[Taocow PBEM] Book 3 - Chapter IV - Who's This Then?

Aaron Clausen mightymartianca at gmail.com
Fri Dec 17 23:47:06 GMT 2010


>> [GM]
>> Alex swims forward and then plunges her dagger into the steel. For
>> a moment there is nothing, but then her dagger begins to cut
>> through the metal, slicing at it like a knife through tough meat.
>> Still, it's going to take her a while to make a decent-sized hole,
>> as the hull of this sub is several inches thick, and much of it is
>> reinforced megadamage steel plates.
>> [/GM]

> [Justin]
> Justin moves up to the other side of the hatch from Alex, and looks
> for any structural bracing/reinforcement frames on the hull. He'll
> eyeball the width of the min-sub, then carefully (sharpshooter
> called shot, laser sight, armor sensors engaged) aim at the frames
> from point blank range and shoot them out, so as to make an outline a
> bit bigger than the mini-sub.
>
> Once it's just hull plating, he'll switch to his vibro katana and
> work his way from the far side of the hatch to where Alex is
> cutting.
> [/Justin]

> [Ted]
> Ted stands on guard, ready to assist with his sword if necessary, or
> defend the others should something hostile be waiting for them
> outside.
> [/Ted]

OOC: Just fixing Koba's post up to get rid of the railgun reference. 
Natural mistake because any SAMAS Koba would have encountered would have 
had one.

> [Koba]
> Struggling with the controls, Koba is unable to make any meaningful
> progress. After being lost in his own world of blinking monitors and
> flashing readouts, he looks up and is surprised to see a SAMAS type
> power armor right on top of them. Startled by the flashes of a
> particle beam cannon, he instinctively ducks before seeing the shots
> placed at the hull of the ship trapping the stricken sub. With some
> relief he assumes he is at least not here to harm them.
>
> "Wait, did someone say a this guy is a Cyberknight? They really are
> all over around here." Koba says to himself. Opening up the speakers
> he broadcasts, "We have people in the sub who need to have it intact
> to ascend to the surface. We need to move everyone away from that
> rift outside and back to land. Can you help us?"
> [/Koba]

> [Alex]
> Alex is going to continue cutting through the plates and
> appreciative of the help she is getting. Being so busy though, she
> will not do anything more than nod back at the moment."
> [/Alex]

> [Justin]
> Justin replies (radio) "The big sub or the mini-sub? Either one is a
> bit big for the boat up topside, but if you can surface in that
> mini-sub, the boat ought to be able to handle everyone easily."
> [/Justin]

[GM]
It takes quite a few rounds from Justin's particle beam cannon and 
slashes from Alex's surprisingly damaging dagger but finally a large 
enough hole is pierced through the hull.  The hole reveals water filled 
with sediment, with very low visibility, save for the dim distance 
bluish glow of the distant underwater rift.

Carefully Osiris attempts to navigate the mini-sub out through the hole. 
  His lack of skill is obvious as he knocks the sub against a bulkhead 
and then, on his way out, scrapes it against the edge of the hole.

For the first time Justin can see Osiris through the viewport.  Osiris 
is an old man, at least sixty years old, maybe older, the face of a 
seasoned adventurer.  Around him is a literal mash of bodies as the 
small minisub is filled with five people, the other four apparently 
unconscious.
[/GM]

[Osiris]
For his part, Osiris looks at Justin as he the minisub passes by.  "Good 
to see a fellow Cyberknight, lad."
[/Osiris]

[GM]
In short order everyone is out of the dying submarine and rising to the 
surface.  As they leave behind the silt-laden layer of water they can 
more clearly see their surroundings; the submerged city a haunting 
sight.  The rift is also plainly visible, growing in an intensity as the 
ley line storms around it reach their maximum.  It looks like a giant 
eye, and from it are swimming what look to be tens of thousands of 
blobs, at this distance it's hard to tell what they might be.

Above can be seen what must be the boat Justin was referring to, a large 
spotlight being pointed down into the water which greatly helps everyone 
swim in the right direction.

The minisub is the first to break the surface, and Osiris immediately 
blows the hatch, and awaits while a couple of people in wetsuits jump 
into the water and tie ropes around it to haul it next to the boat. 
It's clearly a difficult task in the stormy water.

A few moments later everyone else surfaces, the open air, even in this 
stormy weather, a welcome relief from their underwater adventures. 
Ropes are thrown down for all of them as well.  By the time the rest of 
the company had reached the boat, sailors were already pulling Osiris 
and the other unconscious passengers out.

In short order everyone is one the deck of what looks like a converted 
fishing boat.  Several of the men salute the company's new acquaintence, 
Justin.

"Aye, Baron!" one of them says.  "For your next trick, p'raps you could 
drag Jonah from the mouth of the whale!"

The engines on the boat fire up even before the last of the company is 
on the deck.  The storm is becoming worse, and waves crash against the 
boat with terrifying force, and it's all anyone can do to hold on as 
larger and large waves crash into the boat.

It's then that Owen, Justin and Alex feel their sixth sense's go off. 
Apparently they're not the only ones.  One of the crew shouts out 
"There's danger, an' close by!"

Over the roar of the wind can be heard the distant whine of some sort of 
thrusters.  Within moments, three hovering circular barges are racing 
towards the boat, along with several watercraft, all looking like they 
were designed by the Kittani, who the company (sans Justin) had 
encountered during their brief stay in New Argyll.  As the hover barges 
come closer, the company is able to get a good look at them [OOC: See 
attached image].
[GM]

OOC: In case anyone wants to fight...

[Initiative]
Justin - 26
Carlos - 19
Owen - 16
Ted - 15
Alex - 13
Louissa - 12
Koba - 8
Osiris - 6
[/Initiative]

-- 
Aaron Clausen
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: slaver.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 27940 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://zork.net/pipermail/taocowpbem/attachments/20101217/4d36bff7/attachment-0001.jpg>


More information about the Taocowpbem mailing list