choice, a cruel, sawn-off shotgun named Benedict. Saul is brooding and intimidating, but his men follow him with a mixture of awe and respect. He kills people frequently, violently, and without emotion.
By all accounts, though, his confessor has a full plate.

Choose one Shock Trooper deacon. The choice is permanent.

I... ...Uh... ...Shoot, I can't decide which to pick, either one would fit well with Alexi and our snipers. Leaning towards Nina III, though, so we have some hard combat capability. And the whole 'Not a fucking creepy zealot' thing.

>>267273
I support Nina, just because I'd rather have someone a little more personable on hand.

>>267273
>>267274

Fuck that noise! A medium trooper that is stealthy? What's not to love?! Take him! We'll be using stealth to get through everything!

>>267277
...Hmm... Yeah, thinking about it, changed my mind: Go for Saul. Best defense is a good offense; They can't kill our guys if we kill them first.

By the looks of the vault so far, a stealthy trooper would do some good. Like Conil said, they can't kill our troops if we kill theirs first.

I'm picking Nina. We're choosing who to use to translate over the radio, not fight people inside the vault.

I like Nina on this one.

Guarding the door is not a sneaky job. Coming stampeding in to our rescue is not a sneaky job. Also, we need some heavies. Medium armor is fine, but you DID see how many sniper shots it took to not actually kill that single heavy outside, right?

>>267268
Heavy stormtrooper is always nice to have. And hey, seems like we don't have to shoot them. Once we're done talking to them we can ask her to send someone in to take out our hobbling sniper and the prisoners.

Another vote for Heavy Nina for good measure. There's already plenty of stealthy characters in the squad.

She can always hang back a bit should stealth be required, anyways. As she had probably done during the shootout earlier.

Myrrhine 2010/12/28(Tue)20:38 No. 267461 ID: 310377
File 129359752294.png - (9.54KB , 800x600 , 39 repeat lol.png )

Myrrhine calls Nina, who picks up with a cheerful "Hey, sugar. How are you and Alexei doing in there?"
Myrrhine relates the events of the expedition to her, and tells her about their captive. "Oh no," she says. "Is he okay?"
"The prisoner?"
"No," Nina laughs. "Alexei. Why would I care about some USL drone?"
"You never know," says Myrrhine.
"Hey Nina," calls Alexei. "He looks kind of cold in his skivvies. Maybe y'oughta knit him a sweater."
"Howls of laughter, Alexei," Nina says. "You have brought the house down, as always. Put the kid on, I'll get what you need out of him. What do you want me to ask him?"

Myrrhine 2010/12/28(Tue)20:38 No. 267462 ID: 310377
File 129359752476.png - (9.79KB , 800x600 , 40.png )

>>267249
"Take this," says Myrrhine, holding out the radio. "Uh, u'toce."
The soldier looks confused, but takes the radio anyway. He calms down a little when the voice that comes out is in his native language.
"He says he and his buddies are USL deserters," says Nina. "They were supposed to explore the vault, but instead they're holding up in here waiting for a larger USL force they're supposed to be reporting to. They were planning on holding the CO hostage and getting vehicles and supplies enough to strike out for Intalos. He says it's one platoon, twenty, twenty five guys, but some of them are out looking for unwary passerby to steal from. Is there anything else you need me to ask, Ma'am?"

>>267462
A rundown of what they have found in the area so far would be nice. Also when the others are expected back. Whether the plan is ambush or white flag, we need to know when to expect them so it doesn't just become another shootout.

Myrrhine 2010/12/28(Tue)22:19 No. 267491 ID: c152fb
File 129360355363.png - (22.30KB , 800x600 , 41 interrog8.png )

"What have they found in the area?"
"He says he doesn't know what's going on outside. He says he's just a soldier and they don't tell him things. He's heard scouts talk about another vault a few days away from here but nothing else. He also says," Nina laughs, "that he didn't want to go along with it and everyone else made him and that he has a family and that sort of thing."
"Ask him when the others are due back."
"The returning scouts will be here at the end of the day. Hour or two. The main USL force won't be here for another couple of days. Apparently they have enough food to survive that long with some rationing. Oh, and he's asking for his pants back."

Ambush time. Honestly, any sympathy I had for these guys fled when the guy admitted they were deserters and bandits. Slit his throat, mercy-kill the downed heavy, then return to the entrance to set up the welcome wagon for when the scouts return.

>>267491
Ok, lets get this ambush set up. Ask him from which direction the scouts are going to return from and where the rest of his guys are. He said they were a whole platoon. We have not killed or seen enough dead guys to make up a whole platoon. Which means that there are more enemies to be killed in the area. So we need to know where they're at.

Myrrhine 2010/12/29(Wed)16:16 No. 267612 ID: 506ac2
File 129366821489.png - (29.85KB , 800x600 , 42 Floor 3.png )

Myrrhine has Nina ask where the scouts are coming from, and where everyone else in the platoon is.

"He says he doesn't know where the scouts are, only that they're coming back this evening. He says he thinks they're going to come in with the door."
"I had guessed that."
"I think he didn't get the question. He also says there's a lift behind the tower that goes up to the third floor, and there's more of the platoon up there, including their CO, name of Ratton. He says it was all Ratton's idea, and if we let him go he'll go right back on the straight and narrow. Do you think he gets that we're Oikalesians, and his goose is cooked either way?"

>>267612
He's probably not smart enough to realise that. Ok, lets give him a bullet to the brain, he has outlived his usefullness. No wait, that's loud and wasteful. Knife to the throat is what he gets. Alexi can do the honours. Just one last question for him first, did they warn their CO what was going on?

Anyway, we're going to need everyone outside to get in here. We need to mop up the remaining enemies and get more intel. Once we know how large the regular force coming here is as well who the scouts are and from what direction they're likely to be returning we know enough for a good ambush.

Oh, and Nina and her guys as well as whoever else might be out there are going to drag the corpses with them deeper into the cave. Don't want the scouts to get back while we're partying and finding the bodies.

...oh jeez let's not kill the hostage so quickly. Hand him over to our main group as a POW. That's how things are supposed to work in a real war.

>>267633
But we're not in a real war and he's not a real soldier. He's a deserter and an admited bandit. Rules of war doesn't aply to him any longer. He gets the same treatment as any enemy civilian firing at soldiers. A short trial and a hangmans noose. Or in this case a knife.

Kill him

Myrrhine 2010/12/29(Wed)17:27 No. 267647 ID: c152fb
File 129367247626.png - (10.30KB , 800x600 , 43 bye bye frenchie.png )

"One more question for him," says Myrrhine. "Has he told the CO anything about us?"
"He says no," says Nina. "Can he go now?"
"That's good," says Myrrhine. "Thank you, Nina. I'm heading back downstairs. Meet me down there once you've finished up here, Alexei." She helps a wincing Pius to his feet and supports him on the way downstairs.

"Cue?" says Firenze. "I'qora u'vis? I'pidri ve?"

Myrrhine 2010/12/29(Wed)17:28 No. 267648 ID: c152fb
File 129367248743.png - (28.87KB , 800x600 , 44 Vault 101.png )

Myrrhine and Pius meet Thom, the other sniper, downstairs. He informs them that the heavy bled to death while they were out. On the radio, Nina tells Myrrhine she's inside.
Do they go up to floor three, or wait and stage the ambush for the scouts?

>>267648
Hmm, we got no information on an exact timetable on the scouts. Have to know what we got to work with before we can decide. What is everyone carrying and what can they do?

Myrrhine 2010/12/29(Wed)18:10 No. 267677 ID: d96936
File 129367504618.png - (29.01KB , 800x600 , 45 Vault 101.png )

Myrrhine field-strips and stows away the corpses, and reconvenes her troops in the lower floor.

Myrrhine (M) is armed with:
An Oikalos bolt action rifle
A combat knife
2 grenades
A first aid kit, good for treating 3 injuries
Myrrhine is unhurt.

Alexei (L) is armed with:
An Oikalos bolt action sniper rifle
A combat knife
3 grenades
1 remote explosive
Alexei leads 2 snipers, both armed with rifles and knives. Alexei has a wounded arm. One sniper has a wounded leg.

Nina (H) is armed with:
A revolver
A steel buckler
A smoke grenade
A package of crackers
Nina leads 2 Shock Troopers, both armed with bucklers and revolvers. They are unhurt.

In addition, they have, in working condition:
3 USL Grunt Helmets
1 USL medium power armor
3 flashlights
1 USL handgun
2 USL bolt-action rifles
1 USL semiautomatic rifle
30 USL rifle ammo
20 USL handgun ammo

Possible courses of action are:
Ambush the returning scouts,
Go up the elevator and confront Ratton,
Further explore currently occupied caverns,
or anything else you might think of.

Can we set the explosive to BLOW UP the returning scouts?

Myrrhine 2010/12/29(Wed)20:18 No. 267727 ID: c152fb
File 129368269415.png - (11.27KB , 800x600 , 46 Michael Baysplosions.png )

"Damn straight we can!" says Alexei. "Does this mean we're going for the ambush?"

We only need one guy to keep an eye on the door and hit the detonator. While that's set up, let's explore the rest of the cleared area.

Myrrhine 2010/12/29(Wed)22:24 No. 267762 ID: 506ac2
File 12936902434.png - (31.09KB , 800x600 , 47.png )

Alexei goes to set the charge and watch for the scouts. Everyone else splits up and spends an hour searching the cavern, except Pius whose leg is in too bad shape for him to do much walking.

On the second floor, Thom finds the machine gun that the Heavy threw away. There's a belt with 15 bullets left in it, and an additional One of the heavies finds an old lighter on the ground that appears to be able to start without a spark, and emits a low, blood-red flame. This sort of thing shows up a lot in Vaults, and they can often fetch a good price, or have strange properties an Appraiser could gleam.

Nina finds what Thom found earlier, on the roof. "Don't pick it up," Pius insists. "It could be a booby trap."
"Baloney," says Nina. "It's... a mask, or something. Look, Myrrhine. What do you call those things that go on your face and they're like a mask but they have eyeholes?"
"A mask has eyeholes, Nina."
"No, I mean like a thing. You know."

Myrrhine 2010/12/29(Wed)22:24 No. 267763 ID: 506ac2
File 129369026614.png - (25.06KB , 800x600 , 48 balaclalala.png )

"A balaclava?" says Myrrhine, picking it up.
"Right," says Nina. "Brain fart there. It's a balaclava."
Myrrhine dusts it off and looks it over. It doesn't seem USL. It's possible that it's a Vault artifact, in which case it may have something special or beneficial about it that isn't evident at a glance. An appraiser could tell you, for a fee, or Myrrhine could just put it on and experiment. Equipping it would decrease her Line of Sight, though, just like a USL helmet would.

>>267763
Nah. Inventory it and set up the ambush. Have a sniper watch the elevator. Who knows what sort of surveillance they have?

>>267763
Put it onnnnn!

Pull it on quickly. If there's nothing immediately obvious, then stow it.

Why the hell not? Try it on.

Also, the little sparkly thingss are treasures? Then what's that sparkly-bit on the roof of the cavern, 'next to' the second pillar in?

>>267793
...Then again, on the other hand, is it possible it may have negative effects that arn't apparent at first glance, or are such 'cursed' artifacts nonexistant?

>>267763
Time for some delicious experimentation. Put it on.

Oh, and we can probably take down Ratton while we wait for the scouts. Alexi and Pius can stay near the entrance and keep an eye out for them. They're not going to be of much use for what comes next anyway. We go and check out the elevator. If there are cameras in it or it's too small then it could be troublesome. But if there is space to cram in 3 heavies and there's no camera then it certainly becomes possible to storm the place. One of them takes the machinegun to chew up anything immediatly outside the door. Then some smoke, go forward to some nice positions, thorw a grenade or two at wherever the enemy seems to gather for a push and keep them busy while Myrrhine and the last sniper goes up to reinforce.

Oh, and take that sword we saw in the first room as well. Grenade knocked it free from its holdings, might still be working.

Myrrhine 2010/12/30(Thu)16:03 No. 267895 ID: c152fb
File 129375379460.png - (6.01KB , 800x600 , 49 climbtool.png )

Myrrhine looks up at the top of the pillar, and sees a cruel-looking, spiked climbing pick stuck between the pillar and the ceiling. She climbs up and retrieves it, then gets Nina to give her a boost up to the sword on the wall.
Both the Vault pick and the USL Shocksword have been added to the inventory. These weapons are usable by Myrrhine and Alexei.

Myrrhine 2010/12/30(Thu)16:06 No. 267900 ID: c152fb
File 129375396448.png - (7.91KB , 800x600 , 50 elevator.png )

Myrrhine tries on the balaclava. She notes that her vision now subtly slides toward any movement in her line of sight, almost as if her eyes are being tugged toward it.

Then she investigates the elevator. Nina suggests there might be a weight limit. She and her two heavies go inside, and the elevator groans in protest and refuses to start. It looks like Myrrhine will only be able to take
two heavies,
all three snipers,
or one heavy and one sniper
to go immediately into the third floor with her. Given time, the elevator can ferry everyone else up.

Alexei reports over the radio that the scouting party is still nowhere in sight, and it's still light outside. Should be for another forty five minutes.

>>267900
Ok, leave the pick with Alexi. Myrrhine takes the sword. One of the heavies take the machinegun.

Myrrhine in the back with a smoke grenade out. Two heavies, one of them Nina and the other one whoever has the machine gun, to the front. Once the door opens the heavies blast every fool in sight. Myrrhine throws the smoke out there to reduce the enemies sight, get some good cover, shoot some more fools and wait for the elevator to bring up the last heavy and sniper. Use grenades to flush out enemies and shoot them.

Should be 10 or maybe 8 guys up there. We have encountered 7 live enemies who are now dead, and there was one dude who had been killed before we got here. Unless the others have heard all the gunfire and stuff then they shouldn't be ready for a fight. Possibly not even have their gear near at hand. If we're lucky it could actually be pretty easy to kill them all.

Myrrhine 2010/12/30(Thu)17:04 No. 267925 ID: d96936
File 12937574677.png - (3.51KB , 800x600 , 51 oh lucky lucky lucky.png )

Myrrhine gives the plan to Nina and one of the heavies, a quiet guy named Elso.

They get ready to act as soon as the elevator doors open...

Myrrhine 2010/12/30(Thu)17:04 No. 267926 ID: d96936
File 129375747824.png - (26.24KB , 800x600 , 52 lucky me again.png )

...but it looks like there's something in the way.

"What the fuck are Oikalesians doing," a voice crackles over an intercom, in a heavy USL accent, "in the Vault of Ratton?"

"Ma'am?" says Alexei from the radio. "Some speakers just switched on downstairs. I think they know we're here."
"We figured that out," says Nina.

>>267926
Nice ego on this dude. Ok, time for some negotiations. Tell him that you have come to negotiate with him in good faith. Start talking and see if you can keep him going, preferably with stuff about how great he is.

Meanwhile see if you can get Nina or the other heavy to asses the door. Can it be breached? How? Any other plans?

Myrrhine 2010/12/30(Thu)19:29 No. 267942 ID: 506ac2
File 129376619587.png - (9.78KB , 800x600 , 53 At the door.png )

"I want Alexei to tell me how this door can get blown open," mutters Myrrhine to Nina, "and I want someone to bring me a bigger boot to shove up this horse's ass when it does." Louder, she says, "We're here to negotiate with you."

"Shooting my house up, not a good way to do this," says Ratton. "This is a new kingdom, and I am new king, and you are at war with me."

Myrrhine hears Alexei, sending a message to her by blasting static over the radio. He can probably breach a door with the remote explosive, but that would mean using it there instead of against the scouts. They could also try and blow the door open with grenades, but the room is small enough that there are scant few places to hide while those grenades detonate, and the elevator doors may not close fast enough.

"You go now, see reason, I let you leave with life," says Ratton. "Otherwise this will not end well for you, Oikalesians."

Hmm. Unless you can blast the lock with the machine gun or a magnum or a melee weapon (Maybe the vault pick would work?), I think we're gonna have to use the remote detonator on the door instead of the scouts.

Though, to be honest, I'm tempted to suggest we simply wait and kill the scouts before going further in.

Why would the doors not close quick enough? Can't you attach a cord or something to the pins to activate them while standing in the elevator?

Myrrhine 2010/12/30(Thu)20:48 No. 267954 ID: c152fb
File 129377092689.png - (19.15KB , 800x600 , 54 pick da pick.png )

>>267953
The problem isn't getting to the elevator, it's that the doors are old, rusted, and slow. They'll take longer to close than the grenade would take to detonate, and the elevator is in range for stunning or shrapnel. They could try and shape the blast, but Myrrhine isn't sure what with. Or they could toss it out when the door is closing, but unless they affix it to the door more securely that might not work. They'd be able to use a cord, if they had a cord. They don't.

She could try using the Vault Pick on the door. It's a stretch, but it might do something.
"Go away. I have many men in here who will do as I say, and many more out in the field. I will bring them back unless you leave your guns here and tuck tail between your legs."

Shape it with the trash can? Try giving a random wall or something a whack with the pick? Honestly, if we can't think of anything, get back down to ground floor, and prepare to ambush the scouts. Also put one or two people on the elevator, in case they try to send reinforcements down.

...Also tempted to suggest you shoot the cameras. This guy is annoying.

Myrrhine 2010/12/30(Thu)21:11 No. 267959 ID: c152fb
File 129377230155.png - (5.64KB , 800x600 , 55 Solution.png )

Myrrhine suggests shaping the blast to Alexei.
"With what?" he asks.
"There's a trash can here," says Myrrhine. "A big metal cylindrical trash can thing."
"...Myrrhine, you are brilliant," says Alexei. "If that can is strong enough you can make an improvised EFP. We used some on a Derlithian Tank once. It'll blow the lock wide open. What you want to do is pound one end in concave. Nina's probably got enough strength in her power armor to manage it if she gets a good tool for the job. Then you put the whole thing up to the lock on the door, maybe tie it to a cot if you can drag it up there, that'll hold it, and stick the grenade in. Boom, path of least resistance turns your caved-in side into a great big slug, smash right through that lock."

>>267959
With the right tool? Whats a good tool for this job look like, if not a fist?

>>267959
Tool? PICK!

Myrrhine 2010/12/30(Thu)22:46 No. 267979 ID: c152fb
File 129377796988.png - (17.54KB , 800x600 , 56 ba da bing.png )

Nina's gloves aren't armored like the rest of her, unfortunately, so she uses the pick instead. It's a worthy enough instrument to pound the metal into shape, but she doesn't note anything specifically out of the ordinary while she works.

They haul up a cot from the ground floor and tie the shaped can to it.
"I am calling the scouts now," says Ratton. "I am going to tell them to kill you all when they get back to here."

Nina tosses a grenade into the can and scrambles backward.

Myrrhine 2010/12/30(Thu)22:46 No. 267981 ID: c152fb
File 129377801651.png - (11.72KB , 800x600 , 58 Control Room.png )

The doors buckle open to a cavernous room, and Myrrhine can hear the thrum of machinery under the ringing the detonation caused in her ear. Several black monoliths line the ground floor, one of them on its side from the blast. At the far end of the room, an alcove houses a bank of screens showing the feed from several cameras.
USL Soldiers in various states of surprise stand staring at the hole in the door, in the split second of calm before the storm.

Myrrhine 2010/12/30(Thu)22:48 No. 267982 ID: c152fb
File 129377809964.png - (9.49KB , 800x600 , 59 GET OUT.png )

Then, at the far end of the room, the squat, ugly man who stands in front of the screens howls, "Get Out!

Heh. Wonder what would happen if you followed his instructions NOW.

Anyway, cover. What's that waist high object in the middle of the room? It might work for cover if someone can put a shot in the guy up on the roof in a hurry.

Machine-gunner heavy sprays three, four guys on the lower floor, Myrrhine shoots the guy on the higher floor with her rifle (Blast, why didn't we grab the semi-auto rifle for her when we had the chance?), and Nina throws her smoke grenade. After that, move in for close combat. We've got two heavies, they have one. I think we can do this.

Oh, and if Myrrhine has them with her, she should probably use the electro-sword or the pickaxe for melee combat instead of her knife. Maybe dual-wield the sword with the USL handgun if she feels confident doing such a thing. (Again, blast not figuring out equipment before this.)

>>267981
Machinegun guy fires a burst on their heavy. Should hopefully get him down or atleast stun him for long enough. Nina also shoots the heavy. Myrrhine shoots the guy on the top of that building.

Then it's time to throw the smoke grenade in among them and take cover behind that waist high thing. Then we reassess the situation and see what's next.

Heavy, spray the ground floor dudes. Myrrine, shoot their commander. Smoke grenade, etc. etc.

Myrrhine 2011/01/01(Sat)13:14 No. 268274 ID: 310377
File 129391645358.png - (12.87KB , 800x600 , 60 Control room.png )

The heavy steamrolls into the room, kicking the doors the rest of the way open. He makes for cover, props the MG and one leg against it, and opens fire on the soldiers on the floor. He uses up 6 bullets. He has 9 left.
One target finds cover behind a nearby monolith. The one on the staircase isn't so lucky, and a bullet tears into his side. He stumbles backward and scrambles for cover. The USL heavy is caught out in the open. He starts to go for his gun but is kicked backward by the force of the bullets The table he was carrying drops to the floor with a loud crash, echoed a moment later by the bookcase Ratton brings to the floor to give himself some cover.

Myrrhine's in next. She fires at the soldier at the balcony, but her shot goes wide. He shoots back, but has no better luck.

Nina flings her smoke grenade in after them. The smoke starts spiraling out of the top. It'll take a couple seconds for it to fill.

>>268274
A nicely timed grenade to flush out the guy from cover burst from the machinegun or a normal shoot should be able to take care of him then. More fire on the enemy heavy, from the machinegun and Nina's magnum.

Myrrhine tries to take down the guy on top of the tower again. Oh, there's probably somewhere around 8 or so scouts who are going to be returning. They might come in as small numbers or the whole lot together. Should probably radio the extra sniper and heavy and tell them to go to the ambush spot to even out the odds a little.

>>268274
Nina, take a shot at the heavy with your handcannon. Myrrhine really really needs to drop that guy on the roof. Other heavy, conserve ammo, shoot at anyone that pokes out of cover. That includes the enemy heavy only if Nina fails to hit her mark.

Hrmm. Machine-gun heavy, shoot at the guy on the upper floor. Myrrhine, get behind cover (Or heck, just Nina, if you need to) and start throwing grenades. Try taking out the heavy, at least.

Myrrhine 2011/01/01(Sat)14:34 No. 268292 ID: c152fb
File 129392127139.png - (20.14KB , 800x600 , 61 Control room.png )

The smoke's starting to get thicker.
Myrrhine and the rifleman on the balcony trade shots again. His bullet smacks into the Heavy's shoulder, jarring his aim off as one of the ground enemies temporarily breaks cover. Myrrhine's bullet finds its target. The wounded rifleman ducks back down behind cover before she can see just how bad he's hit.

The heavy readjusts his aim and fires at his USL counterpart, who is raising his machine gun. He's forced back down by the cover fire, as well as by two shots from Nina's powerful magnum. There's a spray of blood. It looks like at least one of the bullets got through The wounded soldier is trying to get behind Ratton's cover, but the CO is refusing to move, yelling at him. Myrrhine makes out the Sharlo word for 'Coward'.

I learned my lesson last time. Should I be pointing out the "is that a grenade" in the picture? It's pretty airborn, how are you at baseball?

>>268292
Oh fuck, grenade incoming. Ok, either Nina or Myrrhine, grab that fucker and throw it back. Or kick it away. Not enough room for cover and stuff here.

Once the grenade threat has been neutralised then Myrrhine should attempt to flank while the other two cover for her.

Yep. That's definitely a grenade. Nina, see if you can knock the grenade away with either your fists, a nearby object, or even your shield. Myrrhine, stay behind the heavies as cover in case the grenade still makes it through. Machine gun heavy, keep laying down fire on that other heavy. Try to keep him down, or better yet, inflict a fatal wound.

Myrrhine 2011/01/01(Sat)15:41 No. 268308 ID: c152fb
File 12939252815.png - (32.37KB , 800x600 , 62 Control room.png )

Nina shoulders her trooper aside, and slams the grenade with her shield. It goes sailing into the ever-growing cloud of smoke. Myrrhine starts moving, but she won't go into the cloud until she hears the bang.
The heavy spends the remainder of the ammunition in the MG shooting at the USL heavy, holding the trigger until the belt goes dry and the gun coughs in protest. Myrrhine can't see how effective it was through the thickening smoke.

She does see the heavy grunt in pain as a shot finds his left shoulder. It looks like the wounded soldier is now standing in the open, firing his pistol with one hand and trying to keep his blood in with the other. Ratton is behind him, firing a heavy-looking SMG.

>>268308
Nina, keep firing on the enemy heavy. Machinegun heavy gets the sword now that he's out of ammo. Myrrhine shoots the injured one who is firing at them.

Give covering fire to the heavy so he can get in close and engage with the sword.

>>268308
Local heavy is wounded and out of ammo. That seems like a good moment to stop standing around, especially with a grenade likely to go off shortly somewhere nearby. Is combat reloading an option on that gun, or is he switching to a backup weapon?

Myrrhine 2011/01/01(Sat)20:50 No. 268370 ID: 506ac2
File 129394385389.png - (38.29KB , 800x600 , 63 Control room.png )

"Drop the MG!" Myrrhine calls, raising her voice over the chatter of Ratton's SMG, the ping! it makes as it bounces off Nina's protective shield. "Take the sword! Nina, cover the-"
She's interrupted by a loud clapping boom as the grenade tossed into the fog goes off. The gurgling scream that accompanies it suggests that it found its original source.
"-the heavy!" Myrrhine finishes. She fires off one last parting shot toward the two men shooting in the control room, then dashes toward the fog, trying to move up and flank.
She's stopped in her tracks by the heavy, who, undeterred by the two slugs Nina sends his way, unleashes a burst of fire blindly into the smoke. She feels an invisible baseball bat thwack into her chestplate, and falls backward, stumbling into cover. She checks herself over. There's a sizeable dent, but no penetration. Her armor saved her.

>>268370
Watch out up top. But go ahead and let them waste their ammo shooting blind into the smoke while you guys are behind cover. :3c

Nice hit on the wounded guy in the office, by the way.

Myrrhine 2011/01/01(Sat)23:34 No. 268406 ID: c152fb
File 129395364785.png - (162.61KB , 800x600 , 64 Purple Haze.png )

"Get to cover," says Myrrhine, scooting to the edge of her wall and peering out. Her head is forced back by a few errant rounds from the machine gun. "Can you see anything?" she asks the heavy, up a bit further forward than she is.
"You got one of them," he says. "And there's a USL body right here that's hamburger from the grenade. Euch." He, too, is forced to duck back into cover. "Oh, and the big guy with the MG is about to-" The gunfire abruptly stops and is replaced with a clicking sputter. Myrrhine hears the enemy Heavy start to crank his gun open to reload.

Advance!

Ah, now THAT'S a sound we love to hear. Take your one remaining grenade, leave the pin in, and toss it in a highly visible arc over the enemy heavy's head.
Then once they are all expecting a grenade to go off, charge in, heavies first. Myrrhine is still in charge of that guy on the roof.

>>268406
Yell out to Nina to take down the guy up above. Heavy and Myrrhine advances and takes down the enemy heavy. Lets see how he likes a shocksword up his arse.

Myrrhine 2011/01/02(Sun)14:49 No. 268538 ID: 506ac2
File 129400858025.png - (76.65KB , 800x600 , \'d.png )

Myrrhine lobs the grenade high, causing the USL Heavy to start to move up into cover.

Her heavy comes charging out of the smoke and sinks the shocksword into his chest, takes a step back to ensure zero body contact, then triggers 250 milliamps of electricity into him. He screams and twitches, oily smoke rising out of the wound.

Myrrhine 2011/01/02(Sun)14:49 No. 268539 ID: 506ac2
File 129400859652.png - (33.43KB , 800x600 , 65 Control Room.png )

Nina moves up, firing the last two bullets in her cylinder at the guy on the balcony. He stumbles backward out of sight. Ratton steps out of cover, heedless of the grenade, and fires a prolonged burst into the heavy's chest, sending him bowling over backward.
"King Ratton! I am KING RATTON!"

>>268539
Oh fuck he's badly hit.

Tell him to hit the deck and take out the madman. Then we're going to need to get some field dressing on our heavy friend.

Open fire on ratton!

Myrrhine 2011/01/02(Sun)15:22 No. 268554 ID: c152fb
File 12940105207.png - (10.14KB , 800x600 , 66 bang.png )

Myrrhine steps out of cover and shoots Ratton in the chest.

Myrrhine 2011/01/02(Sun)15:22 No. 268555 ID: c152fb
File 129401053090.png - (9.95KB , 800x600 , 67 click.png )

"I..." says Ratton, wobbling, taking a step back. Myrrhine loads in another round.

Myrrhine 2011/01/02(Sun)15:22 No. 268556 ID: c152fb
File 129401055632.png - (10.05KB , 800x600 , 68 bang.png )

She shoots him again, in the head.

He's dead before he hits the ground.

>>268556
Ok, time to see how your heavy friend is doing. Tell Nina to try to convince the last guy to surrender and give up. And to keep an eye out for any movements from him if he refuses.

Check to see what the last dude is doing. It's not over yet.

Also yeah check on your wounded.

Myrrhine 2011/01/02(Sun)19:30 No. 268716 ID: 506ac2
File 129402545971.png - (10.25KB , 800x600 , 69 Bless those Ewoks.png )

Myrrhine sprints over to the downed heavy while Nina calls up to the man on the balcony in Sharlo.

"Are you okay?" Myrrhine says. "Are you awake?"
The heavy nods, and coughs wetly. Myrrhine checks the wound. She can't see how bad it is in all the armor, but it looks like only one bullet got in. The bleeding's bad, of course, but it's not a sucking chest wound, and it could be worse. She predicts it will take two uses of the med kit to stabilize him, and even then they won't be able to move him for a while.

Nina gets no response. "I think he might be dead," she says. "I got him twice."

"Ma'am, I hate to put pressure on you, but we've got multiple contacts on the horizon, moving this way. Looks like the scouts are back," says Alexei over the radio. "Requesting permission to deliver some high-caliber discouragement."

Administer medical attention to wounded heavy. We can keep him here, all the enemies are dead anyway.

Tell Alexi he can fire at the most prime opportunity but not to forget about the explosive. Heheheheh.

After stabilizing the heavy (or hell, whoever's available during the treatment), rush around and check to see if there's anything immediately obvious that would help in a combat situation. Then let's go down and help.

Check out that gun 'His majesty' had, it pierced a heavy's armor, it might be a vault artifact.

>>268716
Get Nina over and start working on stabilising that guy. Radio the last heavy and sniper and tell them to head down to the ambush team to assist them. Tell Alexi that you're sending the ones you can spare over to him, but you got shit to do here so you can're really go there to help him personally right now. In the meantime he's encouraged to discourage them.

Myrrhine 2011/01/03(Mon)19:07 No. 268988 ID: 506ac2
File 129411045626.png - (16.29KB , 800x600 , 70 smg.png )

Myrrhine sits the Heavy up and leans him toward the gunshot wound. She instructs Nina to get the heavy armor off him and check for an exit wound. "Move him as little as possible and put pressure on the bleeding," she says. "There's not much else I can do until we get him out of the tin can."
While Nina's helping the Heavy out of his armor, Myrrhine walks toward Ratton's body. "Feel free to send a few rounds their way, Alexei," she says over the radio as she walks. "Anyone available, go help him out." She bends down over the dead Sharloian and picks up the SMG.

Myrrhine 2011/01/03(Mon)19:17 No. 268991 ID: d96936
File 129411106914.png - (24.00KB , 800x600 , 71 right click.png )

Myrrhine looks down along its sights. It's not a Vault item, unfortunately, just a USL weapon. A well-balanced, obviously effective one, but nothing supernatural about it.
Myrrhine finds three magazines on Ratton, each containing 32 bullets. If she wants more, she'll have to request USL ammunition from HQ.

She sees a door next to the bank of TVs, leading further into the Vault.
"Opening fire," says Alexei over the radio, curtly.
Does Myrrhine
Help Nina with the wounded Heavy
Help Alexei fight off the scouts
or keep exploring the Vault?

Give Nina a hand with the heavy. The sooner you can get him stabilized, the better. Then, once that's done, you can go with Nina to further explore the vault.

>>268991
Ask Nina if she's ok on her own. If she is then go help Alexi immediatly. If not then help her treat the heavy and then go see if Alexi still needs some help.

If we're staying with the heavy or going to help Alexi, barricade up the door, since it looks like it opens into the room you're in, and the wounded heavy -should- be safe enough.

>>268991
Meh, spray-and-pray weapons. Stick with the rifle. Go help Alexi. We want to regroup before advancing, no?

Myrrhine 2011/01/04(Tue)17:30 No. 269197 ID: c152fb
File 129419104421.png - (20.53KB , 800x600 , 72 Make you feel better.png )

Myrrhine puts away the SMG for now. It's wieldable by her, Alexei, or one-handed by Nina.
"How's he doing?" she asks, rejoining Nina the Heavy. He's taken off his breastplate, and Myrrhine is relieved to see the wound beneath is not as deep as she had feared. It's still bleeding quite a bit, though. She finds some gauze in the first aid kit and wraps him up. "Should we get the bullet out?" asks Nina.
"Cutting him open would not help," says Myrrhine. "We'll let a surgeon do that later. Right now we just need to keep him from going into shock. Keep him sitting there, don't move him, and keep applying pressure. I need to check with Alexei."
"Will I be okay?" asks the Heavy.
"Maybe," says Myrrhine. "Yeah." She heads out the door to the elevator. "Probably."
"You'll be fine," Nina reassures him as Myrrhine sinks from sight.

>>269198
Treat him. You need them to be somewhat functional. And the dead USL guys should have some supplies you can loot. Leave Alexi and his snipers out here to watch the front gate while you take the remaining mobile heavy to explore and see what you will find further in.

Myrrhine 2011/01/04(Tue)17:37 No. 269200 ID: c152fb
File 129419142667.png - (36.66KB , 800x600 , 73 so much grey you think i was tozol.png )

"Howdy, Priestess," Alexei greets her as she walks outside. His snipers are perched like gargoyles on the rocks around the entrance. "Turns out when USL deserters get shot at by folks really far away they can't see, they desert all over again."
"It's over?" asks Myrrhine.
"Yup," Alexei casually flicks the safety on his rifle off and on. "It all went fine,"
"Except Alexei's arm is all fucked up," says one of the snipers, taking a bite out of a granola bar. "The grenade he took earlier."
"Shut up, Pius," says Alexei. Myrrhine notes the fresh blood on his uniform and on the butt of his rifle. "The girl's just got a kick. Sort of opened up my shoulder again. I'm fine." Myrrhine notes for the first time the strain on his voice, and the sweat beaded on his forehead. But if she treats his arm and the Heavy doesn't stop bleeding soon they might run out of medical supplies. If she were to call in for pickup now it wouldn't arrive for an hour or so.

Myrrhine 2011/01/04(Tue)18:40 No. 269231 ID: 310377
File 129419524769.png - (16.40KB , 800x600 , 74 Arm stuff.png )

Myrrhine gets to treating Alexei's arm.
It looks like there was some shrapnel embedded in Alexei's arm, but he used his combat knife to get it out. It was an accurate cut, and the wound isn't too bad. The kick from the rifle must have opened it up again, but it isn't deep.

Myrrhine 2011/01/04(Tue)18:41 No. 269232 ID: 310377
File 12941952994.png - (16.50KB , 800x600 , 75 Arm stuff.png )

Myrrhine estimates that all they really need is some gauze and a pad to keep the wound snug. Alexei's arm is muscular enough that the shrapnel didn't get to any sort of artery or delicate area. Judging by his scars he heals fairly quickly, and no wonder. It really is a well-muscled arm.
"Should I be charging admission for this?" asks Alexei.

Myrrhine 2011/01/04(Tue)18:42 No. 269233 ID: 310377
File 129419534753.png - (16.48KB , 800x600 , 76 Arm stuff.png )

"Hm?" says Myrrhine.

"You're squeezing my arm pretty hard, ma'am," says Alexei.

>>269233
Tell him to stop being so smug about it while probing it a bit extra hard. It's just to make sure it's not bad and you're putting pressure on it for the gauze and stuff. Apply the dressing and then tell him to get dressed again. He's to stay there and keep an eye out for anyone trying to get in. Meanwhile you and the heavy goes back in for more searching and looting.

>>269233
Clearly the best course of action is to command Alexei to give you proper firm snogging and snugglings when you get back to base and not a second later.
Delicious Brown Boytoy acquired.

So, here's what I'm thinking we should do in order:
1, radio for a pick-up now that the Vault has been cleared of enemy combatants. We've 2 lightly wounded and one severely wounded.
2, order Pius and Thom to stand watch at the entrance and to report and if possible, deter any enemy combatants.
3, take Alexei with back in with you and try to stabilize the Heavy soldier (learn the man's name too, he did a hell of a good job).
4, leaving Nina to watch after her man, equip Alexei with the SMG and explore the rest of the Vault. There are still things to be found.

Myrrhine 2011/01/04(Tue)19:45 No. 269254 ID: 506ac2
File 129419910365.png - (17.95KB , 800x600 , 77 Arm stuff.png )

"I was checking how bad the injury was," says Myrrhine. "For treatment."

"Yes, ma'am."

"And I was putting pressure on it for the gauze."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Don't let it get to your head, Deacon."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Not until you're certified in combat medicine, anyway."

"Of course, ma'am. Sorry, ma'am."

"It's okay. There's the gauze. Get a shirt on and follow me."

"Glad to, ma'am."

Myrrhine 2011/01/04(Tue)19:45 No. 269255 ID: d96936
File 129419912370.png - (35.88KB , 800x600 , 78 Room Beyond.png )

Myrrhine gives the SMG to Alexei and leads him back into the Vault. They head up to the control room, check on the Heavy (whose name is Elan and who appears to be stable), then go into the next room.

Inside is a large...thing with a panel in front of it. It's completely empty except for two small, coin-sized slots and a yellowing manual written in Vault Tongue. Myrrhine isn't fluent, but she knows some people who can translate.

>>269200
>But if she treats his arm and the Heavy doesn't stop bleeding soon they might run out of medical supplies.
This is what medical supplies are for. They're cheaper and more fungible than people.

How about we ask those people for a translation?

(in b4 character select)

>>269255
Hmm, looks like it could be something interesting. Better call it in, the church is probably going to have to set up an outpost here until they figure that thing out.

Myrrhine 2011/01/05(Wed)14:02 No. 269375 ID: c152fb
File 129426494810.png - (39.09KB , 800x600 , 79 Frindle.png )

>>269256
Of course, but the problem is that the Heavy's wound needs a steady supply of gauze as the old bandages soak through with blood. If they run out, keeping him alive will get a lot harder.
Luckily, Alexei's arm didn't take much to treat. They should be okay.

Myrrhine takes the manual and whacks it against the console a couple times to get the dust off. She'll show it to the Appraiser, see if he can translate it.
"That's all this vault was for? Holding that big giant useless ball thing?" Alexei lightly kicks the base of the machine. "This trip was disappointing."
"We don't even know what it does yet," says Myrrhine. "It might be useful."
"It had better dispense strippers for all the trouble it put us through," mutters Alexei.
Does Myrrhine have anything else to do in this vault while she waits for transport, or should she go back and supervise the heavy until help arrives?

>>269375
Further exploration of the room to make sure they didn't miss anything. And check what the consoles Ratton was near can do.

>>269375
>soak thorugh with blood
>Thats-not-how-first-aid-works.png

Apply pressure to the wound. Bleeding into gauze is in no way preferrable to bleeding... well, bleeding freely.

Myrrhine 2011/01/05(Wed)14:41 No. 269389 ID: c152fb
File 129426730192.png - (24.93KB , 800x600 , 80 Table.png )

>>269379
Yes, it is. They've been applying pressure, of course they have. Nina's far too motherly to let Elan bleed freely into gauze. But it's only been a few minutes, and a bullet wound in your chest is not like a bloody nose. Elan is bleeding badly, pressure can only do so much, and they need a steady supply of extra bandages. There's a very real chance of him not making it. She checks him for signs of shock, orders a blanket put on him, just in case, then moves on to the monitors.

They mostly show various screens of the interior of the Vault. Myrrhine notices no rooms she hasn't yet uncovered. She does find one screen, though, showing a fuzzy, murky image that suggests poor equipment or a large distance between it and this room.

She's not sure what it shows. A desk, maybe.

>>269389
A desk with some documents on it. Could be important documents. Better go search for that table and see if you can find them.

Are you sure there are no other doors or potential exits in that room? There may be a secret entrance somewhere that could lead to that desk.

*And check up the ladder where that sniper was. May be something interesting up there

Myrrhine 2011/01/05(Wed)17:48 No. 269419 ID: 506ac2
File 129427848465.png - (11.24KB , 800x600 , 81 Control Room.png )

Myrrhine and Alexei spend about half an hour searching for another room like the one shown in the camera. They climb up to where the rifleman stood, finding a trail of blood leading to his body slumped against the antenna on the roof. His bolt-action and 20 more USL rifle rounds are here, but otherwise there's nothing remarkable. They note the control tower, and a smaller satellite dish next to it angled off to the North, but other than that there's nothing.
"I have a feeling we've explored this place to completion," Alexei says, starting back down the ladder.

"Well then let's get ready to go," calls Nina, still with Elan. He's hanging in there. "We'll probably need a stretcher to move Elan, but I imagine pickup'll have that. Where's the prisoner you guys caught earlier? I wanna talk to him some more, maybe get him to come along a bit more willingly."
"Well, crud," whispers Alexei. "This could get awkward."

>>269419
Tell her he tried to fight back, hit the sniper dude with the legwound and then Alexi had to stab him to death. He just sort of flipped out and yelled something about King Ratton and shit.

She might not buy it but if you're lucky she won't inquire too closely about it.

>>269420
Ehhhh, lying isn't such a great idea. It might turn out awkward, but I think telling the truth is the best choice. Be sure to explain that the guy was a deserter and a bandit, though, as the whole 'war criminal' thing is kinda why we didn't bother bringing him back. I mean, I assume the punishment for that kinda thing is death anyway?

Also: >>269419

Look up at that light closer to the door, up where it's attached to the ceiling, it looks like there's a secondary light source up there or something. Might be something interesting up there.

I wouldn't say it's wise to lie.

Myrrhine 2011/01/05(Wed)19:49 No. 269432 ID: d96936
File 129428575314.png - (10.41KB , 800x600 , 82 bluh bluh bluh.png )

"He was a bandit, Nina. What were we supposed to do? He was a deserter, too, which means if we, say, gave him back they'd just put him on trial and execute him. He was a, a, a war criminal, Nina. You don't capture war criminals. It was probably for the best we just killed him, we decided, so, uh, yeah. He was a loose variable that had to be controlled," Myrrhine says.

"Oh man, Nina, it was crazy! As soon as we disconnected from you, we turn our backs on him for a second and suddenly he's grabbed a rifle and he's going all KING RATTON! KING RATTON! and then he shot Pius in the leg which is how Pius was shot in the leg so I had to jump him while he was reloading and put him down. Oh man, it was just awful and I felt so terrible but war is war and hell and so I did what I had to do. For my boys," Alexei says at the exact same time.

I would laugh, but for the subject material. As is, I feel a little guilty. But, he -was- a war criminal, so not too guilty.

Anyway... Hrm. I think we're about done here, yeah. Maybe check out the bookshelf (I think that's what it is? And that it does have books?) for anything interesting while waiting for transport. And look up at the lights like I mentioned before.

SORRY BOSS

>>269433
Smooth. Try to soothe her feelings with the fact that they were obeying the crazy fuck Ratton, and if the tables were turned they would probably all have been killed after a session of brutal rape. And the dude you had captured would probably not have done a single god damn thing to stop it. After all, Ratton didn't seem to be above shooting his own dudes if he feelt the need to do so.

Jesus Christ, you people, if you'd been strategists during WW2 the Allies would have been all "well, the GERMANS are gassing people, so let's just turn all our POW camps into sausage factories!"

You fucked up. Badly. Brace to take your knocks for it.

>>269489
Oi, there's a difference between what we did and the mass slaughter of real POWs. For that body Myrrhine found early on, who do you think killed him? His 'friends', that's who, most likely because he didn't want to desert. (And don't argue they didn't do it, because there hasn't been anyone else here.) There's a difference between POWs, people who were honestly fighting for what they believed in and were captured, or were drafted and just wanted to get out of the fighting, and these jerks. These guys deserted, then sent out a team of scouts to kill innocent travellers for supplies. They were criminals, not soldiers. So screw them.

(And the Germans didn't use gas during WWII, either, that was the first one.)

Myrrhine 2011/01/06(Thu)17:50 No. 269577 ID: 506ac2
File 129436500087.png - (8.51KB , 800x600 , 84 eff u.png )

"I'm not going to yell at you, because there's nothing I can do," says Nina. "You are my commander. But you know how I feel about what you did, Myrrhine. You didn't have to kill that man."
"He wasn't a soldier, Nina. He was a criminal. Anyone else would have done the same."
"Maybe," Nina turns away and heads back to help Elan. "But no matter how you want to reassure yourself it does not make this right."
"Nina-"
"See you on the ride home, commander," says Nina.

>>269577
Tell her that you can go somewhere else so that she can sulk while tending to her soldier.

Lets go check in the elevator area if we can find the room with the table anywhere near there.

Myrrhine 2011/01/06(Thu)18:14 No. 269589 ID: 506ac2
File 129436645712.png - (17.09KB , 800x600 , Elevator Door.png )

Myrrhine and Alexei give one last halfhearted look for the room, mostly to get away from Nina. They find nothing.
"Well, this was a bust," says Alexei.
"We still haven't translated the thing," says Myrrhine. "It wasn't a total loss."
"But I feel mighty small after Nina reamed us out back there," Alexei puts on a keeningly sorrowful tone. "I don't think I should be alone tonight."
Myrrhine gives him a look.
"It was a joke, commander."
"Work on your routine, deacon."
One of the snipers radios that the transport is here. The paramedics are on their way to move Elan. Looks like the adventure is over.

>>269589
Head on out to the transport and tell them of your findings here and about the room you haven't been able to locate. Also inform them about enemy deserters lurking out in the wastes who might try something if they get desperate enough. And that a somewhat large USL force might be incoming, maybe Ratton left behind some documents about his crazy ass plan.

That should pretty much cover it. Oh, and be prepared to hand over the sword, the hood and the pick. You might get something back for it, but those things are probably not yours to keep.

Myrrhine 2011/01/06(Thu)18:38 No. 269602 ID: 506ac2
File 129436792575.png - (6.73KB , 800x600 , 85 pewpew.png )

Ping!

Myrrhine 2011/01/06(Thu)18:39 No. 269603 ID: 506ac2
File 129436798023.png - (50.58KB , 800x600 , 86 target blastin.png )

Myrrhine's at the firing range in Camp Promethean, a frontier base a few miles out from the Vault. The ride home with Nina was unpleasant. She's been pissed off at Myrrhine before and knowing her she'll probably be back to her own sweet self soon. But her disapproval still stings. She has to get it out of her system.

Myrrhine 2011/01/06(Thu)18:40 No. 269604 ID: 506ac2
File 129436800224.png - (12.93KB , 800x600 , 87 feur frei.png )

The mission may have ended on a sour note, but it went fairly well. Elan is expected to make a full recovery, the deserters are dead, and as an official Vault Hound (that's what Oikalos calls its army force devoted to Vault Investigation), Myrrhine is able to keep anything not judged "of technological or thaumaturgical importance", which in this case includes most everything in the Vault. The bizarre array was claimed by the army, but only because they have no idea what it does. Myrrhine doesn't either, so she's not bothered.

Myrrhine knocks down the last target, noting the precise hit with pride. She sort of wishes her sniper deacon was here to see it.

>>269604
Nice one. So heard anything about what the bi array might be used for? Or anything else interesting?

Is there any indication that your new silly hat is actually a required component of the motion sensing vision enhancement built into it? Because having someone install that functionality into a more fashionable mask might be nice. :3

You able to get the vault items looked at by an appraiser yet?

Myrrhine 2011/01/06(Thu)19:03 No. 269609 ID: c152fb
File 129436942324.png - (13.09KB , 800x600 , 88 hello baybay.png )

The items all got sent off to the Appraiser a while ago. He's over at a plushier camp a few hours away, so the IDs will probably have to wait until tomorrow.
Myrrhine supposes she should head out and reset the targets. There's no automatic stuff here, it's too janky. She
"Slick shooting, sister," says Alexei, making Myrrhine jump out of her skin.
"How long have you been there?" Myrrhine says.
"Long enough," says Alexei. "Me and Sheila" he indicates his rifle "came down here to fire off a couple rounds but you looked so into it I couldn't bring myself to interrupt."
"The range is big enough for the two of us," says Myrrhine.
"No, I'm good up here for now." Alexei grins. "I like to watch."

Neither of them move.

>>269609
Ignore him or get on with the fucking. If you're ignoring him then squeeze off a few more rounds and then head away to do other stuff. If you're going to get on with the fucking then you should probably find a fairly private place before getting started.

Myrrhine 2011/01/06(Thu)20:37 No. 269618 ID: d96936
File 129437503858.png - (31.76KB , 800x600 , 89 target blastin.png )

Have sex? With Alexei? Where did that idea come from? Myrrhine is not going to have sex with Alexei. His breath probably smells like vodka and wolf meat or something.
Myrrhine troops out onto the range and, with overmuch enthusiasm, snaps another target, a larger silhouette one, into place. She starts sinking rounds into it.
"Stadvoskeians have a saying about bolt-actions," muses Alexei after a few shots. Myrrhine ignores him. "Want to hear it?" he asks.
"You're going to tell me anyway, Alexei." Myrrhine snaps another bullet into the chamber.
"Izkra benpher tazen, gethera epher gradzen, pershi andropal herien frauk." says Alexei. "'A youth will not smash his finger in a pointy stick's chamber, and a man will not kill his rival'." He lets that sink in. Myrrhine keeps studiously ignoring him.

Myrrhine 2011/01/06(Thu)20:37 No. 269619 ID: d96936
File 129437506070.png - (14.49KB , 800x600 , 90 ping.png )

"It loses something in translation," he says. "But it pretty much means that the bolt-action is a shitty weapon if you don't know how to use it, and then suddenly when you do it's not."

"Are you trying to say something here, Alexei?" says Myrrhine, pushing another stripper clip into her gun.
"No, just observing," says Alexei. "You're good. You got off some damn fine shots Vault side. You'd be a fine sniper if you weren't a priestess. I'd be glad to have you under me." He smiles his wolfish smile. "Well. That phraseology could be misconstrued."
"Can I help you, Alexei?" asks Myrrhine, snapping the receiver shut. "Or are you just here to pathetically flirt with me?"
"As a matter of fact, there is a point to this conversation beyond my special brand of rugged, frontier seduction," says Alexei. "I just paid a visit to the doctor to check up on my arm, and he says that without you helping me out I could have caused some pretty bad damage to it. It occurs to me I never thanked you."
"It was easy," says Myrrhine. "I would have done it for anyone."
"You sure? That little squeeze of yours didn't find anything wrong, then?"

Myrrhine 2011/01/06(Thu)20:38 No. 269621 ID: d96936
File 129437512683.png - (43.29KB , 800x600 , 91 target blastin.png )

Myrrhine covers her blush with another gunshot. "Seriously, though," Alexei says, "Beneath all the machismo and the thick cloud of sexual tension that hangs around us-"
"It does not."
"The light mist? of sexual tension that hangs around us, I really do sincerely want to thank you." Alexei's voice softens. Myrrhine hasn't ever heard him talk like this. "You got me and mine out of there more or less in one piece, and I wasn't lying when I said that was some of the finest warfighting I've seen since my days with the guerillas up in the Stadvoskei foothills. So thanks, Myrrhine."

>>269621
Time to thank him for that with some false modesty. Tell him that it wasn't anything big, you were just doing your duty and what you were trained by the church to do. But you can admit that you like to think you're pretty decent at it and manage to accomplish your duty with a bit of skill.

>>269624
False modesty is never a good idea. Give a smile to him, and thank him for the complement.

>>269626
That can be quite different from culture to culture. Can't really say how it is in that one.

Tell him you're welcome and thanks. Also ask him if he really means that. I mean... really? Finest warfighting?

>>269621
Graciously accept complement.

Well let him know he also did a damn fine job at staying cool and effective even when wounded.

Anyway you should probably take his roundabout advice and look into getting a more efficient weapon, like a repeating rifle. Maybe one of those sniper weapons, but with iron sights or a low magnification scope? You could go shopping with Alexei. Learn from your mistakes in the last mission. Bring along spare medkits and some handcuffs. The handcuffs are for any eventual enemy prisoners. Or maybe Alexei if he gets too naughty...

Myrrhine 2011/01/07(Fri)20:35 No. 269788 ID: c152fb
File 12944613309.png - (10.89KB , 800x600 , 92 bye alexei.png )

"Really? The finest warfighting you've seen? I mean... really?"
Alexei shrugs. "You can think I'm just patronizing you, if you want."
"Are you?"
"Prolly not."
"You did good too, Alexei," Myrrhine turns back and gives him a smile. "Stone cold focus, even when wounded. I was thinking about getting a rifle like yours, maybe with a smaller scope, or a repeater or something. We could swing by the armory later, maybe you could give me some advice."
"Sounds like a plan, sister," says Alexei. "Oh, and ma'am?"
"Yes?"
"About you groping the merchandise without permission..."

Myrrhine 2011/01/07(Fri)20:35 No. 269789 ID: c152fb
File 129446134893.png - (22.23KB , 800x600 , 93 bye alexeiiiIIII.png )

Suddenly the agile sniper is right behind her. His hand grabs her rear and squeezes.
"Now we're even!" he says, in a sing-song voice.

Myrrhine 2011/01/07(Fri)20:37 No. 269792 ID: c152fb
File 129446143519.png - (7.02KB , 800x600 , 94 yoink.png )

And before a livid Myrrhine can turn around, he's out the door in a flash.

Well, I guess we've got some free time. ...What can we spend it on out here on the fringe of civilization?

Myrrhine 2011/01/07(Fri)23:02 No. 269815 ID: c152fb
File 129447016345.png - (60.39KB , 800x600 , 95 Barracks Obama.png )

On not much of anything. There are not a whole lot of diversions here beyond what you take with you.

Myrrhine thinks she will be well and truly occupied with finding that lecherous rat bastard and shoving his sniper rifle so far up his ass he'll be sighting down his nostrils.

The sun goes down on another gory day in the life of Myrrhine XVI.

Myrrhine 2011/01/07(Fri)23:03 No. 269816 ID: c152fb
File 12944701794.png - (35.31KB , 800x600 , Title end remix.png )

Someone in her profession knows the value of every sunset they live to see.

Good show.