Hunter: the Vigil - I Left My Soul in San Francisco - Ryan Smith - Prelude [Restart]

NOTE: The first post will be the "recovered" content from before the Big Crash.

RG Thread
OOC Thread
[sblock=Other Prelude Threads]Renata Hodges
Luke Chen[/sblock]

POST 1 - INSIGHT

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PRELUDE - RYAN SMITH
This is the prelude thread for the Ryan Smith character in the Hunter: the Vigil game, "I Left My Soul in San Francisco".

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May 2005 - Fallujah, Iraq


Ryan realized that he might be the only one left alive. His infantry unit, supporting forward observers near the Iraqi city of Fallujah, lost sight of the forward observers and the unit's commanding officer, Lieutenant Grayson, sent the infantrymen into Fallujah to find them. The op had already gone bad, but Lt. Grayson would not let it be a complete failure. If only the forward observers could be found, hopefully alive, and returned to base, then perhaps the Lieutenant would not face a court martial.

But now, Ryan was seemingly alone. He was pinned down by a pair of snipers atop a bakery on some dirty Fallujah street. Ryan had ducked behind a broken wall, possibly part of a factory of some kind.

No one was responding on the comms. Ryan was down to a clip and a half. His helmet and vest were full of bullet holes. These things were all that were keeping Ryan alive.

Ryan ducked his head out to see the street. Smoke had cleared from a grenade someone had thrown. Ryan could now see a pair of dead soldiers in the middle of the street. It was too far to make out who these dead soldiers were. Perhaps Ryan could get to these men and find out their identities. Those snipers were still going to be trouble.

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POST 2 - GREENKARL

Ryan's face was grim but determined. The dead might have their ID tags that he could return to command... but they might also have ammo. Pushing himself up against the wall to stand, Ryan drew in a few deep breaths to control his heart that threatened to hammer out of his chest any second now and made ready to make a dash towards the body. This might be it dooboy... don't screw it up!. Slowly releasing his breath, Ryan darted low out from cover and raced forward as fast as he could to dive behind the bodies and onto the group, hoping that surprise would foul their shots...

OOC: I think you can only Dodge in melee or unarmed combat (not a rule master I am afraid) so I am doing my best just to impose penalties vs. the shooters.

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POST 3 - SHAYURI

(OOC - Nope, you can dodge ranged attacks too. In that case, the 'dodge' simply represents taking evasive action and trying to present a difficult-to-hit profile. But you can only dodge attacks you're aware of the origin of...which can make snipers a problem. )

This is the "catch up" post. After this post, we will continue with the prelude.

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Ryan rushed across the open space toward the fallen soldiers. Ryan managed to get to the men ahead of any sniper shots. Quickly, Ryan assessed the situation. The fallen soldiers were members of Ryan's infantry unit. With little time to search the soldiers, Ryan grabbed some ammo clips. He ran to the bakery building before some rifle shots went off (missing Ryan).

Once Ryan was inside the bakery, he had a few moments to get his bearings. The bakery was a two-story building. Ryan knew that the snipers were on the second floor. If Ryan wanted to deal with the snipers, he would have to find a way to get up there. Ryan searched the ground floor. He found the production area - replete with metal, rolling racks, ovens, and storage. Ryan also found a packaging and shipping area. At the rear of the building, Ryan found a loading dock door. It was stuck and probably damaged (thus, sticking the door). Ryan took a moment to try to budge the door, but he was unable to get it to move at all (certainly not without making a lot of noise).

As Ryan was about to look for another way to find the stairs to the second floor, he heard a strange, female voice. The voice spoke Ryan's name and welcomed him. The woman, whomever she was, was calm and serene. Ryan spun in place, his weapon leveled, looking for the woman. He saw no one.



Ryan decided to get out of the bakery altogether.

Ryan high-tails it out of the bakery as fast as he can manage... this was too freaky!!! He hoped that speed would serve him against the snipers but at this point that was only a secondary concern for him.

OOC: I am just going to have you roll Speed for this kind of thing. Speed is already a combination of two stats, so it really doesn't need another skill or stat added in. Especially for a situation where you are just running and not doing anything else. It doesn't matter at this point, though. Just keep that in mind for future reference.

Ryan easily escapes the bakery with no shots fired at him until he is well away from the building. Ryan has to guess, at this point, that the snipers are just firing at whatever movement they see and, given that the snipers were focused on the other side of the bakery, they didn't really have time to adjust and set up a good shot at Ryan.

Ryan finds himself behind some broken-down building. It looks like a residential block, like an apartment building or something. He hears the sounds of small arms fire from somewhere nearby. It sounds like maybe it is a few blocks away. Ryan realizes that this sound is coming from the direction the forward observers had been going before the ambush. It's possible that the forward observers are still in play. Maybe Ryan could get to them and somehow, still finish the mission.

Ryan heads for where he hopes are the forward observes and his fellow soldiers. This was disturbing but if he could get back with his men he was sure it would all work out and he would come to a logical consultation on whatever he... thought he saw or heard back there. It had to be his weary mind or some distraction... of course that was it...

As Ryan runs for the source of that sound, he feels something in his mind SNAP - just for a moment - but perhaps long enough to detain him.

OOC: You can spend a Willpower to continue or roll Resolve + Composure (need 3 successes) to continue.

Ryan stops in his tracks, frozen in his tracks... what the hell! his mind thinks just for a second...

Ryan drops to a knee, right in the middle of a battle-worn street, and has to regain his concentration on just what the hell he is trying to do.

"Don't worry, Ryan," a female voice says. Ryan comes to the conclusion that the voice is coming from within his own head.

"Ryan, we want you to be a part of this," the voice says. "You are Chosen."

Once Ryan regains his wits, he can still hear the sounds of soldiers nearby. They are maybe a block or two from where Ryan is crouched behind a broken wall. But then... what about that bakery???

Ryan had no desire to be chosen by... whatever that voice in his head was. Man I'm really losing it out here, he thinks to himself. He had to get away from the bakery as fast a possible. Ryan picks himself up and runs as fast as he can (if he can) away from the bakery and back to regain his fellow troopers. If I can just see friendlies I will be ok he repeats silently to himself, almost like a pray.

Ryan, still hearing whispers of that female voice in his head, sprints across the open ground, towards the sounds of soldiers in the distance. He stops at a street corner. Though Ryan still hears the soldiers somewhere nearby, all of this confusion is making it hard for him to determine the exact direction to his fellow soldiers.

OOC: Make a Resolve + Composure roll. Need 2 successes.