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7 yrs ago
Hot dogs are already cooked. Might as well just sear them to add flavor.
7 likes
7 yrs ago
I love it when I catch up on my posting.
2 likes
7 yrs ago
If you take college seriously, it opens doors. Harvard and Hopkins makes it easier, but you can do well anywhere.
3 likes
7 yrs ago
Prefer to brainstorm on Discord for that reason.
1 like
7 yrs ago
Windows 10 is very much like a German prison camp guard, "Ah, I see you are tryink to escape work fifteen minutes early, Herr Colonel Hogan, here ist an update zat vill stall you!"
4 likes

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He who fights with monsters should look to it
that he himself does not become a monster.
And when you gaze long into an abyss
the abyss also gazes into you.

- Friedrich Nietzsche
"Beyond Good and Evil" (1886)


Cybersurgery...
TL;DR Summary:

  • DISCORD Link!
  • Near future, year 2026, modified Earth setting (to account for a variation in technological development.)
  • Vampires exist, as they have for a long, long time, ageless and hard to kill and thus fancy themselves apex predators who use their resources and influence to ensure that they cannot be assailed by common humanity.
  • Society does not know this, or the way the Eternal, as the Vampires call themselves, have maintained a policy of culling humanity but not destroying it, to profit from it. Through the long centuries, the initial cull policies of removing the brightest, the most creative for turning have morphed into a policy of turning beautiful people into vampires. The eldest were the great minds of their time, but they've also become set in their ways.
  • The Vigil has also existed from ancient times in a variety of forms, collecting information as best it could against Vampires, though it found few successes in hunting them. They have, instead in secret, cultivated the wealth and resources necessary to eventually confront vampires when the opportunity arose. Vampires have long since dismissed the Vigil as being a passive organization and a non-threat, as a second-rate Illuminati that focuses on economic interests and corporate affairs. They never bothered to crush the Vigil and the Vigil has been very good about masquerading as an organization that has long since abandoned its original goals in preference of simply pursuing profit, while faking scientist deaths and undertaking other operations to 'move the needle' toward their actual goals.
  • Through the course of the 20th and early 21st century, the Vigil has been content to continue this policy of appearing harmless, even as it took to the bleeding edge of technological research; a combination of extensive corporate espionage and sponsored research and development have yielded considerable leaps forward in a variety of technological fields. The Vampires, in their arrogance, do not realize that the plan is to advance to a point where they can level the playing field against vampires and fight them toe to toe.
  • The recruits are your characters -- they have a variety of skills, backgrounds and reasons for associating with the Vigil; they are all victims of vampires who have survived their encounters, and have been modified to be able to even the score.
  • These characters are sent forth, armed with the best equipment their very rich patrons can provide as a kill-team; their orders are to assassinate vampires. Ideally, they are to preserve their secrecy as much as possible, but killing vampires is the priority.
  • Oh, and the first operation will be killing an Edward Cullen type. How cool is that?
  • Specifics of technology will be discussed, but I have a general idea of where I want to draw the line.
  • Inspirations; Movies - Munich, Blade Runner, Blade, The Lost Boys, Escape from New York. Books - the works of William Gibson, Dracula and Twilight, at least for the idea of killing an Edward Cullen type first. :)
  • No thank you on half-vampires and daywalkers. This is about the victims.
In Character Info:
Vampires have styled themselves the apex predators, the ones that take the predator that kills all the other life on Earth, and have fallen into this pattern of considering humanity prey. Some of them try to view humanity as a threat, but the oldest, the ones in charge, are set in their ways and sometimes have a hard time adapting to the idea of humans advancing beyond the means of the time that they were made into a vampire, a time when they were rampant over the earth. Hunters have come and hunters have gone, but with limited means to do damage to the Eternal, their name for themselves.

Organizations too, have come and gone, hunters trying to eradicate vampires under the auspices of the church and some kings, but they have failed, largely due to the inability to match the vampires unparalleled strength, speed and powers; the natural abilities that make them the predator and humans the prey.

One organization has watched and waited, understanding that until the day arrived that they were able to match these strengths and perhaps overcome them the fell rule of the Eternal from the shadows would continue unabated. Through the long centuries, members lived and died, compiling and securing information on their enemies, but not moving against them hastily. They invested assets wisely, cultivated research and learning, infiltrated institutions, worked with a slow purpose and a goal that spanned many lifetimes of effort, waiting for when science would allow them to match or even outmatch the vampires. The vampires, in addressing more overt threats, violent threats, derided the Vigil as timid scholars. The Vigil played the long game, looking for a time when there would be a means to fight the vampires effectively. The world slowly changed, but the Eternal did not change with the times as well as the Vigil did.

Now, in 2026, that reckoning has come.
Out of Character Info
The characters are essentially a team of hunters enhanced with cybernetics that are hunting vampires; the cybernetics are still a prototype phase, but they work and the enhancements are considerable in their performance and scary in their implications -- the characters are giving up their humanity to fight the inhuman, and that Niezstchean element of the RP should not be forgotten. They are more like what they fight than they wish to admit.

Characters are selected for many reasons, but they boil down to the basic imperatives of 'skills' and 'motivation.' Vampires are more visceral and are not, generally, creatures of training and self-discipline. While a few are brought into the fold for their skills, they are more often picked by their masters out of some sort of lust, and so there are quite a few artist and beautiful people types among the vampires. The Vigil, by contrast, looked at their recruits carefully for the skillset and mentality of those they are enhancing to fight the vampires -- they can build the body, after all.

Therefore, the characters are picked for what's in their heads; not just military types, but sharp investigators, cyberwarfare and hacking experts and people that can move easily through most places and speak the native languages. The implants enhance these abilities, but the characters quickly come to realize that the implants give them a fighting chance, but they do not assure victory. Only creative thinking and their skills can do that.

All the same, for a variety of reasons ranging from wanting revenge to desiring the ability to walk again without a wheelchair or even an idealistic desire to free humanity of this scourge, the characters signed on for the long haul, with their flesh and blood as down payment.
@Blenheim I am not familiar with that, but will take a look!
He who fights with monsters should look to it
that he himself does not become a monster.
And when you gaze long into an abyss
the abyss also gazes into you.

- Friedrich Nietzsche
"Beyond Good and Evil" (1886)


Cybersurgery...
TL;DR Summary:

  • Near future, year 2026, modified Earth setting (to account for a variation in technological development.)
  • Vampires exist, as they have for a long, long time, ageless and hard to kill and thus fancy themselves apex predators who use their resources and influence to ensure that they cannot be assailed by common humanity.
  • Society does not know this, or the way the Eternal, as the Vampires call themselves, have maintained a policy of culling humanity but not destroying it, to profit from it. Through the long centuries, the initial cull policies of removing the brightest, the most creative for turning have morphed into a policy of turning beautiful people into vampires. The eldest were the great minds of their time, but they've also become set in their ways.
  • The Vigil has also existed from ancient times in a variety of forms, collecting information as best it could against Vampires, though it found few successes in hunting them. They have, instead in secret, cultivated the wealth and resources necessary to eventually confront vampires when the opportunity arose. Vampires have long since dismissed the Vigil as being a passive organization and a non-threat, as a second-rate Illuminati that focuses on economic interests and corporate affairs. They never bothered to crush the Vigil and the Vigil has been very good about masquerading as an organization that has long since abandoned its original goals in preference of simply pursuing profit, while faking scientist deaths and undertaking other operations to 'move the needle' toward their actual goals.
  • Through the course of the 20th and early 21st century, the Vigil has been content to continue this policy of appearing harmless, even as it took to the bleeding edge of technological research; a combination of extensive corporate espionage and sponsored research and development have yielded considerable leaps forward in a variety of technological fields. The Vampires, in their arrogance, do not realize that the plan is to advance to a point where they can level the playing field against vampires and fight them toe to toe.
  • The recruits are your characters -- they have a variety of skills, backgrounds and reasons for associating with the Vigil; they are all victims of vampires who have survived their encounters, and have been modified to be able to even the score.
  • These characters are sent forth, armed with the best equipment their very rich patrons can provide as a kill-team; their orders are to assassinate vampires. Ideally, they are to preserve their secrecy as much as possible, but killing vampires is the priority.
  • Oh, and the first operation will be killing an Edward Cullen type. How cool is that?
  • Specifics of technology will be discussed, but I have a general idea of where I want to draw the line.
  • Inspirations; Movies - Munich, Blade Runner, Blade, The Lost Boys, Escape from New York. Books - the works of William Gibson, Dracula and Twilight, at least for the idea of killing an Edward Cullen type first. :)
  • No thank you on half-vampires and daywalkers. This is about the victims.
In Character Info:
Vampires have styled themselves the apex predators, the ones that take the predator that kills all the other life on Earth, and have fallen into this pattern of considering humanity prey. Some of them try to view humanity as a threat, but the oldest, the ones in charge, are set in their ways and sometimes have a hard time adapting to the idea of humans advancing beyond the means of the time that they were made into a vampire, a time when they were rampant over the earth. Hunters have come and hunters have gone, but with limited means to do damage to the Eternal, their name for themselves.

Organizations too, have come and gone, hunters trying to eradicate vampires under the auspices of the church and some kings, but they have failed, largely due to the inability to match the vampires unparalleled strength, speed and powers; the natural abilities that make them the predator and humans the prey.

One organization has watched and waited, understanding that until the day arrived that they were able to match these strengths and perhaps overcome them the fell rule of the Eternal from the shadows would continue unabated. Through the long centuries, members lived and died, compiling and securing information on their enemies, but not moving against them hastily. They invested assets wisely, cultivated research and learning, infiltrated institutions, worked with a slow purpose and a goal that spanned many lifetimes of effort, waiting for when science would allow them to match or even outmatch the vampires. The vampires, in addressing more overt threats, violent threats, derided the Vigil as timid scholars. The Vigil played the long game, looking for a time when there would be a means to fight the vampires effectively. The world slowly changed, but the Eternal did not change with the times as well as the Vigil did.

Now, in 2026, that reckoning has come.
Out of Character Info
The characters are essentially a team of hunters enhanced with cybernetics that are hunting vampires; the cybernetics are still a prototype phase, but they work and the enhancements are considerable in their performance and scary in their implications -- the characters are giving up their humanity to fight the inhuman, and that Niezstchean element of the RP should not be forgotten. They are more like what they fight than they wish to admit.

Characters are selected for many reasons, but they boil down to the basic imperatives of 'skills' and 'motivation.' Vampires are more visceral and are not, generally, creatures of training and self-discipline. While a few are brought into the fold for their skills, they are more often picked by their masters out of some sort of lust, and so there are quite a few artist and beautiful people types among the vampires. The Vigil, by contrast, looked at their recruits carefully for the skillset and mentality of those they are enhancing to fight the vampires -- they can build the body, after all.

Therefore, the characters are picked for what's in their heads; not just military types, but sharp investigators, cyberwarfare and hacking experts and people that can move easily through most places and speak the native languages. The implants enhance these abilities, but the characters quickly come to realize that the implants give them a fighting chance, but they do not assure victory. Only creative thinking and their skills can do that.

All the same, for a variety of reasons ranging from wanting revenge to desiring the ability to walk again without a wheelchair or even an idealistic desire to free humanity of this scourge, the characters signed on for the long haul, with their flesh and blood as down payment.
Vogel stepped right in, keeping everyone under direct control when Park went down. Veterans knew to stay in their lane and let the medics do their job. Robson shifted back to take over Lang's assistant role, putting eyes on the situation and firing as necessary. Madsen had the machinegun and Browne had a grenade launcher, so that meant that Robson was the assistant and the spotter, as necessary. As soon as it was reported that Park was hit, he was cut into Lang's old access privileges on the network; he had access to the fire support net and other resources, which created a different set of menus on his augmented reality HUD.

That also gave him insight to a location that looked like a definite danger area; Grathik specs revealed that the squat, rounded buildings, with holes gouged from stray fire and fragmentation, were part of a service access system that could be a potential means of reinforcement if the enemy were feeling crafty. There was no real way to process every bit of available network data on specific features, and so the sudden realization of that vulnerability in their line was a priority, as the maintenance shaft were rail lines, not powered, but definitely a way for infantry to move. It was sheltered, and probably would need to be cleared once higher command processed that info. If the Grathik were amenable, they could just demo the fucker, but do the tentacle monster overlords consider their infrastructure more important than their mercenaries?, the cynical part of his mind asked. It'd take a lot of explosives to collapse the tunnel properly, and it might not be structurally viable...but then again, it might be worth doing.

He flagged it for Vogel, even as he made a snap decision on how to cover it. "Dieter," he radio'ed Vogel, "I'm shifting my team to cover those maint buildings," referencing the indicated position.

"Browne," he panted a bit in the lull of firing that suddenly cropped up, "I want you to be ready to reposition left. Madsen, stay put and cover, that way," he gave a pointed direction on where to keep an eye, "And top off, frag, incendiary, smoke, electronic beacon, 2 more frag. We'll move once you are loaded, mate." The M32 allowed them a degree of utility in picking grenade loads, but it took time to reload. It was fine equipment so long as you paid attention to the load and made sure it was 'topped off' with the right mix. The beacon was to quickly provide a marker for fire support on everyone's augmented reality visors and the network, giving them a common point of reference once engaged. Rapid fire and magazine capacity meant they could dedicate one of five rounds to such a function.

He had a couple of LAW-type rockets, whatever the Grathik did to make them viable on this battlefield. They were higher velocity and considerably more potent, but still could do the same work -- good against vehicles, some armor and fixed positions. Those squat little maint buildings could become very dangerous little bunker systems with only a little bit of work. He was anticipating infiltration.

"Okay!" Madsen shouted, and that was when Robson made the first shift forward, with his gunner and his grenadier covering. He slid into place behind some broken-off structure, and leaned carefully in with his carbine, watching the corners, the doorways and the general area, eyes off the optic on his weapon, a holo sight and magnifier, but never far from it. Browne came behind him once he was in position and quickly set up his M240B without such close supervision needed -- the man was a professional and knew how best to set up his weapon for the job.

He was breathing heavily, but that was the normal. The tempo of the fighting had him already wearing out a bit, but in the lull, he was able to suck down lukewarm, tasteless hydration fluid, just as the others were able to. But he was wary, knowing that lulls could be deadly. In place, hydrated and waiting, he quickly switched out to a full magazine and checked everything else that he could think of, running a mental count of grenades and other essentials while waiting for the expected unexpected.


Looks groovy to me!
Hover vehicles were a new sensation still; a layout done on the basis of human designs, and conforming to the role of an IFV, so that was familiar.

Rather, it was the way it moved, floating and bobbing, rather than rumbling and rattling. He muttered, "I guess it's a fucking Mercedes Benz war..." got a rueful chuckle by another squadmate that got the drift. His hands went over the equipment, his eyes visually checked on everyone else. He had a carbine in hand, a human-designed but Grathik manufactured weapon that essentially upgraded what they had into something that put them in a similar category of lethality to Salvesh weaponry. The limitations came from being chemically-propelled, but the Grathik and human commanders reckoned that the advantages of familiarity outweighed the limitations of the tech.

The weapons and uniforms were fairly familiar, but dropping down without a parachute or rope and then loading into a hover vehicle? That brought home how different it was, just as the impact of that alien weaponry did as well.

In the course of the ride, he quickly added a single shot rocket launcher, similar to a LAW, to his loadout, same as the others who were replenishing ammo and adding weaponry to their loadout; apparently, they'd felt the same way about the Salvesh fire when it came in as Robson did. When Park told them to get ready to move, he shifted slightly and got ready to hit the buckle that held him down. When the signal came, he was up on his feet and out the hatch fast; the first thing they'd drilled on as soon as the new vehicles came was getting out of them and into the fight quickly.

They had good cover to dig into, in the form of Grathik-built prefab cover as well as the boulevard's fixture itself. Other units were tasked with the clearing, and Squad Park's turn would surely come, but for the moment, they were providing fire support. As soon as the drones and various other cameras and sensors established contact, they would engage, but then the electronic target designation would fuzz as enemy countermeasures took effect. Then the Humans' equipment would gain the upper hand. It came down to eyes, ears, reflexes and instinct.

At least a couple of the enemy were laying down far, effective fire, and it seemed to be striking, as far as he could tell, from an elevated position; close enough for Robson, he didn't need a fucking shave from the enemy. He thought he saw some sort of origin of fire.

"Brown, shift the fire left onto the dildo tower," he was just trying to describe it accurately, "halfway up the shaft!"

Unsure of the enemy's combat dispositions beyond Grathik information sources, he told Park, "Unknown number of sniper quality riflemen, about 700m from us, elevated position," he reported to Park, even as he tried to get better eyes on the enemy, calling out adjustments to the fire...
Stack, breach, clear. There was a rhythm to the close quarters fighting that COMPFORCE troopers were not terribly familiar with but Jenk Beskad was; he'd been in the fighting in Lorya, on Uslam, that was street to street and building to building, holding to cover the evacuation of key leadership and people.

He managed to get on one of the last transports out with fellow Uslamer troopers that made it too.

His squad wasn't all Uslam, but they had enough veterans of the siege that the knowledge was trained into the replacements. But the way the Rebellion was going, he wasn't sure there'd be any Uslamers left in the Uslam Liberators by the time it was done. Every operation, no matter how well-planned it was, resulted in risks that took one more of their comrades away and replaced them with a new face. The Rebellion's recruits had the hearts of nexu tigers, but did not know enough, and there wasn't enough time to get them ready, if there ever was a way to make someone truly ready for war and all its encompassing horrors.

The most worrying replacement, however, was Lieutenant Grann Ulgo, an Alderaanian. Besk couldn't fault that the man tried and might grow into the role despite being a Core Worlder from "a planet where peace and beauty are common preoccupations," but the man wanted to be in the breach team when he probably should have been helping keep the perimeter. There was a time and a place for "Lead from the Front" and this operation was not it. Ulgo wasn't as bad as ex-Imperial officers who often looked at the Liberators and cringed a bit, because they were used to the crisp paradeground and propaganda-vid appearance of the Imperial Forces, which were positioned as a visual prop to the regime's terror -- Stormtroopers in white, walker vehicles, a mass of indomitable force. All the same, he was green.

He should have let the veterans lead the breach. He got a smoking hole in his chest. The man behind him got the trooper that did it, but the damage was done. Besk got down on a knee, when it was his turn in, as the others moved to secure the first section of interior, slowly and deliberately. He checked the man to see if he was still alive, which meant that he'd need treatment, or if he was dead. Then, establishing that he was killed, moved him aside so they could collect him later.

There wasn't much sentiment in it; the young man's eyes stared up into nothing. The next room in the facility was up, and his squad was already preparing to enter. They could see the sparks from a torch on the other side. Someone was trying to seal it. Besk glanced at the tell-tale sign and then nodded to another trooper, who placed an explosive charge on the door. They'd brought plenty of those. With the charge placed and less than half a minute to the explosion, the Rebels fell back.

The charge went off, the door was blown off its guide-rails, and two grenades went right through like clockwork. When those went off, the squad started to move in, covering corners and looking to make sure anyone left alive didn't get back up. There were a couple of mangled bodies and one screaming officer to show for the effort, but no one was taking chances. A blaster bolt silenced the officer.

Unlike Rebel bases, Imperial facilities had a common layout due to the manufacturing complex behind the Imperial regime; standardization of equipment was an economic measure to drive costs down, which meant that as much as could be pre-fabricated was. That made it easier for Imperial Forces to be familiarized with the layout of a base anywhere.

It meant that you had a reasonable expectation of what the layout was in a given Imperial facility and knew where to go. Besk's squad wasn't the only one in there, Green was also in the building, tasked with command and control. Besk's job was different; powerplant, engineering. Hard reboot of the power systems to give Intelligence a window during which they could slice through using the command consoles. That meant that they were going down a set of stairs, not trusting a lift.

Meanwhile, they could hear the sound of intensifying combat outside. "Tick Tock" here was "Boom boom." The Liberators needed those fixed defenses and fast.
I rewrote my last post. It is slightly different than the first. I have a pet peave about writers who excessively use that, had and have in ways that can be written better. I am guilty of doing this on first drafts, but am compelled to change the words when I edit.


It's all good. I often redraft my first posts too as well.
<Snipped quote by HeySeuss>
Yes to all of the above. The only thing that is very different from what I am accustomed to is the addition of the dismounted .50 caliber MG on the hover rig. It is an innovative use to new technology. Dismounted infantry can now bring heavier weapons into combat at the lower levels.


I would also assume the same sort of rig is available for other heavy weapons, including Mk.19's, M134's and a number of other weapons systems. It's probably a boon to the mobility of a weapons platoon especially.

The Grathik design principle was to make it user friendly to already-trained troops rather than retrain the troops, so there's that as well. It's easier for them to integrate into their tactics that way.
Is the weapons loadout on the APC similar to a Bradley's loadout? Some sort of autocannon and ATM's? I can see there being drone/remote weapons systems in play to reduce the number of crew involved in the operation.

Also, do we have a sense of what the squad loadout looks like? I figure they might well have taken a couple LAWs apiece or similar, or extra ammo for rifles and automatic weapons for this fight.
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