RP III - Storm Breaker

Post your epic water war tale!
Post Reply
User avatar
joannaardway
Posts: 855
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2006 10:04 pm

RP III - Storm Breaker

Post by joannaardway » Sun May 07, 2006 5:04 pm

Ok, people - here we have a new RP for a new summer.

Definition of RP for new members: RP stands for roleplay. You post a profile like I have done below, and then you post small sections of a long story. This RP has rules - please read them.

This is a long post because of everything it covers - please persist and read all of it (and the links) - it will make the whole RP richer.

This RP is intended to cater for both those that want some realism and those that want some more unlikely events/fantasy. Thus this RP has governing rules (unlike RP I and II) - these are important - please adhere to them in practise and in spirit. However, the risk is that I dissuade everyone.

I am providing everything for a rolling start. I am writing a short intro piece, and people should join as we go. This should prevent people getting bored as we wait for lots of people to join.

People are completely free to join at any time. Don't feel that it's not your place - if you want to join, do.

I am putting the rules and map as an off-site link to prevent the post being too long.

http://bb.1asphost.com/sigmarhaven/RPmap.htm (includes map image)
http://bb.1asphost.com/sigmarhaven/RPrules.htm (includes blank profile to copy and paste)

My profile:

Name: Joanna or Jo sometimes "El Diablo" or Rhiannon
Gender: Female
Age: 17
Height: 6' 0"
Weight: 140 lbs/ 10 st / 65 kg
Appearance/Clothing: Fairly long blonde hair. T-shirt, jeans and steel-toe capped boots. May wear body armour and a face shield in combat.
Physical characteristics: Tall, but thin. Has high levels of strength, but not very fast. High levels of pain tolerance. Stamina good when using strength, but poor on speed.
Personality/mental characteristics: Persistent - not a good leader, but a good troop (takes orders well, but not very good at giving them) - intelligent, and very knowledgeable in some areas. Inventive, but better at assessing the ideas of others. Likes rock/metal music. Strong link to brother. Can be silent for hours, but often talks too much/loud.
Skills/Strengths: Highly accurate with most weapons. A good team player. Fast on a mountain bike. Good expertise in Physics and Chemistry - good at maths related to these. Reasonable mental mathematician.
Weaknesses: Time-keeping quite poor.
Main weapon: PCgH with 3L PC, back pack, multi bore pump, riot blast and trigger (linked to ball valve). Compact for its capacity and power. Sometimes called Terminator (not yet built in reality, but I am going to make this one)
Backup weapon: CPS 27K with so many mods I can't remember all of them (bull-pup and laminator probably the most important.) Sometimes called Exorcist.
Last resort weapon: (1L home-made - can be recharged from almost all taps)
Other Gear: Multi-tool, general food, string, a lighter and a small pair of binoculars.
Has access to: Cerberus (again, not yet built in reality) - a sniping water balloon launcher with multi shot capacity, Hellhound (also not built yet) a smaller sniping water balloon launcher with multi shot capacity, a Douchenator clone, CVFed 3xA - no internal PC (must be attached to 1L homemade)
History/Alliances: Friendly to militia forces from the Tempest wars.
General Information: English. Speaks in a southern middle class accent.

Team (1 member):
Name: David
Gender: Male
Age: 17
Height: 6' 1"
Weight: 152 lbs/ 11 stone/ 71 kg.
Appearance/Clothing: Short gold hair. Long sleeved shirt, fleece, jeans and trainers. Quite attractive. Sometimes appears younger than he is. May wear body armour in combat. Many (mostly unseen) scars.
Physical characteristics: Very strong. Not fast, but barely slowed by weight. Massive pain tolerance. Twin Brother to Jo.
Personality/mental characteristics: Makes bad jokes. Strong link to sister. Strong willed and bright. Deep thinker - can sit thinking for hours.
Skills/Strengths: Good at receiving and making orders, but clearly on level pegging with Jo in the team. Also accurate but not to the same extent Jo is. Good high speed driver.
Weaknesses: Obsessive - can get stuck in one task.
Main weapon: CPS 3200 (Neanderthal)
Backup weapon: Hydroblade (Pulsar)
Last resort weapon: SS 30 (Challenger)
Other gear: Sharp penknife, general food, assorted tools
Has access to: Anything on the list for Jo.
History/Alliances: Few links, but supports anyone Jo does.
General Information: English. Speaks in a southern middle class accent. Deep Voice.
Team Vehicles: Dark Green Land Rover Defender with Sat Nav, Pair of front suspension mountain bikes.

Introductory passage:

David drove the Land rover off the small ferry as dusk was beginning to fall. Jo was sitting in the passenger seat, reading their mission statement again, to confirm the details.

The East Island war was over, although it was only a matter of time before they needed to return.

The pair had been sent to North Island by the militia due to reoccurring rumours of Tempest forces here. There weren't many of them here - at least the best estimates said not. The guesses were that the majority of the Tempest forces on the Island group were on East Island, so forces elsewhere should be thin.

Their duty now was to begin to eliminate any Tempest on North Island, to prevent them assisting the trapped forces on East. They had a full mandate from the North Island authorities to do it, and their Land Rover had hopefully more than enough weaponry in it to deal with what was going on.

A few other teams accompanied them, and similar hit teams had been sent to West Island, and intelligence said that the mainland was mostly Tempest free - they were gathering on the islands to attack the mainland.

They had to report back at some point, to confirm their arrival and any counts of Tempest activity. The hope was that it was residual forces trying to recruit - not a full set-up and hidden barracks.

They were picked because of their late arrival to the East Island fighting - thus they wouldn't have been researched by the Tempest, so wouldn't be known to them. However, some better known warriors made up the other teams - they could scare the Tempest into desperate action.

There were contacts to meet to get informed on the situation. If the worst occurred, they could summon some forces from East Island, and the hidden forces on this one.

Driving out of the port, the half dozen or so militia strike teams broke off to their respective destinations.

Picking up a radio, Jo pressed the talk button.

"Right, remember to report in when you have reached your locations. If all goes to plan, that should be relayed to the other teams."

She wouldn't have normally said that, but all teams were considered to be equally important, so she had as much right to say it as anyone else.

Another voice came across the radio:
"Confirmed - People, remember - we are not here to start a war. Remember what Command said. And… thank the Gods we don't have to clear West."

Jo smiled, confirmed she had heard, and said to her brother:

"Right, we need to get to Highfield(7) not much after nightfall. Take the off-road route into the town, we need to meet our contact on the outskirts"

"After that", she thought, "I need to go to bed - good thing he's got spare ones"

People are free to be in the initial teams, one of the contacts, casual visitors, part of the hidden militia forces, back-up forces, part of a support team, a strike team that arrives later, or any other reason you've got for turning up.

Note: I'm automatically pinning this.
"Over the hills and far away, she prays he will return one day. As sure as the rivers reach the seas, back in his arms again she'll be." - Over the Hills and far away, Gary Moore

"So many people have come and gone, their faces fade as the years go by. Yet I still recall as I wander on, as clear as the sun in the summer sky" - More than a feeling, Boston

User avatar
m15399
Posts: 224
Joined: Sat Oct 15, 2005 1:54 am

Post by m15399 » Sun May 07, 2006 6:39 pm

Name: m15399
Gender: Male
Height: 5' 6.5"
Weight: 110
Appearance/Clothing: Dark blue shirt with yellow stripe, dark blue jeans, black shoes
Physical characteristics: Tall, thin, brown hair. Always wears 3 wristbands: Livestrong, "Wage Peace", and my friends' and my custom ordered "Peace, Love, Impeachment".
Personality/mental characteristics: Quiet, moral/ethical, looks at all sides of an issue, good with numbers.
Skills/Strengths: Sprinting, firing at moving targets, strategic positioning (getting above your opponent on a hill, etc.), homemade building, common sense, prioritizing, and some other stuff.
Weaknesses: Long distance running (I have to run slow to go for more than 1/4 mile), walking up/down gravel hills, walking down steep hills of any kind, climbing.
Main weapon: Super Cannon II-like homemade.
Backup weapon: Backpack CPH
Last resort weapon: Sideways "U" water cannon
Other gear: Laptop, cell phone with free internet minutes, internet cable from phone to laptop
Has access to: Teh internet!
History/Alliances: Prepared to make alliances with the first group I run across.
General Information: Wishes to move to Canada, get rich, and donate it all to charity.

User avatar
DX
Posts: 1780
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2004 1:00 pm

Post by DX » Sun May 07, 2006 11:11 pm

Name: Duxburian
Gender: Male
Age: 17
Height: 5' 8.5"
Weight: 120
Appearance/Clothing: Black T-shirt, track shorts, sneakers.
Physical characteristics: Built like a distance runner, yet is best at short distance sprinting. Between medium and tall, black hair, thin.
Personality/mental characteristics: Quiet, moral/ethical, idealistic, intelligent, terrible with numbers.
Skills/Strengths: Short distance sprinting, positioning, extremely fast reflexes, offensive tactics, defensive tactics, war/fighting theory and philosophy, veteran commander with years of experience, capable of filling any position, capitalizing on enemy mistakes, countering enemy tactics.
Weaknesses: Long distance running, patience, commanding non-veterans, taking orders with flaws in them, quiet personality, does not assert nor seek command when fighting with unfamiliar people-ends up getting it only after others see what he is capable of.
Main weapons: 21K, CPS 2500
Backup weapon: CPS 1100
Sidearm: ITWC
Last resort weapon: 41WC
Other gear: backpack, $550 cash, pocketknife, radio, floodlight, bike pump, iPod.
Has access to: Douchenator/MS Douchenator, Hardware store, Havoc launchers from RP II, Water Tank from the iSCF RP, jeeps and boats from RP II.
History/Alliances: Co-Commander of the Militia, fighter in the original Tempest forces of the iSCF RP [Yes, there was a time when the Tempest Squadron was not an AI enemy, and there was a time when two sides fought each other rather than an AI].
General Information: Working on a moderate New England accent, hates arrogance, monetary greed, stupidity, Conservatives, and when people call him "Dux."
Last edited by DX on Sun May 07, 2006 11:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Mess With the Best, Get Soaked Like the Rest!

2004 Red Sox - World Series Champions
2007 Red Sox - World Series Champions!

WaTer FigHt NoOb
Posts: 50
Joined: Mon Apr 17, 2006 9:15 pm

Post by WaTer FigHt NoOb » Mon May 08, 2006 1:45 am

Name: WaTer FigHt NoOb AKA: Hydro tactica & Aqua tactica.
Gender:M
Age:15
Height: 6' 2 1/2"
Weight: 170
Appearance/Clothing: shorts t-shirt flip flops
Physical characteristics: Tall, described by friends as stick. Black hair
Personality/mental characteristics: very analytical
Skills/Strengths:Fast. 200 meter and 400 meter sprinter
Weaknesses: Anything over 400 meters is overkill
Main weapon: XP 310 likes the light weight
Backup weapon: generic water pistol
Last resort weapon: water bottle
Other gear: laptop with external harddrive (likes computers)
Has access to: not much.
History/Alliances: just the neighborhood.
General Information: likes water fights...
Team: the little kids
Vehicles: bike. A 1995 ford sedan.

User avatar
joannaardway
Posts: 855
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2006 10:04 pm

Post by joannaardway » Mon May 08, 2006 11:07 am

You are free to start posting the story at any time. And from me, it's another long story segment. I think I'm free to do that, given we're not meeting for a while.

Driving along the off-road track to 7, the Land Rover took any ruts in it's stride.

A pair of headlights appeared behind them. Quickly turning in to the woods alongside the track, David shut down the engine.

The vehicle following them wasn't an off road vehicle, but nonetheless it was moving fast - as if to catch something. It passed, either without seeing them, or without intent to engage.

Plugging an emergency compressor from the glove compartment, Jo started charging the Douchenator - just in case.

Re-starting the engine, they started driving out of the woods.

With a sudden revving of the engine, the Land rover stopped - they had got caught on something. With innate ability, David reached for the Land Rover's suspension controls. Pulling firmly on them, with a graunching noise, the Land Rover's suspension shifted, lifting the chassis over the obstacle.

Driving out on to the road, he dropped the suspension back to normal. (Land Rover Defenders can actually do that) They were reaching Highfield.

"We need to take a left here"

Taking the left, they quickly reached their contact's house. As they got out of the car, the front door opened:

"Long time - no see"

Jo smiled - "Good to see you. Once we've got this stuff indoors, you can start enlightening us"

Passing the Douchenator PC to the figure as he carried Cerberus in, David said:

"Could you bleed that? We thought we might have needed it"

The weaponry was quickly shifted from the Land rover, and despite it's size, fairly discreetly.

"Do you drink tea or coffee? - You didn't last time"

"No, not yet - neither of us do." responded David "but I think water will be fine"

Filling a pair of glasses, the contact began:

"Obviously, I couldn't say anything of importance over the radio - the scrambler isn't good enough. However, I have recieved news that we have nearly enough Hydro-Ordinance stocked to strike at primary targets on East. It should stop them building escape craft"

"But that's good news - isn't it?", Jo queried

"It is - but we won't have enough to hit the majority of the forces on the island for weeks or months - more than long enough for forces here to aid them. And given that we need to keep some in reserve to strike at any craft that try to escape..."

Over the next hour, the contact recalled information about weaponry, leading members of the resistance, and between the three of them, they formed a rough plan to start eliminating the local forces.

Going upstairs, the three went to their rooms. Picking up a radio, Jo began:

"This is Team 7 in position, with full intelligence reports, weaponry and all members ready."

"Confirmed - Team 7 on location, and ready to begin operations."

"We begin strikes tommorrow. Suspected risk of targets fleeing into surrounding woodland - will call support team if required. Team 7 signing off for the night."

Putting down the radio, Jo climbed into the bed. It was definately a lot better than the one on the ferry.
"Over the hills and far away, she prays he will return one day. As sure as the rivers reach the seas, back in his arms again she'll be." - Over the Hills and far away, Gary Moore

"So many people have come and gone, their faces fade as the years go by. Yet I still recall as I wander on, as clear as the sun in the summer sky" - More than a feeling, Boston

User avatar
DX
Posts: 1780
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2004 1:00 pm

Post by DX » Mon May 08, 2006 6:47 pm

Looking out the window, Duxburian could see a harbor town emerging from the left. Few lights were on and a couple of buildings were on fire. The town appeared to be just the sort of lawless area they were hoping to find. Anywhere else, the rather sizable ferry would have attracted too much attention from local residents. However here, nobody seemed to care or notice for that matter. After all, it was one in the morning and quite foggy. The ferry was more like a dark shadow as it approached the docks. Once firmly tethered, jeeps started rolling out.

Enemies would not be suspecting Duxburian's arrival, nor the 67 troops with him. Nor would they recognize all the COs of this group. Nearly half of this Tempest Squadron/Militia force had not participated in the recent wars. The name of half of the force would also wreak havoc, as the "Tempest Squadron" troops had Tempest" in their name, yet insignia not seen in the wars. Duxburian also had Belisaurius with him, who hoped to turn Tempest enemies to their side.

The procession of jeeps now left the docks and headed towards the north side of town. Bands of armed locals noted the size of the newcomers' force, and left them alone.

Duxburian spotted an abandoned warehouse complex which would be perfect for a temporary base. The jeeps pulled in, the troops immediately moved to secure the area, and looked for materials with which to repair and strengthen the perimeter wall.
Mess With the Best, Get Soaked Like the Rest!

2004 Red Sox - World Series Champions
2007 Red Sox - World Series Champions!

User avatar
joannaardway
Posts: 855
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2006 10:04 pm

Post by joannaardway » Mon May 08, 2006 9:22 pm

Interesting concept - converting some of the enemy...

The morning was breaking as the radio came to life:

"Good morning team 7 - I hope I didn't wake you"

Jo picked up the radio.

"Team 7 preparing to begin procedures."

"Confirmed. Support team 1 has landed."

Jo had read the mission notes enough to know that meant that Duxburian and his forces were on the island - in Leighton(4) if all had gone to plan.

Getting up off her bed, she got dressed, and then went for breakfast - it wasn't too appealing, but it was better than some she had experienced.

Going back upstairs, she kicked her brother out of bed, and started preparing rounds for Cerberus.
"Over the hills and far away, she prays he will return one day. As sure as the rivers reach the seas, back in his arms again she'll be." - Over the Hills and far away, Gary Moore

"So many people have come and gone, their faces fade as the years go by. Yet I still recall as I wander on, as clear as the sun in the summer sky" - More than a feeling, Boston

User avatar
Silence
Posts: 3825
Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2006 9:01 pm

Post by Silence » Sat May 13, 2006 5:17 pm

Name: SilentGuy
Gender: male
Age: 16 (just old enough to drive in the US)
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 125 pounds
Appearance/Clothing: shorter than the others, usually dark clothing
Physical characteristics: slightly underweight, but somewhat strong and quite fast
Personality/mental characteristics: likes to form alliances, cunning, thorough (analyzes and accounts for every detail)
Skills/Strengths: quick reflexes, good aim, muscular endurance and speed
Weaknesses: can't drive too well, can only try to be stealthy (hence the dark clothing), can get obsessed with the finer details
Main weapon: linear backpack PCgH with two-stroke pump and slanted grip/trigger
Sidearm: homemade SuperCharger (grip allows left-handed shooting and pumping the main weapon)
Backup weapon: ITWL (rarely carried around)
Last resort weapon: 6 HPCs
Other gear: night-vision goggles, multi-tool, Palm Treo 700w with GPS, Toshiba Portege (rarely carried around)
History/Alliances: no previous RP history, likes to form many alliances with friendly people
General Information: likes to win, even if it means alliances or equipment must be used to a great extent
Team: AquaTech (3 members including himself)
Vehicles: does navigation for his powerful, black EV pickup (nicknamed FireTruck) with water tanks and quick-charging mounted turret cannon (nicknamed FireHose)

Team
Name: Luke
Gender: male
Age: 19
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 175 pounds
Appearance/Clothing: slim, usually wears dark clothing
Physical characteristics: very fast sprint
Personality/mental characteristics: makes the right decisions, especially as an on-field officer
Skills/Strengths: good driver, good coordinator
Weaknesses: poor endurance, doesn't conserve water
Main weapon: nonlinear backpack PCgH with two-stroke pump, 4L capacity, and trigger
Backup weapon: unique (in some way) Douchenator
Last resort weapon: modded CPS 21K
Other gear: multi-tool, flashlight
Has access to: SilentGuy's other gear
History/Alliances: always allied with SilentGuy
General Information: does what only he and SilentGuy thinks is right
Team: AquaTech (3 members including himself)
Vehicles: drives FireTruck

Name: Chris
Gender: male
Age: 17
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 165 pounds
Appearance/Clothing: well-built, usually wears dark clothing
Physical characteristics: very strong, moves around constantly while fighting
Personality/mental characteristics: pleasant
Skills/Strengths: good infantry grunt (mobility, accuracy, pumping strength)
Weaknesses: takes too many risks while fighting/weak knowledge of the current field layout and enemies' locations during fights
Main weapon: modded CPS 1700
Sidearm: homemade SuperCharger (grip allows left-handed shooting and pumping the main weapon)
Backup weapon: X-Stream Blastmaster 660
Last resort weapon: 6 HPCs
Other gear: Swiss army knife, flashlight
Has access to: SilentGuy's other gear
History/Alliances: always allied with SilentGuy
General Information: can be overpowered by those with long-range weapons or vehicles, but not by infantry
Team: AquaTech (3 members including himself)
Vehicles: mans FireHose on FireTruck

So basically, I've got a ton of sweet gear and a pretty competent team. If you guys want to beat me, I suggest you really focus on each member's individual weaknesses--it's challenging, but not too difficult. In addition, I don't exactly approve of the more fanciful actions that I've seen in RP II; notice how my equipment is crazy but entirely possible.
Last edited by Silence on Sat May 13, 2006 11:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Silence
Posts: 3825
Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2006 9:01 pm

Post by Silence » Sat May 13, 2006 11:59 pm

Great job on the map and the rules, joannaardway. It's more thorough and well-designed than anything I could have done (at this point, at least). I just don't want the island to be blown up at the end :D like what happened earlier.

I'm assuming this is in third-person limited, as that's what's been used so far; however, I might try first-person if it's okay with everybody else. Of course, I'm not sure...

As the ferry rounded the point and Alsted (point 2) came into view, SilentGuy remembered to check his equipment status. He searched meticulously, as usual, for every item on the checklist he had made back at Charlottesville: the backpack that could be configured to feed water to any of his homemades (except SCs); his prized PCgH that revolutionized Soakerdom and nearly doubled SSC's active member population; the homemade SuperCharger, whose backpack fit neatly over the standard one; and then the 6 HPCs that he'd brought along (the automatic recharging station was still in FireTruck). FireTruck, naturally, was SilentGuy's personal pickup/SUV hybrid, modded to use about 500 miles' worth of LiIon batteries, even with a few hundred pounds of water and two other water warriors inside. Currently, the station was fixed to the truck bed, right next to the cab; Chris operated FireHose, a crazy automatic turret cannon with a gargantuan pressure chamber, and which was mounted near the edge of the truck bed. Although the Toshiba Portege, outfitted with cell phone- and satellite-based GPS, phone, and Internet access was inside FireTruck's cab, the multi-tool, the Palm Treo 700w, and the night-vision goggles were in his utility-belt, where SilentGuy decided to place the HPCs after all.

SilentGuy rushed out of the reserved AquaTech room to where Luke, who drove FireTruck, and Chris were; they, of course, had packed up while SilentGuy had been obsessed with studying the map. By now, even without the map, Luke and Chris knew they were nearing their destination. Two hours of studying a detailed map are pointless if you're going to be only 10 yards away from a monstrous sign stating, "WELCOME TO ALSTED!" Certainly some publicity person at the town had gone a bit over the top.
Last edited by Silence on Sun May 14, 2006 3:15 am, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
DX
Posts: 1780
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2004 1:00 pm

Post by DX » Sun May 14, 2006 3:07 am

It was early in the morning. The designated radio communicator was already sending out the necessary message.

"Support team 1 has identified a small Tempest outpost not too far from here, Andswarian will attack this position at dawn and capture as many of the enemy as possible."

Andswarian was Duxburian's code name so enemies would not know he was here. If the militia allies did not know this already, they would figure it out. Duxburian called all the men together, instructed them to take water balloon launchers, and they departed from the complex on foot.

Just down the block was a shuttered building containing the enemy.

"Team Alpha, I need you to position yourselves across the street at the edge of those woods, so when the Tempests flee, open fire and force them back."

"Team Bravo, we are going to surround the post on three sides only, so that the Tempests will run into our other squad."

"Move out!"

With that the strike team faded into an alley and quickly moved toward the woods in a round-about way that would not be noticed.

"Team Alpha is in position."

"Good, load your launchers and be ready. I want you to open fire at 200ft, not less, not more."

"Roger that, over and out."

"Ok, Team Bravo, take up your positions, load your launchers, wait for the signal!"
Duxburian was nervous that the sound of 30 something launchers being pumped might be noisy, but passing cars muffled the sound.

"Ready!"

The pumping noises abruptly ended.

"Aim!"

Each member pointed their launcher at the building.

"Fire!"

The roar of 30 something launchers shot off in unison echoed down the street. Every window in the Tempest building had been shattered, and every door in sight had been blown off its hinges. Stunned Tempests had begun fleeing out the back door.

"Wait, let them go."

The exodus became a flood, and then a volley of shots rang out from the woods.

"Charge Team Alpha!"

The Militia battle cry now rose from the woods, as the more stunned Tempests reeled back, some in bed clothes. Trapped between so many well-armed men, and staring down the barrels of more than 60 launchers, the Tempests decided to surrender.

Duxburian was surprised by how many their were. He had initially guessed around 50, but there were more like 200. Why there were so many Tempests in such a small outpost confused him, but he would not waste time trying to find out why. That was the job for interrogation.

The Militia had constructed a makeshift jail beforehand, but there were too many Tempests for it. Belisaurius went in for a long talk, hoping to turn some of them...

Meanwhile, Duxburian himself went on the radio.

"This is Support Team 1, our mission was successful, around 200 enemies captured, no injuries, our ambush was a complete surprise, and no attempt at retaliation was made.

We are standing by for a possible external counter-attack, since this did attract attention. I have a considerable force here, so I'm not worried however. Relay this message to Duxburian as well, since he is one of my principal contacts. His support team should be landing soon at the planned location.

Andswarian over and out."

Duxburian had a feeling that the enemy was listening in. Hence why he didn't say how many men he had with him and why he added the fake last comments. If the enemy thought that there were now two Militia generals instead of one, he could use that as a big advantage.
Last edited by DX on Sun May 14, 2006 3:23 am, edited 1 time in total.
Mess With the Best, Get Soaked Like the Rest!

2004 Red Sox - World Series Champions
2007 Red Sox - World Series Champions!

User avatar
Silence
Posts: 3825
Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2006 9:01 pm

Post by Silence » Sun May 14, 2006 3:16 am

Duxburian, I was editing my short, old post, so I didn't see yours. I'll just cut out the edited part, which is very long, and put that into this post.

Practically as soon as the ferry had docked, Luke had driven FireTruck to the non-deployed ramp (their contact had expected them at 2:00 am, and they only had 5 minutes left. If they were too late, the contact may have expected trouble with Tempest). "Road" blocks at the parking garage were pointless if you could just circumnavigate a few crates. Thoughful as ever, SilentGuy hopped out and plugged in the battery cable to an on-deck outlet as AquaTech waited for the ramp to go down. That 20 yards' worth of electricity could be neccessary somewhere down the road. The gate opened and the ramp fell as the captain's voice came over the loudspeakers, but the immediate acceleration of the motors got the team out of the sound's range in no time; so hopefully, nothing important had been announced.

FireTruck zipped through the harbor gates at nearly 90 MPH, before SilentGuy pointed out the smoke rising from the factories ahead. Soon, they found themselves in a bustling metropolis, a far cry from what they had heard of the abandoned islands of previous water wars; this meant there would be speed limits and an absence of nitrous. Well, nitrous didn't mean a thing to FireTruck anyway, as the powerful motors could easily top 200 MPH, albeit at the cost of excessive juice.

SilentGuy, naturally, wanted to head by the famed DIY and plumbing shops. Sure, he could always use Lowes, but this was as good a time as any to get more PVC and other homemades parts. As another plus, Alsted sported a handful of electronics and camera stores, and he had forgotten to get a pair of binoculars. Those can always come in handy, along with rope (though rope is somewhat less...well, convenient). Nevertheless, Luke sped straight by each shopping center in turn, finally slowing down as the highway approached the far end of town and the commericial zones gave way to residential ones. Fortunately, SilentGuy hadn't been concentrated on the stores he wanted to visit for too long; he called out the directions before the highway led out of the city completely. He was tempted to take the highway to the old military academy
(point 6) and proceed from there to Highfield (point 7), where several other teams were berthed, but decided to stay in Alsted. After all, not every town on the island had a Circuit City and a Home Depot...

A few turns later, the FireTruck was positioned along Crest Street, a small but well-paved road that wound around the outskirts of the city. Even though there were practically no other cars out, the lights from the stores in the commercial district clearly showed the darkness of this area. It was 2:10, and to SilentGuy's surprise, the batteries had lost about 15 miles' worth of their approximately 500 miles' worth of juice. "Go slow, Luke...we may need the electricity later, especially if we can't recharge the batteries at our contact's house."

Crawling at 20 MPH, FireTruck finally found its way to its destination at 2:25. Jordan Wheeler dashed outside and up to the car, hissing instructions to turn off the lights. "They know you're here in Alsted, somewhere at least. It's a big city, and there are bound to be people from every team here; it's bad enough that you display a huge soaker--what is it, FireHose?--for everybody to see!" For some reason, SilentGuy decided Jordan was especially good at seeing in the dark. Intuitively, SilentGuy put on his night-vision goggles, and even though he didn't see any Tempest guys watching, he could hear Jordan talk through the tinted glass: "You don't need those goggles. Trust me, my perimeters are secured." If this guy could see movement inside a tinted cab at 2:00 am, then you could probably trust him to have a secure yard.

Once inside the house--which was somewhat small, even though it lay upon a large plot of land--SilentGuy could finally analyze AquaTech's contact. He was a slender guy, maybe 40 years old but with graying hair; he looked like the type who could wield a water gun, if not a real one. Most of the soaker alliance's members were young people, so maybe Jordan was one of the top guys; it made sense to put somebody important in an island's largest town, though SilentGuy wondered who hosted the other water warriors. It did not make sense to assign the best guy to one of the most inexperienced (albeit powerful) teams.

However, SilentGuy's train of thought soon shifted to the problem of FireTruck's "low" batteries. If the house had electricity for the lights, then wouldn't there be enough for charging? Of course, the omnipotent Jordan had already analyzed the situation: "If you need to recharge your EV, you can't do it here. It's highly improbable that Tempest is monitoring the power of each house, but even if they aren't, fast charging could cause an overload that would mess up the power for this area and alert them immediately. And even if they don't know you have an EV, news stories about power outages are the best way for them to find out." At this point, SilentGuy was actually wondering how Jordan knew AquaTech used an EV. Since they were completely silent, maybe he knew because he saw it before he heard it. But then again, even in the dark, it seemed like he could see anything before he heard whatever it was...

Luke, always on track, looked a bit into the future. "So exactly where do we charge FireTruck? Maybe some big store like Circuit City"--Luke caught SilentGuy's grin--"or actually, maybe some other place would let us charge, but I doubt it. I don't mind driving to another town or another contact's house in order to charge, as long as that place is no more than 450 miles away, to be safe. And at my driving speed, that would mean about 200 miles away :p ."

The blunt reply from Jordan: "Well then, you don't charge. You've gotta find a way yourself, as long as you don't get 'caught.' You may say this place is really populated, but that can be a bad thing if all the 'civilians' are Tempest agents. However, there's some backup coming in at Highfield
(point 7), so the extra troops coming in can provide cover or distraction in case you cause a power shortage.

After everybody had prepared for the night, SilentGuy held a private meeting in their room. "So what do you think? It sounds like we will never be able to charge and will have to make do with, say, the 400 miles we have left, and 450 if we're lucky. If we try recharging and cause a power failure, then we might be dead meat in no time."

Then Chris interjected, "I think you and Jordan are worrying a bit too much. Do you seriously think the Tempests are monitoring the power? As long as you charge using the same voltage to extend the time needed to charge, although taking longer, there's no way you could cause a power outage. Besides, what's wrong with a little attention? We came looking for Tempest, and if they find us, then that's fine too. As long as we're prepared for them, nothing can go wrong!"
Ah, that famous last line!

User avatar
joannaardway
Posts: 855
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2006 10:04 pm

Post by joannaardway » Sun May 14, 2006 4:02 pm

Good to see you silentguy! Hope you enjoy this less radical RP. People tend to write in third person. It helps identify who is talking/doing something (and it allows a varied set of identifiers - first person is limited to "I"), and is standard written techinque (also, I changes depending on the author. "Duxburian" is always the same regardless of poster)

Jo and David had left behind the Land Rover, and were moving on foot. They were in full camoflage, and their Cadet's training had them moving invisibly.

Jo had picked up on some strange facts in recent transmissions. Duxburian had asked that a message was given back to him - so he must have suspected that he was being monitored.

200 Tempest had been rounded up in one night. That was hopefully the majority of them - if they had any luck left after the East Island war.

Their request to be assigned to Highfield(7) was probably a good one - aside from Leighton(4), absolute secrecy was needed. And besides, they had been trained to fight in woodland.

They had concrete proof that there was a lodge where a high ranking member of the Tempest was hiding out. They setup within Cerberus's range and loaded a high weight round.

After a while, the face that all their photographs had shown moved out of the door. He obviously believed himself safe up here. He probably would have been too. The pair had disabled seven mines and four alarms on their way up.

Squeezing the trigger, the twinned valves opened in perfect unison, sending huge pressures down to behind the projectile. The projectile began moving and as it left the barrel, the porting dissipated the muzzle blast.

Flying through the air at a third of the speed of sound, it was next to invisible. The target was obligingly standing still, apparently to observe the landscape.

The balloon hit him square in the chest, (they had orders to avoid hitting him in the head - it made the body easier to identify) and slammed him backwards into the door he had only just shut. The door, ironically, was unharmed, being armour plated.

They had to advance fast. He had a system within his house, that if at certain times, codes had not been entered, every Tempest on the island would be alerted.

Leaving Cerberus in the woodland, they took the scenic route. In other words, they ran like hell, and hoped that nothing went wrong.
"Over the hills and far away, she prays he will return one day. As sure as the rivers reach the seas, back in his arms again she'll be." - Over the Hills and far away, Gary Moore

"So many people have come and gone, their faces fade as the years go by. Yet I still recall as I wander on, as clear as the sun in the summer sky" - More than a feeling, Boston

User avatar
Silence
Posts: 3825
Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2006 9:01 pm

Post by Silence » Sun May 14, 2006 7:41 pm

Well, I can't keep up such a detailed and thorough story as what I typed up earlier. However, instead of using less details, I'll just decrease my workload and increase the fun of the RP by skipping in some places to get to the action (not yet, but you'll see action later).

"So, where are we heading now? I don't think we need any more supplies just yet," commented Luke as he intently watched SilentGuy's frown. "I mean, there's nothing wrong with staying here, but that Jordan guy kinda annoys me. He's just...well, strange. Maybe things will be a little less awkward once we get to know him better."

SilentGuy interjected, "Well, it's a debate over several options: (1) We stay here and stock up"--SilentGuy hurried on after noticing the glares--"(2) we stay here and charge, while looking for Tempests, or (3) we move out and find another town to stay in. I suggest we just stay here and charge up FireTruck, and if Tempest actually do come, which you guys doubt, then we'll be ready. Besides, it looks like Jordan knows a thing or two about soakers, even if he isn't a homemade enthusiast. He could definitely lend a hand." Clearly, SilentGuy and Jordan clicked together due to their similar approval of attention to the finer details.

AquaTech had left the house early, choosing to picnic with breakfast out in Jordan's backyard. It was light and warm already--after the late night, they had only gotten up at 10:00--and Luke and Chris needed a break from Jordan. Jordan's innate observation abilities had completely freaked them out.

SilentGuy continued, though on a different topic this time, "I saved a few camera positions in Google Earth, and the image quality for such a sparsely populated island is simply astounding. I suppose if one zoomed in close enough, he could even see each of the contacts' houses, everywhere on the map. I'll add some tags to these houses in case we need to charge or find sanctuary somewhere--and if I transfer a few Fraps screenshots from Google Earth to my 700w, I can take the high-quality map with me. I won't mind doing that at all. Chris, could you go get the Portege? Thanks..."

Chris jumped up and walked to the gate. Turning around, he queried, "Do you want me to start pressurizing FireHose? I don't want to be using a turret cannon that only has 1/4 of its pressure chamber filled, even if it's a CPS pressure chamber."

SilentGuy hadn't seemed to notice the shift in the topic of discussion. "So maybe the high quality of these Google Earth maps comes from the fact that there used to be an army training camp here--oh, sorry. You were talking about FireHose, weren't you?" Chris nodded slowly, as if he was thinking, 'Naw [sarcastically, that is]......' SilentGuy continued, unperturbed by the lack of support: "Yeah, just make sure she has about 1/2 of the PC filled...30 gallons should be enough for just about any fight, though if you want to upgrade the PC, I heard Lowes has started to stock LRT in addition to PVC..." Chris had left to visit FireTruck long before, so SilentGuy stopped himself.

SilentGuy and Luke continued with their meal in silence. Soon, however, Luke voiced his thought, saying, "I don't particularly like Jordan, but if you want to try and set up water base defences for him in addition to whatever else he has--we can see what he has through Google Earth. He might even join as a team member for the local missions, if he knows how to wield a soaker. We've needed a second person in the truck bed [behind the cap like a pillbox, not manning the turret] for quite a while now
(BIG hint there, people). Chris could use somebody to cover his back--speaking of Chris, here he comes. Hey, where's the Portege?"

Chris had clearly been sprinting down the driveway--and pretty fast, by the looks of it, for the slowest sprinter on AquaTech--and around the house. Red faced, he tumbled down and took a large gulp of water, only to find that it was stale beer. When your really excited, you don't notice things like labels. After tossing the still-full can, Chris finally responded, "It's not there!" After a moment of confused silence on SilentGuy's and Luke's part, he continued, "It isn't there. The laptop--no, FireTruck--is gone!"

Disbelief registered on Luke's face. He ran off around the house, shouting, "You probably forgot where I parked it! Remember, after I dropped you guys off, I said I'd park it by the basketball hoop!" His voice faded as he moved around far corner of the house and onto the winding driveway. Meanwhile, SilentGuy and Chris gathered their belongings and waited for Luke's return.


Okay, so this installment is slightly shorter. I like it this way.

User avatar
DX
Posts: 1780
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2004 1:00 pm

Post by DX » Mon May 15, 2006 2:28 am

The afternoon was draining by, yet no counter-attack. "That could either be a good thing or a bad thing," Duxburian reasoned. "Good if there aren't many Tempests left, bad if there are but just waiting for the right moment to strike. Oh well, we weren't brought here for stealth missions anyway."

Duxburian called together the other commanders.

"Ok, here's what we are going to do: the Tempests know a large force is here, so we are going to attract as much attention to ourselves as possible. Hopefully that will draw an attack. Belisaurius, what news do you have from the prisoners?"

"Well, I turned about 30 of them, but there's still 170 hot-heads down there who won't join us. Apparently these Tempests are smarter than their counterparts elsewhere. They say that this is actually their major island of operation, but they hide it well. They have commanding generals hiding in a complex bunker system near Lake Newfield, as well as other high ranking officials scattered all over the island. Those past Tempest commanders are here and have been here since we drove them out of other islands.

Some towns have traps, and much of the Yern mountain is booby-trapped. They have also turned some of our contacts with the intention of giving us bad information.

As you suspected, all radio communications are being observed, and they know where all of our teams are. These 200 we captured actually were organizing for an ambush on Team 7 that was to take place tomorrow. They had no idea that a Militia force was in Leighton[4].

The only good news is that, smart as they are, they think you are Andswarian, and have no idea about your experience or background. Make sure no one uses your real alias on the radio or in casual conversation outside of secure areas."

"Ok, that sure changes things," Duxburian said after a few moments to take it all in. "We are ditching the earlier plan completely. We shall try and find Team 7, since they don't know what they are up against. Only problem is that we can't make any radio contact or make too much noise like we have been doing."

"One more thing," Belisauris added. "Another ambush on Team 7 is being planned, and Tempests mean to attack in force here within the hour."

Duxburian's face darkened. "We're moving out immediately then. Get all the supplies and men into the jeeps, prisoners into the truck from the garage, and have all weapons loaded and ready."

With that, the commanders left the room. Duxburian grabbed his gear, launchers, and proceded to a jeep.

10 minutes later, everything and everyone was ready to go.

"Move out," ordered Duxburian with his unique hand signal. The convoy of jeeps rolled out of the warehouse complex and down the road.

"It's sure great not having a map of this place."

"Well, we know 7 is moving to Highfield, so let's ask a citizen how to get there."

With the directions secured, the convoy started off toward Highfield.

Duxburian then did his usual reflection. "Damn, so it's not going to be an easy little operation. We're up against more than in the first war. And with less of a Militia, too. At least I've got these 90 now troops. It would be terrible having a force of like 3 and not knowing what I was about to get myself into..."
Mess With the Best, Get Soaked Like the Rest!

2004 Red Sox - World Series Champions
2007 Red Sox - World Series Champions!

User avatar
joannaardway
Posts: 855
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2006 10:04 pm

Post by joannaardway » Mon May 15, 2006 11:41 am

Lucky me - I get saved from an ambush. I wouldn't fancy fighting off a force that outnumbered me by several dozen times.

They know more than we want them to...

And a question that needs answering... Why are they going for Team 7 - a 2 person team, rather than a stronger one? (They must have a reason for it)

They obviously have a stronger force here than I had originally planned - not a problem, it's everybody's RP.

Joanna and David had reached the lodge without much incident. After taking what files they could from the house, they took prints, photos and dental records of the offical, and left.

Checking the timer on the alarm system, Jo swore.

"David, Get out of here! Grab everything and run!"

The timer was reading only a few minutes - they had to be out of there before it went off.

Leaving at considerable speed, they grabbed Cerberus and left by the route that they had entered by.

Loading the Land Rover, they drove off down the dirt track at high speed.

Jo was keeping constant watch out of the window - and she had spotted something.

"We're being followed."

"Where?" said David, checking the rear mirror, but seeing nothing.

"Microlite. Up there. They know we're here, and knowing our luck..."

Picking up instantly on this, David brought the steering wheel round, and drove them into the woods. Now they were off the road, and hopefully out of the path of an ambush.

*****

However, when they got back, their contacts house had been ransacked - the door was ripped off, and most of the windows had been smashed. There were obvious signs of fighting, and when Jo reached the rooms upstairs, she found the body of their contact was laid on the oak floorboards.

"I suggest that you do not move. I have a 21K pointed straight at your head."

Jo turned to see another of the faces that she had seen in the photos - she also saw something that he couldn't.
"Over the hills and far away, she prays he will return one day. As sure as the rivers reach the seas, back in his arms again she'll be." - Over the Hills and far away, Gary Moore

"So many people have come and gone, their faces fade as the years go by. Yet I still recall as I wander on, as clear as the sun in the summer sky" - More than a feeling, Boston

Post Reply