Author Topic: CDDA: Adventures in Cataclysm  (Read 33237 times)

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saltmummy626

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Re: CDDA: Adventures in Cataclysm
« Reply #5160 on: August 14, 2019, 04:48:06 am »
The sun had begun to set by the time Jennifer and Cherise had managed to free themselves of the unpleasant social situation in which they found themselves. A woman named Carrol had approached them demanding to know what they were doing sneaking around. Jennifer had been at a loss for a moment but Cherise had been ready, reaffirming Jenny's choice for her first ranger. Cherise had responded with an old standby that had marked her as unaligned with the refugee center.

"Sorry to bother you ma'am, but do you have a moment to talk about our lord and savior, Jesus Christ?"

Carrol had scowled deeply and tightened the grip on her glaive. Hoyt and his thugs were familiar with the ploy, but not afraid of what it could mean for the orchard and it's denizens.

"We told you fucks to come Openly if you wanted what Hoyt's selling." She said more than a little menacingly. Carrol did an about face and headed back the way she'd come, only turning long enough to throw an insult at the women, and a command to hurry the hell up. Jennifer's first impression of Hoyt and the people who surrounded the man was soon proved to be spot on. He was dangerous, and the feeling of thinly veiled menace seemed to drop away to be replaced with open hostility when the rangers insisted that they hadn't come for drugs. Until that was, Jenny mentioned milk. Hoyt calmed quickly, but there was still an air of hostility. A bridge had been burned, but he was still willing to deal with them. He wouldn't bargain though, and Jennifer ended up paying the mans exorbitant price for the one jug brought in by Carrol after a long wait.

Now, walking along the road and discussing what they'd seen, Jennifer looked closely at the milk. To her, it looked like regular milk. To Cheena though, it looked wrong. Without a word, she popped the cap on the old fashioned glass bottle and overturned it.

"What are you doing? You paid for that!" Cherise gasped. Jenny shook her head slowly, and told her that it was poison. "What do you mean?"

"We wasted his time, his assistant or whatever put something in it. From what I've been told by the chef and the people he has taking shipments from this Hoyt guy, he doesn't ship his product in bottles like this. It was filled individually on the spot, just for us. That Carrol lady took her time, didn't she?" Jennifer explained. Cherise thought about it for a moment, then nodded. Carrol had taken more than enough time retrieving the bottle. Enough that she could have filled many bottles in the time it took her to return. "Plus," Jenny said, ears perking up as Cheena made her aware of something else, "Someone is following us."

They waited, listening to the silence of dusk. Crickets, wind, and silence. Cherise heard nothing but her senses, honed by her time hunting humans and mutants, suddenly went off. Jennifer hefted a stone and cursed herself for not bringing a holdout while Cherise drew the strange handle she'd had taken out momentarily earlier. With a quick movement, Cherise had drawn something from her sleeve and attached it to the handle.

"You're still wearing your armor?" Jennifer asked, astonished that Cherise had been able to conceal something like that under her clothes.

"Just the battery and the power circulator. I need them for the axe." She explained. Jenny didn't have time to ask when all became clear. A click and snap, and the handle had extended in Cherise's hand, then a lightsaberish 'fwoosh' and a jet of blue fire erupted from the end of the handles extended shaft. To Jenny, it really did look like an axe, albeit one made of blue light. The heat was obvious, even from as far as Jenny was standing. The implement would heat up quickly, and the burns on Cherise's hands suddenly made sense.

Something moved off the side of the road back the way they came. Someone or something moving away, headed back to the orchard.


A little later, when they were sure that they were alone again, Cherise rubbed the palm of her hand while Jennifer examined the handle. She'd never seen anything like it, and doubted very much that Captain Sandell had either.

"It's a plasma weapon," Cherise explained, "The Mark Seven can usually discharge the heat produced, but not for very long since I never had the full suit."

"Where did you get it?" Jennifer asked wonderingly. Cherise shrugged, and took it back.

"A 'gift' for being especially good at what I did. Now it's just a really useful shameful reminder." The other woman continued looking uneasy and guilty. "I did what I had to, but it wasn't moral. I'll certainly go to hell." Now she looked sad, but only for a moment before the emotion melted away. The two of them decided to head on in the opposite direction of New Paris. If the drug dealer was intent on having his people follow them, then it wouldn't be good to have them followed back and revealing their true allegiances. Hoyt believed they were Gods Army, and that suited Jennifer just fine. It got darker and any sign of pursuit soon dropped away for good. The plan now was to keep going until they found one of Jennifer's safe houses.

"It'll be good for you to know where they are, if you decide to stick with the rangers." She explained, "Some of them are in some rather dangerous areas too, so those ones you won't have to worry too much about bandits or anything like that in. Xrays are still a problem though." Cherise soaked in the information, and considered. She probably would join, now that she'd experienced a bit of time with the mutant spy and had time to think about what she was offering.
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RedVulnus

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Re: CDDA: Adventures in Cataclysm
« Reply #5161 on: August 15, 2019, 01:41:48 am »
TJ had gone off to deal with other things and Bolt once again found himself alone. But he liked the water and he liked that no one was bothering the ‘cursed’ child here. Which was when an idea popped into his head.

Running over to where they kept the supplies Bolt produced his IOUs. After a bit of negotiation Bolt left with a few spare hands to carry his materials. Once they were deposited he ran to get his tools and fill the air tank.

Bolt, aside from being quite competent at making tools to make his work easier, was also excellent at making shelter. Climbing out over the water and he started constructing what would be his home.

A few hours later and he stared at his work. The house itself hung over the water and was attached to the bridge itself. A retractable walkway was all that led from the shore to the house which was painted a dark blue.  It also had an open air patio where one could fish if they so desired. All in all it was a wonderful looking house attached underneath a bridge that could house two.

TJ meanwhile had found himself walking through Walkerville when he saw a group of mislings. Each was decked out with a metal chest plate they’d made and carrying weapons given to them by Isaac. One looked over and called “Hey, we could use a fifth if you want to come along kid.”

After a moments consideration TJ nodded, hoping to get something of value for the trip and being bored out of his skull, and they got him a chestplate of his own. From there he retrieved the air rifle and tank and the lot of them started off and away from Walkerville.

They were heading out to look for a few components one of the engineers needed and the group had volunteered. TJ was surprised to hear that the eldest of the group was the same age as him,. Sixteen, and the youngest only a year younger. But like most mislings they were looking to earn their pay and earn a name for themselves.

As they walked the ‘leader’ revealed her name was Blue. “I grew up fightin’, don’t much care for all this sittin’ around and waitin’.” She said as they walked along the roadside. “Me an’ the boys here are what’s left of one of the old fightin’ rings. Call ourselves the ‘Brigade’ cause Shorts there thought it was a great name for a group of four.”

The man named Shorts sighed and rolled his eyes at her sarcasm. “I was thinking we could bring in some more people Blue, not just stay the four of us.”

The two argued for the next twenty minutes until they saw their destination. At which point they got their serious faces on and started moving into the building. In one room Shorts had lapsed his attention and a zombie came up behind him. “Jesus man, there’s nothing here.” Shorts said shortly before starting to panic as TJ lifted his rifle and swept it up past Shorts.

The dull thump of the air rifle cut through the air as the pellet shattered part of the zombie’s skull and rendered it dead. Turning to look over his shoulder Shorts blinked before saying “Shit man, saved my life. I owe you one.”

From TJ was in the lead as they reached a door and raised his hand to signal the others to stop. Blue pulled a grenade from her belt and moved to the other side of the door as TJ checked the door. Stepping in front of it he kicked the door, breaking the wood around the handle and pushing it in, and stepped back to the side as Blue threw the grenade in.

Pushing in after it went off TJ and the rest swept the room. Everything went fine until TJ heard a gunshot from behind him and felt a bullet rip through his chest plate flying between his fourth and fifth rib on the left side. He also saw the bullet rip the head of a zombie open.

“Shit, G, Shorts pull security.” Blue shouted as she rushed over to TJ. But before she could start to pull his chestplate off he grabbed her hand.

“I’m fine Blue, we need to get what we came for though. Made enough noise to bring more of these things around.” TJ said as he let go of her hand and started searching the room for the parts.

Sure enough once they exited the building TJ and the others saw a large group of the undead shuffling towards them. Pulling something out of his bag TJ put the device over the barrel of his air rifle and took aim as the others started running. Peering down the side mounted sights as he arced the rifle TJ squeezed the trigger and started after them.

The chemical solution inside the large projectile reacted to the sudden g-forces and when the round hit the ground it exploded in a fireball of death and shrapnel. The horde that had come for them was suddenly much smaller as they made their way back home.

On the way TJ plugged the hole in his bandages with fresh ones while telling the others he was fine. It took a while for them to believe him but eventually they just went back to walking. They were surprised by a group of zombies that rushed them from the side and cut TJ and G off from the others. The sound of fast paced gunfire drifted into the distance as TJ kept pulling the trigger of his rifle and G started chopping into the zombies with his pair of shashka.

After a few minutes TJ’s rifle clicked and he turned to spot a zombie about to bite G from behind. Sliding his knife out of it’s sheath TJ threw it past G’s head, cutting some of his fur, and watched the blade sink into the zombie’s skull.

From there they managed to fight through the horde and rush after their friends. As they reached the bridge to Walkerville G retrieved one of his swords and started towards Blue. “YOU LEFT US TO DIE!” G shouted.

Blue put her hands up and gave a grin as she said “I didn’t think you guys made it through the first rush G. My bad.”

G rolled his eyes and twirled the sword in his hand. “Sure Blue. Just like the time me and Shorts had to survive three days on our own because you fucked us. Or did you not tell Shorts that you sent us on a suicide mission?”

The argument between the two lasted a half hour as TJ stood there with Shorts and Ell. It ended when Blue walked off telling the other three to follow the ‘freak in bandages’ then. G rolled his eyes and said “Sorry, Blue’s a bitch. She’ll be back to us in a couple days begging to get back into the brigade though.”

Ell, the youngest of the three left, asked “But who’s gonna be in charge while Blue’s gone?”

G shrugged and responded “Not me, and not Blue when she gets back. Needs to learn there’s consequences for being a cunt.”

The discussion was short and quiet between the three mislings while TJ sat off to the side. Once they were done Shorts walked over to TJ and asked “So, ready to head back to the guy who hired us cap’n?”

TJ blinked and asked why they’d make him their leader, they just met afterall. “You saved two of our lives and took a bullet like a bad ass. Why wouldn’t we want you as our leader. Plus you ain’t another geezer telling us to quiet down, you listened to us back there.”

And with that they made their way back into Walkerville.

Elsewhere Heinrik held the drugged out man by the throat and stared him in the eyes. A sudden twist and the man’s neck snapped before his limp body dropped to the floor. Then he eyed his target from the tree line.

Retrieving the rocket launcher Heinrik aimed down the sights of the RPG and lined up his first shot. A slow pull of the trigger released the rocket into the air. As it soared through the air Heinrik reloaded. As it hit the tower the thing began to topple to the side and rip apart.

The second shot flew through the window of the building that the tower had resided next to. The resulting explosion would most likely have shredded the equipment inside. Standing up and turning he was greeted by another drugie pointing a pistol at him.

Swinging his arm Heinrik knocked the gun from the man’s hands and proceeded to grab him by the jaw. A sudden jerk downwards ripped it off and as he tried to start screaming Heinrik stabbed the man in the head with his own jawbone.  As more of them rushed towards the source of the rockets Heinrik ran into the trees and towards New Paris again. He disappeared and left only the bodies as a trace of his presence.

saltmummy626

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Re: CDDA: Adventures in Cataclysm
« Reply #5162 on: August 23, 2019, 12:06:14 pm »
Jennifer spent time over the last year hunting and making connections. One of those connections, the one camped out in one of her best safe houses in fact, was Dave "Cannonball" D'Souza. Dave was a lanky man with an air of good humor and a handsome face beneath a head of chocolate brown hair. Now, sitting on the couch inside the third floor apartment safe house, he nodded understandingly to the women across from him. Dave was a Hell's Raider. Incumbent leader of the Dynamite Divers and maintainer of some of Jennifer's higher end safe houses.

"Let's go over it again." he said thoughtfully, "You want cattle and you want to run a hit on that dealer over in the orchard." Atomos nodded, noting that Cherise had gone out the front door to take another look at the demolished staircase. It had been the easiest part of setting up the safehouse. The hardest had been the plank spanning the narrow gap between this one and the apartment across the narrow alley between two buildings. The Divers had been hard at work turning other apartments into pieces of the safehouse, making it more fortress than simple hide away. The bridges between were the most impressive bit. The bridge which had started as just a wide plank thrown across the narrow gap between two close set balconies had evolved to a system of retractable rope and ladder bridges.

"Yeah, basically. I'm willing to split the cattle between your my people and your people. As for the tower-" She began.

"Yeah yeah, we've heard the shit music too. I'm more concerned with what the orchard is dealing than I am about faggots moaning into my speakers or getting a prime rib." Dave said. He rummaged around in a drawer while talked and took out a compact. Jennifer scowled at it, but Dave just ignored her. He was a user, sure enough, but not of what Hoyt was dealing. "That guys dealing poison. Something wrong with his fix. I'd be happy to fuck with his operation for you just to get his filth off the map."

"Could you not?" Jennifer interrupted, drawing Cherise back into the room. Dave looked down at his fixings and realized what he was doing.

"Oh, oh yeah, sorry B. Sometimes I forget, right?" He explained. The compact vanished into a jacket pocket and wouldn't be seen by Atomos again that night. She thought that the stuff in the compact would be the death of Dave's clan. Too many of his people took what their leader called "tusk snuff" before their rides. The result was, inevitably, somebody getting too careless with the divers signeture weapon and detonating themselves at high speeds. She'd seen it twice already, one of several reasons she'd dealt fairly but seldomly with the Dynamite Divers. Dave reached over and turned up the stereo between them and listened quietly to the sound coming from it. A mix of heavy bass, low moaning, and a man's voice repeating the line "stuff me daddy" all arranged to some kind of techno beat.

"Ba! Ba! Ba! Bo! Bo! Bo! REACH! FOR THE LAYZUHZ!!!" The radio screamed, in so far as it could scream at the low volume set.

Dave grimaced at it then turned his attention back to the ranger. "Frankly though, if we tried to sack the candy man's place, we'd probably end up getting shot down or blowing ourselves up. Junkies they may be, but the dick heads got some hard folks over there. Also, say we did take the orchard? Then what? The shit may be poison, but junk is junk and most of my guys are just as tweaked as his." Dave went on, accompanying his statement with a telling sniff of the webbing between thumb and forefinger.

"It's all poison regardless..." Cherise interrupted, "If we take the place, it's all being burned to the ground."

"Yeah..." Dave said with a nervous calm, "but it isn't that easy. Seriously though, we could probably help with the steak. The radio, no, the steak, yes. Now listen, the candy man has to get his stock from somewhere right? He's not breeding them then and there on that orchard is he? The clans know because the clans keep an eye on things. The candy man is a tempting target, but he's a hardened target. Still worth watching though right? I'm getting off track, sorry. So... Where's he get the livestock?"

"If he isn't breeding it, he's shipping it in." Jennifer mused, "but where from? Nobody else that I know of has any cattle."

"He's stealing it himself?" Cherise guessed. Dave made a sharp clicking noise and mimed a pistol firing in her direction.

"Bingo. Guy may be a hard core dealer, but he's a raider too. His people are anyway. They hit small settlements for chemical supplies and livestock. If they've got skilled chemists or scientists, his boys kidnap or kills them. If they've got drugs, they burn them. The candy man is a shrewd businessman. The thing is, the cattle can't all be shipped with the rest of the stuff. They have to be checked over to make sure their healthy, then they're loaded into a cattle car and driven back to the orchard. You aren't going to steal so much as a fart from the orchard, but you could probably take the caravan." Dave went over all this with a distant look of whimsy. Entertaining the concept of a hit and run. Only, there was a snag.

"We'd still have to knock out their radio." Atomos observed, "Otherwise, Hoyt would know the livestock had been hit and taken and he might try hunt the truck down to retrieve it... Or send reinforcements if we can't take the truck quick enough..."

Dave leaned back and tucked a hand into the pocket where he'd placed the compact before, slowly turning the little clamshell over and over in his hand. The off white powder inside would send him right off, making him feel powerful and energetic for a bit. The situation seemed hopeless, but of course there were ways they could go about it. Maybe if they had the hardware and support... He thought about his rivals, the Screaming Eagles and the Sun Dogs. The Dynamite Divers were floundering and one of the rival clans would absorb them. The Eagles wouldn't be so bad, but the Sun dogs would be terrible for the Divers. The problem was that it was likely the Sun Dogs would be the ones to unify them. Dave didn't have the numbers or the wits to do it, but maybe... Just maybe, this situation could be used to make a power play? He took his hand out of his pocket and appraised the fox eared ranger sitting in one of the apartments huge overstuffed leather chairs. She had hiked her legs up into the chair unconsciously and crossed them. The luxurious tail lay in her lap like a bundle of blankets and she was running her fingers through it, feeling the fur like it was the first time. Then her ears perked and she shot a look to the radio. Dave didn't see the last because at that moment, he too had averted his attention to the device. It had been silent for some time and they hadn't noticed. When it made a loud "bwip!" noise though, they both realized that the station had been broadcasting nothing but white noise for at least two or three minutes.

"Huh." Dave said, "Guess the Aussie asshat finally got bored for the night."

"Maybe the candy man put him to bed." Cherise guessed ominously.

"Well, it just means we can have a quiet nights sleep." Dave suggested, "Speaking of which, you ladies better get some rest. I'll put some feelers out, maybe get the Eagles and the Sun Dogs in on it, and I'll give you an answer in the morning."

Jennifer perked up at that and gave Dave a hopeful look. "You really will? Try to get together with your rivals I mean? That's very adult of you. I hope it goes well then, I really do." Dave waved a hand at her as if to say 'aw, go on you.' For show at least. The girl had always been one to push for cooperation among the clans and especially between the clans and the refugee center. Dave knew all about her mingling with just about everybody, including her infiltration of a few God's Army scouting parties that came into the area. A lot of the clans did, and some of them even had the hopes that she would do it. Atomos was no Big Dog though. No "Great Khan" figure, and she wasn't willing to use the methods Big Dog had used to get everybody together like that again.

"Naw... Well, maybe. We'll see. Go get some rest and I'll see what's what in the morning." He instructed dismissively.
I'm really just a sexy skeleton in a suit.
Fingering techniques are very important
Quote from: Six
Using guns while sober? Sounds like you're a coward.
Yes, little hats for every noodle.
Everyone is forks it seems.
"Everything is fucked forever, and ever, and ever." -Forrest 2016

saltmummy626

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Re: CDDA: Adventures in Cataclysm
« Reply #5163 on: August 24, 2019, 04:31:23 am »
"Is this really- EEP- necessary?" Branches asked, the Yelp necessitated by Roxanne giving the laces of the corset she'd made the homunculus try on another hard pull.

"Well no, but you wanna be beautiful right? Being beautiful hurts sweetie." Roxanne grunted. She put her foot on branches back and gave another titanic pull, wondering just what this girl was made of that the kind of pressure the corset was putting on her hadn't forced her to pass out yet. Roxanne had given good advice, or at least the two of them thought so. Be polite, be confident, look at him when you are speaking. "Hector liked 'em, confident but with streak of girlish flirty shyness. Just walk with your head up and try to avoid looking like you are skulking around and you should nail it."

After the advice, Roxanne had started in with appearances. Unfortunately, it was this that had devolved to a point where Roxanne was basically just playing dress up with the homunculus. Taking clothes off, putting new ones on, then taking them off again. Branches began to feel like a life sized doll, being stripped and dressed for an imaginary ball for other dolls. Roxanne wanted to see if she could push Branches a bit, and how far she could take it. Her excuse to herself was that Hector would push those frustrating buttons himself, but the reality was that she was just toying with the girl. Eventually, Branches caught on, and that was a surprise. Mica never caught on, but Branches wasn't Mica after all.

"Okay," Branches said at the last painful pull, "if this isn't necessary then you are just messing with me..."

"No no, this is important stuff. You have to know how to-" Roxanne began. Before she could finish assuaging the girl, Branches suddenly flexed and did something Roxanne had seen more buxom women, including herself, fail at. The corset exploded and sent buttons and ribs flying around the room like bullets.

"Woops." Branches said unconvincingly. Roxanne checked herself over, knowing that the mundane assault wouldn't have harmed her at all but checking anyway, then expressed a heavy sigh. Her windows were broken again and a stray button had smashed her third favorite ceramic gnome to bits. She saw though that while she'd been toying with Branches, time had seriously got around to passing. Outside the broken remains of her window, the sun had set and the point at which the dark would soon come on had arrived. When she turned back to Branches again and saw the corset hanging off her like a shed skin, Roxanne gave an even deeper and more profound heavy sigh.

"That..." She groaned knowing that this was partially her fault, "was an antique whale bone corset..."
I'm really just a sexy skeleton in a suit.
Fingering techniques are very important
Quote from: Six
Using guns while sober? Sounds like you're a coward.
Yes, little hats for every noodle.
Everyone is forks it seems.
"Everything is fucked forever, and ever, and ever." -Forrest 2016

Chaosvolt

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Re: CDDA: Adventures in Cataclysm
« Reply #5164 on: August 28, 2019, 12:53:44 am »
He had written down a list of essentials, Catnip's requested parts along with a few things he hoped to find along the way. They were scrabbled down on the back of Nathaniel's old military map, as it offered a good reference for where to investigate. A few columns of notes, right underneath a few lines of crossed-out coordinates and notes from past experiences. The lab ultimately responsible for his current objective, coordinates to a now-reclaimed bunker, few notes on local streets in a now-ruined necropolis. A hasty translation of directions received from Helen and Quinn, that had been at some point crossed out harshly enough that the paper was nearly torn.

Graphene, and a rough estimate of the amount and expected dimensions. Superalloy, with some almost-arcane notation in the margins on the side, that amounted to reminding himself how to rule out the types Catnip was fairly certain wouldn't be adequate. Plain titanium steel and the odd dark alloy he'd only ever seen adorning the bio-weapons, those wouldn't work.

Besides that, the list was far more mundane. Intact solar panels, fuel filters, more supplies to make up for their minimal stockpile of bio-diesel. He'd taken to leaving the tank hooked up to what remained of their electrical system when it wasn't in use, in other to extend how far he could go without needing to run it off of diesel, but in the long run it wouldn't be enough. Gas mask filters were always useful as well, and ever since they went chasing after Mica he made note to try and find a spare chemical detector, just in case. And finally, camera lenses and other things, as he'd noticed that some of the displays, though they made it through the storm intact, were suffering in quality, and half the thermal imagers no longer worked at all.

But for the recommendations as to the primary items on his list, he had one person in mind to ask, making his way to knock on the door of one building. The fact he even thought of the machine in question as a "person" momentarily crossed his mind, given the sheer annoyance she'd caused pretty much since they made it out of that lab.

"Hey, Medeina? I wanted to check and see if you had any info that might help narrow down where to search for the materials you need, and if you have any details on the particular alloy..."

saltmummy626

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Re: CDDA: Adventures in Cataclysm
« Reply #5165 on: August 28, 2019, 03:41:46 am »
Hector waited for a response, and when none came, he pushed the door open. Or tried to, anyway. The door opened all of about a foot before becoming so stiff that he couldn't simply push it anymore. The knight put his shoulder to the door and shoved hard against it with all his strength and the little extra afforded him by his seldom used bionics. For his efforts Hector managed to force another foot or so out of the gap between door and jam. The inside of Dee's workshop was coated in a thick layer of heavy silk, and Dee had neglected to clean in front of his main door. 'Not surprising,' Hector thought as he tried to force his way through the gap, 'Nobody uses the door anyway.'

"Mr. Lowe." Medeina greeted from under a table, "Is that so? Well, I may know something." She tried to trundle her proxy out from under the table, but just couldn't. There was a loud grinding noise coming from the tiny chassis of the proxy.

"Are you alright?" Hector asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No. Miss Mica's biology has compromised four of my proxies. Her silk gets everywhere and Miss Mica has a particular disregard for personal space." Medeina said sharply. Hector had seldom heard the AI utter so much as a sharp whisper, so it was a bit concerning. He leaned down and picked up the volleyball sized robot and noted the sound of tearing silk as he did so. He also took note of how badly bent one of Medeina's legs had become. Having been wrapped in the stuff himself, the knight could only imagine how bad it would be for such a small machine as Medeina's proxy. "Ah, my thanks Mr. Lowe. You are a gentleman. This saves me the trouble of waiting for Ms. Minx, or awaiting the return of Mr. Koenig."

"Ah." Hector said simply. Medeina tested her joints for a bit, then turned her lens up to face her savior.

"I do believe I can assist you. There are certain labs marked in my registry, though I don't know why. I have mentioned this to Mr. Koenig, and he has suggested that they may be my home lab and several related labs. I have no memory of them though, so I cannot be sure. The materials we require will most certainly be found there, though judging from the nature of my directives I've no doubt that any lab related to myself will be filled with fascinating creatures. As such, I must insist on accompanying you on your task. Ms. Minx as well." She said, fidgeting a little. Her lack of human features couldn't hide the fact that something else was bothering her. Hector could be a bit dense or oblivious sometimes, but while Medeina couldn't express herself physically, her emulated emotions had no problem coming through her voice.
I'm really just a sexy skeleton in a suit.
Fingering techniques are very important
Quote from: Six
Using guns while sober? Sounds like you're a coward.
Yes, little hats for every noodle.
Everyone is forks it seems.
"Everything is fucked forever, and ever, and ever." -Forrest 2016

Chaosvolt

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Re: CDDA: Adventures in Cataclysm
« Reply #5166 on: August 28, 2019, 01:54:44 pm »
Hector was, even after having seen Mica's handiwork plenty of times, still taken aback at just how prolific she was. After her remarks and suggestions, despite his reservations he led the way out, unfurling the map upon finding a good place to show it to her.

The map displayed the state they were in, various points of interest and long-obsolete sectors for a failed operation. Of note were the points marked as Priority Sites, most deep within overlapping sectors of operation, indicating the emphasis placed on securing them.

"There are several sites marked here. No real way of telling what was inside them without forcing our way inside, since it was on a need-to-know basis for the people expecting to use this map. But we can use any overlap to hopefully narrow down which of the locations on your registry are the most important." he suggested. "If they're all on the map then we're back to square one, but it's worth a shot..."

"More importantly, however. You sure that the two of you can handle this? I've said before it's dangerous these days to travel along, but..." There was a momentary pause, and the grimace that crossed his face was evident even his helm wasn't on. "I'm reluctant to rope Roxanne into this, Nathaniel's about to become a father, Floyd has his daughter to look after...I was prepared to go looking on my own."

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Re: CDDA: Adventures in Cataclysm
« Reply #5167 on: August 28, 2019, 02:48:57 pm »
"Oh, it should be fine, Miss Minx is oddly capable though she is by no means a fighter." Medeina claimed, verbally waving off Hectors concerns, "According to my own directives, my task was to observe and record. There may be holding cells on site, but I can't imagine anything too dangerous. Then again..." She gave the map a serious look and calculated. "The facility should have defenses of their own, and perhaps there is a copy of myself there? Maybe..."

"Medeina?" Hector asked upon hearing the unsure tone the robot spoke with.

"I don't remember anything. I know the name of my creator, the goal of my project, and even a few things about my unique programming structure but everything else is non-existent. I have discussed this at great length with Miss Minx and a conclusion has continued to remain elusive. I want to find answers, and Miss Minx wishes to assist. What is this lab here?" Medeina lamented before directing her question to an area of the map. It looked like a long stretch of deforested land reaching vertically down the map with large scale power lines running through it. The point at which she'd prodded sat at the terminus of a dirt road, seemingly ending at nothing. Hector stared at it for a moment, seeing it had been circled as important, then circled again by himself at some point. Then it came to him.

"That's where we found you." He explained, "But that wasn't your lab."

"No. My lab and the others in my registry are not marked on this map. Why do you think that is Mr. Lowe?" She asked, then adjusted her lens and prodded another space further south of C.I.D.s lab, in a heavily forested area. Then jabbed the map in four other places in what Hector recognized as a square around the point in the forest. "A series of five labs." She explained, "The partial inventory I have suggests that super alloy may be found in any of them, but only one of them contains an adequate sample of graphine, though this could be a result of the fragmented nature of my records." They went over the map a bit more before Hector noticed the shadow that had fallen over it and turned to see the woman that the robot had spent so much time with, running around in the swamp and writing about animals.

"Yo," She said, "So is this happening today or what?"
« Last Edit: August 28, 2019, 03:15:44 pm by saltmummy626 »
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Re: CDDA: Adventures in Cataclysm
« Reply #5168 on: August 28, 2019, 03:56:57 pm »
"I'm not entirely sure what to make of your labs not being on the map." he admitted, glancing over the location she suggested they attempt. "Could be that someone else was in charge of keeping them secured, maybe..."

As they were interrupted, he turned to her, giving a little nod. "Well, we have locations, and I've already had the tank ready to go, unless you'd prefer something less heavy on the diesel." he answered, soon securing his helm to put it on, checking equipment to be sure everything was at the ready.

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Re: CDDA: Adventures in Cataclysm
« Reply #5169 on: August 29, 2019, 03:14:16 pm »
Bolt had returned to work and waited in line for his assignment. The foreman walked down the line handing out assignments until he stopped at Bolt. Looking over his list the foreman. “Bolt you’re scrapping the pile today.”

The pile was just a collection of random items that needed to be separated into parts for other work. It was also the usual assignment Bolt received since no one wanted to work the pile given just how long some of the stuff took to take apart. Grabbing his tool belt Bolt went to work.

The first item was a fridge. He wasn’t sure who had thrown it here or why but here it was. Taking the door off its hinges Bolt started taking it apart. That process took about fifteen minutes with his tools. From there his mind drifted as he did his work by muscle memory.

Elsewhere G had walked across the bridge with the others before splitting off to let Shorts drop off the salvage. Tossing the makeshift chestplate into a spot G hid his stuff in he quickly made his way to where a few of his ‘friends’ hung out.

Taking an offered blunt he took a puff before handing it back. One of them started to play some music as they sat there and talked for a while. Mostly about the mundane things in their lives, work and what they wanted to do. “Of course we’re just street rats so no one’s gonna give us a shot to do anything but dirt.” one of the guys said.

G had to agree with that. He’d never really had a chance at anything other than fighting and rigging tables and now the Shattered Helm had turned him away after he tried joining. And working with Blue hadn’t exactly panned out.

Grabbing another cigarette and flicking his lighter on G  pondered what he and the gang were going to do. Shrugging to himself G told one of the men “One of you keep an eye out for a guy in bandages wearing a turban, if you spot him pass him a sabre.”

That was when G spotted Isaac walking towards them. He looked angry. Hopefully he wasn’t angry at them G thought as he leaned against the wall and smoked a hand rolled cigarette.  As the old man neared G asked “What can us lowly street rats do for you?”

Isaac nodded to him as he said “I need people who can fight. I imagine you and your friends would be willing and I know you’re interested in some of my gear. How about a trade?”

G looked to the others who all nodded. None of them were strangers to violence so what was some fighting to them. “We’re gonna want and need guns. Lots of them. And some better armor than that scrap Blue made.”

“Deal. We’ll be leaving in a half hour, meet me by my truck and we’ll get everything ready.” Isaac said as he turned and walked away.

G had a bad feeling as he pulled out one of his sabres. The gem in the blade had turned a dull black, usually a bad sign. Sheathing it he sighed “Boys, go get ready. We’ve got some killing to do. And bring meds too.”

Elsewhere Shorts slid his papers across the desk and waited. Once they’d finished inspecting the papers the men on the other side of the glass told him to go ahead. Walking into the armoury Shorts sat down and took the first rifle.  The Shattered Helm had never interested him but he liked weaponry.

So here he was cleaning and fixing fire arms for the Shattered Helm thanks to a friend of his. Of course from his recollection they knew how to take care of their own weapons but the surplus needed maintenance as well. So he sat there and worked while he hummed to himself.

Maybe he could get Ell some new clothes with the IOUs he got today. Especially after G got him the share of the IOUs for the parts they’d gotten. But that’d take till tomorrow…

Sighing Shorts wondered what he’d do for food today. The only spot he could afford a meal was that community center but he hated taking charity. Maybe he could go scrounge some food again. But then Ell would want to tag along and he’d be going somewhere dangerous, maybe more dangerous than when they’d headed out with Blue.

Meanwhile Foster had found himself sitting alone looking through his journal. He didn’t have a soul, never did as far as he could tell. But why? He’d never found another with his problem and now he’d run into someone that shouldn’t have had one in the first place.

Tapping the side of his head with a pen Foster contemplated trying another experiment. The only issue was finding someone that wouldn’t be missed by anyone if they disappeared. So that would have to wait for now.

Scribbling a note down in his journal Foster decided the first thing he’d do would be to adjust an old formula. Maybe if he simply adjusted some of the chemical compounds in it he’d actually see results…

An hour had passed before Foster looked up from his notes. Something felt..off as he looked around. It felt as though someone was watching him. But not seeing anyone eyeing him Foster shrugged and decided to go find more parts for his lab.

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Re: CDDA: Adventures in Cataclysm
« Reply #5170 on: August 30, 2019, 08:28:23 am »
Minx grinned at Medeina and jerked a thumb at the knight conspiratorially. She'd met some strange people after the cataclysm but she wasn't sure if Hector was in the crazy camp or the eccentric. Either way, he seemed more fun than most of those she'd met. She climbed into the tank after the knight with the robot tucked under one arm.

"For the purpose of this task," Medeina announced suddenly, "Mr. Koenig has modified this proxy with a WiFi repeater and a few other-"

"We're not worried about it Medi, you'll be fine." Minx sighed, then turned to Hector who was in the middle of settling in. "She was hoping you'd ask about bringing her laptop along so she could give you the same exhaustive explaination she gave me."

Medeina pinched her on the upper thigh with one powerful manipulator and Hector was startled from his prep by the yowl of pain Minx gave at that. He stared back at them, Minx giving the proxy a death glare while the tiny robot gazed back up at her glassily but bearing a kind of mock combative posture.

"Alright girls, calm down and have a seat." He instructed. They did as told, or as best they could, and Hector turned back to his checks confident that his helm was hiding the wide grin on his face. He picked up the radio when his checks were done and said simply, "Going out to get Nips materials. Tell Roxanne I won't be in till later." Before racking the radio and setting his machine in motion.


"Well morning ladies." Dave said jovially upon the pairs emergence from the back rooms of the apartment. "I've got good news and gooder news." Atomos blinked at the sun blazing in through the apartment windows, but not quite as blearily as Cherise. In the light of day, the place took on a new appearance. Less of a sparsely dumpy place to an apartment with perhaps an excess of orderliness. Atomos cleared the sun from her eyes quickly, then scoffed at Cherise.

"Where did you get a house coat?" She asked.

"It was in the closet... Maybe you should consider putting on more than nothing at all yourself?" The large woman growled. Atomos looked at herself puzzled. "What? Is it unacceptable to walk around like this, grandma?"

"It's not polite to wander around in your underpants in front of a man you aren't in a relationship with." Cherise shot back.

"Ladies?" Dave said, slipping himself into the conversation, "I sure would like to sit here all day and listen to you harp on each other about proper house wear, but we need to get a move on. And you will want to dress while I talk, we ain't got much time. No breakfast either."

Cherise sniffed derisively while Jennifer grabbed what gear she'd brought along and followed suit. Within a minute, they were dressed and professional again and ready to face what lay ahead. At least they thought so. Dave stood and slid open the glass door leading out onto the shaded balcony and the bridge beyond it, letting the cool air of morning shock the two women awake as they followed.

"Got in touch with the Sun Dogs, like I said. Didn't take em long to get back to me and we spent the whole night seeing what was up. I'm fuckin' exhausted trying to wrangle my tards." He gave a wave to someone sitting by a window across the way and when the man didn't give any indication that he'd seen it, Dave took a quarter from his pocket and belted it at him. "Hey fuck ass, extend the fucking walkway!" He shouted. The man, kid really, disappeared for a moment and reappeared on the opposite balcony with a broad board about ten or so feet long. Dave crossed casually while Jennifer tried to go over as light as possible. Cherise though went over tentatively and slow despite the previous nights reassurance that the "bridge" was in some unexplained way, reinforced. Once they were all on the other side, he went on, "The Sun Dogs say that somebody finally took issue with the candy man's radio show and put two rockets into his shit. One on the tower, one on the booth. The nearby orchard caught fire and seven junkies were killed, not including the asshole operator who was probably off taking a piss or something when the attack happened. Scared the shit out of and stampeded the candy man's herd too, the Screaming Eagles have been running the countryside rustling the loose stock and skirmishing with the junkies trying to round them up. Sun Dogs took the opportunity to take what they could from the wreckage of Hoyt's radio station during the chaos, but they want to offer it to you themselves. Heard you were interested I guess..."

When they emerged from the complex, the grounds outside it were alive with men and women going about, checking motorcycles and weapons like they were about to go to war. Some of them were Sun Dogs and others were Eagles, but not one she could see was one of Dave's men. Jennifer wondered why, and just had to ask. The response she got wasn't entirely unexpected.

"Divers got absorbed... Sent my guys out to get in contact and they joined up with these two after." He said with not a small hint of anger, then sighed, "The gooder news is that the eagles disabled a cattle truck headed for the orchard this morning. If you want it, the Eagles are holding it down. You'll need to take it from the driver." He kicked a stone, an uncharacteristically petulant seeming action in the midst of the raiders around them and Jennifer thought that there was more to his clan leaving him than she'd thought. She'd have to ask later, for now there was a vital bit of intel on her table and she was barely awake enough to register it. Cherise though had recovered quickly and gave her shoulder a painful squeeze.

"We'll take their offer."
I'm really just a sexy skeleton in a suit.
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Re: CDDA: Adventures in Cataclysm
« Reply #5171 on: September 04, 2019, 04:30:26 am »
"Jeez, how much classical music you got in this collection..." quipped a voice over the crew radio, the first sign that a comparatively short scouting trip would feel quite a bit longer. At least to Hector, Medeina's proxy momentarily too busy digging spindly legs into the gunner's seat to interrupt with any remarks.

"Classical, not a lot. Most of it's based off older historical stuff." Hector answered back, glancing into the cameras as Minx lifted the hatch up a bit. "So how do I change the channel? I know you've got something from this century in here, Medeina's already told me the one about you chasing some spy around to power metal and all that." she commented.

"Correction, Miss Minx. The song you are referring to was sourced from server files at the refugee center. I have however uploaded the full collection to Mister Lowe's storage media." Medeina chimed in, the faint clap of a gauntleted facepalm just barely heard over the whine of the Siege Tower's electric engine.

"Please be careful with that, it's hooked up to the commander radio and I don't want to accidentally start broadcasting internal communication to anyone in range. Nor do I want to blare music at them." Hector said, Minx grumbling a bit before the last song's ending, and the start of something faster-paced, got her focused on the half-open commander's hatch.

She peeked out, narrowly managing to avoid bumping her head on the heavy machinegun slapped onto a mounting clearly not made for it, as a tread rolled over a rather large chunk of missing road. "The gun on this isn't going to fall off into my lap, is it?"

"No, it's Catnip's work, she's put the 197s through worse. I've put those MG mounts through worse, in fact. There's a lever next to the T&E she added, that makes it swing out of the way if you need a clear view. The large one wrapped in duct tape." he added, double-checking the map as they followed the remains of a local frontage road. This is gonna be a long day...

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Re: CDDA: Adventures in Cataclysm
« Reply #5172 on: September 11, 2019, 02:07:38 am »
G and his crew had walked over to where Isaac had told them to meet him. There they saw him sitting on the back of an old truck with the doors opened behind him.  And behind that was a few dozen racks of guns and armor. G was genuinely impressed as he and his boys waited.

“This is going to be dangerous so I’m giving you a last chance to back out. We’ll be dealing with some very unsavory people so if they’re about to capture you..just shoot yourself. Oh and to be clear, a single shot to the head may not kill these bastards so double tap.” Isaac said as he sat there inspecting his rifle.

The response to this was G and his crew stepping into the vehicle as Isaac told them they were free to take what they needed. And that they did. Each misling emerged with a rifle, vest, plate carrier, bag, pistol and holster, ammunition, magazines, grenades, a few even grabbed grenade launchers and one an RPG.

On their way out the Shattered Helm pulled Isaac aside while they questioned the mislings, with G getting an especially rough questioning. For his part Isaac answered the questions asked with no small amount of annoyance that they were questioning him for dealing with these men. But after he explained that he’d hired them to help him deal with some people that had been responsible for the death of his friend and the mislings corroborated the story the Shattered Helm were finished and let the group pass.

On the other side of the bridge Sokolov greeted them and told them the destination. From there it was a few hours travel. When they arrived Howard greeted their new comrades and Isaac paused. Staring at the man in front of him his mind wandered back a year. Snapping back to reality he said “Hi, Howard I take it?”

Howard nodded as he adjusted his grip on the rifle in his hand “That’d be me.You ready?”

Everyone voiced that they were and the group got ready. Sneaking up towards the bank they readied their weapons with two of the mislings having set up a heavy machine gun. Then Isaac gave the signal.

The burst of machine gun fire tore through the first group of cultists as the other rushed forward. Sokolov sprayed his customized AK as he and Howard ran to cover and Isaac fired the belt fed rifle he carried with him as he rushed forward. For their part G and his men moved forward and into cover before starting to pick off targets as they could between having to duck back into cover from return fire.

Isaac spotted a pair of cultists prepping a machine gun and sprayed the pair down as Howard picked off a sniper on the roof of the bank. Before that man’s body could hit the ground G slid a new magazine into his shotgun before blowing a hole in one cultist’s chest and stabbing a second with the bayonet before squeezing the trigger.

Removing the bayonet wasn’t a problem after that as he turned and fired at a third cultist. At the same time another misling ran up beside him and started rapid firing his semi automatic rifle. Already between the two men themselves they’d killed seven of the cultists.

That was when one wearing a suit of kevlar stepped out of the bank. The only weapon he had on him was a metal baton as he walked towards Isaac. One of the mislings was in his path and a single swing of the baton sent the misling flying through the air missing his jaw as bullets poured into the armored man’s chest plate and helmet. And at that point Isaac realized the bullets were going through the helmet as the man swung and knocked the rifle from his hands.

Ducking the follow up swing Isaac pulled out the sword Alice had given him and swung for the man’s neck. It stuck in the man’s neck and before he could pull it out he felt the man’s hand wrap around his wrist. “Shit.” Isaac managed to say before the baton hit him in the side of the head and he felt his legs go weak.

The man was about to try and break his skull open again when Sokolov jumped onto his back and stabbed a knife through his helmet. The man stumbled back and tried to pull Sokolov from his back as Isaac collapsed to the ground. Ripping the helmet off Sokolov dropped to the ground as G dumped three rounds into his skull and evaporated his head. “Holy shit, someone check Isaac!” G nearly screamed over the gunfire as he dropped the shotgun to it’s sling and pulled his pistol. “Pull the fuck back!”

One of the Mislings grabbed Isaac and dragged him away from the bank as more of the cultists came out to fire at them. Stopping at the next bit of cover he could find G and several of the mislings returned fire with Howard as the rest moved behind them and prepared to cover them. From their G and his group bounded back and the group continued the pattern until they were clear.

Sokolov knelt down and checked Isaac once the gunfire had died and they’d made some distance. “That’s going to bruise badly, nothing broken though. No telling if any brain damage.”

Starting back the group carried Isaac on a makeshift stretcher. After a couple of hours they’d returned and crossed the bridge with their wounded comrade still unconcscious. While the others took him to the community center to see what Alice wanted them to do G moved off to the side and into an alley before throwing up. “Fuck..I need a cigarette.” He said as he started back to the area where the street rats tended to congregate.

Meanwhile as they walked through the door Alice spotted Isaac and stopped. Staring at Sokolov she asked “What happened?”

“Severe blunt force trauma to the head. I don’t think he’ll die but..well I don’t know if he’ll wake up.” Sokolov said as they took him to one of the cots in the building.

Alice watched as Howard produced some medical gear from his bag and sat down next to Isaac. “I was trained as a combat medic and chaplain, no matter what happens I’ll take care of him.” Howard said as he started working. Alice thanked him and sat down on the other side of Isaac trying to process what she’d just been told.

Elsewhere a man sat on the top branches of a tree staring at a little ball of light he’d taken to calling a fairy. “Oooh you found another one? Really?” he asked with no small amount of excitement in his voice. “Are his eyes like mine?”

The fairy shook up and down and generally swirled around in the air as he watched it. His smile turned to a frown as he said “Wait, he was always this way? As in since he was born? So he’s not quite like me but similar enough.” Adjusting his scarf he jumped to the ground and continued “I’ve never heard of a human having this condition in the first place so this is going to be so exciting. I finally get to meet someone who’s got the same problem as me!”

The fairy seemed to roll it’s eyes as it followed him as he began to walk. It informed him of something else as he walked and he frowned “Oh? Surely they wouldn’t hurt me..well maybe. I’m not sure. I always  liked to create but they were always destroying things. I mean..maybe because I used to be one of them.”

He seemed deflated for a few moments as he walked but he kept going. The fact he wore mostly magically imbued clothes would help him hide from the sight of their masks but if they remembered what he looked like that could be a problem. If they’d ever known him in the first place. But only time would tell if he’d be attacked or left alone. Though he had to admit the amount of magical items he had would probably be a problem in and of itself.

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Re: CDDA: Adventures in Cataclysm
« Reply #5173 on: September 11, 2019, 07:36:59 am »
Branches and Roxanne talked long into the night before Branches finally left satisfied and more at ease with herself. Roxanne was prankish but kind, and very professional when the subject of their talk came to her upcoming court date. She had someone in mind to defend her in court, so Branches would be called upon only if that option fell through. The fact that it was just a simple hearing for an unpaid traffic ticket didn't seem to matter much to Roxanne. It was the principle of the thing that mattered. Now Branches found herself, the next day, sitting by the lake thinking of her prospects with a clearer head. She just needed the right clothes and that was it. There wasn't enough room on her face, or so Roxanne had said, to gussy up much. Her eye swiveled around to look at the lines she'd run across the clearing with the clothes hanging on it. Plenty of choices there, she just needed to pick something that suited her. Standing covered and waiting to be moved into her hut was the standing mirror she would try different combinations in front of, miraculously unharmed by the cloud of metal that had turned her home into a bloody mess a few nights before.

"First," She said to herself decisively, "Finish your house and get those herbs. You forgot remember? Maybe I'll visit the farm later and... No, it's too soon... Roxanne said to wait a few days..." Branches huffed and kicked her feet a little. Her yard was still a mess and she felt exhausted just looking at it. She still felt light and airy, but if not for Roxanne she would probably still feel like she'd get blown away at any minute. Like Roxanne had instructed, she closed her eye and cleared her mind to meditate. The lap of water on the new shore, the rustle of leaves and pine needles, the gentle warmth of the sun, and the wind carrying with it the smell of coming autumn. It worked, to her surprise. She felt heavy again, anchored in place and ready to start the day.


Minx checked the bolt like Catnip had shown her. For the job ahead, the faceless woman had gone to the mechanic and had been loaned her side arm. The cut down hunting rifle had been infuriating to the Shattered helm and especially the Shattered Helms quartermaster, Billy-Jean, at first. Then Catnip had been taken out of The Regs and placed in the Bleeding Eye, and the weapon had been an example of exactly what the scouting arm of the Shattered Helm needed it's people to use.

"Do you think I'll have to use it?" Minx asked. She'd only ever fired a gun a few times in her life. The last time had been well before the cataclysm, and it hadn't been a gun like this. Medeina scanned the gun for the third time, recording all the small pains that had been taken to make sure it was functional and reliable.

"Honestly, I don't recall. It is safe to assume that my lab is home to one or more of the creatures which I once possibly observed, but it is also possible that they have fled or died off." Medeina wondered, then had another thought, "Or the staff. Perhaps the staff is still present? Maybe... Maybe they can answer my questions."

"Hey, that's a thought. Keep your chin up robot." Minx said, then raise the rifle heroically, "We will find the answers that you seek!" She sat like that for a long awkward moment before lowering it again.

"Maybe." Medeina said simply.
I'm really just a sexy skeleton in a suit.
Fingering techniques are very important
Quote from: Six
Using guns while sober? Sounds like you're a coward.
Yes, little hats for every noodle.
Everyone is forks it seems.
"Everything is fucked forever, and ever, and ever." -Forrest 2016

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Re: CDDA: Adventures in Cataclysm
« Reply #5174 on: October 16, 2019, 01:42:38 pm »
(( Written with ſalt, mostly by him in fact. ))

Hector gave his equipment a momentary once-over along the way. Shield, sword, M4 hanging from an equipment rack behind the seat. Didn't bring that  odd magical sword, as it seemed unlikely he'd need it. As he pondered Minx's remarks about whether she'd need to use her own weapon, he had the unfortunate suspicion that either Medeina will be solidly disappointed to find nothing alive down there, or else anything that'd survive all these years will likely mean trouble...

"Can I fire the cannon?" Minx asked.

"Have we arrived yet?" Medeina asked. Hector sighed heavily, marveling at how some things never changed. The collective childishness of people never did seem to go away, even now, and it seemed even artificial intelligence could be made to emulate that level of immaturity in the right circumstances. As before, Hector responded by telling Minx that his shells were limited and they needed to save them. Then, he took out his automap and compared it to the printed one hung next to the driver's seat via a banana shaped magnet.

"Getting there Medeina." He said, sliding the automap back into the slot Catnip had installed below the Seige Towers instruments. "Another fifteen to twenty and we'll be in the area."

Minx hadn't, but both Hector and Medeina had noticed that the scenery was changing. The closer they got, the more lush everything was. The world had had time to move on and pull things down in its own time, but this...

"Stop here please." Medeina suddenly chirruped, breaking Minx from her reverie and bringing Hector back from his musings. That was when he noticed what Medeina had noticed long before he'd even been aware of the overgrown derelict taking up two parking spaces and a good section of the intersection ahead. It was a robot. A massive one looking more like a huge shop vac. Only instead of a huge holding tank there was a cage, and rather than a suction hose and outlet, it was armed with a trio of arms tipped with crescent shaped appendages that Hector realized were some kind of catch poles. The cage was filled with the bones of various creatures, and perhaps he could imagine why Medeina would be interested in it.

Hector stopped and the robot made no move, as dead as the small town around it. "Alright, just be careful. If it's still active and you get in reach of that thing..." he said softly, opening the hatch above his seat to take a cautious look around, and prep the gun mounted there. Ammunition for that was increasingly at a premium as well, these days.

 

NOCTIFER IS A FAGGOT