Myrrhine 2011/03/23(Wed)13:47 No. 290372 ID: 4812df
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Dawn sluggishly pulls itself across the horizon, like a fungus. It is a humid morning.

Myrrhine XVI, Priestess in the Oikalesian army, has been awake since 5:45 am, meeting with her new Deacon. Her work on the last vault has earned her the privilege of commanding a third squad of soldiers. Each of her squads is led by a professional soldier called a deacon, and it's Myrrhine's job to appoint them. She has seen fit to give the title for this squad to...

Choose your next deacon Myrrhine 2011/03/23(Wed)13:48 No. 290373 ID: 4812df
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...Aaron IV

Aaron is the former lead of The Academics, one of the biggest straight-up rock bands in Oikalos' brief history. His glammed-out, high pitched vocals graced radio waves across the planet, until The Academics were captured on the road on the border of Intalos, former oppressors to the Oikalesians and general police state. Aaron refuses to talk about what happened while they were captured, but upon release he promptly broke up the band and enlisted into the military, causing a major media fracas. It died down, eventually, and he vanished from the public eye. This has given him a chance to cultivate impressive ability with close-ranged weaponry, including handguns and SMGs. He leads a small group of similarly-armed commandos into battle with that same angel voice he was once famous for and a hot-blooded passion for either Oikalos or vengeance. No one's quite sure.

Myrrhine 2011/03/23(Wed)13:48 No. 290374 ID: 4812df
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...Elso Elan.

Maybe you remember him.
Elan is a former corporal who is due for a promotion ever since the last vault. He accompanied Myrrhine into a confrontation with a bandit leader, and performed admirably, sustaining wounds in the process. He has already been awarded with a commendation and promotion to sergeant. This was two weeks ago. He has since healed, mostly, and further refined his ability with machine guns and other heavy weaponry. Myrrhine can bring him up further to Deacon status, putting him in charge of his own heavy weapons team, consisting of him, and several medium-armored troops suitable for setting up and holding down an MG position. She does not know him very well beyond his taciturn reputation, but he hasn't disappointed so far, and he is extremely loyal to Myrrhine ever since she saved his life.

I really like Aaron's backstory. Let's go with him.

Elan, and the usefulness of his heavy loadout, are proven. From what I can skim/remember from the last thread that sort-of overlaps with Nina, but then light-stealthy sort-of overlaps with Alexi.

Go for Elan, as we've prior experience with him and he's proven himself, versus some ex-rockstar who might just invite drama

Nina's squad is armed with shields and revolvers. We need some mid range fire support. I might have liked to see that fire support in medium armor, but the fact that it comes with a built in working relationship with Nina's squad means we should be able to get some good joint action out of taking Elso.

In other news, Myrrhine, take those stealth courses all the other medium armor commanders have been taking.

We ALREADY have Elan and two jumps in rank is kinda excessive. Plus, we've got Nina http://www1.tgchan.org/kusaba/questarch/src/129350828228.png for close range and Alexai http://www1.tgchan.org/kusaba/questarch/src/129316760084.png for long ranged, so let's go with Aaron.

Myrrhine 2011/03/23(Wed)18:18 No. 290428 ID: 4812df
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Myrrhine meets with Elan in the command bunker, an ugly, squat, concrete building, but one of the few actually permanent structures in Camp Promethean.
"Hey, priestess," Elan is waiting for her as she enters.
"Welcome to the team, Elan." She pulls up a chair. It's the same size as Elan's, but she barely takes up any space on it (well, not really, she thinks, a little self-conscious of her keister) while his creaks under his large frame. "Good to see you're healing well."
"All thanks to you, ma'am," says Elan. "I was Sharlo cheese before you patched me up."
"Besides the unfortunate ending, that engagement was fought with excellence on your end," says Myrrhine. "Keep up that level of competence with a chopper and you'll do swimmingly."
"Yes, ma'am," says Elan. "Thank you."
"Now as a deacon, you just let me know if there's something you and your team need, and I'll do my best to provide," says Myrrhine. "Just think of me as the company mom," she almost says, but then refrains from saying, because you do not say things like that in front of soldiers. "But that said, you're in a position with responsibility you've never had before. I expect you to make commands effectively even in the absence of any help from up above. Can you do that for me?"
"I can, ma'am," says Elan, without reservation in his voice.
"Good boy. Now if you'd excuse yourself, I need to meet with the abbess about an old manual."

Myrrhine 2011/03/23(Wed)18:18 No. 290429 ID: 4812df
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"Priestess Myrrhine," Abbess Superia says brusquely, as she enters the command bunker. She is a tall, gaunt, capable woman, and the commanding officer of Camp Promethean, the only one present who outranks Myrrhine. "You deserve a commendation, I am told, for your work on the Mountain Vault. Eupholis bless you and guide you."
"And to you, Abbess," says Myrrhine. "So may it be..."
"And so must it be," finishes the Abbess. "The translation of your vault-tech book came back. It was in a cipher that took a solid week to break, I am told, and the efforts were incomplete.

"The most our scholars could get from it was a set of three coordinates, which indicate, I am told, three vaults, all near Oikalos. Vault Ephidium, on the outskirts of Intalos, is in some loathsome jungle. Bring sensible pants for the heat, repellent for the insects, and a good rifle for the Intalesians.

"Vault Peridendrum is on the border of Stadvoskei and the USL, on the steppes. I believe Stadvoskei has a claim on it, but we are allies, and they will most likely let you in.

"Vault Euoikos is right outside Oikalos, in the barbarian kingdom of Depht. I am told it is built on a riverside. Perhaps you will catch a memorable fish while you investigate."
"I'm investigating?"
"These vaults seem as promising as any, and delving them may yield more clues as to what your manual means," says the Abbess. "The three vaults are your next assignment. You may choose which one to start on by your own leave."

>>290429
Eh... Loathsome jungle sounds like something we should do first. Unless... Do the Stadvoskei know about the Vault? If they do we should snipe it before they form their own investigation. Also, have our artifacts been indentified yet?

Oh my gosh yes, it is back. Wooooooo.

Euoikos seems like the easiest Vault to hit, so I suggest we do it first.
We get to shoot barbarians!

Is one of these vaults approximately north of the mountain vault you were investigating last time? Ratton had a satellite dish pointed that way, and there was that remote video feed we never figured out. There was also talk of a second vault they were looking at.

I vote for Euoikos

>>290429
Lets go for Peridendrum. Should be somewhat easy since they're your allies.

I'd say hit the Peridendrum vault. It's the closest to the USL. Best to grab it before they do.

Choose your rewards... Myrrhine 2011/03/24(Thu)18:11 No. 290602 ID: 4812df
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>>290433
The artifacts have been identified.
The balaclava tracks motion, making it easier for Myrrhine to lead and shoot targets on the move. She can choose to keep it, or turn it into her superiors in exchange for improved medium armor.

The vault pick has an adhesive grip, making it impossible to disarm anyone holding it. If the wielder uses it for its original intention and climbs with it, they can move or hang from the wall indefinitely, never tiring and losing their grip. Myrrhine can keep the pick or turn it in for a semiautomatic sidearm to complement her rifle.

...and choose your Deacons. Myrrhine 2011/03/24(Thu)18:12 No. 290604 ID: 4812df
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"We're headed for Vault Peridendrum," says Myrrhine.
"In that case," says the Abbess, "you are cleared to bring with you two of your squads."
"I thought my decoration meant I could bring all three," protests Myrrhine.
"Not yet," says the Abbess, coolly. "Stadvoskei is an allied country, and I will require one of your deacons to remain at a distance to act as my liason and your handler, this time. Whoever will remain behind will be with you by radio, relaying any updates from outside."
"Couldn't that just be some other soldier?" asks Myrrhine.
"It has to be a CO, and they have to have been in the last vault," says the Abbess, "for reasons you are not cleared to know. Remember your place, priestess. There will be other vaults for your larger company. For now you are cleared for two squads."

>>290604
Nina, if I remember correctly, is the one with the social skills, which sounds perfect for that role. And Elan means we won't miss her heavy armour.

Keep the pick. Indifferent about the mask.

>>290602
Exchange the balacava.

>>290604
Also, leave Nina out.

Do we still have the USL equipment we looted from the previous Vault, or did we have to turn it in? And let's have Nina to be our comms officer, yeah.

Can we give the Balaclava to Alexei?
Also, leave Nina behind.

>>290656
Ooo, I like this idea.

Yeah bring Alexei and Elan.

I'm also tempted to trade in the pick. It doesn'tseem to be massively better than a normal pick...

Myrrhine 2011/03/25(Fri)15:13 No. 290764 ID: 4812df
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Nina's okay with staying behind. She's back to her buoyant, chipper self after a week or so of being angry at Myrrhine, and she's eager to give her former charge a chance to shine.

Myrrhine trades in the balaclava for improved armor. This new gear is more resistant to bullet penetration and protects more, and due to an increased number of plates and stronger motorization is slightly more flexible and maneuverable. Myrrhine thinks it makes her look a bit more heroic than her previous muppet armor to boot.

Myrrhine 2011/03/25(Fri)15:13 No. 290765 ID: 4812df
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Before she can spend too much time admiring herself, she and her men are loaded onto a trailer with a few gyroscopic stabilizers and hooked to the camp's Iron Horse, a heavy, temperamental reverse-engineered vault relic. Iron horses don't provide the most stable of rides, but they work well over most terrain and they're fast.

Myrrhine 2011/03/25(Fri)15:13 No. 290766 ID: 4812df
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They reach the steppes by late afternoon. Alexei eagerly hops out the back of the trailer and pulls a breath of windy Stadvoskei air into his lungs. He announces happily as Myrrhine and the rest disembark that they're here in the rugged kingdom of his heartland, where men are real men and women are real into guys with scars.
Myrrhine points out that it looks brown and scruffy.
Yes, says Alexei, but it's our brown scruff. And that's something.
They look out across the horizon and sight the large, squat shape of Vault Peridendrum a couple miles distant, with a cluster of prefabs put up nearby. Alexei looks excited for a chance to meet with fellow Stadvoskeians, but Elan worries aloud that those buildings might just be vault scavengers or even USL, since this is near their territory too.

Hmm. Don't we have some binocs or something? Gotta scout it out.

Myrrhine 2011/03/25(Fri)21:12 No. 290867 ID: 4812df
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They do have a pair of binoculars, good ones. They have some sort of digital enhancement thing in them from the Vaults.

Myrrhine confirms with them that the prefabs are held by Stadvoskeians. The question now is whether they should be let in on the mission, or not. Stadvoskei are technically allies of Oikalos, and of course Alexei is testament to that, but they will most likely want a cut, or even all, of whatever Myrrhine finds in the vault. The vault being in their territory, this is technically their right, but it wouldn't be the first time one nation has snubbed a vault from another if she took this one without their knowledge. Should she try sneaking by and exploring the vault without their help or permission?

This sounds like a decision for our CO. Personally, though, leaning on 'Go in openly'. Elan and his squad arn't stealthy, and if we screw up sneaking in we could damage relations between the nations. And I don't think Alexi would like snubbing his own homeland either.

>>290867
Sneak. Greed is good.

>>290867
Openly. Greed is bad.

>>290867
Ask Alexei, you may slightly risk alienated him a bit depending on what you take
Go ahead a sneak if he okays it, if he doesn't play rock papers scissors for the decision.

Confer with Alexi on this decision.

>>290867
Radio back to command for instructions on this one. Meanwhile observe and see how they're acting. Might be a slight chance that they're there in disguise or aren't official troops.

>>290868
Sounds good.

Yeah, we should definitely meet with them. We'll have to wheel and deal to get our hands on as much of the goodies in the Vault as possible.

Myrrhine 2011/03/26(Sat)22:25 No. 291121 ID: 4812df
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Myrrhine and her comrades freely approach the Stadvoskeian camp and are taken to the leader of the group, a small, balding man who somehow still manages to exude the standard Stadvoskeian aura of moderately dangerous instability.

Alexei joyfully starts up a pattering conversation in the rough, serviceable tongue of the Stavoskeians with the man, whom he seems to know. "This is Reniere," he says. "He and his men were hunting when they stumbled across the Vault. They got a map from the locals without it marked, and when they sent men in, they never came out. He says he wants them or their bodies and belongings back, and any vault guns we find he also wants, but everything else is ours. I told him those are pretty rare. Bet we could probably sneak some guns past him, if we do find anything. Don't look like that at me, he doesn't speak Oikalesian. Just a thought. He ain't offering any help in checking the Vault, but I suppose I could ask if you need a few more triggers before we get going."

"No need. We should just get going to the vault," says Elan, a little nervously. "I don't like the way his guards are looking at us and I don't feel so good about stealing from people who are so, um."
"Thug looking?" suggests Myrrhine.
"Mmm," says Elan in agreement.
"More afraid of my people than of the mysterious, most likely dangerous dungeon, are we?" Alexei grins his wolf grin. "Cute, newbie."

>>291121
This is pretty much the exact deal I was hoping for. Tell the boss that sounds good, we'll do it ourselves, and then we can take any really cool guns we find as well as any other stuff.

>>291121
Sounds like a decent deal. Time to explore the shit out of that vault. And be careful about it.

Well how much would Alexei trust Reniere? Consider asking Alexei to leave some kind of explosive trap near the vault entrance. Just in case Reniere and his men try to backstab you and take all the loot on the way out.

When you go into the vault take things slowly. Look for mechanical defenses and traps. Have Elan take point through open ground and chokepoints, Alexei to sneak ahead through difficult terrain and places where he can make use of cover and take point yourself when unsure. Take frequent breaks so everyone can stay perfectly sharp and focused when you're actually moving.

Ask what challenge/response they established with the team went in. We don't want to end up in a firefight with the people we're trying to rescue.

If its a sniper rifle, Alexei keeps it on reasoning that he is Stadvoskeian military. Deal is kept. Keep other shit. Fuck da police