Futuristic HOUNDS: An 80s/90s Cyberpunk Inspired RP [CLOSED]

[joshuadim]

Kane felt the next impact as he got hit yet again, and while his exoskeleton yet again took the brunt of the force Kane was very audibly pissed off. "FUCKING ROBO-****!" he shouted aloud as he ducked back into cover behind the muscle car. He quickly checked the integrity of his exoskeleton, which worridly was starting to deteriorate from repeated abuse. He'd need to get that fixed should they survive the encounter with this drone. He took a quick peek and saw the others focusing on the drone's weak points to take it down, which Kane scoffed. They could take the next blow, he deserved a bit of reprieve.

Then a thought popped into his head. Given the car he had requisitioned belong to one of the cartel members back in the club, perhaps there was something of use in it for him? He immediately gave a cackle as he opened the car door and began to rummage inside as the chaos outside unfolded.

 

[Infab]

Old LA - Outskirts - Abandoned Warehouse District - TURN 2
Wolfgang = 6. Missed Weak Point, but hit target! Does 1 DMG to T-355D. T-355D HP = 40.
Shizen = 9. Struck Weak Point! Does 10 DMG to T-355D. T-355D HP = 30. T-355D's High End Targeting System have been destroyed! T-355D can now only target one enemy at a time.
Cynthia = 5. Missed Weak Point, but hit target! Does 1 DMG to T-355D. T-355D HP = 29.
Daniel = 9. Stuck Weak Point! Does 10 DMG to T-355D. T-355D HP = 19. T-355D's Missile Launchers have been destroyed! T-355D's torso has been heavily damaged, and can no longer launch rockets! Repulsion Shield has been destroyed!

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T-355D cannot attack! Reloading machine guns! (Costs 1 Turn.)

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Chance Roll = 8. Chance Successful! 1x Small Nanite Pack acquired. 1x Winchester M86 ATLS w/ .50-110 explosive-tipped ammunition.
Kane uses Small Nanite Pack. Kane regains 6 HP! Kane HP = 12.

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The group soon began their assault, coordinating their attacks so that they could all try and strike at the drone's various weak points. Wolfgang and Cynthia, both on the move, attempted to shoot out the drone's camera as it turned about. Attempting to reload its massive high caliber machine guns. But both missed their targets, their bullets and pellets peppering the hull of the drone. Shizen's sword would strike true, however. Sailing through the air and bringing down an arching strike through the hull of the drone and into the camera and tracking system. As he landed, the damage to the drone's camera and tracking system resulted in a pop, followed by a surge of electricity across its hull. Then, a boom. That was one weak point destroyed.

And they could already tell it was doing wonders to even the odds. It was having trouble following Shizen as he darted away from it, and was also having issues locating and pointing its weapons at Cynthia and Wolfgang as well. Daniel's shot, however, would cause even more damage. He fired off a rapid three shot burst from his shotgun, the slugs striking the missile launchers on the shoulders of the drone. Two of them hit, punching through the outer armor and hitting the missile warheads inside.

In a bright flash and thunderous explosion, the missiles detonated in their housing. And it took most of the torso with the blasts. When the smoke cleared, the mangled body of the drone continued to stand there. Large chunks of its body were missing, sparks shooting from ruptured wiring and systems while mechanical fluids spurted from hoses onto the pavement. Fires had also broken out, dotting its body as it struggled to remain standing and in a fighting state. Alarms sounded from the drone, as its weapons continued to reload. Its arms rattled as it stomped about. They'd need to do a bit more damage to this mech before it could be brought down.

Kane, meanwhile, was tearing apart the inside of the muscle car as the group fought the mech. After removing most of the back seat to access the trunk of the car, he would soon find a nanite kit. Great! First aid! He used it quickly, dumping the nanites wherever his cybernetics had taken damage, before continuing to dig in the trunk. And that's when he found it. A rifle. Lever-action in design, but rather high-end. No wood furniture, but pure metal and synthetics. And with it, he found a box of ammunition. Marked .50-110... and with explosive tips.

It was time to have some fun.

 

[Breadman]

Her shooting as enthusiastic as it was, really didn't accomplish much. Instead her colleagues were the ones to score the greater hits against the drone. It now seemed less of a threat with its targeting system and missiles disabled, but those machine guns could still evicerate them. Those belt feeders were her next target.

 

[Worthlessplebian]

Though his aim had not been true, the cumulative results between the team bore fruits. Blinded. Crippled. Battered. Yet it still posed a threat. The simple indication of its' whirling auto-feeders ensured that reality. Wolfgang's knee slammed into the roof of the truck, taking a proper stance for combat. His arm extended out to point at the hydraulics on the legs. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall. Tally-ho!" He shouted as a finger squeezed the trigger. Once again, sending a torrent of lead.

 

[joshuadim]

Kane had hit the jackpot with the car, not only was it a sweet ride but it had all sorts of goodies left inside! The goon who owned this will certainly not need it anymore than he does now. After quickly having healed himself with the nanites, repairing some of the damage to his exoskeleton, he quickly shifted attention to his new big fucking gun. His obscured face gave off a wicked grin as he cackled, loading the weapon with explosive bullets to boot. He was going to really cause some mayhem now. After finishing he proudly stepped out from behind his vehicle, brandishing the rifle, and gave it a twirl. "CHOKE ON THIS YA BIG METAL ****!" he yelled aloud as he fired towards the drone.

 

[Dmaster]

Shizen landed gracefully with a spread stance after he had slashed through the drone's targeting system, standing back to his full height as he swiped his blade to his side. Quickly he reoriented himself to quickly investigate the damage dealt to the machine, just in time to watch the missiles in its tubing get blown to bits. Not quite certain of other weak points to focus on, he went back to his initial plan of darting beneath the drone. He attempted a series of flips and slashes between its legs, trying to topple the automaton over by removing its supports.

 

[Infab]

Old LA - Outskirts - Abandoned Warehouse District - TURN 3
Cynthia = 8. Struck Weak Point! Does 10 DMG to T-355D. T-355D HP = 9. Machine Gun Feeding System destroyed! Machine Guns have been disabled! Grenade Launching System is still active!
Wolfgang = 6. Misses Weak Point, but hits target! Does 1 DMG to T-355D. T-355D HP = 8.
Kane = 5. Does 10 DMG (Explosive Ammunition) to T-355D. T-355D has been destroyed!

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​

The group soon threw themselves into the fight once more, attempting to take the drone down once and for all. Cynthia rapid shots from her pistol peppered the mech's machine gun feeding belts, eventually hitting bullets and forcing them to detonate inside the belts. Effectively jamming the feeding of the guns. Still, the grenade launchers remained operational. They would need to hit another weak point to take it down before it hit them with the 40mm munitions still available to it.

Wolfgang's shots punched into the legs of the drone, missing their intended targets but still doing damage to the legs. However, it soon wouldn't matter. Kane stepped away from the muscle shirt, spin cocking his newly found lever-action and taking aim at the drone. And then he fired off a rapid three shot burst, firing the rifle from the hip and cycling it quickly. Each of the explosive, high-caliber rounds collided with the drone, detonating on impact and absolutely rocking the drone. One detonated on the undamaged side of the drone, while the others hit the legs. Obliterating the joints and sending the drone crashing to the ground in a heap.

Shizen, robbed of a chance at striking the legs, had to quickly move out of the way before the drone dropped. Not wanting to be squished by the heavy drone as it collapsed. And as soon as he got far enough away, the drone exploded in a violent flash. Likely the remaining grenades in its launchers detonating and blowing it apart.

Daniel straightened up from where he had knelt down, loading more shells into his shotgun as he observed the smoldering wreckage of the drone. "Drone's down. Moving to arrest Manzanares." he stated into comms, before shifting his attention towards Manzanares' wrecked vehicle. He soon spotted the target, whom had finally stood and was quickly limping away down the street. Pistol in hand. He was moving for one of the old subway access tunnels, attempting to reach the Undercity before they could catch him.

"Manzanares is moving for the subway! Grab him!" he yelled out, quickly darting down the street after the Cartel member.

 

[Breadman]

"Holy shit!" Cynthia raised a hand to shield her face as the drone came down and exploded. They did it! They actually did it! She nearly jumped out of joy due to the relief she felt. But that wouldn't last long as Manzanares was trying to make his escape. She spun around on her heel and gave chase after him. "Shizen, help me get this bastard!" Cynthia asked for help with her own special way over the coms as she tried to get their man. A shot through the kneed should do it.

 

[Dmaster]

As Shizen started to prepare for his sprinting series of jumps to cut apart the drone's legs, it sustained intensive damage that saw the machine collapsing. Having an idea of what was to follow, he skidded to a halt by digging his heels into the ground and reoriented himself to dart to the opposite direction. At a safe distance, he looked over his shoulder in time to see the explosion go off and seemed rather nonplussed at the drone's demise.

When Daniel and Cynthia made it apparent that Manzares was getting away, Shizen quickly used his cybernetics to close the gap. The shinobi's sword was leveled behind his back as his legs carried him at those inhuman speeds, noting that the cartel leader was armed. As he drew closer, he prepared to swipe his sword to cut through one of the man's limbs - either to literally disarm him or take one of his legs so that escape would no longer be possible.

 

[Infab]

Chance Roll (Cynthia) = 9. Chance Successful! Cynthia's shot hits Manzanares in the knee!
Chance Roll (Shizen) = 7. Chance Successful! Shizen disarms Manzanares!

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​

Cynthia and Shizen quickly gave chase, moving after Manzanares. Blowing past Daniel with their speed. As they neared, Cynthia paused only briefly to take aim with her pistol. Aiming for the cartel member's knee in an effort to stop him. And soon, she'd fire a shot. The .50AE round exploded from the pistol, zipping across the distance between them and blowing Manzanares' leg in half at the knee. He yelled out, collapsing just as Shizen arrived and swung his sword. The blade would pass clean through Manzanares' upper arm, severing it from his body. And with it, the pistol in his grip.

It was quite bloody and violent, but they got the job done. "Quick! We have to stop the bleeding or he's a dead man!" shouted Daniel as he continued towards them. Behind him, Wolfgang and Kane (though Kane was simply strolling along with the lever-action slung over his shoulder and a hand shoved in his pocket.) Cynthia and Shizen sprang into action, flipping Manzanares over and starting to tear off strips of his clothing to use for tourniquets.

The problem was, neither of them noticed Manzanares rolling his jaw as he cut looks between the two.

But they soon heard a crunch. Both snapped their attention towards his face, just in time to witness a red light switch on in his mouth. As well as a final shit-eating grin before his head popped like a balloon. Blood, bone, and brain matter smeared across the asphalt, and some even spattered onto Cynthia and Shizen. Daniel flinched, stopping immediately where he was as he saw the man's head pop from where he was six yards away. What the fuck just happened?

Jack's voice soon made its way through their comms, sounding a bit stunned by what had just happened. "....H-He had a charge implanted in his skull. One of his teeth must have been the detonator." he stated in disbelief.

There was a few moments of silence, as Daniel made his way over to where Cynthia and Shizen were next to the body. Soon, though, police sirens could be heard. Police cars arrived, as well as a SWAT van. The area near the destroyed drone was quickly secured, SWAT moving in around it and setting up a perimeter. Meanwhile, standard police moved quickly to where the five of them were standing around Manzanares' body. They moved the group back, securing the scene around the body. Alice's voice came through their comms afterwards, as police got to work. "...This isn't on you, Charlie. This is on us. We should have thought about something like this happening... You should return to the precinct, and we'll figure out what to do going forward. You deserve some rest for the night after all of that."

Jack's voice followed. "She's right. Get back to the precinct. We'll go through a debrief, then you'll have your time off. Your next shift starts Monday."

​

Jack stared at the screen before him, his eyes narrowed and arms folded. Was all of this just a game for Edith? Sling low level grunts at them, and stick some bait out for them to go after? She even provided them a sort of 'test' in the form of the drone. What was she doing? What was she planning?

Alley's voice broke his concentration. "Damnit. Artemis found out about my hack. I'm locked back out of their system." she stated aloud, tossing her hands in the air. "Well, we don't need their data anymore, with the drone dead. I'm wondering how the hell they got their hands on an urban assault drone in the first place." was Jack's response as he glanced over towards her now red screen.

"Black Market, most likely. MY question is how they got it to work without it automatically reconnecting to their central control database. It would have set off some major red flags, with one of their long lost drones suddenly coming back online. Hell, probably would have told them exactly where it was, too." responded the hacker, spinning around and motioning to the screen with her thumb.

Jack eyed her, reaching up and scratching his chin as he glanced to the screen again afterwards. "...Think they might have something going on with Edith?" he asked after a few moments. "Other companies have done that in the past. Hire criminals to run ops, so if something happens, they can deny any involvement."

Alley shook her head. "Artemis isn't that kinda corp." she stated, tilting her head as she let her arms rest in her lap. "Remember, they've got their own black ops division. You fought them before, if I read your record right."

Jack nodded, after cutting Alley a look in regards to his record's contents. "...Yeah, they're half the reason the first batch of Hounds had so many KIAs. Artemis doesn't like sharing the spotlight when it comes to local operations."

"Very true." stated Alice, as she stood from her own seat. Her screen switched off behind her, as she turned to face them. "Edith poses a large threat for the Bloodhounds, as well as the city. We should focus on her, the cartel, and what she has planned for now. Artemis will likely begin their operations to counter us soon enough. When that time comes, we'll be ready for it. You will have DynaCorp's full support. Artemis will not kill a second attempt to get this project off the ground."

Jack nodded. "Right..." he muttered. He then turned towards the exit. "We'll have to look for alternative ways of finding out where Edith is and what she's up to. Nothing pretty, obviously. But we have to stop her soon. Someone with the knowledge of how we work is far worse than a bunch of black ops goons."

​

Elsewhere...


"Manzanares is dead. Used his Skullpopper."

"And the drone? How did they fair against it?"

"They took it down with ease. Their comms chatter suggests they have a pretty talented hacker with them. Told them every weak point to hit."

"...A luxury we didn't have. Good for them. I look forward to watching their progress."

"What should I do?"

"Well, you are a police officer. Continue your duties, sergeant, until I tell you otherwise. And keep feeding me data on each of them. I like the little details. The quirks and such they all have."

"Understood."

"Oh, and Diego?"

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Keep a close eye on Jack in particular."

END OF PROLOGUE

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