GATE OPENING IN T-MINUS THREE SECONDS, TWO, ONE A klaxon of warning sirens sound off as the construct, the Gate, begins to shimmer with activity. A starscape appears before you, and a line begins to weave from the glowing blue dot, Earth, across the sparkling beacons, bouncing from junction point to junction point, until it reaches the red target destination. Your heart thumps loudly in your chest as the navcom display closes and the Gate shimmers with liquidine luminescence. Knowing that time is of the essence, you step through, gulping back the last bit of your trembles. The now-familiar pulling at your muscles as the alien technology grabs hold of you works as a massage, and your vision goes blind with a white blaze of light. When your vision clears, you find yourself outdoors, standing on a Gatepad, surrounded by the busy goings-on of other Gate-jumpers. So this is Veda-12, hunh? Not much to look at. A no tech world, uninhabited by any lifeforms with advanced tech, you recall your orders from the Fleet Marshal. "Raven, there's something down there eating our colonists. Find it, and wipe it out." Of course, if those damn Xenites weren't so alien-happy, maybe you could do your job in peace. Picking up your gear bag, you move out, noting several environpods having been gated in. Designed to provide a livable shelter on new worlds that can picked up and folded back for easy relocation, each pod links up to each others, forming small biodomes for shared communal use. Searching through the crowd, you find Elminister9, an Arcanist from way back, a little crazy, but still, a good man to have at your back. The two of you glance at each and nod, briefly. The two of you walk out into the wilderness, ready to explore and discover, and, if necessary, eliminate. When you got to the game site, you placed a neon yellow armband on your arm to signify to other players already in play that you are Out-Of-Play, or OOP, for short, and you then proceeded to Debriefing. There you checked in and obtained a Persona Stat Card, which listed all of your available skills. You also picked up a series of tags that signified your abilities that can only be used a number of times. After checking in, you proceeded to your room and dropped off your items, placing your OOP items under bed and filling out the Marshal's sheet letting any Marshal who wanders by know who is sleeping in that room. You then proceeded to the "Entrypoint" where you first come Into Play, or IP. He grabs the back of your plasti-plate armor, and the two of you advance into the night. As you walk away from the main LZ, the sounds of people fade, the noise swallowed by the trees and brush around you. You continue to scour the area, checking every so often your sat-map of the area. The Fleet Marshal said it'd be here somewhere. Ah, yes. You notice the telltale red dirt mound of a Fire Beetle horde. Activating your Times Square Marquee, you bring up the Xeno-form menu. Fire Beetles are known to cluster around known heat sources, often fowling mining unit power sources, perhaps? Glancing back at Elminister9, you wave your head over to the mound, questioning. He shrugs, shakes his head, and grabs tight, ready to heal you as you go. Your approach begins silently enough, but a fateful misstep and a broken twig reveal your approach. Movement and noise begin to stir from within the mound. The ground begins to shake...... BORE BEETLES! The ground around you and Elminster9 erupts as huge black beetles rise from their tunnels under your feet. You quickly gather your wits and draw your pulse rifle. Three quick heavy shots drop the small one in front of you. You hear Elminster9 chanting, weaving energies long since thought dead in a dizzying array of fire and lightning. Then, you see, him. Ahead of you stands the largest, thickest, and blackest beetle you've ever laid eyes upon. You fire a quick pulse, which its ignores. Ranged Weapons are represented by using Nerf(TM)-style weapons that fires Nerf(TM) balls, or foam-and-pipe representations of the weapon and throw foam balls or small bean bags. Each time you do that, you call out the damage of your weapon, in this case "Four Basic". This represents the amount of damage you do. Basic damage is easily healed, but it will certainly stun them into unconsciousness or kill. Drained, you drop the rifle and draw you pistol. You charge it to the max, and fire. Still, the black beetle advances, unaffected by your weapon. You cast it to the side and pull out your vibro-blade. You throw yourself hell-mell against him, swinging with every ounce of strength your bio-advanced arms can muster. AHA! Your blade finds purchase, and a strange keening sound rises from the beast in front of you. Weapons like claws, swords, and staves are represented by foam representations made from common plumbing and kite supplies. They are safety-checked to make sure they conform to your local chapter's weapon guideline policy, and are not used in a truly dangerous manner. Swings are limited to hitting someone just enough that they feel it, without actually hurting them. Most melee weapons do "Basic" damage, which takes points off of your hit points or armor points. Like Ranged Weapons, you call out your damage with every attempt to hit, in this case "Two Basic". Sometimes you may also wish to use "Pummel" damage, which can wound a person but will never kill them.. in which case you would call "Two Pummel". Then, behind you, you hear a cry, as your forgotten companion falls to the claws of the lesser beetles. Outnumbered, surrounded by monsters far too strong for you to take on, you Punch Out. Punching Out is just one of the many bits of cybertech you can come across in your travels. An alien technology, this has you return to a cloning vat or biodome without needing to draw from the resurrection deck, and without it counting towards your death total. See the section entitled "Life, Death and After" for more details on dying. When the glittering lights stop, you find yourself in your biodome, with the Fleet Marshal standing front fo you. "What the filth flarn filth happened to you out there, Private?!?" |