Free Man's War

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cats
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Re: Free Man's War

Post by cats » Thu May 11, 2017 6:24 pm

"Mr. Leeankham is monitoring our vitals, Gilliam." the Doctor said over comms.
Lee, who had been walking behind Gill unheard, slapped him on the back, "I got you, bud."
"Ms. Chen, Mr. Jones, scout the treeline." Rhode said. "
Chen was a stout woman in a dark, armored Omnisuit. She looked at Gill, and jerked her head toward the forest. The trees of the island were more like large, cauliflower-shaped mushrooms than plants, with green caps and blue-grey trunks. Their dense canopy formed a nearly unbroken shield over the forest floor, and let very little sunlight to pass. As Shen and Gill approached the treeline, they could hear a faint noise, almost like a whisper. Out of the corner of his eye, Gill saw something small and blue, but when he scanned the area, he saw only the darkened blue of a tree trunk.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a completely ad-hoc plot device"
— David Langford
Spoiler:
cannonfodder wrote:it's funny because sonic's face looks like a * and faces aren't supposed to look like a *

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Re: Free Man's War

Post by Lightspeedo » Thu May 11, 2017 10:03 pm

cats wrote:"Mr. Leeankham is monitoring our vitals, Gilliam." the Doctor said over comms.
Lee, who had been walking behind Gill unheard, slapped him on the back, "I got you, bud."
"Ms. Chen, Mr. Jones, scout the treeline." Rhode said. "
Chen was a stout woman in a dark, armored Omnisuit. She looked at Gill, and jerked her head toward the forest. The trees of the island were more like large, cauliflower-shaped mushrooms than plants, with green caps and blue-grey trunks. Their dense canopy formed a nearly unbroken shield over the forest floor, and let very little sunlight to pass. As Shen and Gill approached the treeline, they could hear a faint noise, almost like a whisper. Out of the corner of his eye, Gill saw something small and blue, but when he scanned the area, he saw only the darkened blue of a tree trunk.
Surprised by the small slap, he smiled trought the helmed.
- Thanks, bro.

Gilliam answered the doctor´s orders.
- Aye, sir.
He said trought the comms, following the stout woman. Gill´s armor was grey, the standard issue color.

Now he was trully impressed. Big mushroms, blue trunks. What people like James Cameron dreamed off a bunch of years ago was reality for him.

"It will be a hell of a recording!"


Wait. What was that? That faint noise?
Gill learned a lot with horror holomovies. Instead of trying to make sense of what he saw and heard or dismiss it as "it was nothing", instantly prepared the rifle, looking around a little bit alarmed.

- Doctor, i dont want to sound like the scared rookie, but i saw something small and blue followed by a faint noise, something like a whisper. I could not get a clear look at it, so pay attention to the surroundings.

Gill relayed the information for the rest of the team, still following Miss Chen, "watching her back"

cats
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Re: Free Man's War

Post by cats » Mon May 15, 2017 8:02 pm

"Investigate!" Rhode's voice echoed through Gill's helmet. "We can't set up camp until we've secured this area!"
The forest seemed to grow still and silent. Lee and the doctor were searching the coast, and Chen didn't have much in the way of pep talks. Or any other kind of talk.

Perception roll: 1.

Something heavy and pointy struck Gill's chest with enough force to knock him onto his ass. Lying on the ground in front of him was a spear with a broad, metal head and an ornately carved shaft that was the same color as the trees' trunks. Chen was running into the woods, and, even though she hadn't activated her comms, Gill could hear her laughing.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a completely ad-hoc plot device"
— David Langford
Spoiler:
cannonfodder wrote:it's funny because sonic's face looks like a * and faces aren't supposed to look like a *

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Re: Free Man's War

Post by Lightspeedo » Mon May 15, 2017 8:44 pm

"WHAT THE-"

What was that? Gilliam was recording everything. Indeed it was a nice ornated shaft, one that Gilliam took from the ground to take some pictures.
Everything happened fast.




- Oh, its so funny when the rookie gets trown on the ground, eh?

He said trought the comms, holding the spear with one hand. Who hit him with that? He then placed the spear on the ground, and ran following Chen.

cats
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Re: Free Man's War

Post by cats » Tue May 16, 2017 7:43 pm

There was relatively little undergrowth in the forest, though the roots of the trees often rose several centimeters from the ground, and made it uneven. A minute after he entered the forest, Gill nearly ran into Chen at the edge of a large clearing. She was standing absolutely still, with her gun drawn and ready. Her comms clicked in Gill's ears. "Wait."

At first, they appeared to be blue boulders that had been placed around the perimeter of the clearing, but then their slow, unsure movement became more apparent. Then Gill could differentiate their legs and heads and arms, and the weapons they carried, mostly spears like the one that had struck him. There were at least a dozen around the clearing, and more behind them. Every pair of eyes was affixed to Chen and Gill, and every spear was pointed in their direction. A moment passed, and Gill became aware of another presence beyond the far side of the clearing. In the darkness, he'd mistaken it for unfamiliar flora, but then it stepped into the clearing, showing three rows of teeth in its open mouth. Its body was very similar to a lizard's, except it was covered in a grey-blue fur and stood well over Gill's head. Its mouth could have easily accommodated Gill's torso. Two of the blue boulder people rode on its back. Chen's comm clicked several more times, but no words came.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a completely ad-hoc plot device"
— David Langford
Spoiler:
cannonfodder wrote:it's funny because sonic's face looks like a * and faces aren't supposed to look like a *

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Re: Free Man's War

Post by Lightspeedo » Wed May 17, 2017 3:21 pm

- Doctor, we need some help here. I am trasmitting our location right now. We found some indigenous life forms and there is a big lizard here.

Gilliam said everything as fast as he could over the comm channel. It was a strange situation indeed. But taking the offensive approach was not the way, at least not for now. Outnumbered, outgunned or maybe Out-speared?
If he did not mean harm, maybe the tribal dudes would not harm him.

Gill stood still, taking pictures and recording the whole situation trought the helmet. His rifle was armed and ready.

- Chen, maybe we can get out of this if we do not attack then right away. Be prepared, but dont screw this up.

Raised one hand, slowly, waving it in a "hello". It was "American Colonization" all over again.

cats
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Re: Free Man's War

Post by cats » Wed May 17, 2017 5:47 pm

There was a soft rustling as the gathered blue people collectively took a step back away from the clearing. Some raised their weapons, some made an apprehensive half-turn toward the safety of the dark forest, but the furry, lizard-like creature continued forward. When it reached the center of the clearing, one of the two riders dismounted.

"Sorry, Gilliam, Chen. The situation is too tense. More actors may have a... destabilizing effect." The doctor's voice sounded in Gill's ears.

"We're watching your feed from the beach." Lee said.

"You'll have to use your own judgement, Mr. Jones."

The rider walked closer to the edge of the clearing, towards Gill and Chen. It stopped between Gill and the lizard creature, which lifted its massive head and cocked it sideways. The rider had swirling tattoos and patterns carved on its skin or carapace, which must have been quite thick. Unlike the others, it was wearing a piece of thick hide across its shoulders, and a white club on its hip. A low sound emanated from the lizard creature, and it lifted its head higher, almost bringing its front feet off the ground. The circle of boulder people seemed to grow even more tense.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a completely ad-hoc plot device"
— David Langford
Spoiler:
cannonfodder wrote:it's funny because sonic's face looks like a * and faces aren't supposed to look like a *

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Re: Free Man's War

Post by Lightspeedo » Wed May 17, 2017 6:33 pm

Gilliam opened the frontal visor of the helmet, maybe this way they could see him as someone, and not as a foreign metal-headed guy.

Maybe smiling was not something known by that tribe, but Jones tried his best to appear kind, smiling calmly at the sight, at least the best way he could.

- No sudden movements, Chen..

Whispered trought the comms. It was a strange first contact.

_ We come in peace.

Again, maybe they would not understand shit about what he was saying, but he accompained the words with signals.
First, pointing the fingers of his left hand at Chen and himself. Later pointing to the sky.

"Fuck, its a * T-REX and i am here playing the clichê"

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Re: Free Man's War

Post by Professor Fenway » Fri May 19, 2017 2:01 pm

-High Orbit over Second Mercer-

Apart from the ocean-like world that rolled underneath, the Second Mercer system was unremarkable. A small, airless rocky body orbiting far too closely to the local star, scorched by day and frozen by night, and a helium gas giant in the outer reaches of the system, attended by a swarm of moons. The rest of the system was utterly and completely empty, save for the odd asteroid or comet. It was a quiet system.

Were any high-powered telescopes currently watching the skies of Second Mercer, they would have seen something very odd; a point in space, perhaps barely a kilometer in diameter, bending light around it to an absurd degree, twisting and distorting the vast alien star-field behind it. It lasted for hardly a minute before blinking out of existence. In it's stead, a ship perhaps half a kilometer long, angular and sleekly built for atmospheric reentry, were anyone to study it. After a brief rotation, the ship fired its main engines and descended towards the planet.

cats
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Re: Free Man's War

Post by cats » Fri May 19, 2017 8:53 pm

The blue creatures' apparent anxiety grew as a rattling hiss emanated from the elder rider in the center. It spread its arms apart, then slowly drew the white club from its hip and held it ceremoniously. The club's surface was marked with deep carvings similar to those on its owner's skin, and there was a metal band around its middle. The giant lizardlike animal's growl heightened in pitch, and stomped one of its forelegs on the forest floor. Around the clearing, the rustling noise grew louder, and the people's tension mounted toward panic, but the elder continued its ritual. It gripped its club on either side of the metal band and pulled. The object split into two pieces, and fell from the elder's hands.

Something cracked in the forest to Gill's right, and the giant lizard tensed. Its massive head whipped around the clearing, trying to find somewhere to dart away. The rider that remained on the creature attempted to dismount, but became tangled in the saddle rigging, and pulled the beast's reigns hard to one side. Several of the little blue people scrambled to collect the pieces of the club and the elder, but the animal began to run blindly around the clearing. The ground shook once, then a blur of green and brown descended upon the panic-stricken mount. It was the predator that Dr. Rhode had been talking about when Gill had joined the expedition. The beast's hide was covered in small spikes. Its head was on an elongated, thick neck, its snout long and beak-like, and filled with teeth, which ripped ribbons of skin and muscle from the smaller animal's back, and had reduced the tangled rider to broken exoskeleton and smears of bodily fluids. It bore its weight on two hind legs, one of which raked its prey's tail, separating the appendage from the body and leaving deep gouges in the earth. The lizard's frantic howl was deafening, and it kept screaming after its assailant had released it. A few spears bounced off of the beast's neck and head, but none found any soft spots, and most of the throwers joined the others, now fleeing. One that stood its ground was eviscerated by the beast's clawed forelimbs.

The elder shuffled backward from the scene, but its claw caught on a root, and it fell. It tried to crawl back, toward Gill and Chen, but the movement would be too slow to take it to the relative safety of the forest's edge in time.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a completely ad-hoc plot device"
— David Langford
Spoiler:
cannonfodder wrote:it's funny because sonic's face looks like a * and faces aren't supposed to look like a *

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Re: Free Man's War

Post by Lightspeedo » Fri May 19, 2017 9:07 pm

-Doc, are you getting that feed?!

WHAT THE FRAK WHAS THAT?!
It was slaughter.

The spears did not have the power to penetrate the predators armor, but maybe the AP rounds could do some damage. Gilliam loaded the Ap rounds that the Doctor gave him before this nightmare, and soon the rifle was ready to unleash hell.
Rule number 1 of survival: Do not be a hero.

But that guy was some sort of tribal leader and it was tangled on something.

- Chen, çets tale that thing down ASAP!

Gilliam ran to the side, to distract the creature with burst fire. Gilliam was not a veteran, but was wise enought to stop briefly to take aim before firing two bursts[ 5 shots each] at the creature, one trying to hit the legs[and hind the movement] and other trying to hit the neck[ for pure damage]
Maybe it was enough to do some damage, or at least give Chen time to unload lead on that motherfraker

Gilliam was prepared to unleash hell on that creature.

cats
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Re: Free Man's War

Post by cats » Fri May 19, 2017 10:30 pm

Four rounds struck the creature's leg, one near the knee. Brown fluid poured from the wounds. It hissed at the pain, a sound not dissimilar to a landslide. It began to limp, but the thing was almost as long as the clearing's diameter.
"We're watching, kid." Lee said, "Don't get near that thing, just end it."
Three AP rods tore through the creatures neck. One ripped a long line of flesh from under the beast's jaw, one zipped straight through the other side, and another must have damaged the bone and nerve tissue, as one of its arms began to twitch unnaturally and it became unsteady on its feet. It collided with a tree, brown blood pouring from its neck, and roared. It lashed out in its madness, reducing the tree to splinters, opening more wounds, then tumbled to the ground. The elder was crushed under its writhing body, and Chen very nearly met the same fate. It was still alive, but losing blood rapidly.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a completely ad-hoc plot device"
— David Langford
Spoiler:
cannonfodder wrote:it's funny because sonic's face looks like a * and faces aren't supposed to look like a *

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Re: Free Man's War

Post by Lightspeedo » Fri May 19, 2017 11:33 pm

- Boo Yah! Come on, Chen, help me finish off this thing!
Over the comms.

Gilliam took a better position to end that creature. Keeping distance to be secure, but able to aim better. Loaded the slug ammunition and aimed at the creature´s head and ended his life with well placed slugs [10 shots]. No need to waste the remaining AP rounds on it.

It was a strange feeling. Maybe it was all for nothing, but at least there was no big predator.

_ We can collect some samples if you want, Doctor. Or you could bring the rest of the team in, it appears that the tribals ran off.

The situation appears to be under control, at least for now.
Last edited by Lightspeedo on Sat May 20, 2017 10:23 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Free Man's War

Post by Professor Fenway » Sat May 20, 2017 8:59 am

The ship came in a bit too fast, a bit too steep. Plasma flames licked at its surface as it streaked through the upper atmosphere, barely maintaining control. It hit the lower atmosphere with an almighty roar; covered in plasma, it could hardly be told apart from a meteorite. Or another piece of debris. Its engines left a billowing grey smoke trail behind it as it screamed through the lower atmosphere. It passed high over Singh Island--loud enough to be heard on the ground, but only just--and eventually disappeared over the horizon, in the general direction ofSagittarius' crash site.

cats
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Re: Free Man's War

Post by cats » Sat May 20, 2017 7:35 pm

sorry, can't write a long post. Sure would be a nice time for Dayn to jump in.

The beast was still on the forest floor, leaking coffee-colored blood and twitching. Its head was so large that its eyes were level with Gill's. Chen walked to the screaming lizard creature. Its pelvic cavity was open where the larger animal had torn its tail and one of its legs from its torso, and there was a growing brown stain of blood and organs around it. She put three rounds in the back of its neck, and silence engulfed the forest.

A little blue person emerged from behind a tree. It must have been a young one, ass it was smaller than the rest, and its shell had a lighter coloration. It timidly shuffled to Gill, knelt, and gingerly reached for his hand, taking it in his claws. More followed, some creeping over to Chen, some gathering around Gill. There were also a few attempting to find the Elder's body under the slain creature, dodging claws as spasms racked its corpse.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a completely ad-hoc plot device"
— David Langford
Spoiler:
cannonfodder wrote:it's funny because sonic's face looks like a * and faces aren't supposed to look like a *

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