Clusterfrag

Posted: **Sun May 15, 2022 9:59 am**

Taipan springs forward at the nearest guard with a slash of his katana, the motion starting in the balls of his feet and extending in one fluid sweep through the tip of his weapon.

Posted: **Sun May 15, 2022 7:03 pm**

Dice

Taipan's katana is a blur as it leaves the sheath. Aoki manages to maneuver away at the last moment, but not before Taipan slices through the man's sleeve. Had the combatant moved any slower, his arm would have been severed.

Luis leans out from the cage he's taken cover behind. He squints down the sights of the pistol and squeezes off a single shot after taking careful aim. A sharp report echoes throughout the cell block.

Nishimura jerks as the round grazes a kneepad, sending sparks showering against the concrete.

Doug rolls forward, hammering automatic fire through the cage bars. Bits of cotton fly skyward as the barrage tears through a cot. The intended target-- Endo-- just barely manages to avoid the hail storm of furious rounds.

Nishimura turns his Heckler and Koch assault rifle on Mick and lays down a full spray. Rounds trace a path towards the adept, shredding concrete as they go. Mick lunges to one side, covering their head. The rounds continue up the wall, but fail to hit Mick.

Wind swoops in, assault rifle chattering. Nishimura tucks against the bars as slivers of metal and sparks rain down on him, but remains unharmed.

Endo raises his rifle and draws a bead on Taipan. The rifle rocks in his arms as he holds down the trigger. Concrete explodes around Taipan and two rounds even graze his ankle, drawing scorch marks across the armor. Miraculously though, the street samurai emerges unscathed.

Posted: **Mon May 16, 2022 9:38 am**

Dice

Thoryne swings the AK-98 to bear on Endo and lets it rip. The muzzle flashes illuminate the troll's twisted grin as he expertly guides the automatic fire. Rounds pelt the concrete as they trace up and across the soldier's body. Endo staggers back, clutching at a bullet hole in his left shoulder. Bright crimson stains the white pads of the riot armor.

Posted: **Mon May 16, 2022 6:34 pm**

As her comrades dig into combat, Reiya pulls her crossbow off her back and loads one of her standard bolts. Seeing Thoryne wound one of the guards, she aims for the injured guard's neck and fires.

Posted: **Tue May 17, 2022 12:16 pm**

Mick sways, catching their weight and redirecting their momentum in a glassy, fluid motion. The dodge arcs wide, as if the ork's entire body is using the movement to wind up and load every conceivable bit of physical and spiritual energy into the adept's lightning rod fist.

(( Killing hands ))

Posted: **Tue May 17, 2022 4:29 pm**

Dice

Mick's fist slams into Aoki's ribcage, producing an audible cracking sound as bone splinters beneath the substantial armor. Aoki stumbles backwards, wheezing beneath the riot mask and visibly hurt.

Posted: **Tue May 17, 2022 9:47 pm**

Dice

Whirlwind fires a single shot, which tears a hole through the padding of Nishimura's armor but does no permanent damage. The drone then quickly reloads the magazine of its attached rifle.

Yung charges into the fray, aiming a wild haymaker at the stumbling Aoki. Aoki shifts to a defensive stance and lifts his elbows. Yung's attack glances off of the hardened riot gauntlets.

Posted: **Tue May 17, 2022 9:48 pm**

Dice

Reiya's crossbow makes a snapping sound as the bolt is loosed. The barbed projectile whistles through a maze of cage bars and strikes Endo in the right hip, sinking past the armor to embed in his flesh.

Posted: **Wed May 18, 2022 6:31 pm**

Axel sees an opportunity in the newly bloodied Endo. He lines up his sights, and fires off three rounds in quick succession.

Posted: **Wed May 18, 2022 8:33 pm**

Dice

Axel's first two shots are wide, and the third clips Endo's riot mask, sending a crack through the thick plexiglass face shield.

Aoki throws his rifle to the floor, the burning sensation becoming too much to bear. The solider-- now without a weapon-- squares off against Yung, Mick, and Taipan, his eyes darting between the three. He lowers into an Aikido stance in an attempt to thwart further attacks.

Posted: **Thu May 19, 2022 8:54 am**

The sound of the impact, the muffled crack of bone, is acutely familiar to the old soldier- an auditory ‘tell’ of the reservist’s dwindling chance of survival. Left to their own devices, those shattered bones could easily puncture the unarmed reservist’s lungs, and bleed into the chest.

There’s no tactical need to draw out such suffering: the agony the reservist undoubtedly feels with every inhalation. For a fleeting, nearly imperceptible moment, Taipan flashes his unarmed opponent the smallest nod of mutual recognition. In an instant, fluid motion borne of well-worn reflex and calculated maneuvering, the samurai doubles back, swinging the blade down in a marriage of sheer force and surgical precision.

(( Clickity clackity roll melee attackity. (Vs. Aoki) ))

Posted: **Thu May 19, 2022 7:12 pm**

Dice

Taipan's blade flicks out, but Aoki jukes to the side and avoids the attack.

Luis leans out and fires a burst of semi-automatic rounds which pelt the far wall, missing Nishimura.

Doug reloads its magazine and fires a single shot at Nishimura, which ricochets off of the cage above the soldier.

Nishimura-- clearly tired of being shot at-- responds by releasing a volley of automatic fire at Luis. Luis responds by flattening himself against the floor as the rounds punch holes through the cage bars.

Wind changes its magazine as well and fires a single shot at Endo, who ducks just in time to avoid it.

Endo hefts his rifle at Thoryne, seeking retribution for the hole currently oozing blood in his torso. His rifle thunders, but the big troll is safe behind a cage. Slivers of steel rain down on Thoryne but he simply brushes them off.

Posted: **Fri May 20, 2022 2:37 pm**

Dice

At a mental command from Thoryne, the magazine in his AK-98 clatters to the floor. He swiftly slips a fresh magazine into the rifle and raises the weapon, firing off a cursory shot at Endo. The single round strikes Endo in the stomach, penetrating the armor and culminating in a gutshot. The soldier falls back against the wall, leaving a trail of blood as he slides back towards the cover. It's clear that Endo is very seriously wounded now.

Posted: **Fri May 20, 2022 4:38 pm**

On a normal day for the little netnerd, just leaving her apartment would be a major accomplishment. In that context, suddenly finding herself in the midst of a full on firefight, ears ringing from being so close to the crack of firearms, her teammates only millimeters away from being maimed or murdered in a whirlwind of bullets: it’s all quite overwhelming, to say the least.

Hands over her head, making herself small, she shuts her eyes- if only to focus on the devices in her ‘sight’- namely the drones. With a flick of her hand, she redirects a fraction of her deck’s space, temporarily serving as a sort of virtual RAM for the little machines.

But this isn’t enough, and Mouse knows it. She grits her teeth, letting her eyes roll back as she dives into full hotsim, risking her life on a calculated gamble, both that her occupied opponents won’t target the unarmed, motionless Nipponese girl, and that she can trust her own team to watch her hoop.

(( Simple action 1: Calibrations (KC p.37) -> Wind and Doug (Electronic Warfare 6 + Logic 6)[Limit Data Processing 6] - Boosts target initiative by hits/2
... admittedly, I have no idea if this would work- the "personas you have marks on" language they use is admittedly super weird, especially since this is the sort of action you'd normally be applying to allies? Just ignore it if it doesn't make sense.

Simple action 2: Switch interface mode- Let’s try Hotsim, just cause I'm curious now. What's the worst that could happen when unconscious in a firefight? ))

Loadout

Posted: **Sat May 21, 2022 11:31 am**

Dice

Mouse crouches behind the cage, wincing at the reverberating reports of gunfire. By uploading her own suggestions to TacStar, she can beam them directly to Axel's drones, which she does. The drones both send back a confirmation that they're received the input.

Satisfied, she slumps as low as possible and drops into VR.

Posted: **Sun May 22, 2022 8:44 am**

Mick is hardly aware of their compatriots now flanking them on their left and right. All the adept sees is the guard, his feet and shoulders square to the group. He adopts a stance, but the ork can see the tremor shaking through it. His hands tremble slightly. His breath comes in ragged hitches, each one eliciting a slight wince at corners of his eyes– eyes that burn back at the team with intense hatred, but nonetheless betray their wearer's fear.

The ork gnashes their teeth and growls, the growl gathering steam behind their clavicle, gurgling up like onyx bile from the very belly of the Earth. The roar becomes a part of their forward movement, growing diffuse in the cloud of pestilence and violence that is the adept.

Posted: **Sun May 22, 2022 11:59 am**

Dice

Mick unleashes a flurry of uppercuts, alternating from side to side. While Aoki is able to dodge the first few, the speed proves too great. The soldier's faceshield shatters under the impact of Mick's blows and a great gout of blood erupts from Aoki's broken nose. The next uppercut fractures an orbital bone and yet another causes a massive contusion. Mick has Aoki on the backfoot.

Whirlwind swoops in, firing from its freshly refilled magazine. Spent cartridges rain to the floor, tinkling like discordant piano notes. The pattern of fire rakes across Nishimura and one of the bullets manages to penetrate the armor, slipping clean through the soldier's leg. Blood spatters across concrete.

Posted: **Sun May 22, 2022 7:00 pm**

Yung is light on his feet, falling back on reflex, movements singed into his neural pathways through countless hours of training via repetition. Each of Mick’s heavy blows against the reservist create a familiar, violent momentum, driving the reservist incrementally backward with each punch. Trying to take advantage of this rhythm, he keeps his eyes peeled for any break in the guard’s form, before lunging forward, hoping to end this quickly.

Posted: **Sun May 22, 2022 7:06 pm**

Dice

Yung catches Aoki with a savage chop to the neck. There's an audible crack as the sheer kinetic force of the blow creates a hairline fracture in the soldier's collarbone. Aoki reels, now critically injured.

Posted: **Tue May 24, 2022 9:32 am**

As the guard reels back from Yung's strike and Reiya hears the crack, she sights her crossbow on the heavily damanged guard and fires another standard bolt.

Posted: **Tue May 24, 2022 2:23 pm**

Dice

Reiya aims carefully and looses another bolt. This time, her aim is true. The barbed bolt-head splits the facemask and continues to penetrate deep into the brain. Aoki instantly stiffens and collapses backwards, the shaft of the bolt protruding from his face.

Posted: **Tue May 24, 2022 3:13 pm**

Axel has the scent of blood now. He's surprised and a little disturbed at how easily a predator instinct can kick in when seeing an opponent nearly beaten. It's an unfamiliar feeling, while at the same time being as familiar as home. He presses his attack on Endo, sending another trio of rounds downrange at the wounded guard.

Posted: **Tue May 24, 2022 10:16 pm**

Dice

Axel squeezes off a burst, which ricochets off of the top of the cage.

Doug follow its master's lead, dumping a full salvo at Nishimura. The automatic fire strafes the soldier's position, but fails to score a direct hit.

Posted: **Wed May 25, 2022 8:02 am**

The ringing ears, the grotesque sight (and nauseating smells) of gunpowder and punctured human bodies are lifted out of Mouse’s consciousness as she submerges into the tranquil matrix space. The drones provide a conveniently distilled feed of the action, as the team works their way through the armored goons in the nonchalant, thorough fashion of a child crushing beetles: the hardened exoskeleton cracking open, revealing nothing but goop within.

Even with two of the three reservists downed, in the time-dilated reality that is hotsim, there’s no time to waste on morbid fascinations. Mouse immediately takes stock of the network space around her, sniffing the local traffic for the telltale devices, particularly those that may think they’re undetectable. After all, the last thing the team needs right now is to walk right into a stack of sentries and armed guards just waiting outside the blast doors.

(( Matrix perception? Filtering out the ingram smartguns on the downed soldiers if possible. Also, feel free to just DM me if it's a simple find, like if there's literally nothing on in range or just X number of silent icons, and I can work that into a follow up. ))

Loadout

Posted: **Wed May 25, 2022 1:33 pm**

It takes mere milliseconds for the decker to parse the device signatures from the flow of silent traffic: three new guns (including the two on the floor), and three commlinks. Sure, she doesn’t know which device is on which reservist, but with her plans, she won’t need to.

With an electronic ‘POP!’, Mouse’s persona bursts out of its flimsy Monk disguise, revealing her usual self: albeit this time, with a wide straw hat, bushy tail, and clutching a bottle of sake. While the persona’s human mask has been completely transformed, reduced to a mere leaf stuck to its CRT head, it mercifully retained its dark robes- (which is probably for the best, given Mouse’s source material and her habit of “committing to the bit”.)

With a flick of her wrists, she draws a handful of cartoon-leaves in each hand, and hurls them at the icons of the guns. << Didn’t you get the memo? This round is Slappers-Only, License-to-Kill. And no picking Oddjob, uzai. >>

(( Free action: Swap Overclocker/Programs - Data Processing -> Attack, Wrapper -> Decryption
Simple action x2: Denial of Service (including one forked) to target each of the guns

Denial of Service = Cybercombat + Logic [attack] vs Willpower + Firewall (KC: pg. 37)
All tests made with affected devices have a dice penalty of (Net Hits x 2) for the next round. ))

Loadout

Posted: **Wed May 25, 2022 9:49 pm**

Dice

Mouse flits towards the icons. There's no time to bother with hacking, so she simply bombards them with data. She imagines a firearm with an overflowing buffer won't be very responsive.

Posted: **Thu May 26, 2022 7:08 am**

Taipan's weight shifts on his heels as he refocuses on the last remaining opponent, the career corporate samurai fluidly slashing through the fracas in sweeping, artful strokes, dancing like the delicate figure-eights of an orchestra conductor's baton. Cue the brass. Swell percussion. Crescendo the arterial spray.

Posted: **Thu May 26, 2022 8:30 pm**

Dice

Taipan's fingers wrap around the hilt of his katana. He leans forward, muscles contracting as he adopts the ideal Iaijutsu stance. The following action is performed with such force that debris billows away in a circle. In a single clean motion, Taipan unsheathes his katana, swinging it an arc and bringing the blade to full extension.

For a moment all is still, both combatants frozen in place. Taipan relaxes his body and at the same moment Nishimura's head topples from his shoulders. A small geyser of blood erupts from the soldier's neck and his carcass falls to one side, armor clattering noisily on the concrete floor.

Posted: **Fri May 27, 2022 11:33 am**

Dice

Wind, freshly calibrated, zips over the cages. The resounding muzzle blasts reverberate throughout the cell block. Endo drops low, covering his head as concrete debris rains down on him.

Luis reaches over the bars and fires off a trio of shots from his pistol. The first two are wide, but the third clips Endo's shoulder. The bullet burrs through the armor and spackles blood on the rear wall.

Endo staggers away from cover. He glances down at his firearm on the floor, eyes wary behind the face-shield. He takes off running, moving around the perimeter of the room and seeks cover behind the farthest cage. His blood-slick glove retrieves the shock-stick from his belt and he squats, preparing to make a final stand.

Posted: **Fri May 27, 2022 11:53 am**

Thoryne swings the barrel of his Kalashnikov to bear on Endo. When he fires, the cacophony is such that the very stuff of reality threatens to come apart at the seams.

(( FA. Let's see how much juju is left in Endo's dancing shoes. ))

Posted: **Fri May 27, 2022 9:46 pm**

Dice

Thoryne draws a tight grouping of automatic fire through the cage bars on squarely on to Endo. The bullets riddle the soldier, their velocity proving too great for the considerable armor. Bursts of crimson mist erupt from Endo's back; once, twice, three times. His arms windmill and he falls backwards. The body twitches a few times and then lies still.

Posted: **Sat May 28, 2022 8:00 am**

Endo's body has barely splatted to the ground, but Mick is already moving. The ork slips forward to prone position against the wall just beside the blast door entry to the cell block and gingerly peers outside, looking for any more comers.

Posted: **Sat May 28, 2022 11:17 am**

With the last of Thoryne's rounds, an uneasy silence descends upon the cell block, translated through the drone feeds into the hush of passive static. Having accomplished fuck all for the duration of that skirmish, Mouse now finds herself in a curious state, still lingering in in the time dilated reality of her hotsim state. She knows full well she has at most seconds before the team starts moving once more, and yet she can't help but eye the curious sight of the commlinks left behind.

She can't tell if the impulse is from idle curiosity, a sense of sunk cost, or a mere desire to forestall her return to the gore-soaked real-space, but with a snap of her tanuki-form's clawed finders, she launches a pair of simple exploits toward two of the remaining comms. It's a long shot, but maybe, just maybe, she can squeeze a last bit of intel out of the dead mens' communications- before they brick themselves, anyway.

(( HotF vs two of the comms? ))

Loadout

Posted: **Sat May 28, 2022 2:16 pm**

Mick scans the hillside visible from the open blast door. The vista is uncannily serene in contrast to the events that transpired just moments before. They see no sign of any additional pursuers. A light breeze caresses the island, scattering leaves and bending foliage.

Posted: **Sat May 28, 2022 2:20 pm**

Dice

Aoki lies at an awkward angle, which is somehow worse than the ridiculous amount of blood pooling underneath his twisted frame. It doesn't take long to deduce which icon belongs to his commlink based off geolocation data.

Mouse tags the link in AR and gets to work on cracking it. Maybe it's the excess adrenaline, but she finds the device's security to be a joke. It's not long before she's manifested two marks on the icon.

Clusterfrag

Run #2 - Between The Rock and a Hard Place

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