<span style='color:red'><span style='font-family:courier'> "I have to agree with Gwahir. Communication is our first priority, so lets get there first. Then on our way back we can go through the armory if there is time. I've drawn up a little bit of something on my HUD." *uploads modified map* "We should be safe if we go through that long corridor, since then we'll have range advantage before the Draug can melee. Same when we hit the deck at Communications. We can then go through armory if we want to with shotguns taking point and some grenades thrown in first to clear the sector. Also, if things get hot back at base, we can just run back the way we came which has that range advantage again." *shuffles feet nervously* "That's...eh...that's just my two cents. But I think they're a rather shiny two cents, don't you agree?" </span></span>
<span style='color:orange'><i>"Good idea Terran, we might want to check the armoury just incase there's something like a RPG launcher or railgun in there."</i> <b>"Ceanja, sis, listen, LET ME INTO ONE OF THOSE MECHS, I'M BEGGING YOU, LEMME IN, I'M A FELLOW PROGRAM! MY AIM'D BE AT LEAST TWICE AS GOOD AS THEIRS IS NOW!"</b> <i>"MERC!"</i> <b>"Sorry. What do you say, sis?"</b></span>
<b><span style='color:green'>"Woah Darkness. Might wanna turn the volume on that thing down before they come ramapaging us." *Humps amory* *Starts moving towards door.* "So, are we standing around here all day or what?"</span></b>
<span style='color:gray'>"Lets get moving, set a waypoint at the comm station, it'll keep us from losing our bearings" *moves out with the group*</span>
<span style='color:purple'>"Sure Gwahir..." *Waypoints the Communications area and then another waypoint nearby labled 'Amory'* "There ya go, now get moving, the sooner you all go, the sooner we get the hell out of here!"</span>
<i>Ceanjia: "Well, good luck. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to follow you out there. Your personal nanos ought to open up the network for me, but this lockdown ought not to be possible in the first place either."</i>
<b>Yup, 1337 posts. That was a long time ago, *gets all melancholic* <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo--></b>
<span style='color:purple'>"Hell, why not Grim, should be done by the time you guys get back at the latest." [Pulls out his PDA and begins to hack the system for any logs of conversations with other ships, and any logs of meetings aboard the ship]</span> <b>BTW xect did those welders drop or neg? o.O</b>
<span style='color:purple'>[Place is still locked down. No contact outside the docks]</span>
<i>Ceanjia: "now that's weird. The IPs somehow managed to get through, yet you don't have the authority to even be considered. And neither do I, the whole thing is blank
...
No wait, when they start moving through the door, the nano-grid is opening. Thank god, that way I can still keep an eye on them. Can you see out there too?
Khaim - As the squad moves through the door, you see everything being revealed and scanned. Precisely as it's supposed to.
Squad - as you move towards the corridor, your boots klink on the cold metal floor. Just when you exit the door, two of the mechs start moving with you. Yet, even though they are far from silent, in between their heavy footsteps the whole place seems completely void of any sound. Silence meets you as you turn the corner towards the long corridor going left on your map. It's a long corridor with no pillars, no tables, no lockers, nothing at all. Just bare metal walls. It strikes you that it is just the place you never wanted to fight. There is no cover, no hiding, nothing at all. Suddenly, you realize you are sweating, until after a few seconds the armor wipes it off.</i>
<span style='color:orange'><i>"I've got a bad feeling about this guys."</i> <b>"You've got a bad feeling, what about me? I'm in a f**king PDA for crying out loud! This thing'll fall apart as soon as its dropped, and me with it!"</b> <i>"Don't worry, I put a crash proof shell on it, an Onos could stand on one leg on it for a week and there wouldn't be a dint in it anywhere."</i> <b>"Just don't let those draug at me, okay?"</b> <i>"If a draug gets that close, it's either dead, dying or I'm dead."</i></span>
<span style='color:gray'>"So the draug also produce a their own nano-devices of some sort, and they're fighting ours. Nano-gridlock, draug style." "Correct me if I'm wrong though, but this one seems stronger. I don't think we could scan outside of the hangar, nor could we even access the doors. Which is strange."</span>
<span style='color:red'><span style='font-family:courier'> *looks at the surroundings* "Okay...so there is no cover...like...not even a box some lazy idiot left in the hallway before he died. No matter, still is better for a clear firing lane." *continues walking in the front and scans the area with my rifle* "Hey...why are those things following us? I know its nice and all in thought, but I don't want to get cut down because some mech can't control its weapons." *finishes scanning the area and then checks the formation behind me* "Umm...okay. Since I don't trust those...mech-things anymore than the Draug since we could lose control of them because of some malfunction or AI haxs...I have a suggestion for the firing formation. If we do see a target pop up at the other end of the hall, front row goes prone, second crouchs, and the mechs will probably just stand. That way we can give them a pretty hail of bullets that should down them in...seconds." *wonders a bit* "I know I'm suggesting a bit much, but fighting uber Kharaa was not in my job description. Or huge mechs. Or dying to them either." *continues pacing at the front nervously* </span></span>
<i>Ceanjia: "listen, I know those mechs are large. But I don't think you have to worry about them. They can figure out the combat situation even before you manage to realize something is there. They have no reason to gun you down, so they won't. Only reason you'd have for getting out of their way is to give them a clear firing arc.</i>
<b><span style='color:green'>"Anyways, would you rather that they stayed at the hanger or something? I'd prefer to keep them incase *eyes shift around* <i>they</i> come. It might even be worth it if we could get Ceanjia to make some more."</span></b>
<span style='color:red'><span style='font-family:courier'> *looks at the mechs with a wary eye* "Alright...I guess it's a better thing that they're with us for all the firepower. I still don't trust them though. Keep getting this feeling that they're going to mow me down somehow." *plays with weapon saftey while we continue to march down the hall* </span></span>
<b><span style='font-family:Arial'><span style='color:blue'> *Looks the mechs up and down* "Yea Terran, I know how you feel. I don't realy feel all that safe with these things, don't know if their programming is any good or not."
*Crosses self and says a mutterd prayer* "Oh Lord, don't let these metal freaks frag us......."
*Continues twoards Communications*
"Yea, this is turning out to be a total milk run. The milk if from killer mutant cows, the milk is highly toxic, the bottels are made of explosives and the farmer is stark, raving, mad. Oh, and the farmer has an auto-cannon on his tractor. Let's not even talk about the silos."
<span style='color:orange'><i>"I think I see how you got your last name, Ric."</i> <b>"Terran, just out of curiosity, would you trust me to be in control of those mechs?"</b></span>
<span style='color:red'><span style='font-family:courier'> *hears Grim's rant* "Amen...but continue on! I want to hear about the silos <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->. Something to take my mind off this hike." *turns to Merc* "Sure...I'd trust you. I'd be a lot safer if somebody I knew personally would check out all of that code that's running around in those mechs and make sure its failsafe. Keep feeling that if all we have is 4 mechs, and all the other mechs in this station are under enemy control, what is keeping ours from flipping out and stabbing us when we're not looking?" *sighs* "Man, I knew my prof was right about telling me to take that extra computer coding class." </span></span>
<b>Grr @ not being able to post much</b> <span style='color:green'>*I dropped the Big Gun in favour of my HMG back before we left the hangar* "Hey Dark, that crash proof shell EMP-proof as well?" *chuckles* "Terran, look at it this way. They mech's aren't shooting at us, and they've so far only shot at the things that <i>have</i> been shooting at us. Where's the problem?" *slaps Richter* "Pessimist." *still following the group towards communications*</span>
<i>You arrive at the communications central without anything happening. The room is long, but rather small. There's some computers and a few tables. These computers are activated and connected to communication sattelites. Weirdly enough, the computers don't seem to reflect the relatively inferior look of the room. According to the systems, the communication dishes on this ship are able to send communication data over most of the galaxy. Seems this ship has been very far out, probably many lightyears beyond the borders of civilized expansion.
Ceanjia: "Nanogrid is still opening while you move, but it's closing again behind you. Right now, I can only access this department, and the one at the base where that last guy is, whatever his name was. But anyway, from here you should be able to get in touch with someone from the outside, hopefully getting some help to stopping this madness, whatever way possible."</i>
<span style='color:red'><span style='font-family:courier'> "Ah, but what joy! Who shall be the liasion between this motley crew and the civilized world?" *smirks* "Umm...right. Whoever it is, it isn't going to be me, I hope. Either way, let's set up a perimeter around here? Maybe even a mini base? This Communicaitons I mean. Hell, we might even want to relocate!" *walks over to the doorway we just came in from and stand outside it, standing guard* </span></span>
<span style='color:orange'><i>*moves to guard the door with Terran* "Looks like we're finally gonna get to shoot something that can shoot back." *turns to whoever's using the terminal* "You guys need Merc over there?"</i></span>
<span style='color:gray'>"My suggestion: create an outpost. Phase gate, a few turrets, an armory if we think we can afford it, but that's not necessary. Meanwhile, I want more data" [Attempts to hack the system for more info, like a better map (nano-grid ports and resource nodes), information on experiments, and entry into the communications system]</span>
use as many turns as that should take, but tell me how many it will take so I know when I can do more stuff.
<i>Ceanjia: "Finally, I managed to crack into some unprotected part of the system here. It's not unprotected anymore, those protection algorithms are damn fast. But I got two things. First, the blueprints for the cybernetic legs, second, a short bit of communications and visual info from the draug. They... There's something I have to tell you. This place was originally sponsored by the TSA. As far as I understand, someone forwarded the money, because they always tried to keep hidden from the TSA. But still, those draugs have got their hands on TSA equipment. That rocket launcher I showed you earlier is being used for anti-personel battle-mechs. Also, they're carrying armor from the TSA. Not nearly as good as yours though, it's a bit old because it's been a while since they got new ones, and the TSA never had the funds of the frontiersmen. But it might make them quite a bit more resistent to what you throw at them.
Avoid the chest, that's where the old armor is strongest. Nano's won't distribute damage though, so just keep firing into the things with all you've got. Eventually the armor will wear down and there'll "only" be the draug left. Those can be killed with enough damage, though it'll take a LOT with the tech that created these ones. Not to mention, they have developed personal phase technology straight into the skin so they'll have the advantage of just appearing out of thin air.
Uh, and one more thing, they are preparing to phase in the first wave of attacks, so I suggest you get ready. And get someone calling the outside, might be the last chance you get to use this place if things go as I feel they might."</i>
<span style='color:purple'>"Oh damn, so they got phases to anywhere? Thats just great... Oh and hang on Gwahir, phase gate and TF inbound..." [Attempts to hack the command network to drop a phase gate and turret factory in the communications area] "And what sort of blueprints... Nanotech blueprints or will we have to build them by hand?" </span>
<span style='color:red'><span style='font-family:courier'> *hears all this news* "Man...what the hell. I knew I should of joined up with the Marines, not the Frontiersman! Marines get all the fun stuff, like tanks and rocket launchers. Could really use a LAW right around now." *pulls clip of my rifle and checks ammo* "Hmph...bring it on! Show them what my new toy can do. Besides, they have light armor right? All TSA light weapons are designed to tear through it with ease. At least that's what the manual said." *smirks* "All the more easy for my rifle...hehe..." *shoulders it and scans the area for the anticipated targets* </span></span>
<span style='color:white'> "Here's hoping mister Radioactive slug decides to penetrate" *Ed begins looking around nervously, then he realizes his talents are better used elsewhere* "What the heck am i doing?" [Ed tries to radio the guardpost with the equipment in the room, leaving Wynona armed on the console] </span>
Comments
"I have to agree with Gwahir. Communication is our first priority, so lets get there first. Then on our way back we can go through the armory if there is time. I've drawn up a little bit of something on my HUD."
*uploads modified map*
"We should be safe if we go through that long corridor, since then we'll have range advantage before the Draug can melee. Same when we hit the deck at Communications. We can then go through armory if we want to with shotguns taking point and some grenades thrown in first to clear the sector. Also, if things get hot back at base, we can just run back the way we came which has that range advantage again."
*shuffles feet nervously*
"That's...eh...that's just my two cents. But I think they're a rather shiny two cents, don't you agree?"
</span></span>
WOOT at my potscount.
<b>"Ceanja, sis, listen, LET ME INTO ONE OF THOSE MECHS, I'M BEGGING YOU, LEMME IN, I'M A FELLOW PROGRAM! MY AIM'D BE AT LEAST TWICE AS GOOD AS THEIRS IS NOW!"</b>
<i>"MERC!"</i>
<b>"Sorry. What do you say, sis?"</b></span>
*Humps amory*
*Starts moving towards door.*
"So, are we standing around here all day or what?"</span></b>
<b>Very nice post count guilty <!--emo&::marine::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/marine.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='marine.gif'><!--endemo--> </b>
*moves out with the group*</span>
*Waypoints the Communications area and then another waypoint nearby labled 'Amory'*
"There ya go, now get moving, the sooner you all go, the sooner we get the hell out of here!"</span>
<b>Yup, 1337 posts. That was a long time ago, *gets all melancholic* <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo--></b>
*Moves out with the group*
"Maybe one of you tech boys can find out who this station's been talking to. Checking the logs and what not."
</span></span></b>
[Pulls out his PDA and begins to hack the system for any logs of conversations with other ships, and any logs of meetings aboard the ship]</span>
<b>BTW xect did those welders drop or neg? o.O</b>
<span style='color:purple'>[Place is still locked down. No contact outside the docks]</span>
<i>Ceanjia: "now that's weird. The IPs somehow managed to get through, yet you don't have the authority to even be considered. And neither do I, the whole thing is blank
...
No wait, when they start moving through the door, the nano-grid is opening. Thank god, that way I can still keep an eye on them. Can you see out there too?
Khaim - As the squad moves through the door, you see everything being revealed and scanned. Precisely as it's supposed to.
Squad - as you move towards the corridor, your boots klink on the cold metal floor. Just when you exit the door, two of the mechs start moving with you. Yet, even though they are far from silent, in between their heavy footsteps the whole place seems completely void of any sound. Silence meets you as you turn the corner towards the long corridor going left on your map. It's a long corridor with no pillars, no tables, no lockers, nothing at all. Just bare metal walls. It strikes you that it is just the place you never wanted to fight. There is no cover, no hiding, nothing at all. Suddenly, you realize you are sweating, until after a few seconds the armor wipes it off.</i>
<b>"You've got a bad feeling, what about me? I'm in a f**king PDA for crying out loud! This thing'll fall apart as soon as its dropped, and me with it!"</b>
<i>"Don't worry, I put a crash proof shell on it, an Onos could stand on one leg on it for a week and there wouldn't be a dint in it anywhere."</i>
<b>"Just don't let those draug at me, okay?"</b>
<i>"If a draug gets that close, it's either dead, dying or I'm dead."</i></span>
"Correct me if I'm wrong though, but this one seems stronger. I don't think we could scan outside of the hangar, nor could we even access the doors. Which is strange."</span>
*looks at the surroundings*
"Okay...so there is no cover...like...not even a box some lazy idiot left in the hallway before he died. No matter, still is better for a clear firing lane."
*continues walking in the front and scans the area with my rifle*
"Hey...why are those things following us? I know its nice and all in thought, but I don't want to get cut down because some mech can't control its weapons."
*finishes scanning the area and then checks the formation behind me*
"Umm...okay. Since I don't trust those...mech-things anymore than the Draug since we could lose control of them because of some malfunction or AI haxs...I have a suggestion for the firing formation. If we do see a target pop up at the other end of the hall, front row goes prone, second crouchs, and the mechs will probably just stand. That way we can give them a pretty hail of bullets that should down them in...seconds."
*wonders a bit*
"I know I'm suggesting a bit much, but fighting uber Kharaa was not in my job description. Or huge mechs. Or dying to them either."
*continues pacing at the front nervously*
</span></span>
<b>Go Mech Army!</b> <!--emo&::marine::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/marine.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='marine.gif'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&::marine::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/marine.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='marine.gif'><!--endemo-->
*looks at the mechs with a wary eye*
"Alright...I guess it's a better thing that they're with us for all the firepower. I still don't trust them though. Keep getting this feeling that they're going to mow me down somehow."
*plays with weapon saftey while we continue to march down the hall*
</span></span>
"Yea Terran, I know how you feel. I don't realy feel all that safe with these things, don't know if their programming is any good or not."
*Crosses self and says a mutterd prayer*
"Oh Lord, don't let these metal freaks frag us......."
*Continues twoards Communications*
"Yea, this is turning out to be a total milk run. The milk if from killer mutant cows, the milk is highly toxic, the bottels are made of explosives and the farmer is stark, raving, mad. Oh, and the farmer has an auto-cannon on his tractor. Let's not even talk about the silos."
</span></span></b>
<b>"Terran, just out of curiosity, would you trust me to be in control of those mechs?"</b></span>
*hears Grim's rant*
"Amen...but continue on! I want to hear about the silos <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->. Something to take my mind off this hike."
*turns to Merc*
"Sure...I'd trust you. I'd be a lot safer if somebody I knew personally would check out all of that code that's running around in those mechs and make sure its failsafe. Keep feeling that if all we have is 4 mechs, and all the other mechs in this station are under enemy control, what is keeping ours from flipping out and stabbing us when we're not looking?"
*sighs*
"Man, I knew my prof was right about telling me to take that extra computer coding class."
</span></span>
<b>I'm going to be in Georgia for a week. I'll be back next saturday.
</b>
<span style='color:green'>*I dropped the Big Gun in favour of my HMG back before we left the hangar*
"Hey Dark, that crash proof shell EMP-proof as well?"
*chuckles*
"Terran, look at it this way. They mech's aren't shooting at us, and they've so far only shot at the things that <i>have</i> been shooting at us. Where's the problem?"
*slaps Richter*
"Pessimist."
*still following the group towards communications*</span>
*Gwahir nervously scans the field ahead*</span>
Ceanjia: "Nanogrid is still opening while you move, but it's closing again behind you. Right now, I can only access this department, and the one at the base where that last guy is, whatever his name was. But anyway, from here you should be able to get in touch with someone from the outside, hopefully getting some help to stopping this madness, whatever way possible."</i>
"Ah, but what joy! Who shall be the liasion between this motley crew and the civilized world?"
*smirks*
"Umm...right. Whoever it is, it isn't going to be me, I hope. Either way, let's set up a perimeter around here? Maybe even a mini base? This Communicaitons I mean. Hell, we might even want to relocate!"
*walks over to the doorway we just came in from and stand outside it, standing guard*
</span></span>
"Looks like we're finally gonna get to shoot something that can shoot back."
*turns to whoever's using the terminal*
"You guys need Merc over there?"</i></span>
[Attempts to hack the system for more info, like a better map (nano-grid ports and resource nodes), information on experiments, and entry into the communications system]</span>
use as many turns as that should take, but tell me how many it will take so I know when I can do more stuff.
Avoid the chest, that's where the old armor is strongest. Nano's won't distribute damage though, so just keep firing into the things with all you've got. Eventually the armor will wear down and there'll "only" be the draug left. Those can be killed with enough damage, though it'll take a LOT with the tech that created these ones. Not to mention, they have developed personal phase technology straight into the skin so they'll have the advantage of just appearing out of thin air.
Uh, and one more thing, they are preparing to phase in the first wave of attacks, so I suggest you get ready. And get someone calling the outside, might be the last chance you get to use this place if things go as I feel they might."</i>
[Attempts to hack the command network to drop a phase gate and turret factory in the communications area]
"And what sort of blueprints... Nanotech blueprints or will we have to build them by hand?"
</span>
*hears all this news*
"Man...what the hell. I knew I should of joined up with the Marines, not the Frontiersman! Marines get all the fun stuff, like tanks and rocket launchers. Could really use a LAW right around now."
*pulls clip of my rifle and checks ammo*
"Hmph...bring it on! Show them what my new toy can do. Besides, they have light armor right? All TSA light weapons are designed to tear through it with ease. At least that's what the manual said."
*smirks*
"All the more easy for my rifle...hehe..."
*shoulders it and scans the area for the anticipated targets*
</span></span>
*Ed begins looking around nervously, then he realizes his talents are better used elsewhere*
"What the heck am i doing?"
[Ed tries to radio the guardpost with the equipment in the room, leaving Wynona armed on the console]
</span>