Fandom Metal Gear Rising: Tactical Cooperative Action- First Party

[DrBones]

It's dark. You have a feeling you'll adjust to your surroundings shortly...


The lights turn on. insufferably bright neon-green text fills your vision. Ammo counts. The names of your comrades. Vital levels, both yours and theirs. A blank section to the upper-right of your field of vision is labeled "MAP". A soft mechanical voice rattles off a laundry list of programs and processes that have just completed. Hundreds of lines of superfluous data fill your eyes and ears. Then, just as suddenly as it began, it stops. It is quiet again.


You take the time to look around. You are in a gunmetal corridor with a strange slope at the far edge. A rhythmic thudding and a loud whooshing form a soundscape you find familiar. You are in a helicopter.


A strong voice with a clear Washington accent catches your attention. A large section of your field of vision is now occupied by a live video feed of the company's CEO, Donald Polito.


"Good morning, employees.", he says, "I trust you've all enjoyed your nap? Robert, disable their movement locks. I want these freaks up and running in five minutes." A wave of relief washes over you as your muscles alternatively tighten and relax. A quick flex of your fingers and wiggling of your toes tells you that it is now safe to move around the compartment.


What do you do?


Information about missions


We're working with an instanced format, here. Normally, you'll all be in one big happy family. However, you should expect to have the group split off so you can complete multiple objectives at once. When the party is split, one group will use this IC, and the other group will use the alternate IC.


DEADLINES


Players are expected to complete their turns by the end of the day. If a player hasn't done this by that time, their turn will be skipped. A majority of the other players can vote in favor of forcibly skipping your turn if they feel that your input is not worth the wait.

 

[Pintsize]

Blue Baboon sits up. Ohhhh, my head. I never should have had that third glass of Robitussin on the rocks last night. He looks around again, trying to get the smiling man out of his vision.


Shit. It won't go away.


Fucking hallucinations.


Alright. I can play along with this. Baboon sits up. "So, why am I here? Is this about that bitch in L.A. again? You got nothing on me, you hear? Nothing!"


Cool. As. Ice. Damn, I'm smooth.

 

[MechaGhoul]

Storm Princess huffed out, turning her head side to side, confirming that the video feed was still there, and that she was among the dirty peasantry. Brushing her only hand through her hair she smirked smugly. The question you beseech of couldn't have a more obvious answer. Must come up with a quick and witty retort if one of these peasants 'insists' on an answer. She waggled her index finger, and as her lips stretched out in contempt.

 

[Zaskille]

Eel's fingers twitched and flexed involuntarily as he awoke, his hindbrain tingling softly as his sensors accustomed themselves to the aircraft. His faceplate let off a dim glow as muffled 70's glam rock bled quietly through his headphones. He slouched in his seat lazily, one arm resting on a small metal box labeled MOLLY.


"Awwright bossman what kinda job you got? Seizin' refinery? Kickin' ass? Defense contract? Come on, lay that shit on us, we ain't picky.", he patted the box, "Ain't that right, Molly?"


The box chirped.

 

[Goshoryuken]

Hummingbird glances around as his mask retracts from his face. What a sight for sore eyes. He looks at each other member in the chopper with him, trying to stretch his body before returning his gaze to the image in front of him. "So, can we smoke on the chopper, or what? And... you know I don't need a chopper to move right? Me and my baby can fly just fine solo."

 

[DrBones]

The face on the screen frowned and furrowed his brow. "No can do, uh... Rad Hummingbird. Cyborgs can't enjoy the smooth taste of tobacco, smoked or otherwise. You're just gonna have to stick to gum, son. Patty, patch that service announcement into this one's feed." Red Hummingbird's entire field of view was overtaken by a disgustingly tacky public service announcement detailing all the recreational drugs that have either no effect or a hideously detrimental effect on a cybernetically-enhanced individual's simulated nervous system.


"As for the mission, I'm afraid you're not going in with much intel. A group of at least seven heavily-augmented terrorists from an unknown organization have assaulted our main South American office, in Brasília. Apparently the attacks started in the first floor visitor's center, past the lobby. How seven combat-ready cyborgs made it through the metal detector is anyone's guess. At any rate, live security footage from before they cut it isn't pretty. These creeps have got military hardware; High-Frequency machetes, superalloy armor, anti-personnel assault rifles, the works. Your job is to get in, keep the local authorities out, eliminate all terrorists, and rescue any surviving employees. Any questions?"

 

[Count Glenn]

Cooper slowly wakes up, shaking his head, becoming slowly aware of the situation, trying to mull around in his head what is just now happening, and what had happened to get him there. He realizes he shouldn't think too much about the past so much now as he does see himself in a metal box hovering above the ground with people he doesn't recognize and a mission flashing in his face. He suddenly hears, "Any questions?" and immediately gathers his details up to see if there are any.


"Do we have a floor plan of the area?" Cooper asks, trying to piece together a defensive countermeasure.

 

[Zaskille]

"Well if we don't have one I can probably get us one like that-", ping, "-I keep forgetting how hard it is to snap your fingers like this. Irregardless, just get me to one of the kiosks and it's a done deal. Now then-", Eel steepled his fingers in a manner that he thought made him look intelligent, but really just looked like he was trying way too hard, "-let's talk collateral damage, bossman. Yeah? No? I'm thinking yeah. I'm thinkin' that's a 'yeah' face you're making right there."

 

[Goshoryuken]

"This is an office, yeah?", Hummingbird pipes up. I got this! "I can use the air to scout through windows, or maybe go in from the roof. Really, anything involving vertical reach is a solid plan with me. Pincer attack?" Hummingbird jolts through multiple different ideas, never staying on one for too long. He seems eager to get into the action, and just wants something to do. God help me if one of them stands near a window.

 

[DrBones]

"Since we own the building, we do have a full map of the area. Enemy placement will be fed directly to you, through the Soliton Radar system. As for collateral damage..." Donald rubbed the back of his head and averted his eyes. "From what little footage we've seen of the attack, it was a massacre. Any damage you do to the lobby and potentially the rest of the first floor will be considered necessary casualties. Usage of strategically-inserted flying drones has not confirmed any enemies on the upper floors, but we will still expect you to clear the entire building. There is quite a bit of sensitive material you're dealing with here. If even a few files get stolen, it could mean the vast majority of our current and future operations will be compromised."

 

[Count Glenn]

Intel on the fly. Yuck.


Grasshopper sits back down, switching his legs to boot into Jump Mode. His legs emit a faint blue glow before settling back down to being unlit some 7 seconds later, then continues to listen to the briefing.

 

[DrBones]

"One more thing. We want you to keep at least one of the attackers' bodies intact. We can usually recover a cyborg's brain, much good may it do us, but running a forensics check on a pile of scrap metal and trying to figure out who built it is another thing entirely. "


"Unless these guys are using stolen hardware, we can check to see what company's sponsoring them just by looking at their parts. Every company's got its own little signature in their equipment, thanks to the fuckin' wonderful magic of patents!"


Apparently infuriated by the idea of patents, Donald goes on a largely superfluous rant on how patents and copyrighting "restrict" the flow of money and power in society. Finally, he settles down.


"So... yeah, Kill these bastards, but don't dismantle them just yet. Got it? You should be touching down soon. Have a nice day, employees!"


The video feed cuts off, and you are once again left in the gloomy silence of the helicopter.

 

[Goshoryuken]

"Well, orders 'r' orders." He looks to the rest of the group, particularly curious about the female members of the squad. When did so many ladies sign up? Too weird for me. "So... uh, what are you guys good at? It wasn't the best decision to send us all out here without a lick a' knowledge of each others' specialties. I'd prefer not to die, so tell me what you guys do." Just fuckin' great. Stranded alone in a chopper with a bunch of freaks. Maybe one of em's funny at least.

 

[MechaGhoul]

Princess raised her mini-gun arm up, "Exterminating the filthy peasantry." She said as she looked down from the bridge of her nose. "I trust you'll all serve as decent meat-shields?" She peered around at the assembled group, "Remember there is absolutely no shame in dying as long as you die on behalf of protecting the company, and of course myself." She said smirking, and using her hand to fan herself.

 

[Blumenkranz]

My fingers were grappled to my neck, trying to somehow wash away that disgusting sensation the body lock left. Sadly, a human reflex wasn't going to solve a cyborg problem, and my rudimentary massage barely eased the tingling. It wasn't the first time it happened, and some of the other cyborgs told me they also felt it from time to time, but I completely ignored what caused it.


While I was still trying to wake up and understand what Donald was trying to tell us over the Codec, I heard someone commenting on the ladies of our team. I used to be the only woman of my squad, did they just put me in another unit without informing me beforehand? Opening my eyes just confirmed what I thought. Lots of new faces, some of them I had never even seen in the base before.


The suave looking guy asked again. "So... uh, what are you guys good at?", he said. I searched under my seat, the place where WS usually put their agents' weapons, and grabbed what I felt to be the sheath of my loyal katana. I lifted it in front of me and showed it to him. "Does this answer your question?".

 

[Zaskille]

"I guess if we blow anything up we can just blame it on the other guys." Thought Eel as their- what, Brawler, Outrigger? Maybe Scout. Nah, probably not Scout, they usually had smaller blades. Shit, he hoped that asshole Jerry hadn't recorded over the Urban Brawl match again. Fucking Jerry, what a dick. Oh, right, people were talking about something.


"Not really, no. I mean look, razorgirl-", Eel drew his machete and brandished it in front of him, "-I can do that too. Don't mean that's what I do. Nah, omae, I'm only the best fuckin' console jockey this side a' China. You need somethin' cracked, you come to me, ka?"

 

[Count Glenn]

Grasshopper feels a little targeted about the rant Donald goes on, but tries to keep it under wraps as he continues taking in data about the situation and apparent mission he's about to partake in. Entry methods, ways to slow down the hostiles, taking in the people he was working with, etc.


"So... uh, what are you guys good at?" starts one of the operatives, as people start answering him with their large and particularly menacing weaponry, which ultimately, in Grasshopper's mind changes the game up significantly. I guess we're leveling the building, that works.





Grasshopper pounds on his bionic legs, making two deep, resounding clangs that echoed nicely in the small chamber of the (somehow silent) helicopter. In the most serious way he could, Grasshopper mustered up enough guff to say:


"I kick things real hard."

 

[DrBones]

The lights flicker briefly as the helicopter finally lands. The hatch opens, briefly blinding you as the hot Brasilian sun takes a break from boiling asphalt to turn its attention to you. A readout just below the map on your HUD tells you that the current local temperature is 92 degrees. This day just got a lot longer.


Directly ahead of you is a large hexagonal office building. Though it is covered almost entirely in windows, you cannot see through the strangely opaque glass. A pair of EE-11 Urutu APCs emblazoned with the company's logo sit in the tasteful walkway leading up to the building's only entrance. Four relatively lightly-armored soldiers stand just in front of the entrance, each flanking a positively gigantic man in full powered armor.


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He looks at you, and appears to relax. The soldiers surrounding him break off and return to the APCs. "Ah, you must be the squad we sent for. Which one of you is the commanding officer?"

 

[Goshoryuken]

Oh shit. "Guess that's me" Can't trust of any of these assholes yet anyways. "What Intel you got for us, big boy?". Hummingbird looks back at the other crew members. Hope we can get inside, or everyone's gonna be swinging swords at the damned air. Not one sniper? Ugh.

 

[DrBones]

The soldier motioned towards what should be the main entrance, now sealed with a metal shutter. "The building's on lockdown. Someone tripped the alarm, and sealed the building off. Nothing comes in or out, 'less they're willing to go through this." He rapped an armored knuckle on the shutter. Surprisingly, it held firm. "Company-sponsored superalloy. A tank ain't gonna take this down. The whole building's reinforced with this stuff. Too bad the floor's concrete. Let me know when you're ready to move in, and I'll pop this sucker open."

 

[MechaGhoul]

As the the disembarking process began, Storm Princess huffed out as she saw the temperature on the HUD. "N-ninety two degrees?! Uuuugh... Far too hot for my elegant and regal tastes." She took a glance at the entrance way and eyed the soldiers. Ah, excellent more meat-shields. She smirked out, completely ignoring the fact that the man was speaking. After all, it was highly unlikely that he had anything important to say. No, only the man who had his feed on the helicopter had anything useful, for he was not among the peasantry, but a man of a suitable standing. It was then that, the individual wearing the exo-skeleton, spoke up. Storm Princess thought back to what she heard the peasant speak of, which was, wait of leadership? Princess' lips stretched out in contempt.


HA! A Filthy Peasant claiming to be the proper ruler. Princess thought as she giggled at the claim of Hummingbird. Reaching up for her, with her only actual arm, goggles she brought them down to properly cover her eyes. That is when she heard of the peasant speak again, and she took greater care in not ignoring the message. "... Crawling, through that? There is absolutely no other method of entrance? ...Whoever tripped that alarm will suffer greatly, for reducing ME, to CRAWL." She said snarling and grinding her teeth.

 

[Goshoryuken]

" 'Scuse me princess, but a way in's a way in. I'm ready when everyone else is". Hummingbird begins testing his suit to make sure is in working order, doing spins and a little flip. You ain't the only one who hates being on the ground, but damn. Fuckin' crybaby.

 

[MechaGhoul]

"At least you understand my proper status." Storm Princess said, oblivious to the nature of the speech. "The building should have air conditioning, I'd much rather be in there than out here, in this heat." Princess brushed through her hair and adjusted the goggles a smidgen, "And I am more than ready to kill the disgusting vermin that have taken this place."

 

[Count Glenn]

A single bead of sweat falls from Grasshopper's brow, and gets lodged in his eyelash. If this Princess is as boisterous in the field as she is in the pre-game, it'd probably be the first time I would have used an actual person as a useable distraction. This could be my finest play yet, definitely trumping the incident in Gambia.





"I'm ready to go and all, but I have to ask, sir. You've been here longer than we have, do you have any more information about the hostiles? Who they are, where they're from...?"


With any luck, we're dealing with a bunch of knuckleheads who think they're hot, edgy shit like Desperado.

 

[Blumenkranz]

"Now now, don't get so heated up yet, boys!" - said Rainbow Cougar in her soft French accent while patting the kids in their shoulders - "You will be able to go on a rampage when we're inside the building, but now we have to focus on the mission briefing." "Did we bring any C4 loads with us? I want to get creative" - she added.