Days pass by without any word on the status of the invasion. Major Karno seems to know, but he is not sharing...

Finally, late on the 23rd of December, 107 PA, Pluto Company is given a mission to assault a prison the following day, which will coincide with other battle plans falling on the same date.

Once again, Pluto Company is assembled and once again 3rd platoon is the only platoon heading out into the fray. Zed and his mobile weapons shop is just pulling into the fort as the company moves inside for the meeting.

It seems there is a Coalition prison, known as Camp Purity, in need of liberating...

3rd platoon is gathered inside the mess hall, when Lieutenant Nuitari arrives and prepares to begin the mission briefing...
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:05, Fri 25 Oct 2013.

After the heavy combat of September subsided, Max hunkered down in the small repair shop haphazardly set up in the back of his Wilderness Crusader hovercraft. The task of reattaching a severed wing and damaged flight pack on his Flying Titan power armour had him criss-crossing the outpost bargaining and bribing for materials.

By the time the project ended, Max was on a first-name basis with logistics officers, mechanics, and security among the Tolkeenites. What started as a few returned favors threw Max into running an unofficial repair and refit unit for loyalists and mercenaries alike.

His small shop down the hill wasn't much compared to the repair facility in the outpost, but the locals soon figured there was no need for official requisition forms and the work wasn't limited to officially sanctioned modifications. Max got used to coming back from patrol to a few mercs milling around his shop waiting for e-clips recharges, weapon tear-down and refits, or more elaborate requests.

Max had his customers cover materials, but seemed more interested in hearing stories and news from the field than taking credits. The shop was being run at a loss, but Max refused numerous offers for business advice. He seemed content making contacts among the ground troops and being a center for news and information. Soldiers are calmer when they know what's going on.

The shop stayed open until early December when news of the invasion came through the grapevine. Max finished his last few projects and stowed his facilities. The shit was about to hit the fan and he wanted to be ready.


--------

Today, Max sits in the mess hall with the rest of the troops. His hair has grown long and his jaw is overrun with dark stubble, peppered here and there with grey.
He wears the same leather jacket he did in the fall, despite the colder weather.
His portable computer sits in his lap waiting eagerly for some real intel from the higher-ups.

The 3rd sits, waiting for the briefing to start. The last few weeks had been pretty dull, not that he minded really. It gave him the chance to let Antonio take over for a bit and let that fat prick blow off some steam. As much as he didn't really enjoy having Antonio in charge, the guy did know how to have fun. He has a distant look in his eyes, like he's not really paying much attnetion to whats going on around him.

What are we waiting for?
A briefing.
About what?
Dunno, we'll find out soon enough. What do those words say?
Not telling...
Aw come on!
give me control, and I'll tell you.
Nope. This is a briefing, not a good time for your antics.
... fair point. Wake me up if you find out anything interesting.

Jack was a bit rested and a bit restless. He often liked to take a day or two off from things, but that was about as much as he ever got in the military...if that. In human form, he lounged in a chair, leaning back a bit.

A prison? He betted the Coalition was doing terrible things to anyone there. He'd be happy to help free them and destroy the prison if that was the mission.

He glanced around at the others there, nodding in greeting to the few that he knew well. And he waited.

Na-Wa went where he was told to go by those above him whom Whon-Ecke said he could trust.

Sitting down in the back the dim wit Psi-Stalker removes his rune sword from it's sheath and looks at it. Na-Wa doesn't say anything, but tilts his head and tilts the sword as he looks at it.

Heinrich had been busy helping heal those he could with his psychic powers and there were plenty who needed it and more. War on his home world was bad, but this 'technology' they had here made it so even a child could easily kill many people very rapidly, it was a lot to process.

Boris arrived along with everyone else, and found a seat near the back. He could probably hear everything going on from outside the fort, but allows the others to sit closer to the good Major, for what is sure to be an exciting meeting about new patrol routes... or alternating shifts... or some such boredom...

He has enjoyed the time he has spent with Masque in the recent weeks, sharing some of his stories about Russia, and how he found himself here...

 For his part, 'Masque has been battered by the course of the fighting but never seriously damaged, mainly because of his avowed preference for fighting unfairly whenever possible - foxholes, smoke grenades, indirect fire, ambushes... He uses them readily, preaches their merits vocally and usually manages to find the means to demonstrate their value sooner or later, aided and abetted by the fact that the squad seems to be calming down at last after a couple of months of murder, madness and mayhem that always seemed more important to some people than actually fighting the war.

 Lately however, he's been primarily occupied with a prize taken from one of the earlier engagements, a flight pack from one of the new super-heavy SAMAS models which he's spent a great deal of time refitting (and paying to have refitted) into something that will interface with his modular armour clamps to give him true flight capability despite his massive and comparatively unaerodynamic weight...

 ...Perhaps more entertainingly for members of the squad however, this new capacity is not one that can be mastered without a certain measure of assiduous training and the roar of hugely powerful nuclear turbines permeated by a deep-voiced "Bojmoi!", ending in a barely-controlled impact on some nearby terrain feature was a regular feature of mid-December before the big Russian finally got the hang of things and started to become more of an asset and less of a threat to public safety once more.

 During that time he of course made himself available for improvement work to the base (digging, vibro-aided construction, more digging), long and thoughtful conversations with other mercenaries and regulars alike and, of course semi-regular high-speed and highly unpredictable runs back and forth between nearby settlements in order to pick up the odd comfort item (or keg) for personnel on downtime... And increasingly, as he invests more and more in his cyborg frame, 'Masque has come to define high-speed.

 Not that that's obvious in the meeting however, as he sits back in a comfortable-looking crouch, wearing only light combat gear (he is after all, on-base) with a big cigar visible over the top of his BDU pocket, waiting on the end of the meeting to be clipped and lit.

Seeing the massive white tiger settle in a few feet down from him, Max leans back on his bench and gives him a nod.
"Hey." He pauses, unable to remember what the cyborg calls himself. "How're those control thrusters working out for you? They help level things out?"

After his own repairs were done, Max had ended up with some extra flight components he didn't need. He'd heard stories of a cat that dreamed of flight and passed the parts on more out of sympathy than anything else. He didn't seem to hear quite as much Russian grumbling around the base since then.

The lieutenant enters the room, and walks right up to the front. He should already have everyone's attention, and he gets right to the briefing without further delay.

"Good morning. Firstly, you will notice there have been more member transfers. Those you see here, are who make up the current roster for Pluto Company, Third Platoon."

"We are finally leaving this outpost called Juyong. They are sending us out to assault a prison camp. That last attack orchestrated by Tolkeen has crippled the Coalition advance. They have suffered nearly a million casualties and have been forced to fall back. Their advance, on all fronts have come to a complete stand still, and we are winning more ground each hour. This prison, has been left behind, not properly defended, and now is vulnerable."

"Those are our people in there, still being tortured, and mistreated. And they need our help. I have HD-video of the entire compound from just a few hundred feet above. We will be able to plan a strategic attack, free our people, and return them to the safety of Tolkeen."

"Get ready. We leave in an hour. Grab whatever you need from Zed's mobile store before we set out."
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:10, Sat 14 Dec 2013.

Third Platoon

Lieutenant Nuitari
Sergeant Dusk
Private 'The Third'
Private Thasha

Sir Aries

Silvermasque
Lotus
Jack
Max Damage
Boris
Heinrich
Disharmony
Mephisto
Na-Wa
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:08, Sat 14 Dec 2013.

Cutting his conversation with Silvermasque short before it began, Max listens to the Lieutenant as he lays it all out. Learning that this mixed bag of a dozen mercs and opportunists qualifies as a full platoon in the Tolkeen military told him the war effort was more desperate than the Lieutenant suggested.

After Lt. Nuitary moves off, Max folds up his computer and stands to address group. "I can take two of you, with your gear." He holds two fingers up and scans his eyes over the lot of you.

The 3rd, sits and listens to the officer. His first thought is that the people in the room are more of a squad, not a platoon. He is thrilled to hear about the Tolkeen victories! Emotion takes over and he leaps up out of his seat and cheers. "YES! Take that you dead boy suckers! A million causalities! Fuck yeah!"

Sit down you twit!
What?
Look around, you're embarrassing me!
Oh, that's funny coming form you, now you know how I feel.

He then sits down awkwardly, suddenly very self conscious.

He shakes his head at Max's offer. "No thanks man, I'll head out on my Speedster."

Did you just 'dude' that guy?
No! I said man, besides he's a merc? I dunno what rank he is.
Good, cause you know how I feel about dude!
Look Antonio, chill. Just cause we're gunna get shot at again doesn't mean you can go full princess on me.

When the briefing is over he gets his gear together and suits up for combat. On his way out he grabs a Neural Mace from Zed's store.

Heinrich nodded, "Let's go save them then." he looked to Max, "I'll take you up on that offer. I can be ready shortly."

Max gives a nod to passionate and gun-laden merc when he declines, then takes a couple steps toward Heinrich, "Sounds good. I want to hit this mobile store first. I'll bring my hovercraft to the gate and look for you in thirty minutes."

He holds out his hand. His deep green skin is half covered by fingerless leather gloves. Max is broad, but several inches shorter than Heinrich. He has to look up as he introduces himself. "Name's Max."

His words come clear and quick, and Max has already shifted his weight so he can head toward the door once the handshake is broken. There is no anxiety in his mannerisms; he is officially on the job and doesn't want to waste any time.

 "Da, only had to dig myself out of five-foot pit last time, not ten!" 'Masque replies to Max's inquiry, somehow contriving to make this sound as though it's a good thing rather than merely a less serious disaster, his cheerful voice instantly dropping at the arrival of the lieutenant, then falling completely silent as he begins to speak with no more than a nod sent towards the other soldier. He settles in to listen to the briefing before nodding in a firm, agreeable fashion and raising a hand to inquire "Lieutenant, are we needing to extricate prisoners by vehicle or is being means to magically transport them, then us out of site? Will make big difference how we are kitting up, youbet."

For Na-Wa the briefing mostly goes through one ear and out the other as he vacantly stares at the ceiling or a wall.

Heinrich shook the offered hand, "See you in thirty Max. I'm Heinrich."

To their commanding officer he asked, "Will I be allowed to fly this time, or do you need me to stay small?"

Jack snorted at Max after the other man looked at him. He didn't care what the little man thought of him. He stood up and stretched fully. He supposed he would have to hitch a ride again with someone if he wasn't allowed to fly.

Max heads out of the mess hall. He spends some time dealing with Zed, then gets his hovercraft from down the hill.

He parks close up to the main staging area with the hatch open, waiting for the rest of the platoon. In the meantime, he personalizes his new Quebec body armour by prying off any insignias and spraying flat black paint over anything shiny.

The shifter approaches while Max is working on his body armour. "I believe the psychic, Heinrich took you up on the offer of transport, which would mean you currently still have 1 spot available?"

In reply to Silvermasque (msg # 16):

"Tolkeen, in their good graces will be providing us with transports and drivers to evacuate all of the prisoners. We will rendezvous with them along the way."

In reply to Jack (msg # 19):

"You should remain in human form for as long as possible."

Jack couldn't help but let out a small sigh but then nodded and smiled. "Small. Or human. Got it." He walked away before he started chuckling, thinking back to his favorite form of a cute little bunny rabbit.

Max barely looks up when he senses the mage approach. "Spot's taken. Catch a ride on one of the transports." He puts his boot on the panel opposite him to block the ramp into his hovercraft.

Max didn't know this guy, but something about him said he was bad news.

The platoon sets out again, leaving Disharmony behind as she has been reassigned to Fort Juyong Outpost's air defense.

The transports are picked up just East of Juyong, and the group begins their journey toward the prison camp. Nuitari spreads the group out and ensures "The 3rd is positioned out front, about 300 feet ahead of Nuitari's hover skiff. Mephisto's and Max's hover vehicles are behind, followed by Silvermasque, about 500 feet behind in the rear. The group is traveling about 60 mph. Borius is flying above the group, about 600 feet.


Hover Skiff # 1 :

Nuitari
Na Wa and baby Trex
Dutch and Kreeghor Bloodhound
Thasha


Hover Skiff # 2 :

Mephisto
Jack
Sir Aries
Lotus and Gryphon


Max's Hovercraft :

Max
Heinrich

Silvermasque - on foot
The 3rd - Speedster Hovercycle
Boris - personal bionic jets
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:47, Mon 24 Feb 2014.

"This trip will take us just over 3 hours to reach Camp Purity. The Coalition has pulled most of its' forces back from the area. Victory is within our grasp, but we cannot hold back now. They must be purged from our territory, and shown that the Kingdom of Tolkeen is not one that will fade away into history. We stood our ground, and defeated them. But the battle is not over. These prisons still remain, but probably not for long... We have very little intel on the camp, and will have to gather information ourselves when we draw close. Until then, keep an eye out for any sign of the enemy..."
This message was last updated by the GM at 22:15, Tue 25 Feb 2014.

Heinrich nodded to no one in particular, "Understood, yes sir."

Max gets Heinrich and his gear loaded into the back of his hovercraft. The workbench has been folded up, and the tools have been secured in their compartments and drawers. His bulky Flying Titan knockoff occupies one corner, hanging from a servo crane on the ceiling.

Max points Heinrich to the chair next to him at the front. He taps the console. "You know how to operate mapping software?"

While guiding the Wilderness Crusader into a position at the rear of the convoy, Max pulls off his leather jacket and settles in for the trip.

When its time, The 3rd gets on his Speedster and lifts off. He takes his station 300 or so feet in front of one of the hover skifts. HIs mouth is dry as he scans the landscape below for Dead boys, then the skies for CS flyers.

Why do we have to be out in front?
What?
You heard me, why do we have to out in front all vulnerable and stuff?
Where would you rather be?
On or in one of those skiffs would be nice.
Antonio, do you pay any attention when we get shot at?
No, should I?
Well, if you did you'd know that your average Dead Boy is gunna shoot the big targets first. I think they are trained that way.
So... you're saying we're safer out here?
Yep.
Carry on then.

Jack stayed in human form and boarded one of the Hover Skiffs 'dutifully'. The Mystic Knight grinned at Lotus, one of his favorite peoples, though she was quiet and aloof most of the time anymore. He listened to the small briefing-speech from Nuitari and nodded.

Afterwards, to those on the skiff with him he chuckled and exclaimed. "Prison break! Never done one of those before. Should be fun!"

He took up position on one side of the skiff. He had the TW Force Cannon set on his back. In his hands and braced on the rail of the skiff, he had the C-40R Coalition SAMAS rail gun in his hands as he watched for trouble.

Na-Wa did his best to ensure Silonar would behave after getting on the hover skiff. But the creature attempted to bite some of the others on board. To discipline the dinosaur Na-Wa smacked it when the flat side of Whon-Ecke who did not appreciate being treated in such a manner.

 The parting is, if not exactly sweet at least emotional, 'Masque offering the other 'borg a raised hand and a warm "До скорой встречи.", to which the downright alarming oriental replies with a brief embrace and the use of vibro-claw-tipped fingers to etch a small kanji 'property of' tag upon his shoulder-plate, just out of the easy reach of his arms.

 Come the roll-out, he bounds along in a comfortable fashion as tail-end charley, toting one hell of a large backpack that looks suspiciously jet-shaped to those inclined to give it a once-over and armed with his usual mix of onboard hardware and a couple of hefty grenade rifles, loaded and ready to provide indirect fire support and generalised suppression in the event of an ambush. It probably goes without saying that even when his leaps extend to match the speed of the convoy, they're rarely predictable or in a direct line, his instincts automatically doing their best to make him as hard a target as possible.

Heinrich shook his head, "Since being brought to this world by whatever brought me here... I've only learned a very few skills. I can pilot a hovercycle... that's about the only useful skill I have outside my mind powers."

Max re-evaluates Heinrich for a few seconds before putting his attention back on the hover skiff in front of him. "Someone mentioned you were a psychic. That could come in handy. Stick around these Ley Lines when you can..." Max motions to a couple of stable ley lines overlaid on the electronic map projecting on the console. "... they do something to psychics. Give you a boost. You'll feel it."

After letting that sink in, he tries to make conversation, "So not a local, huh? What's your world?"
This message was last edited by the player at 22:56, Mon 03 Mar 2014.

Heinrich nodded, "I feel them. It worked similarly on my world... just a different feel. I have learned of psychics from your world who can speak to machines... I would love to be able to do that. My world, it's called Palladia. We don't have these machines. Or the weapons and armor you all have. It's more... primitive I guess you could say. Swords, wizards, dragons and the like. A far simpler place."

"I met a guy who could do that with machines. Bunch of us were up against some Coalition armour, and buddy stopped a fifteen ton robot dead in its tracks just by thinkin' about it." Max throws a grin at his passenger. "Scary stuff to be on the wrong end of. If you could pull that off, you'd be worth a million to the war effort."

He pauses a moment to navigate around some debris, following the lead of the hover skiff in front. "I bet you can do it. Some psychics say their powers just come to them out of thin air, but I watched this young cyber-knight teach himself to pick up on peoples' feelings in less than three weeks. Elik would go from person to person in the camp and hold his hand out like this," Max makes magicky gestures, "and squeeze his eyes shut and tell them what kind of mood they were in. It was annoying as hell, but you gotta give him credit. After a few weeks he was bang-on every damn time. Thing is, he only did it 'cause wanted to tell if this girl liked him. Funny stuff."

After a moment, Max's expression goes flat, and he changes the subject. "I see you got yourself some good gear. I don't mind showing you around some other tech if you're stickin' around. A lot of people use this stuff, but don't know how to get the most out've it." Deciding a little show-and-tell might be more useful, he adds, "Go grab the black case from under the work bench." He tosses a small key into Heinrich's lap. Under the folded-down workbench is locked drawer almost six feet long and just six inches tall.

Max couldn't figure out why he was so chatty with this guy. He figured Heinrich was one of the few people he'd met since the war started that wasn't one kind of asshole or another. He shrugged mentally and kept driving.

Heinrich listened, Cyber-Knight... interesting. "What is a cyber-knight? I suppose if he could, I could learn to work machines. I doubt I could in time to be useful for this mission though. Can we practice when we have down time? Oh... did the girl like him?" Heinrich asked genuinely interested in the person from the story. Heinrich drags the box back up toward Max, "Thank you for helping me, other than some basic training in orders, code words and that sort... I haven't made any friends."

Heinrich's last word catches Max off guard, and he chuckles. Making friends felt like something he used to do.

Splitting his attention between the road and the cluttered composite map floating above the console, he takes a stab at explaining cyber-knights to someone who's never heard of them before.

"Cyber-knights are a good bunch. They have a lot of philosophies about honour, justice, good will, and that sort of thing.

Some of them get pretty into the 'hero' look and wear capes, polish their armour to a shine, talk fancy, or call themselves 'Sir' this or 'Lord' that.. I guess it's so people know who they are. When you boil it down, they're just a bunch of people that got fed up with all the suffering and pain and decided to do something about it.

A lot of them have psychic powers like you, and all of them can make a weapon out of thin air. Looks like a glowing axe or sword. I guess that's part of the 'knight' name too.

Anyway, you'll see them here and there helping folks out. Some of them even signed on to fight for Tolkeen, like Sir Aries."

Taking his eyes off the road for a minute, Max motions to the long, black case on the floor. "Go ahead and open it." Inside the case, nestled in molded foam, is an impressive rifle painted flat black. "Don't touch it, but have a close look."

"That's a JA-11, same as yours, but with a custom grip, stock, and balancing, a Northern Gun scope and laser sight, and a Waltic trigger. I can push effective fire with that laser at nearly a mile. It's a decent rifle without the mods, but most people go for something with a higher wattage laser because that's all they know." Heinrich would recognize the body and unique barrel configuration from his own rifle, but the rest of the weapon was strikingly different.

"So this is what I mean about technology. You have to see the potential in it and never stop making improvements. Don't settle for 'good enough'."

Max turns to Heinrich with an amused look on his face. "Huh. Come to think of it, that's pretty much what the cyber-knights are all about. Seeing the potential good in everything and everyone, and trying to make things better." He turns his attention back to driving and adds quietly to himself, "Maybe the philosophy stuff isn't totally over my head after all."

Heinrich nodded along, "I can, as well, will a weapon into existence. It's a very powerful ability on my world. Here too I would imagine. The cyber knights seem decent then, seeking renown can lead to issues though. In the wrong people." Heinrich looked over the rifle, "Very nice work, the modifications are similar to using a psychic power in an unexpected way. Versatility is key to survival. And you seem keen enough to pick up philosophy. It's all perception anyway. How YOU see the ideas in front of you, at least to me. But I do think every man needs a code of some sort to live by, to embrace."

"Think so?" Max says doubtfully, looking at the convoy ahead of them. He was going to make a comment that half those fighters were just in it for the paycheck, but he wasn't in a position to judge. He changed the subject instead.

"So you can make a psi-sword. Impressive. The cyber-knights say it takes a pure heart to do it, if you believe that kind of thing.

What other tricks do you have up your sleeve? Could be good to know when the shit hits the fan."

Heinrich nodded, "I can, it's a powerful tool for sure. The pure heart thing I cannot vouch for though. Tricks... hmmm." Heinrich paused, grinning, pondering, "Let's see.. I am a competent field doctor, I can start and control fire, create force fields, send out what amounts to a mental bolt of energy similar to a rifle, create illusions, bond with another persons mind, there are many things. Telekinesis, moving things with my mind, perhaps my favorite power."

OOC I just listed a few of his more useful powers, I can PM you his list as he'd share it if you'd like. That way we can formulate battle plans and kill all the bad guys lol

The group soon comes across the battlefield that everyone has been talking about. There are bodies as far as the eye can see in all directions. Hundreds of thousands of bodies...

Fires still burn, and crows, and ghouls still feed on dead flesh....

Within minutes it becomes apparent Tolkeen either lied about it's losses, or 3rd Platoon has found the one area where there as as many fallen warriors of Tolkeen as there are of The Coalition.

There is a smell, most of Pluto has become used to by now... the smell of death. It is thick in the air.

The way is forward, through, and over the bodies...

As the hover skiff approaches the bodies, Na-Wa (riding on is Silonar, aptly named Silonar) has to go through another round of Silonar misbehaving, in this case the dinosour wants to climb out of the hover skiff and feast on the dead bodies.

Looking at Nuitari Na-Wa asks a question. "Can Na-Wa and Silonar get out and walk? Silonar looks hungry and sees lot of food."

Mephisto tries to peak over the railings of the hover skiff, from his position piloting the vehicle. He chimes in on the radio after Na-Wa's comment  "I too would enjoy the opportunity to go for a stroll... Might be able to find a few things of interest out here..."

As the back end of the convoy emerges onto the battlefield, Max lets the conversation fade. He'd figured the Lieutenant's report of the war had been sugar coated, and this confirmed it. He looks at Heinrich for a moment, and wonders if he's seen death on this scale before.

Flipping some of the external cameras to thermal imaging, he puts their display outputs in front of Heinrich. "Keep an eye on those cameras. Let me know if anything stands out. I don't think anyone will mess with a convoy this size, but these scavengers are unpredictable." The thermal vision would turn the corpses into a smeared blue field and let Heinrich focus on something else.

He raised he Wilderness Crusader to twenty feet above the ground in case there were any mines or traps hiding among the corpses. His own displays were still in full colour, and he scanned the area for movement and camouflage. He hoped the convoy wouldn't make an unnecessary stop, but it was up to the mission leader.

In reply to Na - Wa (msg # 43):

"I'm not sure it will be a good idea to allow your pet to eat our fallen friends. And if anyone is watching... is not good to be seen eating the bodies of the enemy either... unless you want to tempt them to eat your body as well one day..."

OOC Heinrich is in his armor.

Heinrich nodded, "I'll do that... but in a field of dead bodies with creatures eating them, what stands out?"

In reply to Boris (msg # 46):

Na-wa looked at the bodies and did see anybody he knew. But when someone told Na-wa not to do something it was so Na-wa wouldn't get in trouble.

"What if Silonar only ate dead skull face soilders?"

Max nods at Heinrich's question. "Everything that isn't dead is worth keeping an eye on. After a battle, you'll get scavengers, looters, and survivors. Some of those survivors got left behind and need help. Some stayed behind for revenge. All of them should show up pretty easy in thermal."

Keeping their speed low, Max scanned the edges of the field and other places he would hide if he wanted to get the jump on someone.

Jack didn't really care about the dead bodies. There were a LOT of them, which was only a little disturbing really. Also, the fact that he didn't make any of them dead, and he was still alive himself....well that was a good thing. He stayed silent and waited to see if they had orders.

In reply to Na - Wa (msg # 43):

"Of course not Na-Wa, there are Tolkeen people in the prison ahead. They need our help."

No order is given to stop or slow down.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:44, Wed 12 Mar 2014.

On the back of one of the hover skiffs Leviticus sat keeping a low profile. As low a profile as 12ft Leonid Humanoid wearing crusader armor and a Dragon skin cloak can anyway. He has been quiet and generally surly since arriving from hi last mission. By his own estimation he hasnt been having a very good war so far. But then who has except the buzzards.

Heinrich nodded, "Got it," he said as he began scanning the surroundings for anything unusual.

Hover Skiff # 1 :

Nuitari
Na Wa and baby Trex
Dusk and Kreeghor Bloodhound
Thasha
Leviticus


Hover Skiff # 2 :

Mephisto
Jack
Sir Aries
Lotus and Gryphon


Max's Hovercraft :

Max
Heinrich

Silvermasque - on foot (rear cover)
The 3rd - Speedster Hovercycle (on point)
Boris - personal bionic jets (air cover)

Two large hover transport vehicles (have their own drivers)
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:57, Thu 13 Mar 2014.

Na-Wa manages to keep Silonar from leaping from the hover skiff and feasting on dead bodies. But the dinosaur does do something Na-Wa has no control over. Silonar defecates and leaves a two foot high mound of green smelly, slimy excretment on the deck of the hover skiff.

Knowing that what Silonar did was bad Na-Wa looks at Nutari with a sorry look on his tattooed face.

 There's being used to dead bodies and there's being used to a field carpeted with the dead for as far as the eye can see in every direction... Bodies torn by shot and energy charge, by demon claw and shrapnel... Shattered helmets revealing screaming faces and hands reaching to the heavens in the last extremity of agony... And it doesn't take terribly long before the leaping Cyborg at the back of the group finds the face of a young man called Nikolai lurking behind every faceplate, remembers the cold and clammy hands of dead men who were once as close as brothers rending and tearing at armour and flesh alike.

 The sound that tears forth from his voder is somewhere between a scream of terror and one of rage, but it rapidly fades and 'Masque along with it as he swings about and launches himself into the treeline, clutching at his head with one pair of hands, swords leaping into the other and laying about himself at foes half-real and half-imagined.

 So...

 ...about that whole 'therapy' thing then?

"Na-Wa, clean up the mess, or you are walking the rest of the way."

The caravan continues through the graveyard left behind from what will be known as "The Sorcerer's Revenge" for years to come. Silvermasque falls behind, and out of sight as the platoon moves across the battlefield.

The platoon continues for a while longer, until climbing the tallest, of a series of hills, created by the twisting, and earth bending magic of a warlock, and finally the Prison Camp is spotted off in the distance. It is a massive walled-up fortress, with 200 foot walls, and is still several miles away.

There is a ley line just a kilometer ahead, running perpendicular to the group's path.

There is a caravan of Coalition vehicles leaving the prison and heading East.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:30, Thu 27 Mar 2014.

"We need to move closer to that ley line. I need to prepare.... and bring in some outside help..."

As the fortress prison comes into view, the blank patches on the holographic map grow larger until the map is one solid colour, having run out of information to serve up. Max shuts the thing off and pulls the Wilderness Crusader slightly laterally from the convoy so he has a clear line-of-sight. He pushes the Triax optics to their outer bounds and assesses the base, tallying any turrets, armour, ground forces, and sensors he can lay eyes on.

As he scans the building, he activates the communication system and directs a low-power signal toward the convoy. "I've got an alarm coming from the base. Can anyone confirm?" He turns up the external audio pickups so Heinrich can hear the sound too.

Max wondered if their party had already been spotted from the air. He threw a glance at the radar system and waited for a reply on the radio.

"Lotus, go back for Silvermasque. Find out if he wishes to end his contract with Tolkeen..."
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:40, Sat 15 Mar 2014.

In reply to Max Damage (msg # 60):

Over the radio, Brois responds from his vantage point above the group. "That is definitely confirmed Max. That's an alarm."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:41, Sat 15 Mar 2014.

The 3rd flies over the carnage. Scanning the scene for immediate danger.

Fucking hell!
Yep, thats one way to describe it.
How many do you think there are down there? They're not all dead boys either...
Yep, I noticed that. Too many to count.
You seem pretty calm about all this.
Yep, I can let you do the freaking out for us. See, you do have a purpose. Now shut up, I have to focus on keeping us alive.

When they get closer to the prison.


"Yeah, I hear it too."



The 3rd looks directly at Mephisto, military etiquette going right out the window. "You're not bring in Gargloyites are you? I fucking hate those little thieving fucks. So does Antonio!" His fingers suddenly tapping out a rapid tune on the handle bars of his speedster.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:38, Sun 16 Mar 2014.

Heinrich nodded, "Well, this is going to get interesting quickly."

In reply to 'The 3rd' (msg # 63):

"Gargoylites? Would be a waste of my psychic energy... No, I will bring forth something much more useful..."

"Oh, that's cool." The tune stops and it seems The 3rd goes back to normal.

That's cool! Did you really just say that's cool to a nasty looking shifter that's about to bring forth some hell spawned horror?
Um, yeah... I guess I did.
Fuck me Wayne! What have you become? The Wayne I knew would never have said 'That's cool' to a fucking shifter, who is about to drag a fucking demon into our world and let that kind of evil loose!
... You're right. But, and this is a big fucking but. I'm not the one that got us fucked by that Succubus! You know what I'm talking about. You can stop denying it, pretending you don't remember. So shut the fuck up! ... I still have nightmares about that. Now fuck off, the shooting could start any moment.
... Fine.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:10, Tue 18 Mar 2014.

"Shit... I don't like this next bit any more than any of you. We are about to rendezvous with a strike team that has been assigned to the prison for the past while. Apparently most of them have been killed, but the survivors are nearby and can help us out. Let's move up to that ley line, do what we do, and prepare our assault."

Nuitari takes his skiff, and leads the way to the ley line. The alarm can be heard by others now, as the group moves closer in.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:08, Thu 20 Mar 2014.

Upon arriving at the ley line, now just over four miles away from the prison... "Defensive positions! Do what you need to with the ley line. Jack, check out that prison. I want a report in 60 seconds of what is going on."

Jack begins preparing, activating a psionic power on himself as they slowly get closer to their destination...and the inevitable fight. He didn't appear concerned the Shifter was going to bring some allies. As long as they weren't Brodkill, that meant more meat for the grinder.

Once they got closer he looked over at Nuitari. "Human form still, sir?"
This message was last edited by the player at 02:26, Thu 20 Mar 2014.

In reply to Jack (msg # 69):

"I need to find out if they have an air force. We need to mask our presence at this point."

Max pulls the Wilderness Crusader up next to a thicket so the forest camouflage on the outside can be of some use. He looks at Heinrich, "Better get ready. There are some spare e-clips in that drawer. Take as many as you can carry."

Picking up the radio handset, he opens the comm to Nuitari, "Max here. Lieutenant, you want me on airborne armour, insurgence, or sniper?"

Leviticus sits in his meditative pose covered in the fine shimmering scales of his cloak until the skiff is immersed in the energies of the Ley-Line. Standing the Ramen stretches out his arms and a pair of glowing wings unfurls from his back in a majestic expanse without disrupting the cloak that hangs about him. "Sir do you need aerial scouting? I can do so stealthily or overtly should you want to test them. I can also begin bombardment from a mile out. Awaiting your command sir." Leviticus bows to Lt. Nuitari
This message was last edited by the player at 02:20, Thu 20 Mar 2014.

Jack metamorphed himself into a bird, a large raven as a matter of fact. He took to the air and began flying upward and towards the prison to scout, trying to stay in trees and cover when he could.

Na-Wa watched as the black bunny rabbit dragon man flew into the air.

Heinrich nodded, grabbing up whatever he could carry easily. "If you are in a sniper position, I can provide additional cover with my force fields, leaving only a gap for the barrel of your rifle."

Leviticus casts a Chameleon spell and his body and equipment shimmers and then blends into the background. He leaps off the skiff in a blur cradling his large rifle across his chest, mystic wings flap noiselessly and carry him high up into the air. Once high above the group he glides down in slow spirals using the high powered scope on his rifle to recon the prison camp.

In reply to Max Damage (msg # 71):

"Just wait here Max, Leviticus. Wait for Jack's report."
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:29, Thu 27 Mar 2014.

PM

The hoveskiff moved parallel with the ley line, heading toward the direction of the supposed reinforcements. O'Doyle had contacted the base after their team had gotten wiped out and their mission deemed impossible for the remaining three members.

O'Doyle quickly promoted himself to head of their meager unit, with no complaint from Granger on the matter. O'Doyle didn't trust Sseuzohael, despite having fought alongside him for nearly a month now. Which meant, the demon was only told as much information as he needed to know, and kept busy whenever possible. At the moment, he was only told to drive the skiff per O'Doyle's directions and that they were meeting reinforcements. Any details about the reinforcements were currently being kept from him.

Sseuzohael sat in the pilot's seat, O'Doyle standing behind him, keeping the demon always in his line of sight. Although both members had learned to co-operate with Sseuzohael and work alongside him, one of them continually kept their eyes... or eye, in Granger's case, on him.

They had been traveling for a while and Sszeuo took a moment to straighten his back, allowing a few cracking sounds to emanate from his spine, then cracked his neck as he tilted it first right, then left. The demon was well aware that O'Doyle hand now rested on his gun, and calmly tapped his boney white fingers on the steering apparatus to show that he had no hostile intent.

From beneath the dark hood, a smile etched it's way onto the pale face of the demon. Even though he had no intention of killing either of his comrades, he did enjoy keeping them on their toes, and testing their trust of him. In truth, he thought more of these two men because of their continual lack of trust; for once they were no longer fighting towards a similar goal, he had no reservations about killing them, or putting them in a position to get killed.

A buzz from O'Doyle's earpiece reaches Sseuzohael's ear but he cannot hear the words that are being relayed from the cyclops. Once the buzzing ends O'Doyle instructs the demon to slow his speed. Arriving to the conclusion that Granger has spotted something, Sseuzohael takes a look around, but can see nothing except for a lone bird off in the distance.

Over the radio, the approaching skiff identifies itself as it moves down the ley line "Ahoy! Pluto Company I presume? Name's O'Doyle. We are what's left of the team assigned to watch and harass Camp Purity here... be at your position in five".
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 00:40, Thu 27 Mar 2014.

In the new bird form, Jack flew around discreetly to check out their destination that was the prison called Camp Purity. And by Coalition standards, it was pure or getting there. He grimaced mentally in disgust. Such a waste.

He flew back towards his group to report as quick as he could, shapeshifting back to the human form he most often used. " Sir...it's a circle. A huge circle with 200 feet high walls and skelebots patrolling mostly though I saw a few live soldiers as well." He paused as he thought about what he'd seen again. "Sentry every...oh, like 1000 feet or something, topping the walls by about 20 feet. Each has a weapon turret, lasers and missiles, that sort of thing. 360 view as well."

He stopped a moment and then spoke in a more quiet tone. "There's a firefight going on right now and...well...thousands of prisoners are done. Executed. If you want to save anyone, we should go now."

When The 3rd hears that he inhales deeply, then gives his gear a quick once over.

Um, what are you doing?
Getting ready.
For what?
Dead boy killin'
Oh, that.

Satisfied everything is in place, he twists the throttle on his Speedster and shots off towards the prison.

Um, what are you doing?
Gaining height so I can crash this thing into one of those turrets on the wall.
Right... Im not sure that's a good idea. But in the interest of science, what are your intentions after that?
Jump off once I'm sure it'll hit, pop a levitate at some stage on the way down, then I'll do a bunch of shooting.
... (Gulp)... I fucking hate it when you do this. At least have the decency to put your TW armor up.

The 3rd activates his Armor Bizarre enchant on his armor.

In reply to O'Doyle :

"Glad to have you. Stand by for orders, we are assaulting the prison momentarily."

In reply to Jack (msg # 81):

"Understood. Thank you Jack." Then calling after The 3rd just as he blasts off toward the prison. "Hold for my order! We need to coordinate this!"
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:56, Mon 31 Mar 2014.

While they wait for orders, Max moves into the main cabin of his hovercraft and gets to work prepping his gear. As Heinrich loads up on e-clips, Max unlocks his gun cabinets and slides the racking out.

Folding down a work bench, the pre-battle ritual begins. One by one, the soldier powers up and checks over his weapons. The process is quick and methodical, and his sharp blue eyes scan up and down every surface looking for micro-fractures or signs of warping in the metal. The energy directed through these devices was enormous, and it would take the path of least resistance to escape.

As each weapon passes the test, he sets it back in the racking with a new clip, ready and waiting. He goes through the process with zen-like calm, and in the time it takes Jack to complete his recon and return, Max has readied a Triax TX-50 railgun, Coalition CTT-P40 particle beam cannon, Forearm Integrated Weapon System, JA-11 sniper rifle, his newly acquired pair of Quebec "Stopper" ion pistols.

Each weapon has been modified to some extent, but one sticks out like a sore thumb from the rest: a slender tube attached to strapping like that on the FIWS. The tube has a spool of fine high-tensile cable in a compartment at the back end, and a metal puck sealing the front. Max opens a small housing on the side and looks at a series of crystals embedded into a circuit board. He had no idea how it worked, but he makes sure nothing look burned or broken. He inserts a PPE-clip and put the techno-wizard harpoon gun back in the rack with everything else.

Listening to the radio chatter as he works, he does a similar inspection on his new Free Quebec body armour. The black paint on it still smelled fresh.
Last in line is the light power armour looming into the corner of the cabin. Other than an anti-missile chaff system and slightly heavier armour, the Northern Gun power armour was nearly identical to the Flying Titan. Max had always figured NG had captured one of the Titan manufacturing plants, but didn't know anything beyond the rumours.

Hearing the Lieutenant announce the impending assault, Max returns to the driver's seat and waits to hear his role in the upcoming battle.
The shout over the radio breaks his zen state, and he swears. "Shit." Looking through the external optics, he tries to spot the situation. After a moment, he turns to Heinrich with a grim expression on his face. "These guys have been cooped up for months with no action." He shakes his head. "This is gonna get messy."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:25, Mon 31 Mar 2014.

Mephisto never leaves the skiff, but manages to summon four subordinate minions to assist in the assault, although none of them can be seen...

"Sir, I am ready whenever you are. Where is our main point of assault? I should be able to take care of any of the guards on the wall in that area. I have several entities under my control to send the skelebots down to the ground on the inside, or possess the human soldiers to join our cause, and take out the turret placements. Just give the order and I'll open the door."

Heinrich nodded, "Then let us make sure we make the mess of them, and not vice versa, yes? I will do my best to keep us both alive."

Max laughs briefly at Heinrich's comment. He had been talking about their own platoon being disorderly. Still, the psychic was right. This was a tense part of the war on both sides, and chaos would reign on the battlefield today.

"Damn right. Stick close to the unit, but remember to guard your own ass priority one. You do what you can and get out in one piece." He thought of the massive killing field they passed on the way here. "Enough damn people died for this war already."

At that, Max reaches out to shake the other man's hand. When met, he pushes a key into Heinrich's palm and looks the man in the eye, wondering if he'd regret this decision. "I might need to find my own way out. You don't see me comin', you take her back to the outpost. She's an easy ride, you'll do fine. Got it?"

After spending no more than two minutes drawing a map on his palm computer, based on Jack's description, Nuitari studies it and shares the map with any who can.



"We will assault the wall, by this large building on the west side. I want to keep as much distance as possible from their retreat-in-progress. Mephisto, move out now and eliminate the defenses in range of our entrance.

We are going to split into two teams. Both will move over the west wall, by the large buildings. We must identify the HQ building, kill or capture anyone inside and eliminate their command. From there we will shift focus on stopping the executions, and rescuing the survivors.

Anyone who cannot make the jump over a 250 foot wall on their own, double up with someone who can carry you over.

Once we are inside, team 1 goes north, team 2 goes south and we meet at HQ.

My team : The 3rd, Sir Aries, Boris, Na-Wa, O'Doyle, and your two companions. Silvermasque and Lotus will be with you if they return in time.

With Sergeant Dusk : Max, Thasha, Leviticus, Jack, Mephisto, and Heinrich.

We move when Mephisto gives us the signal......"
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:44, Tue 01 Apr 2014.

The Shifter does not acknowledge the Lieutenant, before he utters the words to a powerful spell and vanishes from sight.

Several seconds later, pairs of skelebots are thrown from the wall, sent tumbling down to the ground below on the outer side of the prison walls (and within view of the group). Twelve are tossed down in total, and again their is silence. A few moments later, the defense turrets begin firing on each other. They each empty their missile payloads at each other, until all five of the closest turrets are completely destroyed, and are now releasing a steady stream of black smoke into the air, forming into a thick black cloud in the sky.

"Let's go."

"When we get to the wall, do not stop - help the rest of us if you can, and get us over that wall and onto the ground on the other side. Get ready to fire as soon as you clear the top!"

Nuitari takes his skiff toward the wall at the maximum speed and then stops at the decided assault point, and waits for someone to help him over the wall.

"Mephisto! What do you see? What are we charging into?"

"A dozen troops just on the other side of the wall... they are lining the prisoners up and killing... hundreds of them. Move in at the... third turret from the entrance... the western-most weapon placement. I can't tell which building is HQ from up here..."

Max leaves his Wilderness Crusader cached in the brush at the Ley Line, suits up in his power armour and helps Heinrich up onto the deck of Nuitari's hover skiff.

He stays with Nuitari and his team as they speed toward the wall. When Mephisto's report comes in over the radio, Max looks at the Lieutenant. "We have to move. Now."

He doesn't wait for confirmation. The thrusters on his flight pack flash, and in an instant a jet-assisted leap is propelling Max over the third turret from the entrance.

These sons of bitches wouldn't get in another kill if he could help it.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:40, Sat 05 Apr 2014.

Jack casts a couple of spells and activates a psionic power as he briefs and is in return briefed and on the way to the wall. He shifts into his natural dragon form and goes over the wall....all 4 of him as multiple images of him show up, all of which seem to be crawling with worms, bugs, tentacles and more creepy horrificness!! He levels his held TW Force Cannon and fires it into the waiting enemies.

He stays near the wall so he can help people over but is currently presenting a large and hopefully scary target.

13:14, Today: Jack rolled 23 using 1d20+5. Blast with Force Cannon.
13:15, Today: Jack rolled 2 using 1d6. 1d6x10+10 damage.

Heinrich nodded, "I don't think I'll be leaving you behind, but I understand. We stick as together as we can. I cover you, you cover me. We will be successful, and we will have drinks and women when we return to civilization." Heinrich grinned, his mind racing, adrenaline flowing, it was time to end this slaughter or die trying.

Leviticus listened to the orders, processed them and made the decision to interpret them to suit his own personal mission. He understands Tolkeen has to win the war and that capturing CS brass is their top priority. His however is the preservation of innocent life and doling out justice to those who would so casually take it. With his Chameleon spell renewed he flexes mystical wings and soars a few hundred feet up into the air. Gliding over the prison camp in a slow downwars spiral he starts his assault by firing his powerful energy rifle down into the chaos first picking out targets that are executing prisoners.

After the briefing, O'Doyle instructs the demon to follow the others back to the camp so they could begin their assault and rescue mission. His face, ever hidden by his hood, is motionless; even though he enjoys killing meatbags that believe they are invincible with their metal guns and enhancements, this mission does little to further his cause.

Those feelings quickly pass as he watches the man turn into a dragon and fly toward the prison. Sseuzohael's tongue passes over his lips, as he watches the beast in flight, thinking about how his great horned head would look fused to his chest.

Driven by the need to see exactly what the dragon was capable of, Sseuzohael accelerates and reaches the prison as fast as he can, stopping inches from the wall. Without waiting for orders he turns invisible and teleports to the top of the wall to get a view of what's going on in the prison below before teleporting back to the ground to bring O'Doyle with him.