Crossfire

The Gamer Squad: Escape The Mainframe

@Fabricant451
Welcome back! We kept Jaz around, just in the background, so you can just jump back in.

@NightmareInd
Sorry to see you go man, best of luck to you in the future!

Mass Effect: The Word of Icarus

Hawke nodded in acknowledgement of Sena.
"We'll likely make a few stops at Omega across the course of this mission. In fact, probably a good idea to top off the supplies once we pick up the rest of the crew and they have time to take inventory. I'll bring it up to Commander Fisher, maybe he can convince Karvik to head that way before we hit that first lead. In fact, we should be hitting the Shadow Sea any minute now. I'll head up to the cockpit"

As Dan walked up through the ship he felt a slight lurch as the ship came out of FTL travel. Peering out of a port, he saw the distant shape of ARC's flagship Rocinante, they'd be initiating ship-to-ship docking any minute now.
"Commander... sir" the Sergeant Major nodded towards his superiors as he entered the cockpit "The crew was wondering if we'd be stopping off at Omega before the mission began. Supply run"
Fisher leaned to his right and swiped his hand over a holographic readout "Omega's a quicker jump to make than the Ismar Frontier, couldn't hurt to stock up first"
Karvik sat in silence, his jaw mandibles waving slightly as he contemplated.
"Fine. Have the crew provide a list of everything they need. This needs to be quick"

Over the next 20 minutes the ship docked with the Rocinante and the process began of carrying over Warrick and the rest of the ancillary crew. Their numbers suddenly increased from the fireteam and the 5 pseudo-engineers to over 35, including a dedicated pilot, cook, medic, and armorer, just to name a few. Fisher came back onboard after debriefing the new leader and remaining members of ARC, and soon they were on their way. Hawke, seated to the left of the pilot, stared out at the old frigate as he heard the groans of the space bridge uncoupling from the Omaha's docking port. The two ships broke off and he watched as the Rocinante faded into the distance, right up until the moment they hit the mass relay for the jump to Omega. He wondered if he'd ever see the old girl again, and from that thought he allowed his mind to wander, dreaming of an all-too-distant past.

Some time later, he was woken by the sound of Tarrin's voice echoing throughout the ship.
"Attention crew, this is Karvik. We'll be docking at Omega shortly. If you need to acquire anything from the station, head towards the docking port now or locate a member of the crew who can acquire it for you. As will be the norm, any requisitions from a member of ARC, send word to Sgt. Major Hawke. This is a short trip. In fact, from the moment we dock, you have one hour. Anyone not on board when that time is up gets left behind. Karvik out"

Mass Effect: The Word of Icarus

Tarrin strutted off towards the cockpit, seemingly oblivious to Arlus' question. Fisher decided to jump in.
"The Council isn't welcome in the Terminus Systems just based on principle. An official military task force would get no help from the locals. Besides that fact, an invasion of military forces might be seen as an act of war by certain groups out here. Even if it didn't, the very rumors of military presence wold send Icarus burrowing deeper into whatever holes they may be hiding in"

"Pirate crew like this is exactly what's expected out on the frontier" Hawke added, taking the cue from Fisher to take over. "We can't roll around promoting ourselves as mercs with ARC or a made-up outfit, cuz Icarus will know someone's payin big to have them wiped out. Again, that'd scare 'em into hiding until they can cause more damage, but I think the point is no one's gonna blink twice at a rogue Spectre hoppin' around in a stolen Alliance ship with a small crew, just enough off the radar to not arouse suspicion while gathering intel, I mean maybe the Spectre thing would draw some eyes, but then we just stab 'em and go on our way"

He chuckled at his own bad joke before trailing off. He coughed awkwardly before launching into his best 'bad comedian' impression. "Soooooo, any other questions? comments? Interesting backstory? Come on guys, help me out, I'm dyin' up here"

Mass Effect: The Word of Icarus

Yeah, this weekend was a bit hectic for me. Friend of mine who works away from home had a few days off so he came to visit us all out here in the boonies, and whenever I had a few hours to myself, I generally spent them binge-watching the hell out of Luke Cage.

@Spud @NecroKnight

Think you guys can get a post up today? I'd like to move us ahead by this time tomorrow night if possible.

The Gamer Squad: Escape The Mainframe

Alright everyone, we're back on track.

Apologies to anyone who isn't familiar with Dark Souls. I know that post will sound pretty confusing to some, so I fished up a video from a pretty big Dark Souls youtuber (that unfortunately has pretty annoying commentary) to visually compliment that post. The first 3 and 1/2 minutes or so is the journey we took in the post, and the 'nexus' is where he's walking at round the 3:45-4:15 mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg1esmZgaes

That's generally how this section'll go I think, we'll have a combat encounter for a few rounds of posting, then I'll jump us ahead a bit, unless we want to explore it? Kinda bad planning on my part, I wanted us to take on a boss from Dark Souls 3, but also provide a section for the characters to get used to the world, but I have an idea on how to make it make sense for us. Stay tuned for the next exciting episode of Dragon Ball Z: Cross Figures Shit Out!

The Gamer Squad: Escape The Mainframe

David selected a shield and battle axe for himself, he kept the weapons locker screen on the spear, just in case he needed to shift to a dexterity-based weapon. He sadly had no idea how to figure out what kind of stats they had loaded into the game with, so they had to play it by ear.
"Ok, so we're agreed on this plan? So, I've spent way longer than I care to say trying to master these games, and honestly, they're difficult, but not as bad as the general public makes it out to be. We should be fine if we each play our roles properly. Those of us with them, shield up. You see something big, roll or run back. Most enemies are weakest in their back, so maneuver around them if you can. If this truly is the beginning of the game, we'll only be fighting hollowed soldiers for the most part, until we reach the top of that tower wall. Let's give it a go guys"

The group proceeded up the hill towards the entryway to the Undead Burgh zone, a few hollows were easily dispatched by David and the rest of the front line. Before too long they had reached the nexus of the area. A crossroads of rooftops, passageways, and if this world followed the rules of Dark Souls, a bonfire safe zone.

"Ok everyone, I remember this place well, it's actually a good grinding zone, and the perfect place to get used to combat. We're gonna have about 8 hollows around us, easy to take out. One on a raised platform has a crossbow, might want to get rid of him quick. The rest are pretty standard. Up across from the bonfire room are some undead soldiers who'll toss fire bombs, you archers should probably tackle those guys, they can be slightly annoying if the fight gets drawn up above. Once we've cleared it out, we'll use the bonfire and experiment a bit, see how well this digital world constructed the game. Ready, set.... charge!!!!"

Mass Effect: The Word of Icarus

@Arcarius@NecroKnight@zackattack279@Spud

"All Crew gather in the CIC"
Tarrin set the Omaha to auto-pilot and marched off towards the Galaxy Map display. Fisher and Hawke were already waiting on him.

"Why do humans always name these ships so strangely" Karvik wondered aloud as he got within earshot of his companions.
"Historical significance I think" Hawke grinned "Alliance likes to remember it's past or some la-di-da bullshit. To be fair, perhaps the ship does need a better name now that we're officially pirates"
"we can debate that later Sergeant, crew'll be arriving shortly. Did the crew receive their belongings?"
"I assigned my engineers to dig them out of the storage crate. I'll radio down, have them drop off the gear at everyone's quarters"

Commander Fisher nudged Dan's shoulder and beckoned him aside.
"We need to talk a moment, want your input on something. Clearly neither of us can lead ARC while we're on this mission, and we'll be taking a few more of the boys onboard when we hit the rendezvous point. Can't just have the company disappear, so we need someone to be in charge for the interim. I'm down to either Donaldson or Warrick"
"Donaldson's an ass, but he has a good eye for the business of things... can't shoot worth a damn though. Warrick's a nervous wreck when you even mention the possibility of him leading a squad. Damn good front line man. Excellent battlefield awareness. Can't they co-lead like you and Jarek?
The very mention of their friend's name still stung. His passing would be mourned for quite some time.
"Can't do it, as much as I'd prefer to, that'd stick us with Lanbo as the head of our backup squad on here. I'd rather have a vorcha chew up my innards"
"Aw hell, I don't want Donaldson here bitching at me, and like I said, he's an excellent negotiator, and I'd prefer Warrick to watch our six if we need it"
Fisher nodded in Tarrin's direction. The crew had assembled and he began to speak.

"Welcome aboard the SSV Omaha everyone. You all know why we're here- to hunt down these fucking savages that call themselves Icarus, and stop them. Few of us in this crew have a good reason for wanting them gone... myself included. We will take no prisoners and give no quarter. We find them, and I guarantee you, we will, we send them to their maker in pieces. No exceptions. Right now we're en route to link up with the rest of the ship's crew, who come to us courtesy of our friends from ARC. They'll fill the ancillary roles on the ship as well as provide backup on the ground if we need it. After that we'll be following up on a lead from an STG decrypter I worked with in my Spectre days, he's provided me with coordinates to the Icarus message's broadcast origins. We'll hit the ground there and see what we find. We'll reconvene once we're in scanning range, around three hours time. Dismissed. Oh, and any of you who had gear confiscated by C-Sec. We had it brought on-board. The engineers are fishing it out of the storage bay. If anything's missing, talk to Sergeant Hawke, I got nothing to do with it"

The Gamer Squad: Escape The Mainframe

@Eklispe

Agreed, and I'm putting forward a motion that going forward, if we're waiting longer than 2 days characters we're waiting on go on auto-pilot, they can catch up when they get back. That goes for everyone, myself included. Even though I don't think I have anything comin up that would keep me offline for 2 full days, I don't even work right now (thanks a lot Canadian government)

Post will be up at some point today to move us ahead

Mass Effect: The Word of Icarus

Prisoner Holding Deck,
Citadel Docks,
22 Hours After Icarus Bombings

'At least they finally managed to cut off that incessant message' Tarrin thought to himself as he walked past the blank screen of a Galactic News Terminal. His team had been assembled, and as per the Council's instruction, they were sitting in the holding cells designed to detain prisoners who were being shipped off-world. Their gear had been placed inside the SSV Omaha, a newly constructed Alliance-Turian vessel in the same design of the Normandy. The official story would be a loss in power triggered the door opening, and the 7 prisoners made a break for it aboard the stealth ship that was awaiting deployment. Fisher and Hawke were supposed to be passing the message to the others, but to be sure, he was heading in himself.

The door to the C-Sec checkpoint slid open and the two human officers stationed there stood to salute.
"There's no need for that, officially I'm a renegade now, remember? You're both clear on your role in this?"
"Yes sir" the closest one responded.
"Well, cuff me and bring me in. Time is short"

He was escorted into the holding room and took a seat alongside Fisher.
"Status" he whispered to the human, keeping an eye on the cameras above them, waiting for the signal to move.
"All ready to go sir"
"Let's get to it"
The light above the camera flickered and went out, they were free to talk. Tarrin stood and addressed his new crew.
"You're all sitting here cuz you agreed to a job. Whatever reasons you had for signing on are your own. Consider this the moment you clocked in. In one minute, the lights will go out and that door's gonna spring open, when it does, don't hesitate, just run. We're gonna board that frigate and make for the relay. They're gonna shoot at us because they have to, but they will not hit. We'll discuss the mission once we're free of Council space. In the meantime, explore the deck, find a place to call your own. Now run like hell"

As he finished, the doors sprung open, and the crew moved out. The next 15 minutes were a blur of gunfire, blasting cannons, and way too many close calls for Tarrin's liking, but they finally hit the mass effect relay, and with that, their mission began.

Mass Effect: The Word of Icarus

@zackattack279 I'll leave that up to each of you to decide. However you want to introduce your character is fine by me. Once everyone gets their intro done, I'll be jumping us ahead slightly to us boarding our ship and heading out.

Speaking of, Seeing as we don't really know the layout of any other kind of ship, we'll be commandeering a brand new ship based on the Normandy's design. Seeing as Shepard is already dead and the Normandy destroyed by the time this rp takes place, kinda makes sense that the Alliance and turians would want to continue using that (very effective) design, right?