>>39847958
A sense of palpable relief flows over you as you step through the hotel's threshold, leaving the oppressive heat of Velik Leis' midday behind for the sweet mercy of the building's air conditioned climate. Just as this morning, you draw several stares from the various aliens in the lobby, all of them still clearly interested in the anomaly that are your previously abducted and now scattered people. Despite your discomfort at being looked at by too many eyes for the amount of bodies present you do your best to ignore their gazes and quickly make your way towards the elevator, wiping a handful of sweat from your face as you do so and wincing as you get a little bit of it in your eyes.

Thankfully you find yourself mostly alone in the small box, your only companion being the strange jazzy alien music filtering through the speakers as you punch in the floor you want and wait. You've got about a minute, even as fast as the elevator moves, before you're going to get up to your floor and, with that in mind you start to consider what the quickest way to go about your business in here would be, after all you've got two reasons for coming back to the hotel. While Tobias is getting his gear and taking Lizzie over to sleep over in Angel's room while the two of you work, you're supposed to be talking to Freida to see if she wants to join you and get geared up yourself.

>>39847958
No fucking way. This is back?

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>>39847967
The question is whether you should go ahead and get ready to go before talking to Freida or gear up afterwards...if you show up ready to go at her door you might save a little bit of time that would otherwise be spent meeting up with both her and Tobias again. On the other hand, though, if you just show up in full gear with the question of whether or not she wants to go it might put a bit more pressure on her, or send the wrong message that you expect her to jump whenever you call...plus you'd have to wait around for her while she gets ready instead of being bale to run to your room real quick to do the same. Of course, you know that Freida's not exactly the most sensitive person, so it's not as if she's likely to take too much offense from a simple question, especially considering that out of all of the people you know she's the most logical person to ask, given her past as well as the skills that she can bring to a job like this.

Either way, you're going to have to do both before you leave, it's just a matter of which you want to do first. What do you want to do?
>Go ahead and get geared up, it never hurts to be prepared and this way you'll probably save time.
>Talk to Freida first. You don't want to give her the wrong impression, and this way you'll be able to get ready at the same time she is.
>Write-in.

>>39847981
>Talk to Freida first. You don't want to give her the wrong impression, and this way you'll be able to get ready at the same time she is.

>Writing to talk to Freida

>>39848092
Dude, stop fucking teasing me with this shit.

>>39848125
What do you mean?

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Deciding that you'd rather not give your friend the wrong idea, you decide to head over to talk to her before gearing up, after all it's not as if you'd really be saving that much time by grabbing your stuff first anyways. With that in mind as the elevator finally chimes indicating that it's reached your floor, you step out and make your way straight to the Israeli's room, nodding silently to a couple of semi-familiar faces from the Deucalion but otherwise keeping to yourself. It only takes a couple of minutes to navigate the halls before you find yourself standing in front of Freida's door with your finger pressing the buzzer.

Several moments of silence pass as you stand there, slowly starting to feel more and more awkward, you're about to reach up to ring the bell again until the scraping sound of locks disengaging relieve your impatience. As the door slides open, you can't help but blink in surprise at the sight of Freida standing in front of you. You can only assume that she just got out of the shower if her still dripping hair is any indication, though your attention is drawn away from that detail as she blinks back at you apparently equally surprised to see you. "Jack? What are you doing here? Has there been a change in the contract?" She asks curiously, though despite that you notice a small amount of tension leave her frame as she realizes it's you.

Shaking your head you offer her a small smile, "Nah, nothing like that. I was actually just coming by to see if you wanted to join me on a job to help Tobias. It's not really that big of a deal, but having you along would definitely make things easier." You reply simply, noticing her cock her head in a small amount of interest at the information.

[Continued]

>>39848327
"What kind of job is it?" She asks cautiously, before seeming to realize that the two of you are still standing in her doorway and taking a couple of steps back into her room and waving for you to follow her. "Please, come in. I apologize for my rudeness, I didn't expect any guests." She explains simply while leading you further into her room and gesturing to the sofa in the living area, "Take a seat...would you like a drink?"

You shake your head while lowering yourself onto the couch, "No thanks, Freida."

The Israeli lady shrugs in acceptance before sitting down on the couch next to you, depositing a pistol that she'd apparently been hiding behind her back onto the coffee table without a word, "So, what's going on with this job, then? I haven't spoken much with your friend, but I didn't really expect him to be the kind that wanted much help with such things."

A small snort escapes you at her observation, "Well, you're right about that...he didn't even want to ask me to help, I think, but he can't do it on his own. Really you're the only other one that he's wanting to ask right now. Basically it's just a bounty hunting job...I guess that the local government wants this gang, the Black Suns, wiped out before they get too big to get rid of and they don't have the manpower to do it right now." You explain, an amused smile tugging at your lips still.

Freida cocks an eyebrow at the explanation, nodding slowly, "I heard about that job...I thought about taking it, but I didn't want to do it on my own. Besides, with the expedition coming up I thought that I'd concentrate more on getting ready for it than chasing after a bunch of criminals." She says, pausing for a moment before shaking her head, "Last I heard, it was only five-thousand credits though."
[Continued]

>>39848545
You shrug at her question, a small sigh escaping you, "Yeah...it's really not much of a payoff, I think that we might get more depending on how many of the gang members we bring in alive, especially the leader, but...yeah, five-thousand is the basic payment." You admit, noting a somewhat less than impressed look on her face, "Look, if it wasn't for the fact that Tobias -needs- this job I probably wouldn't really be looking to do it either, especially with it split three ways. But he's too stubborn to accept any money from either Angelicia or me, and the hotel isn't going to be comping his and Lizzie's room for much longer."

Freida nods in understanding, though she echoes your sigh, "Jack, I appreciate you coming and offering me this in person, but...well, with that kind of payoff, plus all of the gear I need to get for the trip it's really not worth the risk." She replies hesitantly, drawing a somewhat resigned look from you before continuing, "I would like to help you...I don't know the cyborg very well but his little sister is cute, and I consider you my friend. But if I do this then I'd like it if you would help me with something else after we get back from the expedition, okay?"

A somewhat curious, if wary look crosses your face at her offer, "What kind of help do you need?"

She shakes her head, "It's just something that I promised to do for my friend, I'm still working out the details with him though." She replies, looking down towards the floor before turning her eyes back up at you questioningly. "It's fine if you don't want to help, but I need more than what the job will pay if I'm going to help you."
[Choices in next post]

>>39848832
Seems like this is something of a sticking point for her...it's a little frustrating, but then again you can kind of understand, after all it really isn't a lot of money to most likely get shot at...a lot. Still, she's doesn't seem like she's being particularly forthcoming about what it is that she wants you to do, and you'd rather not get roped into something without at least knowing what you're getting yourself into. On the other hand, it would still be a lot of help to have her come with you...you still have at least eleven Black Suns that you know of for sure to deal with, and you really don't like odds of your plan working too well with just you and Tobias going up against them. Of course it does seem like she might be willing to join in if you can come up with an alternative solution...maybe if you give her your cut but then you'd be left high and dry.

What do you want to do?
>Accept her offer straight up. Even if you're not thrilled about knowing what you're getting yourself into, you'd still be willing to help her anyways, after all she is your friend, right?
>Accept her offer, hesitantly. You don't like this...but you probably need her to do this job right and you're not willing to give up your cut to get her to come.
>Offer your cut of the money. You still need her to come along, but you're not about to jump into something else without knowing more about it. You're not THAT good of friends yet.
>Refuse her offer. You understand her position, but you can't really afford to haggle right now.
>Write-in.

>>39848939
>>Accept her offer, hesitantly. You don't like this...but you probably need her to do this job right and you're not willing to give up your cut to get her to come.
"I'll take a leap of faith for you, but you have to explain it clearly later"

>>39848939
>>Accept her offer straight up. Even if you're not thrilled about knowing what you're getting yourself into, you'd still be willing to help her anyways, after all she is your friend, right?

Alrighty, I'll work the two of them together.

>Writing to accept her offer.

>>39849112
cool.

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You shake your head with a soft sigh, pinching the bridge of your nose between your thumb and forefinger before looking back up to her, "Alright, Freida...I'll help you, I probably would anyways since we're friends, but I'm going to need more details as soon as possible." He tell her tiredly, drawing a hesitant smile from her.

"Thank you, Jack, I really do appreciate you trusting me enough to do this. When are we doing the job?"

You nod in acceptance of her thanks before offering her a somewhat sly grin, "Well, I'd say we've probably got half an hour before we're supposed to meet up in the lobby." You reply, drawing a less than amused stare from her.

"You could have told me this earlier..." She deadpans, before shaking head, "Fine...I will get ready and meet you downstairs. I expect that the two of you actually have a plan to carry this out?"

"Well...kind of? Besides, did you really want to wait forever to do it?" You answer, drawing an exasperated roll of her eyes as you stand from the couch and start to make your way towards her door while she lifts herself up as well and starts to follow you.

"I have a distinct feeling that I'm going to regret agreeing to help you." The Israeli mutters, barely audible over the woosh of her door sliding open, "It's probably a good thing that you're a doctor, Jack...we're probably going to need that by the time this is done."

You shoot her one of your 'charming' grins, though it doesn't seem to have much of an effect on her less than thrilled mood, though you do think that you see a smile tugging at the corner of her lips, "Have some faith, Freida. I mean, this kind of thing always works out well enough for Indiana Jones, doesn't it?"

Freida rolls her eyes again and shakes her head, "Even if I knew who that was, I don't feel like it would be particularly assuring." She shoots back before waving you away, "Go and get ready, Doctor, I will meet you in the lobby as soon as I'm ready."
[Continued]

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>>39849441
With those last words the door to her room slides shut and you hear the locks reengage as you turn to make your way towards your room. Thankfully it doesn't take very long at all for you to get there. You quickly swipe your keycard and make your way inside, heading straight for the table where your gear is set out. As the plan that you and Tobias came up with replays itself in your head you strip your wrinkled dress clothes off and start to pull your armor on and wrap your scarf around your neck. As soon as that's taken care of you look down at the rest of your gear.

While you haven't really explained the plan to Freida yet, it's not particularly complicated and, as long as nothing goes wrong, then things could probably go fairly smoothly, at least you hope so anyways, after all considering that you're going to be separated from both the Israeli woman and Tobias for a decent part of the mission if things go bad then things could get pretty ugly. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to load up on your weapons...well, as much as you can at any rate, considering that you still only have three, but on the other hand you're still pretty sure that you're going to get a bonus for every live capture you bring in and your shotgun, as nice as it is, definitely is not designed to leave much opportunity for that.

With that in mind, you wonder what all you should bring.
>Bring your pistol and whip. They're the only weapons that have a less than lethal option, and if you -really- need to kill anybody then they should be sufficient.
>Just take your shotgun and pistol. You still haven't practiced much with your whip, even though you did read the manual for it. You'd rather not have a repeat of what happened on the Deucalion with it.
>Take everything. There's no point in leaving one of your weapons behind, there's no telling what you're going to run into with the Black Suns, and you'd rather not run into a situation unprepared.
>Write-in.

>>39849804
>Take everything. There's no point in leaving one of your weapons behind, there's no telling what you're going to run into with the Black Suns, and you'd rather not run into a situation unprepared.

>>39849804
>>Take everything. There's no point in leaving one of your weapons behind, there's no telling what you're going to run into with the Black Suns, and you'd rather not run into a situation unprepared.

>>39847958 galaxy quest? it's back? I love you hawk I wannt your babies

>>39849804
>>Take everything. There's no point in leaving one of your weapons behind, there's no telling what you're going to run into with the Black Suns, and you'd rather not run into a situation unprepared.

I was starting to worry you wouldn't return. glad I woke up in time to catch this

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Deciding that you'd rather not leave anything to chance, and knowing that you'll regret it if you ended up needing something that you left behind, you clip your whip and pistol to your belt before grabbing your compacted shotgun off the table and clip it to the magnetic strip on the lower back of your suit. With that done you grab your med pack, securing it to its' usual spot and sling the backpack you bought over your shoulders. Finally, with everything else done, you slide your helmet over head and close the seals, a smile crossing your face as your HUD flickers back to life as if it had never been damaged.

With one last glance around the room to make sure you're not forgetting anything, you turn on your heel and head back out of your room and towards the elevator. You're halfway there when a familiar voice rings through the hall shortly before you feel a soft impact at your legs and little arms wrapping around your waist, "Doc! Guess what I'm getting to do?!"

Glancing down at the little girl hugging you, you can't help but laugh at her enthusiasm while you drop down to your knee, "Hmm, if I had to guess, I'd say that you're probably going to hang out with Angel?" You suggest with a knowing smile behind your helmet as her eyes shine in excitement and she nods her head.

"Yeah! She said that we could stay up late painting our nails and then we would have pancakes tomorrow! She wanted to have cereal, but I asked her if we could have them since you got to have them." Lizzie proclaims proudly, making you suddenly glad for your helmet as a light blush powders your face though you shake it off with a laugh as you notice her brother and Angel approaching you with respective smiles, even if the mechanic looks a little bit flustered while the cyborg's head is cocked to the side in his typical expression of amusement.
[Continued. Also it may take a little longer, I need to get another drink.]

>>39850258
"Well, uh...glad that you're going to get to have pancakes then. She does make really good ones." You reply warmly while returning her hug before standing up and looking towards the two adults. "Hey, Angel, looks like you're going to have your hands full tonight." You grin, noticing a couple of new bruises where it looks like Reece may have got in some good hits. "Have a good time in the ring?"

The punk nods with a quiet laugh, "Yeah, Reece definitely knows how to hold his own...I can't believe that I never tried fighting him before. I...may have overreacted a little bit, but overall I think it was probably worth it." She replies before offering you a smirk, "As for having my hands full, I think I can handle it. After all, I managed to keep you happy."

Tobias' familiar buzzing laugh filters out while Lizzie blinks up at the two of you in confusion before shrugging, "Do you want to come with us, Doc? It'd be fun...I could paint your nails too!"

A light chuckle escapes you as you shake your head, "Sorry, Lizzie, I'd let you do that, but I'm going to be a little busy tonight." You tell her, patting her shoulder before shrugging, "Tell you what, if you really want to paint my nails then maybe you can another time, alright?"

The little girl lets out a gasp of excitement before nodding her head, "Okay, it'll be fun! What's your favorite color? I bet that we could find a lot of really pretty colors at the store!" She asks, her excitement building, it looks like she's about to continue her questions, only for Tobias to interrupt her.

"Alright, Lizzie, why don't you let him go. We need to go soon." He explains simply, drawing a somewhat disappointed look from his sister, though she appears to bounce back quickly enough as she bounds back towards Angel and grabs her hand.

Lizzie waves back at both you and her brother as she starts to pull your friend away "Okay...bye, Doc! Bye, Toby! Come on, Angel, let's go!"
[Continued]

>>39850685
Angelicia blinks down at her in surprise as she drags her along towards her room, holding her off just long enough to wave back at the two of you before continuing down the hall with the little girl. "Do you know what you want for dinner yet, Lizzie?"

While you can still hear their conversation, its' importance fades quickly from your mind as you look towards Tobias shortly before you both make your way towards the elevator again, "Well...you two definitely just made her day." You comment simply, not at all surprised as the cyborg simply nods in agreement.

"She's been begging me to let her stay with her since she found out that the two of you had a 'sleep over'." He explains, cocking his head in amusement at the short groan you let out.

"This isn't something that you're just going to let fade away, is it?" You ask rhetorically, not surprised at all to see him shake his head.

"Of course not." He replies, his voice buzzing again, before pausing, "So...did Freida decide to join us?" He asks, lapsing back into his slightly formal tone of voice that he seems to adopt whenever talking about business.

You nod slowly, letting out a somewhat tired sigh, "Yeah, she did. I had to promise her that I'd help her out with...something after we get back from the expedition. She wasn't particularly forthcoming with the details about what it was though." You answer, before shrugging at his expression of concern, "To be honest, the only reason I'm a little hesitant about it is because I don't know what it is yet. It's worth it, though. I mean, what's the worst case scenario, really?"

The cyborg looks at you somewhat skeptically before turning his gaze forward to stare at the elevator door, "Thank you, Jack. I really do appreciate your help."
[Continued.]

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>>39850982
You wave him off, "Don't worry about it, Tobias. We're friends, this is what friends do." You reply simply before pausing somewhat awkwardly, "Okay, well usually friends don't run around shooting people and helping them with bounty hunting contracts, but you know what I mean. Besides...it's not like our lives have been anything resembling normal ever since the damned K'tulu snatched up."

Tobias glances at you shortly, though any reply he might have made is cut short as the elevator chimes and the doors open to let you out into the lobby. As the two of you step out of the box you can feel even more stares on you than before, though to be fair in this case you can understand the wary looks this time. Ignoring the whispers you let Tobias lead you over towards Freida, not at all surprised to see her wearing what looks like a new set of armor from Pa'tque's shop with her spear clipped to the belt and her assault rifle secured on her back.

"I was starting to wonder if you were going to show up at all." Freida says with a somewhat teasing smile, her eyes momentarily playing over your two forms, seeming to take particular interest in the similarity of your scarves. It's obvious from the way she looks at them that she's curious about the stories behind them, but instead she rises from her seat and nods towards the door. "Ready to go then?"

[Continued/time skip coming up.]

>>39851247
Tobias nods in response, glancing at both you and Freida before turning to lead the two of you towards the exit, "We will have to take a shuttle to get to the residential district they're in. I checked up on the info feed in the bounty office. It looks like the Black Suns have decided to hunker down in the apartment complex they took after Hans killed their friends." He tells the two of you quietly, pausing in his explanation as he concentrates on hailing a cab at the terminal.

Thankfully you don't have to wait long before the shuttle arrives, allowing the three of you to shuffle into it while Freida looks at the two of you questioningly, "That German asshole?" She asks, her face twisting distastefully as you nod at her, "Ugh...I should have known. He isn't coming with us, is he?"

You snort, shaking your head, "Not a chance." You mutter while Tobias cocks his head both of you.

"He didn't seem that bad when I met him...of course I purposefully haven't spent much time around him either." He says simply before turning to look fully at Freida, "Has Jack told you the plan yet?"

The Israeli woman shakes her head and gives you a somewhat exasperated expression, "The Doctor was not clear about it, to say the least." She replies, lapsing back into the vaguely annoyed manner she usually has.

Your friend looks at you somewhat curious before shrugging and looking back towards her, "Very well then, let's go ahead and lay things out while we're moving."
_________________________________________________________________________

"I still don't like this plan, Doctor. It relies too much on chance...if we all assaulted one way we might have a better time in there. Less opportunity for them to ambush you as well."

[Continued.]

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>>39851733
A somewhat tired sigh escapes you as the three of you step out of the taxi and glance around at what was probably a nice neighborhood a couple of years ago...though now it's clear that it's been overrun by crime and poverty. "I understand, Freida, but if we do split up then the two of you would still be able to draw their attention while I tried to get in as deep as I could before they realized what was happening." You reply wearily, slowly feeling as if you're being worn down by the Israeli woman.

"And if it doesn't work, what then? You'll be all alone against an unknown force. Just because the estimate is that there are only eleven gang members in there doesn't mean that it's accurate...and even if it is, eleven against one are not good odds, Jack." Freida retorts, drawing a few curious glances from passing pedestrians, though they quickly turn their eyes away towards their own business. It seems like this part of town isn't exactly what most people would call safe, and with light quickly fading it's likely that they're more interested in getting home without any disruptions than getting involved in what is pretty obviously a dangerous situation.

You glance momentarily towards Tobias, though as he catches your look he shakes his head, "You're the one that would be risking your life, Jack. As far as I'm concerned the decision is up to you." He says, turning back to dismiss the shuttle before leading the two of you down the street.
[Choices in next post.]

>>39852010
To be honest, Freida does make a decent argument, one that you were considering earlier yourself. No matter what you do, there's going to be an element of danger to this job, but depending on how you enact your plan it could go better or worse. By splitting your team up and having them draw attention you could infiltrate further into the complex before anybody knows you're there, though you would be relying on a lot of luck if you do that. On the other hand, if the three of you stuck together you would probably be safer, but at the same time the chances of you facing a heavy resistance are higher without somebody else distracting them. Of course if you think of another plan, that may work better than either of them...or it could come back to blow up in your face. Regardless, it looks like the choice is up to you, seeing as how you're the one that'd be at most risk.

What do you want to do?
>Stick to the plan. Have them draw attention in the front while you try to sneak in the back.
>Change the plan. Keep the group together and assault the front entrance, it'll be loud and messy but maybe that's unavoidable.
>Change the plan. Keep the group together, but try to go in the back. With any luck you'll be able to wipe out any resistance you find, and at least you wouldn't be alone.
>Write-in.

>>39852089
>>Stick to the plan. Have them draw attention in the front while you try to sneak in the back.

>>39852089
>>Change the plan. Keep the group together, but try to go in the back. With any luck you'll be able to wipe out any resistance you find, and at least you wouldn't be alone.
i say we go team S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

>>39852089
>Change the plan. Keep the group together, but try to go in the back. With any luck you'll be able to wipe out any resistance you find, and at least you wouldn't be alone.

That's probably the best choice. If we have any kind of explosives we could try to drop a few out front before we breach. Or set off a car alarm or something as a distraction.

>>39852196
we have 4 plasma grenades

Looks like you're gonna change the plan. Also, can't believe that I forgot to add this before, I but need you guys to roll 3d10.

Rolled 4, 9, 3 = 16 (3d10)

>>39852312

Rolled 10, 10, 5 = 25 (3d10)

>>39852312

Rolled 9, 1, 7 = 17 (3d10)

>>39852312

>16, 25, 17. Great Success!

Despite your initial resistance to the idea, you have to admit that sticking together probably is for the best. "Alright, Freida...you win. We'll stick together, but if we're going to do that then it's probably best if we all head in the back instead of trying to force our way in the front."

Both Freida and Tobias nod at your decision, "I'm glad you saw reason, Jack. I'm not a very good medic, and I'd rather not have to practice on you if we can avoid it." She replies with a wry smile, drawing a somewhat concerned look from you.

"You know, I'm starting to think that maybe I should give you guys some classes if we're going to keep doing this kind of thing." You mutter, drawing a small buzz from the cyborg and an amused look from Freida.

"That might not be that bad of an idea, actually." She replies, before falling silent as the three of you make your way further down the street. Just as the Black Suns' apartment complex comes into view you all leave the street and start cutting through the surrounding parking lots and yards in order to circle around to the rear without being seen.

It doesn't take you long to reach the door, and as you come up to it, you're relieved to see that it's apparently unguarded. As you step up next to it, you're shocked to find that apparently whoever was out here last didn't even bother to lock the door behind them! "You've got to be kidding me...some gang." You scoff, shaking your head glancing towards your team who both seem to be equally as surprised as you are.

You start to step through the door, only to nearly jump out of your skin as Tobias snatches the back of your suit and pulls you back. Before you can even ask him what he's doing, his free hand points down to wear your foot was about to land, "You need to be more careful, Jack. I doubt that's the only one they've got."
[Continued.]

>>39852896
It takes you several seconds to understand what he's talking about, but as your eyes focus on where he's pointing you feel a small chill pass over you at the sight of a crude trip mine made from what looks like monofilament wire and a plasma grenade similar to the four sitting in your pack. "Well...fuck." You sigh, shaking your head as you take a couple of steps back and look at your team, "Thanks, Tobias...alright, what are we going to do about this, then?"

Freida kneels down, focusing on the trap before glancing further down the hall, "Well...this is the only one that I see right off the bat. It wouldn't be hard to avoid this one, we will just have to be more careful as we move. If it were me then I would hide some behind blind corners and around chest level, so keep your eyes open." She explains in a matter of fact tone, before looking back at you. "If you'd like I could try to disarm this, but again I'm not completely confident that it would be a good idea for me to mess with explosives that I don't know about yet."

You nod in understanding, glancing at both her and Tobias as you consider what you should do, or whether you should even be calling the shots in the first place right now. After all, this IS Tobias' job, isn't it? Either way, it doesn't seem like it would be difficult to move on past this, as long as you were all careful, and Freida seems confident that as long as you move slowly the three of you can spot any more traps the gang might have laid out. On the other hand, it may be useful to have another grenade, if the combat engineer CAN disarm the trap, that is. Of course there's also the question of who should lead the way if you're going to push forward...Freida has the most experience with explosives and traps, but it seems like Tobias might have an edge in spotting them too. Of course, if you think that you could spot them then you could lead the way as well.

[Options in next post.]

>>39853081
What do you want to do?
>Have her try to disarm the trap.
>Push forward, have Tobias take point.
>Push forward, have Freida take point.
>Push forward, take point yourself.
>Write-in.

>>39853107
>>Push forward, have Tobias take point.

>>39853107
>Push forward, have Freida take point.

>>39853107
>>Push forward, have Tobias take point.

Two for Tobias
>>39853140
>>39853159

One for Freida
>>39853146

>Writing.

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"I think it'd probably be best to leave it alone for now, Freida." You say, drawing a somewhat relieved nod from her before turning to the cyborg as she stands back up and takes a couple of steps back, "You want to go ahead and take point?"

Tobias cocks his head, though whether in amusement or something else you can't quite tell, before nodding with a quiet drone that sounds a lot like a sigh. "Alright, we'll take it slow, just in case there are any other presents waiting for us." He replies, drawing a nod of agreement from both you and the Israeli.

"Sounds good to me."

With that decided, the cyborg moves forward, taking special care to put plenty of space between his feet and the trip wire, before pushing forward as you and Freida follow close after him. As he said, the three of you end up moving slowly through the dark hall, almost like you were crawling at times, but finally you round the final corner and find the door that leads into the rest of the complex.

You all gather behind the door as Tobias produces the holo-viewer with the blueprints for the complex on it, looking closely at it before finally pointing out where you are. "Alright...so, this is where we are right now. The elevator that leads up to the offices is through this door and back down this corridor to the left. Technically all we have to do to get the bounty is to catch Jo'wan, but after the two Black Suns that died earlier today anybody we come across is probably going to be itching for an excuse to kill somebody."

You nod in understanding, "Such a friendly group of degenerates." You mutter, drawing a quiet chuckle from Freida before turning your attention back to the blueprint. "Alright, so the question is whether we want to try and clear anybody on the lower floor out before heading up?" You ask, receiving a nod from Tobias in response.
[Continued.]

"It might be safer to do that so that they can't ambush us on our way back out, but on the other hand, assuming we manage to keep quiet on our way up then we might have a better element of surprise...that'd only work if we didn't get into any firefights between here and the elevator though." Freida mutters.

You nod slowly, "That's a big if, though..."

"It is..." The cyborg agrees, "There are benefits and risks to both plans, it's just a matter of which we think would work better."

He's right, there are definite benefits and risks to both plans...if you clear this floor then it's almost guaranteed to raise some alarms on the upper levels, though at least nobody would be able to ambush you on the way back down if you did that. If you tried to make a straight shot for the elevator then you risk having to deal with an ambush on the way back down, plus there's no guarantee that you'll get there without a firefight in the first place, but if you do then you would probably have a much easier time on the upper floors. Of course there's always the possibility that there's another way too.

What do you want to do?
>Clear the ground floor before heading up to the elevator. Try to play it safe.
>Make a straight shot for the elevator. It's worth the risk.
>Write-in.

Regardless of your choice, roll a 3d10.

Rolled 6, 6, 7 = 19 (3d10)

>>39853833
>>Make a straight shot for the elevator. It's worth the risk.

Rolled 9, 9, 5 = 23 (3d10)

>>39853833
>>Make a straight shot for the elevator. It's worth the risk.

Still need one more roll guys. Also, I'm probably going to need to take a break to get some dinner here soon. In the meantime, I'm curious as to what your guys' thoughts on how things are going are. I know it's probably going pretty slow right now, but I'll try and pick it up some more here soon.

Hope that things are alright, I'm still trying to get back into the swing of things. On that note, anything in particular that you guys might want to see sometime soon?

Rolled 7, 8, 2 = 17 (3d10)

>>39853833
to finish the rolls

Alright, cool beans. I'm gonna go ahead and grab some dinner because speaking about it made the hunger more insistent.

Once I get back I'll get to writing on heading towards the elevator.

>>39854108
Pretty good so far. It's good to see this quest isn't dead.

As for things I want to see in the future, I just want to explore those ruins.

>>39854108
>anything in particular that you guys might want to see sometime soon?
cant really say it going at a good pace; i guess get Freida's thing out of the way and get to those ruins to find an old but kick ass spaceship.

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Are we still going to look for those crates that the alien dude wanted back? Also, cool that you're back! I thought for sure that this quest was completely dead forever.

Also, Lizzie's still cute as hell.

>>39847958
HAWK! YOU'RE BACK!!!! THERE IS A GOD!!!

You have no idea how happy this makes me, after slowly watching many of my favorite quest drop off the face of the Earth one by one, and then this shows up in the catalog, fuck Christmas, this has become my new favorite holiday, Hawktail Day.

>>39854108
It might be personal preference, but I think you should write up everything in a word doc and then post all at once. Smaller updates too, but I imagine that'll sort itself out when we hit combat, plus with the hiatus you probably wanted to get extra background in.

I still think this is a super cool setting/character, once you get back into questing everything will probably work out. And the more threads the more players, which'll be nice.

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>>39854414
Isn't it great?

>>39854414
>slowly watching many of my favorite quest drop off the face of the Earth one by one
i wanna know what quests those would be good sir.

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Turns out that I'm cooking some spaghetti for the house, so I'll be a bit longer than I'd hoped, sorry about that guys. I do plan on getting back to writing as soon as possible.

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>Badass.
>Doctor.
>Bounty hunting.
>Exploring ancient ruins.
>Maybe getting cool ship soon.
>We're space Indiana Jones.

>>39854687
As long as you don't leave us for months on end again, dinner time wait is fine

Uninvited dinner guests just appeared.

They used family bonds...

It's super effective!

I am really sorry for the continued delays, guys. I assure you that this WILL continue as soon as possible.

To make up for it, I may see about trying to run again tomorrow, though I can't promise for sure on that one.

Anyways, I'm going to try and get these people fed and out the door as soon as possible and then get back to the important things...like writing on the internet!

>>39855303
It's fine Hawky, just come back to us soon

>>39855303
i curse uninvited guests and spaghetti dinners

uhhh bump?

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>19, 23, 17. Failure.

After tossing the options around in your head for a while, as well as a decent amount of debate between the three of you, you decide that your best choice right now is to head towards the elevator first so that you can try to get an advantage upstairs. You're the first one through the door as it slides open with a quiet hiss, the first thing that you notice about the room you're in now is that it's a sort of common area with several sofas and love seats spread around the area along with a smaller amount of tables and chairs dotting the floor on the other side of the room.

You see some evidence of recent activity in here, mainly crumpled food wrappers and open drink bottles left on the tables, but aside from that it doesn't seem like there's much to see here, leaving you to push forward and towards the corridor that leads towards the elevator. As you round the corner the muffled sound of shuffling feet reach you, and you quickly stumble to a stop, your friends doing the same as your hand darts cautiously to your pistol. Thankfully it doesn't seem like anybody's seen you and, seeing as how you certainly can't see anybody either, you write it off as either being a gang member moving down the hall to your left or a figment of your imagination.

Finally, after several nerve-wracking minutes of trying to keep quiet as you dart through the apartment complex, you can see the elevator coming up. "Alright, looks like we're in the clea-" You start to say, only to feel your hear drop as the grinding buzz of the elevator moving down to your floor assaults your ears. Your eyes dart to both Tobias and Freida, as if to ask if either of them had called it but they both shake their heads in silent reply.
[Continued.]

>>39858777
To make matters worse the shuffling footsteps from earlier are echoing back through the hall, this time accompanied by a gravely voice, "For the last time, Ja'ak, there's nobody in here but us. Just 'cause you're on edge from what happened to Tavos and Vaughn doesn't mean anybody's stupid enough to just waltz in here. I mean, come on we fuckin' own this place!"

The buzzing of the elevator coming down to greet you seems to grind on your entire being as the voices and footsteps only get louder, your head darts around, desperately looking for a place to go where you might be able to hide from both the passengers in the elevator as well as the guards that are quickly coming up behind you, but the only thing ways you can go now are backwards, straight into the guards, forwards around the corner, but chances are that you'll still be found there, or right across the hall behind a vending machine, which would still leave you wide open to be spotted by whoever's coming down, and it wouldn't give Tobias or Freida anywhere to hide either.

Before you can make up your mind, the elevator chimes as it stops on your floor, the doors opening to reveal a bored looking pair of guards inside that quickly jump in surprise at the sight of you and your team. "What the- who the fuck are you?!" The aliens shout, drawing a shout from the guards behind you as their footsteps suddenly slam into the ground as they clearly start running close the distance between them and you.

Your head swivels back to look at Tobias and Freida, both of them looking as lost for a direction as you are, before focusing back on the aliens in the elevator that are fumbling to draw their weapons. Well...it looks like at least one more option has just opened up, if you want to try and force your way in there.

[Options in next post.]

>>39859086
What do you want to do?
>Dive into the elevator and deal with the Black Suns in there.
>Run around the corner to try and get some cover.
>Use the vending machine as cover. Neither Tobias or Freida can fit behind it with you, and you'll be left open to the aliens in the elevator, but you're sure they'll figure something out.
>Use your shotgun to blast one of the Black Suns. Which should it be, one of the ones running up or one in the elevator?
>Shoot one of the thugs with your pistol. Should you aim at one in the elevator or in the hall? Lethal or less than lethal damage?
>Draw your whip and attack one of the gangsters in the elevator. Lethal or less than lethal damage?
>Try out your new-found flamethrower on the Black Suns. Since it's got a very limited range you'd have to target the ones in the elevator.
>Write-in.

>>39859204
Also, roll a 3d10 regardless of your choice.

Rolled 4, 5, 7 = 16 (3d10)

>>39859204
>>Dive into the elevator and deal with the Black Suns in there.
can we drop a plasma grenade as the door close?

Rolled 9, 2, 7 = 18 (3d10)

>>39859204
>>Dive into the elevator and deal with the Black Suns in there.

We were headed there anyway.

>>39859268
You could, though there's every chance that they won't close in time. Also, as sloppy as this is, I managed to forget that you can choose a direction to go -and- a combat action if you wish. Sorry 'bout that.

Rolled 9, 6, 5 = 20 (3d10)

>>39859204
>Dive into the elevator and deal with the Black Suns in there.
>Use your shotgun to blast one of the Black Suns.

>>39859339
so pick two then add
>Shoot one of the thugs with your pistol. Should you aim at one in the elevator or in the hall? Lethal or less than lethal damage?
to this vote>>39859268

Rolled 5, 6, 4 = 15 (3d10)

>>39859204
>Dive into the elevator and deal with the Black Suns in there.
Plasma whip time? Or we want to go non-lethal?

Alright, looks like you're going to head into the elevator.
We'll do a final destination style vote to determine your combat action.
>Use your shotgun to shoot one of the Black Suns in the elevator.
>Shoot one of the aliens in the elevator with your pistol. Lethal damage.
>Shoot one of the aliens in the elevator with your pistol. Less than lethal damage.
>Use your whip on one of the aliens. Lethal damage.
>Use your whip on one of the aliens. Less than lethal damage.

>>39859516
>>Shoot one of the aliens in the elevator with your pistol. Less than lethal damage.

>>39859516
>Shoot one of the aliens in the elevator with your pistol. Less than lethal damage.

>>39859516
>Use your shotgun to shoot one of the Black Suns in the elevator.

>>39859516
>Shoot one of the aliens in the elevator with your pistol. Less than lethal damage.

>Less than lethal pistol
>>39859569
>>39859578
>>39859593

>Shotgun
>>39859589

>Writing.

>16, 18, 20. Success.

Without a lot of time to think, your mind forces you to push forward, your hand snatching your pistol from your belt as you slam into the Black Sun on the right side of the elevator, crushing him against the wall while Tobias and Freida follow your lead, both charging the remaining alien as he tries to draw down on you.

Rather than concentrating on them, however, your focus is forced back onto your own opponent as he forcefully pushes back against you with a snarl, "You're not going to get out of here alive, alien!" He shouts as he slams you back against the edge of the door, momentarily giving the approaching Black Suns in the hall a shot on you, something that becomes readily clear as your shields flare up angrily.

"Warning, shield integrity at eighty-five percent."

A small amount of panic flashes through you as you're rocked back against the elevator again by the force of the shots, though thankfully the alien that put you there in the first place was forced to jump back to avoid being shot as well. You hear a high-pitched screech followed by the familiar retort of Tobias' pistol as you jump back towards your opponent, wrapping your arms around his head and slamming your knee into his stomach before stomping heavily on where his solar plexus would be if he were human. Thumbing the safety switch off of your pistol you can see the absolute terror in his eyes as you aim down at him and pump two rounds into him, close enough that they don't have to try to pass through his shield. A burning shock passes through you as electricity from arc rounds silence him, at least for a few hours, though the cost on you is obvious as the V.I. in your helmet chirps at you again.

"Warning, shield integrity at sixty percent. Take immediate cover to avoid shield failure."

[Continued.]

>>39860159
You quickly turn back to your team to see how they're doing and are relieved to see that, aside from a small trickle of blood from a scratch on Freida's forehead both of them seem to be in good shape, better than the black sun crumpled on the floor and bleeding from a knife-wound, at any rate. Despite your obvious relief, you're forced back to the present as you hear the two gang members in the hall quickly closing on you, and it's clear that they're shouting for back up into their commlinks, "They're going to know we're coming." Tobias states simply, inclining his head somewhat as if he could see through the ceiling. "There are three of them stacking up on the door up there...I don't see any Avnari though. She must still be in her office."

You nod quickly while Freida mutters something that you can't quite understand under her breath, "If we stay down here then whatever backup they've got coming is going to have us trapped in here. At least up there we know what's waiting for us." You offer quickly, before Freida shakes her head violently.

"I don't care what we do, we just need to do something before we're caught with our pants down!" She snaps, snatching the assault rifle off her back as she does so.

Obviously she's right, you don't have a lot of options here...if you stay down here then you might be able to hold off whatever reinforcements the Black Suns send at you, and then at least there won't be as many when you come back down, on the other hand there are only three waiting for you upstairs right now. It's not an ideal situation, but it's nothing as bad as your assault on the bridge.
[Options in next post.]

>>39860451
What do you want to do? Regardless of your choice, roll 3d10, you can choose two options.

>Head up to the next floor. It's best to take care of that problem as soon as possible so they don't have any more time to set up.
>Drop a grenade outside the elevator as you go up.
>Hunker down here and try to ride it out. If it gets too hot then you MIGHT be able to try to ride the elevator up to the next floor.
>Use your shotgun to target one of the approaching Black Suns.
>Shoot one of the Black Suns with your pistol. Lethal or less than lethal damage?
>Try and use your whip, though you don't really have a lot of room inside the elevator car...you'd have to get out of cover to use it. Lethal or less than lethal damage?
>Write-in.

Rolled 9, 10, 7 = 26 (3d10)

>>39860501
>>Head up to the next floor. It's best to take care of that problem as soon as possible so they don't have any more time to set up.
>>Drop a grenade outside the elevator as you go up.

Rolled 8, 7, 3 = 18 (3d10)

>>39860501
>Head up to the next floor. It's best to take care of that problem as soon as possible so they don't have any more time to set up.

Rolled 10, 1, 1 = 12 (3d10)

>>39860501
>Head up to the next floor. It's best to take care of that problem as soon as possible so they don't have any more time to set up.
>Drop a grenade outside the elevator as you go up.

>Writing.

>>39860501
>What do you want to do?

NEVER GIVE UP

NEVER SURRENDER

>>39860805
we do not look like Tim Allan.

"Alright, we're heading up." You decide, quickly dropping to a knee and slipping your backpack off your shoulder to snatch a grenade from inside it while Freida nods and mashes the up button with her thumb while you depress the primer on the grenade and toss it out of the elevator just as you see the two Black Suns from down the hall slide to a stop in front of it, one of them catching the explosive orb to his head just before the doors lock shut and you start moving.

"What the- oh fu-" Anything else the alien might have wanted to say is cut off by the roar of a deafening explosion, the way that Freida winces making you eternally grateful for the sound dampeners on built into your helmet. You can just barely angry shouting from below you, indicating that the reinforcements that that were being called just arrived a moment too late to be caught in your blast.

Your heart pounds in your chest as you raise up through the building, and as you glance at your friends it's clear that at least Freida is feeling at least a little nervous as well, though Tobias doesn't seem particularly phased by any of what's going on...then again, it's never been particularly easy to read him when he didn't want you to. "So...how about that local sports team?" You joke, doing your best to try and diffuse the tension, though it doesn't seem to work well as Freida just shakes her head while Tobias cocks his in a small amount of amusement.

"From what I can tell, they need to practice more." He says dryly, and for a moment you wonder what he means before it dawns on you and a nervous chuckle escapes your throat.
[Continued.]

>>39861066
"I think I prefer it this way, to be honest. I don't like to lose." You quip back, before quieting again as the elevator starts to slow in its' ascent. You press your back up against the small bit of cover you've been able to find while Freida and Tobias mimic you on the other side of the box. Finally the chime comes, the doors open, and, predictably a veritable storm of bullets rip into the wall behind you. The rattling sound of assault rifles carries on for several more moments before the familiar click of the first gang member's rifle magazine going empty sounds out, followed swiftly by his friends', though from the clattering sound of empty magazines hitting the floor you doubt that you've got long before they're loaded again. You're half-surprised that they haven't tossed a grenade in here yet, though you pray that you haven't jinxed yourself.

Both of your friends take the momentary lapse of fire to their advantage and dip out of cover, Freida's own assault rifle roaring to life as her rounds pound against one of the alien's shields while Tobias simply sprints out of the elevator and slams into the alien furthest from the one that the Israeli's shooting at.

With at least one of the Black Suns momentarily occupied and the other two scrambling either for cover or to try and help their friend you're left with a couple of options. Seeing as how there are only three aliens up here and your friends have engaged two of them it makes sense that you would make sure that the third one is taken care of...on the other hand if you help one of them with theirs then you might be able to take them out faster.

Your shields are at seventy percent capacity.

>>39861326
What are you going to do? Regardless of which you choose, roll a 3d10.

>Follow the cyborg's example and sprint out into the fray. Which alien do you want to target?
>Stay in cover and shoot at one of the aliens with your shotgun. Which do you want to target?
>Shoot at one of the aliens with your pistol from cover. Which do you want to target?
>Use your flamethrower to try and panic the two aliens that Tobias isn't fighting.
>Follow Tobias out of the elevator, but use your whip. Which alien do you want to target and do you want to do lethal or less than lethal damage?

>>39861356
>Also, a write-in is always an option.

Rolled 6, 7, 7 = 20 (3d10)

>>39861356
Psionic Blast one of the aliens in cover. Make sure to shoot it in an arc so it hits them directly.

Rolled 10, 6, 10 = 26 (3d10)

>>39861356
>>Stay in cover and shoot at one of the aliens with your shotgun. Which do you want to target?(the free one)

Rolled 1, 7, 6 = 14 (3d10)

>>39861356
>Shoot at one of the aliens with your pistol from cover. Which do you want to target?
Target the lone alien.

Rolled 5, 7, 9 = 21 (3d10)

>>39861356
>Stay in cover and shoot at one of the aliens with your shotgun. Which do you want to target?
Target the one with the least amount of problems.

>Shotgun.
>>39861453
>>39861552

>Pistol
>>39861547

>Psionic Blast
>>39861435

Also, looks like we're targeting the free alien.

>Writing.

>20, 26, 14. Success.

Deciding that you're better off not taking any chances, you clip your pistol back on to your waist and snatch your shotgun from its' spot on your back. The moment that you grab it the weapon unfolds itself into its' full glory and as you lean out of cover, almost immediately lining up your holosights with the only alien not currently engaged, you can almost see the realization that she's not going to be able to finish reloading fast enough.

At that realization she tries to dive to the side and make for cover, but instead all she ends up doing is leaving herself wide open as your weapon roars to life, sending its' slug to tear through her shields. While you just barely miss the alien herself her shields rapidly blink out of existence while she tumbles to the ground with a high-pitched gasp.

You're about to take another shot to finish her off when the sound one of the alien's own rifles chattering back to life assaults your ears and a spray of bullets just barely misses you as they fly past your head and slam into the wall behind you, forcing you momentarily back into cover. Looking over towards Freida you realize that she's still in the process of dropping her magazine and inserting a new one. Thankfully the alien is still more concerned with keeping the two of you pinned down rather than turning his fire on Tobias, while the Black Sun that you were shooting at is still scrambling to crawl towards some kind of cover.
[Continued.]

>>39861935
While you can't see the cyborg, you can definitely hear him and the alien going at it, the sound of walls cracking and metal rending makes you wonder momentarily what kind of alien he's fighting and how strong that new body of his actually is. Shaking your head you bring your mind back to your current set of problems. You need to figure out what to do next...Freida's rifle is loaded again and she's looking just as eager to get back into the fight as you are. But with that gang member laying down fire like he is, you don't have a lot of options.

You could try and take the alien pinning you down out of the fight permanently, though there's no guarantee that will work out well for you...even with your shields mostly recharged. On the other hand you could trust Freida to keep him occupied while you concentrate back on your target or the alien that Tobias is fighting...after all, it sounds like a pretty brutal fight going on.

Your shields are at eighty-four percent capacity.
10/10 Psionic energy.

What do you want to do?
>Use a psionic blast to target one of the aliens. You'll only have to be out of cover for a second and it might help clear up the area a little bit. Which alien do you want to target?
>Blast one of the Black Suns with your shotgun again. It worked out pretty well last time. Do you want to reengage your target or shoot at another alien?
>Rush one of the gang members. It would give Freida a good opportunity to take out her target and your shields should soak up the brunt of the damage from the bullets...you hope.
>Write-in.

>>39862115
Also, roll a 3d10, please.

Rolled 1, 10, 9 = 20 (3d10)

>>39862115
>Use a psionic blast to target one of the aliens. You'll only have to be out of cover for a second and it might help clear up the area a little bit. Which alien do you want to target?

The gang member laying down suppressive fire.

Rolled 5, 3, 3 = 11 (3d10)

>>39862115
>>Use a psionic blast to target one of the aliens. You'll only have to be out of cover for a second and it might help clear up the area a little bit. Which alien do you want to target?
(tobias's target)

Rolled 3, 5, 10 = 18 (3d10)

>>39862144
>Use a psionic blast to target one of the aliens. You'll only have to be out of cover for a second and it might help clear up the area a little bit. Which alien do you want to target?

Rolled 6, 2, 3 = 11 (3d10)

>>39862115
>>Use a psionic blast to target one of the aliens. You'll only have to be out of cover for a second and it might help clear up the area a little bit. Which alien do you want to target?
Freida's target

Alright guys, we're going to do a final destination style vote for the target.

>Reengage your previous target.
>Attack the Black Sun laying down suppressive fire.
>Target the alien fighting with Tobias.

>>39862362
Disregard that.

>Writing.

>20, 11, 18. Success.

You grit your teeth in frustration at the situation, a small amount of anger welling up at the Black Sun that's keeping you and Freida from rejoining the fight. As a purple glow starts to radiate across your arms you almost jump, before mentally slapping yourself in the face as the obvious solution presents itself to you. Focusing on the tingling sensation of the psionic energy flowing across your hands you take a couple of deep breaths before leaning back out of cover and letting out a shout of both effort and pain as rounds slam against your shields while you hurl an arc of purple energy at the alien.

Even as your helmet chirps your shield status at you, you feel a somewhat morbid satisfaction course through you as your psionic blast slams into the Black Sun and sends him sailing through the air until his crashes against the wall and slides down, leaving a faint trail of blue blood, though as he struggles to force himself back to his feet it's obvious that he's still alive, even if just barely. It also appears that his shield has blinked out of existence as well.

"WARNING: SHIELD INTEGRITY COMPROMISED. TAKE IMMEDIATE COVER."
[Shield capacity fifteen percent.]

Almost as soon as you pull back into cover a shot from the gang member you previously shot flies past your shoulder and slams into Freida's shield, causing it to flicker dangerously though rather than cower she instead pushes through the danger and draws down on her stunned target, firing a small burst of rounds into his chest, drawing a gurgled cry from him as his body convulses against the wall and blood pools around his waist. At the same time you hear another loud crash, shortly before seeing soar through air past the elevator and further down the hall, followed closely by a huge-looking alien in heavily damaged armor lumbering menacingly after him.
[Continued.]

>>39862795
It looks like your friend may need help, though as you try and suck in air while sweat runs down your face you realize that while you're far from keeling over, you aren't exactly at your best anymore either, not to mention that both Freida and your shields aren't doing so great. Regardless you don't have any option but to push forward, and you'll be damned if you let either of your friends die here.

With that thought in mind you quickly peek out of cover and assess the situation while Freida cracks off some suppressive fire at the alien that ruined her shields. Right now the girl looks to be hunkering down behind an overturned vending machine, and if you're seeing it right you think you might see a small pool of blood leaking out from behind it. It's clear that she's not long for this world, though she could still cause troubles if she isn't taken out soon. Your eyes then turn towards the hulking Black Sun bearing down on Tobias, who you notice is just now managing to stumble somewhat clumsily to his feet. He seems to have lost his pistol at some point during the fight and there are several long scuffs along his arms and head, as well as a dent in his chest. To his credit the alien he's been facing off against has several carbon scores on his armor, as well as a couple holes in the chest where a viscous green blood is trickling out.

The question is whether you go straight for helping your friend or try to take out the gang member hiding behind the vending machine. The cyborg obviously could use some help, but if you end up getting shot in the back by that girl then you could be just as bad of a situation.

Your shields are at fifteen percent capacity.
8/10 Psionic energy.
[Options in next post.]

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>>39863078
What do you want to do? Roll a 3d10.

>Do you want to stay in cover or move out and close the distance between you and the aliens?

Also,
>Blast one of the aliens with your shotgun. Which do you want to target?
>Use a psionic blast on one of the aliens. Which one?
>Break out your whip to fight one of the gang members. Which one? Lethal or less than lethal damage?
>Use your flamethrower against one of the enemies. Which one?
>Shoot one of the Black Suns with your pistol. Which one? Lethal or less than lethal damage?
>Write-in.

Rolled 4, 5, 1 = 10 (3d10)

>>39863125
>Use your flamethrower against one of the enemies. Which one?
the one Tobias is fighting. It may not kill the bastard, but nothing distracts something bug and mean quite like inducing spontaneous combustion.

Rolled 1, 7, 2 = 10 (3d10)

>>39863125
>>Break out your whip to fight one of the gang members. Which one? Lethal or less than lethal damage?

Try to trip up the large one.

Rolled 5, 9, 3 = 17 (3d10)

>>39863125
>Do you want to stay in cover or move out and close the distance between you and the aliens? (stay in cover)
>Use your flamethrower against one of the enemies. Which one?(the big one)

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>>39863192
>>39863218
>>39863234

Those rolls...we're fucked...

Still need a consensus as to whether or not you leave the elevator.

>Stay in cover.

>Close the distance.

>>39863373
In lieu of more votes for your position I'll go with the one that was cast.

>Writing to stay in the elevator and use the flamethrower against the big alien.

>>39863299
ya thoes are shit rolls but being set on fire is pretty distracting and it causes people to painc

>10, 10, 17. Failure.

You take just a few moments to consider your options before waving at Freida to step back into cover and leaning yourself back out in an effort to get a clear shot. Holding your hand arm out, you aim it at the armored alien and engage the flamethrower. A bright gout of scorching heat erupts from your wrist, practically cooking the air in front of you as it burns towards the alien. The heat emenating from your suit is anything but comfortable, and you can tell from the grimace on Freida's face that she would agree with you, but then again it was never designed to be so.

As the stream of flames engulf their target you hear him let out a furious roar of pain and, while you can't see past the fire and heatwaves you can only hope that your friend has enough sense to duck away behind something. Finally, as you let up your burning assault, the fire dies down, though the scorching heat remains in full, and you're able to see the results of your attack. Your eyes widen in both surprise and horror in equal measures as you see the hulking alien, armor scorched and melted while his skin sloughs off in places, stumbling towards you angrily.

It's clear that the weapon did more than its' fair share of damage to the Black Sun, but whether it was due to his thick armor protecting him or maybe a redundant nervous system, the alien is still able to fight. The closer that the alien gets the faster he starts moving, until finally he's down right charging towards the elevator with you and Freida still in it. The Israeli woman realizes what's about to happen and quickly takes the chance to dart out of the enclosed space, but as you try to follower example you find that you're just a few seconds too late on the draw as the monstrous gang member slams into you full force and sends you crashing back into the wall of the elevator to slump to the floor.
[Continued.]

>>39863857
As you try to shake off the sudden stars you hear your V.I. screech at you that your shields are dead and have to recharge while simultaneously you taste the coppery tang of blood in your mouth and feel a sharp pain shooting from your left side. You can hear both Tobias and Freida shouting something, but you can't make it out over the sudden renewal of rifle fire.

Thankfully you're shaken from your short stupor when the big Black Sun steps angrily into the elevator, a creaking sound coming from over head as he does so. Adrenaline pumps heavily through your body as you look up at the sloughing skin on the alien's snarling face, you clearly have very few options here...you could try to escape the elevator, though that will probably be difficult with him standing there. With the way that the cables are creaking and groaning though, as well as the thought of being stuck in a confined space with this beast not being appealing, you think it may be the way to go. Alternatively you could try to do enough damage to either kill him or at least get him to back off...if you don't manage that though then you're afraid of what the consequences might be.

Your shields are at recharging.
8/10 Psionic energy.
4/5 Flamethrower fuel.

What are you going to do? Roll a 3d10.

>Try to blast him in the head with your shotgun.
>Try to escape the elevator.
>Try to escape the elevator, throw a grenade in as you leave.
>Grab your whip from your belt and try to use it against him, it's confined space so it might not work, but if it does it could save your life.
>Slam him in the face with your psionics. Even if it doesn't kill him it should at least knock him off balance.
>Unleash another gout of flame on him. It may not exactly be advisable in such a small space as the elevator, but it's an option.
>Write-in.

Rolled 6, 2, 7 = 15 (3d10)

>>39863994
>>Try to blast him in the head with your shotgun.
brain matter everywhere

Rolled 3, 8, 8 = 19 (3d10)

>>39863994
>>Try to escape the elevator, throw a grenade in as you leave.

Rolled 8, 9, 3 = 20 (3d10)

>>39863994
>Slam him in the face with your psionics. Even if it doesn't kill him it should at least knock him off balance.

>>39863994
i switch my vote from this >>39864049
to this>>39864172

Rolled 10, 4, 9 = 23 (3d10)

>>39863994
>Try to blast him in the head with your shotgun.
We still need the elevator just incase.

Alright, looks like I'm writing to hit him with psionics. Right now you guys have a success, if you want you can pump more energy into it in order to get a great success.

>>39864232
fuck it lets do it i want alien brain juice all over us

>>39864232
Don't. We might need it for the guy fighting Tobias.

>>39864232
Nah we still haven't got to the boss. I'd like to save some energy for that fight.

>>39864282
This IS the guy fighting Tobias. We pissed him off enough to come after us instead.
>>39864286
Makes a good point, though. I'm voting against it.

>>39864282
>>39864286
that who we are fighting the big mother fucker that throw tobais

15, 19, 20. Success.

Panic flows through you as the lumbering Black Sun takes another heavy step towards you with a growl and, before you can even think to do anything else you grab the psionic energy coursing through you and channel it directly into his face, the force of the impact sending him soaring backwards a few feet and tearing what was left of the sloughing skin from his face. The scream that tears through the air as you stumble to your feet is an unmistakably guttural cry of horror and pain.

You gasp desperately for breath as you force your way out of the elevator, momentarily looking over to see Freida clutching a wound on her side while simultaneously delivering a merciless kick to the side of the female Black Sun's head, hard enough that you question whether or not the alien could have actually survived it, but as both you and Tobias close the distance between yourselves and the once intimidating alien you find yourself feeling very little sympathy for her.

A wince crosses your face as you look down at the groaning alien writhing on the ground, and not just because of the slowly fading pain in your side or the headache that's starting to pound behind your eyes. Truth be told, now that you have the time to look at him, it's obvious that the flamethrower did more damage than you initially thought it did, and the psionic blast only made it worse. While you doubt that you have even close to enough medical supplies to properly treat his burns you could bandage his face and give him some pain relievers, after all it would be the humane thing to do. Of course there's every possibility that if you don't secure him first, the alien could think you're trying to kill him again, and even if he didn't you wouldn't blame him for wanting revenge for the pain he's in now.
[Continued.]

>>39864508
Looking up at your cyborg friend as he approaches, it's obvious that he's slightly worse for wear, though it doesn't seem as if he's seriously hurt despite the beating he took from the monster in front of the two of you. "You alright?" You ask, grimacing behind your helmet as you swallow a little more blood while the cyborg nods.

"I'm fine, you might want to check on, Freida though." He replies simply, gesturing towards her as she makes her way towards the two of you.

"I am in no danger of bleeding out right now." The Israeli woman tells you even before you can get the question out of your mouth. "What I want to know is what you're planning to do with this one." She spits, glaring down at the Black Sun.

You raise an eyebrow at her tone before shaking your head, to be fair, the bastard did just try to kill all of you...you're not exactly feeling particularly fond of him yourself at the moment. Still, it's clear that the two of them are wondering what your plans are. One the one hand, you only have so many medical supplies, and they're a little expensive to replenish, but on the other hand, wouldn't it be unethical to let him die like this? Plus there's the matter of the bonus you could get for him...you imagine that such a hard target would bring in a larger bonus than the other Black Suns, Jo'wan excluded of course.

What do you want to do?
>Just stun him. He's probably not going to bleed out any time soon, but you don't want him to have any crazy ideas about getting up later.
>Stun him and apply a burn salve and bandages to his face. You don't have a lot that would really help anything this bad in your kit, but a little might go a long way.
>Stun him and give him some pain killers, along with the burn salve and bandages. It'd be cruel to leave him like this.
>Kill him. There's no guarantee that a bastard this big is going to stay down, even if you do stun him.
>Write-in.

>>39864627
>>Stun him and apply a burn salve and bandages to his face. You don't have a lot that would really help anything this bad in your kit, but a little might go a long way.

>>39864627
>>Kill him. There's no guarantee that a bastard this big is going to stay down, even if you do stun him.
ya fuck this guy he also might try and get vengeance on us later if we keep him alive

>>39864685
Damn it, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a mercenary!

>Stun him and apply a burn salve and bandages to his face. You don't have a lot that would really help anything this bad in your kit, but a little might go a long way.

>>39864713
we have some one on our team who's bleeding (not critically) out and you want to give aid to the enemy, to hell with the prime directive.

>>39864750
It's not like anybody' suggested that we force Freida to accept our care right this second.

She's a soldier, if she says she'll be fine we should trust her. And if we aren't treating her injuries then we can save this guy. Then we can go after the boss and get paid.

Looks like I'm writing to give him some salve and bandages.

>Writing.

>>39864773
you missed the star trek joke but regardless of that she still is bleeding who cares if she says shes fine we need to help her

You let out a low sigh and shake your head as you pull your pistol from your side and fire two arc-rounds into his chest to stun him before clipping it back onto your belt and dropping to your knees while your hands rummage in your medpack. "Tobias, have Freida strip off the top of her armor so that you can look at her wound for me. Even if it's not serious right now we need to get some bandages and a disinfectant on it." You say calmly, grimacing and temporarily turning your helmet's olfactory sensors off as the smell of sizzling flesh assaults your nose.

"You can not possibly be serious..." Freida groans, shaking her head as you merely stare at her in a way that tells her that you most certainly are serious, even with your helmet still covering your face.

"Take off your top, Freida. You can leave your undershirt on if you want him to put the bandages over it, but you'll be getting proper medical treatment again later either way." You reply in a matter of fact tone, drawing a frustrated sigh from her as Tobias cocks his head in amusement while attending to her.

In the meantime you go to work on your most likely unwilling patient, pulling the latex gloves from your kit over your already gloved hands makes things a little clunkier, but thankfully you're not particularly concerned with having perfect motor skills right now. As you start to apply the burn salve to the alien's face, the very small amount of skin that hadn't came off peels away with your gloves. A sudden retch from the Israeli woman has you glancing over your shoulder before realizing that she'd been forced to turn away from watching you work.
[Continued.]

>>39864997
After making sure that his face is well layered in the salve you reach for your bandages, as well as one of the bottles of water you placed in your kit specifically for this eventuality. You gently wet the cloth before wrapping it around the Black Sun's head, going slow in an effort to make sure that you don't cause any more damage than you already have before finally securing the last wrap of the bandage around his chin.

You momentarily glance to the rest of his body, but decide that between the damaged armor and the time and supplies that it would take to administer care, this is the best you can do for now. With that decided you peel the surgical gloves off your hands and toss them away down the hall before standing up and turning to look towards the rest of your team. "How's everything going, Tobias?"

The cyborg glances towards you, even as his hands keep moving in their work to bandage Freida's torso, "As well as you'd expect when you leave medical care to me, Jack. As far as I can tell I've done it right, but you'll probably need to redo it once we get back to the hotel." He replies, seeming almost as if he's about to continue until Freida scoffs at him.

"You're enjoying this far too much." She mutters, shooting a small glare at him as his hands pause in their work to grip her sides and tuck the bandage in a sloppy but serviceable spot.

"Assuming that you mean that I was taking pleasure in touching you, I'm afraid that you're going to be disappointed." The cyborg deadpans as she pulls away from him and moves to put the top of her armor back on, only wincing a little bit as she does so.

Both you and Freida shake your heads at his sentence, though you're clearly more amused than she is. "I am not sure whether I should be relieved or insulted." Freida grumbles, only to receive a shrug from Tobias.
[Continued.]

>>39865251
"I wouldn't worry about it, if I were you. Even if I still had the necessary biological functions to enjoy contact with you, you're missing vital equipment." He explains, drawing a surprised stares from both of you for a moment before you manage to shake your head and try to steer the conversation back to the topic at hand.

"How about we get back on task?" You suggest, cutting off whatever it was that Freida was planning to say as you receive a nod from the cyborg.

"That sounds like a plan to me. By this point, Jo'wan has to know that we've taken out her men. Which means that she's either holed up in her office ready to try and fight us to the death, or she's ready to surrender. From what I've gathered, the second possibility doesn't mesh well with her personality."

Freida shakes her head at the news, "Naturally...well, with any luck if we take her out then maybe the rest of her people will leave. I mean...they don't have a reason to fight unless they're being paid, right?"

"Well...we can hope, I don't think that I'm gonna hold my breath though." You reply with a shrug as the three of you make your way towards her office. Once you finally reach the door, you're surprised to see it slide open without even the slightest bit of hesitation. A small amount of suspicion plays through your mind, wondering whether or not you should really waltz through the gang leader's unlocked office door.
[Continued.]

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>>39865413
Despite your suspicion, however, you cautiously push through, drawing your pistol in your right hand while your left hand glows with channeled psionic energy. Sitting behind her desk, clad in a strange-looking jumpsuit, is the person that you can only assume is the leader of what was supposed to be this planet's sect of the Black Suns mercenary group. From the less than enthused look on her face, it's obvious that she's not the least bit thrilled to see you in her office. "Jo'wan Kthsa?"

The Avnari leans back in her chair, her upper arms crossed over her chest while her lower set rest on her lap, "Obviously...I know why you're here, bounty hunters. Do you really think that taking me out is going to stop the Black Suns from expanding to this planet? The worst case scenario for us is that you slow our progress and get a big target put on your back for the rest of your life. Is that really what you want?" The leader asks bitterly, her face screwed up in frustration, "Do you have any idea how hard I worked to get this operation up and running in the first place? It took months to secure the proper deals with the local gun runners, and then within the course of one evening, you've destroyed everything!"

A smirk plays across your face under your helmet, "What can I say, I'm good at what I do. Granted, I've only been doing this for a couple of days, but it doesn't seem that hard." You quip back at her, drawing a derisive snort from Freida while Tobias cocks his head in amusement, all three of you still holding her at gunpoint.

"So I see." Jo'wan spits back venomously, before leaning forward again, her top set of hands lying flat on the her desk. "So let me guess, you want me to surrender and call off whatever pitiful amount of my people that you've left alive? How do you plan on getting me out of here if I don't cooperate?"
[Continued.]

"Well, surrender would be nice." Freida replies before shrugging, "And if you don't surrender then we shoot you and drag you through the complex while we wipe out the rest of your men."

You nod at the Israeli's assessment letting the psionic energy in your hand dissipate as you take a couple of steps towards her. The way you see it you can continue talking to her, to try and get her to surrender to you, or you can just take the expedient route and shoot her. Either way, as long as you have her alive you should be good, and once the rest of the gang is wiped out you can call in the proper authorities to pick up the bodies and prisoners.

Obviously if you shoot her then you're going to have to deal with the rest of her people, though it's possible that you're going to have to do that either way. On the other hand, if you try to talk her down then there's a least a chance that she might tell them to disperse, but there's also every possibility that she might try to betray you somehow.

What do you want to do? Either way, roll a 3d10.
>Continue talking to her, try and get her to surrender.
>Just shoot her. You're pretty sure that you can handle the last four Black Suns, and they might even just leave if they find out that their boss isn't in charge any more.
>Write-in.

Rolled 2, 6, 4 = 12 (3d10)

>>39865646
>Continue talking to her, try and get her to surrender.
Psionic Adept. Influence her to surrender. Use all our remaining points.

She can always escape or somehow live after we take her in but if she resists there is no going back.

Sorry to say this guys, but I may need to head to bed soon. Obviously the thread's not over yet, but it's been running for upwards of fifteen hours. If you can keep it alive then I'd be glad to pick it back up when I wake up.

In the meantime, the vote is still firmly open, and I'm curious as to what you guys think about how things are going. I am considering typing it all out in a word processor next time, but I'm afraid of how long it will get for any of the updates to hit.

I recognize that it currently takes me forever and a day to get my updates out in the first place, so I guess part of the question is whether or not I should tone down the length any, if at all possible.

>>39865692
I like this idea, let's do it.
>Seconded.

>>39865646
>Stun her.

That way we get the bonus money and don't have to deal with her backstabbing.

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>Talk to her, try to get her to surrender.
Use Psionic Adept to influence her, but don't use all of our points.

Only using a little bit of them has already made us pretty tired, I don't want to find out what happens if we use all of them.

Rolled 8, 8, 7 = 23 (3d10)

>>39865646
>>39865692
sounds worth a shot

>>39865718
I don't mind the long wait much, I usually have other things going on as well so it lets me stay involved a bit more.

As for the rest lets just say I'm really happy your back. Though, if your typing it all out in 4chan do keep in mind it has been known to just eat a posts. Generally want to have some notepad or something to keep it all safe.

Get some sleep and thanks for the thread hawk!

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Can't wait to get to those ruins. I mean, it's great just to have you back, Hawk, and I'm loving this bounty hunting stuff, but those ruins are going to be awesome!

Also Tobias is still cool as hell. Best gay cyborg friend for ever!

Wonder if we could get the building and the bar as bonus for the job, depending on the size and the number of human it could make for good place to live plus the bar could generate money and employment for those that are not the "adventuring" type.

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>>39866199
That's...actually not a bad idea at all. Maybe we should talk to the police, or whoever it is that's in charge, when they come to clean up the mess?

That would actually be pretty cool to do...we could have a sort of base of operations and maybe run a shelter or something for humans living on the planet. Plus we could run our clinic too!

The problem is that I don't want to stay on the planet forever, and I don't think that I'm alone. Maybe get it started up and and then make it so that we always have a place to come back to if we need it? Besides Hawk did say that ships are stupidly expensive in this setting, yeah?

We might be here for a while unless we want to hop a shuttle or something...and think about how well that worked for us last time.

I third the idea of asking for the rights to the place. I mean, the place is in the ghetto and whoever used to own has almost certainly already written it off as a loss, right? Plus whatever's down in the basement other than that store owner's stuff would probably automatically go to us right?

Well, I guess that the authorities would probably seize the drugs, but we don't need those anyways, at least not until we can research their effects and how they could be used in actual medicine. If we can make out own medical-grade shit from a bunch of components then that would be pretty awesome.

bump

bump

There are a few things that I have to take care of, but otherwise I'll be ready to pick things up here soon.

Looking forward to it, Hawk.

So, what do you think about asking for rights to the building, Hawk? Can we do it?

>Psionic Adept. Great Success!

"Seriously think about this, Jo'wan...there's no possible way that you could win this fight." You tell her calmly, your eyes glowing brightly under your helmet as you try to subtly influence her mind with your psionic energy, "You're outnumbered three to one, we've already taken out five of your men, and in fact that big guy out there was a blubbering mess by the time we got done with him. Your face doesn't have to come out looking like his...think about the rest of your people. Do you really want to be responsible for their lives being cut short? Taking them away from their families?"

From her position behind the desk you can see the Avanari's shoulders slump as she shakes her head, "No, but...Vendarr is going to kill me." She groans, her voice filled with despair, though she doesn't do anything as Freida and Tobias move behind her, each with a pair of what look like plastisteel flex cuffs in their grips.

"They can't kill you if you're under protection. Surrender, call off your men, you can tell them to just leave for all I care. I'm sure that you can make a deal with the prosecutor for some kind of transfer to somewhere the Black Suns won't find you." You reply, your voice almost serene, even as sweat pours heavily down your face from the effort you're putting into influencing the woman.
[Continued.]

>>39872627
Jo'wan stares at you somewhat apathetically for a moment, though behind her eyes you're almost sure that you can see her trying to resist your influence before she finally gives in with a sigh, "Fine...I'll disband the Black Suns." She concedes, her face twisting in pain as she taps the space behind where her ear would be if she were human to activate her commlink, "Everybody, this is Jo'wan...I want you to stand down. Get out of here and don't come back, we've lost. The Black Suns are not worth your lives, and they never were. The Peace Keepers will be here soon, and I don't want any of you that can walk out of here left in the building when that happens. Go home."

Almost as soon as she cuts the transmission both the cyborg and the Israeli pull both sets of hands behind her back and cuff them together without any resistance at all from the former leader of the Black Suns. With her arms secured Freida pulls her out of her seat and deposit her listless form against the wall by the door frame while Tobias makes his way towards you, his head inclined in an impressed manner.

"I'm not going to lie, Jack, I really didn't think that would work. I knew that you had a knack for talking people down, but apparently your silver tongue's talents exceed my expectations." He tells you, his voice buzzing happily.
[Continued.]

>>39872646
You let out a short chuckle before leaning tiredly against the window, setting her helmeted head against the cool surface while your eyes stare out at the neon signs lighting up the night's darkness and rain like a hundred little flares. "Maybe so, but it took a lot out of me..." You sigh slowly, your shoulders momentarily slumping before you turn your attention back to your friend. "You ready to call the Peace Keepers, then? Hopefully her people will have listened to her and they'll be gone by the time they get here."

The cyborg shrugs, almost nodding before pausing, "Well...we could. But do you think we should look for Pa'tque's shipment first? I don't know what the authorities' protocols are, but I wouldn't be surprised if they seize everything that the Black Suns have stolen or shipped in here. If we go down there and look through it then we can mark it as his, that way even if they take it then might be able to claim it later."

You blink in confusion at him before shaking your head in surprise, you must be more tired than you'd thought to have forgotten about your promise to the four-armed alien earlier today already. Still, somebody has to keep an eye on all of the detainees up here if you go looking for it, and seeing as how the shop owner said that it would probably be in the subterranean garage it may take you a little while to find it. In fact there's no telling what you might find down there, assuming that they actually do keep anything there at all.
[Continued.]

>>39872657
On the one hand, you did promise the alien that you would try and look for his shipment if you could, though he didn't seem to be too broken up about the prospect of you not finding it...but you wouldn't get that discount that he offered you if you don't find it. Of course, considering the kind of evening you've had so far it's understandable that you're tired, sore, and just want to go home. Besides, you're sure that things will get sorted out eventually with his shipment through the Peace Keepers, it just might take a while longer.

What do you want to do?
>Go looking for the shipment by yourself. Roll 3d10
>Take one of your friends to go looking for the shipment with you. Which one do you want to leave to guard the prisoners? Roll 3d10
>Just call the Peace Keepers, you're too tired for this shit right now.
>Write-in.

Rolled 10, 4, 5 = 19 (3d10)

>>39872676
>>Go looking for the shipment by yourself. Roll 3d10

File: Office Window View.gif (1.09 MB, 500x500)

1.09 MB GIF

Meant to drop this in here earlier with the update.

Also, I still need two more rolls guys.

Rolled 9, 3, 5 = 17 (3d10)

>>39872878

Rolled 1, 2, 9 = 12 (3d10)

>Go looking for the shipment by yourself.

Alright, here we go.

>Writing.

Well, you did promise Pa'tque, and to be honest you could probably really use that discount in the future, especially if you ever end up needing any alterations or big repairs to your armor again. With that in mind you push further off the window and motion towards Jo'wan, "Alright...why don't you guys go ahead and keep an eye on her and the others up here while I go down below and see what I can find." You mutter, drawing a nod from both Tobias and Freida, the latter following you on your way to the elevator so that she can drag out the two ex-gang members that are still, hopefully, alive in there.

"What is it that you are looking for again?" The Israeli asks you, her own voice sounding about as tired as you feel.

You shrug somewhat noncommittally, "A bunch of armor components, I think. He said that I should he able to recognize the stamp on the crate if it's still here." You reply, wincing as you bend over to help her pull out one of the, thankfully, still breathing thugs and line them up against the wall. For a moment you consider stopping by the behemoth who's face you melted to check on his status, but decide against it in favor of expediency. "With any luck I'll be able to find it pretty quick and then we can get out of here."

"It would be greatly appreciated." Your friend replies simply, her accent shining through a little more than normal as you notice the bags under her eyes before nodding to her and punching the down button with your thumb.
[Continued.]

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>>39873390
The elevator groans and shudders at it starts lowering you down, making you wonder for a moment whether or not you should really even be in it, though aside from putting you on edge it would appear that it's holding together fairly well. As you pass by the first floor, you're only half-surprised to see that the doors there were warped and twisted by your plasma grenade, giving you a partial view out into the corridor beyond. It would appear that what were left of the Black Suns took their former boss' advice and got out of dodge while they still could.

The elevator car continues further down, leaving the first floor behind before finally grinding once again to a halt and giving off its typical chime as the doors slide open to reveal the dimly lit parking garage under the rest of the complex. As you step out into the room your helmet's flashlight automatically flickers to life, lighting up the darkness brilliantly as you make your way through the piles of crates. Several minutes pass as you poke around the garage, tiredly, occasionally looking in a wayward crate only to mostly find what looks like bags of powdery red crystals and mostly disassembled weapons.

Finally, just as you're getting ready to give up the search, you find what you're looking for, a grey plastisteel crate with a very familiar stamp printed on its' side. As you pull off the tarp on top of it, you're grateful to find it packed with disassembled breastplates, shin guards, and the like. You quickly grab a labeling gun from a table nearby and fill in the necessary fields before slapping the sticker proclaiming it to belong to Pa'tque onto its' side.
[Continued.]

>>39873812
Just as you turn around to head back to the elevator a pair of smaller, turquoise crates catch your eyes, both sporting a blinking screen proclaiming them to be unlocked. A wave of curiosity washes over you as you start to approach them, before stopping yourself mid-step. Should you really just open up these unknown crates stashed in a gang of notorious drug and weapon dealers' garage? While it seems unlikely that they would be traps, it could still be something that you really shouldn't be messing with...on the other hand, it's not like they're going to need it, and who knows what the Peace Keepers are going to do with all of this stuff. Probably just keep it all on some shelf in evidence or something like that. Should it really go to waste?

What do you want to do?
>Just head back up to your friends and call the authorities. You don't need to tempt fate by poking around in stuff you don't understand.
>Go ahead and open up the crates, what's the worst that could happen?
>Write-in.

>>39873874
>>Go ahead and open up the crates, what's the worst that could happen?

>Writing

>>39873874
>>Go ahead and open up the crates, what's the worst that could happen?

what's the worst that could happen?

there no way I couldn't pick this option

Deciding that it wouldn't hurt anything to at least look at what's inside, you approach the small crates and drop to a knee. As you open up the first crate on the left you're left blinking in confusion at the sight of a small chip with countless micro-fiber wires attached to it as well as a very delicate looking set of tools. You stare ate the kit for several moments, trying in vain to decipher the purpose of whatever this thing is, before sighing and shaking your head as you give up.

After admitting defeat in identifying the other object you turn your attention to the next crate, hoping that you might have more success in figuring out the purpose of this one. Popping the lid on it, you momentarily blink in confusion as you see what looks almost like a miniaturized jet turbine complete with several latches and bolts to connect it to something. It takes you several more seconds of staring at it in confusion before your eyes widen in surprise and, if you're honest with yourself, a small amount of nerdy excitement. You're almost certain that this thing is a jetpack, and you could probably attach it to your suit or have somebody else do it for you pretty easily.

You almost immediately want to take the crate with the jetpack with you, before glancing back over towards the other crate. It doesn't seem like you can carry both crates...and you certainly can't carry the jetpack in your backpack. You could try and take the weird chip-set out and put it in your bag, but as delicate as it looks you'd have to be supremely careful not to damage it in doing so.

What do you want to do?
>Take the crate with the jetpack.
>Take the crate with the chip set.
>Take both, put the chip set and the tools with it in your backpack. Roll 3d10 [Hard]
>Leave both of them there. They're obviously expensive and whoever wanted them in the first place might come looking for them if you take them.
>Write-in.

>>39874530
>Take the crate with the jetpack.

>>39874530

>Take the crate with the jetpack.
rule of cool

>>39874530
Can we call Tobias to have him look into that bangers files(if there's any) and search for that chip and a complete list of goodies they've acquired?

>>39874654
It's certainly an option, if you guys want to.

>>39874741
Make the call, maybe we could hide a crate in the elevator shaft before the cops show up and 'claim' the other as spoils of war. Then come back for the hidden crate.

You look back and forth between the two devices for a couple of minutes, debating on which one to take, before finally tapping the side of your helmet to open up your commlink with Tobias. A few seconds of his information playing on your HUD passes before you hear a click on the other side of the line as he picks up, "Everything okay, Jack?"

You nod to yourself response, rolling your eyes as you realize that it's pointless to do so, "Yeah, everything's good. I actually had a question for Jo'wan. I've found a couple of interesting crates down here, one of them has a jetpack in it, but I wanted to know what the other had in it. It's this weird chip with a bunch of thin wires coming out of it in a turquoise crate. Can you ask her about it?"

"Alright, give me just a second." The cyborg replies. His feed cuts off for several moments as he puts you on hold, leaving you to sit there, still staring at the chip set in frustrated confusion until finally the line opens back up with a chirp. "You said it was some kind of chip, right? Does it look like something that could be surgical to you?"

You quirk an eyebrow in confusion as you shake your head, trying to understand the question, "Yeah, it's a chip, but I don't see how it could be used in surgery at all...most cybernetics require some kind of larger hardware, don't they?"

Your friend goes silent for a few more moments, presumably to question Jo'wan again, before returning back to your call, "From what she's telling me the only chip that's in a crate like you're describing down there is some kind of reflex booster, Jack. She doesn't know how well it works, I guess it's a prototype that she was smuggling for some rich guy that's supposed to be coming into the colony next week. At least that's what she's telling me. I can't find any information about it on the extranet, so either she's telling the truth or it's an elaborate lie to make up when you've already lost."
[Continued.]

>>39875109
Well, it looks like that's all you're going to get out of the former gang-leader about it. If she's telling the truth then it looks like it's some kind of cybernetic prototype, and if she's not then you're still left wondering what the hell it is. Either way at least now you have some kind of idea of what it could be.

Now that you've been a little more informed of what you've got in front of you, what do you want to do?
>Take the jetpack.
>Take the reflex booster.
>Take them both, put the reflex booster in your backpack. Roll 3d10 [hard]
>Write-in.

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As much as I want to keep the stuff for ourselve, right now Tobias needs the money and having a bigger wallet wouldn't hurt us

I think that we should just take the jetpack. Even if we took the cybernetics, where would we find a doctor that could perform surgery on humans?

Also, >>39875181 makes a good point. Maybe we should let him have at least one of them. Maybe give him the reflex booster and let him sell it somewhere? That's gotta be worth some mad dosh.

>>39875134
>Take the reflex booster.

Right now it looks like we've got one vote to take the booster and one vote to take the jetpack and...I'm assuming call Tobias down to take the booster? Correct me if I'm wrong.

We'll go ahead and do a final destination vote.
>Take the booster.
>Take the jetpack, let Tobias have the booster.

>>39875134
>Take the jetpack.

>>39875360
>>39875363
oh sorry too late, lets try again
>Take the jetpack, let Tobias have the booster.

>Take the jetpack, let Tobias have the booster.

>>39875360
>Take the jetpack, let Tobias have the booster.

>Writing to take the jetpack and give Tobias the booster.

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>inb4 the cops don't give a shit about the loot in the hideout.

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"Alright, thanks for the help, Tobias. I'll be back up in a little bit, I'm gonna have to make two trips to the elevator." You tell him, waiting for him to acknowledge you before tapping the side of your helmet again and killing the feed. Truth be told, while you're tempted to keep both of the crates to yourself, you honestly don't think that the booster will do you much good. Even if it was, by some miracle, compatible with your physiology you would still have to find a surgeon that you could trust to perform cybernetic surgery on your nervous system.

Still, if the system is a prototype then that means that it could be worth a lot of money to somebody, obviously it was to the previous customer, and while, again you could use the money, you figure that you know somebody else that could use it a lot more. With that in mind you snap both lids shut and move to grab the crate with the booster in it first. It's surprisingly lighter than you expected, though it's still just as awkward to carry as you figured it would be, and you manage to get it to the elevator and then return to the crate with the jetpack faster than you'd anticipated.

It takes you a little longer to lug the jetpack over to the elevator. While you expect that the distribution of weight on your back should be a lot easier to handle, carrying it within the crate is a pain...it's not necessarily overly heavy, just enough that you're left wishing it was as light as the other one. Thankfully it still only takes you a couple of minutes to get everything in the elevator, and as you punch the button to go back up to the office level you shoot a quick message to Tobias to go ahead and call the Peace Keepers.

Your ride in the elevator is as slow as always, and by the time that you get back up to the top floor, both Tobias and Freida are standing there waiting for you, the unconscious thugs lined up against the wall next to Jo'wan and the gauze-wrapped alien on the floor.
[Continued.]

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>>39875775
Freida sighs in relief as you lift the crate with the jetpack out into the hall before gently nudging the other one with your foot and nodding to your cyborg friend, "That one's for you, I'm sure that it's worth a decent amount of money to somebody." You tell him, immediately waving off his protests as soon as you see him shake his head, "You and I both know that what they're paying for this job isn't worth the effort we went through. Lizzie needs a place to stay and food in her stomach, and since you won't let Angel or me help you out with it then you're going to take this instead." You finish in a matter of fact tone, before turning towards Freida, even you start to hear the distinctive sound of sirens in the distance. "I didn't see anything else down there right off the bat, but if the cops don't just straight up take everything down there then you're welcome to check it out."

The Israeli woman shakes her head offering you a tired smile as she pats her assault rifle, "I appreciate it, Jack, but as far as I'm concerned you already gave me Dinah." She replies leading you to quirk an eyebrow at her apparently naming her rifle, before she lets out a soft sigh while looking around, "It is a shame that such a nice place is probably going to be left abandoned after the authorities clean up the mess. The neighborhood may not be a good one, but it seems like a lot of wasted potential."

You nod quietly, having considered that yourself, though you don't really know what else to do. Unfortunately you don't have much time to think about it, as you hear the crashing sound of the Peace Keepers rushing into the building outside and a few minutes later the elevator doors close as it's called down to the first floor.
[Continued.]

>>39876175
>"It is a shame that such a nice place is probably going to be left abandoned after the authorities clean up the mess. The neighborhood may not be a good one, but it seems like a lot of wasted potential."
Wonder if Pa'tque would vouch for us so we could buy the place

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>>39876175
Tobias cocks his head in interest, glancing at both you and Freida before nodding to himself, "We need to make sure that we keep our hands away from our weapons and step up against the wall when they come up here, just to be safe." He says, following his own advice as the elevator once again chimes to signal that it's arrived on your floor.

Both you and Freida quickly follow suit, flanking either side of Jo'wan as the doors open and a small squad of various alien species flood out of the elevator car, followed closely by what you assume to be a detective in a slightly lighter and dressier set of armor. Her eyes briefly flick to your claimed crates sitting in the hall, lingering on them for a moment as if to decide whether or not she wants to mention them before looking back at the three of you. "Who's in charge here?" She asks calmly, her voice a somewhat odd warbling tone.

You glance over towards Tobias, about to indicate him as the leader of the mission until he nods at you, "He is, Detective." He replies mechanically, drawing a somewhat skeptical look from her before she turns her attention back to you.

"Alright then, why don't you tell me where the rest of the Black Suns are? Our intel said that there should have been eleven in here, counting their leader. I'm only counting five prisoners and three bodies here." She asks you suspiciously.

"They dispersed." You answer simply, with a tired shrug, "You can ask Jo'wan if you want. After she surrendered she told what were left of the Black Suns to stand down. I can only assume that they ran when they heard that you were coming."

The detective blinks in surprise, glancing down at the subdued Avnari who merely nods lethargically up at her, "I'm...impressed. I didn't expect so few casualties, or any kind of peaceful solution, normally your type jump straight to violence and pursue it until the end of the line."
[Continued.]

>>39876527
You narrow your eyes behind your helmet at the alien, shaking your head, "My type?" You ask, biting back a small amount of indignant frustration.

The detective quirks a tattooed eyebrow, before blinking in realization, "Ah, I meant bounty hunters, alien. To be honest, I don't even know what species you are. Honestly I thought that all three of you were different races...are you not?" She asks, a small amount of curiosity shining through in her tone before she seems to realize again where she is and shakes her head, "Never mind, it doesn't matter right now. The point is that I wanted to congratulate you on a job well done."

Your momentary frustration dissipates at her praise and the three of you nod in acceptance. "Thank you."

"Of course. Now...I'm not authorized to send your payment through, I'm only here for evaluation and documentation purposes, but I can give you receipt to turn into the clerk in our office." She tells you, digging a small tablet out of her pocket and tapping away at it, "I'll note the live captures you made, as well as the cessation of violence with the remaining Black Suns. In total your bonus should be another twenty-five hundred credits." She finishes, tapping one last button on the screen before a small chit ejects from a side port, which she quickly snatches from the device and hands to you. "Don't loose that, you can't collect your bounty without it."

You nod as you hand the chit over to Tobias who slips it into one of his pockets, "I'll keep that in mind."

The detective returns your nod with a curt one of her own, "Very well then, now unless you have any questions you'd like to ask me, I'd say that your business here is concluded. Sergeant Grymes will escort you out whenever you're ready."

Well, it looks like she doesn't have much of anything else to say to you and is ready for you to get out of her work area. Of course if you DO have any questions to ask her then now would probably be the time to ask them.

[Continued.]

>>39876876
Is there anything you want to ask her?
>No. It's been a long night, and you're ready to just head back to the hotel.
>Yes. Ask her about what's going to happen with the complex, and how you might buy it if it goes up for sale.
>Yes. Write-in.

>>39876899
>>Yes. Ask her about what's going to happen with the complex, and how you might buy it if it goes up for sale.

>>39876899
>No. It's been a long night, and you're ready to just head back to the hotel.

>>39876899
>>Yes. Ask her about what's going to happen with the complex, and how you might buy it if it goes up for sale.

>>39876899
>Yes. Ask her about what's going to happen with the complex, and how you might buy it if it goes up for sale.

I guess we might as well consider it if we're going to stay here long term.

>>39876998
Do we really want to stay here long term though? There are so many other places that we could go!

>>39876876
>>Yes. Ask her about what's going to happen with the complex, and how you might buy it if it goes up for sale.

>>39877031
How you wanna go to those place when a ship cost a small fortune?
Wealth: 31,316 credits; You're doing pretty good for yourself right now, though you're a long ways from being rich. While you can't aren't close to being able to buy a starship you can definitely afford quality goods.

>>39877031
i dont think its that; i think its what ever ship we find or get we still would need a place to get resupplied and receive contract offers for work; you cant be aimlessly drift through space.

>>39877083
We could hop a shuttle. Besides, who knows how much money we'll make in the ruins? We get first pick of all the salvage before we turn it over, remember?

>>39877102
I guess that's a decent point, though...

Alright, looks like I'm writing to ask her about the complex.

>Writing.

"Actually, I do have a question." You say, drawing a somewhat surprised look from the detective.

"Very well then, what is it?" She asks, her face a mask of patience though you notice a small hint of annoyance in her voice.

"It's about these apartments. The Black Suns took them over from whoever owned them before, right? Is anybody going to be claiming them once your investigation is over, or are they just going to sit here and rot?" You ask, drawing questioning looks from both Freida and Tobias as well as the Peace Keepers.

The detective shakes her head, "Well...typically the colony would take possession over the building or land if nobody were to have a legitimate claim to it. Once the investigation is over, and if nobody's claimed it by then, it'll probably go up for sale. But I doubt that anybody's going to want to buy it in this neighborhood, the crime rate is through the roof. It'll probably be on the market for a few years before eventually getting torn down for something else, assuming that nobody else tries to take it over before then or the bureaucrats don't forget that it exists."

Somehow you're not particularly surprised to learn that, "I'd hate to see it go to waste like that...it's a nice place." You mutter, shaking your head, "Do you know how long the investigation will last? I mean, if it's not going to take too long, then maybe you could tell me who I could talk to see about buying it?"
[Continued.]

>>39877385
You almost wear that you see the alien's lips twitch into an amused smile for a second before pulling taught again, "Well, if you're seriously wanting to buy this place then you can talk to somebody in the administration office, it's located in the same building as the bounty office." She explains, before pausing and looking all three of you up and down somewhat skeptically, "But...if you're not a citizen of the planet then you're going to have to have somebody who is sponsor you. Or become a citizen, but in order to do that you'll have to get the necessary paperwork from your home world for the transfer."

You feel a wave of frustration and tiredness wash over you at that revelation, and the realization that unless it's different somewhere else or you can get somebody to work some kind of diplomatic magic, you're likely to never be an official citizen anywhere ever again. "Alright...well, thanks for the explanation." You mutter, your shoulders feeling heavier than they were before, and as you glance over towards Freida you can tell that she's feeling the same way, though Tobias is as rigid as he always is when in unfamiliar company.

The detective nods, giving you a somewhat sympathetic smile as she seems to decipher your body language, "Sorry to disappoint you, bounty hunter." She offers, "Any more questions, or is that it?"

Do you have any other questions?
>No. It's time to go home.
>Write-in.

>>39877510
>No. It's time to go home.

Okay let's raid some dungeons.

>>39877510
>>No. It's time to go home.

Hopefully our armorer bro will deliver.

>>39877510
>>No. It's time to go home.
"have a good night officer."

>>39877576
Hopefully, after all we did just do a solid for him...hope that sponsoring somebody doesn't cost too much though.

Alright guys, this will probably be the last update for this Episode. I've got to get ready to go pick up my mom and have dinner with her. There's a small chance that I'll be back around sometime tonight, but I would say that the next thread will probably be either tomorrow or Tuesday, depending on how my schedule plays out.

I will stick around for some questions, comments, concerns, etc. after the update is out, but aside from that I'll probably be heading out pretty soon afterwards.

>Writing to go back to the hotel.

Despite your disappointment with her answer you shake your head, "No, I think we're good." You reply, glancing at your friends to make double sure before looking back to her, "Thanks for your help, Officer, have a good evening."

The detective nods in response, turning to walk down the hall towards the office as she motions towards one of the few Peace Keepers still in the surrounding area, "You too, hunters. Grymes, escort them to the nearest taxi terminal."

The armored officer nods quickly at the order, "Yes, Ma'am." He replies before turning to face your team again, watching patiently as you and Freida grab a handle on either side of your crate while Tobias lifts his own up with a single hand.

The four of you step into the elevator and head back down to the first floor, a trip that somehow seems quicker than all of the others up until this point, before exiting it and heading towards the complex's entrance. "You guys did quite a number on those gangsters." The Peace Keeper suddenly says, his high-pitched voice seeming to be filled with admiration as he glances back at you. "Have you been working together long? I don't think I've ever seen any merc companies that use scarves like yours."

You shake your head in response, though don't really say anything beyond that as Tobias looks the man up and down before speaking, "They were...gifts. From the aliens that abducted us." He explains mechanically, "Only a few of us got them."

Despite the opaque surface of the officer's helmet you can almost see his eyes widening behind the visor...or his equivalent of the expression at any rate, as he nearly stumbles over his own legs. "Wait, abducted? Are you...you guys are those humans we heard about on the news?" He asks incredulously.

"Last time I checked." You reply tiredly, almost feeling a little bad about the way your tone could be taken, though after having the same question asked over and over again you've grown decidedly tired of it.
[Continued.]

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>>39877982
Despite all three of you obviously not being in the mood to answer many questions, the excited officer continues asking them all the way to the shuttle terminal, only to be answered in as few words as any one of you can manage. Thankfully you don't have to wait very long for a shuttle to reach you and as you quickly shuffle into the taxi, depositing both of the crates in the free seat, you finally escape from the curious alien's probing questions.

It's been a long evening, you're exhausted and sore, and in desperate need of a shower, but you know that even if the payout wasn't that great you did a good job tonight. With that thought in mind as you finally pry your helmet from your head and let the blissfully cool air conditioning play across your sweat-slicked face, a small smile tugs at your lips. You did make a difference today, even if it was just a small one, and even if you didn't get a large monetary reward you did get some interesting information and a shiny new jetpack to do whatever you want with.

As the hotel slowly starts to come into view your thoughts venture towards the next couple of days. Tomorrow's the last day before the expedition sets out, and you're sure to use it to gather whatever supplies you need and rest to recover from tonight. And then, finally, you'll be heading into those ruins that you and Angelicia have been wanting to explore ever since you heard about them.

Even as difficult as things have been since you've left Earth, sometimes things do seem like they're going to be okay.

End of Episode 13.

>>39878268
Thanks for the run mang.
How many abducted are in the group?

>>39878268
thanks for running

quick question did we level up in psionic if so and keep leveling up would we be able to use it causally if we reach a high enough level.

>>39878268
thanks

>>39878387
Pretty much everybody right now seeing as how there aren't any aliens in the group yet. So...seven as of right now, counting Lizzie.

>>39878390
You haven't leveled up yet, but if you want to then you can train with Angelicia, or anybody else that you find that is Psionic. Or you could train by yourself but it would be less effective. Basically by training you'll increase the maximum amount of energy you can have and will sometimes learn a new way to use it.

Right now you only have psionic blast and psionic adept, but there are other ways to use it. Telekinesis for example, though that's hardly the only way to do it.

I suppose that, theoretically, if you never train then you would eventually level up with it a little bit, but it wouldn't be nearly as effective as taking time out of your day to train.

I also wanted to say thanks for playing, guys. I really enjoy running these, and I was afraid that nobody would be interested in picking it back up after so long. Glad to see that I was wrong.

Thanks for running, Hawk. Can't wait till you run again.

Are we going to be going straight into the ruins next time or are we going to have time to pick up anything we need?

There'll be a little bit of time before you go into the ruins to hit the market, do some training, whatever, but overall most of the next session is probably going to be spent in the ruins.