MondayGrid Sector 11873, Defensive Position "Razorback"The Bradley 1A5 kept firing with it's auto-cannon at the incoming target. One of it's tracks, the left one, was damaged. The rack of guided missiles had been emptied days ago and there hadn't been the chance to refill them. Quartermaster "Godmother" was inside the basement of a ruined house, missing it's second floor and portions of the first. The structure of plywood would provide minimal protection or cover, which was why he was underground. Beside him was Jack Price, the Engineer from MARS Incorporated, now a Lieutenant in what remained of the Armed Forces. Finally, if he was still alive, was Capt. Harry Grand from the Air Force. --In the basement was a Javelin guided missile, loaded, but with no available reloads. There was also MARS MPAR, a laser guided upgrade of the FGM-172A SRAW project. That system and a single reload were bundled together. Both would require firing from outside or the precarious top floor.The other explosive options were the drum fed, six shot 40mm Milkor MGL.... OR three disposable AT-4ERs.There was closed crates that may or may not have additional supplies, but the three of them didn't know how to operate that many weapons outside the rocket launchers and a basic M16A4.There was the blowtorch and Quik Patch case, if Jack wanted to try repairing the Bradley.
Rolled 1, 19 = 20 (2d20)>>6324636>Ah, I couldn't get the rolls up before the thread got archived. Oh well, no harm done, at least I archived it since it was about to slide off.>Hmm, there's a bit of a delay for the new thread, nothing serious I'm sure!>Ah, there it is!>Huh, Execution Team 04, wasn't that something else before? Probably nothing.>*reads post*>*Lawyers, Guns, and Money starts playing*I have many questions, also have my rolls just in case they're relevant, should have been 2d20 for Persuasion for hiring people to refit guns and then haggling for vehicles using said guns, but overthinking kills in a warzone, so for now I just want to know what is that friendly Bradley engaging, exactly? But yes, if there was time for a small summary of how exactly we all came into possession of such industrial quantities of shit, alongside a deed for the eponymous creek and a glaring lack of paddles, that would be quite appreciated as well!
>>6324721The duality of the market, right there.
Rolled 14 + 6 (1d20 + 6)>>6324636Jack tries to gather his thought. "I guess we shouldn't have gone exploring in that Jeep."Jack's head snaps to the tank fire and looks to where it fired. "Not much time to think or stay panicked lets do what I can to make sure the big gun doesn't stay immobile. Maybe we will get lucky and have new crew members to support."Jack moves to grab the torch and case with as much focus as he can muster moves to repair. The last thing he would want to happen is another miss step. There would be no time for a broken leg to be treated. >>6324722Yeah.
>>6325022I think I remember the bonus correctly, I am worried that it was 8 now. Ether way still now the worst roll to start out on.
There is the possibility of soldiers, militia, or random civilians in the area who might step in asking for help or wanting to assist as best as they can.Optional Choice for New People>Civilian Survivalist>First Responder>Military>Refugeee
Jack Price rushes out with what physical fitness has been born into and instilled into him. Up the stairs and our the door, with only what armor he has to protect him from a "near miss". There is the distant sounds of artillery shells, gun fire, cannon fire, and grenades going off.He goes straight to work doing what he does best, complex repairs in record time. When he cracks open the Quik Patch case, he just knows what to do, applying it and torching around the edges.It's going to take some time to fix the track and check the power pack, but it's going along swimmingly.
Their radios squak with call signs and messages. Casualites, units not responding, positions being lost, and "Tangos" advancing from all sides.Godmother checks the ground floor and can't make out what the Bradley is shooting at.When he gets back to the basement, he hears the command radio, the one with long range broadcasting, the one with wires and antenna running to the roof.It's a mixture of officers missing, an office or two having deserted or deserting, officers stating they are surrendering, and orders from the main CO to retreat. Not to fall back, but to retreat."This is Garand Actual," a voice says. "On behalf of the chain of command, emergency command has fallen upon The Network.""Colonel," the voice continued. "Your transmissions and notes have been located. You aren't properly motivated to defend our way of life. Only you can walk away from this with a surrender. Coward."There was the garbled and distorted transmission of someone else. Single words that were curses or threats crept through the static.One of the national guardsmen got on the line. "Out coming, out coming. Hit the dirt." He ducked into some rubble.Then there was a loud explosion. "Is... That smoke coming from the TAK? Blue on blue dud.""Colonel Martinez," the Garand voice said. "You are acting command for this region. You will be forwarded the C5 systems you need now. Hold the position as long as possible, you will be reinforced by reconstituted mechanically enhanced veterans and Canadian shock infantry.""I repeat. Hold the position. We will no longer be led by the uneducated and the ignorant.""What other assets are available to me?" The... Possibly the Colonel and new CO said. "There is considerable jamming," Garand said. "We will push drones and long range precision fires as they are available."
What is the players next move?
Rolled 15 (1d20)>>6326150Sorry, I'm still having a bit of a hard time following. Are we still in Arizona? Which side are we on if not, which side essentially just got military coup'd, which part of that are we supporting if any?In medias res can be nice but it does feel like we should have more background here...>>6325852>Godmother tries to us the radio to catch more information on what the hell is going down out here. No outgoing messages anyone could use to drop something one their heads. He at least needs to know where they could drive the Bradley to. Assuming they don't get shot by their own side for retreating if that was their Command being wiped back there...
If someone has time and isn't busy, they could do a Perception for one rotation to try and use our scopes to see what is in front of and what is behind us.>>6326158As Godmother questions what is happening, the front part of his brain seems to hurt. After taking Tylenol with water, it doesn't seem to be easing.Unrelated, his nose is bleeding.Nothing seems right about this, and he can't seem to quite be sure which side he is on.
Rolled 10, 9 = 19 (2d20)>>6326272[First roll]I will try to gather info about what is around me. >>6326150[Second Roll]If Godmother is still unable to get a clear goal or order for us. I will use what info I can gather to see if their is a better place to more to our at least some resources to add better cover. I should have a bonus to Scavenging so I may as well use it.
Rolled 17 (1d20)>>6326272>>6326272Godmother knows enough about certain things to know that not being aware that they exist, or at least thinking it very, very hard, can offer a measure of protection. But not always.There is unnatural fuckery afoot. No memory loss should trigger migraines and nosebleeds. Something is wrong here but he isn't allowed to know what. Best case scenario this is a nightmare, but he's not about to go find a bottle of sleeping pills to down without knowing more. He would also rather avoid dying, just in case.>>6326343"Huh, Jack. I don't want you to panic, but unles you can tell me exactly where we are or what's going on without getting a splitting headache, I think we've gotten caught in some manner of anomalous, potentially magical phenomenon. So trust nothing, and no one, who isn't the usual crew. And check the usual crew with our usual passphrases."Godmother's warning is made a little ridiculous by the nasally tone of its delivery, as the supply officer is trying to stop his nosebleed with some tissues.>I will roll Perception as well, since that offer didn't seem to exclude Godmother, I think?
>>6326492That's a good move for now and we'll just have to test the water to see what will work for us here. As long as things keep to being practical and not theory crafting. I may try making sure our view of physics still works.That said an idea has now crossed my mind. We had those other earth people in the past and now I wonder if they could be messing with something. I feel like someone said something about how they talk and think will mess with people.
>>6326343Jack set down his blowtorch and adjusted the Quik Patch case. It would be another 10 or 15 minutes to fix the Bradley so it could move. Lifting up the face guard and visor for the blowtorch, he looked around.The Bradley crew was firing and firing, with the Commander adjusting the sensors and the remote controlled machine gun. They didn't really reply to him on the radio or even in person. As he examined the surrounding areas, it seemed that the buildings in front of the line, in front of the Bradley, were mostly or entirely toast. The structures to their sides were little better, even out 100 or 200 meters. Getting up on the second floor of the ruined HQ house, with a Binoculars he could see that out about 500 meters were other friendly positions, which mostly were firing and holding place.Behind them 200 meters, the structures looked more secure. There was the possibility of digging up earth and tiles into sand bags, of blowtorching and hammering nails to repair areas. Perhaps part of a street sign or vehicle could be blowtorched and rivetted as an additional support for the second floor.>>6326492Godmother was really beginning to suspect something was wrong. Carefully, but with urgency, he used the Thermal on the Javelin system to try and look out ahead. There was a lot of smoke, some of it that blocked IR and some that did not. Far off in the distance was shapes that could be Tangos or refugees or even just burning piles of rocks or distant flaming cars. There was armored vehicles, a few kilometers out and spread out pretty heavily. They didn't seem to be moving yet, but perhaps soon they would be.
>>6326492As Godmother was walking around on the ground floor and then the basement, his headset amplified a faint sound. As he got closer, he thought he heard a soft beep, and then a different kind of soft beep. Digging around and checking shelves, drawers, and under things... He eventually found a tablet with earplugs inserted into it.It was rubberized, with a metal frame and thick but clear gorilla glass. The materials, save the glass, were all Coyote Brown. The cover was also he keyboard and it came with a carrying case.Looking at it, it showed a few other signatures nearby. They seemed to be... GPS trackers, about the size of... smart phones. There was a system on the Bradley, and other systems hundreds of meters apart, positioned along the lines.There was an encrypted security update that was asking permission to be pushed.
>>6326649Godmother picked up the tablet and moved to the side of the house closest to the Bradley shouting at Jack from the hole the man had used to exit the house."Found some weird kit, get back inside for a sec!"When Jack pops inside I'm going out on a limb for the sake of speed, and because this should be a 1-2 minute thing and you're between tasks somewhat, Godmother would explain what he'd found on the tablet and seen on thermals."No clue who these Tangos are, quite worried we can't recall, and also worried what this security patch might do. Doesn't look like we have a very stable leadership behind us. Thankfully, it looks like it's fight or flee, not surrender, but we can't discount this being some sort of Trojan virus to either pinpoint our armor for arty, or just fry it...cold as it is I want at least you to be back inside before we push that button, if you're up for it. We've got at least a little time to think, doesn't look like the other side is right on our heads, whoever they are. Or whoever anyone is..."Godmother wipes a fresh trickle of blood from his nose as he's still scrambling to pick out anything familiar from the tablet design, the security update name, the shape of the vics arrayed against them over the distance, anything to get around what is affecting them. And he is more and more certain somthing is. He just doesn't know enough to make a call that could get him, Ppice, and a lot of other people killed."Do we push the update, Lieutenant?">Will wait to roll dice if needed
>>6326823Jack will take in what Godmother has said and looking at all the blood from Godmother's nose. "I think it could be worth the risk, but maybe I should take over it for a sec. I would be bad if you get worse from that bleeding you are doing."Jack pulls out his back up PDA. "It's a good thing I have some experienced with computers. I'll plug this in and check what I can before and after the update. I should be able to make a copy of the some the main files. At least If this PDA wasn't messed with before we can see if things get weird once plugged in."
>>6326862Godmother is almost happy to surrender the device to Jack, especially after hearing he may have a way to get a bit more information before they start agreeing to any EULAs in an active warzone.
>>6326885God damn it, wrong trip.
Roll for Computer Use / Use Computer
Rolled 17 + 6 (1d20 + 6)>>6326966
https://youtu.be/rOHf497yXfA?si=AdRma6U0FQRBp4oa"It's a good thing I have some experienced with computers. I'll plug this in and check what I can before and after the update. I should be able to make a copy of the some the main files. At least If this PDA wasn't messed with before we can see if things get weird once plugged in."Jack reaches into his a pocket on his... ACU jacket... or into the pants... Wherever he kept the PDA... It's still here, but everything just feels wrong.Jack's job description... is Engineer and sure, he's one of the best when it comes to blow torching, power saws, riveting, casting, forging, and he even knows how to work a CNC machine. Well educated, quick to learning...But he had taken coursework in coding... And was given special training in coding and computer security.Jack gets out what cables he has and can find, and tries to interface the PDA....Wait... This is the wrong PDA... This screen is a lot bigger, the stylus seems more optional and also .. it's heavier...He plugs it in and starts trying to backup what he can from the laptop. Without even thinking he gets out a protected solid state drive, whatever that is... and he starts backing up the files as best as he can. There is a pile of heavily compressed and encrypted files that he backs up, but he can't access them. They seem to prefer being accessed via specific software, and that software prefers a Linux system... Which seems to require a password.However, there is a sort of structure that can be backed up, and so can the version of Linux in use.
>>6327418He pressed the button to approve the update and it just happened.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oosw0al5bK418lmUFxkxDxL2LlVWZS-t7G5-4aPlEHA/edit?usp=sharingAs Jack tried to scroll through all the text, Godmother was able to make out transmissions from the main coms."This is Colonel Martinez to Grid Sector One Dash Eight Dash Zero Dash Sixer Dash Fiver."Godmother checked either their PDA or the maps or something. (Tell me what) and realized that was their area of the battle space.
There is a type of Knowledge roll that neither of you have any bonuses for, that is available.
>>6327437Jack is gonna look around for a reflective surface or see of his 'PDA' can take a take photos. "Hey Godmother, I don't know what you will think of this message. It seems some troops are mad and push to far by the top. Now it is likely we are in a civil war I think."Jack will start to move around the area to keep looking. "Otherwise do you feel nostalgic? Like your feelings of how things used to be just hitting ya out of no were.">>6327443I know limited slots and people will make it hard to juggle everything, but depending on the Knowledge I may opt to take it if we really need it.
>>6327437>Godmother checked their...Maps, no PDA>>6327443>There is a type of Knowledge roll that neither of you have any bonuses for, that is available.No clue what it could be sorry. Can't be army, or tech, or bureaucracy. Planes Lore? Esoterism? Magical Knowledge?>>6327748Godmother is ready over Jack's shoulder."Oh. Great. Crazy people, potentially death cult adjacent. Great. Also, that last part about the airstrike is really off. I guess I'm adding us being in a weird coma or fugue state to the strange explanations list. Current one, given how alt-hist the tech feels is this new thing I just invented called interdimensional bleed. We've somehow landed or fused or temporarily taken over our bodies in another dimension that diverged, but not that far. So we probably shouldn't shoot ourselves to wake up. Same for calling an airstrike on our position. Besides those guys aren't moving yet. We can still call it in if they do."Godmother tunes into the transmission but doesn't reply. Plenty of other positions around to do so hopefully, and if not maybe this Colonel will transmit blind?"Sector 1-8-0-6-5...doesn't ring much of a bell."
It's a special knowledge neither of you have, so it's pure Intelligence.
Rolled 14 + 2 (1d20 + 2)>>6328404
Jack raises his head and says something like, "This manifesto paraphrases a scene from Full Metal Jacket..." Godmother has a PDA, it's not as good as Jack's but.... Since when did he have a PDA? And why is it transmitting a GPS location?The two of them seem to think it's some kind of dimensional / timeline bleed. The command radio squawks. "This is Colonel Martinez Actual.... Do I have a spare fireteam or squad that can do QRF work? I need someone to check Sector 1-8-0-6-5""Roger that," someone replies, with a Chicago accent. "This is Romeo Sixer, we can check it out for you."
Some amount of time later, they can hear and see on their screens that a light 4x vehicle has parked close to the building they are holed up in. The laptop, which has several cables wiring it to power supplies, solid state drives, and a larger radio- it relays that Romeo Sixer is indeed there, and it switches to their local coms channel. The fireteam of four people dismounts a two man team who appear to be looking around the area carefully. Based on listening, there is the person on the radio earlier and someone who off the radio slips into a causal urban dialect. "This is Romeo Sixer," the voice says. "We have a partially repaired Bradley in the middle of the sector and somewhere around here is a command interface system."Sometime later."Wait," the voice continues. "I'm detecting two Squad PDAs... Could be KIA, Traits, or something else. They could be listening in on us right now?"--[Your move still]
>>6329161"I mean...those are our guys, right? For a certain understanding of it. I'm not keen on just lighting them up. Also, since that Bradley is still up and not shooting them, and it didn't shoot at us...and if we do kill them it's going to turn this place into rubble with us in it. Let's just call out "Friendly" and hope they buy frontline shock as an excuse?"
>>6329182"Yeah there is not much to go on and with no backing. Might be our best bet to blend in with everyone.">>6329161Jack will start running through the PDA to look for any notes or key words he may want to know before talking. "All I can think if this isn't a mutiny. That would make that update crazy bad for us and lead to a miss understanding."
Will post tomorrow and catch up Monday.
All Jack has time to find is that the shaving restrictions are heavily loosened and there is some mention about how all of the gas masks in circulation don't require a clean shaved face.For some reason mustaches aren't allowed if they are alone.The "Punisher Skull" isn't allowed, period. The American flag is prohibited from being black and white or having a single stripe that is a different color.Carefully and trying to not seem to nervous, the two of them try to link up with these strangers. --Romeo Sixer is some kind of mixed ethnic man dressed in combat dress that needs to be washed. He has a blue bandana tied around his neck that has a single large four pointed star. He's escorted by a similarly dressed white guy that has prison tattoos and a full length M16 with a red dot on top of an ACOG 4x sight.
[I was hoping you would react or do something, but maybe you're busy too.]"Nah," Romeo Sixer says. "I'm not like an officer or anything. And I'm afraid that I don't have the education or the clean record to be a Mustang." He looks over at the maps and screens laid out on the table, before placing a backpack on the table. He fishes out a plastic screen and some dry erase markers, before placing the plastic sleeve and drawing on it."We're in a really precarious state," RS says. "The military has balkanized really badly and there hasn't been any centralized agreement about how to deal with The Enemy.""And we're have officers trying to surrender or switch sides," Romeo Sixer's escort says. "Trying to desert and shit...", "That's not even counting those among us who are spies and assassins." The two of them look at the maps and the clear sheet. "The Enemy is somewhere ahead of us here," RS says, placing some more sheets and drawing. "They're ahead of us and always picking at our lines in various areas, trying to figure out where the gaps are."
>>6331234Sorry the holiday rush has been hitting work and I have been distracted.
Same.
>>6330181I just wasn't sure what to reply to that one. I could have made some vague guesses we're looking at a Second American Civil War alternate timeline, probably with at least one fascist side given the banned iconography. The beard comment is interesting, either hinting that things suck, which we could guess by the coup, or that this side maybe leans more socialist, though that could absolutely be reading too hard into things.And yeah, I've barely been on here this week. Can't write due to a full time job, writer's block and personal issues dragging down most of the muse and, and staring at my disused thread is depressing honestly.>>6331234And yep that brings up more info than I would have guessed. Probably the enemy are more fascist or facist-coded so the black flag and punisher symbol are seen as either allegiance, or denote parts of the military that have gone rogue.Godmother looks up from the maps and at Romer Sixer, doing his best to pretend like everything is normal instead of reality itself causing him and Price nosebleeds."Well, things have hardly changed since the last update. If either of you could help the Lieutenant get the Bradley mobile it'd be a start if we can at least have it reposition a little. Right now they must now exactly where it is so it's only a matter of time until they drop something on it. It's been pretty quiet otherwise. Think I saw some movement way over a while back, but it could have been fires. Nothing's tried to cross, and I haven't seen any serious gunfire from positions on either side of us, so we're holding and bracing until told otherwise still. What's you guy's plan for now?"
Godmother gained bonus XP for making some correct analysis and some logical analysis.
As the two Operators (Jack and Godmother) inspect the surrounding area, with one or both of them sticking their heads out, they notice the other people with Romeo Sixer.There is an athletic and nimble woman wearing an assault jumpsuit. She has short hair and wears strange shoes that are somewhere between hiking boots and tennis shoes. She also has something like a crowbar, a survival knife on her webbing, a drop leg holster that contains a pistol that has its suppressor sticking out."To Romeo Sixer," she says on the radio. "This is callsign Eleanor. Permission to move from 4 by 4 sentry to Reconnaissance.""Granted."
Romeo Sixer looks up after checking the charts and his PDA."I haven't served under Colonel Martinez," he says. "So I wouldn't know."The other man speaks. "We've been tied to that wet dog that was the other Colonel."The laptop beeps and pushes an update to their PDAs. There is additional heat signatures and smoke along the enemy lines."Looks like they'll be pushing an assault soon," Romeo Sixer says. "I'm surprised they aren't shelling us yet, maybe that's about to happen."
>>6336413Godmother sighs, looking at Jack.Any chance we can get the Bradley mobile enough to at least put it behind the house in the next couple minutes? At least they won't have a direct view of it. As for us, well you guys should dig in with us until the eventual barrage is over. Is there anything else we can help you with?
