Titan World Playtest [IC]

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Valentin

Immediate threat! If I don't kill it, it'll come after me! Valentin's heart races as he zips back towards the Titan. One of the Maneuver Gear's hooks catches in the wrong spot as he shoots it at a building, and it's only with a wrench of his arm that he can pull it free. Pain jolts through his arm, but he's sailing through the air, up and behind the Titan.

NOW!

He sinks one hook into a chimney, swinging up, above the Titan, pulling the hook free again. In the blink of an eye, he makes ready to fly in to strike. Kill kill kill kill kill...

His heart rattles and pounds in his chest.

Spoiler: Status and OOC

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Got a 7-9, waiting for negative outcome to be chosen. Taking an Advantage against the Titan. Voting to stay and fight. I'm such a bad teammate...

Gear: Torch (in saddlebags)
Advantages: Floating Above the Killzone
Disadvantages: Panicked

[ShadowDragon]

Much more holding his reins as his horse sprints away from the titan than actually guiding the beast to do so, Gerge nervously looks around, trying to be sure which way to follow if things go down, taking up his swords, a single drop of cold sweat runs down his brow as he sharpens his eyes, looking around for the available exits and trying to calm down.

"Dammit! Hold yourself! People are dying here! Do something, do it!", and with a loud and long sigh, he looks up at the titan, both swords drawn in hands and ready to roll, he waits for the perfect moment.

[Space Lawyer]

Hugo

Run! We need to get out of here and regroup! Hugo tries to cover his fear with tactics. It might be tactics that would save his own skin, but it made sense none the less. The squad was split up, and their commanding officer was currently being chewed on. It wasn't the sort of thing any of them was prepared to deal with.

[nersxe]

Hans activates his 3DMG without thinking shortly after Valentin does. He soars upward, instinctively looking for a place to position himself. Nowhere good presents itself, and he swears under his breath. Now he's off his horse, but nowhere near able to strike.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Advantage: x1, unnamed
Disadvantage: Panicked

My vote is to stay.

[Vamphyr]

Sampson lets out a roar of anger and launches himself towards the titan's mouth. The rest of the squad will be slaughtered if they don't have a leader! He tries desperately to grab him from the jaws of death.

[Julian84]

GRMM

Valentin bravely rushes forward to try and slay the titan, swooping high over a rooftop to get the proper vector of attack… And high in the air, seeing two more titans approaching from within the hamlet, their eyes wide and devoid of any sense but predatory desire. They spot him and begin trudging forward faster, now knowing for sure humans are nearby…

Distracted by the sight, he doesn’t notice Sampson burst forward with impressive speed, smashing against the titan’s face, trying to pull the screaming sergeant out of its maw… “No, you fool, run! Run away!” Luther growls hoarsely as molars grind his spine into a pulp. “GAAAAAAHH!” He shrieks, eyes going wide… Unfortunately, distracted by trying to aid his superior officer, he doesn’t see the titan’s massive hand moving in… The jaws suddenly open, and suddenly both men are swept into the behemoth’s maw, slipping down his gullet to their deaths.

Hans watches the other cadet fall into the black hole, horrified and unable to help his comrade.

Leon, Hugo, and Gerge wisely remain out of danger.

[Sampson has perished. Valentin has been noticed by the titans and must perform an execution roll. Posting deadline is 10 PM EST 1/29 - Death Penalty Enabled]

[Space Lawyer]

Hugo

Hugo wheels his horse around, aiming out towards the wide open plains outside of Helbrecht. "Listen, everyone! We're getting slaughtered out here! We need to get to the plains, or we all die. Speed is our only hope now."

He didn't want to leave Luther or Sampson, but they were gone into a Titan's stomach. Heroism was fine, but it only counted when it did something. Otherwise, it was just foolishness.

[Amaril]

Leon turns away from Hugo and looks back at the titans. Hans watches from the edge of the battle as Valentin soars above the head of the first one, and two more slowly trudge nearer, their eyes fixed hungrily on his airborne comrade. Hugo's right...we need to run--there's nothing we can do alone against this many... He tries telling himself this, but he can't make himself believe it. Valentin is surrounded, and he'll never be able to get away without help. Sampson, Jules...nobody else is dying today!
He turns around in his saddle to face Hugo and Gerge. "No...you two can run if you want, but I'm not leaving them to get eaten!" He kicks his horse into a gallop, racing towards the newly approaching titans. He might not be able to take them both down, but he can distract them long enough to create an opening for Valentin to get away. Leaping from his saddle, he draws his blades and fires his maneuver gear. "Come on, you ugly bastards! I got your food right here!"
Unfortunately, he messes up the timing on his jump, and ends up hurling himself down to skid through the dirt. Frantically scrambling up, he barely manages to fire his gear again fast enough to get out of the way.

Spoiler

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Failed on my roll to Get Into Position, and partial success to Avoid Harm. Awaiting GM verdict on the results.

[nersxe]

Hans raises his head as best he can while in the air, and pushes his 3DMG to hook onto the nearest building. He swings himself up, around, and finally down, in perfect striking position above the Titan.

'This is it,' he thinks, the adrenalin running cold through his veins. 'This is for every single one of my friends.'

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Valentin
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Valentin comes screaming down, murder and terror in his eyes.

He quickly notices that he's misjudged the angle of his approach, but he lashes out with his blades anyway, trying to strike the Titan where it counts. Rena. Topal. Rena. Topal.

Spoiler: Status and OOC

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Burning my Advantage to strike the Titan. Alas, alas. It failed.

Extra Gear: Torch
Disadvantages: Panicked

[ShadowDragon]

Looking sideways both as his companions try to attack the titan they just dodged, then back at the other shouting for them to flee the scene, Gerge nervously shakes his head and after a brief moment makes his mind, "Damn! Let's do this fast and get out of here! Be careful, people!", he uses his 3DMG directly from horseback, pulling himself over to one of the buildings close to the titan he is able to see, trying to get in place for an attack, but not too close as to get the titan's attention.

[Julian84]

GRMM

Hugo:

The lone rider bolts away from the scene, escaping out onto the open plains, the screams of his comrades echoing in the air behind him as he passes over the rolling hills, keep a wary eye out for titans… He rises atop a hill with a small copse of maple trees at the top, giving him ideal cover and a vantage point to survey the area… To the west lies Helbrecht, a faint and blurry outline on the horizon. To the southeast lies the hamlet, where he can vaguely see the battle raging, three titans conglomerating on the edge of the village… With more he can see beginning to converge from other directions, attracted by the screams of humans.

Leon, Gerge, Valentin, and Hans:

The four cadets rush to the aid of their fellows… But one by one, their training fail them. Valentin misses his target, careening past the titan and smashing into the ground with an unpleasant thud. Wheezing from the pain, he tries to roll over… Blades shattered from the impact with the ground… And the titan looms over him, reaching down to claim him for its belly.

Gerge swoops around, trying to find a better angle from which to next attack the first titan after Hans, but mistimes his shot, only one harpoon safely connecting, and with a burst of gas sends himself careening into a wall, his neck snapping with a sickening crack. His negligence has gotten him killed.

While they fight, Leon tries desperately to avoid being caught by the other two titans, pushing his abilities to their absolute limit as he zips around grasping hands and stomping feet… When suddenly, his cable snags on the foot of a Titan, sending him flying too far forward, skidding across a rooftop, and coming down on the far side of the hamlet from Valentin and the others, the titans slowly wheeling to follow him… But as he attempts to return back to his comrades, his 3DMG gear makes a puttering noise. He is out of gas due to his aerial acrobatics.

[ShadowDragon has been ejected. Valentin must roll avoid harm. Hans must roll execution. Leon must make an agility roll to swap out his gas canisters in time. Valentin and Hans must roll discipline in response to the death of a comrade. Next posting deadline is at 8:00 PM EST 1/31 – Death Penalty Enabled]

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Valentin

I'm alive. Then, Valentin sees Gerge slam into the wall. A chill fills his body. We're--we're going to die! We're going to die!!

All of his reflexes slow and pause for a moment, as horror fills him, like the blood pooling from Gerge's body.

Spoiler: Status and OOC

Show

Extra Gear: Torch
Disadvantages: Panicked

[Space Lawyer]

Hugo

Well, now what?

There were titans, a lot of them closing in on the squad's position. The squad was already involved in combat with at least three enemies. Sampson and Sgt. Luther were dead - a nearly 33% casualty rate. Hell, even the Survey Corp usually had a better chance.

Go to Helbrecht, and abandon your squad, or join the squad in a suicide run?

It might be foolish sentimentality, but Hugo couldn't just abandon them. He could give some chance of reinforcements though. He gathers fallen leaves, then uses his blades to hack through the maple branches. Thick and green, good.

Drawing his lighter from his breast pocket, he clicks a flame out, and waves it through the maple leaves. The foliage catches, sending thick smoke skyward. Hugo pulls his blanket from the saddle bag, and flings it over the top of the smoldering pile. He then withdraws it, and repeats, in a specific pattern.

If luck was on the squad's side, somebody might see the signal and know it for what it was - a cry for help.

[nersxe]

It's all set up. The Titan is distracted with Valentin, Hans is perfectly poised to strike, his blades are sharp, his gas tanks are full-- and then it all goes to hell. One of his cables goes slack as the ledge it was anchored to crumbles, and it takes all he has just to keep himself from turning into another splat of red and bone on a wall.

That skill and determination serves him well in not killing himself, but it fails him when it comes to the exact method. Hans is perfectly safe physically (for the moment), but his dodging about put him in the exact wrong place for his mental health. Gerge's body drops next to him, 3DMG cables falling next to it like a wilted flower, and Hans cannot look away.

'Am I... am I going to be reduced to just a bag of blood and bones when I die?' he thinks dazedly, freezing despite the immediate danger of the situation. He perches there on the wall, eyes locked to his comrade's corpse. 'Will I be left for Titans or animals to eat, just like Gerge?'

[Amaril]

"No, no, NO!" Leon frantically squeezes the triggers for his harpoons over and over, praying for it to work. "Come on, not now! Goddammit!" He spins around and looks up at the titans, advancing ever closer, those stupid grins still plastered on their faces. I have to get back to the others...please let them have gotten away... Moving faster and with greater precision than he ever has in his life, he yanks out the depleted gas canisters from his gear and screws in the new ones, locking the valves in place. Just as the nearer titan raises its hand, he leaps back into the air and fires his hooks, sailing out of their reach and back towards the battle. "YES! ...God, please let everybody else be safe..."

[Julian84]

Hugo:

The lone deserter watches the carnage in frustration, the additional titans trudging in bit by bit… If the survivors didn’t escape in the enxt few minutes, they’d be trapped.

He notices two horsemen circling around the west side of the hamlet… Horsemen from one of the other trainee squads that survived! They seemed to have rallied their wits and are trying to decide their next move… They spot the smoke signal and begin riding towards Hugo.

Hans, Leon, Valentin:

Valentin scrambles to his feet, weighted down by his 3DMG gear… All thought of fighting is gone. He must run. He must escape. He must hide. There were no longer any other options. With a desperate look back, though, he sees the titan slowly start to accelerate after him, leaving Hans sprawled across the ground. Leon zips across the rooftops, finding Hans groaning and struggling to push himself up as the other two titans shamble back across the village towards the two. In all directions more titans are start to appear in the distance, unnaturally drawn to their location. To the west, though, he sees two horsemen riding toward a rising column of smoke hidden atop a wooded hill…

The titan is gaining on Valentin… With his 3DMG, his has no hope of outrunning it out in the open, and he no longer has the nerve to fight the glass-eyed nightmare pursuing him. He must either abandon his gear or hope for rescue.

[Hans and Leon are in no immediate danger, but wasted actions will put them in harms way. Valentin must make an unpleasant choice. Posting deadline is 8 PM EST 1/31 – Death Penalty enabled]

[Space Lawyer]

Hugo

Hugo leaps onto his horse and rides towards the horsemen. He shouts out "We have four men in combat in there! Our commanding officer was taken out. We need to get them out, now! There's a whole horde of titans heading this way. They'll be here any minute. If either of you have a flare gun, launch a signal for heavy enemy presence."

Hugo rides a quick circle, looking for the squad's abandoned horses. They would be necessary if the squad was to make an escape across open ground.

[Amaril]

"Hans, hang on!" Leon lands on his feet by Hans and seizes his shoulders, hauling him to his feet. "Come on, we have to get away!" Looking around the scene of the battle, he sees Valentin struggling on the ground, the original titan closing in. Why isn't he using his gear? He can't be out of gas yet! He glances back up at the approaching titan, just a few steps away from its quarry. "Valentin, run! Get away!" Behind him and Hans, the other two titans were catching up...by the time he and Hans managed to bring down the first one, if they even could, the others would be on them, and the effort would have been wasted. His mind races, struggling to judge the distance the other titans can cover in the time it would take to save his friend, trying to come up with some way to salvage this...

Spoiler

Show

Rolling Awareness to Assess the Situation

(2d6+2)[10]

On a 7-9, how long before the titans close on us? On a 10+, also what can I turn to our advantage in this situation?

[nersxe]

Leon's hands snap Hans out of his daze, and he looks up at the other soldier, blinking slowly. He nods, and follows the other soldier's lead. "I have spare gas with my horse," he says, speaking slowly and hesitantly. It is quite and wholly obvious he is not completely recovered.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Valentin

In the chaos of battle, as Valentin's nerves stun and overwhelm him in waves, he hears Leon shouting at him. One word. Run. His hands shaking, he forces them into the old habits, unbuckling the harness of the 3D Maneuver Gear. Then, he bolts and runs, shaking again, putting his back to the Titans, racing out of the village.

Spoiler: Status and OOC

Show

Going to be rolling Avoid Harm in the dice thread, just in case.

Disadvantages: Shell-Shocked
Extra Gear: Torch (wherever that is...I think my horse might be around here somewhere...or else galloping off, away from everything)

[Julian84]

Abandoning his gear and galvanized by sheer desperation, Cadet Valentin begins to outpace the titan, spotting his horse and whistling for it to come closer. The titan begins to bend down, eager to snatch him up, as he jumps to grab onto the side of his horse while it runs past…

He makes it, pulling himself into the saddle as the titan grasps empty air, the horse galloping with all of its might to clear the titan.

Hugo rides in with Leon and Hans’s abandoned horses, two other riders on his tail, picking up the last two cadets as the two other titans loom over the perimeter of the hamlet… They reunite with Valentin and ride away, a third of their total manpower before the attack.

They ride out onto the open plains. Helbrecht is still a few hours away… And Valentin no longer has 3DMG gear.

[The encounter is over. All panicked and shell-shocked conditions remain until a leader can be found. Posting deadline is at 8 PM EST 2/2 – No Death Penalty]

[Amaril]

The wind whipped at Leon's hair as they raced on towards his old home. He stared blankly ahead, not really seeing anything as his horse followed the group on her own. As the adrenaline of the battle left his system, images flashed through his mind one after the other, things he'd been blocking out in the heat of the moment...Gerge's pulverized body lying in a pool of blood on the rooftop...Sampson disappearing down the titan's throat with the Sergeant, gone in the span of a second....
I'm still here...why am I still here? He kept running over it--he couldn't have stopped himself if he'd tried. They were all better fighters than me...the only thing I ever beat them at was written exams...why am I the one who's still here? He wandered through memories...the day he'd enlisted in the military. He'd sworn to himself that he'd never let any of his friends die, that he would devote his life to shielding others from the suffering the titans brought. What kind of an idiot am I? I can't protect anyone...it should have been me. They're the ones who should be here right now.

[Space Lawyer]

Hugo

Hugo rides on in dead silence, the leader of a funerary procession. He didn't even bother to ask what happened to Gerge - the man was dead, that enough. He can't even decide who to be mad at. He supposes he should be mad at Luther, as their commanding officer, for leading them into that mess. But, it was the trainees' fault they hadn't survived even one encounter with the enemy. The training had been clear.

"Don't take unnecessary risks."
"Engage only when you have the advantage."
"Don't be afraid to retreat."

Hugo simply drives his horse harder. They have to make it to Helbrecht.

[nersxe]

Hans doesn't speak, doesn't think, just follows his fellow soldiers and keeps his ghosts - and his fears - to himself.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Valentin
The rookie huddles into the mane of his horse, trying to stop the shaking as they ride out towards Helbrecht. No equipment. Titans behind us. Blood and slaughter. We're doomed. We're dead. His alternating thoughts are attempts to banish the sight of a woman and a young child from his mind, as he immerses himself in the whiff of the horse's hair, and fills his ears with the dying screams of soldiers at the hands of Titans.

[Julian84]

GRMM

Once they reach a safe distance from the hamlet, the two extras from Squad A quietly mutter for them to stop for a second. One is a young woman with reddish hair and sprinkles of freckles, a peasant from inside Wall Rose named Beatrix. The other is a more sturdy man with shorn blond hair, Siegfried.

“We’re… We’re not continuing on, are we?” Beatrix asks, shaken by what she had seen, watching her friends and comrades be crushed and devoured by the Titan. “You saw what happened back there… If we go to Helbrecht, we’ll all die.” She stares at each of them beseechingly, tugging at the collar of her uniform. Siegfried stares off into the distance, his face a stony mask. Beatrix shakes, tears sliding down her cheeks. “Please don’t make me go.”

[Posting deadline is 8 PM EST 2/7 - No death penalty]

[Amaril]

Beatrix's pleading voice startles Leon out of his reverie. He pulls his gaze away from the distance ahead and looks to his comrade, at the fear in her face. Before he knows what he's doing, he hears himself speaking. His voice is level, calm, and it unsettles him. "We can't go back. Even if we turned around, we'd never make it past all the titans that are between us and the wall--not without reinforcements. We're not getting back home until we join up with the others." He turns away, back to the horizon, towards their goal. He's not quite sure what's possessed him, where the fear and the regret have gone. All he knows is that he's let his squadmates get hurt, people who'd trusted him with their lives as he'd trusted them all with his, and he's not going to let them down further by giving up. He's not going to let their suffering be for nothing. "The way out is through."

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Valentin

As Beatrix speaks, Valentin tries not to hear the voice of another woman who waits behind the walls. He feels the cold grip of fear around him, and fights back the reply that he wants to scream at the freckled peasant, as the blood and the gore plays through his mind, over and over. He hears Leon--and for a brief moment, he stills, watching Leon's cool, collected disposition as the man rides out towards Helbrecht.

How do you do it? You don't have any right to be so calm!

[nersxe]

Hans bites the inside of his lip, closing his eyes. He can't, won't, can't think about that, about being eaten by Titans. Leon has some pretty words about moving forward, but all Hans knows is that he's not leaving these people. Wherever they go, he does.

(They are his safety, his bastion. No Titans can eat him while he's with them.)