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Rifts Adventure IC

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If the bolts alone don't do the trick, then more fire power is needed - the technowizard fires another volley, hopefully adding to the damage already done.
 
Another hit against the armor of the spider mecha, but it keeps on going. The shot doesn't do much, but every little bit does add up.

sirlabe sirlabe is up

25 - Gradicus [6]
23 - Dru [4] delay
18 - Hagan [5]
11 - spider-mecha 4 [6] running away/seriously damaged
7 - Terra [1]
7 - Baby +60 MDC [5]
7 - Junior +60 MDC [5]
7 - Shaona [5]
4 - Bobo [4] <====
 
Clean miss! The spider-mecha is still up and running.

Purr Purr is up

25 - Gradicus [6] <====
23 - Dru [4] delay
18 - Hagan [5]
11 - spider-mecha 4 [6] running away/seriously damaged
7 - Terra [1]
7 - Baby +60 MDC [5]
7 - Junior +60 MDC [5]
7 - Shaona [5]
4 - Bobo [5]
 
Gradicus killed it until it was dead! =)

Using Paired Weapons strike with Summertime and Wintertime.
 
Critical Strike! The swords not only bite deep, they slice the violent mecha in two! It falls apart on the ground, twitching with grey-ish fluid flowing out of it, leaving it quite dead.

Moving out of combat time.

Hagan in his giant mecha slows down as he evaluates the scene, noticing that all the combatants are down. "My thanks for the assist, there. Things were a bit harry for a bit, especially with that Tank. Those Brains are tricky, and those Tanks have up to six of 'em in them. I think I said earlier that my name is Hagan. Hagan Lonovich, and its good to see allies out here that are able to fight against these damn Mechanoids."
 
Terra lowers her Automations' weapons and looks around, making sure that there were no other hostiles out there. Over her radio, she calls out, "Well met, Hagan Lonovich. I am Terra Alvana, and these fellows are my friends and adventuring companions. We heard your distress signal, and came to help, and it sounds like it was a good thing. You sound like you know a bit about these mecha that we fought, calling them 'Brains' and 'Mechanoids'. What can you tell us of them? Why were they attacking you?"
 

Combat Attributes
Perception +2 (more when fighting Vampires)
Initiative +2 (+6 when using sword)
Critical Strike on Natural 18 or higher.
Strike +13 (+16 with one sword, +17 with two. +4 with "Dragonfire" Flamethrower, K-4 Laser Pulse Rifle, M-160 Ion Rifle, and Stun Gun. +2 with NG-SE9 Laser Pistol).
Parry +11 (+12 with Tattoo-Magic shield) (+14 with swords)
Dodge +11
Roll +6 (Automatic Roll and Breakfall from Zanji)
Save vs. Magic +7
Horror Factor Saving Throws (+4 to save from Undead Slayer)
Horror Factor 13 (Awe. 12 from Atlantean, +1 from Heritage)
Attacks per Round: 6 (+1 additional attack per melee round when fighting supernatural evil from Undead Slayer; +1 additional attack from Weapon Mastery - Sword when using swords)

Damage by Weapon Type
Summertime (Katana) - 1D4x10 M.D. + 4D6 M.D. + 5 M.D. (double damage versus supernatural evil creatures) + 6D6 M.D. (socketed Electricity crystal).
Wintertime (Wakizashi) - 3D6 M.D. + 4D6 M.D. + 5 M.D. (double damage versus supernatural evil creatures) + 6D6 M.D. (socketed Electricity crystal).
Crystal Stun Mace - 2d6 S.D.C. + Stun when energized (10 P.P.E. for 2 minutes of use). Save at 16 or higher (14 for Mega-damage beings).
(In Bag of Holding) TW Force Cannon - 1D6x10+10 M.D.. Range: 2,000 feet. 5/5 shots per TK-Clip.
"Dragonfire" Flamethrower - 1D6x10 M.D. to everything within 100 feet. Enemies are -3 to Dodge. Can "sweep" 10 foot wide by 100 foot corridor; costs 3 attacks. 5/5 blasts per E-Clip.
K-4 Laser Pulse Rifle - 3D6+6 M.D. single shot, 1D6x10+6 M.D. three-round burst. Range: 3,000 feet. 30/30 rounds in E-Clip.
(In Bag of Holding) M-160 Ion Rifle - 1D6x10 M.D. Range: 2,000 feet. 15/30 shots remaining in E-clip.
Stun Gun (blaster) - Victims are dazed, -10 to strike, parry, and dodge for 2D4 melees. Save vs. Toxins negates.
(In Bag of Holding) NG-SE9 laser pistol - 3D4+3 M.D. Range: 1,000 feet.
Silver-plated gladius - 2d6 S.D.C. + P.S. bonus + 4 S.D.C.
SIlver-plated knife - 1d6 S.D.C. + P.S. bonus + 4 S.D.C.

As Terra and this Hagan fellow conversed, Gradicus listened and looked down on the strange robot-thing, examining it. He cleaned away any filth from his blades. Sheathing them, he shut down his Crystal Deflector Gauntlet and produced his camera. Here, he took a short video and professional-quality photographs of both the spider-mecha and the tank-thing. Were they related to the robots they had destroyed back at Wangler's Knob or something completely different?

Gradicus kept quiet for the moment. He did not relish his loss of self-control. He was no samurai. No Cyber-knight. Just a True Atlantean Tattooed Undead Slayer-turned-professional-gladiator at the hands of the Splugorth. What could be more common? He thought with a touch of sarcasm. Just the very idea that the spider-mecha-things could return and perform their evil upon innocent people scathed his soul. While he had not seen any further fire from Sir Dru, Gradicus realized he did not expect any. While the Cyber-knights were quite the enigmatic group, they held onto a code of their own. In Gradicus's mind, everyone and everything had its own "code" from geniuses down to green slimes.

"As you act, so shall you become," Lord Yamaguchi had warned him in Japan.

Still trying to shake his rage, he found it remained hanging upon him like a wet cloak. Gradicus did not like what he was becoming...


full

Image credit: Atlantean by Chuck Walton)
STATUS Location: On the shores of Maine.
Statblock: Self-M.D.C. (327/327) Self-P.P.E. (227/278). Power Matrix (40/50 P.P.E.) . P.P.E. Battery (100/100 P.P.E.). Talisman 1 of 2 (100/100 M.D. 1/3 daily uses remaining). Blazing Comet (Mach 5 for 3 hours. 60/100 M.D.). Smoochie (---/500 M.D. for 4 hours). Effects active: Crystal Deflector Gauntlet (13/15 rounds).

 
Hagan powers down his mecha, opens up the cockpit and climbs down. He is a fairly average looking middle aged man with a head full of bright red hair and a neatly trimmed beard, standing just under six feet tall. He is wearing a suit of medium weight MDC body armor and has a pair of pistols on his hips, along with a vibro-blade.

Since Terra was the first to address him, he walks over towards her with a friendly wave. "I have had some experience in dealing with these bastards for some time, ever since their mobile fortress came through a Rift. When I first ran into some of their Thin Men and Runt robots, I was able to hack into the CPU and discovered some very disturbing things. These beings are a race of creatures that are known as the Mechanoids, and in their home dimension, they exist in the tens of trillions. They have some kind of pathological hatred of humanoid life, to the point of needing to exterminate anything they come across that even looks remotely humanoid. Aliens and DBees that work with humans are just as bad, and they are on the auto-kill list, too. If the few that came through the Rift are able to figure out how to open up the portal to their home dimension once more, they can bring through a swarm of various kinds of Mechanoid types in numbers that will quickly overwhelm the entire planet."

He scratches at his beard for a moment with a grim expression. "I was scouting around the fortress to see if there was any kind of weakness that could be exploited to stop these things, but I was discovered and had to make a run for it. If you hadn't come along when you did, my mecha would have probably taken a pounding at the best, or gotten totaled at the worst."


As Gradicus looks over the ruined spider-mecha, you can see several similarities in design and construction between it and the two different robots that you ran into before at Wangler's Knob. You are not an engineer, but you would bet that they were made by the same manufacturing process. Another thing does catch your eye. In the middle of this 'Brain', you find a mass of organic material that is hard wired into the armored shell, kind of like a full conversion Borg. This thing was definitely alive, unlike the Thin Man and Runt robots that you fought before.
 
"They have some kind of pathological hatred of humanoid life, to the point of needing to exterminate anything they come across that even looks remotely humanoid. Aliens and DBees that work with humans are just as bad, and they are on the auto-kill list, too. If the few that came through the Rift are able to figure out how to open up the portal to their home dimension once more, they can bring through a swarm of various kinds of Mechanoid types in numbers that will quickly overwhelm the entire planet."

"...they can bring through a swarm of various kinds of Mechanoid types..."

Gradicus took a moment to compose himself. Gladiators fought because to live was either to fight for the entertainment of thousands or fall to an ignoble and forgettable death. Samurai fought for their lords, to honor their code of Bushido, and to live a fleeting life worthy of remembering. But these robots? These... Mech-a-noids? They seemed to exist to destroy all that was unlike them. That put them near the same level as contempt and disgust as Splugorth as far as the True Atlantean was concerned. Anyone who would prey on the innocent and defenseless without the option of being talked into a different route of the heart (assuming they had one) was on Gradicus's chopping block as it were.

Drawing a lesson from the samurai he called friends, Gradicus thought of the cherry blossom. How small. How delicate. How very finite. And yet each and every blossom greeted the world wholeheartedly with all of the beauty it possessed before fading into nothingness. The life of the samurai was the same. Gradicus had not the soul of a samurai, but he had learned much from their lessons and in moments, those life-changing lessons had replaced his anger with thoughtfulness and something more positive than vengeance.

He rose and beckoned his teammates to him and pointed at the insides of the spider-mecha. "Friends, I believe we have found the evil planet-consuming swarm Mellar envisioned." He stood tall as a True Atlantean should and offered his hand to Hagan. "Welcome, Hagan Lonovich! I am Gradicus the Red Edge, a Tattooed Undead Slayer, gladiator, and sworn foe of diabolic beings such as this. Where is this fortress? Are there more hunters like you? And what of your armored suit there? I have not seen its like!"

Gradicus thought about how to get this information to Elder Brazamal and Captain Raimus, both of whom would benefit greatly from it.
 
Bobo scratched his head, "So you're telling me, that there's a race of evil spider mechas, and ontop of that they're in the trillions." Bobo sat down, and sighed, "I'm already getting weary of all of these rifts!" Bobo holstered his gun and took these few moments to relax, "I wish this happened while I was much younger, I'm getting too old for all this." Although there were no signs of worry on his face; however, there was a child like grin across his face. This is adventure he has yearned for! Bobo can finally experience true adventure like he's always dreamed of!
 
Terra lets out a laugh. "There is an old proverb on our world, sort of a curse. It says, 'May you live in interesting times'. These days certainly apply to that!"
 
Hagan lets out a chuckle as he takes Gradicus' hand and gives a hearty handshake. From the strength of the grip, you would guess he is a non-augmented human, but in good shape. "Well met, my new friends. Yes, we do live in interesting times. But it is so much better in my eyes to be an adventurer than to be a boring old farmer! Not that there is anything wrong with working the fields," he hastily adds, "but it is just not the life for me."

The red headed man pulls out a data pad and taps the screen a few times, pulling up a video. "Here is a rather brief recording of my recon run around the base that I took. Take a peek at what we are up against."

You can see that this base is a large fortification, almost 1600 feet tall, and 850 feet in diameter. It has several strange vehicles circling above it providing air protection, and there are three of the Tanks that you fought visible, along with a number of other mecha besides the Brains you fought, with over twenty of these ugly things visible out there:


1567878852892.png


The six fliers:

1567878941905.png

Along with at least twenty more pairs of the Thin Men and Runts. You can see that there is some kind of construction going on by the robots, but what it is you cannot tell.

Hagan looks grim. "From the size of the fortress, you can bet that there is even more of these monsters inside, and whatever it is that they are building, I don't want to let them finish! But with their numbers, there is no way for us to take them on without help. We need more allies. There are a few places that I can think of that we could go to, but I don't know how likely they will be to help us out. There is a small Coalition forward operating base only one hundred miles away, and there are some soldiers from Free Quebec to our north with their Glitter Boy suits that would be a great help if we can convince them to aid us. Any of you good at selling snow to Eskimos?"
 
Terra looks at the screen and lets out a low whistle. "Damn. That is a lot of hurt to go up against. Not just ground forces, but air power, too? Damn. Hagan, you have it right that we'll need a hand with this bucket of kittens. As much as I hate the idea of working with the bigots of the Coalition, we may have to. But, we have few people in our team that would be welcomed by them if we were to walk up and say 'hello'." She looks over at Bobo and Sir Dru with a meaningful gaze, knowing that the two DBees would be considered enemies on sight. "Not to mention that Shaona and I are magic users, and Gradicus is covered with mystic tattoos, marking him as a practitioner of magic, too. We would need someone willing to go into their firebase and get them to agree to talk to us without a kill on sight order."

She pauses her line of thought for a moment, then says, "Perhaps we can use the radio on the Badger to call this base and talk to the commander that way, and arrange a face-to-face in a neutral location? One that won't end up in a bloodbath on either side. If we can get someone to meet with us, we can show them our data, and hopefully that will convince them to commit some forces to the cause."

"But before we do that, I think that lining up some help from those Glitter Boys and Glitter Girls in Free Quebec would be a beautiful thing. That way, if the Coalition decides to start a dick waving contest, we can put a bit of smackdown on them. Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I like the idea of going north and gearing up and getting some allies there. Maybe even finding some more Cyber Knights. That would really kick some ass. What does everyone think about that? Anyone have any other ideas that we can go with?"
 
"Terra," Gradicus raised his hand and offered. "I will not barter with the Coalition any sooner than I would barter with the Splugorth - both are sworn enemies of True Atlanteans. But they are not our only options. What say we add our own contacts and allies to the list of forces to contact? It was those very magic-users that made us aware of the threat from the beginning. I offer to fly back to Elder Brazamal's mansion and provide him the news to dispense far and wide to whomever he sees fit! Perhaps he might tell the Federation of Magic and Lazlo and forces beyond our reach? Besides, the swarm of Mechanoids threatens us all, good and evil alike, do they not?"
 
Terra nods slowly. "I must admit, having some additional backup from Lord Brazamal and our other forces in Dweomer would make me feel much better than turning to the Coalition. If you can get some help from him, then we add in some hopeful support from Free Quebec, and we can make a real stand against these mechanical monsters." She lets out a sigh. "While you are there, would you see if you can acquire some of those fire crystals for Baby and Junior? I have a feeling that we'll be needing that extra oomph very soon."
 
"Certainly, Terra, if you but provide what Elder Brazamal requires to part with them. And what size did you want? They came in three. My blades," he admired the weapons in their sheaths, "are of the middle variety, and thus far, have been worth what I did to enjoy them."
 
Pondering her remaining finances, Terra says, "Considering that the Starfire Pulse Cannons have such a limited rate of fire, leaving me dependent upon my swords, I would want the strongest ones available. That way, once the fighting starts, I will be able to do some more damage to the enemy and end the fighting faster."
 
"Aye, sweet Terra," Gradicus grinned and nodded, agreeing with her train of thought. He enjoyed the idea of seeing her striking power grow as his had. "Then put 'coin' to word and see it done!" Gradicus looked toward her purse (or wherever she probably kept her credits) and opened his scarred palm knowing well that the dragon they were talking about would not give the fire crystals away for promises alone.
 
Terra reaches into her pouch and pulls out several credit cards, carefully counting them out to make sure that there is enough to pay for her purchase. "Here, my friend. Make haste to Lord Brazamal, and as you go there, the rest of us will travel north and try to recruit more allies. Use the radio transponder to track in on our position." She then turns to look at Hagan. "New friend, what is your plan now? Will you travel with us to Free Quebec to try and gather more allies? Or do you have plans for another destination? If so, let us make sure that we exchange radio codes so we can easily get in touch with one another."
 
Hagan glances up at his mecha, then says, "I need to replace the expended missiles from a cache that I have hidden away that is not too far away. Shouldn't take too long, but if you don't want to wait for me I understand and I can catch up with you. Here, lets set up those radio codes you were talking about."

It takes a moment, but soon enough you have exchanged frequencies and encryption keys so you can communicate securely in the future. With that done, the redhead shakes everyone's hands. "I'll be on my way, but I'll rejoin you as soon as I can. Be careful out there. Those damn Mechanoids are out there, hunting anything humanoid that they can find, and they won't stop until they wipe us all out."
 
Gradicus took Terra's millions of credits, flew himself to Las Vegas, and had himself a REAL GOOD TIME Elder Brazamal's home and tried to find Oslen or the great dragon himself. If he was successful, he told them everything about what he had discovered (including the photographs he had taken), and asked about Terra's fire crystals.
 
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Olsen is once more at the door when Gradicus arrives, somewhat windblown from his Mach speed flight overland. He raises up his eyebrow at the sight of the tall Atlantean, but quickly ushers you inside to the library and provides you with a hot beverage to warm up while you wait for the dragon. The Ley Line Walker tells you that his master is currently in counsel, but will be returning in a bit, and to make yourself comfortable. "If you need anything while you wait, just press this button and I will come to see what you need. I will send word to Lord Brazamal that he has a guest waiting for him."

An hour and a half goes by before the lord of the house returns and comes into the room with a tired smile. "Ah, my friend. How nice to see you again, even if it is somewhat unexpected. What brings you back here again so soon?"

As you go into detail about the events of meeting Hagan and what you have learned about the Mechanoids, Brazamal frowns. "This is indeed troubling news. On our one side, we have war brewing with the Coalition, and now on the other side, we have these biomechanical monsters that threaten to exterminate all humanoid life on Earth." He looks old, and lets out a troubled sigh. "It sounds like the only good news about this is the fact that it is only a fragment of their force, and it can be eliminated with ease compared to the hordes you have spoken of. The trouble will be getting enough troops to make a difference. I will have to pull some strings in order to make that happen, especially quickly."

He looks at his watch, his mind visibly racing. He then bellows out, "Olsen!"

The mage comes in quickly. "Yes, sir?"

"Send a message to the Conclave. I am calling an emergency meeting for five tonight. Then, go find Sir Rupert. See him in person. Tell him I am calling in my marker, and I need him to gather up as many of his Knights as he can wrangle up and meet us here tomorrow morning. It is for a noble cause, and many lives are on the line, and I am going be counting on him to watch my tail once more."

This causes Olsen to do a double take. "Sir? You are going? Yourself?

"Yes, and so are you. Gradicus, you are welcome to stay in my home this evening, or you can enjoy the sights of Dweomer. It is up to you. Either way, I plan on having as many able bodied fighters here in the morning to set out to meet these Mechanoids in battle, so you can either travel with us, or fly back on your own. I have much work to do."
 
Terra stands and watches as Gradicus takes off and flies away, heading off to tell Lord Brazamal about the Mechanoid threat. I hope he can convince Brazamal to bring some help. We need it. Once the Undead Slayer is out of sight, she turns to the others. "We need to pack up and get on the move north. If we can get some help from the forces in Free Quebec, so much the better. With luck, by the time Grad comes back from Dweomer, we'll have some good news to share with him. Lets move."
 

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