Celestia's Finest: Comrades in Arms

[DigoDragon]

"All this time you've been faking?"

Rose gives LS a ship-eating grin. She then steps forward and clears her throat loudly. "'ello there everyone. We're a medical relief team called to come help out the town with any of your medical needs while you're down here. If anyone has any health concerns, we'll be happy to address them. Come forward, promise I don't bite."

[Miltonian]

Many ponies crowd around. Not many of them, strictly speaking, need medical attention, but this is the most exciting thing to happen to them in several days.

Some of them do have injuries or illnesses that could do with some treatment. The garrison has given them rudimentary treatment, but Equestrian medicine is the most advanced there is. Rose can surely sort this stuff out while the others just go and make friends.

Spoiler

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I don't think we need to roleplay all this out. It'll just be a bunch of repetitive scenes with different NPCs saying similar things. So! Why don't you roll some checks for gathering information and treating prisoners and we'll glide over that bit.

[DigoDragon]

Rose does the bulk of the medical work, giving her team the ability to get around for taking a census and gathering news/rumors on what's been going on.

Spoiler

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(3d6)[6]
(3d6)[10]
(3d6)[7]

[D.KnightSpider]

Longshot will introduce himself as Iron Flare, head of security for the unicorn doctor, and play the role as such. He'll provide some presence, ask questions about recent events while conversing with the locals and begin sending some bugbots to map out the the cave system.

Spoiler: In Case We Need Them Later

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Tactics
(3d6)[4][1][5](10) VS 17

Strategy
(3d6)[6][5][1](12) VS 17

Perception
(3d6)[5][5][6](16) VS 16

[Elbeyon]

Mother Girdle

Love drinks her tea. "I'm used to strong drink. That's what I drink." The wasteland specialized in raw power over technical finesse. Love's tastes have diversified, but there is something comfortable and home-like about a hard drink. The fire is a comfort to the storm outside.

When it's time to head out Love thanks their host for the drink and hospitality. She ponders out loud the idea that the people in the cave might enjoy her hospitality as well, and they might be able to get the people that haven't gone into the cave to throw something together for everyone roughing it out in the storm. Love wishes Mother Girdle farewell and goodnight. She'll even try to sneak in a hug and well wishes.

Leaving, Love pulls some medication out of her bag and takes a dose. She also drops some BugBots/HoloBots in the town, and so she can watch over Mother Girdle and the people holding down their homes.

Gate

Love gives the locals a friendly greeting at the gate and asks a few innocuous questions about the people inside to aid their cover.

Cave

Inside, she goes about making some new friends. She mostly tries to ease everyone's worry and strengthen their will in a realistic manner, and if a topic of interest pops up she isn't beyond exploring the local's storytelling. If they want to talk about the cave and the town's history she is all ears. The cave might even be topical given their location. Love assists the real doctor while keeping a visible documentation of everything happening. She is suppose to be logistics. Now, professional note taker.

She takes note of Longshot's work and helps if needed, but otherwise watches as she focuses on the crowd.

Spoiler: Rolls

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Influence
(3d6)[13]
(3d6)[12]
(3d6)[6]
(3d6)[11]
(3d6)[11]
(3d6)[15]
(3d6)[13]
(3d6)[13]
(3d6)[8]
(3d6)[7]
vs 16 (Diplomacy) +4 (Charisma p. 41) +2? (Relevant Skill p. 495) +1? (Computer Wizard p. 89) +1? (Merchant p. 209) +2? (Wealth (Multimillionaire 1) p. 26) +1? (Reputation (EDF) p. 27) +1? (Rank (Lieutenant) p. 29) +/- Other(s)

Diplomacy
(3d6)[11]
(3d6)[14]
(3d6)[8]
(3d6)[10]
(3d6)[12]
(3d6)[7]
(3d6)[7]
(3d6)[7]
(3d6)[10]
(3d6)[8]
vs 16 (Diplomacy)

Body Language
(3d6)[13]
(3d6)[6]
(3d6)[12]
(3d6)[10]
(3d6)[12]
(3d6)[9]
(3d6)[6]
(3d6)[6]
(3d6)[11]
(3d6)[11]
vs 14 (Body Language)

[Miltonian]

This is all basic, first year medical student for Rose. She successfully treats sprains, administers medicine for colds, and assures a young filly that, no, she is not growing a second head. She merely bruised her shoulder and it's swelling.

As for Longshot, he is moderately impressed with the set-up. There is only one entrance, but plenty of exits that lead further into the cave system. If the worst should happen and Corvids start breaking through, the civilians can retreat while the soldiers keep the savage cannibals back. However, he does notice that things seem a little overcrowded. They could use more beds and blankets down here.

For her part...Love's stories and warm, friendly attitude win even those who eye Rose's free medical care with suspicion over. By the end of the several hours they spend here, she knows everyone's name, a few details about them, and brightens their day considerably. A few of them promise to invite the whole group over for dinner, once they return to their homes.

However, their time comes to a close. Night falls and it is time to, in some way, shape, or form, slip away and down into the depths below, which the Bugbots have been mapping the upper portions of, but have not yet penetrated into the place where the movement was detected.

[D.KnightSpider]

Ye Olde EDF Silent Comm: "Looks like it's go time on infiltrating the caves. Let's meet up near the point of no return and use TacNet to coordinate our movements and regroup."

Longshot recalls the bugbots and makes a note about requesting better accommodations for the civilians. It's not likely much can change but a well-timed mention didn't hurt anything. It was the ill-timed ones that cause problems.

It would be hard escaping from so many eyeballs, but he gives it his best shot. It's off to the rendezvous point.

Spoiler: Nothing To See Here

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Stealth
(3d6)[2][4][4](10) VS 17

[DigoDragon]

Rose closes up shop at the end of the night and tries to slip away when everyone shuffles off to bed. She heads to the meeting point LS mentioned.

Stealth (3d6)[9]. vs. 12

[Elbeyon]

The best plans require perpetration. Love tries to get her sleeping spot near some rubble or some such that she'll have an easier time sneaking away once night falls and ponies are sleeping. She'll try to get a read on the ponies nearby her until she is confident none are aware of any restlessness then slip behind some rocks to slowly head towards the depths below. This is a lot harder without her stealth suit.

Scomm (EDF), "Roger. Feel free to keep the F0 BugBots in their hidey-holes. I'll split the stash deeper inside. I'd like to keep eyes on the base camp." Sneak. Sneak. Sneak. "I'm on my way."

Spoiler: These aren't the ponies you are looking for

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Stealth
(3d6)[8] vs 13 (Stealth) +1 (Extra Time)

[userpay]

Brazen for his part keeps watch, maybe helps move something heavy that the civies have trouble with. Then it's off to the depths...

Stealth (3d6)[10] vs 7

[Miltonian]

Manipulating the Botnet, the group goes their separate ways and meets up right by the red lines and glyphs that mark the beginning of the danger zone. They think they slipped away, but Brazen did make a little noise on his way out. He might have been noticed...

Still, a long, dark tunnel stretches before them, like a hungry maw and throat extending down into the earth. And, as they wait, the Bots find a point where they can't pass. It's not that they are physically incapable of doing so, but the moment they cross a certain spot, all contact is immediately lost.

[DigoDragon]

"So... who want's to take point going down the creepy tunnel?" Rose whispers to her team.

[D.KnightSpider]

Some prep work goes on while the team reunites. A bugbot is stationed by their meeting point with orders to relay a message if any creature passes. Sure, the communications are on the fritz but that may change at any time.

He tops off his pain medication because seizing up in the middle of a firefight is a bad idea.

Next item of business is to activate his new cybernetic implant, the 'Gunslinger' as it was called. Longshot covers a wince as the system comes online and his limbs stop feeling like limbs and more like electrified coils.

"So... who want's to take point going down the creepy tunnel?" Rose whispers to her team.

With a word, Longshot recalls his armor and drops his faceplate.

"I'll scout ahead of you. Nice and easy does it."

He crosses the Point of No Return and starts easing his way down the tunnel.

Spoiler: The Invisible Stallion

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Stealth
(3d6)[2][5][4](11) VS 17 (17 Base -5 Movement Penalty +5 Suit Bonus)

[DigoDragon]

Rose does a quick gun check. She lets LS go on ahead and then starts walking down his path as part of the main group.

[Elbeyon]

Love pulls her ScoutBot out of her bag and gives the caves behind them a look to make sure they aren't being followed. If the rocks are clear she starts getting ready for whatever lies below.

Earbuds in. Goggles on. She stands up and summons her armor around her body. The armor's threads and plates wrap around her body in a tight form. She digs in her bag, wears her lighten bag (so she has a bag on each side), and begins the long process of shuffling gear around. Filling her web gear with readily available equipment.

Love studies the red line/glyphs and gives them a SCAN.

Scomm (EDF), "I'll do a comm test once anypony crosses the glyphs." And, she will. Love sees if she can contact Longshot once he crosses the line with radio, laser, ir laser, or sonar. "I wonder how long whatever is down here has been down here. They could have been down here before even the hamlet. Living side by side with the hamlet."

Spoiler: Rolls

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Spy Check
(3d6)[15]
vs 13 Sight (Perception) +3 (Hyper) + (Telescopic Sight 5) +/- Other(s)
vs 13 Hearing (Perception) + (Telescopic Hearing 4) +/- Other(s)

Study glyphs!
(3d6)[5]

[Miltonian]

The party moves forward. Love’s SCAN show that the glyphs are traditional Vedinian burial runes, meant for the dishonorable dead. Down here must be a crypt if some sort. Her attempts to read them, however, give a strange message.

“Cast not the dead into the sea,
Lest they return and find thee wanting.”

The party advances to the spot where the Bugbots go offline with no issues.

[Elbeyon]

Scomm (EDF), "The glyphs are burial runes devoted to the dishonorable dead." Love considers Longshot's feelings, and she figures he'd be even more upset if Love held back sensitive information. She reads the glyphs. She still hasn't been able to make her calls to anypony, and the storm doesn't show signs of letting up. "I don't like trespassing into people's crypt." Not like Love is going to do anything different.

[DigoDragon]

Silent Comm (EDF): 'So the unworthy get buries down here? Wonder why that is; rather unique from what cultures I know of. But in any case, if something's moving down here, then we're not alone and we need to know what it is, crypt trespassing or not.'

[D.KnightSpider]

Scomm (EDF), "The glyphs are burial runes devoted to the dishonorable dead."

EDF scomm: "Charming."

Here's hoping that the military hadn't committed any war crimes in recent history.

"I don't like trespassing into people's crypt."

"Unfortunately, we don't have much choice."

Longshot signals the others and moves forward in the tunnel.

Silent Comm (EDF): 'But in any case, if something's moving down here, then we're not alone and we need to know what it is, crypt trespassing or not.'

"Sounds like a potential zombie situation. I'll let you know if I s anything."

Spoiler

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Stealth
(3d6)[3][3][1](7) VS 17

[Elbeyon]

Love waits for Longshot to cross the deadline then does another comm test.

Scomm (EDF), "Yeah, the sign said dishonorable. That might be why people don't want to talk about the place." Love can look around a little in her databases for anything noteworthy about such places. "The movement could be from this places gravekeeper."

A shiver goes up Love's spine as Longshot suggest undead. Scomm (EDF), "Zombies. I'm not fond of any zombies. Could that be what's going on down here?" She frowns. "I'd say what are the chances we encounter zombies in a crypt, but these wouldn't be our first zombies of the day." Something might be a hoof down here. She supposes that's why the Admiral sent them down here.

[Miltonian]

The moment Longshot passes over the threshold, he feels a chill run up and down his spine, stopping to do a little jig around where his wings meet his spine. However, there is no immediate sign of trouble, but he better make a quick Will Save before the others pass over.

[D.KnightSpider]

Ngh. Longshot grunts over the EDF Comm as everything turns weird. This was not a pleasant feeling.

Spoiler: Will Save!

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(3d6)[6][4][3](13) VS 13/18 (13 Base + 1 Magic Resistance? + 4 Battlesuit MR Bonus?)

[Elbeyon]

Love looks around and stays on the alert.

Scomm and voice at the exact same time, "You alright!?"

[Miltonian]

“What’s wrong?” Brazen demands, a harsh edge to his voice, “do you see anything?”

“Give him a moment,” Rose says, “we don’t know what this thing does. Hey Longshot! How is it on the other side?”

————

Longshot straightens and replies. “Fine now, Love. Just an odd feeling. Might have been an attempt at a spell. Check me, would you? And watch out for anything weird when you cross over.”

[DigoDragon]

'Spell attempt?' Rose stretched her neck, her cue heard loud and clear. Her horn glowed with a soft radiance and she weaved together a spell of Mage sight. If there was a magical effect in front of her, she wanted to see it for herself before she stepped through the nightvale.

Spellcasting (14) vs. 15 Mage Sight to peer at the effect.

[D.KnightSpider]

Longshot shakes off the feeling and brings his attention back into alignment with the moment. Whatever that was, it didn't seem to have any lasting impact.

“Give him a moment,” Rose says, “we don’t know what this thing does. Hey Longshot! How is it on the other side?”

Since when did Rose deign to defend a squad-mate? Huh. Weird.

Longshot toggles his Subvocal EDF Comm: "My cybernetics shorted out for a moment crossing the boundary. I'm fine now but you might wish to be careful crossing the threshold. Resuming the advance."

Onward is the order of the day.

[Elbeyon]

Love breaths a sigh of relief. Scomm (EDF), "Alright! I'll give everything a once over!" Love checks Longshot for any magic. She runs that comm check like she intended. She looks over the BugBots that stopped responding for anything out of the ordinary. Did they get damaged? Checks out the "line." If she isn't getting anything (no magic...), she'll SCAN the objects of interest.

[Miltonian]

Rose casts the spell successfully and peers at Longshot. She finds no active spells on him, though there is a faint residue that is very familiar to her: the traces of a movement/gate spell. However, upon studying the area of the tunnel itself, she finds an oddly shaped Gate that seems to terminate about a mile farther below ground. It is both stable and self-sustaining, but would explain why the Bugbots lost communication when they passed through it.

Upon further examination of her Bugbots, Love finds that they had simply switched to an unused channel. It's a simple task to switch them back and bring them back online. As for the comms, they seem to be in working order, though Longshot's decryption program seems like it developed a few subroutines it shouldn't have. Nothing serious and easily explained away by the fact that it's been a while since the last diagnostic.

"What's the diagnosis?" Longshot asks when the silence stretches on too long, "Am I clear?"

----

"Shorted cybernetics. Great," Rose grumbles, "Love, you go first. If it fries you, I'll stay back."

"Righty-oh!" Love says all-too-cheerfully and steps through the threshold. She collapses onto the ground, twitching and shaking. But a moment later, she bounces back to her hooves and lets out a laugh. "Gotcha!"

"Idiot," Brazen sub-vocals to Longshot only.

Rose lets out a long sigh. "Please be serious for once, Love."

"Spoilsports," Love grumbles. The rest of the squad steps through without incident.

As Longshot presses forward, his sensors begin to pick up a light source from up ahead.

[DigoDragon]

Rose speaks by Comm (EDF), 'I'm picking up an evaporating remnant aura of a gate spell that went off by you, Longshot. And farther down below there seems to be another active one. So, we might be crossing to someplace elsewhere if we keep going.'

[D.KnightSpider]

The buck? Why was every pony acting they were back in Twilight's castle Pre-Wrath? This wasn't the usual group dynamic. At least, it wasn't characteristic of their most recent interactions.

"Focus, ponies." Longshot hisses into his comm. "There's something up ahead of us. Hold position while I scout. It out."

He sends a military signal to the same effect and then silently glides toward the light.

Spoiler: I See You; Can You See Me?

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Stealth
(3d6)[5][4][1](10) VS 17

Perception
(3d6)[4][6][6](16) VS 16