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Post by River Havens on Mar 1, 2014 18:37:02 GMT -6
River had been treating the wound in her shoulder when she too felt the ground begin to shake suddenly. She paused for second, wondering if she just imagined it when another tremor followed.
"Oh...balls," she groaned. "Now what?"
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Post by grandest on Mar 1, 2014 20:25:22 GMT -6
Just when things were going so well...
The trio of Cruendi'has had whittled down the Collector forces and were ready to hold the dig site. The rest of the mercs, based on the comm chatter, had successfully come together and wiped out a wave of the bastards. Cruendi'has had begun to genuinely smile.
Then the ground shook as if the moon itself were announcing the presence of something powerful. Rising up from behind a megalith was a mammoth black shell. It had two sets of eyes, each emitting a blinding light that caused Cruendi'has to shiver (even in his environmentally controlled suit) as it passed over him.
"The fuck is that?!" The Batarian shouted involuntarily.
A loud hum reverberated in Cruendi'has' helmet, both from the ground and, seemingly, from the object itself. The sound rattled around in his head until Cruendi'has was able to gather his wits and shutoff his external sound receivers.
Bolting for some sort of cover as he did so, Cruendi'has could make out Maelstrom's voice. "Cruendi, Resi, try to flank this bastard. Behind and to either side of possible. I'll try to keep its attention. Time for it to get a taste of some real biotic artillery!"
Cruendi'has scowled. "I'm pretty sure I have a no-nicknames clause in my contract."
As the rest of the team reacted and chattered about, he knew Maelstrom had a good grip on the situation and tried to flank the thing.
"Based on the intel I've read, I'd say its what Shepards' team dubbed a 'Praetorian.'" Maelstrom related to Mr. Bridges and the team.
So it had a name now.
Finding relatively minuscule cover, he popped up and looked for some sort of frail point. Nothing looked too promising, but you can't pinpoint your aim much with a shotgun anyway.
"Take this you ugly sonofabitch."
Cruendi'has fired till the emergency heat sink released.
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Post by Game Master on Mar 2, 2014 1:59:18 GMT -6
[GM Post: Round Four] Collector Outpost: 10 Collectors at Outpost. 10 Mooks. - The remaining Collectors come charging out, concentrating all of their fire and grenades on the mech. - Because the VI, Data, is watching the movements of the Collectors and reporting it, the PCs will have enough time to take out two a round. - RP Note: That should be roughly enough for everyone.. the reason behind the limit isn't to put a hamper on your character but to make sure everyone will have a chance to kill at least one and take part in the murderous fun  Dig Site: 1 Praetorian. Classification: Mini-Boss. - The shielding around the metallic arthropod shimmers with every impact, managing to remain intact. The shields are noticeably weakening. - The thing rises up higher, it's electronic eyes glowing bright for a moment before firing. It aimed at Maelstrom. (spoke with the player about what Maelstrom was doing, so Maelstrom will be able to dodge this round). - It is within visible range of the snipers. |
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Post by Maelstrom on Mar 2, 2014 2:36:24 GMT -6
Damn! Maelstrom cursed inwardly, only able to find a couple more grenades in the gory mess of the remaining Collector corpses where he was standing. He might have been missing some, but it was hard to tell, given how similar their outer covering was to the chitinous carapaces of the Collectors themselves. Looking up, he saw the Praetorian starting to rise above his cover, its eyes glowing brightly. Oh, shit...
He dove just in time, the beams issuing forth from the massive foe's eyes just barely grazing his leg. It was still enough to knock his shields down about ten percent, according to readouts. The beams followed him as he scurried forward on all fours until reaching a corner. Without a line-of-sight, the enemy let up.
Not waiting for his shields to recharge, Maelstrom threw one of the precious grenades. Though quick, he was more careful with his aim this time, trying for squarely between its eyes. His hope was that the detonation would blind it for a moment while he tried to get back to the spot from which he and Cruendi'has had taken aim on the Collector troopers mere moments ago. There were enough maze-like twists and turns in that direction that he figured he could keep the Praetorian from getting a good lock on him for a while before being run down.
As soon as his HUD registered the flash of the detonation, he sprinted for the spot. There was a delay before the enemy fired again, but not nearly as much as he hoped. His shields were almost fully stripped away when he reached the safety of cover. Panting, he called into his comms, "Cruendi'has, I'm retracing our steps. Should keep its back to you and our sniper friends. Just keep the pressure on."
So far, experience told him he could get a grenade off before it could power up its eye-beams and fire. Popping out of cover for only a second, he launched another Collector grenade at it. Rather than bolting, he went back to cover for a moment to catch his breath. The decision saved his life, as the twin blue beams flashed past him, leaving the lunar soil red-hot in its wake. Damned thing is learning.
Grinning, he pulled out one of his personal grenades as his shields recharged. As he was waiting, he gave it a quick toss in his hand. His shields back to full, he hit the activation button and sent it hurtling at the Collector at incredible speed. Let's see what you think of my personal stock!
Rather than waiting for the detonation, he started immediately back through the twists and turns of the labyrinthine ruins, willingly taking a moment's fire to reach better cover. He wanted to get back to the other Collectors he had downed to see if he could get more grenades. As he fired wildly behind himself with his SMG to keep its attention on himself, he thought, Damn, I'd hate to take this thing on with small arms alone.
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Post by Shala'Bekk vas Neema on Mar 2, 2014 3:54:44 GMT -6
Before throwing the sentry turret, Shala remembered some advice her mother had given her, which was to pick out her new cover spot before breaking from the old one. She looked around and spotted something sufficient, an outcropping about ten meters away.
She lobbed it, waited a second for it to activate and then charged for the outcropping, making sure to weave her way there so as to not allow them to lead their fire right into her path.
*****
Thank you, ancestors, for protecting me, she quickly prayed as she reached her new spot unscathed. She then peeked out to see a group of Collectors race past her, all of their attention and firepower directed at the mech. They were so focused on it that they didn't even notice the sentry turret take down two of their kind.
They really don't like Murchadh, she thought.
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Post by Murchadh on Mar 2, 2014 12:59:37 GMT -6
Inside his mech's cockpit Murchadh eyes where locked on the screen. His shields where lighting up as weapons pelted them from all directions. His jets fired as the mech jumped to the right throwing up a large cloud of grey dust. He grinned as the collectors kept there weapons trained on him keeping them off the rest of the mercenaries.
" main 'en keep oan followin' me buggies." He said out loud to himself as he jumped again. The collectors where trying to move to keep there guns on him leaving less for the rest of the team. With a blast from his particle cannon another collector vanished from existence along with the rock it was hiding behind.
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Post by Esteban Bridges on Mar 3, 2014 4:01:54 GMT -6
Esteban slid his heavy pistol into his side holster, flicking his armored thumb over the safely latch. The helmet's HUD sensors flashed green, telling him his weapon was secure. For what he needed to do, his M-5 Phalanx wasn't powerful enough. He reached behind, pulling his M-99 Saber from the back holster. It decompressed automatically, silently. This assault rifle was his pride and joy, his status symbol on the battlefield.
"Firing," the businessman warned everyone over the comm channel, taking aim at one of the Collector's heads before pulling the trigger. Despite the vacuum of space, Esteban swore he heard the roar of the weapon as it unleashed hell, blowing a hole clear through the Collector's head with frightening pinpoint accuracy. Chunks of brain and skull fragments sprayed out like a fan, coating the ground in a fine green mist.
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Post by grandest on Mar 3, 2014 14:31:27 GMT -6
The Praetorian displayed little interest in Cruendi'has and his shots. Maelstrom, with his powerful and unnaturally accurate grenade throws, were obviously the bigger threat. The giant rose further out of the ground and beams shot out its eyes, if that's truly what they were.
All of Maelstrom and Cruendi'has' combined efforts seemed to yield little results.
"Cruendi'has, I'm retracing our steps. Should keep its back to you and our sniper friends. Just keep the pressure on." The human said, running from cover to cover.
"You heard the man," Cruendi'has added. "Snipers, Tag this thing right up its exhaust port!"
Again, Cruendi'has fired till his shotgun nearly combusted, then he pulled out his pistol and shot some more.
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Post by Eric Lysander on Mar 3, 2014 15:49:55 GMT -6
Eric synched the grenade on the turret console to his omnitool. After verifying the prisoner's bonds were still secure, he emerged from the emplacement and sealed the entrance, placing and synching another grenade on the door. Stepping back several feet, Eric tapped a button on his omnitool. The grenade on the door flashed in compliance. If the Collector inside revived and tried to either leave the emplacement or take control of the turret, it would meet a combustive end. So much for Esteban Bridges' wish to secure a captive.
Eric ran up to the edge of the nearest outcropping, went flat on the ground and took a quick read of the area by the command post through his Viper's scope. The remaining Collectors had emerged from the building and were going all out against the damaged mech Thor.
Murdach put up a valiant fight. "Main 'en keep oan followin' me buggies," he blared over the comms.
Eric lined up a shot on the Collector leading the assault.
"Kai, River - I'm gonna air out the lead. Hit 'em while they're lookin up my way dist-"
"Don't look now... but, I think someone's coming to dinner..." interrupted Kai.
"Oh...balls. Now what?" added River.
Other worried tones came in over Eric's headset along with reports of tremors. Had he been closer to the action he may have been able to run an analysis and determine if they were seismic or artificial in nature. Malestrom's observations suggested the latter.
"It's big- I'd say better than half the size of our mech-, metallic, and vaguely insectoid. It's hovering about four meters above the ground and moving slowly but steadily. Based on the intel I've read, I'd say its what Shepards' team dubbed a 'Praetorian.' And damned if that thing's not powerful. Based on the shots I've seen it take and miss so far, I'd say none of us could withstand direct fire for more than two or three seconds. Thankfully, the metal in these ruins seems to take its fire no problem. I'd hate to think what it took to bring them down."
Eric zoomed in on the ruins. Rock formations and obelisks obscured his view, but then he noted an omnious red glow moving about slowly and glints of undulating metal shards.
"Well, River, looks like the fun's really gonna start now," he remarked. "Maybe leaving the turret was a bit premature..."
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Post by Iregos on Mar 3, 2014 22:11:57 GMT -6
Resindra fires blasts from her shotgun in to the Praetorian, alternating with warp blasts, watching for any signs of a sensitive area or weakness in its shields.
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Post by Game Master on Mar 5, 2014 2:31:10 GMT -6
[GM Post: Round Five]
Collector Outpost: 5 Collectors at Outpost. 5 Mooks.
- The remaining Collectors are panicking, firing at random. The shot from the mech and concentrated fire appears to have destroyed whatever was left of their morale.
- Because they aren't fighting back as well (not dodging effectively nor aiming properly), they are easier targets for your character. You can take out two this round.
Dig Site: 1 Praetorian. Classification: Mini-Boss.
- After the incredible offensive maneuvering by the PCs, the shielding surrounding the floating monstrosity failed.
- Intense laser fire shoots from its eyes, trying to hit a target.
- As long as your character continues to move and use cover strategically, the Praetorian will not be able to hit.
[GM Note explaining the Praetorian - It always seemed like that enemy will continue attacking no matter how damaged it is. So I am treating it like a machine rather than a living being... aka - its primary function is to fight to the death]
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Post by Shala'Bekk vas Neema on Mar 5, 2014 5:01:43 GMT -6
Shala peeked over the outcropping, looking for any more targets. She saw five of them, standing out in the open, firing blindly.
If I didn't know better, I'd say they were panicking, she thought.
She drew her shotgun, aimed at the nearest one and...didn't pull the trigger.
What are you waiting for? a voice whispered in her head which sounded like her mother's. Shoot it!
"I...can't," she whispered.
Why? the voice demanded. Because you feel sorry for them? Because you can relate to their fear? If the situation was reversed, do you think they would show YOU mercy? SHOOT IT!
"I CAN'T!" she cried out and ducked back down.
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Post by Murchadh on Mar 5, 2014 13:38:12 GMT -6
Out of nowhere the mech crashed down in the grey dust putting itself between the collectors and Shala. One of the collectors was smashed to bits under it's legs as it guns sent the others fleeing for cover. Murchadh tilled the cockpit slightly. He hadn't talked to the quarian before the drop and he had no real idea about there biology so he couldn't tell if she'd been hit. " Ye okay lass? did a body ay them gie ye?" He yelled over the radio.
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Post by Maelstrom on Mar 5, 2014 14:13:25 GMT -6
"I can't!" he heard Shala'Bekk cry, as he skidded to a stop next to the first Collector he had killed at the dig-site and holstered his SMG. The second, a victim of the first of their grenades he chose to test, had yielded nothing but viscera after a brief inspection. All the way, the Praetorian was on his heels, rarely missing him by more than a few feet. A last second dodge. Not that there was really time for him to take a good look at it and assess its current state, but by the way it kept pursuing, it seemed to think nothing of the two thermal clips worth of ammo he unloaded at its black frame.
His first impulse was to look back in the direction of the Collector base, but his "battle mind" as he thought of it took over. There was no way to see her position from the outcropping of metal he was currently taking cover in, and there was no way he could do anything to help any of them if he got himself vaporized by the relentless foe. Instead, as he flipped the dead Collector over, he called into his comms, "Shala, what's going on?"
Damn, could they have ran into a nest of these things? Maelstrom wondered, going through the possibilities as quickly recovered two grenades from the corpse. This thing didn't seem to show up on sensors until it decided to come after us. Odd for such a large, atmo-capable enemy.
He turned to face the Praetorian as it rounded the corner of the metallic outcropping. Between all the running and his use of biotics, his exertions were starting to get to him. He could tell the velocity was down as he launched the first biotically-propelled grenade at the giant, menacing face. He just managed to send the second flying at his foe before rounding the corner to the next stand of ancient ruins. A path of red-hot scree formed behind him.
Maelstrom paused for a moment as he drew his SMG again. All he had left were four of his custom grenades and a couple thermal clips... one of which he quickly used to replace the current, depleted one in the SMG. It seemed like the Praetorian would never die. He started out again at a significantly reduced pace. Not that I could be of much help to the others right now without calling in the Vengeance, and she's not really built for combat.
"Ye okay lass? did a body ay them gie ye?" he heard Murchadh call. He only understood a little better than half of it, but it was enough to assure him they were alright for the time being.
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Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Mar 5, 2014 14:17:00 GMT -6
Iskra aimed for the last of the Collectors when the mech jumped in front of her, forcing her to release to trigger so not to hit the tank. It didn’t take long for her to figure out this move had blocked her from being able to hit any of the last Collectors.
Shifting positions, she set her sights on the dig site. The Praetorian wasn’t like anything she had ever seen before, much like the rest of the enemies they had encountered. The weave of cybernetics hid behind large armor piece, organic form but synthetic build…The biologist wasn’t sure how to take these creatures, everyone else acted as if none of this was new to them, apparently she had missed a lot in her time on Rakhana.
Aiming for what she assumed was the giants eye, the gun kicked back in fire.
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Post by Eric Lysander on Mar 5, 2014 14:22:51 GMT -6
Enemy forces were all but depleted other than the monstrosity dubbed Praetorian. Eric spied the dig site area through his scope again and then turned to look at the turret emplacement. If only the entity were out in the open, one or two well-placed shots could take it out. Another realization seeped into his mind, a possibility that everyone had put aside.
Even if the team was victorious and able to secure the dig site and all its treasures, there was still the Collector Ship. If they were like any other military force it would check in with its forward base at regular intervals. If that time hadn't already passed the base was due for another call. And when they discover the coms tower no longer in operation...
Would be wise to save a few shells to keep it occupied.
"Oh Boll-ach!!" Eric cursed aloud and dropped on one knee, zeroing and taking down two Collectors at distance by the command post. He then stowed his sniper rifle and started down the nearest rockface that afforded any footing.
"Sit tight," he huffed "Headin' down to ya... give that thing somethin' else to chase..."
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Post by Shala'Bekk vas Neema on Mar 5, 2014 22:28:23 GMT -6
Shala cowered behind the outcropping, at war with herself.
Get out there! her mother ordered. Get out there and KILL THEM!
“I can’t, I can’t do it,” she sobbed.
What bothered her most was that she knew she was failing her crewmates. They needed her, and she was hiding behind the rock. But even then she knew she couldn’t pull the trigger on the panicking Collectors. They just seemed so…helpless.
*****
“Actually, it happens a lot more often most people know,” her father said. “Attacks on the Fleet, I mean.”
She and her father were sitting in the plaza on one of liveships, one of the few places where there was any sort of free space. It was just a week after the Cerberus attack, and it was the only thing people could talk about.
She cocked her head. “Why hasn’t there been word about them?”
“It was decided that it was not in the best interests of Fleet morale for civilians to know this,” he said. “The attacks are often against the stragglers. Keelah se’lai, none have been successful, and we make sure…none of the pirates make it back.”
She heard the momentary pause, and she knew then that he did not always like his duty as a marine. He probably saw a lot more violence and death than she had, and yet he seemed so calm about it—until now.
She hugged him.
“What’s this?” he asked, surprised.
“I thought you needed it,” she said.
“These talks are to help you!” he said, a tinge of humor in his voice, and hugged her back.
*****
“All right, Father,” she said. “For my crewmates.”
She peeked over the outcropping and saw Murchadh’s mech standing in front of her and a lot of dead Collectors around it.
“Thank you, Murchadh MacLeod,” she said. “Are there any more?”
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Post by Kai Silverhand on Mar 5, 2014 23:43:00 GMT -6
" Ye okay lass? did a body ay them gie ye?"
Kai, for her part, dove out and did her best to heighten the chaos with a timed shockwave to betray the last two things that had been working in the collector's favor. Gravity and Terra Firma. She wears a feral smirk while sending them off with her left hand. The Asari seems calmest in this particular type of storm, doing just as much sauntering as taking deadly aim at what had been left. With those cards dealt and the pips shot from the aces, she draws up her unused shotgun back onto her shoulder.
“Thank you, Murchadh MacLeod,” she said. “Are there any more?”
Kai pipes up on the comms, "Just one. This one looks like it'll need all of us running at peak, though. You frosty, Shala?" The Asari matches Eric, breaking out into a dead run to catch up with the other group... occasionally lighting off a biotic charge, just enough to cover distance without wearing down her edge any. She does mutter to herself, "Damned if I'm going to get in melee with that thing... only digging I'd get done on that... is for my own grave..."
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Post by Shala'Bekk vas Neema on Mar 6, 2014 1:38:01 GMT -6
Shala frowned at Kai Silverhand's question. While she understood the words, she did not understand why the asari would ask such a thing.
"My suit's temperature is within normal parameters, thanks for asking," she replied.
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Post by River Havens on Mar 6, 2014 6:30:02 GMT -6
Scoping out The Praetorian through her sniper, River felt a profound shutter go through her body. The thing looked horrifying, the way it would skitter about on its spider-like legs made her palms sweat.
'Dear god...were those human skull in its...' River took a few calming breaths to reassure her nerves, trying not to focus on the image that was staring back her. She fired a shot at the creature only to see it didn't have much affect. The Praetorian's armor was heavily reinforced with a powerful biotic barrier surrounding for extra protection. Long range weapons may not have much affect on it...unless.
She pressed her ear to her comm.
"Guys, my weapons aren't doing much damage from here. This thing is built to last. We may need to try a different approach. Biotic attacks might work. Weaken its barrier enough to hit it with the heavy stuff."
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