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Post by Iregos on Feb 16, 2014 15:02:02 GMT -6
Pulled out of her thoughts, she looked back toward Maelstrom while picking up what seemed part of a husk.
"That's a good idea, but we need to keep moving."
She had a piece of armor in her hand, from a husk. She let it drop. "Mr. B, do you remember how many were stationed here?"
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Post by Game Master on Feb 16, 2014 15:50:54 GMT -6
[GM Post - Loot]
For simplicity's sake, I will be avoiding description (flavor) text in favor of giving the proper information. Keep in mind that Collector weapons and items look very alien, almost nothing like what your character would have ever seen. It should take your character ten or fifteen minutes to properly identify each type as well as the bare basics for how they work (clip vs no clip, the trigger, approximate effective shooting range, etc).
- 3 Collector Assault Rifles, functioning - 4 Collector Assault Rifles, badly damaged/non-functioning - 6 Collector SMGs, functional/in need of repairs - 1 Collector SMG, functioning - 4 Collector Grenades (type unknown, range of detonation unknown)
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Post by Maelstrom on Feb 16, 2014 16:54:54 GMT -6
Maelstrom knew better than to load himself down excessively. Thankfully, after having been assigned to Ares, he had left his sniper rifle back on the Vengeance. He quickly grabbed two guns, one of the larger ones, which attached where he generally left his sniper, and one of the smaller, which he placed on a mount on his suit opposite the mount he used for his own SMG. Both seemed in good shape. He would figure out how to use them later.
What he really wanted were the grenades, but he was full on grenades at the moment. He did pick up one, to test at the first opportunity. It was comforting to know he could replenish his supply if needed from fallen enemies.
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Post by dargene on Feb 16, 2014 17:12:53 GMT -6
Looking through his sniper scope Meldom surveyed the now quiet battleground before turning back towards The three dead collectors, Two had larger guns then the third, he had never seen anything quite like the things now before him, upon inspection it was painfully obvious that one of the guns was never going to work as shotgun blast had put several holes into it, the others however showed no signs of damage.
He grabbed both the larger guns and placed them next to eachother "Interesting, collector technology not like anything before.." he was about to stroke his chin but his hand hit his mask, for a moment he felt stupid before resuming examining the collector tech, circling both of them on the floor, kneeling down to get a close look and running scans on his omni-Tool "Fascinating" he exclaims before muttering to himself "Unlike anything i have ever seen, STG was more science research then military, these weapons look far beyond what we have.. would love to send some back to STG, Owe a favor, maybe restore STG faith in me.. hmm.."
As he was caught up in his own thoughts he snapped back as he heard a voice.
"Iskra and anyone who wants to see the ruins can come with me while others try and figure that out. The other teams can try to figure that out as well."
He Pressed the button on the side of his helmet to speak "Would like to come, see ruins for myself"
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Post by Eric Lysander on Feb 16, 2014 23:39:32 GMT -6
Esteban straightened up and shook his head. ".......thanks."
Eric snorted, having just experienced a save from a similar lapse himself.
"Hey - can't have our host checking out so soon after the party's started!"
From his perch he observed Ares and Persephone bring down the last of the husks. He ran a sweep across the battlefield from his vantage point, whistling the theme to the ancient Merrie Melodies cartoon vids as he did so. No more ground forces were visible. Other than his near-miss and Murdach's brush with the converted IFV, everything was proceeding to textbook so far. Eric reloaded his rifle and glanced up at the smoldering tower of the observation post.
No outgoing calls for help now... just whoever's left on the ground.
He listened to the teams mulling over the bodies and their gear. He approved of Maelstrom's idea of co-opting one of the enemy's com units to try to get additional intel.
Risendra was heard to say "That's a good idea, but we need to keep moving. Iskra and anyone who wants to see the ruins can come with me while others try and figure that out. The other teams can try to figure that out as well."
Eric opened a channel. "Not seeing any visible activity at the dig site but stay frosty. Drone perimeter is still holding-"
Meldom cut in with "Would like to come, see ruins for myself."
"Cruendi'has might get a little lonely if his Collector playmate's not the talkative type. Maybe we can relieve you while you head down for a peek..."
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Post by Esteban Bridges on Feb 17, 2014 6:37:56 GMT -6
"Hey - can't have our host checking out so soon after the party's started!"
Esteban felt a huge weight lifted from his shoulders. The easy manner of the former Alliance officer and the ease the team has dispatched the Collectors gave him reason to hope. If they could finish the rest off, maybe he could secure the remains before the Collector ship came back.
Mr. B, do you remember how many were stationed here?
Esteban did a quick head count on the fallen husks, trying to not see them as who they were just a few days ago. "All the Blue Suns are accounted for," he commented before casting a tentative glance at the outpost. "Twenty five still waiting in the Collector Base. Ten at the digsite. I am not picking up chatter on the Collector's communication frequency. They still don't know we are here."
The comm chatter between the team continued on. Esteban stayed quiet, pulling up his omnitool. He had one screen up in particular showing dozens of waves of various frequencies and lengths. His eyes shifted back and forth, searching the graph for any variations. If the Collectors were monitoring their signal, he should see a slight change in the frequency or perhaps unexplained interference. So far nothing.
"No one's listening in," he continued once everyone quieted down. "Comm channel secure."
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Post by Murchadh on Feb 17, 2014 9:08:27 GMT -6
Inside the cockpit of his mech Murchadh eyes gazed over the status of his mech. Two of his six power cells for his shields had been fried by the feedback from the attacking IFV. Also, he could feel by his mechs movement that one of the foreword legs wasn't working sluggishly. There was nothing he could do about it until he was back onboard the ship.
As he moved forwards he paused for a second as he looked at the wreck of IFV. It had been blown outwards by the explosion with many pieces scattered across the grey surface of the asteroid. There was a strange orange coloured substance clinging to many off them. Reamins of the crew he thought to himself. A small claw shot out from Thor left arm and latched onto one of smallest pieces and quickly pulled it back inside his mechs arms scanner. " Got a piece ay th' wreckage. th' crew bin cooked proceedin' tae second objectife." He said into his comms as his mech began moving. He had to hurry.
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Post by grandest on Feb 17, 2014 12:46:30 GMT -6
Cruendi'has observed both the now-in-ruins observation post and the fire teams cleaning up in the ravine with a familiar sense of pride. Working with mercs can always be hit-or-miss, but this crew really pulled together. It reminded him of the good old days as a privateer. You could say many things about the Hegemony, but they were effective. The Batarian kicked at a remaining piece of Collector carapace armor, sending it off the edge and down to its owners lifeless body. Cruendi'has sneered and tilted his head to the right. Behind Cruendi'has, Meldom went to work investigating the Collector weapons. "Unlike anything i have ever seen, STG was more science research then military, these weapons look far beyond what we have.. would love to send some back to STG, Owe a favor, maybe restore STG faith in me.. hmm.." "Hardly see why," Cruendi'has muttered. "All their fancy gadgets and weapons didn't seem to help them in the end. Way I see it, Collectors are on their way out. Their tech can't be worth much more than scrap if Cerberus alone can take their whole operation down." Cruendi'has looked over his shoulder at both Meldom and their captive. "Do what you want, but I leave a sword where it falls." He said, recalling an old Batarian idiom. Over the comms, Eric and the others were discussing moving further into the ruins. "Cruendi'has might get a little lonely if his Collector playmate's not the talkative type." Lysander posited. "Maybe we can relieve you while you head down for a peek..." Cruendi'has looked his prisoner over. The bleeding from its arm appeared to have stopped. The Batarian wondered at the Collector's wound healing capabilities. "Yeah, I'll be right down. Just keep a good eye on it."
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Post by Iregos on Feb 17, 2014 14:07:08 GMT -6
All the mercenaries were accounted for. No more of those to take down.
"Twenty five still waiting in the Collector Base. Ten at the digsite. I am not picking up chatter on the Collector's communication frequency. They still don't know we are here."
"Our drone perimeter could help dampen the signals going in or out of the dig site. We need a plan to take out the base if we have to, we've done well with surprise on our side, but with that many waiting to be a problem it could cost us."
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Post by Esteban Bridges on Feb 18, 2014 0:31:28 GMT -6
Esteban kept the omnitool activated, crouching low to the ashened ground. He kept his comm channel open.
If any of you coming with me have stealth on your side, we could sneak in, position ourselves to crush them with no chance of escape or alerting the others
Esteban furrowed his brow, feeling beads of sweat accumulate there. It was nerves, as he knew his armor's environmental control was functioning well within normal parameters. The suit's VI automatically sent a soothing breeze through the armor, cooling the businessman down. He took a breath.
"The team has a number of infiltrators and snipers," Esteban spoke into the comm channel, hoping to offer something. He glances toward the Asari, hoping she'd know he was trying to add to her suggestion. "Is there a way to draw them out and make a killzone?"
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Post by River Havens on Feb 18, 2014 2:57:44 GMT -6
River did a quick scan of the field through her scope, breathing a sigh of relieve seeing that Eric and her had pretty much made quick work of the Collector troops. Still, that relief was short lived as she was still unable to shake the feel of anxiety and uneasiness. It was probably nerves, but listening to the chatter over her comms, her nerves might have had some grounds.
She heard Eric ask if there was any way to draw out the rest of the Collectors patrolling the dig site. A distraction perhaps...
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Post by Eric Lysander on Feb 18, 2014 8:52:33 GMT -6
Cruendi'has responded on behalf of his team "Yeah, I'll be right down. Just keep a good eye on it."
"Right," radioed back Eric "Just do us a quick favor and keep an eye on the other teams below until me and River get situated in the turret."
" Got a piece ay th' wreckage. th' crew bin cooked proceedin' tae second objectife." said Murdach after running a diagnostic check on his mech.
"Roger that, Murdach. Let us know if something else stirs up around the command post."
With that, Eric stood upright and motioned to his young partner to follow him to the emplacement. As they walked over they listened in as Ares and Persephone ruminated over ways of dealing with the remaining entrenched Collectors. Eric proffered up his own musings.
"Sneaking in and hitting 'em where they live before they can blink's a good move, but they may already have home field advantage since they've got more of a look at the ruins than Mr. B. Drawing them out's another possibility but these things have to wanna leave. We said no on an asteroid strike, the moon's geologically dead so no possibility of a quake... no atmosphere so we can't flood the ruins with gas or anything... heh... maybe someone could sneak in, nick the shiniest trinket in the room, run for it and get some or all of them to follow. These things could be just as possessive as Mr. B..." He quickly added "No offense."
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Post by Maelstrom on Feb 18, 2014 15:34:47 GMT -6
Lysander quickly added "No offense."
Maelstrom sighed. "This isn't the kind of mission I'm usually on, so forgive me if the reason is obvious, but if the dig site is secure, why don't we just have the Valiant launch a few mass accelerator rounds into the main base? I mean, we've taken their anti-aircraft weaponry out of commission, right?"
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Post by Esteban Bridges on Feb 18, 2014 22:07:05 GMT -6
"Sneaking in and hitting 'em where they live before they can blink's a good move, but they may already have home field advantage since they've got more of a look at the ruins than Mr. B. Drawing them out's another possibility but these things have to wanna leave. We said no on an asteroid strike, the moon's geologically dead so no possibility of a quake... no atmosphere so we can't flood the ruins with gas or anything... heh... maybe someone could sneak in, nick the shiniest trinket in the room, run for it and get some or all of them to follow. These things could be just as possessive as Mr. B...No offense."
"None taken," Esteban replied mechanically, almost like he received comments like that before. He was punching in a few commands into his omnitool, preparing it to look for exotic forms of radiation. Just in case.
"I will try to give you all more intel on what is going on inside of the base. It'll take about ninety seconds. About to scan for radiation inside the base. It'll tell me how many weapons are inside, if they are prepped or not, and a location to within a few centimeters."
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Post by Eric Lysander on Feb 19, 2014 10:15:59 GMT -6
Esteban was not affected by Eric's comment. "None taken. I will try to give you all more intel on what is going on inside of the base. It'll take about ninety seconds. About to scan for radiation inside the base. It'll tell me how many weapons are inside, if they are prepped or not, and a location to within a few centimeters."
"Here's hopin' no nasty surprises are waitin' for us." Eric signed off. He turned to River and clapped her shoulder.
"How're doin' there, partner? Thanks again for the save back there."
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Post by Game Master on Feb 19, 2014 21:07:26 GMT -6
[GM Post: Advent of the 2nd Wave]
Esteban alerted everyone he was linking his omnitool to everyone else's, sharing the data in real time so the team could see what he could see.
- Three dense pocket of Muon particles detected on the ground level. Anyone who did background research on Collectors would know that Collector biotics leaves behind unnaturally large amounts of Muon particles. - No intense pockets of mobile thermal radiation. All weapons, when preparing to be fires, emits a surprising amount of thermal radiation - Four cubical structures are within producing thermal radiation. Any engineer would recognize those devices as portable generators. - All evidence suggests there is only one level to this Collector base. The material is quite dense, using mass effect fields to make it sturdy.
The 2nd round of attacks will begin tomorrow.
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Post by River Havens on Feb 20, 2014 2:50:38 GMT -6
"Think nothing of it."
River lowered her Mantis to reload and to change her amps. She rolled the muscles in her neck back and forth, loosening them as the vertebrae cracked with relief.
"I got to say; this is going better than I expected. At the start, I didn't think we'd be able to make it past their defenses so easily. From what I heard about the Collectors, I was expecting there to be a stronger offense. Guess I'm just used to missions going south pretty quickly."
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Post by Shala'Bekk vas Neema on Feb 20, 2014 4:59:21 GMT -6
Looking at the data the captain sent, Shala thought she recognized something.
"This is Shala," she said over the comm chanel. "Judging by the thermal signatures, there are four portable generators on the site. Perhaps someone could sneak in and disable or destroy them? If anything, that would take out any light sources they are using and they would have to come out...unless they can see in the dark."
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Post by Maelstrom on Feb 20, 2014 8:45:26 GMT -6
"Sorry to disagree, Shala'Bekk, but I wouldn't want anyone going in there alone," Maelstrom said, as he holstered his SMG and began the process of switching out the thermal clips in his assault rifle. "The files I studied on my way here suggest that those pockets of muon radiation are most likely Collector biotics. That might not sound like much, but my information suggests that Collectors using biotics are always extremely powerful. I doubt that one of us would stand a chance against if one of their biotics discovered them."
"If we do send anyone in to take out those generators quietly, we should make sure thy have the necessary backup with them to take on one of those things if they're discovered."
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Post by Eric Lysander on Feb 20, 2014 10:37:52 GMT -6
"Think nothing of it," said River in a professional tone, counter to her almost chipper persona from several hours earlier.
So this is River in battle mode, thought Eric. I like what I'm seein' so far.
"I got to say," she continued "This is going better than I expected. At the start, I didn't think we'd be able to make it past their defenses so easily. From what I heard about the Collectors, I was expecting there to be a stronger offense. Guess I'm just used to missions going south pretty quickly."
"It does seem we were a bit overenthusiastic in planning," Eric concurred. "But better to overplan than underestimate, I say... the night is still young..."
Eric studied the results of Esteban's survey as he and River came up to the turret emplacement. If there were weapons inside they were not yet brought to bear. The site's overall construction was quite sturdy, further reinforced by mass effect fields. Evidently the Collectors were keen on keeping the ruins intact as well. Shala suggested one person could sabotage the portable generators inside and use the resulting cover of darkness to the group's advantage. Maelstrom suggested additional backup to deal with the three biotics the survey detected.
"Never mind getting in, how would somebody get out?" contributed Eric over the comms. "Unless I'm missin' somethin' it looks like there's only one way in and outta the place. If these things can see in the dark our little saboteur and friends could be toast if they block the exit, even if we clear it from behind."
Eric suddenly paused and looked at the survey again, noting the four generator signatures. The three suspected biotics were situated in the midst of them.
"Uhhh, just talkin' out loud here, guys - any chance these generators were from the last expedition, too? These things seem to like recycling. And if they are... any chance at all of retooling them to act like giant dampers? Sure would suck the fight out of our biotics there, maybe long enough for us to stamp 'em out."
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