>>33659918

"So you were paying attention after all."

Of course you were. Does she think you're some kind of amateur? You hear a knock at the door and your hand darts to your side. The cool wood and steel of your pistol is reassuring, and you calmly call out.

"Sir, you have been in there for quite some time. Shall I notify the medic?"

Just one of the attendants.

"No, that's no simple attendant," Panther reminds you over the radio, "Even if this looks like a passenger train, everyone aboard is a battle-hardened Astolian soldier. Like you, they're just playing the part of simple travellers."

The knocking grows louder.

"They're all military targets, Jack. You have discretion on whether or not to engage them directly from here on out. The mission starts now. Panther out."

You reach forward and grasp the doorknob. The rest of the mission depends on this one choice.

>Keep your cover and do this slowly and carefully.
>Assault the targets directly and raid the train.
>Perhaps you could try to circumvent security.

>>33659937
Keep cover, point to stomach. "Train food.."

>>33659918
>Jack
>Snake's name is jack
>Picture of a hound
>Diamond dogs
>Freelance PMCS
WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN

>>33659937
>>Keep your cover and do this slowly and carefully.

>>33659937

>Keep your cover and do this slowly and carefully.

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT WE'RE PLAYING

>>33659937
>>Keep your cover and do this slowly and carefully.

>>33659937
>Perhaps you could try to circumvent security.

>>33660133
I just don't like to dump the entire premise at once. Everything will be explained by the end of this thread.

That's enough for a first post. Time to play it cool.

>>33660160

Don't worry, I love suspense

You swing the door open and offer the attendant a pained expression. You tell him that you must have ordered something far too spicy for your stomach, but that you're feeling better now.

The attendant seems to buy this and apologizes for rushing you before going back to his patrol of the aisles. With him off your back for the moment, you start to head up towards the next car. This is the rearmost passenger car on this train. If you're to reach the weapons and your target, you'll need to somehow pass through the next five cars unnoticed.

As you approach the door to the next cab, the attendant taps you on the shoulder.

"Where are you going? Isn't your seat over there?"

You grumble a bit, then mention that you heard Gram was aboard. You've always been a big fan of his, so you'd like to see if you can't just take a peek. The attendant, obviously unused to operations like this, just smiles and nods.

"Same here. Look, I know this is all just a stupid detail, so I'll go ahead and let you pass. Tell the next few guys that Jonny sent you."

Sure, sure. You'll do that.

>>33660429
As you open the door between cars, the cold air of the early morning blasts you in the face. The steady hissing and clanging of the wheels on the track assaults your ears, and the smell of smoke reaches your nose. If you weren't awake before, now you are. You step across the hitch and open the door of the next car.

The guard-attendant stops you, but you tell him that Jonny gave you a pass. He puts a hand to his face and snarls.

"I swear, that kid. I don't care what Jonny tells you, you'll have to stay on your own car. Didn't you attend the briefing?"

You zone out, looking past him into the car. There are twenty people. Most are in their seats, consumed in whatever is placating their boredom. Another attendant walks down towards the forward door, with his back turned to you. You can see the machine pistol resting on his hip...seems that this is where the real security starts.

>Try to reason with the guard. It looks like he's used to dealing with this.
>Now's your chance. You could easily take this guard down before the others notice and slip inside.
>Turn around and try another path.

>>33660446

"Look, I know we're supposed to stay in our own cars, but it would really only take a second - a friend of mine is sitting a few cars ahead and he owes me quite a bit of money."

Try to imply that this guy can make a couple bucks by bringing us to the car with our weapons.

>>33660446
>Turn around and try another path.

>>33660446
>Try to reason with the guard. It looks like he's used to dealing with this.
>>33660489
What he said.

>>33660446
Slip the guard a 100$ bill
" I'm a really big fan"

Looks like you want to reason with (bribe) the guard. Let's see if that goes over as well as you hoped.

>>33660446
>The steady hissing and clanging of the wheels on the track assaults your ears, and the smell of smoke reaches your nose.

The pungent stench of mildew emanates from the wet dungeon walls.

You produce a few coins from your pouch. It's enough for a good meal and plenty of drinks. If this guy could just let you pass, you'll be out of his hair and nobody has to be any wiser about it. He snatches the money from your hand and counts it out before pocketing it.

"That's my fee for trying to bribe me."

Is this guy serious? He rests his hand on his holster and glares at you.

"Serious as hell. Do I look like one of those dirty mercenaries to you? I do my job because I believe in Astolia, not for the pay. Now get back to your damned car before I call you in."

Great. A patriot.

You take a step back and think. This guard isn't proving very pliable. Normally, you'd just wait until the patrol switched, but you have less than an hour to complete the mission. The soldiers in this car shouldn't prove much of a problem to you if you wanted to force your way through, but the issue is the noise. One errant shot is enough to set the entire train on guard. What's worse is that now the guard is suspicious of you, so even if you wanted to sneak into the car another way, he knows your face.

Time to change plans.

>Who says you have to travel inside the cars?
>Diplomacy has failed. Time to raise hell.
>Maybe you should consult Panther?

>>33660823
Years of DMing rubs off on you.

>>33660894
>Who says you have to travel inside the cars?

Fucking patriots, time to go for a walk on top of a train.

>>33660894
Fuck that guy. Do we still have time to dispose of him before the other guards are within range?

>>33660894
>Who says you have to travel inside the cars?

>>33660964
Your moment has passed.

>>33660973
On the roof then.

>>33660894
Let's get on the roof. Hopefully no tunnels or low bridges are coming up

Okay, time to go train walking

You put up your hands and back off, letting the overzealous guard get back to his work. As you exit the train, you look up to the roof of the car. Now there's an idea...

You hop onto the railing and then flip yourself over to the traincar's ceiling. The wind threatens to throw you off at any moment, and the billowing smoke is stinging your eyes, but this should let you advance further without much detection. Your radio rings into your earpiece, and you switch it on.

"Did you want some fresh air, Jack?"

You tell Panther to stuff it. Since you no longer need your disguise, you take this opportunity to rid yourself of the extra baggage. You tear off the coat and flimsy clothes you've been wearing as a disguise. Your normal battle dress lies underneath, the olive drab and grey tones are comforting, and you feel like you can finally breathe again.

Crouching down, you dash across the roof of the car. With a single bound, you jump the gap to the next platform and continue moving, your footsteps being drowned out by the roar of the engine. You leap across another gap and crash down, but instead of the soft thud of wood, you hear the ring of metal.

"Hold it there, Jack. This is the Weapons Car."

You flatten yourself onto the roof and slide down, peering inside of the window. The inside of the car is dark, but you can see several large barrels taking up the majority of the space. To the front of the car are dozens of crates, all stacked on top of each other. Some kind of artillery? Ten guards, dressed in ballistic vests and armor, circle the cargo, each of them checking in with each other at regular intervals.

"I doubt it's just simple guns, Jack. Head in there and confirm the primary objective."

>Break in. You have the element of surprise.
>Sneak in. You want to figure out what this is before you risk your neck any further.
>You'll pass on that for now. You want to take care of this hero first.

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66 KB JPG

>>33661400
>Sneak in. You want to figure out what this is before you risk your neck any further.

this is a sneaking mission jack

>>33661400
>Sneak in. You want to figure out what this is before you risk your neck any further.

Let's be careful about things and confirm the objective.

Maybe we can disconnect the Weapons Car from the rest of the train afterwards.

>>33661400
I'm gonna sneak sooo hard.

The vote has spoken: sneak that shit

>>33661400
Ten armed and armored guards in an entire train car full of unidentified military munitions? Guns-a-blazing is a suicide mission.

>sneak

"That's a good idea. We don't know what's in those crates."

You reach down to check the glass on the window. After a few careful taps, you realize that it's just your typical glass pane. You should easily be able to cut this open. You pull your knife from its sheath and carefully set the edge against the glass. It isn't one of those Sonic Cutters from Oyashima, but glass of this level is no match for your blade. In just a few moments, you've popped the window out from its frame, casting it far away from the train to mask the sound of shattering glass.

You slide in through the opening, landing at the edge of the car, behind some strapped down machinery. These must be the parts to create the artillery's base. You glance around, letting your eyes adjust. The crates are just a few feet away from you, as are the barrels, but the guards aren't giving you much of a chance to slip in to check on either. You'll just have to make an opening instead.

You ready your knife and lean forward, trying to select your target with care. Each of the guards seems highly trained and you can feel their tension in the air. But...there is one who shows a sign of weakness. Your prey seems to be in fine health, but every now and again, you can see it: a slight drooping of his eyes before he snaps them awake. He must have had a rough night...

>Take him down with a thrown knife, then check the weapons before the others notice he is down.
>Distract him with a well placed knock, then confirm your objective while he investigates.
>Try to step into his blind spot while he's drowsy.

>>33661979
Distract him.
(Also am I limited to these three options? For future reference.)

>>33662042
Basically. The three options are basically what you can do at the time, and aren't meaningfully different from other variations like "distract him with a rock" or "pocket sand".

>>33662069
To put it another way, you can choose to have the distraction described a different way and it may have a different effect, but it's not going to (for example) change a poor decision into a good one, or cause a good decision to fail.

>>33661979
>Try to step into his blind spot while he's drowsy.

What distracts him might very well get the attention of other guards bringing more in, and they keep in regular contact meaning if we kill one it won't be long before there's an uproar, and that's assuming that our kill is completely silent.

>>33662124
Alright. That makes sense. That being the case Say choosing to stab that guy would be a bad option, would adding somthing along the lines of "dragging the body out of sight lines" make a better result?

>>33662207
Yeah, it would be better, but it wouldn't negate the "poorness" of that choice (for a given value of poor. maybe you want to go on alert). The body would still be found eventually and the consequences would be different: "We're under attack" vs "We have an assassin on our hands".

>>33662251
Now I can't get the thought of a train based murder mystery out of my head.

Going to wait a few more minutes then call the vote.

>>33661979
>>Try to step into his blind spot while he's drowsy.

>>33661979
>Take him down with a thrown knife, then check the weapons before the others notice he is down.

Alright, calling it here. You're going to try to shadow this guard.

You seize your moment, dashing from cover the moment the guard's eyes grow weary. The lack of light in the room helps you, and you're able to slip through their field of vision undetected. You take your position behind the sleepy guardsman, and walk in step with them. You take a good look at the armaments as you pass by.

Surely enough, these are artillery cannons, but there's more to it than that. These strange, iridescent veins running through the gunmetal. The mirror polish. A feeling that makes your hairs stand on end. There's no mistake. These are Sycra-based weapons. Not many people have the knowledge required to work with the astral material, but those that do can give even a normal artillery shell the explosive power of a megaton bomb. The Sycra shells must be in those crates...

Bolotof was right. If Astolia got their hands on these weapons, the war would be over in less than a month. You've confirmed the primary target. Now you just need to isolate it before moving on to your next objective. Normally, you'd cut the cars off right here, but you still need your secondary objective to have some incentive to stand his ground.

You can still decouple the cars behind this one, cutting off any potential back up. You'll have to fight these guards without the benefit of surprise if you do. Or, instead, you could take out these guards before moving on-securing your primary objective ahead of time. You'll be able to detach the cars as well, but then Gram will know you're here. You could also try to leave this car, but when you kill Gram, there's a chance they could use that as a window to cut you off from the weapons.

>Decouple the cars now.
>Kill the guards first.
>Leave this car and go for Gram.

>>33662636
Kill these guards as quite as possible, then detach the cars.

>>33662636
>Leave this car and go for Gram.

Let's try to get the element of surprise on this guy, he was a hero on the front lines, I don't want him to know we're coming.

Also, are there any explosives in here that we could quietly take for use against Gram?

>>33662636
>>Leave this car and go for Gram.

In the interest of keeping things moving, we'll go straight to Gram.
>writing

You'll leave this alone for now. You've already confirmed the weapons, and it isn't like you can artillery cannons and shells with you. You shadow the guards until you can hop back out onto the top of the train. You check your watch and frown. Not much time left on the clock. You'd better hurry if you're going to take out Gram.

"You always did like a good fight, Jack. I wonder how good of a warrior this 'hero' really is."

You intend to find out. Gram will be in the first class cabin. Probably sucking down wine and groping a few women. You wonder if all this worship has already gotten to his head. You run ahead, leaping from car to car until you reach your target.

The first class cabin is something else. While all the others had a functional, utilitarian appearance on the outside, this car is gilded with gold and the national symbol of Astolia: the bear. You want to retch at the audacious nature of the beast, but you know better by now.

You ready your knife and your pistol and crouch, considering your options.
You don't have any grenades.
You don't have any automatic weaponry.
You don't have the advantage of numbers.
You don't know the exact composition of the enemy, nor their placements.
You don't have any backup.
You don't have an exit strategy.

You take in a deep breath. Just a normal mission, huh? There's no way the fight with Gram will go quietly, so you mentally prepare yourself for the coming chaos and...

>Start firing through the roof of the cabin.
>Smash through the window and engage in close quarters battle.
>Calmly walk through the door.

>>33663150
Act like I belong till I can get an accurate visual of inside.

>>33663150
>>Calmly walk through the door.

>>33663150
>Calmly walk through the door.

Try to pretend that we're a legitimate guard and that we're bringing important news to Gram, something like there being something wrong in the Weapon car, like one of the guards went missing in there and we think there's an assassin.

Try to keep up the charade long enough to get closer to our target. If we have an opportunity to take them use our enemies' weapons, tossing some grenades around would be pretty helpful as would automatic weaponry.

>>33663261
>>33663400
A note: Your disguise was already discarded.

>>33663414
Right. Fuck it kick door open shoot badest looking motha fucka in there first, work my way down.

We're going to call that "walking in the front door".

>writing

>>33663414
I figured that since they were wearing balistic vests and so on in the Weapon's car that at least some of the soldiers on the train aren't wearing civilian clothes, especially in the front couple cars.

And our own olive drab and grey uniform would hopefully be generic enough that they take us at face value, at least for long enough to avoid being shot immediately.

>>33663632
Olive drab and grey are not standard colors. At the very least, not in the style you're wearing. They're rather very specific.

You jump down and sigh, opening the door to the car. There are at least a dozen guards crammed into this thing, all wearing full ballistic armor and armed with automatic rifles. In the center of the room, surrounded by female soldiers in various states of undress is a middle-aged man, his uniform covered with countless medals.

In the time it takes for him to take his eyes off of the nearest woman and settle his gaze on you, you've already opened fire. You sweep your pistol across the room, with each shot flying through the weakly guarded neck of each guardsman. You release the magazine and run forward, tackling a guard. You throw him forward and, in that instant, your knife hand retrieves and drops a new magazine into your pistol. As the new round is chambered, you lash out with your knife, severing a soldier's hand at the wrist and cutting open the throat of another.

You bring your pistol level with the hero's face, but he just grins.

"Looks like Bolotof bought themselves a Hound. I'm flattered."

You don't have time for chatter. You squeeze the trigger, expecting to see blood fly, but there's only the sound of lead hitting steel. In the instant you fired, a protective casing wrapped around Gram. It whirs and clicks until finally, he stands. This is...

"You guessed it. Pre-Fall Powered Armor. I don't know how it works, but this is what turned zero to hero, baby! You can't hurt me with your shitty pistol."

You grit your teeth and ready your weapons. The female soldiers seem to have pulled themselves together somewhat, and are ready for battle too. You guess you'll have to put this hero in his place.

(I'm ripping combat off of DXQ's system. I think it works. I'll add more stuff to it later. Pastebin has the rules: http://pastebin.com/yDJMYKwu Writing up first combat post now.)

>>33664025
I think the system actually works pretty well, although the dice gods are still pretty fun sometimes

>>33664025
You haven't fought someone in Powered Armor before, you can't say that it's a common situation, but any armor has its weakpoint. This one will be no exception. You lunge forward, delivering a sweeping kick that knock's Gram's remaining guards off their feet. Your gun arm snaps out before they can hit the ground and fires off shot after shot into Gram's armor.

The black and gold suit seems to chuckle, the glowing visor almost blinking as Gram has a laugh. "What did I just tell you? It's useless!"

He raises a fist and punches downward, sending out arcs of electricity. Reflexively, you jump away as the lighting begins to coalesce into a ring of blue energy, crackling at the edges and smelling of ozone. With a cry, Gram kicks the shining ring towards you, and it floats along, slowly gaining speed as it traverses the cabin. The bolts of lightning sear the cabin, frying the fallen bodies of his men as the attack slowly lurches forward, consuming all in its path.

Shit. Does this guy even care about what happens to the train?

The wave of power grows closer and closer, and you can feel the hairs on your head stand on end. If you're going to take this guy down, you've got to at least survive this!

>Strike
>Crash
>Guard

>>33664212
>Strike

he's doing a "Crash" right?

>>33664212
Crash, provided its to the floor. Guard if not

>>33664212
>Strike

This looks like a Crash to me.

Sorry about that. A lot of rules to digest at once, but I'll say that vote counted as a strike.

You have to take a chance. You cross your arms and run at the ring of light. There's not much of an opening, but maybe...just maybe.

"Ha ha! Have you accepted your death!?"

Hardly. You leap into the air and twist as hard as you can, somersaulting through the eye of the laser ring. You can smell burnt flesh and hair, but you force yourself through the pain and tumble forward into Gram. He's caught completely off guard, and your instincts scream at you to take advantage.

You step into his stance, slamming your back against his body before turning and driving your knife into his collarbone. The powered armor shrieks, then gives way to your blade, and a geyser of blood and the armor's lubricating fluid leap up as you twist the knife down deeper. Gram cries out, punching wildly at you, but you react swiftly, catching the fist before it buries in your gut.

You ride the punch's momentum outward, flipping into his guard's formation. You swing the pistol around, swiftly executing several more of them before Gram can make it back to you. His suit is brimming with power, and he brings up his right hand. A small disc on his palm begins to spin, and there is a high pitched whine as you see motes of light collect.

Before you can think, you've already grabbed the last of his guards and thrown her into the path. Just as you roll away, you see her body torn to shreds by bolts of energy, streaming forward at rapid fire. He brings up his other hand and unleashes the hail of light, intending to catch you in the crossfire.

>Strike
>Crash
>Guard

>>33664644
I forgot to list the status.

>Strike Successful
>Your Advantage: 1
>Enemy Advantage: 0

>>33664644
Guard.

>>33664644
Guard.

>>33664644
>Guard

Try not to die.

>writing

>Guard Successful
>Your Advantage: 2
>Enemy Advantage: 0

The storm of energy approaches, and you can't see a way out...but that doesn't mean you're going to give up and die. You calm yourself, and take deep breaths. You close your eyes for a moment and center yourself. You try to remember the basics of dodging enemy fire...

Yes, that's right. Every foe always telegraphs where they will shoot before it happens. Even through armor, if you observe your opponent, they can never hit you. You snap open your eyes and focus. Time seems to slow, and each small movement of Gram's body becomes clear to you. The pattern of his fire becomes so obvious. All you needed to do was pay attention.

You take a sprinter's stance, then dash. Your eyes never leave Gram as you run forward, just milimeters ahead of his shots. You cut a jagged path across the room as you advance through his barrage, until you finally close the gap once more. You jam your pistol into his wrist and fire, knocking his limb back while your knife skewers his other wrist. Gram doubles over, and you throw him to the ground by his impaled arm.

You level your pistol at his visor and pull the trigger over and over again, until you see it crack and buckle. Sparks fly from the helmet, and Gram regains his bearings.

"You...you haven't killed me yet!"

He slides away from you, then pulls a strange cylinder from a compartment at his hip. A moment later, a blade of force projects from the device, and he waves it at you menacingly.

"I'll cut you to ribbons, you madman! I'm a hero! A hero!"

>>33665240
Gram grabs his arm, then mumbles what you can only assume to be a command word to himself. Before you can react, he gurgles and screams and you see his wrist spinning around and around, blood flying from the cracks. The hand, locked into position, never lets go of the blade of light, which has now become more like a circular saw than anything else.

The blade cuts through the roof and floor of the cabin, threatening to tear the very car apart as he lurches forward. The eye you can see through his visor is bloodshot and filled with tears. He charges at you, having sacrificed his hand for victory. Well, when someone puts this much on the line, you may as well give them an honest answer.

>Strike
>Crash
>Guard

>>33665281
>Strike

>>33665281
If that isn't telegraphed I don't know what is. I'm going with strike.

>>33665281
>Strike

This is probably a Crash, it's extremely telegraphed and probably very painful to get hit by. I doubt it's a Strike, and nothing about it is at all like a Guard. So Strike is the best and safest option.

>>33665281
>Strike

Okay then. Writing up a Strike.

>Strike Successful
>Your Advantage: 3
>Enemy Advantage: 0
>You Win

You run at Gram, unafraid of his sword of light. You've already won this if he's resorting to a tactic like that. The hero of Astolia brings the sword down onto the train, hoping to catch you in his wild swings, but it's no use. You hop aside as he cleaves the traincar in half, separating the first class cabin from the engine. The wind overtakes the area, spilling bodies and casings onto the tracks as the cars begin to slow down. The sudden shift in weight along with the damage to the tracks underneath sends the train off the rails and into the nearby dirt. Gram loses his footing in the havoc, tumbling over himself as he brings his sword to a halt.

You take your moment and rush forward, grabbing his bladed arm. You strain against the protection of his armor, but you bend his limb back at the joint, snapping his arm cleanly. You swerve around him and grab him by the neck, lifting him up and throwing him from the wrecked traincar and out onto the fields. He lands with a satisfying crunch, and you leap upon his prone form, jamming the barrel of your gun into the crack on his visor. You feel the corners of your mouth draw up, and you fight down a smile, but not before Gram takes note.

"You...you're enjoying this. You're getting a kick out of killing me, aren't you? ...they're right. They were right about you. You're all mad dogs. You're just a bunch of killers that-"

You shoot him.

You get up off the hero's corpse and switch on your radio, reporting that the train has been stopped and the secondary target has been eliminated. You'll have to mop up what's left of the guards, but you can consider this to be mission accomplished.

"The mission isn't over until you come home, Jack. Finish what you started, and then come see me when you return to base. I have some news for you."

>Answer sarcastically.
>Acknowledge professionally.
>Snap at Panther.

>>33665908
>Acknowledge professionally.

Better to not be a dickhead sometimes

>>33665908
>>Acknowledge professionally.

>>33665908
>Acknowledge professionally.

Save the snark for when we're off duty.

Okay, all professional like.

>writing.

You acknowledge.

"That's it? You can be more casual with me. We're practically family. I could be your older sister, or almost your mom, you know."

You'd rather not think about Panther that way.

"I guess that's what I get. I'll be heading back to base first, Jack. You can handle the rest on your own."

You notice the guards crawling out of the wreckage. Most are clearly wounded, but there are a few who still cling to life. You reload your handgun and sigh. Was it too much to ask for all of them to die in the trainwreck?

...

You look out the window at the wreckage. The Bolotof forces swooped in shortly after you finished, and are busy hauling off the useful bits of the train, as well as its precious cargo. Considering what they paid for your services, you think they got a real bargain on those Sycra Cannons. You probably should have demanded more for this contract.

You turn away and head down the hallway, watching your step as home base decides to take off again. Home base...your home, the Mobile Fortress Astrea. You were told it was built in a long lost age, and somehow survived the end of the world. You're not sure about all that, but you do know it's big enough to house every last Hound, their trainees, and the support staff. Bristling with guns and armor, you'd be hard pressed to find a more well protected place to rest your head. You'd muse more on the topic, but you're already at Panther's door.

>>33666597

You knock, just to maintain the sense of formality, and then head inside. Your mentor, Night Panther, sits on her desk, holding Gram's bloody helmet. Your eyes, as they always are, are drawn to the stump of her left leg and to the patch covering her right eye. You've tried not to make a big deal out of her conditions but...

"Think about it," Panther begins, cutting you off from your thoughts, "2500 years ago, every common grunt wore one of these."

She tosses you the helmet and takes out her pack of cigarettes. She really needs to quit.

"Guess that doesn't mean much, does it Jack?" She takes a puff, "You killed him all the same."

>Didn't she say she had news?
>It wasn't a big deal.
>Maybe next time she should do more research on the enemy.

>>33666620
>>Didn't she say she had news?

>>33666620
>Maybe next time she should do more research on the enemy.

Seriously, we could've at least doubled/tripled our rates if we knew about the powered armor and Sycra Cannon.

>>33666620
>Maybe next time she should do more research on the enemy.

>>33666620
Do we get the power armor?

>>33666835
It's pretty beat up and nobody has any idea on how to fix it. So, no.

>writing

>>33666620
>>It wasn't a big deal.

Maybe next time, Panther could do some more research on the enemy. Bolotof just got a hell of a deal, and if you'd known that Gram was wearing Power Armor, you might have asked for some back up.

Panther laughs at you, pointing her cigarette at your face.

"That's a funny joke! You! Backup!"

You weren't...

"But that's what I wanted to talk to you about today, Jack. See, I've been thinking it's time to finally let you become a man."

This again? You've already told Panther that you're just not into that kind of stuff many, many times. Especially not with-

"You'll be getting your real designation, Jack. You'll be on the market, able to do your own deals."

Your designation? Most of the other Hounds got their name when they were thirteen or fourteen, when they finish their first big mission. You know Panther got hers at age ten. You're already twenty, and you're still just "Jack".

"Yeah, I've been putting it off. What can I say? I'm protective."

You don't buy that for a moment. Panther narrows her eye at you, then takes a long drag from her smoke.

"...Yeah, alright. Listen. We've been putting this off because we weren't sure for a long time. But now, there's no denying it. You've more than proven yourself."

Panther reaches behind herself and gets her crutch. She pushes off of the table and makes her way over to you before poking you in the chest.

"Just so we're clear: This ain't favoritism. Just because I raised you from a pup doesn't mean that I'm giving you a damn thing. You earned this."

What is she babbling on about. Panther clears her throat and looks you in the eyes.

"From now on, you ain't Jack. That's not your name anymore. Your designation is Wolf. Carry that name 'till you die."


>...it's an honor.
>Wolf? You mean like the founder, Old Wolf?
>But you kinda liked the name Jack.

>>33667125
>...it's an honor.

>>33667125
>>But you kinda liked the name Jack.

>>33667125
>>But you kinda liked the name Jack.

>>33667125
>...it's an honor

>>33667125
>...it's an honor.

Calling it here before we get tied up.

>>33667125
>wolf, dog, pup, hound
>why is it always lupus?
Cant it be sonething like....bear or......a b
ird or....sharks or.....gators boars fuck even ghila monsters

Also big boss naked wolf

It's an honor, or something like that... Panther hits you on the knee with her crutch, and you bend over in pain.

"You're damn right it's an honor! How many 'wolves' you think we name in a generation, huh?" She lowers herself and gets in your face, her cigarette getting dangerously close to your skin, "That's the big guy's name. We don't just hand that out like it's Snake or something."

So it's rare? Panther pulls at your collar, and you try your best to keep from getting burned by her ashes.

"There's only ever one at a time, moron. You get yourself some special privileges for that."

What kind of weird freebies do you get from just a name? Everyone is pretty much an equal in the Hound. You've never seen anyone getting special treatment just because of their callsign.

"Special Privilege Number One: Bitches will be all over you. Special Privilege Number Two: Clients will be all over you."

Yeah, so what? That sounds just like any other successful Mercenary Company member. Panther shakes her head and holds up three fingers.

"Special Privilege Number Three: You get to hire and work with any other Elite Mercenary. That means anyone from the Hound or even our direct competitors. You are the only one in charge of you, now. I ain't your boss anymore...Wolf."

>Good to hear.
>You'll miss getting burned by cigarettes.
>Competitors?

>>33667532
Panther is, well, a panther. Canine names have more prestige in the Hound, obviously, but they do use plenty of others.

>>33667539
>You'll miss getting burned by cigarettes.

In some strange way, we're actually being honest about this.

>>33667539
>You'll miss getting burned by cigarettes.

>>33667539
>You'll miss getting burned by cigarettes.

>>33667539
>Competitors?

>>33667571
Nah bub, in literature nowadays, authors like to hump that wolf theme.
It's not bad, it's just, there're so many ither cool critters to fuck around the themes of.
Like....aardvarks?

>>33667693
Mmm, not feeling it. Doesn't have that whole "dogs of war" thing going on.

>writing

>>33667722
>not being the guy who fits "military "bear to a T
>not wanting to be echy five- headsand get all the bitches
>gopleb2plebtownpleb
the meta speaks

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>>33667906
>the meta speaks
But is it time to listen?

You pluck the tobacco from Panther's mouth, and mention that you'll miss getting burned by cigarettes. Really. Honest. Panther's lips curl back into a snarl, but she sighs and lets you go.

"I'm gonna miss you too, Wolf. But hey, if you ever need a radio operator and you're getting tired of the perky kids, you know who to call." She looks down at her leg, "It isn't like I'm going anywhere, after all."

You stand up and try to think of something to say to your mentor. You weren't really expecting your relationship to come to such an abrupt end, and so you don't really have anything ready to say. You end up silently staring at the top of her head for a bit before nodding and turning around. You've got a new future ahead of you now, and you're still unsure of how you're going to handle it.

"One last thing," Panther yells as you leave the room. You turn to face her, and she gives you a big, honest smile, "Good work today. You made me proud."

(That's a wrap. Maybe I'll do another one over the weekend. Maybe not. Hope you had fun, and I plan to continue this as long as I have time.)

>>33667722
So can we be known as "El chihuahua"

>>33667906
I don't listen to the meta because I don't care much.

>>33667988
Rabid Chihuahua would probably get mad at you for muscling in on his creative turf.

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>>33667988
>"El chihuahua"
That would just lead to people offering us their handkerchiefs when we introduce ourselves while commenting about the cold weather lately.

>>33667977
.......No...
No, probably not.

>>33668014
>>33667977
Important question. Are there actual wolf girls? Can we find Momiji?

I've put up the archive for now and I'll chat and answer any questions if you got em. If not, it's time for me to go to bed.

>>33668226
Are you a romanian with a oen name of raven?

>>33668298
No.

>>33668226

When's the next one?

>>33668226
What's the tech level like?

>>33668338
Maybe Sunday if I'm not called in.

>>33668360
All over the place. The keyword is anachronistic.

>>33667125
>But that's what I wanted to talk to you about today, Jack. See, I've been thinking it's time to finally let you become a man."
>
>This again? You've already told Panther that you're just not into that kind of stuff many, many times. Especially not with-
awwww

>>33667693
'When there's a mission no one else can complete. When there's a man no one else can kill. When there's danger no one else can face, there's only one option left: The Aardvark.'

>>33670126
I wanted some tasty older woman

>>33672350
well we do have her number and know where she lives, hell its still our home to so we can still visit

>>33672462
also, she mentored us in many things but never in the bedroom, and seeing as babes are going to be throwing themselves at us, we might need some tuition...

>>33672474
speaking of that
>"Special Privilege Number One: Bitches will be all over you."
I lost it here