n0ble
  Part 1: The Thing About Revolutions 
"Man is a beautiful machine that works very badly."
-H.L. Mencken"
 
  Golgotha (the Entrance)  

One does not enter Golgotha alone.

Even if it werent for the constant in and out of prisoner traffic to strip the surrounding forest, there would be the prison infrastructure. Each is positioned at one of the four corners of the prisons interior. First is the squat guard house, host to much of Golgotha's munitions. The seldom-entered clinic. Individuals do not leave the clinic. The satellite dish used for communications stand silent and immobile-rumored to have gone unused since the Warden's arrival due to her pride. And then the maglev train that goes straight to Klataua. To the Capital. It is a popular subject of rumor the Prison over where the Warden and her son keep their home, as it is certainly not the Capital. And all of this bordered by square wall that breaks but twice: once for the train to exit through the wall via its trac, and the gates of the wall that allow work crews into the forest.

Here the throngs deemed safe enough to be allowed above ground make their way past the dual doors of the prison proper to the work detail said good behavior has earned them: despoiling the forest. Yet it is not only these individuals: some workers live just on the cusp of seeing the sky again, tasked with the onerous task of offloading the ores and minerals from the great central lift that goes down to depths of Golgotha. The elevator runs four times a day, sufficient to load the train with sufficient mineral wealth in two trips. It runs constantly. Up and down, up and down, hissing with each rise and fall like a salamander from the Depths Below. The doors that enter the great black pyramid that marks the descent are built into one side of the wall, near constantly open to allow the traffic of material into and out of the prison.

Harkon and his security detail man the gates, the OVERSEER consigned to the below. Each has little in the way of heraldry to mark them out, their frames more in common with IPSNs design philosophy than that of the Karrakin forges. Harkon himself stands in an assault class mech, named the  Red Gauntlet  to those of you with hidden implants that allow for seeing it. The name seems to be a reference to a mercenary company that once subcontracted with Mirrorsmoke before a too rabid deployment saw UDOJ disband it. Its a fitting title for the biggest and blockiest mech amidst a squadron of big and blocky mechs, each a thing of right angles and rectangular prisms and cubes and plated metal. Cheap looking. But brutal. Much in the same as the rest of Golgotha's singular apogee: all four sides of the black pyramid that are the above ground walls converge to a singular point. The four walls act as protection not for the workers, but for what infrastructure has been corralled near the bulk-elevator down. Harkon stands out amidst this onyx backdrop for how his mech sports a crimson-red paint job. He handles himself like someone that sauntered right from an Armory recruitment poster, holding onto the large bore assault rifle in his mech's grip with the swagger of a killer.

The men and women who make up his security complement hold themselves much as the same, killers one and all. They take their haughty positions from behind barricades whereby they can observe those prisoners entering and exiting, to say nothing of their watch on the payloads conjured up from the Pit. Their gaze is punctuated by the odd  "Move along."  or  "Keep on, prisoner."  aimed at those who lag in their efforts to depart or come in from work.

Small buildings dot the interior of the prison-complex: admin stations, outhouses, lesser guard bunkers poised for watching and supply houses for work-things like drills, bulk haulers or temporary store areas for when quotas are overfilled. Whats needed to maintain the production at this level of the prison. Not a concern for you and not one for Harkon unless you become one of his concerns. Best hope that you dont, for the moment.

The hiss and steady whine of servos occupy your attention, tearing it away from whatever passing thing had taken it. The platform is readying to begin its descent again. Soon it will time to take the hour ride down to the Pit. To the Last Call &amp; Karst.

 Golgotha (The Ghetto &amp; The Pit) 

Some say that Old Man Karst named the place when the remnants of the Albatross were cast down in the bowels of Golgotha. Others say the Karrakin whose designed the prison did so with a mind towards the eponymous ghettoification of its occupants. Others still say it was the Warden who coined the term not out of disgust, but a rare moment of sympathy for those under her charge. Whatever the reason for its naming, the Ghetto's been extant for long as the vast tracts of mineral gouged from Shotora's flesh.

Prefab structures wrought of concrete and plastics ring one side of the vast crevasse, quietly sitting in defiance to all the miseries heaped upon the building's occupants over the years. Mycologic farms, water purifiers and the odd place host to prison-business dot the mini cosmopolis, little islets of difference amongst the same building repeating itself, the skyline only broken by the odd hab-block megastructure too stubborn to fall under the lack of upkeep. Further back, the vast cavern that serves as a cradle to your revolution curves upwards, ensconcing the vast crevasse below in walls of stone. More homes, the oldest amongst the prison, stand silent and indomitable against time for how they are carved into the very rock of the walls. Personages mill to and from this dyad of structures-those carved into the wall and those built from prefab. On errands. On business. To work. To avoid work. To settle scores between various work crews. This is your side.

Bridges cross over and ford the gap in the mining pit. It would take too long to circumvent the gap in a timely manner absent a vehicle. The side opposite your own is a mirror for how the constant transport of mineral to the surface is haloed in floodlights. This is a side of order and precision that brooks no sentimentality when comes to fulfilling its goals. Lifts raise the bounty carved from Shotora to the Prison's side, a luxury exclusive to the Prison where across the casm you have made do with dug out switchback paths that require walking. The various well worn pathways are flanked by guard elements-bordered by a partchwork of walls, towers, squads, even the odd mech. From there it is upwards on the great bulk-elevator stapled fast to the wall, a mechanized way out standing to mock the forever homes carved into the wall on your side. But Harkon is not among the people on this side. Not right now. He and his guards are privileged enough to be aboveground. Instead, there is the OVERSEER.

Floating through the air as though weightless, a digitized, beautiful face stretched feral and made of code. Lodged like a flaw or crack on a tablet-screen just as the cephalopod hovers through the air like a malignant tumor. The screen itself is in turn mounted atop the front of a cephalopodic mech. A fine arrangement of drones orbit the frame, each quicksilver and made of mercury in the glare of the Golgothan floodlights. A smaller mist billows out from the towering column that passes for the upper half of the frame's squid-like body, a fuzz of what is almost assuredly nanocloud of some kind. The frame continues to float through the air. Patrolling. Probing for weakness.

And below this, the yawning dark of the deeper levels, the view broken by the odd plateau or scattering of anchored lights. Several massive lift systems are lodged at the lip of Prison's side. Here the vast quantities and quotas are brought forth and hauled onto the bulk loaders and non mech methods of transportation. Small crevasses and excavations bleed from the various extant strata like veinules alongside bigger, more arterial shafts constantly manned and hacked away at, both circulations holding secrets that only those not returned from them can tell. Lost to the sound of drills and rocksaws and too-dulled chain axes. A shrill whistle, the signal of a shifts end, echoing out from the man made pit. Despite the dirge like quality of the note, its a signal for relief, and a time to progress somewhere other than down. The Old Man is waiting.

 The Last Call  

A riot of neon dances across the prefab face of the bar's bottommost tier, casting a lewd figure that shifts between genders as various parts of the signage are run through with electricity.  The surrounding building so much built up as built up and into the vast sheer of the walls that back the Ghettoside of the pit. Its played a large part in the bars survival, its status as being on the outskirts of the ghetto making it a favourite place for to hob nob and discuss things that miners normally wouldnt. And then there are the hotsprings. Maybe the Warden doesnt know. Maybe she does but doesnt care. Regardless, the central feature of the Last Call is a series of clandestine hotsprings that provide a steady supply of fresh drinking water to not only the Last Call, but to the Golgotha prison element at-large. In this sense, the place is every bit the watering.

Its always busy in the Last Call. Whether its work crews playing games of ball and pins or darts, to the more political prisoners slacking it off over imported, a little bit of everyone cast into the Golgothan ecosystem can be found here amidst the places three tiers. Each of the floors is more discreet the higher one goes, a complementary fact to how each level of the prefabricated structure is sunk deeper and deeper into the rock wall and thus more reliant on internal light. People from all strata of the prison element commiserate and mingle here free of judgment or prejudice. But more than the freedom afforded bar-goers, the Last Call offers what Golgotha ironically does not to its prisoner populations: a sense of security. Its small wonder the place was cradle to the Revolution.

After asking for the Old Man, your directed to the third floor, led by a man carrying a small handheld glowlamp to light the way.  Karst sits behind a private table carved from white Shotoran oak. Expensive. A glowlamp sits in the center of the table ringed with candles, lending the entire private room a gray overcast in the pale white light as much as the candles do some theatricality. Next to the others the Old Man earns his title: grizzled, wisened, his face craggier than the walls of the pit, Karst is an Old man. For this particular occasion he's donned his old Albatross uniform: beige bleached white under a lack of sun, now pockmarked with soots and burns and frayed edges from the constant years underground. His left eye is covered over by a patch, though an angry belt of scar tissue still pokes up over the cover at a left slanting diagonal both ways out. A mug of what looks like contraband beer sits in a glass at his left hand, jaundice-yellow in the glowlamp's light.

The Lady Kareftis stares down a set of patrician features and over a pair of wire-frame glasses from Karst's right, dressed as though she may as well be going to a ball. Blue silks unmarred by soot drape across and around the lady's athletic figure in a fine dress, lending her a courtly appearance that seems out of place on the other two. Its made all the more apparent by the stark white of a lab coat she's overlaid across the blue dress, though this only comes down to her waist.  Her straight, black hair has been done up into a professional bun. Not a single spot of dirt on her. Kareftis looks up from a data slate on your arrival-it is easy to catch a glimpse of what was on it before she snaps it off: a list of individuals who have logged the need for medical attention via whatever frequencies Liz currently has the Ghetto on. She offers each of you a tight smile and takes a sip from her drink: a lilac colored beverage that fizzes in its champagne flute.  "It is good. To see you all you here."  

Liz sits wearing a pair of overalls over a plain work uniform several sizes too large for her. She seems to have absorbed all the dirt not on the Noblewomans outfit for how stained and marred by grease her overalls are. Liz wears a heavy looking toolbelt like an ammunition bandolier: slung across her shoulder. Her helmet is hitched to the opposite side on her waistbelt, itself festooned with all manner of tools for cutting, soldering and wiring. A pair of thick welding goggles are plastered to the youth's forehead, obscuring the frizz of wild blonde-white that passes for the young woman's hair. The young engineer gives each of you a friendly wave as you come into the room, her grin getting bigger and bigger with each new occupant. its the only time she pauses fiddling with a half-sphere balanced in the crook of her non-waving arm. As Liz is under age, the Last Call refuses to serve her alcohol. She drinks water from a much too elaborate glass-one styled like a decahedron with the top facing side vacant, each other side made from a differing kind of gemstone. SLATE remains unseen-no doubt a consequence of the fact that the NHP's typical body is more or less the size of the entirety of the Last Call.

Karst speaks once all of you have arrived.  "Thank you all for coming."  He pauses to shoo Liz away from pinching a sip of his beer mug, then turns to the others. "Its time." A look of concentration lodges itself in the Old Man's face, causing the lines in his brow to furrow.  "I know, I know. I've been saying that for a while now. But now. Now."  He nods to Liz, who promptly twists the top of the mechanism she's been working on with an audible click before sliding it just north of the glowlamp at the tables epicenter. Green light flickers out as a mesh from the projector before assembling itself into something all too familiar: a map of The Pit, ironically wrought from light. But it doesnt stop there. Instead the light tracks down, tapering so that the point closest to the projector, becoming more and more narrow before focusing on a point. The Pit becomes the flat bottom of a cone, the lines converging to a tip highlighting various strata of the depths below before stopping and highlighting one such layer-a deep,  deep  layer-as the source of  something .  "Now we know where they're keeping their jammer."  Kareftis offers up a conservative grin at the prospect.

 "We have a printer set up offsite for you. It is a few strata down but far enough away that you wont be missed. Once you have got your assets printed, you meet up with SLATE and go below to here."  She shoots a dubious glance at Liz. "I have been assured that the NHP will be in a form more...conducive to the current mission." The Lady stands, then points to where the cone of light tapers off.  "Thus far we've only been able to ascertain the stratum the signal originates from, but-" 
 "-But I souped up SLATE!"  Liz blurts out with a wide eyed grin,  "Whatever their jammer does, it does it where theres some kind of output and so really it was just a matter of reworking the Messeier drive I have in one of his smaller bodies so that it synchs with the Taper Core protocols, then piggybacking it from the signal diffuser. Now, thats all easy in normal circumstances, but this is anything but normal. So instead I had to find a go around for the signal diffuser and supplement it's output with a-"  
 "Anyway. The girl's right. The NHP can find the signal once and triangulate where the jamming station is once its had some time. From there its simple as following the locked in signal and fragging the jammer. My guess is that the Warden will know the jammers down once signals come online. But that only means we need to hold out until you get back to even the odds."  The Old Man pauses for a moment and the Lady fills the silence.  "You must have questions. As far as I can ascertain something existing at this depth must be self sustainable to a certain degree. And besides. This prison's inmate population has a history of exiling its own-one need only look to figures such as the Beastmaster as testament enough to this fact. So at the very least it would be fair to surmize an opposition that relies on core-based technology to sustain things like water purification and a baseline agriculture. Trading with such an entity would afford goods to the aforementioned scavengers, thereby allowing them to remain a factor within the ecosystems below."  
 "What she means to say, Lancers, is: enemy frames are a certainty."  growls the Old Man.

 
 Spoiler: OOC 

Hey everyone, welcome to the game proper-feel free to situate yourselves at one of the various strata and narrate how you got to the Last Call, the only thing I'd really ask other wise is including something about how Karst contacted you now that its time to begin things begin in earnest. Meeting place is the Last Call. The "jammer" in this instance is a station used to jam common frequencies and signals used to grant LL to pilots from other corporations that arent GMS. The Trio at the Revolution's heart have discovered where the station is-approximetly: below the pit. Plan is to go pin down the signal's location, go there and destroy it. Simple right? Karst is confident they (the prisoners) can hold out long enough against whatever the Warden brings to bare until you arrive back that theres a very real chance of sustaining things.

Couple of terms I used that are clarified/exposited on:
-  UDOJ : Union Department of Justice
-  'low Ground : "Below ground", prison slang
-  Depths Below:  refers to the area found below the Pit that goes into Golgotha's extensive cavern and tunnel network (current seismology only goes to where the Pit is), where exiles, madmen and traitors go. Also a popular curse word.
-  The Beastmaster - a notorious prisoner exiled to the Depths Below some half decade ago. Notable for their rumored ability to command both a highly modular mech-the  Salamander's Folly -and the various fauna that Golgotha's foundation drove further underground. In recent years their success has lead to many others that have fled or been exiled from Golgotha gathering around the Beastmaster as a sort of Survivalist Messiah that lauds strength and the will to take from others as virtues. (Note exile is almost always done by prisoners to other prisoners for some perceived crime-snitching to Harkon, for example, is almost always dealt with this way but the proportionality of a response varies wildly between Laborers, ex-Albatross and the Intelligentsia.) Feel free to make up your own history with the Beastmaster in your opening post 🙂

Also apologies for the cliche-I hear starting in a tavern is the territory of D&amp;D but hey, why argue with a classic?
 
Zelphas
Levi Royston's life had been filled with more downs than ups, especially lately. Finding himself in a bleak underground prison, on a backwater planet, in a far-flung corner of the Rim, with a false name and an attempted murder on his plate, he did what he always did: he found something he needed to survive, and he started working towards that one day at a time. Anyone who'd spent more than two local hours in this pit could see that the leadership was too dysfunctional to treat like a unit; you chose your gang and stuck with it, same as any back-alley or ductworks anywhere else in the galaxy (and beyond, presumably). Levi didn't much like his choices here, though. Harkon he discounted out of hand. The man was sadistic, bored, and arrogant--unless you could give him a ticket out of here or entertainment you were dirt to him, and Levi couldn't do the former and didn't have the stomach for the latter. He contented himself with avoiding the man and his lackeys, looking down at the right moments and stumbling just enough to seem neither too proud to stand nor too weak to resist tormenting.

The OVERSEER was little better. In Levi's experience, "emotionless" NHPs came in two groups: those that didn't know about emotions, and so were capricious and often confused by the fleshy things they had to deal with, and those that didn't care about emotions, and so munched through the meatbags without a qualm when it suited their purposes. The jury was still out on which one the OVERSEER was, but he'd seen enough to think it was the latter; either way, there were no "good graces" to get into, there. If he made himself essential to the oversized brain bot, it'd wouldn't act to protect him--it'd go looking for redundancies. Better to remain another number, simple and rote, and so be catalogued and dismissed rather than taken aside for "study".

He landed on the Warden, more for lack of choice than for any real hope of success. Trapped in her own machine, Rhosayne-Ludra was little better than her OVERSEER, the callousness of her life building up an armor so that she no longer saw people, only numbers and reports. In some ways, she was the most dangerous choice, too, since cozying up to the Warden was a good way to get on everyone's bad side if you weren't very smart and very careful. There was a chink in the  Gavel 's sour armor, though; the Warden had brought her son. If a link could be forged with Bashir, there might be some hope for better in this prison, even if it wouldn't be much more than a couple of liberties and an ear in a crisis. On this front, Levi had already made some strides as a model prisoner; after successfully convincing at least one guard that he was a bright-eyed rube off to see the galaxy who got in way over his head, he had been placed in the forest detail, and a careful reveal of his self-taught skill at patching injuries gave him a place as the ad-hoc medic for the little group. He still had his quota to fill, but a mended break or a quickly-shut cut filled more than a few of his trees from day-to-day, and he'd even managed to squirrel away some patches of his own for a rainy day.

All of this was besides the whole revolution, of course. Call is Levi's plan B, even if plan A probably won't give him a chance to fall back on anything should it go belly up. Maybe Levi's just an optimist.


 


The call from Karst was simple and solid, the most basic bump-and-pass that you can get, and the best trick from it was that Levi didn't have to find the time to read any note; the smooth, polished stone in his hand told him to meet in Last Call and be ready for things to kick off, just like a roughened stone would've told him to lay low and a punch in the mouth would say all was lost. (Levi's request, not Karst's; good to get a little distance if he could, should disaster happen). Forest detail had been mostly devoid of injury that day, so Levi shook the soreness out of his arms and followed the mass of miserable prisoners down, down, down to the land of the not-quite-dead. He waited for one of his other would-be compatriots to ask for the Old Man rather than make the connection himself, shadowing them to the meeting spot. He'd explain himself as there for the meeting if asked, play off the "nervous guy from off-planet" angle, but keeping his distance is useful until he has to commit. Speaking of: looks like he was going to be committed, whether he liked it or not.

Levi had played the same game choosing his place in the revolution that he had for the prison complex, though here he was a bit more spoiled for choice. The Old Man was, perhaps fittingly, a bit too much of an old, grizzled veteran for Levi to pick out as his pseudo-sponsor; the man believed in justice, and right, and all those things you couldn't sell, wear, or eat. Not that Levi begrudged him that, it just meant that Karst would likely object if he ever heard the name "Ephraim Spang" at some point. In the reverse, Liz was too young for Levi to see her as a useful side to hitch his star to, and he was allergic to the idea of mentorship; plus, he'd need to dive deep into the world of NHPs, and such a land was one he still wasn't certain he wanted to dip his toes into all that deep. That left Lady Kareftis, and there were several points for and against the connection. Levi's cudgeled-together medical knowledge meant he could lend a slightly more extensive hand than most in the treatment of prisoners, and her status as an offworlder gave them another point of commonality. But speaking of commonality: "Levi" had roots as common as emptiness in space, and the Lady Kareftis could spot that in microseconds. Levi never attempted to hide that he was currying favor with her, but neither did he act as though he was her equal in any respect; she was an adept political player, and all he could say was that he could see part of the board from time to time. But all of this was besides the point of the main mission.

Pushing his worries and contingencies aside for the moment, the dark-haired, dark-eyed man of middling... well, everything... nodded to the three leaders in the room, his nod to Kareftis being slightly deeper than the rest.   "Descend, destroy the jammer, ascend, fight our way out,"   he summarized with a slight grimace, his voice seeming to fall away without an echo.   "It has the benefit of simplicity, at the very least, and more details than we began with. I suppose a scouting mission to the jammer for a more concrete threat assessment has too high of a risk of discovery?"  
Bitter
As the high pressure hose stopped blasting chemical wash against his naked body and the liquid drained off of him, Lupo’s consciousness came back into full focus and he smiled.

On an exotic materials mining group, you ended up handling a lot of toxic materials that could kill you in fun and exciting ways. In a proper mining operation you’d be fully kitted out in an industrial-grade hardsuit. Here, even with the ability to print out anything required, some bean counter had figured out that it still cost more in materials to make decent suits than it did to do the bare minimum, once you factored in free and plentiful prison labour. So in exotic materials mining you wore thin plastic-paper flimsies with filters that seemed to regularly stop working after about four-fifths of a work shift, then at the end of the shift they’d spray you down with foul decontaminant chemicals to stop you brining back in anything that had leaked through.

Personally Lupo had always doubted the official explanation and thought that the mortality rate was the point. He’d seen enough of the thought process of the guards and governors of Golgotha to know that there was a need to show the prisoners just how disposable they were, to dehumanise and degrade them.

Either way, that final blast of chemical wash was the final degradation in Lupo’s workday so it was also the point where his mind turned itself all the way back on. Part of the benefit of being a hyper-engineered attempt at transhumanity, at least for him, is that his cerebral implants let him customise his mind on the fly. All that soul-destroying, back-breaking labour? Thanks but no thanks OVERSEER, Lupo was happy to switch off his consciousness and be a fleshy automaton during his work shift. He’d been here a few years now, but had only truly served a few months of that time and that being the easiest - the small hours in the evening and morning when prisoners had the chance to recuperate.

Dried and dressed, Lupo started on the way back home. Casually glancing up at the corner of one dilapidated building, Lupo noted a circle overlaid with two triangles scratched faintly into a wall near a second story window. Hard to see and completely meaningless - except for the one person who had been looking for exactly that signal. At the next crossroad Lupo turned left instead of right. He was no longer heading home.

————————

Getting to the Last Call, Lupo entered the backroom and gave nods of greeting to his fellow conspirators. Sitting back on his chair he listened carefully to the talk while also keeping an eye on his fellow pilots for their reactions. They all knew of each other at least, but Lupo was used to fighting alongside teams that were far more practiced in working together. He figured he’d need to get a handle on exactly who he was working with if they were going to trust each other with their lives.

His true questions for Karst would be strategic - finding out if this mission was worthwhile and they actually had a sensible plan to smash the prison system of Golgotha and achieve freedom. This mission was an essential first step, but  if the follow-ups to it didn’t work then it would all go to waste and Lupo had to assume he’d likely be executed.

He wanted to pore over Karst’s full strategy for fighting and winning this war. But he couldn’t. His very presence here was proof that revolutions could fail and people could be captured. If he knew too much, there was always the chance that it could be taken from him. So what could he ask that had no long-term implications if he was captured?

 ”When we complete our mission,”   asks Lupo, purposely phrasing it in a way which should instil certainty in the outcome,  “Do you need us to come back straight away to support you or should we take time to return to the printer and repair? I think we’re certain to face opposition and take damage, so do you want us back quick but damaged or slower but fully prepped.” 
BelGareth
Biff, as most knew him, sighed and stretched his old body, hearing several joints pop, and crackle, his sinner muscles, tight and dense from the manual labor stretched like stiff cotton, it felt good and bad, both at the same time.

He sighed again, he missed his stims, and the throbbing headache-turning-migraine was a constant reminder.

 perhaps I'll let off the stems when I get em back  he thought, knowing it to be a falsehood, and he would just fall back to how he was.

Taking just a moment longer, he paused and pulled off his work attire, a filthy jumpsuit he had acquired when he was bought on as an independent contractor. It had plastic zippers, velcro that was almost useless, and several connectors for a hard suit, which he didn't have, they were mangled at best, and he doubted they would even connect clean if they had a hard suit to connect to.

Which he did not, which was fine.  has to be fine, no other option 

Cracking his back and neck, his view shifted from the warm flashing amber lights near the decom suite, a dull RPV chassis standing nearby, but dead as a doornail, only a few flashing lights near the back neck indicated it was actually alive, and waiting to receive it's master. He also saw something else that was of note, someone had spray painted a red X on its chest, and he smiled like a wolf.

It was finally time, he had been waiting too long, he knew his old General would come through, but the hard labor had begun to grind down his willpower and resolve, one can only take something like this  Place  for so long. Especially someone like Biff, he needed to be used, to be something of worth, this was....not it. He was a fighter, bred for it, made for it, born to it, and he yearned to get back into the cockpit. The fighting pits had quenched his desires for the most part, he was at least one of the better fighters in the place, and most people nodded to him out of respect from just that alone, but he never used it outside the pit, such was the ways of the undisciplined warrior, no, he was a soldier.

A Professional.

At least he  was .

Perhaps he would be again.

He almost ran to the meeting, forgetting himself in the rush to get back to better times. Stopping himself, he walked abruptly to the Last Call, giddy as a small boy on Elohim's Eve.

Once there, he smoothed out his overalls, which were removed from the waist up and tied around, showing his underwork shirt, stained with sweat and grease, and then walked in.

Seeing Karst, his eyes steeled and he gave his old commander a salute. Such was the time of their escapades, he thought it was applicable.

He nodded to the others, Liz, Kareftis, and the others who would be assisting him in this mission.

 "Seems pretty straightforward from here, but I'm sure something will make it FUBAR'ed, we should set a separate rally point that is not the location of the printer, so we can protect the asset appropriately, additionally, who will be the on-site commander in case comms go out, I would suggest Mr Royston here, everyone respects him, and he has a good head on his shoulders."
 
It was as if something inside of Biff had been turned on, he was like a different person entirely.

 "Separately, we have a stick of 4, a secondary stick leader for small team operations would be a good idea, I'd nominate myself, but I may be too busy taking my complaints out on others, Mr Holden is probably the best option for that." 

It was obvious he could have gone on and on, but he looked up and quickly determined nothing more was needed from the deluge of his comments for now.
ProgressPaladin
Unseen. Unheard. Unnoticed. That is how you get through Gotholga. Or at least how Rowen Holden gets through Gotholga. On the hour-long ride down, all Rowen is doing is thinking; planning. Planning everything from escape from here to escape from the Last Call. Because planning is how you survive.

	The constant thrum of the lift kept him alert, and he needed to be. When he got off, he saw a quick mark on the wall. Meaningless, yet one of the most meaningful, Rowen thought with a quick chuckle.

	Walking to the bar he was rather calm, collected, and most of all, careful. Asking very low for the “Old Man” he was on edge the entire time, ready to run. At their third floor, he opened the door and sat down. Taking all of this information in, he cracks a smile.  “One question. How do you know you can hold out till we get back?”  He turns to Biff, he’s says,  “Why would I be the leader, and not someone with combat experience that’s not hiding and retreating. Someone who can succeed.” 
[/B]
BelGareth
Biff turns to Holden  "Good point bud, but nah, you're a thinker, a planner, and thats exactly what we need in a pickle, if fear grabs a hold o'ya, thats what the vet is for, they slap you back from bein' senseless, and you start a plannin."  he said, simply and matter of factly, like he was the expert in the room.
Bitter
 “We don’t want to know too much,”   says Lupo to Rowen, the other pilot speaking up just as Lupo had been pondering the importance of information security.

A relevant verse from the book of Josiah-Wong comes to Lupo’s mind and he lowers his head momentarily as he quotes aloud from one of the revered books.

  “With minds sharp as daggers, we carve our path unseen,
Each node a cell, in the resistance's serene.
Compartmentalized knowledge, our sacred creed,
In the mosaic of secrecy, our resilience freed.”   

Lupo raises his head and continues from where he left off.   “Holding out here isn’t our job and anything vital we know that we don’t  need to know  for the mission is just an extra way for the guards to find out and ruin the entire plan. It’s not like back when you were working for your corpro and you only had to worry about getting captured in battle. We’re prisoners here and they don’t like playing by the rules. I could walk out of here, some guard doesn’t like the look of my face so they take me and beat me until I tell them everything I know to get them to stop.”  

Lupo hesitates for a moment before continuing.

 “I mean, It probably wouldn’t work on me. I’d temporarily scramble my anterior cingulate cortex to stop myself registering the pain, but any of you guys would be in serious trouble.”  

Looking about he realises that he’s shared somewhat more of his thoughts then he’d originally intended.

 “Er, that’s what I think, at least.”  
CateranEnforcer
Derek folded his arms as waited inside his hardsuit deep under the lowest level of Golgotha. The explosives he just placed had to checked by a trusted engineer before they would consent to detonating them. His expertise was needed, he was never trusted. He definitely was never allowed within 10 meters of a detonator. If fact, if the job went awry, no doubt the OVERSEER with freeze up his hardsuit and have him mysterious disappear in the accident. Still, few were crazy enough or knowledgeable enough to do the job that needed doing. So here he stood, watching the monitors for the all clear.

As predicted, everything seemed to be in order and the all clear was given. The charges were remotely detonated, obscuring the monitors with dust and stone. The control room was so far away that there was no sound, but Derek could feel it in feet when they were set off, ever so slightly. When the dust settled, a new avenue was revealed, ready for the clean up crew. Only then were the looks on his suit released. Only then was he dismissed. With a hiss, Derek removed his helmet as he received a notification from a friend. It was time.

"I'm off to get drink. Great job, as always." He walks off without looking back. Screw these guys.

---

Derek sipped on a tall glass of something strong as he listened to the others. He didn't much care who was in charge. Typically, leadership wanted nothing to do with him or his methods so the leader could distance themselves from the repercussions of his actions. Maybe that's what got him in trouble in the first place; no friends, no allies, no real family. Maybe it was time to do things differently this time.

  "I'll be straight forward, I don't care who leads who around, so long as we get out of here. I need a bit of...operational freedom if we are going to get along. For now, any one of you would be a good bet. How do we get there, and when do we start?"  
n0ble
 The Last Call 

Liz is the first to reply, chasing down her words with a gulp of what looks like incredibly purified water from her hedron-mug. She speaks to Lupo, seemingly back on-shift for the intensity  "Have you considered importing a limbic suppressor? Might require an entire amygdalin overhaul-might trend a bit too close to full fight-flight suppression. Bad for a pilot to lack those kind of instincts."  Liz takes a sip of from her water than withdraws a small reciever from where it's hitched at her belt. A small handheld position tracker, crude to look at, but functional for how it displays the distance between two points.  "SLATE's here."  The Lady Kareftis shoots a dubious glance at Liz before giving answer to Derek's question.  "Well. That clinches things then. We start now."  Irimloza pauses for a moment, letting her response to Derek's query fill the air before Karst cuts through it with answers for Lupo, Holden and Levi.

 "Not so much an issue of discovery as it's going to be timing. Once the same strata as the jammer SLATE will track it down. Not a question of if, but when. Ideally, we time the discovery and destruction of the jammer with the train coming back here. Or far to here enough that it turning back to Klataua isnt viable. Means no reinforcements from the Capital. Means its just us inmates. And the screws. You take the time to repair to full strength. Once the jammer is down we can start printing a few of  our  frames in advance of your return."  Kareftis and Liz both look to the Old Man as he says this, the latter clearly anticipating the prospect of mechanized combat more than the former, clear for how the younger woman grins.  "Its not much. They'll almost certainly go for the Ghetto in some capacity. But alongside what we've got scuttled in terms of more conventional armaments it should be enough to hold until your back and ready to tip things down here. Then,"  The Old Man punctuates his words with a familiar nod at Biff, made stiff for his age, before taking a hearty gulp of his beer. A little bit dribbles from the side of Karst's mouth before he wipes it away with a forearm. In the wane light of the room, it becomes apparent that Emil's old Albatross Uniform is self-cleaning.  "The surface."  Its a plan that suits Emil's history: with the type of mechanized warfare utilized by the Albatross it makes sense to all present that the Old Man would favor a style of warfare that utilizes what he knows. Speed.

Kareftis picks up the slack where the Old Man goes silent:  "Your shared access to frames implies a rudimentary competency when it comes to operational capacity when part of a whole. As such, your chain of command on a squadron level is entirely your own purview."  This last word sounds strange and half-hushed from the Karrakin noble woman, as though she's uncomfortable with using the Armory's word for their sphere of influence. Like some kind of legendary apex predator that doesnt belong on Shotora. She recovers, and continues.  "In as much as we can, we've managed to locate and acquire several additional assets. We cant afford you all of them-"  A grin tugs at the corner of Izrimloza's mouth. "-but enough that there should be some leftover for our resistance here."  She turns her smile on Holden, her lips a firm but reassuring smile.

All three look beyond you as the door to the room creaks open, the same non-descript man who showed you in ushering in a small quadrupedal  frame  no bigger than a nobleman's toy-dog. SLATE's NHP casket is carriaged underneath the slopped back hull of the frame's black, the entire thing clearly some sort of survey drone that's been reappropriated to serve as the smallest body in the NHP's possession. A small screen no bigger than Liz's distance measurer sits in the center of the NHP's body a flat faced emoji displayed on it.

 "You're late."  

The flat line that passes for the emoji's mouth becomes a wavy line  "Nice scanner, dweeb."  The line settles from tachycardic to a sideways "P" with the loop hanging down. Then the little drone gallops forward and around two supports before jumping up onto Liz's crossed legs with an  "Oof."  All assembled the three-four now-turn expectantly to you.

 
 Spoiler: OOC 

I think for this mission everyone can just pick a single reserve, no roll this time-not really in a situation where scarcity is an issue at the moment (and these assets have been specifically prepped for your selection). When Karst, Liz and Irimloza print their frames to stall things out in the Pit, they'll make use whatever reserves you dont pick. This wont have a mechanical impact on how things proceed, but maybe a fictional 🙂

Summary of things: Karst, Kareftis &amp; Liz + SLATE will print their own frames out once the jammer is down-it doesnt really matter, but they're all effectively LL 2 right now from a fiction to mechanics perspective so they'll need it down to: a) print off their non-GMS frames and b) maximize the advantage that comes with unrestricted printer access by using these frames to holdout-they wont be wasting print material you could use on repairs via printing off GMS frames for themselves, especially given their familiarity with said frames over GMS models. This, combined with any remaining reserves left to them should be sufficient to hold out against an initial wave the Warden deploys until you arrive back, rest up and really tip things in the Revolutions favor (theres  got  to be a better name for the movement-something for us all to discuss OOC 😁). I'll be posting an ongoing reserve list in the first OOC post later on 🙂
 
BelGareth
Biff nods as they explain the rest of the plan and answer the questions for the crew. He liked it, he would like it no matter what, he would like it if they were descending into hell itself, he would like it.

Picking up a dataslate by the table, Biff looks through the reserves decided what best to choose. He liked the idea of utilizing the great  Lance of the First Maktaba , but the mission parameters spoke to him about speed, and in such a basic frame, an extra core would work wonders, especially in egress back up the pitt.

 "I'll take the extra core"  he says simply then places it back down and folds his arms nodding  "I'm ready to depart" 
Zelphas
Levi's carefully-constructed demeanor of support without partisanship froze for a moment as one of his "fellow" pilots suggested that he should call the shots. Had he managed to play the revolutionary too well, considered one of the most enthusiastic supporters? More than that; Levi Royston was a no-name from nowhere, some fool with more money than sense whose poor planning sent him tripping into Golgotha after less than a month on this rock. No one should think he's the smart choice to lead himself, much less anyone else. Ephraim Spang was little better, even among those who knew the name; he was a two-bit hit-man who'd take any odd job that paid his fare to the next stop, a loner, too small in brains, brawn, and personality to lead armies. And little Daud...

Levi shook his head, focusing back in on the situation.   "So, stealth matters some, but speed matters much more,"   he comments, listening to the slapdash revolution once again. An unpleasant thought surfaces; should the enemy forces prove overwhelming, all these three would have to do is step aside and let the guard-tide sweep down, crushing them on their way back up. Ra, it could happen even if these people didn't want it to, should they miscalculate the reinforcements, the timing, or anything else. Too late for backing down.   "I'll proc the heat shields; seems you won't need them as much up on top."   Plus, it'll give him more places to maneuver, or even hide if everything goes pear-shaped, but idealists don't like pragmatism, so may as well sound like he's being nice.
Bitter
When the explanations are over and SLATE comes into the room, Lupo finds himself salivating. Not over the thought of upgrading his mech, enticing though that is. No, instead it’s because he’s just damned hungry.

Prison food is an acquired taste and one usually only acquired by people with no tastebuds. At least at the Last Call he can get something beyond the normal and so he nibbles nibbles at the ‘pork scratchings’ he’d been given while he mulls over the options for what to pick, all the while resolutely not thinking about what type of animal the actually came from because it sure as hell wasn’t pig.

 “Hmm, I think Biff’s got the right idea - at least for me. An extra core could give me and Caliburn some extra oomph right when we need it. And no,”  he adds to Liz while tapping his skull,  “I’ve already got enough custom stuff in here I don’t much want anyone else poking around and throwing everything out of whack.”  
CateranEnforcer
Derek nods along barely listening, but the parts he heard sounded good to him. Operational freedom, and passing the responsibilities off to the leaders latter and acting as the cavalry. That would be a new look, he would have to try to be on his best behavior.

  "Underslung Launcher looks perfect for me. Place ordinance right where it hurts. Everything else understood. We get to be the big damn heroes today."  
Bitter
Lupo looks over at Derek. His is the first choice that implies a particular style of mechanised combat, which gets Lupo thinking about how much, or rather how little, they know about one another.

 “You got a focus on explosives then? Could be worth us going over our how we pilot our mechs and what we can do, get an understanding of how we fit together in a fight.”

“My mech is geared for mid to long-range fighting with a focus on electronic warfare. I’ll generally carry some rockets and missiles which I’ll fire off if the enemy bunch up too close, but otherwise rely on rifle to add any firepower I need.”

“I don’t tend to carry anything for melee, so I tend to hang back. I’ve also got some good targeting software that can assist anyone with a powerful ranged weapon.”  
ProgressPaladin
Listening intently to the group, Rowen smiles.  ”Not exactly big damn heroes, but I appreciate your enthusiasm. I want information. What will we be facing, how many of them, when, and where.”  Turning to the rest of the group, he says,  “My mech is currently focused on mobility and close to medium range combat. I’ll try to support anyone who gets pinned down.” 
BelGareth
Biff smile at the group sharing their personal tactics, &lt;Just like new boots freshly posted to the fleet&gt; he mused, bit it wasn't the eagerness of youth for battle, it was grizzled beaten prisoners sharing their personal fighting techniques, much different. It felt off to him, he hadn't had this kind of interaction in a long time, and now it was this admixtured combination of civilians and pilots. He would have to get used to it, these were his line brothers and sisters, for better or worse.

And it  could  get worse.

 "I like to get up close and personal" 
CateranEnforcer
Derek stopped to consider his next words. It's very possible he was in direct opposition to many of these people during the Ascendency. He really didn't want his brutal handiwork recognized from being too descriptive, just in case these were the types of people to take it personal.  It was too early to get on anyone's bad side.

  "Yes...combat engineer they called me. Setting or disarming charges on the front lines is dangerous work. I reinforce my frames to handle the job without getting blown up myself.   
Bitter
Lupo listens to the descriptions of the other pilot’s specialities. Lupo’s own preference is to fight from behind the front line, so it was good that they had a front line to speak of with Biff and Rowen.

As Derek describes his activities, Lupo flashes him a grin.

 “That has some synergies with my own style. You lay down some explosives, I force the enemy to walk right into it.”  
Zelphas
Levi listened to the others discuss preferred fighting styles, filing them away carefully for later.   "You are all welcome to the frontlines, then; I'll take the rear,"   is all he said in response.
Bitter
 “Longer range fighter,”   says Lupo to Levi, more a statement to show he was following up than a question.

 “If we get the chance we should deploy together. My mech has some advanced targeting software where it synches up it’s own passive and active sensors to another mech, but we need to be pretty close for it to work or the latency is too high for it to be effective.”  
 
 Spoiler: “ooc” 
Basically saying that I have Spotter I
 
n0ble
  The Last Call  

Karst grunts by way of agreeing at your individual tactical summations while Kareftis nods sagely, pausing to take a few sips of her drink in between. Liz and SLATE keep staring at each other, breaking eye-screen contact to share a mutual look at Lupo before resuming their staring contest. The Old Man uncrosses his arms and lays his hands palm down on the table. He looks at Rowen.  "Unsure about numbers, though it'd be easy enough to outfit your rig with a one-off deep analysis scanner to give you some more informational capabilities prior to the job, eh?"  He punctuates what turns out to be a question to Liz with a nod of his head, with the young woman offering an uncharacteristically terse nod in return. Then she breaks out into an easy smile and the tension in her face is gone as she looks at the rest of you. Lady Kareftis clears her throat and the air.

 "We have a lift here. Well."  She takes a sip of the fizzy drink in her glass and the same man who showed you in brings a tray filled with each of your preferred drinks.  "A chute really. It is one way-too much power draw risks the OVERSEER's attention as I-as we-have come to understand it. Still."  There is a clatter of metal as the glasses are set down on the table. Liz reaches for one and her grasp is promptly smacked away by Irimloza's hand. The young worker deposits SLATE onto the ground and takes an energized gulp from her water before refilling the glass with an offloaded pitcher.  "It will get you most of the way. Safely and, anonymously."  The Lady gives you time to finish your drinks and ask any other questions you may have, offering each of you a polite smile as she rises to see each of you off. Karst does his best to do the same, but theres a nervous sort of energy to the man that makes him seem both older and younger at the same time. Like he's ready to take flight. He finishes the rest of his drink, pausing to clink glasses with anyone else that offers their own. The Old Man rises as you do, offering each of you a shake of the hand or mutual grip of the forearm and a good  "Good luck."  before sitting once more as you take your leave, SLATE in tow. It's hard to tell if Liz is waving at you, her NHP or all of you.

Questions finished and drinks answered your shown to the end of the upper hallways to a nondiscript room with a "do not disturb" signage rotating around an orb that floats to the inbuilt frame's right side. SLATE leads the way in the wake of the nondescript man-the man who'd shown you here. Opening the door, the man beckons you in. The room is small, cramped and dimly illuminated by a stablight lodged in the ceiling above. It paints the waiter's bald pate in a haunted glow that highlights the gauntness of his features and his lack of any hair whatsoever. The man is quick to remove a section of stone from the wall farthest from the door, revealing a simple series of buttons and nobs. He fiddles with ones such nob and the large hunk of slate parts, sliding into the wall leftwards with a small  hiss  of hydraulics. Your lift down is a glass cylinder. Cabling tracks around it in microfilament circuitwork, widening, expanding then enlarging into full power cables the further the engineering and systems get from the shaft. Whatever powers your way down sits above it, the actual vessel made of metal that is proofed against the rough hew of the tunnel through which it will travel.

Kareftis did not lie. It is a chute more than an elevator, tight for housing all five of you and your personal gear in reinforced crash seats. Hastily welded storage lockers contain what you cant hold onto. The man from the Last Call hands out ear protection to each of you. SLATE's tiny frame retracts its legs, the little ports flipping to reveal hover modules that place it dead center in the middle of the lift. Their display screen spins in time with the thrusters, displaying a " ;&gt;l  " face to each of you.  "Going down? Please keep all hands arms feet and legs inside the compartment. Your patience is appreaciated."  The NHP begins tunelessly humming an old mining song. Between the dulled sound of their tune and the other occupants, it is a cramped affair. But there is enough room to press the button on a pad that takes you-

Downward.

What the chute lacks in asethetics and comfort it more than makes up for in practicality, rumbling you towards the printer a speed devoid of grace. There is an initial cosmic tugging sensation associated with takeoff, then an increasing shriek of acceleration as the lift hurtles, what little light there is outside flickering through the slits to animate the interior like an old Cradle cinematic. Stutter-stop motion, cut through with the odd flash of sparks from the outside as the lift shudders in flight. Yet for all the theatrics the elevator does its job. The scream of its acceleration peaks, momentarily breaking through your ear protection before dulling as it peaks, sustains, then wanes as the travel finishes near quick as it started. From the high-wall structure all the way down to:

 The Penultimate Stratums 

From the elevator built into the wall it is out of a small cavern that-perhaps rightly given the lobby's sole occupant-smells a bit too much like generator fuel byproducts, and onto the beginning of a wide, wide path. One of the main ones used for travel at these depths, and seldom at that for how the wending of the track lies unmarked by recent vehicles. Mechs included. Above, Golgotha's lights and sounds drift downwards to fill your ears. Mostly dull, but sometimes punctuated by the odd squeal of metal on stone or siren from the guard's side of things. Its not just sounds and light. Occasionally the odd bit of caste off or loosened sediment falls down as a particulate around you, and on at least one turn 'round the spiral of the main path shouts alert you to where a day's haul has fallen to clot an upward pathway. You descend further, the daily toil of working more important, more rich earth veins serving as effective cover much as where you pass through does.

Patrols dont come down this far. Not anymore. Instead the only thing your watched by are the derelict and the abandoned: old rusted-out hulls that once passed for vehicles of mining convenience serve as sentinels to not just your passage, but over old prison work-camps, desiccated precursors to the stability of the ghetto above above. Little embankments that once tried and failed to make lives for themselves down deep, when the ores ran plentiful. More Golgothan casualties. Small wonder the Warden does not have these strata worked. If the laborers were to gaze upon the bones amidst the old camp's tarps and primitive bivouacs in their current temperaments, rebellion would have long ago occurred. To say nothing of the injustices the Loyal wing would perceive. Looking up, you can see that half finished paths and traversal line the walls at this level like collateral circulations, trailing upward to where they flourish into truth paths to the prison proper or into atrophied dead ends. Enough that travelling back up by mech  should  be easy.

The road you take wends deeper, taking you two hours and deep so as to make the lights from the ghetto and prison side pins in the sky. Little artificial stars. The noise becomes indistinct but constant, a sort of dull ebb and flow of percussions as the accumulation of whats ringing out above is caste down to your ears. The mining machines that lined the roadways become more sparse, but grander in scale for their rarity. Some are even unrusted. Where a lack of light from above fails, the flesh of the pit provides in the form of minerals that glow, maybe by virtue of their chemical compositions, perhaps as reflections of the light above. It would certainly account for the strange taste in the air. Too much alkaline. And, growing in small furtive clutches to add to the stink: mushrooms, shining with a swathe of neons all their own as reinforcements to bolster against the dark. SLATE begins to tunelessly hum the same music they did in the elevator going down. A few inbuilt LEDs perk up and bolster what is rapidly becoming just cavelight.

 "This'll take us where we want to go."  SLATE's voice sounds heavy. Laden with something not so much like guilt as it is simplly worn down. Like a too blunted drill. The tunnel the little frame "sits" in front of is easily wide enough to accommodate any of your mechs upon exit or entry. This, and the relative depth the passage is situated at, would indicate that it is a very, very old tunnel, its anonymity resting on this factor and, as a consequence of its age, its vacancy as a viable shaft to work. The NHP turns left into the tunnel, the bustle and noise of Golgotha steadily fading in time with the progress of your descent downwards.

 The Printer  

Its another Shotoran hour through the same tunnel SLATE banked left through, then a slowly widening pathway that kicks into another abrupt turn. Right this time, the perpendicular narrowing slightly but noticeably as your lead through it by the NHP. Small islet lights burn the same stale white as the glow-lamp used to, studded across the black carapace of the NHP's current hull as lambent boils. The air becomes cleaner to the taste. Someone has stationed a purifier near the printer. Layers of sediment reveals themselves in the glow, heaped upon one another by age. Occasionally in your travels, you see fossils: many jumbled but a few clear precursors to the current Shotoran fauna: the forepaw and lower jaw of what can only be a direwolf from the woods. The mammals jaws look like they could rip a Sagarmatha's arms off. The imprint of a now extinct fern species. An entire spinal column and skull of what can only be a bull-salamander-large enough to fit several of the direwolf jaw-pieces in its mouth. The amphibian skeleton is missing all but one of its limbs and clearly a victim of later mammals pack tactics. Yet for all the time on display-easily going back as far as Karrakis itself, probably more besides-the passage reeks of artifice, a fact made all the more apparent by the shear nature of the tunnel's make much as it is by the odd strut or support that braces the passageway's spine. Tracts of glowing minerals shine phosphorescent, bolstering the tunnels light as you go downward.

There is a keen downward slope to your traversal, a sense of getting deeper as the lights staked into the walls decrease as the heat increases. The stablights allotted to your pathway become more haphazard in their placement even as SLATE's become brighter to compensate. Thick cabling narrows the duggout to a width of three men, and a tunnel that was equal parts proportion to the largest of your mechs becomes narrowed, barely sized for Sargarmathan proportions. There is an absence of stablights, but the NHP's frame helps to illuminate the different colored cabling: greens and browns, like the rooting to some titanic tree. The tunnel opens into a massive plateau, the massive jut of rock descending like a staircase into more and more layers of sediment. The cavern yawns tall over this descent. Below, rocks glow with mineral deposits, lighting your way where human artifice cannot. A veritable survivalist's paradise to be explored.

The area with the printer is center on the plateau, surrounded by a swathe of crates containing print material, munitions and mech scale weapons for those munitions. Reserves lie perched and sequestered amongst the the other boxes, ready for the taking. And human supplies too: water and a strange mix of Union &amp; House Guard rations mixed in with SSC preMeals TM.   There's even a bit of the good stuff: colonist meal packages that self-heat to full readiness at the push of a button and a set of meals that, given the purple bar across each one, probably belonged to an Armory acquisitions team.

The printer itself-a scale two model-looks like a full body spaceport scanner for how the main geometry is composed of a cylinder and series of inbuilt rings. The whole thing stretches to barely under the ceiling above the plateua, a feat that would be more impressive if the cavern didnt achieve new heights further on. Six arms break up the silhouette: while the printer can print larger sized mechs, it must do so piecemeal, then assemble the full mech afterwards. Each arm ends in a different type of tool: rivet gun, welding torch, holding clamp. And so on. A terminal for human convenience sits by the doors to the printer while small fingerling venioles siphon geothermal energey via a convergence of the cablings built into the wall. The tracts web the area around the printer except for the exit doors and the port for more printer material. The entire assemblage stands ready and loaded with matter for it's first use, queing up with a faint whine that echoes about the cavern as SLATE deploys some sort of signal for it to begin. More lambency bleeds from floodlights mounted on the printer. The tiny-framed NHP turns around expectantly, a vacant emoji smeared across his display.

  "-_-. Well. Who'll be first? " 
 
 Spoiler: OOC 

Ok so I figure we can go back to the Last Call on the way to the jammer station if people want to do more RP with Karst, Kareftis or Liz and to the Penultimate Stratum if folks want to do more interparty RP🙂 On that note, let me know if things are progressing too quickly for your tastes and I can definitely slow the pacing down a bit-figure everyone's ready to get to the first combat 🙂

Tried to make things seemed as lived in as possible WRT the lower depths, but it might raise more questions that answers so feel free to ask OOC if you have any and I can answer them/edit the fiction if it doesnt make much sense.
 
BelGareth
As the cacophony of the chute's descent settled into a dull hum and the group gathered around the waiting printer, Biff glanced at the massive machine with a mixture of admiration and urgency. The towering mechanical contraption, ready to forge the mechanisms of war, seemed a stark contrast to the desperate scramble of their makeshift rebel tactics. He stepped forward, his face hardened by countless battles, each scar a story of survival.

 "I'll go first,"  Biff declared, his voice echoing slightly in the cavernous space. The scars and lines on his face were accentuated by the flickering light as he continued,  "Let’s get the mechs ready for what's coming. We’ll need every edge we can get."  He paused, his gaze moving over the assembled weapons and munitions, a tactical assessment running through his mind.

Pulling a dataslate from his pocket, Biff tapped into the printer’s interface, his fingers sure and practiced as he uploaded the specifications for his mech enhancements.  "I'm going with an up-close combat configuration—reinforcements to the armor, upgraded servos for quicker movements, and heavier weaponry."  His voice was firm, each word underscoring his resolve.

As the printer whirred to life, its mechanical arms beginning their intricate dance of construction, Biff turned to the rest of the group.  "We’ll need to be fast and flexible,"  he advised, the role of a seasoned leader settling onto his shoulders like a familiar cloak.  "Let's use this time to finalize our tactics and ensure our mechs complement each other’s capabilities. We can't afford any weak links."
 
The sound of the printer layering metal echoed through the cavern, a steady reminder of the looming conflict. Biff watched, his expression unreadable, yet his eyes betrayed a spark of anticipation. This was the calm before the storm, and he was ready to lead them through it.
Bitter
The journey down sees a change overcome Lupo. Life in Golgotha relied on a certain way of living: keeping your head down, avoiding the guards’ eyes, making yourself nothing that could be viewed as a threat.

Now as he travelled down through the penultimate stratums, that way of living was cast aside to reveal who had been lurking underneath that false exterior. Lupo’s eyes were sharp and judging, alert for anything that could represent a threat or an edge. His hands flexed, ready for action that still hasn’t appeared by the time the group draws up to the printer.

Approaching the printer after Biff, Lupo sends across his GMS licenses from one of his installed memory banks. One of the many good things about GMS is that once you had a license, it was your license. You may not have a printer to make use of, but that license would always be there waiting for you if you found one.

With that access enabled, he prints off the mech in almost exactly the same configuration as when he last had it - the sole exception being the installation of the additional core battery he’d been equipped with.  Caliburn  would soon to be reborn.

 ”From what we’ve discussed so far it sounds like you and Rowen are taking point with Derek providing close fire support and Levi and I taking the rear.” 

As he is speaking, Lupo is rooting around the gear packed away here and has found a supply of small arms. Taking a GMS assault rifle, he’s positions himself defensively at a corner - awaiting anyone or anything that may try to intrude before they have their mechs..

 ”Electronic warfare is my specialism, so I’ll likely focus on keeping the enemy locked down and off balance. Where that’s not the best call, expect firepower in the form of an assault rifle, missile rack and an RPG.” 
CateranEnforcer
  “I'll need a minute to compile my print, had to steal it little by little and hide it from the OVERSEER.”   Derek reveals a handful of storage chits and settles in when the Terminal is free. He starts the process of reconstructing the hidden data mixed in with his own personal touches. This might actually be better than the generic frame he was originally supplied by the Ascendency.

But the talk of tactics bored him. Working as a team was not really something hev really liked. His previous work was not for the faint of heart. He was really going to have to cool it going forward, until the time was right.

  “Yeah, just don't be near me when I set my explosives. This Sagarmatha will do until I get my hands on something better.”   He eyeballs the gear left behind as well.   “Toss me one of those, would you?”   he asks Lupo, referring to the weapon.   “Surprised there's no alarms going off right now. Would they really leave this unguarded?”  
Bitter
Lupo raises an eyebrow as he looks over at Derek.  ”So just to make sure I understand the request, you, our high explosives guy, wants me to throw at you a live weapon that you haven’t inspected and we’ve just found in a box?”  

Lupo waits a beat for the question to sink in, then smiles and tosses Derek a weapon.

 “Remind me to stand back when you’re setting your explosives.”  

In his own military training he’d had good firearm discipline and safety drilled into him, you don’t mess about with weapons, but the rationale for that was mostly for the off chance you ended up using an unfamiliar off-brand weapon. Who knows what safety parameters some rim works made its weapons to? These weapons were clearly GMS standard though and those were safe enough you could give them to a toddler and be confident they wouldn’t be able to shoot anything accidentally. There wasn’t any real risk from throwing them about and pretty much anyone with some firearm experience would realise that Lupo was jokingly being a hardass.

 ”As for the printer, Karst set this up in secret. The only real protection we can rely on is continuing secrecy. What good would an alarm be? if security finds it the resistance can’t fight them off. That’s my guess at least.” 
BelGareth
Biff chuckled at the others joking around as he pulled on his flex suit, it was like finally being back in his rig, but only slightly, the old memories, the feelings, the emotions, he used to live in one of these, hardly ever took it off, and so it was relatively cathartic as it finally pulled over his bulk up to his neck. He flexed each arm one at a time, and smiled, nodding in satisfaction. Checking the suit, he confiemed the stims were present, and activated, he almost took a hit of  Kick  right there and then, old habits die hard.

Next he gathered the Hardsuit, and what weapons looked good to him, he too took an assault rifle, but also picked up a mean looking machete like blade, this would come in handy if it came down to it, though, if they were outside of their suits and it had already hit the fan, there wasn't much it was going to improve.

Racking the slide partially back to check the chamber, he saw brass and nodded, let the slide rack back on it's own with the mechanical pop he had learned to love, and missed, and then tapped the bottom of the mag to be sure. Old habits indeed.

Lastly, he grabbed and rigged some mag clamps onto his exo boots, always handy in a pinch.

Looking to the others he added  "You lot need a period of instruction on how to use one of these things?"  he asks, obviously joking, grinning from ear to ear.
Bitter
Returning to the defensive position he’d chosen, Lupo nestles behind the cover before replying to Biff.

 “How to use the gun or the mag boots? The gun’s easy, point the shooty end at the bad guys. With the mag boots you have to be careful, accidentally set them to opposite polarities and you’ll blow your legs off your pelvis if you put your feet too close together. Saw it happen once. Nasty, blood everywhere but the guy got some nice prosthetics.” 

Lupo flashes Biff a look of pure innocent inquiry.

 “You did remember to reverse the polarities, right?” 
BelGareth
Biff mocks surprise, but actually  didn't check  the polarities and subtly checks them, somewhat nervously and embarrassed.

 "Uh, yeah....of course I did!"  he exclaims, chuckling softly.  "It's been a hot minute..."  he mumbles, having been mollified slightly.
Zelphas
One positive thing about living at the bottom of the barrel for most of your adult life: any nerves you had are scraped away quickly. The cacophonous ride down, the bodies, the fossils, the decrepit state of things all pass over Levi without comment or concern; they aren't what he's here for.

Levi doesn't push forward to bring out his mech, content to let the others fabricate their pieces as he puts things together. He notes that no one else seems to be aiming for any medical supplies, and helps himself to a few as he waits. Team tactics are not exactly his strong suit, so he keeps his comments--and his med patches--to himself. The choice of a sleeping bag might raise some eyebrows, but a sealed pod with ten minutes of breathable air had saved him once before, and he could never bring himself to enter danger without the bag ever since.

Levi's mech, when it rolls off the assembly line, looks somehow as though it was patched together and used harshly despite being a brand-new creation, a collection of pieces put together in a way that vastly favors functionality over beauty. The weapons selected for the machine are similarly hodgepodge--a fabricator for disposable (mech-size) knives, a small nexus for drone strikes, a (relatively) short range thermal rifle, and a massive anti-materiel rifle. Levi looks it over with a slight sigh; he had to pick up what he could when he could, and so the whole mess lacks any sort of theming. Even the name, "Dull Roar", was grabbed from another mech he had seen earlier in the day the first time he was expected to jump into the pilot's seat.

  "No worries on those explosives from me,"   Levi says finally, feeling like he should probably interact with the group at least on a superficial level.   "If possible, I plan to make my nest in a lava flow and provide support from a significant distance."   He slips the punching dagger up one sleeve for easy access and pulls out the rifle from his back, taking up a secondary firing position behind Lupo and to the other side of the door. No reason not to be extra careful.
Bitter
 ”Don’t take any nonsense I say too seriously,”  says Lupo as he sees Biff reaching to check his shoes.  “I’ve something’s got a dark sense of humour and haven’t had much of an outlet for it these past few years.” 

With the mechs now being printed, Lupo standing guard with his peashooter seems fairly redunant so he retreats back to stand near Biff and watches as  Caliburn  is printed and put together, piece by piece.

 “You seem like you’ve been around the block a few times. You done any fighting on local worlds here where we might have been on the same field? Sigma Seven, Josephine’s World, Chi Delta 3, Seven Peaks Mountain? By the way, I’m Lupo but the call sign is Dust.”
 
BelGareth
Biff smiles  "Nah don't worry about it, it's been a while...and well, I'm a little nervous I think."  he says chuckling,  "I can't seem to recall, maybe the old man might know? I was in his unit for a while, but my memories of that time are....foggy at best"  he answers and then as if it was done, he nods and then turns to look at his mech, which was finally completed, the giant blade on its back, two missile racks on it's shoulders, and a GMS standard issue Mech Assault rifle.

Walking up to it, it wasn't pretty, but it would do. He touched the frame tenderly, and then, suddenly, initiated the boarding protocols, the hatch at the top opening up with a hiss of pressure and the whir of servos. He climbed the frame using the outside handholds for pilots, and then slid down into the cockpit.

It was start, but...it was his. He began to boot up systems, checking knobs and the startup protocols, his vision lit up, and he could see the whole cave suddenly.

  "Mech online"   his frame announced.
Bitter
Unsure if Biff’s response is truly due to poor memory rather than just not wanting to talk about his past, Ludo gives him privacy and turns his attention to  Caliburn  as the printer finishes off building Lupo’s mech.

When they realise that Lupo is a knight, or at least ex-knight, many people expected him to pilot a hulking armoured chassis with a sword and shield like something out of an old history. Instead the frame that was printed was the sleek and thoroughly modern shape of the GMS Chomolungma, packed full of the most sophisticated e-warfare equipment known to man. True, his was a little personalised with some etchings related to the Eumat philosophy, but the mech wouldn’t look out of place in any modern military.

Opening up the cockpit, Lupo jumps in side and is happy to see that the printer has recreated it just how he likes it from his personalised settings, even down to the little bobble head of Saint Jerome. kissing his fingers then tapping the bobble head to set it bobbing, Lupo closes up the chassis’s cockpit around him.

 “This is Dust,”   he says through the comms, reusing his old callsign for the first time in years,  “Everything is green my end, ready to roll out.”  
n0ble
 The Printer 
 "What about Magedon Creek? I hear the Cypher Trees are...beautiful this time of year."  The little frame that passes for SLATE's body picks at the ground with one of its foot comps as the last of your mechs are printed. Supporting itself on three of the four legs, the last of the limbs waves you along to the great cavern ahead.  "Transplanting signal-chaser."  There's a brief moment of static across your comms before a waypoint pings, complete with a path illuminated in white holograph-light lodged across each of your mech's viewscreens. An audio tune pings out as light illuminates the path, synchronizing in time with a bit of brightness that goes out the tone. It is, of course, entirely optional to listen to.

The little frame picks at the ground as the last of your mechs print off and are assembled. On the final time, they raise the limb of their frame up, a tiny stablight glowing at the end. SLATE walks beyond, the sleek namesake-grey of their chassis becoming more and more subsumed as they get closer and closer still to the yawn of the cavern network beyond. Blue and red minerals catch the light and pain the way forward purple for how the former two colors mingle. The odd stablight jammed haphazard into the rock-natural for how untouched it is by human tools-sustains the curious luminance from the crystals. The stablight waves you forward, to the very edge of where the cavern begins its downward slant. A few little taps on the rock cue you into the NHP turning to face you.  "Signal should hold out until it doesnt. I've marked the printer-" . A green waypoint styled the same way as the holograph-path superimposes itself onto the digital views afforded by your frames.  "-here. Good luck, Lancers."  The lightsource at the end of SLATE's arm winks off as you begin your descent towards the jamming beacon.

Anyone who hazards a glance back sees the grey outline of the small frame, waving to you from on high. A bit further down, the NHP resumes their tune.

 To the Jammer  

The trek to the jammer is marked by a few constants. The heat steadily begins to increase over the few hours your journey takes, increasing in time with the amount-and scale-of the underground fauna you encounter. Pallid rockslugs are found much as they are in the ghetto: a keystone to any healthy diet. Salamanders much on them, some of them the size of human forearms for how time alone has let them grow larger than you've seen before. A few enterprising ones leave the carcasses of old mining gear-mirrors to the ones you saw on the path to the printer-to hazard the odd bite on your mechs before easily being shaken loose. The smaller of the amphibians are carried off by the Depth Below's most famous occupant: small chiropterans eating to grow massive. Those of you who study under the Lasdy Kareftis know that their current station below ground is largely a consequence of the sounds brought along with all of the Baronies minining gear. Rock lights the patches of darkness where artifice is insufficient, lending a warm glow to your passage for how the various minerals kaleidoscope their phosphorescence upon one another.

Eventually, the path laid out by SLATE take you to a series of buildings situated in a wide, expansive cavern tall as a Barbarossa, and it is here that things begin to go wrong. The place may have been capable of sustaining a large amount of life. Once. Now all that remains are the guttered remains of out of date infrastructure, assaulted by the buildup of product from a rogue mushroom farm long since scavenged clean. The signal becomes frenetic, the tone changing from regular steady pulse to dysrhythmic as it tries and fails to lock down onto a viable pathway for you to take. Something in the remains, maybe. Or something worse.

A singular shot rings out across the dimly lit cavern, resounding loud and clear for how the bark of the shot bounces from the walls. The chirp of the munition cutting through the air is lost as the ammo cuts through the air, misses Dust but what sensors read is a handspan, then ends the terminus of its journey with collapsing one of the structures surrounding you. Its as though this is a cue for the hostiles: to the west, a thin, spindly frame rises from the walking mountain it was hiding behind. A scout and bastion. To the east there is a shrieking sound that continues beyond as echoes after the berserker is done raking its chainaxe across stone. And finally, to the North of your position: the mechanical wine of a hive's swarm deployment matrix undercut by the ejection of a large caliber shell casing from the hive's  nearby compatriot: The Beastmaster.

The Depth Below's resident Boogeyman cuts an odd silhouette, jagged and unevenly broken for the various armaments strapped to the back and hip of their person. The large bore sniper in their hands-a mech killer-still smokes from the gunbarrel even as its quickly removed from the end of the Beastmaster's gun and replaced with something more akin to a shotgun add-on. Fetishes and trophys adorn the exile's frame- Some Dangerous Game :the skull of a bull salamander acts as one of the frame's shoulder pauldrons while a pair of young chiropteran wings flare out as a makeshift breastplate. Theres the sound of a shotgun being racked for more ammunition before a harsh, metallic voice booms out across the hovel you've discovered. Whatever's gumming up your signal will have to wait.

You just go busy.

 
 Spoiler: OOC 

Alright everyone, a thousand thank-yous for your patience, welcome to our first combat of the game! 🙂 This sit-rep will be a Signal Chase combat-I'll get the scenario up in the discord for everyone to view. Enemies are deployed where they are per the scenario-I'll get everyones minis up and synched to their respective players. On that note:
- Terrain that is tagged  pink  on the map is  Size 1 (1x1) 
- Terrain that is tagged  blue  on the map is  Size 2 (2x2) 
- Terrain that is tagged  orange  on the map is  Size 3 (3x3) 
I would be happy to draw borders around the terrain if people are unsure of the dimensions-left it out initially so things didnt seem so cluttered. 🙂

Enemy comp consists of the enemy type and the templates they have:
- The Beastmaster (Tier 1 Elite Strider)
- 1 Veteran Scout
- 1 Bastion
- 1 Hive
- 1 Berserker

The Combat follows these rules for the sit-rep:
 Sit Rep:  Signal Chase
 PC Victory:  A the end of round 6, the PCs have accumulated 4 Victory Points (VP)
 NPC Victory:  At the end of round 6, the PCs have not accumulated (VP)
 The Control Zone (blue on the map):  At the start of each round, including the first, the  Control Zone that PCs start in moves 3d6 in a random direction and in a straight line (will roll a d8 for direction, north side is 1, right top corner two, continuing clockwise in that fashion). If this causes the zone to leave the battlefield it instead stops at the edge. Movement is then re-rolled until the zone can complete one entire  movement without leaving the map. At the end of each round, PCs score **1 Victory Point** if there are more PCs in the zone than NPCs.
Deployment: NPCs deploy, then PCs

 
 Spoiler: Map  

 https://images-ext-1.discordapp.net/...563&amp;height=406 
 

 
ProgressPaladin
(OOC: Guys, I’m sorry for not posting last time. I had a lot on my plate. Two questions: If I don’t get scouting, could I pick up another reserve? If I can, I’d like the Recon Drone. Also, since I cannot use discord, is there a way you could post the map elsewhere?)

Walking along, Rowen is listening. Waiting for something to happen. Keeping watch while the mechs are being printed off, Rowen is thinking about the last time he was out here. It’s been awhile. The printers finish interrupts his reminiscing, and Rowen suits up.

Walking into the cavern, something immediately feels off. Wouldn’t there usually be more people in here? But when the shot rings, Rowen systems whir to life telling him all the information he needs to know.  “You guys told me to be the leader? Ok then!” , Rowen says on a comm channel to the group.  ”Biff, you take the Berserker! I don’t want any of us more fragile things get crushed by it! Echo, Dust, stay together, we need all the synergy we can get. Echo, try to take out the Scout before it can do anything to help its allies. Dust, I want you taking out the Hive, as you’re best equipped to deal with its tech attacks. Thanatos, you have the heavier firepower, try to focus that on the Beast-master over there. I’ll try to take out the Bastion. Over and Out. 

Rowen shoulder mount will start up, and he will pull up his Anti-materiel Rifle and fire, shooting at the hulking mountain. He will try to scan, working past it’s quite meager electronic defenses. Rowen will then run into a closer range, hoping to get into his thermal rifles range.

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
My attacks:
Anti-materiel rifle: Attack Roll  (1d20)[ 14 ] + (1d6)[ 1 ]  for  (2d6)[ 4 ]  AP damage
Scan: Statistics, Bastion
If I get recon drone: Scan, Beastmaster.
 
Bitter
Lupo jerks in his seat as the sniper round misses him by inches, sending Caliburn stumbling to the side for a moment before righting itself.

Lupo swings Caliburn down behind cover and sets his variety of scanners to maximum active power, no longer sneaking and relying merely on passive augur data. The details of five mechanised frames quickly spill through into his system and the Chomolungma’s frame pattern recognition system quickly spits out the likely capabilities of the enemy frames. As he assesses the options he feels a reassuring calm come over him as his implants reroute cerebral pathways to optimise his tactical thinking and reaction time.

 “Negative,”  responds Lupo over the comms, his voice devoid of passion.  “Beserker archetype frame is a dedicated close-combatant. I’m most suited to making sure it can’t reach or stay in close combat.” 
CateranEnforcer
Derek grits his teeth inside his bone colored frame. He kneels down scanning the horizon with the Heavy Machine Gun while the other arm wraps his Sagarmatha in a mech sized camo cloth. Not much use right now other than a little bit of protection.

  "I've been waiting a long time to do this.... just try and stop me!"   He takes the directions as just a matter of convenience. He didn't care which enemy he blew up first.
BelGareth
It had been a smooth walk down, the local salamanders amazed Biff, and he was enjoying seeing each one as they crossed them, especially the large ones, he grinned as they passed, giving them names, Yellow-bellied Sandra ain't no pick o'the littler James-Red-nosed, I think ya can do better, look at Yellow-Rings-Karen over here. He chuckled to himself, and a cathartic memory of his time with the Condor's fluttered back to him, rising to the surface of hsi conscious like an unbidden serpent from the depths.

They had just liberated the Consuls son, and he had pulled out all the stops as they marched to deliver him back, pink streamers unfurled int eh air as they walked triumphant, people cheering, and
.... *CRACK* 

The first round was enough to wake him from his reverie, where his finely honed instincts took over, immediate action drills his body couldn't stop if he tried, his mech rolled to the right, immediately finding cover, and bringing his main Machine gun online, he allowed the e-suite package to come online, absorbing all the data it streamed to him, like some AI munching on the data, a quick scan of the data and he saw his target, confirmed by the chatter.

  "Roger that Rowen, Lupo, I'm your wingman, you have point, providing covering fire."  
 
 Spoiler 


 PHP Code: 
    
 Character_Profile  :

    Call_Sign  :   "Registered_Offense"

    Mech_Frame  :   "GMS Everest"

    Stats  :

      Structure  :   "4/4"

      HP  :   "12/12"

      Armor  :   "0"

      Stress  :   "4/4"

      Heat  :   "0/6"

      Repair  :   "5/5"

      ATK_Bonus  :   "0"

      Tech_ATK  :   "0"

      LTD_Bonus  :   "0"

      SPD  :   "5"

      EVA  :   "10"

      EDEF  :   "8"

      Senses  :   "10"

      SAVE  :   "10"

    Mech_Attributes  :

      H  :   "0"

      A  :   "2"

      S  :   "0"

      E  :   "0"

      Size  :   "1"

    Weapons  :

      Main_Mount  :

      -   Type  :   "Assault Rifle"

        -   Specs  :   "Range 10; 1d6 physical; Reliable 2"

      Flex_Mount  :

      -   Type  :   "Missile Rack [1/1]"

        -   Specs  :   "Range 10/Burst 1; 1d3+1 Explosive; Loading"

        -   Type  :   "Missile Rack [1/1]"

        -   Specs  :   "Range 10/Burst 1; 1d3+1 Explosive; Loading"

      Heavy_Mount  :

      -   Type  :   "Heavy Melee Weapon"

        -   Specs  :   "Threat 1; 2d6+1"

    Core_Systems  :

      Hyperspec_Fuel_Injector  :

      -   Charges  :   "2/2"

    Systems  :

    -   "EVA Module"

      -   "Personalizations"

      -   "Rapid Burst Jump Jet System"

      -   "Custom Paint Job"

      -   "Manipulators"

      -   "Bonus CORE"

    Talents  :

    -   "Combined Arms 1"

      -   "Juggernaut 1"

      -   "Executioner 1" 

   
 
   
 
CateranEnforcer
Grayson eyeballs the horizon and levels his weapons at the beastmaster. His bloodlust almost takes over, but he stops. They needed to locate that jammer at all costs. Damn it all.

  "Ugh no, the frames are a distraction. If we lose the trace, this could be over before it starts. We have to get that data."   Thanatos pulls back on the controls and turns his frame around and tries to pinpoint the signal.   "Here, try and hit us now."   He drops one of his grenades that emits a large cloud of smoke. Still, he couldn't help but aim his underslug launcher at the Bastion and Scout.

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
Move 4
Quick Action: Boost to get in the zone
Quick Action: Pop smoke grenade in the marked zone
Overcharge QA: Use a Hex charge on the Bastion and Scout, 6 damage rolled
 
n0ble
The Beastmaster answers the plume from the smoke charges by engaging the servos tacked onto the outside of his frame. The systems lend the frame a surprising amount of speed, allowing it to accelerate well beyond what a normal mech is capable of.  Crude thrusters engage on the brachial features of the frame's joints as its reposition ends, continuing the movement past Echo and behind a building. The Beastmaster levels the wide bore end of its rifle and looses a concussive shot across the cover it occupies. The round fragments and paints the cavern red, orange and yellow as it impacts with the shoulder of Echo's mech, the force of the blow shunting them away in an effusion of pattern-smoke, momentarily backlit by the light of the shells impact.

 
 Spoiler: OOC 

On its turn the Beastmaster (Tier 1 Elite Strider), used its Reposition reaction to move its speed.
Quick action 1: it then boosted another 4 space
It then moved 4 spaces into the size 1 hard cover
Quick Action 2: The beastmaster then skirmished against Echo with its Explosive Rifle, hitting with an 11. It dealt 6 damage and knocked Echo back 3 spaces out of the smoke's soft cover.
 
BelGareth
Biff's attention shifted from the 'zerker to the strider in an instant, his HUD displaying the signal they needed to capture, he moved  Registered_Offense  in a lurching run towards the strider, activating his core as he ran, the Mech energized fully, the reactors pumping out additional energy, overcharging his weapons and systems, lights lit up like a Furtive Festival parade, his Mech picked up speed and began flying as he sped up, he wheeled around the local obstacles with his heavy blade held high, bringing it down in a powerful slash against his opponent.

 
 Spoiler 

Actions:
move left 5
free: Activate core
free: Boost another 5 left
Boost left 5
Skirmish within threat 1 using Heavy melee weapon

(rolled in Roll20)
To-hit 13 +1 lock on + 1 core = 15
Damage = 6

Procs Combined Arms 1 gaining soft cover while within threat (and any adjacent allies)


 PHP Code: 
    
 Character_Profile  :

    Call_Sign  :   "Registered_Offense"

    Mech_Frame  :   "GMS Everest"

    Stats  :

      Structure  :   "4/4"

      HP  :   "12/12"

      Armor  :   "0"

      Stress  :   "4/4"

      Heat  :   "0/6"

      Repair  :   "5/5"

      ATK_Bonus  :   "0"

      Tech_ATK  :   "0"

      LTD_Bonus  :   "0"

      SPD  :   "5"

      EVA  :   "10"

      EDEF  :   "8"

      Senses  :   "10"

      SAVE  :   "10"

    Mech_Attributes  :

      H  :   "0"

      A  :   "2"

      S  :   "0"

      E  :   "0"

      Size  :   "1"

    Weapons  :

      Main_Mount  :

      -   Type  :   "Assault Rifle"

        -   Specs  :   "Range 10; 1d6 physical; Reliable 2"

      Flex_Mount  :

      -   Type  :   "Missile Rack [1/1]"

        -   Specs  :   "Range 10/Burst 1; 1d3+1 Explosive; Loading"

        -   Type  :   "Missile Rack [1/1]"

        -   Specs  :   "Range 10/Burst 1; 1d3+1 Explosive; Loading"

      Heavy_Mount  :

      -   Type  :   "Heavy Melee Weapon"

        -   Specs  :   "Threat 1; 2d6+1"

    Core_Systems  :

      Hyperspec_Fuel_Injector  :

      -   Charges  :   "1/2"

    Systems  :

    -   "EVA Module"

      -   "Personalizations"

      -   "Rapid Burst Jump Jet System"

      -   "Custom Paint Job"

      -   "Manipulators"

      -   "Bonus CORE"

    Talents  :

    -   "Combined Arms 1"

      -   "Juggernaut 1"

      -   "Executioner 1" 

   
 
   
 

 
 Spoiler: Map 

 
 
Bitter
Dust rushes into cover in the smoke, heavy thunks echoing out with each step as his frame breaks into a run and charges across the cavern before disappearing into the eletromagnetically opaque cloud of smoke that his teammate had dropped. From his hidden position, he triggers a wave of electronic warfare signals intended to interfere with the enemy's weapons and causes the Bastion's joints to to seize up almost entirely. while also sending a targeting solution on the beastmaster to his comrades.

 
 Spoiler: ooc 
Boost and two tech actions from the Chomulungma 1/scene frame trait. First missed, second hit Bastion and applied fragment signal (2 heat, slowed, impaired) and locked on to Beastmaster
 
n0ble
The Beastmaster's retort is simple: another shot from their explosive rifle thunders around the expanse of the cavern, the detonation's force pushing Dust narrowly past a patch of oozng lava. Theres a very faint whine from the servos of the strider's frame as the reds and oranges of lava and explosion are cut through with a thin blue from the frame's inbuilt brachial jets as it speeds away, the grace of the escape only slightly offset from a retort by Thanatos. As they decelerate to standing, the blunt end of the explosive rifle becomes capped with a the heavy, cylindrical end of a siege mortar. Aimed high for a parabola-shot, a gauntlet locks down over the Beastmaster's free hand-styled like a pair of jaws over the wrist- and wreathes it in a sphere of energy as the frame extrudes a rapidly solidifying cube of 3D print material. The cover raised by this device is utterly negated by Biff's downward cleave on Dust's targeting solution, a blow that cuts deep into the strider at the shoulder of the arm used to raise up it cover.

Near deep enough to part the the limb from the frame.

The enemy scout moves to engage, the spindly legs underneath it lending the frame a suprising amount of speed. It unholsters a small, box like configuration of a gun that begins to spool up with the same sort of quiet whine as the strider's jets. Crude lights emanate and fan out from the box before coalescing at Dust and onto points that highlight the damage already done by the Beastmaster. The light stays where it is as the Scout turns off the marker rifle. The Scout continues its as it engages its own limb structures. The reactor adds to the sounds with a curt scream and the much louder sound of accumulating heat as the Scout backpeddles, a curious charging sound adding to all the noise, a tone that builds to some sort of phantom pinnacle.

And then the Scout and Strider become awash in reflections and refractions, all blended together and jumbled with the jagged angles of rock and the light of the lava. The stealth drive installed into the Scout's frame winds down in time with the cacophony of all the conflict at play.
 
 Spoiler: OOC: Strider Turn 2 &amp; Scout Turn 1  

After Dust's turn but before Biff's, the Beastmaster took their second turn of the round as per the elite template.

The beastmaster moved 4 spaces then they
Shot at dust with its explosive rifle for  6 damage  and knocked them back three (through a lava patch-we can discount it if its not visible to people but they should be now)
They then boosted  4 squares  into the center of the zone and switched to their Siege Kit, which lets them deploy a size 1 piece of hardcover (the cube in front of them) and lets them scatter a size 1 AOE of difficult terrain that persists for the rest of the combat (bright red square within the smoke-to differentiate from the Hives AOEs which will be  dark red/burgundy  on r20).
While moving they were overwatched for 3 damage by Thanato's Shotgun.

Biff then took their turn. Following this, the Scout took their turn

NPC Turn 3
Scout Moved 6 Spaces.
Boosted 3, hit Dust with its marker rifle. Dust is locked on and shredded while they have this lock on
The Scout then completed its boost and boosted back 3 spaces to where its first move had left it.
It then overcharged per its limitless trait to pop its cloaking field- gaining 4 heat and the following effect: NPCs within three of the scout are invisible (50/50 chance to hit-roll a d6, evens hit, odds miss). This effect lasts until the end of the scouts turn and the scout is immobilized while its active.
 
Zelphas
Levi--no, mission's started, may as well think of himself as Echo--sighs resignedly from his cockpit as the Beastmaster immediately scores a solid hit on his frame. Just once. Just once, he'd like things to go well for a short time before it went belly-up.   "Looks like I missed my chance. I'll pop the Scout next chance I get,"   he sends laconically over the comms, hands immediately moving towards a battered orange-painted lever. Echo smirks slightly to himself as he flips it, feeling his frame shudder; this is supposed to be something of a last resort, and here he was popping it mere seconds into the battle.

Shaking off the melancholy, Echo turns his sights away from the brawl in front of him, aiming up at a mech nearly out of sight in the cavern. He takes his time in the sparing seconds, making sure his shot is solid before squeezing the trigger; not as steady as he'd like, but it'll do for the moment. The instant the bullet is off, Echo is away as well, DULL ROAR creaking and groaning faintly as he pushes it into the control zone, angling for a nice chunk of crystal to tuck himself behind. Eyes sweeping across the field as he runs, he catches the shifting reflections of the Scout's scramble and decides to throw a simple hail-Mary play.

Echo is not good with music; his music tastes can best be described as "eclectic", though "discordant" or possibly "cacophonous" would be better. Because of this, however, it takes only a few button presses for him to send every terrible music video from the last several hundred years playing at max volume and at alternating speeds winging away as a "present" towards the Scout, hoping to scramble its sensors a bit before he ducks behind the crystal protrusion.

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
 Protocol:  Pop Core.

 Ordinance Quick Action:  Skirmish with the Anti-Materiel Rifle, aiming at the Hive. Core Bonus + Accurate on AMR means I roll 2d6 and take the highest, I believe, to add to the roll:
Accuracy:  (1d20)[ 3 ]  + better of  (1d6)[ 2 ]   (1d6)[ 4 ] 
Damage:  (2d6)[ 6 ]  (on a 20 Accuracy, max damage due to Brutal 1)

 Move Action:  shift diagonal-down into the Control Zone, still in LoS to the Scout.

 Quick Action: Quick Tech Invade the Scout.
Accuracy:  (1d20)[ 9 ]  if I roll 50/50, here (2 hits):  (1d2)[ 2 ] 
On a hit, 2 Heat, and Fragment Signal.

 Free Action:  Boost behind the blue crystal chunk in the Control Zone.
 
n0ble
The Bastion's movements are palsied by the by the code sewn throughout the frame's systems, hampering and hamstringing its brachial jet propulsors much as it does the defender's aim when it utterly misses with a mech-scaled grenade launched. Still, the larger sized mech manages to lift its shield as a guard against incoming fire from Thanatos. A chortle of feral signals lash out and meet a similar end as the skirmish from the rotary launcher as the bastion fails to penetrate Thanatos' electronic defences.

Poltergeist's pistol fire, though valiant in its efforts, meets little success in hitting the Beastmaster. But sometimes a little success is all that is needed. The sheer volume of pistol fire rips the weapon-the broad nosed siege mortar-from the Strider's grasp, causing him to emit a near feral cry of pain at the weapons loss. Its a scream echoed by the ever closing Berserker, on a steady approach from the east.

The Hive begins in earnest, half-gliding across the battlefield to occupy the signal zone. As it does, the massive cylindrical apparatus atop the arachnoid frame's back begins to smoke, an outpouring of hive nanites that form, fizzes and coalesce upon a convergent point between Poltergeist and Biff. Both pilot's frames begin to smoke at their locomotive apparats within the grey smoke that billows around them.


The signal seems to resound around the cavern for how it's audibly streams across each pilots view screens. Then, abruptly as it came on, the signal exceeds the limits of the abandoned camp several times over and is cut off, only to return like an ancient cradle boomerang caught in a whining arc. It finally settles southward of everyones postion. Right on top of the chiropteran matron. A bat born from ancient shortoran nightmares, the creature issues its challenge as a series of echolocative clicks, otherwise blind to the surroundings. Pale flesh stretches taught across leathery wings that beat in time with their own percussive rhythm. The creature occupies the zone.

 
 Spoiler: Combat Summary  

The Bastion Moved 4 into the zone
It missed both an a skirmish with its loading rotary grenade launcher and an invade vs Thanatos.
Poltergeist scanned the Beastmaster and missed with both pistols. However they are both reliable 1 so the Beastmaster was structured, losing its siege mortar weapon.
The hive went next. It moved and boosted into the zone, make the number of PCs and NPCs even and denying the PCs a VP at the end of round. The Hive then spawn a razor swarm in a burst one area in the space in between Poltergeist and Biff. Hostile characters that begin their turn in the area (dark red on the map) or move into it take 2 burn. Friendlies treat it as a patch of soft cover, its on a recharge of 4.

At the beginning of second round
The zone effectively moved south of where it was before, barely at the map limits.
A Chiropteran Matron (Veteran Monstrosity) was spawned as a reinforcement in the zone at the southern border of the map.
 
CateranEnforcer
Thanatos looks atvhis terminals.....the signal interference was too much and with that damn cloaking field, they couldn't even see the problem. His sensors did indicate the last known location of the foes. What was the saying....close only counts for hand genades. Good thing he brought some. He unloaded his underslung launchers into the stone wall. When the dust settled and the cloak lifted, it was clear his usual methods were still effective.

  "I see you now. Hide from this!"   Maybe it was the exhilaration of being back in the cockpit, but he couldn't stop himself. He trained his heavy machine gun on the Hive even as the temperature rose and his reactor began to complain with a yellow alert. But Thanatos didn't see that, only the target as he pumped it full of lead.

 
 Spoiler 
Used Siege Specialist 1 to target the Rock near the Bastion and Scout, dealing 2 damage and pushing them 2. The bastion is not damaged, but the scout is pushed into the lava, taking big damage.

The he used a Grenade to hit Bastion, Scout, and Hive. The bastion's armor negates all damage, the scout is killed, and the Hive takes 3. The cloaking field is gone.

Thanatos overcharges, taking more heat to fire his Heavy Machine Gun, dealing 10 more damage to the Hive and moves into melee range.
 
n0ble
The Beastmaster's laugh comes out mangled, half laugh half megaleopard purr for how wet and gargled it is. They quickly switch back to their explosive rifle, clearly displaying some sort of affection for the weapon in the wake of the siege mortars demise. Their armor becomes the same familiar lean silhouette it had at the beginning of the battle, becoming a frame that can easily evade any cqc blows or shots aimed its way. At the same time, microflechette dischargers unload a salvo into biff, the high impact nature of their caliber designed to shift the man much as its meant to damage. Thankfully, with the signal at stake, only the former occurs. The strider begins a swift retreat from Biff, but not before firing into the now full haze of smoke, easily able to pick out its enemy for how it occupies an allied cloud of nanites. The shot is aimed and impacts as a mirror blow to the one Biff choped into the Beastmaster's arm, choosing to place a shot from the explosive rifle under the missile rack on the right side of the frame.

 
 Spoiler: OOC 

The Scout is dead!

The Beastmaster's turn goes:
Swapped to the skirmisher kit and
1) Triggered its offensive weapon swap, dealing 2 AP to Biff
2) Became immune to engagement and overwatch from movement.
It then moved three squares and skirmished Biff with its explosive rifle for  6 explosive damage.  It then moved 1 more space, boosted another 4 and then used the Reposition reaction from its Skirmisher kit to move at the beginning of the next PCs turn.
 
BelGareth
Biff had just slice into the beasts armor, well and truly, he had seen sparks erupt from the impact, but then all hell had broken loose, as combat tends to do. A cloud of enemy nanites appeared around him, and his systems started to fuzz, he couldn't see any of the damned enemy pilots, and something was stuck to his chassis. He would have to figure that out later, hearing Thanatos, and then the mechs appeared in his sensors, he smiled   "Nice job Thanatos, now it's my turn"   he guided the frame towards where the BeastMaster had moved, he was like a hunting cat, fast and steady, his feet clomping into the cave floor, he raised his assault rifle, but not before emptying both missile racks into the thing, the first salve went wide, but the second caught his foe dead on. Likewise, his Assault rifle missed, but a few rounds managed to impact.

Frustrated, Biff engaged the Core to Maximum, aiming again at his foe and releasing a torrent of bullets that were unerring in their accuracy, they hit the beastmaster square on.

  "Scratch one."   biff announces over the comms.

 
 Spoiler 

Actions:
move 5
free: Boost another 5
Barrage with Both missile racks and Assault Rifle

(all rolled in roll20, which hates me apparently)
AR missed, Reliable 2 for 2 damage
Missile rack 1 missed
Missile rack 2 hit for 2 more explosive damage

Use Init 1/scene to Skirmish with AR
hitting for 4 more damage


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    Call_Sign  :   "Registered_Offense"

    Mech_Frame  :   "GMS Everest"

    Stats  :

      Structure  :   "3/4"

      HP  :   "12/12"

      Armor  :   "0"

      Stress  :   "4/4"

      Heat  :   "0/6"

      Repair  :   "5/5"

      ATK_Bonus  :   "0"

      Tech_ATK  :   "0"

      LTD_Bonus  :   "0"

      SPD  :   "5"

      EVA  :   "10"

      EDEF  :   "8"

      Senses  :   "10"

      SAVE  :   "10"

    Mech_Attributes  :

      H  :   "0"

      A  :   "2"

      S  :   "0"

      E  :   "0"

      Size  :   "1"

    Weapons  :

      Main_Mount  :

      -   Type  :   "Assault Rifle"

        -   Specs  :   "Range 10; 1d6 physical; Reliable 2"

     [  DESTROYED  ]  Flex_Mount  :[/  DESTROYED  ]

      -   Type  : [  DESTROYED  ]  "Missile Rack [0/1]"  [/  DESTROYED  ]

      -   Specs  :   "Range 10/Burst 1; 1d3+1 Explosive; Loading"

        -   Type  : [  DESTROYED  ]  "Missile Rack [0/1]"  [/  DESTROYED  ]

      -   Specs  :   "Range 10/Burst 1; 1d3+1 Explosive; Loading"

      Heavy_Mount  :

      -   Type  :   "Heavy Melee Weapon"

        -   Specs  :   "Threat 1; 2d6+1"

    Core_Systems  :

      Hyperspec_Fuel_Injector  :

      -   Charges  :   "1/2"

    Systems  :

    -   "EVA Module"

      -   "Personalizations"

      -   "Rapid Burst Jump Jet System"

      -   "Custom Paint Job"

      -   "Manipulators"

      -   "Bonus CORE"

    Talents  :

    -   "Combined Arms 1"

      -   "Juggernaut 1"

      -   "Executioner 1" 

   
 
   
 

 
 Spoiler: Map 

 
 
Zelphas
Echo blinks as first the scout and then the Beastmaster drop in quick succession, one-two. He'd expected things to continue as they had been going right at first, but now the tide seems to be--

Ah. He was in the air. In the claws of a massive bat-like thing. Echo finds himself caught in the absurdity of the situation. A creature of this size would need a large store of food in order to function properly, and therefore must spend a lot of time hunting. It may be blind, but the echo it was using to "see" should register the mechs as something similar to lumps of moving stone--non-food, therefore. And yet, here he is, being carried off by the creature like a mother bird to its chicks. Or maybe it's planning to drop him; did it learn, somehow, that these moving things sometimes had meat inside if you could crack them?

Well, whatever. He is no biologist, or xenobiologist, or any other type of -ologist. It's just his luck on the missions, playing up again.

The creature's claws didn't seem to be touching any important systems, so Echo ignores the creature for the moment; if he'd had his main gun loaded, he would've thanked the thing for the vantage point. As it is, he spends several seconds sending out quick-and-dirty repairs and getting his main gun reloaded, with one eye on the quickly-vanishing cave floor. In a burst of--well, maybe he can pretend it's altruism, though it's mainly statistics--he pushes his frame a little harder, feeling the air heat up around him as he links his processor to Poltergeist, giving the beleaguered mech a bit of a boost.   "The shoe hasn't dropped yet,"   he says to himself; it's still too easy, so far.

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
Move Action: Immobilized.

Full Action: Stabilize; full HP heal, AMR reloaded.

Overcharge: Quick Tech  Bolster  on Poltergeist. DULL ROAR suffers 1 Heat.
 
n0ble
As the Beastmaster falls and Levi takes action after being hoisted into the air, the Hive whirrs into action, projecting a slop of slurry like nano particulate onto Thanatos even as its already deployed swarm advances in time with its arrival into the control zone. Just in time for Dust's assault rifle to chip away at the Hive's already very damaged hull. The burst of gunfire chimes in time with the shril sound of a singal fragmentation loosed onto the berserker, stymying the mechs ability to advance for how it makes the striker's legs seize.

The Bastion responds in kind, slowly moving forward before misjudging with a swing of its assault shield. Silent, the large mech's mechanical wines are answered with the percussive impact of Poltergeist's pistols impacting with the Hive, the large bore round hammering it into nonfunctioning. The Berserker advances, a predatory nature still apparent in its stilted gait.

A roar silences all other sounds as a bull Salamnder, easily the size of an Everest, makes it presnece known on the western side of the battlefield. Pernhaps summoned by some sort of internal mechanism triggered by the Beastmaster's demise. The amphibian's skin is pebbled and mottled with bits of calcified mineral deposits, while the gorge of its throat flames lambent with barely contained secrections that larger salamanders use to melt down the main components of their diets: rocks and metals. Its difficult to notice the Hornet-class mech that silently flits in from the south to support the Matron, apparently undaunted by the loss of their leader.

The zone dances, spinning in palsies northward before sharply inverting and returning close to where it last was, slightly more to the west.

 
 Spoiler: OOC 

On its turn the Chiropteran matron boosted, grappled Echo, then moved 6 spaces into the air via its Flyer additional trait.

Levi then took their turn as outlined above.

On the Hive's turn, the hive advanced its swarm 3 spaces as a protocol per the Motile Swarm additional trait. It then skirmished and hit Thanatos for 2 burn (later cleared) and then boosted into the control zone. &amp;

Dust invaded the berserker &amp; Fragmented Signal, Slowing and Impairing it until then end of its next turn. Then then Skirmished &amp; missed the Hive w/ their assault rifle, but dealt 2 Reliable damage to it. They moved into the zone.

The Bastion moved &amp; missed with its assault Shield vs. Thanatos. It cleared Slowed and Impaired.

Poltergeist moved into the zone and barraged, destroying the hive with their pistols and hitting the bastion w/ their Thermal Rifle. The bastions deathcounter additional trait triggered, ignoring the damage from the first attack its receives from a PC.

The Berserker Moved its full movement.

 Round 3  

A Hornet mech &amp; another Veteran Monstrosity (the Bull Salamander) NPCs deployed  to the spaces on the map, latter on the right, former on the south side of things.

The Zone moved around a lot but is now on the South-East side of the map. PCs are up!
 
ProgressPaladin
 ”Dust, switch to targeting the hornet! I’ll try taking down the Bastion!  Poltergeist is yelling over comms, keeping targeting systems on the Bastion. Engaging all systems into overdrive, he fires his pistols into the Bastion, and fires the thermal rifle, continuously burrowing the heat into the bastion, penetrating its armor.

 
 Spoiler: OOC: 
Move:?
Full: Barrage, firing at the Bastion with the Thermal Rifle and Pistols. Pistol 1:  (1d20)[ 6 ]  to hit,  (1d3)[ 2 ]  damage
Pistol 2:  (1d20)[ 16 ]  to hit,  (1d3)[ 1 ]  damage
Thermal Rifle:  (1d20)[ 2 ]  to hit,  (1d3)[ 2 ]  damage
Overcharge:
Thermal Rifle:  (1d20)[ 14 ]  to hit,  (1d3+2)[ 5 ]  damage
Chassis Trait: Initiative
Thermal Rifle:  (1d20)[ 11 ]  to hit,  (1d3+2)[ 4 ]  damage
As a side note, I created a Roll20 account, if that’s helpful.
 
Zelphas
Well, he's still up in the air; may as well take advantage of it.   "Taking aim on the Hornet,"   Echo calls out calmly over the comms, lining up his aim to compensate for the rough flapping of the bat-thing's wings.

Moments after the shot is fired, DULL ROAR sets aside the rifle again, and Echo's hands fly over his controls.   "I suppose it's too much to ask for you to drop me gently?"   he states quietly, and only to himself, before the commands initiate, and the air around him and the bat-thing suddenly fills with disposable blades and mass-printed, stinging drones.

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
Protocol: Activate  Stable, Steady ; +1 on Rifle shots, Immobilized this round (again).

Full Action: Barrage.

First attack: Anti-Materiel Rifle, aimed at the Hornet.
Accuracy:  (1d20)[ 1 ]  plus  (1d6)[ 3 ] 
Damage:  (2d6)[ 9 ]  (max damage on a crit)

Second Attack: Segment Knife and Light Nexus on the Chiropteran Matron.
Segment Knife Accuracy:  (1d20)[ 9 ] 
Damage:  (1d3+1)[ 2 ]  if a 1 is rolled, some rerolls (only until it isn't a 1):  (1d3)[ 1 ]   (1d3)[ 2 ]   (1d3)[ 1 ] 

Light Nexus Accuracy:  (1d20)[ 15 ]  minus  (1d6)[ 5 ] 
Damage:  (1d3)[ 1 ] 
 
BelGareth
Biff was annoyed but the burning on the outside of his mech, it was frusrtrating and something he needed to deal with, a quick showed the others closer to the objective, moving quickly due to his Core power, he found some cover, and then stabilized his mech, jets of foam shot out of hidden compartments, sizzling against whatever the Hive had dropped on him, extinguishing it.

 
 Spoiler 

Actions:
free: Boost 5 (south to cover)
Full: Stabilise


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    Call_Sign  :   "Registered_Offense"

    Mech_Frame  :   "GMS Everest"

    Stats  :

      Structure  :   "3/4"   ??

      HP  :   "12/12"

      Armor  :   "0"

      Stress  :   "4/4"

      Heat  :   "0/6"

      Repair  :   "5/5"

      ATK_Bonus  :   "0"

      Tech_ATK  :   "0"

      LTD_Bonus  :   "0"

      SPD  :   "5"

      EVA  :   "10"

      EDEF  :   "8"

      Senses  :   "10"

      SAVE  :   "10"

    Mech_Attributes  :

      H  :   "0"

      A  :   "2"

      S  :   "0"

      E  :   "0"

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    Weapons  :

      Main_Mount  :

      -   Type  :   "Assault Rifle"

        -   Specs  :   "Range 10; 1d6 physical; Reliable 2"

     [  DESTROYED  ]  Flex_Mount  :[/  DESTROYED  ]

      -   Type  : [  DESTROYED  ]  "Missile Rack [0/1]"  [/  DESTROYED  ]

      -   Specs  :   "Range 10/Burst 1; 1d3+1 Explosive; Loading"

        -   Type  : [  DESTROYED  ]  "Missile Rack [0/1]"  [/  DESTROYED  ]

      -   Specs  :   "Range 10/Burst 1; 1d3+1 Explosive; Loading"

      Heavy_Mount  :

      -   Type  :   "Heavy Melee Weapon"

        -   Specs  :   "Threat 1; 2d6+1"

    Core_Systems  :

      Hyperspec_Fuel_Injector  :

      -   Charges  :   "1/2"

    Systems  :

    -   "EVA Module"

      -   "Personalizations"

      -   "Rapid Burst Jump Jet System"

      -   "Custom Paint Job"

      -   "Manipulators"

      -   "Bonus CORE"

    Talents  :

    -   "Combined Arms 1"

      -   "Juggernaut 1"

      -   "Executioner 1" 

   
 
   
 

 
 Spoiler: Map 

 
 
n0ble
 The Turn of the Tide  

The salamander spews lava from the strange sac underneath its chin, its contents bathing Dust in magma that exposes the weak points in the e-war mech. even as the discharge of the Hornet's hex missiles cause Thanatos to have to spend their time cooling off. The Matron promptly drops Levi, affording the pilot and their mech an adroit landing for how the Matron all but flees to the zone, but only after raking its talons across Echo's frame. Perhaps galavanized by how the hornet melts under the full assault of Dust's e-warfare suite, the Berserker shakes the restrictive coding laced into its systems by Dust and makes ready to begin its assault anew.

The zone moves again, this time directly east and in a consistent, clear direction. Almost as if it finally realizes your purpose in trying to chase it down.

As does the berserker. The screaming amalgamation of tacked on trophys and tortured metal, now finally free of Dusts electronic shackling, makes short work of the distance between it and Poltergeist as it charges forward, casting the small mech to the ground with a a shoulder to the frame's "guts" before laying key systems bare with a furious caress of its chainaxe. Small mercy, then, the in its anger the mecha is unable to follow through with another pass of the old mining weapon.

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
Round 3 NPCs Turn 1
Monstrosity
Moved
Boosted
OC per its limitless veteran trait for 6 heat/HP damage as its biological
Hit Dust w/ its corrosive spit optional trait, Dust took 3 damage and remains shredded (edited)
June 10, 2024


Round 3 PCs Turn 2
Levi did 1 damage with their segment knife to the Chiropteran Matron as part of a Barrage which involved missing the Hornet with the anti-material rifel as the other attack and dealing 1 damage to the Matron with the Light Nexus, which was absorbed by the Monstrositys 1 point of armor (edited)
[4:35 PM]


Round 3 NPCs Turn 2
The Hornet Moved 6 spaces
then boosted 5
it then skirmished with its HEX missile, a smart auxillary launcher vs Thanatos. It rolled a nat 20 even with the accuracy and Smart tag, and hit hit Thanatos for 3 heat.

Round 3 PCs
Biff boosted 5 Spaces via CP to cover
Then stabilized (edited)

Round 3 NPCs-Turn 3
The Chiropteran Matron (veteran monstrosity):
Missed Echo with a skirmish roll with its claws, rolling 5, then a 1 on the base accuracy on the weapon.
It then OC'd to skirmish again vs echo with the same claw, hitting with another 5 on the roll, then 6 on the weapons base accuracy
It then.  immediatley dropped Levi and moved + boosted 6 spaces into the zone (edited)

Round 3 Turn 4-PCs
Dust Invaded the Hornet for 2/5 heat
They then shot with their assault rifle
They then used System Crusher from the Chomo frame to deal an additional 4 heat which became burn that killed them

Round 3 Turn 4-NPCs
The Berserker Moved then cleared its conditions
Round 3 Turn 5-PCs
Dust Overheated and killed the hornet
Round 3 Turn 6- PCs
Thanatos Moved more into the zone and cleared their heat

Zone moves directly east by 10 spaces
Round 4-NPCs Turn1
The Berserker
Moved 5 spaces
Used avalanche charge: t moves spaces=to speed in a straight line, ignoring reactions and engagement, then attacks a random adjacent character (Poltergeist) with its chainaxe
juggernaut optional trait triggers, all characters adjacent to it at the end of the charges movement have to make a Hull save or be knocked prone.
Poltergeist roll a 2 on the hull save-failure
'Zerker crit with its chainaxe, shredding poltergeist and dealing 7 damage to them.
it then skirmished with its chainaxe, missing
 
BelGareth
Biff grimaces as the berseker mech smashes into  Poltergeist , he had seen enough of those in pitched battle that he knew they needed to deal with it, painting the mech, he then slowly moved forward as he attempted to scramble the reactor protocols, prepping the target for his more qualified allies to do their thing   "They're painted and softened up for you lot, put him down!"  
 
 Spoiler 

Actions
free: Boost upwards a few squares
Quick tech: Lock on to Berserker
Quick tech: Fragment Berserker
OC: Fragment Berserker


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    Mech_Frame  :   "GMS Everest"

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      HP  :   "12/12"

      Armor  :   "0"

      Stress  :   "4/4"

      Heat  :   "1/6"

      Repair  :   "5/5"

      ATK_Bonus  :   "0"

      Tech_ATK  :   "0"

      LTD_Bonus  :   "0"

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      EVA  :   "10"

      EDEF  :   "8"

      Senses  :   "10"

      SAVE  :   "10"

    Mech_Attributes  :

      H  :   "0"

      A  :   "2"

      S  :   "0"

      E  :   "0"

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      Main_Mount  :

      -   Type  :   "Assault Rifle"

        -   Specs  :   "Range 10; 1d6 physical; Reliable 2"

     [  DESTROYED  ]  Flex_Mount  :[/  DESTROYED  ]

      -   Type  : [  DESTROYED  ]  "Missile Rack [0/1]"  [/  DESTROYED  ]

      -   Specs  :   "Range 10/Burst 1; 1d3+1 Explosive; Loading"

        -   Type  : [  DESTROYED  ]  "Missile Rack [0/1]"  [/  DESTROYED  ]

      -   Specs  :   "Range 10/Burst 1; 1d3+1 Explosive; Loading"

      Heavy_Mount  :

      -   Type  :   "Heavy Melee Weapon"

        -   Specs  :   "Threat 1; 2d6+1"

    Core_Systems  :

      Hyperspec_Fuel_Injector  :

      -   Charges  :   "1/2"

    Systems  :

    -   "EVA Module"

      -   "Personalizations"

      -   "Rapid Burst Jump Jet System"

      -   "Custom Paint Job"

      -   "Manipulators"

      -   "Bonus CORE"

    Talents  :

    -   "Combined Arms 1"

      -   "Juggernaut 1"

      -   "Executioner 1" 

   
 
   
 

 
 Spoiler: Map 

 
 
ProgressPaladin
Seeing the axe tear into his frame, Poltergeist barely dodges the next hit. ”Get the **** away from me!”  he yells, unloading his pistols into the hulking mech before him, and then ducks behind a nearby rock and runs, desperately trying to escape the Berserkers reach.

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
Quick Action: skirmish with my pistols, rolling  (1d20)[ 3 ]  to hit, and  (1d3)[ 1 ]  for the first one, and rolling  (1d20)[ 12 ]  to hit, and  (1d3)[ 3 ]  for the second one.
Moves away from the Berserker
Quick Action: Hide
 
n0ble
The Berserker falls under the combined assaults of your team, the screaming roar of its chainaxe dying off suddenly as the revving started. It falls to its knees as a smoking carcass of a hull, the top half of its frame wreathed in flame and smoke that all but occludes the meat of the frame's metal. Finally, the mech topples over, the top half of its body little more than the skeletal scaffold the entire top half was built around. The crash of the Berserker's fall is met with a horrid gurgling sound from the bull salamander as it's neck pouch bulges, expands and becomes lambent with contained rock the amphibian has half-digested. The mélange of rock and magma errupts from the creatures mouth as a molten core, painting Thanatos is molten half-digested rock and mineral. The Salamander is quick to follow this up, charging through and dispersing the smoke from its spittle to claw off the RPG from where its mounted on Thanatos.

Only to meet a blow from Biff. The old Albatross warrior's skirmish cleaves the two foremost of the amphibian's six limbs from its right side. The lamed creature screams and, bulk of its tail lashing in uncharacteristic frenzy, wheels to face its new opponent.

 
 Spoiler: OOC 

Placeholder for OOC actions. I feel comfy calling the combat here if folks are ok with that-y'all have gone through all the reinforcements i had planned so we'll count this as a win for all of you! 🙂 Feel free to describe what happens to the Salamander, how you repair your structure if you took any and to RP, I'm going to get something up about the signal steadying/being locked onto for y'all to follow for the jamming station once y'all have had some time to RP (&amp; I've had some time to build the new map 😁)
 
BelGareth
Biff skidded to a stop before the bull salamander, and bought his weapon down hard, using his momentum he bought the blade down hard. He grinned as it hit home, cleaving off several af the damned things legs, it turned toward him, but he knew his teammates would deal with it in short order.

Once done, he surveyed the area, moving from downed opponent to downed opponent performing dead checks, and emptying a magazine of his AR into any that still twitched.

At the last opponent, he popped his canopy and diligently began working on repairs for his mech.

Once done, he lounges on top of his Mech observing the scene  "That was one hell of a warm up." 
 
 Spoiler 

2 repairs
1 to repair 1 structure
1 to fix aux mount


 PHP Code: 
    
 Character_Profile  :

    Call_Sign  :   "Registered_Offense"

    Mech_Frame  :   "GMS Everest"

    Stats  :

      Structure  :   "4/4"

      HP  :   "6/12"

      Armor  :   "0"

      Stress  :   "4/4"

      Heat  :   "0/8"

      Repair  :   "3/5"

      ATK_Bonus  :   "0"

      Tech_ATK  :   "0"

      LTD_Bonus  :   "0"

      SPD  :   "4"

      EVA  :   "8"

      EDEF  :   "8"

      Senses  :   "10"

      SAVE  :   "10"

    Mech_Attributes  :

      H  :   "0"

      A  :   "0"

      S  :   "0"

      E  :   "2"

      Size  :   "1"

    Weapons  :

      Main_Mount  :

      -   Type  :   "Assault Rifle"

        -   Specs  :   "Range 10; 1d6 physical; Reliable 2"

      Flex_Mount  :

      -   Type  :   "Missile Rack [1/1]"

        -   Specs  :   "Range 10/Burst 1; 1d3+1 Explosive; Loading"

        -   Type  :   "Missile Rack [1/1]"

        -   Specs  :   "Range 10/Burst 1; 1d3+1 Explosive; Loading"

      Heavy_Mount  :

      -   Type  :   "Heavy Melee Weapon"

        -   Specs  :   "Threat 1; 2d6+1"

    Core_Systems  :

      Hyperspec_Fuel_Injector  :

      -   Charges  :   "1/2"

    Systems  :

    -   "EVA Module"

      -   "Personalizations"

      -   "Rapid Burst Jump Jet System"

      -   "Custom Paint Job"

      -   "Manipulators"

      -   "Bonus CORE"

    Talents  :

    -   "Combined Arms 1"

      -   "Grease Monkey 1"

      -   "Stormbringer 1" 

   
 
   
 
CateranEnforcer
Thanatos looks over his mech and shakes off the worst of the Salamander vomit. He doesn't waste to much time with this as checks his monitors fit damage. Nothing major.

  "These machines will do. Did we get the location? Patch up quickly.  
ProgressPaladin
 “If that was the warm up, I don’t want to know what comes next. Let’s get moving quickly if we can.” 
Poltergeist does quickly spend one repair to heal the seven damage taken.
Zelphas
Echo pulses his mech's jump jets to land safely after the bat-thing drops him, quickly flipping another round into his AMR. He lands on the rocky floor and spins... but the group has already eliminated the threats before he could strike again. He checks his mech; in near-perfect shape, all things considered.

Things were going entirely too well for this to be one of his jobs.

  "Right. On to the main objective, then,"   he says shortly, already shifting his mech forward towards the captured signal.
n0ble
While repairing your mechs, a scattered communication rings out from the various communication arrays installed into your mechs. Its SLATE, their voice patchy at first for how much rock separates you and the NHP. Eventually the message-repeated on-loop-stabilizes and comes through more clearly.  "Kareftis has gotten a look at the enemy compositions-say a more coordinated e-war specialist is needed-"  Another fuzz of static hits the comms before your all able to listen in on as Dust's mech cycles to another, more thorough frequency that picks up near in time with where the message left off:  "-eeded. Dust to be recalled. Sending another in their stead. Hold for reinforcement. Dust: depart immediately for-"  SLATE's voice cuts off abruptly. Another search, another frequencies found. It would appear the NHP is doing so frequently as a distraction tactic. One can never be too careful with the Overseer.  "-Last Call." 

Later, after goodbyes, farewells, &amp; backslaps born from combat as allies are handed out, Dust Departs. Their Chomolungma doesnt so much stride as it does quietly march into the darkness, fading to pins of light, then a silhouette amongst stalagmites. It is here, at the limits of visual perception, that the pilot dampens their mechs electronic presence, all but vanishing from attempts at electronic scanning as they do from aural and visual apparatus.


**************************************************  ****

The few hours following Lupo's departure are tense with the calls of what you now recognize as local Shotoran megafauna. The deep croaks of bull salamanders find curious harmonies with the massed shrieks of many chiropterans, each about the size of a human hand though summed to a class-two printer in size if not volume. There is even the odd rumble-no doubt the passage of some massive rockwurm or similarly proportioned tectonic activity. And all of it amidst the nigh-constant burbble-hiss of the latent magma pools that crater the area around the abandoned town. The pools of semifluid rock paint lurid shadows of the hostile corpses against the gutted buildings of the camp, washing flanks of the structures in chaotic patterns of red, orange and yellow lights. Looking now at Thanatos'  &amp; mech, it is easy to see that at least some of the damage to their mechs is mirrored but rents and melted areas on the buildings. It appears the Beastmaster has been here before.

Through it all though comes a reassuaring sight and sound-the arrival of a friendly newcomer, their callsign appearing via your sensors as their make their way to where you've camped. The now constant ping-ping-ping of the signal to the jamming station matches the rhythm of the new mech's steps, signalling a path far down the descending shelf of rock.

Further into the depths of Shotora.

*****************************
The descent downwards slopes easy, making the journey gradual and much more simplified for how your able to follow the constant ping ping ping of the readily established signal. On occasion, the odd swell of lava castes the stone-the slope now taking on an artificial or excavated quality for the smoothness of the rock-in oranges and reds. It all converges on a singular, rectangular entrance easily the size of a Barbarossa. The shape of the carving makes it seem a gate, a fact that is reinforced by the massive fossilized salamander skeleton that hangs over the entry like a warning.

If the signal were not enough to que you that you've arrived, the light and sound of the signal base would. Entering stealthy as one can manage as a Lancer, you see the base in its entirety: no doubt relying on geothermals to power it, the camp sits in front of a seemingly endless lava lake at its back.The ocean of orange has already landed a tentative foothold on the base. Its not all progress for nature however: as the scant cover bifurcates along two broad lines of attack it seems the enemy has made some headway in clearing the northern patches of rock, replacing it with durable hab-structures. Both of the camp's flanks continue on as solid ground beyond the limits of a reasonable engagement, swallowed by darkness as the lava thins to burnt mineral.

The signal fragments into five. Clearly each of the the structures now pinging away contributes something to the jamming signal. Enemy frames mill about in House of Stone maroons and blacks, each imported with both the functionality and security of the camp in min-

Something screeches out from the foremost two buildings emanating a signal. A call to mobilize against the threat you've been discovered as, evidenced by the frenzied re-deployment of what were just moments ago milling House of Stone forces. It gets worse. The call to arms is layered over a more subtle, insidious signal, worse than the lock-ons painted on you by the two watchposts at the bases vanguard.

A distress signal, beginning to upload the Warden's personal office.

 
 Spoiler: OOC 

Alright everyone, welcome to the last combat of this mission. The task is simple. 5 objectives, 8 rounds to destroy them all. Some of the objectives have special features. For example, the two closest to you (Watch Posts 1 &amp; 2), will lock onto two players at the start of each round-I'll chose who after everyone has deployed. 🙂
 
BelGareth
Biff growled silently as he saw the lock tag him and keep tone, he dialed down the audio tone, letting the visual indicator keep monitoring the lock, not wanting the whine in his ears as he moved closer. He kicked the core again, smiling slightly at the ability to do so again so quickly from before, He had always appreciated this rig, the frame was excellent for cqb, and he was intending to use it to it's fullest ability.

kicking off, he sprinted forward, and then jukes a round the rock formation going even further thanks to his overlocked core, he takes aim and gets a lock himself on the watch tower, spraying it with his AR.

 
 Spoiler 

Protocol activate core bonus
Move and then boost
quick Tech action to lock on to Watchpost 1
skirmish AR vs Watchpost 1 (+2 accruacy)

To-hit was a 1, but +@ accuracy was a 6, so if that hits....I'll roll damage.


 PHP Code: 
    
 Character_Profile  :

    Call_Sign  :   "Registered_Offense"

    Mech_Frame  :   "GMS Everest"

    Stats  :

      Structure  :   "4/4"

      HP  :   "6/12"

      Armor  :   "0"

      Stress  :   "4/4"

      Heat  :   "0/8"

      Repair  :   "3/5"

      ATK_Bonus  :   "0"

      Tech_ATK  :   "0"

      LTD_Bonus  :   "0"

      SPD  :   "4"

      EVA  :   "8"

      EDEF  :   "8"

      Senses  :   "10"

      SAVE  :   "10"

    Mech_Attributes  :

      H  :   "0"

      A  :   "0"

      S  :   "0"

      E  :   "2"

      Size  :   "1"

    Weapons  :

      Main_Mount  :

      -   Type  :   "Assault Rifle"

        -   Specs  :   "Range 10; 1d6 physical; Reliable 2"

      Flex_Mount  :

      -   Type  :   "Missile Rack [1/1]"

        -   Specs  :   "Range 10/Burst 1; 1d3+1 Explosive; Loading"

        -   Type  :   "Missile Rack [1/1]"

        -   Specs  :   "Range 10/Burst 1; 1d3+1 Explosive; Loading"

      Heavy_Mount  :

      -   Type  :   "Heavy Melee Weapon"

        -   Specs  :   "Threat 1; 2d6+1"

    Core_Systems  :

      Hyperspec_Fuel_Injector  :

      -   Charges  :   "0/2"

    Systems  :

    -   "EVA Module"

      -   "Personalizations"

      -   "Rapid Burst Jump Jet System"

      -   "Custom Paint Job"

      -   "Manipulators"

      -   "Bonus CORE"

    Talents  :

    -   "Combined Arms 1"

      -   "Grease Monkey 1"

      -   "Stormbringer 1" 

   
 
   
 
n0ble
Despite its seeming inaccuracy the broad-side of the watchpost presents an easy to hit facing. The quality of GMS's standard armament is made apparent in the volume of fire if nothing else, scoring the watchpost with a few shallow rounds. The watchpost's sensors remained trained on Biff, but amongst the various GMS e-suites on your frames you can see that both watchposts are diffusing signals, the convergence of which is only a matter of time, not accuracy.

In the wake of the assault rifle's bark, the enemy Barricade engages. Their voice-a woman with a thick Karrakin-core world accent-barks out an order on the public comms channels: "No quarter! See to the flanks!" Her mech's servos groan out a protest that is lost as she engages the mini propulsions on the Barricade's brachial structures. It skids to a halt at the limits of the bases northern perimeter, raising a shining bright-lance at Biff. A curious lack of sound comes with the build up of light along the weapon's length, highlighting the Barricades namesake printer arm and tanks of mordant paste on the frames back. While the pulse of the energy weapons discharge is mild, it belies a secondary effect: the landed attack wreaks havoc on Registered Offense's mobility systems, stymieing the benefits of their core-power.

 
 Spoiler: NPCs Round 1-Turn 1  

NPCs Round 1 Turn 1
The Barricade:
Moved 3
Boosted 3
Skirmished w/ its Graviton lance vs Biff (+1 to hit, +1 accuracy, 2 energy damage, target is slowed until their next EoT on hit) and hit with it, biff is now at 4 HP &amp; Slowed.
 
Zelphas
In contrast to Biff, Echo just slowly sighs in response to the watchpost painting him as a target. He almost responds in turn, but realized the thing was just out of sensors, so instead he redirects some power to boost the nearby mech ally of his. He takes his time to unsling his AMR and line up a steady, careful shot, breathing easily. DULL ROAR didn't breathe, so he shouldn't have to hold his breath to stabilize his shot, but he still found himself doing so--habit, he guessed, from learning to shoot without a mech first. Still, he couldn't sit holding his breath for too long.

And so, before spots appeared in his vision, he opened fire on the watchpost before him.

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
 Move Action:  Use  Stable, Steady . +1d on attacks made with rifles.

Quick Action 1:  Bolster  Lagann.

Quick Action 2:  Skirmish  with the AMR.
Accuracy:  (1d20)[ 11 ]  plus better of  (1d6)[ 1 ]   (1d6)[ 1 ] 
Damage:  (2d6)[ 6 ]  (max damage of 12 on 20 accuracy due to Brutal 1)

 Status:  Immobilized.
 
n0ble
NPCs Round 1-Turn 2

The care Levi takes in placing their AMR shot yields tangible results, scoring a direct hit. While not piercing both sides of the structure, it becomes the cone of air spiraling in time and in the wake the large caliber bullet doing the meat of the damage. The lower section of the watchpost sages, causing the target to sag to one it support struts. But the datafeed that locked onto Echo continues, evidence that it-and the watchpost's contribution to the jamming signal-continue to function.

The enemies response is comparatively simple, the Bastion's advance purely reactionary for how it readily advances to half-obscure the watchpost Levi had shot into sagging.

 
 Spoiler: OOC 

Bastion went
Move
Boosted
 
CateranEnforcer
Thanatos smiles and cracks his knuckles before urging his mech forward into a lumbering charge. This was the fun part, at the helm of a walking armory and no qualms about causing collateral damage.   "Time to cut loose! Hehehe,"   he cackles into the comms. So early into the battle, Thanatos was already stressing his reactor in his eagerness and beads of sweat form on his head as the temperature rises. He steers his heavy frame next to Biff and levels his underslung launcher at the Watchpost and the Barricade next to it and lobs a Hex Charge. He launches another grenade at the Watchpost directly, sending debris in all directions.

 
 Spoiler 
Firstly, Move 4 forwards.
Then Boost 4 more next to Biff.
Then use a Hex Charge to hit Watchpost 1 and the Barricade, Agi save to take half damage.  (1d6)[ 4 ] 
Then Overcharge for  (1d6)[ 3 ]  heat
Then use Siege Specialist 1 to deal 10 AP damage to the Watchpost 1 and 2 explosive damage to the Barricade and push them 2 directly away.
 
n0ble
NPCs Round 1-Turn 3

The jackhammer round detonates in a conflagoration of flame, gutted structural supports and sludge, the last of which has spilled from whatever geothermal power source had powered the watchpost. Your e-war suites note a marked drop in the quality of the jammer signal: phantom, half done schematics of smart rifles, charges and Adherent of Ra liturgicode packages flit across downloadable spectrums before the jamming signal swallows them agaim

The enemy banters back. "Couldnt agree more." The Hive. Moving forward with a mantis-like gait, loosing a dun colored whorl of nano particulate onto Thanatos and Biff's position. Then then skirts backwards, crawling like a crab into the shadow of the Barricade. Cold laughter echoes forth in kind as the Bastion's deathcounter system completely nullifies what would have been a direct and highly dangerous hit. The energy field dissipates from the epicenter of the blast, burning away from cinders to ash particulate-an odd parallel playing out in the reverse of the popped smoke Poltergeist disappears into.

The northern of the two assaults in quick in hammering the gap left by their attendent forces, bracing the butt of their assault rifle against the foot of the Barricade before loosing a burst of fire that seens Biff's mounted missile racks explode under the enfilade of kinetics.

 
 Spoiler: OOC 

The Hive
Moved
Boosted 3 and dropped a razor swarm onto Thanatos and Biff, then completed the last 2 squares of its move back

Poltergeist was botted, boosted

Assault 1 moved &amp; boosted 8, then shot Biff for 6 damage, structuring them and destroying their missile wrack weapons.
 