Cthulhu Tech; Aeon War 1; Shadows of Munich

[Moral Wiz]

Murrey doesn't seem to notice anything abnormal in Josephine's request, treating the pilot entirely seriously. (though one or two of the others look a little surprised.)

hmm... Ok. I think we'll go with the gas. We can get some. I think we can deal with that.

What's powering her? D-engine, or... well...?

He leaves the question unanswered, ploughing on

And.. well, if he's alive, does he need nutrients? How do we administer any?

After getting answers to those questions, he turns to Erik

Sorry mate. Just had to get that out the way.

He then notices the Pilot's rank, and becomes instantly professional.

Any special requests for you, sir? Oh, and which do you pilot? Or do you want to go out on a run? Just say so and we'll get the doors open.

[Meek]

"Doesn't eat, runs on a D-Engine." Josephine says.

She looks slightly annoyed at the contrasting treatment given to Erik.

Don't think I will be treating you special.

"I'd like a run, if it at all possible." She says, getting back the attention of the techs, "Have you guys ever seen an Engel in action?"

[Nerd-o-rama]

"The Gladius is mine," Erik says back. "No special requests, just wanted to make sure it survived shipping alright. Although...now that you mention it, I think I'd like to stretch its legs a little."

They put non-coms in these things? Huh. I knew officer school was a waste of time.

He turns to Josephine. "I've never worked with Engels before," he says, "though I've seen sims. Why we head out together and you can show me what you can do?"

[Moral Wiz]

Well, I've seen a Malach squad. But they looked... ordinary.

He pauses for a moment, then snaps round

Jo, Kae, get that door open

The two techs scramble to walk, whilst the senior turns round to the pilots.

Sorry, Sir, Marm. This is a blast hanger. We're designed to be an independent base, in case of a bug attack. The doors are reinforced, and have a secure locking mechanism, walls designed to take more than their share of blasts, and the offices are located underground.

Slowly the doors come up, to reveal the busy activity of another of the countless busy paths. Most people just continue on their paths. A few turn to look at the heavy hanger, and the mechs within, but most return soon enough to their own duties.

[Nerd-o-rama]

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Think I ninja'd you there, Wiz.

[Meek]

Josephine smiles. "I accept then. But it's probably not going to be very impressive for an "ace" like yourself. I just like to relax and fly. The Seraph isn't built for speed."

She nods to the tech. When the time comes, she'll go to climb into the Engel.

[Nerd-o-rama]

"Hmph. That's the one thing Engels have going for them. They don't build flying Sword-classes with any decent firepower..."

Messer walks over to his mech and climbs up into the cockpit, starting up diagnostics and pre-mission programs, making sure that nothing got banged up in transit. He cracks his knuckles, and settles in behind the controls.

He opens the radio on the ops frequency. Realizing he doesn't know the name of his new unit, he falls back on his unofficial callsign. "Schwarze Ritter, prepped for launch, requesting permission for a walk about the park."

[Moral Wiz]

The doors are down before too long. Most of the Techs run outside in anticipation,

The radio comes in loud and clear, after a brief pause for a frequency search

You the guy out of Aisia?

Sure, you're cleared. Nothing major's out right now. There's a few transports going our one gate, but we got a quiet time. Go for it.

[Meek]

Josephine climbs into the control pod of her Engel and settles into her place. She feels oddly at home there, as she interfaces with the Engel. She can distinctly feel an uplifting of her spirit as it comes alive, a tingling in her spine, and the sense of another consciousness nearby. She doesn't care what anyone thinks – she isn't just imagining this, they wouldn't understand. She doesn't know exactly how Jophiel feels about her, but she knows at least that it is thrilled to have come alive again. Much like she is – when inside Jophiel, she feels truly alive. Nobody could understand unless they experienced it.

She opens communications. "Arc and Jophiel, ready for launch. I'll be taking off the ground completely, using the A-Pods. Any rules and regulations I should be aware of before taking off?"

In the Hangar, while Josephine is making her call, Jophiel's fingers clench and loosen, the tentacles slither in their sheathe, and it's head twitches slightly, all of its own limited volition...

[Moral Wiz]

This is a classified instillation. No departing a 1 kilom limit from Central Tower, and nothing that could be seen beyond the perimeter.

Keep an eye out for a few C-50's. We've got ten in the perimeter. Most are now landing, or outgoing, but better safe than sorry.

[Meek]

"Alright."

Josephine has Jophiel place itself in line with the departure gate if it wasn't already. She braces.

"Taking off then."

Minding any obstacles in front, above, or below, Jophiel runs out of the gate, jumps and engages the A-Pods.

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Hope I did that right! Any checks I have to make?

[Nerd-o-rama]

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That GM post completely chaged as I was clicking Reply...

"Northern European front actually. I could have walked here if someone had told me where I was going..."

Roger," Messer says, "Moving out."

Giving the Engel a wide berth, the Gladius stomps outside at a walking pace, Messer getting a feel for how it moved after his last misadventure in a recon unit. Much better.

He turns back to get a good view of the "next generation"'s representative mech taking flight.

[Moral Wiz]

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No worries. You jump immediately, so no check needed.

No C-50's ll interfere with you. They're massive, and easy to dodge. You're outside in the instillation... what do you do?

[Moral Wiz]

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That GM post completely chaged as I was clicking Reply...

"Northern European front actually. I could have walked here if someone had told me where I was going..."

Roger," Messer says, "Moving out."

Giving the Engel a wide berth, the Gladius stomps outside at a walking pace, Messer getting a feel for how it moved after his last misadventure in a recon unit. Much better.

He turns back to get a good view of the "next generation"'s representative mech taking flight.

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Oh dear.

And we Ninja'd. That's why I edited it to be the radio response.

[Meek]

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First time controlling something like this in flight, so if I have to do any rolls, tell me.

Josephine feels the distinct thrill and hyperawareness of Engel flight, almost feeling like shouting a 'yahoo!' but keeping herself from doing so. Noting the Gladius down below, and rather smugly appreciative of her own ability to fly, Josephine decides to show off a little. Minding any C-50s that might be flying and making sure to be well above any ground traffic, she dives towards the Gladius, and pulls up at the last instant. As she rises, she gets the mech to do a loop up and back, down again, coming out of it and surging forward.

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Pretty sure this calls for Athletics + Agility, so I think I'll drop that here then. (2d10)[4][2](6) then add 7. Here's hoping I don't screw up!

[Nerd-o-rama]

That's...impressive, thinks Erik. Something that massive moving like that. Few extra limbs, and it'd almost look like a Bug mech.

Messer walks around the compound, getting a feel for the layout. Keeping an eye on the flying Engel, he finds a relatively open spot with no one around to accidentally damage so he can practice a bit with the mech's Hyperedge blades.

Two large, swordlike objects snap out from the mech's "wrists", buzzing slightly with stored energy. Again making sure he's clear of any bystanders, Erik sends the Gladius into a practiced combat routine, blades sweeping forward, across, and back in a synchronized kata designed for maximum dicing-up of Locusts and Fireants. (Not going to roll, as I'm attacking the air).

"So you were on the Alaskan front?" he asks Josephine over open radio. "See a lot of action against the bugs before you were consigned to that training job you hated so much?"

[Moral Wiz]

Meek

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It's not that dramatic, so I'm invoking auto 7. Success

[Meek]

The question makes Josephine remember Naia, and the others back at base. She keeps to the sky for the moment, flying over the Gladius, now more settled in her movements. Jophiel's tentacles slip out of the sheathe entirely like a snake's tongue, as though tasting the air.

"I did, and to be honest I didn't really hate the training job that much. I just didn't realize that until I was sent here. But yes, I did fight a lot of bugs. But it was really crushing. It was like no matter what I did, every fight was a loss. I think we had all of one victory in the whole thing, against a bombing run of Wasps. Whenever the ground war came up, we were pushed back. At first everyone was courageous, sending the Engels and the other big guns forward. You counted every bug you killed, you jokingly went "grub hunting" but then later, it was all backward motion. You knew you were losing, and you didn't know how to win. I saved five guys in broadswords and gladius from a Mantis during the retreat, one-on-oned it, nearly got killed doing it, but I won. Then the next second a bomb drops and five other guys blow up. So I saved mine, but I couldn't save everyone. It really took the sauce out of that event, though the guys at base always referenced it anyway. By then, nobody was counting their bugs. We basically lost count. And it didn't really matter."

Josephine sighs a little. "You look kinda cool with those blades. Closest thing I have to that are the tentacles. Sometimes it feels like they're Jophiel's tongue." She says, again not quite aware how crazy that sounds. "So where did you fight? Cut down a lot of fire ants one on one, Eurosamurai?"

[Nerd-o-rama]

"All over Europe, really," Erik says. "And all different places. Urban combat's my specialty, but the better you are as a mech pilot, the more they shuffle you around, trying to get the most use of you without burning you out."

He smiles. "I will say that the Fireants are the most fun to fight in a Gladius though. Suckers think those gimmicky little fog generators will protect them, get you all scared, but thermal scanners see right through it. You can plug them with a plasma rifle before they even think you can see them, or run in and carve them up swords-vs.-mandibles."

"Always too many of them, though. You just have to take down as many as you can, and hope everyone else can handle the leftovers."

[Meek]

"Yes, definitely." She says, to the statement of numbers, "Fighting a Mantis is a thrill for me. Makes it feel like gladiators squaring off. Everyone sort of stands aside for the Engel to take care of those freaks. Those Null Rays hurt like hell."

Josephine is carefully lands Jophiel in the field with the Gladius. She has the engel raise its hand and spread its tentacles out at the air, lashing and twisting like a many-headed snake. Jophiel flicks its horns as this happens. "Well, tentacles have their own weird coolness to them."

[Nerd-o-rama]

"Eh. I'm a simple man, with simple tastes. Swords for me."

"You know, I've seen Mantises. Standard mecha-jock doctrine against those things is 'run away', but I think if you could draw one into close combat or ambush it, a smaller machine with the right pilot could take it down. It's the panicking that gets people killed."

[Meek]

Josephine smirks.

"By smaller machine and right pilot, you mean 'I can take care of a Mantis' right?" She says. "Well, if we meet one, you might get the chance. Though as a member of a group, I'm not letting my team mates be killed, so if you're losing, I'll have to take over."

[Nerd-o-rama]

Messer shrugs inside his machine. "Well, I guess I won't know until I've tried."

[Meek]

"Yep. That's what sucks about this job."

I guess he's not that bad, for an overly confident jerk.

Josephine takes to the sky one last time, hovering upright, circling the area that way. She looks around, examining the surroundings thoroughly and curiously.

[Ascension]

Lutana was disappointed to hear about the base's lack of a library. He wondered if they might not have any sorcerers on staff ordinarily. Having spent all of his time in OIS, he wasn't really sure how the NEG military dealt with the arcane.

"Well, at least I'll have someplace quiet to work. Could you please have someone escort me to the room in question? I brought some basic supplies with me on the C-50, and I'm anxious to get things set up. As for what specifically I need, well, that depends entirely on who... or what... I'm being asked to deal with. The Migou are rather efficient at disposing of evidence referring to them, so I'll probably have to fall back on the old standbys if we're fighting the fungi, but Dagonites, Children of Chaos, Death Shadows... they're all dealt with in entirely different works. Could you give me any hint at what we'll be dealing with in the immediate future?"

As Lutana begins to discourse on the subject of his expertise his tone shifts perceptibly from deference to authority. It is clear he knows that he knows more about cultists than the Field Marshal, and that he'd be happy to ramble on about the topic at length if given any excuse to do so.

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Fun Fact: Lovecraft's Mi-Go praise Nyarlathotep, Azathoth, Shub-Niggurath, and other god-ish beings. CthulhuTech's Migou are completely opposed to Earth's cultists. Yay for adaptation decay!

I kinda see why, though. If the Migou and the cultists were working together, Humanity would be more screwed than it already is.

[Meek]

Having had enough of flying for now, Josephine tells Messer, "I'm going back – I trust you're impressed enough with Jophiel and I by now," in a slightly amused tone, and flies back to the hangar at a metered pace.

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Been a long time since I read the stories, but they didn't worship Cthulhu specifically, and iirc the ctech book mentioned that the Migou were afraid of Cthulhu's return especially, not specifically of Nyarla and the rest of the dudes already there. So maybe they fight the cults in Ctech because of fear for Cthulhu – if any of the cults manage to win, it'll be the inevitable conclusion.

[SteelAngelJohn]

While the others are airborne, Hawk spends his time with Slinky. He is stretched out on his mech's shoulder, watching the two as they move in the air; he muses quietly about the Victory, about his family and his unit, and about everyone he's left behind. At that moment in time he really doesn't feel much like flying at all.

Then with a faint sigh he clambers down to talk quietly with the techs running routine maintenance on his machine.

[Ghal Marak]

George laughed on the inside. For some reason people tend to overlook him, and it seems to have happened again. Outwardly, he raised his voice and addressed the Marshal. "Excuse me, where might I find the armory?" He always had an affininty with personal weapons, and he wanted to look over the selection he had access to. So... this is it. I wonder why I'm needed here. It's not like they need another gun. As soon as he thought it, he cast the thought out of his mind. He found it easiest to go with the flow, and he wasn't about to start questioning orders.

[Moral Wiz]

"Well, at least I'll have someplace quiet to work. Could you please have someone escort me to the room in question? I brought some basic supplies with me on the C-50, and I'm anxious to get things set up. As for what specifically I need, well, that depends entirely on who... or what... I'm being asked to deal with. The Migou are rather efficient at disposing of evidence referring to them, so I'll probably have to fall back on the old standbys if we're fighting the fungi, but Dagonites, Children of Chaos, Death Shadows... they're all dealt with in entirely different works. Could you give me any hint at what we'll be dealing with in the immediate future?"

As Lutana begins to discourse on the subject of his expertise his tone shifts perceptibly from deference to authority. It is clear he knows that he knows more about cultists than the Field Marshal, and that he'd be happy to ramble on about the topic at length if given any excuse to do so.

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Fun Fact: Lovecraft's Mi-Go praise Nyarlathotep, Azathoth, Shub-Niggurath, and other god-ish beings. CthulhuTech's Migou are completely opposed to Earth's cultists. Yay for adaptation decay!

I kinda see why, though. If the Migou and the cultists were working together, Humanity would be more screwed than it already is.

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That, and it's the elder gods they revere. Not the great old ones. The only old one I remember them dealing with before is Hastur. And they hated Hastur. Nyarlathotep is currently working directly to finish off the Strange Aeon, and, as the Migou are currently on earth, and don't much like the whole "dying" idea....

And personally, I'd say the revere the principles represented by the elder gods. Not the gods personally. You can worship fire, but that doesn't prevent you from not wanting to get burned

The Marshal, and elder Nazadi tighten as the OIS operative shows off his knowledge of the cultist threat. Craig however, seems more relaxed.

Can't tell you as we don't know. You're first assignment is in bug territory, but it's not too far from the storm. You will be sent against cultists, but remember that the Migou are the primary threat. Aside from the Storm, and perhaps the Dagonites, they are the only real military power in this conflict.

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Just to make it clear, you don't know about the Children of Chaos as anything more than a cult that dropped off the radar some time ago. You know some of the stuff the Dagonites have been up to (Mostly area's they've conquered) and the storm aren't that subtle. The Death shadows are rather splintered, so know what you want. But the CoC are not known about by the NEG, even in the OIS. They are mentioned in some texts, but they aren't known about by anyone outside of a few senior GIA officials (the ones who have contact with the Eldrich Society) They are still regarded officially as a sect that dropped off the radar some time ago.

He then turned to George, and smiled.

Which armory, Private Mikhale? This base has seven major ones. None are heavily classified, anyone can direct you. There's a standard mind scan for anyone going in though. Just in case of blanks.

He smiles, and quickly scribbles his signature on a notepad against the wall.

That should allow you to req whatever the hell you want. If they give you trouble, just tell them you're the guys from Asia. That good enough?

Hanger

Most of the techs watch the displays; but two of them, a young human and an older Nazzadi turn round to the slightly moping Hawk whirlst he's resting on his machine's shoulder.

You ok, mate? You want anything done to her?

[Ghal Marak]

George took the note and staired at it. Quickly recovering, he sketched off a hasty saluit. "Thank you sir!" He then turned and walked away grinning. Dang, I hadn't been this happy in weeks! HOOYAA!!

He first went to check out wherever the small arms are kept.