Oh, phoo. We didn't say anything- that's two people running around with mistaken assumptions about our sexuality now. This is annoying. Do we gotta get a goddamn t-shirt or something?

Okay, calm down. Talk to the man.

*Sigh* Sorry about that. So can I assume this researcher isn't a breaker then? Alright, we'll shut him down tomorrow. Any specifics on what the danger is? Breaking won't work, or he 'fixes' us or...

>planning
We almost certainly want Raphael with us for this mission, Warped Reality is an excellent skill for infiltration. Possibly the mind-hacker too- gives us a way to shut this guy down without killing him. Maybe bring Elizabeth in too- once the place is secure, we bring her in and use her to sweep and make sure we found all the research. Everyone else we bring is essentially muscle (Linda, Cass, Cally, Nicole).

>He even handed over an already tuned form focus for me to mess with.
Aww... Raphael lost the golem? (Or, oh my squee, he's getting it turned into a mech after all!)

>Elizabeth
After we get off the phone:
Okay... if I don't need to know, I don't need to know. Just so long as this isn't some kind of suicide mission- I am not letting him destroy himself, and he's to eager to do that by half.

>Afterwards
Let's relax and hang with Cass. We've been kind of neglecting her. Right now she's either drunk off her ass, of avoiding all the new people. Either way, she could use a friend.

Maybe we'll look up with Cally or something later, if she hasn't gone home.

Is he a Fixer, or are you just trying to get rid of competition? If you don't want to go into detail I'll still be willing to get his papers, but no promises on killing him.

"Fine, I'll take care of it tomorro-"

"NOW! He's the kind to conduct experiments on us, and already has been! I new him back then, and in a certain sense he's more of a genius than I am! If you count single-handedly causing the massacre of over 100,000 people a genius... Now hurry up, before he starts with the opening our kind up just to see how we tick!"

You blink in surprise, the sudden shout of anger making you flinch a little bit. He's got some will to him...

"Oh yes, and do you have any project requests? I might as well start on that now, just in case you manage to pull it off without blowing up the place. Trigger happy easterners..."

>>>Input Command

You know this sounds like a perfect chance to test out our rifle. Properly. We could probably do this solo if hes the type to work late nights. Lets grab Raphael and Elizabeth for his ability to warp reality and her sight. We shoot the doctor from a few kilometers away. Then walk in and grab everything.

As for what we want? A mech. A drivable mech. With a scaled up version of our rifle. We'll probably never get a chance to use it but thats what we want.

No, what we need is something that lets us fight dreamtime entities. If we can get that in mech-form that would be awesome, but if he can only figure out something like a modified gun with a special lens that works too.

Fine, dreamtime mech, hit a button and it transitions from reality to dreamtime.

Agree to the mission, but get details. What can he tell us to expect?

>>458774
Are we sure we want to murder this guy? I'd prefer to test out our hacker and just mind-wipe him. Although if we know he's a mass murderer...

>something that lets us fight dreamtime entities
More generally: something that works in the dreamtime, or against ethereal foes.

Dreamspace mech definitely.

From what the Doctor said this guy has lead to the deaths of hundreds of thousands and will lead to the death of Breakers as well. Most likely hes a government type as well which means if he succeeds in his research you can bet a great deal more will die. Both breakers and norms. And if he is governemently sponsered he will never face justice for it. Vengeance or vigilantism is the best we can hope for.

"Alright. I'll do it, I'll do it... you got a way to make a mech?" You try to keep the excitement out of your voice. You don't want to get your hopes up to much. "Maybe something that can enter or affect the dreamtime, if that's at all possible?"

"A mech? What's a me- Oh! Well, that looks rather interesting doesn't it... anime... hmm... This... I've seen something like this... when was it... 20 years ago? Government was working on something like this... nowhere near as sophisticated or streamlined as this, but fairly similar.... but I'm getting off track. You've given me a challenge, easterner. What did you say you're name was? Never mind, doesn't matter. Bring everything you obtain to me tomorrow, or as soon as possible if tomorrow isn't likely. I should have something ready by then... Ah... positron cannon... how very interesting..."

"Um... do you know what to expect out there? Just so we won't run into anything we could have avoided."

"Hm? Oh! The phone is still on. Um... no. I don't have any more information than where he is. Which reminds me, I should probably send that to you... All I can say is there are rumors that the bastard is working for the UNA government now, although what he's doing working on Breakers, I don't know. The facility used to be military as well, if that means anything to you, but I can't help you any further than that. Now then... mecha... hehe... so entertaining..."

The phone goes dead, and you slip the phone back into your pocket. Damnit... Well, time to gather your allies together. You poke your head in Raphael's room to find him not there. Probably already took off for the dreamtime. You don't really feel like freaking yourself out, but if it's really necessary...

"Elizabeth..."

"Yes?"

"If I don't need to know, I don't need to know. Just so long as this isn't some kind of suicide mission- I am not letting him destroy himself, and he's to eager to do that by half."

There is no response. You don't like the sound of that at all. Even glancing at the girl you can tell she's deliberately not looking you in the eye, preferring to instead stair at a wall. You frown, but you doubt pressing her will end well. You'd rather not destroy one relationship to try saving another one.

Still, you have to decide who you want coming with you on this mission of yours. Cass is almost a given, but who else is going?

>>>Input Command

Cass, Raphael, and Elizabeth. Lets also go talk to Mr. Mind-Writer. Lets put forward a hypothetical situation. We have a normal whos been experimenting on breakers and normals. We want to make it so he never even thinks of doing it again. Can he do it?

Though personally I think this guy sounds like he should be dead instead of mindwiped.

>>458801
God damnit just missed it, i was gonna say we should decide at least on a scale for the mech seeing as his last was several stories tall. I mean if the thing is at that size we'ed likely never get to use it outside the dreamtime, at least not without the will or ability to break several city blocks and mind wipe witnesses or something. Cause really there are mechs the size of gundam or evangelion which while cool are impractical and then there are ones in like Appleseed or something that are a little easier to use in the city and store. Hopefully what ever we get we'll be able to either store in the dreamtime or manifest. Seeing as we never specified that we wanted it to be a foci. Oh well guess we'll have to live with the surprise. God damnit the suspense is gonna suck, I hope this mission doesnt take too long

We don't /have/ to kill him or bring people-hacker with us on the mission. We just disable Mr. Mad Scientist, take his foci, and bring him to base where we can THEN mind-hack him.

I'd say bring Nicole, don't bring Cally, and give us an idea of who else is available. Maybe the high-schoolers?

>>458804
Definitely dead, also i don't think we'll be able to get Raphael seeing as he just went into dreamtime and it was implied he wanted it done as soon as possible, preferably tonight. Cally would be able to help if it is another military base and we need to get through doors.

>>458807
He might be a norm.

Welp. That's definite confirmation we need to pull Raphael aside and have a serious talk with him then. Forget the relationship drama, he's gonna get himself killed. (And Elizabeth is more than willing to let that happen for what see sees as the greater good, or to protect Linda).

>Whos coming?
...that kind of depends on who isn't drunk already. Cass, if possible, although she's not going to be terribly useful in bypassing normal soldiers without killing them (unless she can abuse weapon:environment, somehow).

Elizabeth would be nice to check to see if we found everything, but if this place is a full on military installation, and not a simple lab, it's not like we can secure the place and then bring her in. This is gonna be smash and grab, in and out.

Raphael, yes. Fear is an excellent non-lethal weapon against normals (soldiers), and warped reality can get us in. Also, we have to talk to him after this. For real, without him running off, later tonight. Start concentrating on spiders.

Mind hacker would be nice- easy way to make sure we've found all the research, and wipe him when we're done.

The high schools are guaranteed not to be drunk along with the other idiots, and have non-lethal options.

Cally might have gone home already. I kind of doubt she won't tag along if she's here, though. Not of great use on this kind of mission though. Ditto for Nicole, I think.

Against bringing Cally, definitely bring Cass, no to bringing highschool kids to kill a normal, and Raph would be very helpful.

>>458813
>>458810

He /might/ be a normal but I sort of doubt it. If he is, though, it should just make the job easier.

Better to over-prepare than under prepare.

Time to collect everyone you need. First things first...

SPIDERSPIDERSPIDERSPIDERSPIDERSPIDERSPIDERSPI-

"What the hell, Linda! I'm barely gone half and hour, and your scaring yourself just thinking about the big ass spider I was!"

"Yeah well, we got a job, and we need your help."

"I'm working on my plan right now. I'll help out some other ti-"

"Don't even bring that up right now, Raphael. I swear to god, I will shoot you in the leg if you keep trying to avoid talking to me about it. Your helping. Conversation over. Go get the car ready while I grab everyone else."

You glare at him till he sighs and heads out the door again, and you sigh when he's gone. Stress. This is a lot more stressful than dealing with numbers all day. You knew there was a reason you preferred working from home. You glance at Elizabeth, who is watching you very lucidly. You can practically see fear hitting her as you watch her.

"Be careful, Angel. The Demon is coming. And he wants your wings."

You stare at her for another moment, then nod your agreement.

"I'll try, Elizabeth. You just stay here though, alright?"

She nods in return, and you head back to your room, where the party is still in full swing. Apparently no one noticed the gun fire. Either that, or they just didn't care. You push past a couple of people you don't know all that well and find Cass, nursing one beer in a corner and trying to stay out of people's way.

"Come on, Cass. We got work."

"FUCKING THANK YOU! I can't stand all this friendly bullshit. I got one friend, I'm good with that."

As you weave your way back towards the door, you do a quick glance around, but don't really see anyone else. Just as you reach the door, however, Nicole pops up out of nowhere, looking interested.

"We going somewhere, boss?"

"Uh... yeah."

"Cool. Might as well punch something. Haven't in awhile. Who's this?"

"Cassandra Geld. She's our... main fighter."

"That right..."

You make it to the car and take the wheel, your three companions hopping in as well. Raphael takes a backseat, probably to avoid you, which Nicole promptly follows and starts nagging him for conversation. Cass gets into the front seat and yawns, mentioning offhand that she's going to get some sleep. You check your phone for directions, and soon enough, you're on your way. The driving is boring, except for the simple chatter from the backseat and the radio, until eventually you head down a dirt road and you run into a chained up fence. Cass is bumped awake, while Raphael and Nicole get out of the car and investigate the gate. A few minutes later, you and Cass join them, and find the chain fence to have lost it's restricting padlock, and Nicole gushing over Raphael.

"I didn't know you could do that!"

"Uh... we just met, like two hours ago."

"Still! Where'd you pick up that little skill?"

"Wasn't always a Breaker."

>>>Input Command

Alright I had a sneaking suspicion about this scientist and Elizabeth just confirmed it. The Demon is either this madman or somoene associated with him. First things first. Scout out the place with our xray scope. Locate all the people within it. We'll be looking for subjects in cages. He'll probably be close by.

I doubt we'll be able to take him out from outside the place. Military bunker afterall.

Okay first things first. Brief the troops.

Alright. Doc's commissioned us this time. There's a some scientist here researching breakers. By which I mean experimenting on. We're here to put a stop to that, and take that research away from him. No idea what we can expect for defenses, but this place is ex-military.

If we're at range, scoping the place out with the x-ray scope seems more than prudent. Current BP?

>>458822
Yes, scope, keep your big-ass tank-gun out, too. No dismissin'!

If we decide we need stealth we can dig the guitar case out of the trunk or something

Hahaha cause a guitar case isn't suspicious on a military research base, we'll probably have to rely on our teams skill maybe cass's normalcy will come in handy again.

Oh wow Raphael's warped reality power mivht mack this a hell of alot easier hah!

God damn posting by phone on my lunch break, not letting me delete posts and fix spelling errors *might make*

If Nicole doesn't calm down soonish, we may have to ask her to.

>>458830
Spoilers said it won't hide the party's weirdness. So if we walk in toting the gun, we'll be noticed (provided there are people to notice). Although convenient things will still happen- cameras may still fritz out, doors pop open, etc, though. It's a pretty general use power (beneficial plot contrivance, basically) and one big reason we brought him along. That, and pure fear can be used to fight normal soldiers without killing them.

"Alright. Doc's commissioned us this time. There's a some scientist here researching breakers. By which I mean experimenting on. We're here to put a stop to that, and take that research away from him. No idea what we can expect for defenses, but this place is ex-military."

"Huh. That makes things... interesting. Is there a plan, or are we just walking in and saying hello?"

"I was gonna scout out the base with my scope to start with."

"Alright, I guess... you do that. I'm gonna start walking the dreamtime, see if I can't find someone asleep in this base of theirs. I might be able to start some havoc in another part of the base, give you guys a clear run through. Keep in touch, yeah?"

Raphael taps his ear-bud, then walks off towards a dark shadow under a tree. All you really see is the shape of a human one second, nothing the next. All in all, nothing unusual. You manifest your rifle, then find yourself a nice spot and hunker down to see what you can find. A few minutes later, you've got a general idea of where the base is at, and you start looking through the various buildings in search of your target. There, some guards, tells you this place is active... they don't look military though, almost like normal security guards. There and there, some more guards... a stairway up to both the second and third floors, which have some guards patrolling and a few men at desks, tapping away and computers. An underground floor... there and there, some guys that don't look like normal guards. They seem dressed too nicely, great suits and everything. Stereotypical men in black types? You'll have to see later. Ugh, body parts in that room... autopsy there... THERE!

A few scientists are working in one room, two or three normalish looking people getting blood drawn and other random tests, by the look of it. And there, an older man, working with only one person. Hard to make out what he's doing... Still, you've got what you needed to see. You have a route you can take to get there.

"So, we got a plan, boss?"

Nicole walks up next to you, Cass waiting patiently for you a few steps behind her. You can see Nicole cracking her knuckles, getting impatient. She's probably more used to just hitting something in the face till it dies.

>>>Input Command

Current BP: 11

Right we'll head in, let Ralph and Cass work their magic. We get me close enough and I take the guy out at a distance. Then we hold the rest of them at gunpoint while we gather all the research data we can. My gun is pretty loud so we'll probably be fighting our way out. That's your and Cass's job. Try not to hurt the security gaurds on the top floors. Those are norms. The ones below are fair game though. They're probably in this crap neck deep.

They're underground, we're going to try to sneak in. If/when we run into normals we can use Cass's normalicy to get by peacefully. If we still have to fight aim to incapacitate rather than kill--hopefully Nicole will be a bit better at this part than we usually are.

X-ray sight says it looks like normal guards up top, the target and men in black under ground.

>The plan
Well, I think I know where we gotta go, now. Let's see how far we can get in sneaking. We'll resort to hurting people when that inevitably fails.

How are we planning on bypassing normals? I suppose can go for non-vital pistol shots, or have Cass or new girl just pummel them. (Or hell, even we can do that- we're super dodgy, strong enough, and we can pistol whip people).

>We get me close enough and I take the guy out at a distance.
We can't just shoot him through the walls- that makes it harder to get at his research! We might need him conscious long enough to make sure we have everything. Also, I kind of want to make sure he's actually a monster before we murder him.

>>458838
Cass has Normality. Remember when we rescued Elizabeth? We can just walk up to security and go on in.

"I think I know where we need to go now. We'll see how far we can get before we're inevitably discovered..."

"Why don't we just knock the dudes out? I can do that easy. You and Cassandra can head off to wherever, and I'll deal with norms. No problems at all."

"Why don't we-"

"Alright! Plan set! Let's move!"

Nicole starts towards the base, making sure to keep herself quiet. She at least got the idea that you were trying to sneak in. You sigh, then gesture for Cass to take rear guard, and head off after Nicole. You whisper into the comm, trying to figure out if Raphael got anywhere with his side of the plan, but he doesn't respond. Probably still in the dreamtime.

You manage to make it past the front door without getting caught, and keep heading down hallways, trying to find the basement level stairway based off of your memory and quick peaks with the scope on your rifle. Eventually, however, you run into a guard. Everyone freezes, staring at each other. The guard seems shocked anyone is here at all, and his mout moves without any sound coming out. Just as he starts to reach for his radio, Nicole shoots out and smashes her fist into his face, knocking him out cold. She smiles at herself a little, clearly pleased.

"About half strength seems to do it then. You two get going. I'll see about hiding this guy and making sure our exit path stays clear."

Nicole seems to be almost excited, body tense and ready to go as she bends down and hoists the man over her shoulder. She makes a shooing motion at you, then opens up an office door and dumps the man inside. You shrug and lead the way, finding the stairs down a few minutes later. You lead the way downstairs stopping at the doorway and glancing through. Long hallway. Four doors. Last door on the right is the lone guy. Farthest door on the left, the group of them. The two men in suits are guarding the doorways, staring stony faced at each other without showing any signs of getting tired.

What to do...

>>>Input Command

Take out the guards and bust into both rooms at the same time!

>People don't listen to us
This is why I want to pick up more will at some point. We've got a team of headstrong superhumans who don't think they need to follow directions.

>What do?
Huh. We got to the target pretty fast. Of course, an easy entry general means the shit will hit the fan once you're in.

Okay, it'd be nice to take out the guards quietly, since both you and Cass and strong/fast enough to knock out normals in unarmed combat. ...unfortunately, they're too far away to close with before they can drawn weapon, or radio for help.

Can we ask Cass to use normalcy to get us close? (Where's her number at, actually?) Then we take these guys out. (...although this may go wrong if there are anti breaking measures in effect, or detectors or something).

>Standing Order
After this mission is complete, we need to pull Raphael aside and talk to him before he goes to do his dream thing. Do not let him weasel away again. I've got the dialog pending.

Cass BP: 26

"Hey, Cass. Think you can trick your way in like you did when we saved Elizabeth?"

"Hm... I can try. Stay here."

Cass hasn't brought out a weapon yet, so for her, she easily slides out into the open and walks towards the pair of men. Both glance at her, then immediately go for something on the inside of their jackets. Then static hits, and both blink in surprise, then immediately bow to the woman.

"Sorry ma'am. Didn't think you would be showing up today."

"Surprise inspection. We want to make sure everything is running smoothly. I have my bodyguard with me. It's okay Linda, you can stop guarding the door now."

You slide from your own position next to the door, and both men whistle in appreciation of the rifle in your hands. They step out of the way of the doors though, and go back to their guarded stances. That leaves both doors open for you to enter.

>>>Input Command

Hm, might as well go for the room with the crowd first.

Hmm. No anti-breaking countermeasures or detectors in effect. Good. Now we just have to not raise a ruckus investigating the rooms and bringing these two running...

>>458900
...Should we knock them out now that we're safely close, or would that cause a commotion?

Please tell me the doc gave a description of this guy... or at least a name?

No descriptions. No names. You were just told to kill the bastard and take his research. The killing the bastard is looking less and less like an issue. Finding him could be an issue though. Still, you decide to hit up the group room first. There's got to be research data in there. You let Cass lead the way, and static happens again just as she enters the room. When you enter, the scientists are happily explaining something of what they're doing to Cass. You glance around, finding a computer, and begin tapping away at it, hunting for anything of use. Eventually, you find what you need, a folder containing data the facility has gathered on Breaker's physical/psychological health, and you manage to get one of the scientists to put it on a USB drive for you. That takes care of that. Still, when you turn your attention to the group again, you finally notice the three breakers waiting patiently on the table. They all look... used. Lethargic, like they just don't care anymore. All of them have numerous bandages covering their bodies, and similarly, they all have ID tags hanging from their necks. You walk up and take hold of one of the tags to investigate, and find only a simple designation on it.

SUBJECT #53

You check the other one and find the same thing. The two other breakers have similar tags attached to them, designating them as Subjects 72 and 31 respectively. This is...

You can see Cass, barely restraining herself, although you can see her hand wrapped around an IV stand. You can't just leave them here, can you? But you still have to check the other room...

>>>Input Command

Get a description and the name of their boss \ head scientist from the scientists. Then...

Kill the scientists. You do it with the cold magnum, it should be relitively painless. Aim for the heads. Cass restrains them. Be prepared for a mess though, remember it causes things frozen to explode.

Then use the rifle to find the final guy. And take him out from here.

Careful we don't know if he has his own set of research in his lab. We probably want to take these guys out as quietly as possible. Also i am not to sure how long it would take to freeze someones head, especially to the point it explodes,

Things that need doing:

We need to make sure we slag these computers, and whatever backup they're connected to. You want to be carrying the only copy of that data.

We need to rescue the experimental subjects. Pity our healer is back east, but maybe we can do something for them.

We don't necessarily need to kill these scientists- we just need to make them unable to ever work on this again. Can we call Raphael in? Dump a mental block on them- associate so much fear with this work they shut down if they try to even think about it?

The guards are going to need to be disabled. Your cover trick won't work when you start hurting people, or stealing test subjects. You two need to use the normalcy cover to get close and knock them out physically.

Head scientist probably needs to be killed.

>>458909
It only takes a second or 3 of ice to be fatal. We don't have to hold on for the full 7 to shatter them. We also have Cass, and her knife. That can kill quietly. (Although, I still like trying something else first).

Good point about checking his room for independent records. We can't set off alarms till we've done that- whatever we do now has to be quiet.

Shattering the computers would be a good way to get rid of them.

>>458912
So long as they aren't networked. There may be a local sever room we need to destroy.

Oh, also- look around for where they have the foci locked up. It would suck if we saved the test subjects but left their foci behind. (...and in the worst case, if they never recover, at least we can put them to use).

"Cass. Deal with the guards, will you?"

"Wait... what?"

Cass is already out the door, her happy smile on so she can get nice and close. You, on the other hand, have to deal with this lot. You manifest the Cold Magnum and smile a litte. Killing for something good in the world... that's something, at least. You make short work of the 4 scientists in the room, knocking out the two closest ones with a couple of kicks to the face and sending the last to their deaths with blasts of freezing cold. You make sure the two knocked out scientists are properly dealt with, then turn your attention to the Breakers.

"You can go now. You're free."

They just stare at you, not seeming to understand at all. You frown in fustration, and try pulling one off the table only to find him resisting. Your just about to knock him out and drag him, when Raphael shows up next to you, grabbing hold of your hand.

"They're minds are broken, Linda. Lost in the dreamtime as a way to get away from the pain. And before you ask... no, I can't help them."

You stare at the lot of them, hissing in frustration and hating the outcome. This... this is bullshit. The bastard is going to die.

"Also, someone's coming, Linda. I can tell cause another one of these lot is with them. You'd best hurry up, with whatever you need to do here. I'll go cause a distraction now, to buy you some more time."

Raphael is gone then, and you curse at nothing and get to work, slagging the computer by freezing the thing. Fuck it. And fuck the rest of it's shit. You head back into the hallway and find Cass standing over the two men's bodies, waiting for you, her BP at a mere 3. Behind her is another Breaker, weak at the moment in terms of breaking power, a 7, but she's got a scalpel to Cass' neck. Behind her is the scientist, looking bored.

"Ah. You Breakers. You always think, because of your amazing powers, that you can beat normals. This is an incorrect assumption. You breakers are mere tools, pets, if you will. Something to be trained and made useful. Take Subject 17 here, for example. She knew you were here long before I did. Told me so. But that's because I trained her that way. No matter, what, she'll defend my life with her own. She can't help it. Her mind is mine, after all. But that doesn't mean anything, now does it. 17, how many more are there, besides these two?"

"1. Upstairs."

"Good girl. The ones in the room behind you are recent arrivals, unfortunately. Can't be used for combat yet. But 17 here can be. Trained her up good, by myself. 23 should be here soon though. Now her... she's my masterpiece. 23 still retains all her old abilities to make decisions on her own, but still follows orders and won't harm those she's not supposed to. The perfect weapon. Still, I hope to deal with you before then. Now, kindly hand over any data you've collected, and we'll see about getting you locked up in a nice little cage."

>>>Input Command

Notably, the bio-weapon here can't sense Raphael.

Cass is down to 3? That likely means the scalpel is a disruptor weapon. It does BP damage. Otherwise girlie here would have had a hard time killing her 20-odd times in the interval we've been away. Do not let her close.

>she'll defend my life with her own. She can't help it.
Sounds like shooting at him is the best way to keep get her off of Cass.

If we use the rifle, even if she jumps in front of the shot, he still dies.

If she's too fast, and engages us directly, dodge, drop the rifle, fight with cold and pistol.

...also, I think this means we're going to have to put the other test subjects down, if we can't help them.

We upped our finesse. Shoot the scientist first. If he's dead he can't give orders. Use our rifle, even if she defends the bulet will go right through her.

This is why I wanted to shoot this guy through the walls. Darnit, we got an xray scope and we never use it properly.

>This is why I wanted to shoot this guy through the walls. Darnit, we got an xray scope and we never use it properly.
Actually, if he was only in the room across the hall, that would have been too close for us to resolve him in the scope. Also, if this is an underground military installation, the walls are probably all several inches of reinforced concrete, each. Combined, it might not have been feasible. And we certainly couldn't hit him through the ground, from outside.

The first chance we get we try to make xray specs.

>>458926
...really, that's what we should have asked the doctor for. Super-sunglasses that act as night vision, infra-red, x-ray, etc at will.

>>458926
We should be able to make them ourselves around spirit 5\6 If we can make a dog a monster theres no reason we can't tweak a pair of sunglasses to see differently.

Like hell. You start to bring up the rifle, only to find not the girl, but Cass charging towards you, death in her eyes. She's trying kill you! You dodge backwards into the room, dropping the rifle in favor of the extra speed. She still manages to smash her fist into your face, causing your vision to go a little blurry, but you still manage to keep your footing and slide into the room, drawing the 9mm to replace the rifle.

"What the hell Cass?"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about her too much. She's just a little... out of her mind, right now. After all, how else does one defeat an opponent then making her friends do it for you?"

Cass is coming. You can hear her stepping come towards the door. You need to make a decision, fast. Especially because you have no idea what's going on.

>>>Input Command

>>458927
Although I suppose getting dreamtime access so we can stop Raphael from going on a solo-suicide mission was a decent choice.

>>458928
Not a bad idea! Although, if they aren't a manifestation or a focus, but instead self-enchanted equipment, that means they can be destroyed.

You have higher finesse then her Dodge Cass while shooting the scientist. While trying to kill him talk to her. Act like your trying to calm her out of her rage. She knows your voice and trusts it.

Oh look at that. We're fighting solo again.

>>458931
Problem. He's in the hall, around a corner, we're in the room, and we dropped the rifle in the hall so we can't shoot through the wall.

Godsdammit, why did we delay getting nonlethal / disabling options? We need them, now.

Only saving grace right now is Cass too low on BP to manifest the chainsaw.

We probably need to dismiss the rifle before someone else thinks to pick it up and shoot us.

Deal with Cass and the girl. Non-fatal disabling shots to fuck them up, without letting them respawn. Shoot Cass in the leg or something, shoot 17 in the hand so she can't fight with her scalpel. Once they're disabled, re-manifest the rifle, peg the scientist through the wall- he won't be expecting that.

Possibly try snapping Cass out of it by force of will. She's got very little defense against that, and you have a close, personal connection. Order her to stand down. If she doesn't, then shoot her.

>>458935
Ooo goood point. In fact it should work for the brainwashed girl as well.. Its not called breaking their will for nothing.

Maybe use an active break on 17's hand after we shoot her so the hand can't heal. It's just in case the doctor has some suicide/respawn system going on with the test subjects. Odds are he thought of disabling shots ahead of time.

>>458938
Doesn't a break healing/amputation stop the pain? (since the injury is gone). Personally, I'd rather have her on the floor writhing in pain, then up and able to mindlessly attack, minus 1 limb.

"Cass! Snap out of it!"

Your exert your will, putting everything you have into that one command, even as you dimiss the rifle from existence. You WILL NOT let her be used to murder and kill for no reason. Not while you still live. You can feel your will start to exert itself upon her, start to make her return, then you can tell. Something else is fighting your command off. Something far more filled with purpose than you.

You WILL NOT take her from me!

Cass comes around the corner, but you're already resolved to do what needs to be done. You fire even as she shows herself, her knife manifested to strike at you. You hit her in the knee, and her leg buckles under her weight without the necessary support to hold her up. Good. Cass won't be doing anything useful for awhile.

You pause to wait for 17 to come around, but nothing happens. Instead, you get to witness Cass stab herself in the head repeatedly, killing herself. She respawns and starts to pull herself up, eyes fixed on you again. Damnit all! You shoot her in the knee again, but this time, you go for another strategy. You hop over her as she falls, and as you land on the other side of her, you feel something brush against your leg.

A wire?

You don't have time to contemplate it further, as your forced to grapple with a scalpel wielding 17, she's far weaker than you expected, though, and you easily force the weapon from her hand and toss her up and over your head. Fuck her. Now, there's no one in your way. The doctor looks surprised, and he starts to back away, eyes widening.

"Someone... why are you so easily able to shoot a friend?"

"Better she be dead than used by you. In her place... Fuck off and die."

You pump his body with a few rounds, dropping him dead, then turn back to 17, in case of the breaker starting trouble. Instead, she brushes past you and kneels next to the corpse, shaking it with her hands as tears start to stream from her eyes.

"Papa? Papa? Pa... Pa...? PAPAPAPAPAPAPAPAPAPAPAPAPAPAPA-"

She seems to have gone a little insane...

"Gah! Wha- WHY THE HELL IS MY KNEE BLOWN OUT!?"

>>>Input Command

While the girl is panicking get her focus. Freeze her a bit to slow her down. Not enough to kill her but enough to send her shivering violenntly. 2 seconds should do it. Apoligize to Cass, explain she was being controlled and out to kill you. You'd shoot her to fix it but she is really low on BP right now, and we have incoming.

Then get the rifle and see if you can't find 23.

Evil scientist surprised that other people are willing to hurt people to accomplish their goals?

3, minus the knife and 1 respawn, Cass is at 1BP. Shit. That means we can't just kill her to heal her- she'd be helpless if we ran into any resistance on the way out.

Sorry, Cass. My fault. Fuckers had you mind controlled.

Be ready for trouble. What was that wire? And we got 23 incoming. Maybe pass Cass a gun (freeze?). She won't be good for much else, disabled on the floor.

Remaining ammo in pistol / freeze gun?

Not sure what we do about the experimental subjects, here. Are we killing them, just taking foci to make them useless, or just GTFO and not worrying about it?

>>458947
We take them with us. These guys were obviously brainwashed. Guess who just came in from the east? Our boss's brainwasher. TIme for him to pull his weight.

Good point. We can take those three with us. It'll be easy, since they're passive. Although guiding 3 zombies outside while helping Cass to walk may prove difficult. Especially if there are any guards left (hopefully Nicole has punched 'em all out).

...actually, if we felt like wasting precious BP (down to 10), this is exactly the kind of thing Twinda would be useful for. She could guide the zombies, or help Cass walk (also, then we get more guns. Us, Twinda, and pass one of hers to Cass).

What do we do about 17 and 23 though? 17 seems kind of far gone, and she may resist coming with us (...and I kind of want to steal her BP-damaging focus for Cass to use). Although, maybe we could dominate her now that Daddy's dead- make her come along quietly, until we get her to the mind hacker. Actually, force of will is probably the best way to get all the subjects moving.

23 we're going to have to take out, though. Kill, or disable and steal foci.

>>458959
I'm hoping for a clean sweep, but yeah I have a feeling 23 is not going to come quietly. Maybe we can get her to 0 and subdue her that way...

"Sorry Cass. You got brainwashed somehow. Hold on, I have to check something..."

You feel around and find it, the almost invisible wire passing through the air, and follow it towards Cass, eventually finding a tiny needle at the base of her neck. You pull it out, Cass uttering a soft Ow, and frown. It doesn't really seem all that dangerous. You follow the wire the other way and find it wrapped around 17's pointer finger. A quick search of the girl reveals a small spool of wire, the same kind as the one she's stuck to Cass. You grab the scalpel as well, not really sure what could be a foci at this point, then head back into the room with the dead doctor and search around, finding another computer with research data on... something. You're not really sure what, it uses a lot of words you don't understand. Still, you copy it into your USB and trash the computer. Now then... for the rest of these Breakers.

You head back into the room and command them to follow, which they do, albeit a bit lethargically. As they come into the hallway, however, there's a sudden rumble and the entire floor seems to shake under your feet. A minute later, Nicole come from upstairs, looking worried.

"Boss? There's a bunch of people in black suits and stuff upstairs, and they kinda shot a rocket at the side of the building... I can't punch rockets."

>>>Input Command

>needle onna wire
Okay, that's probably what 17 used to disable Cass and sap her BP, since she was pretty inept with the scalpel.

>not really sure what could be a foci at this point
...I though we could sense foci when we checked them out? They have a wrongness to them we can feel.

>I can't punch rocket
...I can make them misfire and blow up. How many are we talking?

Help Cass, we're getting out of here. Keep your eyes peeled, they've got one more hostile brainwashed breaker somewhere.

We need an exit strategy. Check in with Raphael, if possible. We're on point with the pistol (remaining ammo?) and the freeze gun, if we didn't exhaust it's ammo killing people and computers. Nicole can help Cass to walk, and follow up with the 3 test subjects and 17, if they're all following orders now. We can take out the feds outside with an active break against their weapons (mass misfire syndrome!), or tank gunning them through the walls. 23 is gonna be the problem.

Right, we need to get out of here. EVAC GO GO GO

Grab our rifle too. If need be we can shoot them through the walls

Cant punch rockets ahahaha someday, someday, anyway scientist likely set of an alarm or something, that or someone else was pissed at this guy for messing with their friends. If its security it's weird for them to fire at a building with allies in it unless they are just that scared of breakers. Also we need to find someway to detect foci, there should of been a few around here what with the test numbers in the 70s

We really need Elizabeth for that. Which is why I wanted to take her.

Blockade Linda McCallahan 2012/09/30(Sun)13:33 No. 458994 ID: a407a5
File 134903722529.jpg - (32.10KB , 500x335 , secret-agent.jpg )

"How many, Nicole?"

"Uh... didn't really have the time to go counting, Boss, when they-" RUMBLE "-are shooting rockets at the building. A couple dozen, from what I saw out front."

"Fuck."

Cass, at least, has that right. Fuck. You don't think you can break that many yet. A couple dozen is... a lot. For now, focus on getting the hell out of here. And finding foci. You do another quick sweep, but don't find anything that feels like a foci. You also double check the scalpel and the wire, and discard the scalpel after the check. Not a foci. NOW it's time to go.

"Nicole. Grab Cass. She's in no condition to walk, and we need to be gone. The rest of you breakers, follow me. We're getting out of here."

You start to head off, the three breakers from the exam room following behind, and Nicole behind them with Cass thrown over her shoulder, when you notice that 17 hasn't left her "Papa". She doesn't look like she's about to either. You pause to consider going back for her, but shake your head. No time. No time at all. You head up to the first floor and the first thing you see is various fires from the explosions, which are lighting up the area eerily. You lead your little group into good hiding spot and glane outside, your eyes slowly adjusting to the light conditions.

Nicole was right. There's a lot of them, Some have shouldered rocket launchers, other carrying pistols, still other carrying machine guns. You doubt you could take them all on your own, and this 23 is still running around somewhere. You curse again, only to watch another rocket slam into the building somewhere above you and send a rumble through the building again. Another prepares to fire, only to halt as someone says something to him. A minute later, a single man walks out into the middle ground between the men and the building, dressed in stereotypical black suit and sunglasses.

"We know you're in there, breakers. We know what you came for. We also both know that you aren't going to be leaving here. At least, no ALL of you. And if you continue to hide in there, well... we'll just bring the building down on you. It'll be easier to duplicate research than let you get away with it.

"Now then, since I kind of have to, and because I've always wanted to... Under UNA Article 1 of the Reality Initiative, I herby place you under arrest. Demanifest all weapons, drop all foci and come out with your hands in clear view. Or you could resist, in which case, I kill you all."

Raphael suddenly appears next to you, breathing heavily, but looking a little less worried than the rest of you.

"I got us a way out... sorta. They aren't as thickly concentrated to the east of the compound, but... unless someone distracts this group here, I doubt any of us are going to be able to push through quickly enough to escape. I can go, probably buy the most time, if I work off the most common fears."

"I'll do it, Nightmare Boy. You got some plan going one right now, and I'm wounded. I won't be running anywhere fast."

"Oh, hell no! Maybe I'm new, but that just means I'm expendable. Haven't got anyone that cares too much about me. I'll go. Might as well, get to punch something before I die."

Well... good to know everyone is willing to sacrifice themselves for everybody else.

9mm Ammo: 8
Freeze Ray: 11 seconds
>>>Input Command

No one sacrifices anyone.

We're the leader. We stay. Raphael's with us. Mass fear and tank gun, maybe blow up a few rocket launchers. When things get tight, Raphael escapes to dreamtime, and we leave Twinda as a decoy. Hell, maybe we ride him out. Taking us to dreamtime is probably good for a little Trauma, but it beats dying.

Nicole gets Cally out.

Start by dropping the secret agent, of course.

>>458989
I'm against bringing Elizabeth into situations we KNOW are going to be super dangerous [like this one], even if she would be useful for finding things.

Cass has what, two BP left? Hell no, she's not going.

Using Twinda might just work. >>459000
Second'd

..... we can so kill these guys. We have a gun that shoots through walls. We have the ability to make their rockets explode. We also don't have to kill them all, just make them lose morale enough to break and run. And guess here who can cause fear.

Take out the leader first. Shoot through the weakened walls they have so thoughtfully provided. The next person to load a rocket, break it. Give Nicole the flashbangs shes to throw them once the rocket blows. The instant that happens Ralph should begin manifesting their fears.

No leader, their own weapons blowing up, blinded and suddenly there nightmares walk. That should break them.

Boss Battle: Subject #23 Linda McCallahan 2012/09/30(Sun)14:14 No. 459009 ID: a407a5
File 134903964920.jpg - (650.24KB , 1280x800 , 3703.jpg )

Fuck them. Fuck surrender as well.

"Nicole. Get these lot and Cass out of here. Raphael, back me up. We're gonna cause some havoc."

"Alright. Just give me the signal."

As Nicole drags a protesting Cass and three idiot breakers off, you set up your rifle and smile, lining up your aim on the bastard leader. Fuck you and have a nice day. You pull the trigger, and the crack of gunfire is heard.

"Oh dear. That was... painful."

The man's head has it's back blown out, his sunglasses shattered, and a massive hole in his face. He smiles, then you watch as his face begins to repair itself, skin, bone and muscle knitting together until his head is fine again. He reaches into a pocket and replaces the sunglasses with a new pair, looking completely calm and bored with the whole thing. Something from your memory bubbles to the surface, and you feel fear starts to push its way into your thoughts.

'Be careful, Angel.'

"Such a shame we have to do this the hard. Ah well. Open fire.

The entire group of black suits opens up, and you throw your will out at them, focusing mainly on the rockets. You catch a few of them, but nowhere near all of them, and some of the rockets explode inside the launchers, killing the carriers and few people too close to escape harm. The rest poor into the building, ripping apart walls and destroying furniture and such. You go prone, avoiding any damage, while Raphael disappears to who knows where again, although you can hear something thump on the other side of the wall your next to. He must have dropped to the floor as well. You fire off another round at the leader, just to see if maybe the result is different, and once again, you're right on the mark.

'The Demon is coming.'

"Damnit, woman. You really need to stop doing that."

The process of healing works it's magic yet again, and once again, he replaces the sunglasses on his face. This time, however, he seems a tad bit more annoyed then before.

"Cease fire, and pull back. 23. Eliminate all threats, capture the one with the gun, if possible. I have some questions for her."

"Understood."

A woman steps past the man in black, an undrawn katana in her hands. She's dressed in what looks to be combat armor of some kinds, and as she moves you can tell. She's used to combat. She places the katana at her side, one hand holding the sheathe, the other the hilt of the blade, and she continue to walk silently towards the doorway into the base.

'And he wants your wings.'

Current BP: 10
Raphael's BP: 15
Boss BP: 23
>>>Input Command

Time to leave. Mission accomplished. Leave Twinda in your place. Have her shoot the woman as much as possible, first with the rifle then with the cold magnum, and once thats dry the normal gun.

Huh. The agent is different. That's not how breakers heal when we die. There's static, and our possessions respawn with us. Regeneration is something new. We've found our demon.

>>459011
She's a sword user. Gotta be high finesse, and Twinda's basically a normal. 23 will dodge, close, and deal with her very quickly. We need to buy more time for our allies to escape before we cut and run. Also, as a breaker, she may recognize her as a fake. The decoy plan was to fool the normals.

Obviously, we shoot her. Be ready for her to dodge, and close fast. We'll have to ditch the tank gun and rely on hand weapons when she gets close (although maybe we can use it to parry a sword blow?). Remember we're fighting in a damaged building- use that to your advantage. Shoot to collapse floors under her, or walls ceilings above her, if possible. Remember the ice gun can be used to ice the ground- mess up her movement or dodge, and let you shoot her with the pistol.

Point. While Twinda holds back we should still vamoose. However every couple 20-30 seconds we shoot her sword or swordhand. We should have high enough finesse to do shoot and run. The aim isn't to kill her but slow her down so much as possible.

I'd kind of prefer to conserve BP first. We may need it for respawns, replacing guns, and reloading. We can use Twinda as a decoy when and if we cut and run, but she's not terribly useful in a fight. (Well, possible use: we summon her, and order her to fire. Every time 23 dodges, we shoot her).

Don't forget we got Raphael backing us up. He'll likely assume the form of her worst fear- and after being mind raped and tortured, I expect it will be something powerful. ...although this could backfire if he can't control it. Or if she's just beyond fear- there's nothing left in her to be afraid.

>shoot her sword-arm
If we manage any limb shots we should immediately active break to make it permanent.

Overwhelming Opponent Linda McCallahan 2012/09/30(Sun)15:15 No. 459035 ID: a407a5
File 134904335439.jpg - (336.58KB , 800x1260 , Nightmare_demon_by_hgjart.jpg )

You switch your aim, figuring it's probably best to focus on someone actively trying to kill you. You open fire, the round headed straight towards it's target. Instead, 23 seems to sidestep easily, then, from her position halfway across the field, she's suddenly at the door way, crouched, with a stance readied to draw her blade and her number dropped to 18. You blink in surprise, then fire again, while pulling the weapon off the floor to make a dash for somewhere other than here. At least, that was the plan. You instead have to bring your weapon up to deflect the sudden sword that decided to appear out of the side of the wall, as 23 literally cuts the wall pretty much in half, your weapon quickly following as you duck underneath the attack. You stumble forward as 23 continues the swing, then spins to face you, weapon drawn. Part of you, the anime adoring part, can't help but be a little fan-girlish over the katana(SOMEONE ACTUALLY ATTACKING ME WITH A KATANA~), but the rest of you is in full combat mode, 9mm in one hand, Cold Magnum in the other. She tenses, obviously preparing to move forward, so you ice the ground. Fucking move over that, bit-

OH FOR FUCKS SAKE!

23 runs along the wall, using her amazing amounts of speed to keep her momentum going all the way down he corridor, even as you fire off three rounds at her. She jumps from one wall to the other while still moving towards you, which is just freaking the hell out of you, but you suddenly hear a rumble to the side just as she reaches you, and her body is thrown against the opposite wall by some sort of tentacle. From the shadows emerges... something, although whatever it is, it has Raphael's number floating around it, so you can only assume it's him. 23 practically freaks out, but as Raphael gets near her, she reacts like a warrior instead of a scared whimpering, panicky girl. She proceeds to slide Raphael straight down the middle, the bulky arms raised to defend himself cut straight through. He falls into two halves, but you don't stick around to find out what happens next, choosing instead to take off down a corridor, putting some space in between you and her.

Okay... need new plan.

>>>Input Command

Okay, she's got a skill like sudden appearance. 5BP for a short ranged teleport (possibly only to close with foes).

We've got a problem. She's got way more finesse than you, and even than Maria. She's enhanced her sword- it cuts through pretty much anything.

Pity you didn't peg her as she was engaging Raphael.

I think we're going to have to drop the building on her. I don't see how else we can hit her. (except perhaps with sweeping shots from the cold magnum- harder to dodge a moving beam than a bullet). May force her to burn BP teleport dodging as we try to collapse things on her, but that's still good.

I kinda feel bad for this breaker--she's obviously not working with them by her own will, remembering what the doctor said. After we stall for time deploy a flashbang and see if you can't ride Raph out of here--run the plan by him now to see if it's possible even.
I don't want to leave Twinda for a few reasons:
1)3 BP cost
2)It lets the enemy know we can make a double
3)They might be able to extract information from her about us

Hmm so she has teleportation, her blade is obviously enhanced up the wazoo. And she most likely has super-high finesse.

Lets make this a fighting retreat. Head for a window.

We need her to be distracted enough she cannot dodge. If she likes to wall run use that. Freeze the floor, shoot to get herr wall jumping and shoot her mid-air. People can't dodge mid-air unless they break reality and the entire purpose of these battles is to make them waste BP. If Ralph shows up again don't just stand there watching; shoot her while shes dealing him. (shouldn't have to say it, but Linda seems to do that a lot.)

We should also be using our finesse for more then dodging. Use the enviroment to your advantage. Remember Jackie Chan. A piece of cloth to tangle the blade if she gets too close. Kicking things at her. Etc.

"And he wants your wings".... god damnit that phase bugs the shit out of me. Maybe our foci? Can't think of anything else we might have that seems relevant to that phasing. Concerning 23, be careful. Considering the kind of powers breakers can get there's no telling what she could do. We don't even know if the sword is the focus of her powers.

Damnit updated while i typed

>>459044
If we get in a bad spot maybe we should hand a foci off to Raph so we don't get completely screwed if our foci get taken---the giant tank gun isn't going to be nimble enough in this situation, and it's our favorite, so maybe that one.

Another possible tactic:

The sword is a manifestation, and obviously heavily enhanced. To the point where she keeps it manifested. If we can damage or break it, it might be rather expensive for her to replace, BP-wise. Freeze ray is possibly the only way we'll ever hit it, though.

>>459044
I think we have to assume at this point there's something special about Linda we are yet unaware of. Note the agent/demon knew the person shooting him was female without even seeing us. He knows who we are- and has been looking for us.

Yeah. Running now seems a good idea. Running a lot seems a very, very good idea.

"Raphael? You think you can drag me into the dreamtime with you?"

"No idea, we'll just have to test it and se- Whoa! MEET ME NEAR THE BACK OF THE-FUCK-BACK OF THE BUILDING!"

You nod your head to no one in particular, then take off, heading towards your destination. You can hear some fighting going on somewhere to you left, but you ignore it, hoping to make it before 23 comes back. Soon enough, your somewhere in the back of the building, and now your just searching for Raphael. Then 23 is back, cutting her way through a wall to get to the other side. She glances around quickly, then dodges towards an open door as you open fire on her with the 9mm. You manage to put three round into her stomach, but she's through the door before you get to see if there's any damage.

"LINDA! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE, I'M PULLING US OUT!"

The call comes from almost directly in front of you, and you dart past the door, hoping you'd manage to down her long enough to keep her from messing with your escape. You find Raphael already starting to fade into the dreamtime, although he's holding himself back by mere moments. The moment he sees you, he stretches out his hand, and you sprint towards him, hoping to reach him in time. Before you can make it, however, you feel something kick your legs out from under you and you hit the ground, hard, weapons skittering out of your reach. Raphael had already released his hold on his push forward, and you can hear his final curse as he starts disappearing from sight. Still, you manage to get a random foci out from inside the pouch and toss it to Raphael, far more calmly than you thought you would be in this situation. He catches it, looking very surprised, before he's completely gone, leaving you alone with the enemy. A knee gets shoved into the small of your back, forcing you to the ground again, and you see a blade stab into the ground inches in front of your face.

"Target Apprehended."

"Good girl, 23. Good girl. Knock her out."

The back your head is grasped, and you get your face smashed into the ground. Just before you black out, you feel the pouch around your neck get torn from it's place, and you feel something inside seem to disappear along with it.

Chapter End

Experience Gained: 3

Time to meet the demon.

...godsdamnit. Why didn't we use Twinda as a decoy when we cut and ran? That was the plan.

Oh well. Let's at least be an asshole when the interrorgation starts. When he asks for our name, we're the Angel. He's the demon. Refuse to use other names.

And every one of those XP is going into finesse. Stupid bullshit hyper-dodging bosses.

I hope Linda had the foresight to pass the flash-drive with the intel to Cass or Nicole.

It would be nice to have actually completed the mission despite being captured. Who knows, maybe the others will be able to use whatever the doc cooks up to aid in a rescue attempt. Also god damnit how many bosses have we actually managed to beat, not just survive?

>>459082
I think when we faced Leviathan counted though she did give up rather then fight to the last.

>>459083
...we steamrolled the mech rather nicely. And levi went swimmingly. Finesse bosses are our weakness, though. We need homing explosive area of attack BP sapping bullets.

Hey! You're at a nice 2/4 right now! No complaining!

You know what they say about humanoid bosses:
"Leading powerfoligists theorize that as you become more powerful, you become more monstrous, and then sharply become humanoid again. They call it the Bishonen Line."

>>459365
Oh wow an Adventurers!'s quote thats awesome and it fits to haha