Dark*Matter: Discovery, The First Mission
- Thread starter Falkus
- Start date
Entre' Acte 1
lAt the Hoffman Institute, employees from field agents to janitors learned a few things very quickly. Foremost among them; judge nothing by its appearances. Even with that adage in mind though, it was hard to see Meredith as belonging on Sublevel A. It was where the firing ranges, gyms, and sparring rooms were located. Meri seemed too small for the square corridors of reinforced concrete, her colors washed out in the glare of the florescent bulbs overhead, the sound of her steps lost in the muffled echo of gunshots, grunts, and clunks of practice weapon meeting practice weapon. And no one would have thought her more out of place there than Meredith herself.
She hesitated at the door to Room 4. Who did she think she was fooling? Even if she DID get the training, what could she do? She wasn't strong, like Cade or Larry or Diego.
No. But you're still a field agent, damnit. Maybe you'll never kick as much ass as one of them, but you can at LEAST make it so you're not helpless and useless in the thick of a fight.
Yeah, that was why she'd signed up for this, wasn't it? No more crouching behind vans, only showing up when it was too late. With some training, she'd get some confidence. Besides, it wouldn't be a BAD thing to know more about defending herself.
Mind made up again, Meri pushed the door open and went in.
Stretching inside was an older man...maybe in his late thirties or fourties. Grey hair peppered his temples and streaked the short trimmed hair on his head. He wore a tank top and sweat pants, and from what Meri could see he was apparently made entirely of muscle, though not the grotesque distended things one sees on bodybuilders. His muscles, she could see right away, were born as much from hard work as from exercise. Lean and whiplike. He saw her right away and nodded.
"You're Meredith? One of the new agents?"
She nodded, blushing for no good reason. Maybe it was the imagined doubt in his voice.
He sauntered over towards her and said, "Can you see at all without the glasses?"
Meri quickly shook her head. "Sorry."
"Contacts?"
"I didn't bring them. Sorry, I wasn't thinking."
He shook his head. "It's okay. We'll go easy for today. I'm Frank Bergsten, I'll be teaching you combat technique." Frank nodded. "Are you familiar with the use of any weapon?"
"I, uh, took a shooting course? When I started carrying a little gun in my purse. In New York."
"Handguns," Frank muttered. "Okay, we'll skip those for now. Maybe some martial arts, but frankly, you won't find that very useful most of the time."
Meredith swallowed nervously. "Why not?"
"Because as I recall, most of the critters you wind up meeting out there mind being slugged about as much as they mind getting shot. Which is...not at all."
Meri gaped. "Seriously? How do you fight them?"
"Spells!" Frank laughed. "And fact is, you CAN spell a gun, but since you gotta do every last moving part separately, it costs a mint and takes forever. We only have a few enchanted guns, and they're for the REAL bad boys. No. Better than 80% of our spelled weapon checkouts are these..."
He plucked a sword off a display case in the wall. "Not a fancy fencing blade this. Four feet of tempered carbon-steel. Now, these are for training, so there's no edges, but they're made to be as close to the real thing as possible, so you learn the balance and all."
Meredith rubbed her arm wretchedly. "I'm going to learn swordfighting?"
Frank grinned and tossed the sword at her. "You're going to learn it all."
Out of sheer instinct, Meredith snatched the sword's hilt from midair, and grunted as she felt the weight of the blade dragging her hand down.
"Good reactions there," Frank said approvingly as he took another practice sword down. "Just take a second now to feel the balance of it. Move it around a little. Get used to the mass."
Meri nodded and studied the shiny, blunt steel blade, angling it this way and that to make light reflect up and down its length. Its weight had surprised her on catching it, but now it was feeling more natural. Experimentally she made a short chopping motion, automatically keeping her wrist a bit loose to absorb the followup. Then the other way, stepping sideways a bit to adjust her center of gravity. The movement of the sword was nearly hypnotic. All her earlier feelings of embarrassment were gone, replaced by a sensation of lightness and vague exhileration.
Whoosh...whoosh...whooshwooshwooshwoosh... The sword whickered, faster and faster, making ever more complicated patterns. The play of light and metal were fascinating, entrancing...beautiful. Only dimly did Meredith realize someone was saying her name.
"Meredith!" Frank yelled.
She looked over at him, and damn if the sword just kept on going for a second or two more, as if she didn't even have to concentrate on what she was doing with it. Frank was pretty sure if he'd been doing that, and looked away, he'd be holding his nose or an ear in his free hand in the second or two afterwards. Her expression was odd too, perfectly calm, but with a funny intense brightness in her eyes...
"Meredith, that's enough," he said, a bit gruffly. "Now if I'm going to teach you, I need honesty. I asked if you'd been trained in any weapons, and you said guns. I'll be more clear now. How long have you been studying swordplay?"
The strange numb veil that had dropped over her parted, and Meredith frowned, confused. "None. I would have said if I'd had any."
"Never?" Frank asked dubiously.
Meredith nodded. "No, never. Until now."
He paused for a moment, staring at her. Finally he nodded in return. "Well. Be that as it may...I think we can dispense with the preliminaries in your case."
"Really?" Meri asked. "Why?"
Frank shrugged. "Some people just take a shine to things. It's in their nature. I guess this is something like that for you. Don't worry though...I've got an eye for ability. We won't go too fast for you. And if you start feeling like maybe we are, just say so and we'll put the brakes on. Alright?"
That was good too, he thought. Nice. Rational. What he didn't tell her, didn't dare say anything about until he'd consulted upstairs, was that he was an expert in martial styles that maybe a handful of other human beings in the present day knew. He'd recognized the sword kata she'd been doing...apparently without realizing it. It was Egyptian...a style taught, as far as he knew, to and by the elite guards of the Phaeroh. What specifically it was doing here, now, and in HER, he couldn't begin to guess. But maybe it would come out with more lessons.
She smiled and replied, "Alright."
(OOC - Taking Archaic Weapon Familiarity feat to qualify for Shadow Slayer PrC. Combination of training and Mysterious Talent. Also increased some skills and added some Treat Injury.
Will post revised sheet shortly.)
lAt the Hoffman Institute, employees from field agents to janitors learned a few things very quickly. Foremost among them; judge nothing by its appearances. Even with that adage in mind though, it was hard to see Meredith as belonging on Sublevel A. It was where the firing ranges, gyms, and sparring rooms were located. Meri seemed too small for the square corridors of reinforced concrete, her colors washed out in the glare of the florescent bulbs overhead, the sound of her steps lost in the muffled echo of gunshots, grunts, and clunks of practice weapon meeting practice weapon. And no one would have thought her more out of place there than Meredith herself.
She hesitated at the door to Room 4. Who did she think she was fooling? Even if she DID get the training, what could she do? She wasn't strong, like Cade or Larry or Diego.
No. But you're still a field agent, damnit. Maybe you'll never kick as much ass as one of them, but you can at LEAST make it so you're not helpless and useless in the thick of a fight.
Yeah, that was why she'd signed up for this, wasn't it? No more crouching behind vans, only showing up when it was too late. With some training, she'd get some confidence. Besides, it wouldn't be a BAD thing to know more about defending herself.
Mind made up again, Meri pushed the door open and went in.
Stretching inside was an older man...maybe in his late thirties or fourties. Grey hair peppered his temples and streaked the short trimmed hair on his head. He wore a tank top and sweat pants, and from what Meri could see he was apparently made entirely of muscle, though not the grotesque distended things one sees on bodybuilders. His muscles, she could see right away, were born as much from hard work as from exercise. Lean and whiplike. He saw her right away and nodded.
"You're Meredith? One of the new agents?"
She nodded, blushing for no good reason. Maybe it was the imagined doubt in his voice.
He sauntered over towards her and said, "Can you see at all without the glasses?"
Meri quickly shook her head. "Sorry."
"Contacts?"
"I didn't bring them. Sorry, I wasn't thinking."
He shook his head. "It's okay. We'll go easy for today. I'm Frank Bergsten, I'll be teaching you combat technique." Frank nodded. "Are you familiar with the use of any weapon?"
"I, uh, took a shooting course? When I started carrying a little gun in my purse. In New York."
"Handguns," Frank muttered. "Okay, we'll skip those for now. Maybe some martial arts, but frankly, you won't find that very useful most of the time."
Meredith swallowed nervously. "Why not?"
"Because as I recall, most of the critters you wind up meeting out there mind being slugged about as much as they mind getting shot. Which is...not at all."
Meri gaped. "Seriously? How do you fight them?"
"Spells!" Frank laughed. "And fact is, you CAN spell a gun, but since you gotta do every last moving part separately, it costs a mint and takes forever. We only have a few enchanted guns, and they're for the REAL bad boys. No. Better than 80% of our spelled weapon checkouts are these..."
He plucked a sword off a display case in the wall. "Not a fancy fencing blade this. Four feet of tempered carbon-steel. Now, these are for training, so there's no edges, but they're made to be as close to the real thing as possible, so you learn the balance and all."
Meredith rubbed her arm wretchedly. "I'm going to learn swordfighting?"
Frank grinned and tossed the sword at her. "You're going to learn it all."
Out of sheer instinct, Meredith snatched the sword's hilt from midair, and grunted as she felt the weight of the blade dragging her hand down.
"Good reactions there," Frank said approvingly as he took another practice sword down. "Just take a second now to feel the balance of it. Move it around a little. Get used to the mass."
Meri nodded and studied the shiny, blunt steel blade, angling it this way and that to make light reflect up and down its length. Its weight had surprised her on catching it, but now it was feeling more natural. Experimentally she made a short chopping motion, automatically keeping her wrist a bit loose to absorb the followup. Then the other way, stepping sideways a bit to adjust her center of gravity. The movement of the sword was nearly hypnotic. All her earlier feelings of embarrassment were gone, replaced by a sensation of lightness and vague exhileration.
Whoosh...whoosh...whooshwooshwooshwoosh... The sword whickered, faster and faster, making ever more complicated patterns. The play of light and metal were fascinating, entrancing...beautiful. Only dimly did Meredith realize someone was saying her name.
"Meredith!" Frank yelled.
She looked over at him, and damn if the sword just kept on going for a second or two more, as if she didn't even have to concentrate on what she was doing with it. Frank was pretty sure if he'd been doing that, and looked away, he'd be holding his nose or an ear in his free hand in the second or two afterwards. Her expression was odd too, perfectly calm, but with a funny intense brightness in her eyes...
"Meredith, that's enough," he said, a bit gruffly. "Now if I'm going to teach you, I need honesty. I asked if you'd been trained in any weapons, and you said guns. I'll be more clear now. How long have you been studying swordplay?"
The strange numb veil that had dropped over her parted, and Meredith frowned, confused. "None. I would have said if I'd had any."
"Never?" Frank asked dubiously.
Meredith nodded. "No, never. Until now."
He paused for a moment, staring at her. Finally he nodded in return. "Well. Be that as it may...I think we can dispense with the preliminaries in your case."
"Really?" Meri asked. "Why?"
Frank shrugged. "Some people just take a shine to things. It's in their nature. I guess this is something like that for you. Don't worry though...I've got an eye for ability. We won't go too fast for you. And if you start feeling like maybe we are, just say so and we'll put the brakes on. Alright?"
That was good too, he thought. Nice. Rational. What he didn't tell her, didn't dare say anything about until he'd consulted upstairs, was that he was an expert in martial styles that maybe a handful of other human beings in the present day knew. He'd recognized the sword kata she'd been doing...apparently without realizing it. It was Egyptian...a style taught, as far as he knew, to and by the elite guards of the Phaeroh. What specifically it was doing here, now, and in HER, he couldn't begin to guess. But maybe it would come out with more lessons.
She smiled and replied, "Alright."
(OOC - Taking Archaic Weapon Familiarity feat to qualify for Shadow Slayer PrC. Combination of training and Mysterious Talent. Also increased some skills and added some Treat Injury.
Will post revised sheet shortly.)
industrygothica
Adventurer
Shayuri,
You have an impressive talent for writing. Perhaps you should chronicle our adventures thusfar. I think it'd make for an entertaining story once it's organized as such.
-IG
You have an impressive talent for writing. Perhaps you should chronicle our adventures thusfar. I think it'd make for an entertaining story once it's organized as such.
-IG
Friadoc
Explorer
OOC
http://www.enworld.org/showpost.php?p=3299493&postcount=9
Ok, the above link is Cade's edit log for his character sheet in the rogue's gallery for our campaign.
Now to work up what Cade would like to do during said month.
http://www.enworld.org/showpost.php?p=3299493&postcount=9
Ok, the above link is Cade's edit log for his character sheet in the rogue's gallery for our campaign.
Now to work up what Cade would like to do during said month.
Friadoc
Explorer
Tonight was the second time this week that 'Z' figured out that Cade had been in the building for over 24 hours straight.
"You can over do it, Cade," 'Z' said after she told him to go home or she'd lock his accounts. "You won't be good to anyone if you over do it."
oO She's right Oo thought Cade as he walked through his apartment door. oO I'm obsessing Oo
The apartment is a modest apartment in Lincoln Park, a top floor corner/tower unit on an old turn of the center stonehouse that was converted into apartments in the young professionals district of Chicago.
Cade walks away from the door, which would seem careless if not for the near-silent metal on metal click as the portal locks automatically.
An orange cat jumps up on the edge of an oaken framed couch and mews at Cade in greeting.
"Sorry, Selina," says Cade with a half-smile and a scratch behind her ear. "The numbers got to me, again."
"There's gotta be an edge, aside from the 'X' factor," says Cade as he takes a carton of creme from the fridge and pours it into a dish for the matronly feline. As he sets the dish down for Selina, Cade gives her a couple of long strokes on the back before making sure her food dish was full.
"Still got food in the queue, fat cat," says Cade with a chuckle. One of his first inventions as a kid was an automated food dish that was mostly timed, but had a 'need' feature as well. If Selina meowed a certain amount of times, it would override the time and dispense food, but she could only do it three times in 24 hours. "Spoiled, fat cat."
With a freshly poured stout in hand, Cade heads over to his office-away-from-office, which was a wall-length desk that held a trio of trio of monitors attached to a series of computer (all running OSIRS).
oO At least she left my access on Oo thought Cade as he pulled up some more of the After Action Reports. Accessing the report on his main screen causes a statistical analysis to pop up on a small, which he looks over at before returning to the main report.
"It's just a numbers game," says Cade as he rubs his eyes. "There's gotta be a way to beat it, frak!"
For days now Cade has been doing one of three things; Reviewing AARs, studying guerrilla and small unit tactics, and working on the only edge he can think of, right now, against the 'Numbers Game' - The Handhelds.
"We've beat the odds so far, Selina," says Cade as he turns in his chair, taking a long, deep pull off of the beer bottle before continuing. "But, for how long?"
"Only one in four groups of new recruits avoids a casualty in their first hostile contact, with the next hostile contact taking the odds to one in six." As Cade's eyes pass over the bronze sword mounted on a cherry wood plaque by his bedroom door. "Which means, if you count the Pharaoh in the library, ours odds just got steeper."
"I'm not losin' any of them," says Cade after draining the bottle of stout. "Not the kid, the face, doc or the reporter. Not on my watch." With a casual toss, Cade flips the bottle over his shoulder, a tinkling of glass follows the bottles rapid descent into the recycling bucket. "If I gotta die tryin', then I will."
In fact, at least as far as his access allows, Cade reads up on their dossiers, again. A casual glance, checking for any updates, or notations that have been added.
"We're gonna beat the numbers, kitty girl," says Cade with a grin at Selina as he gets an energy drink out of the fridge before turning back to work on some technical write-up for the Handheld. "Even if I gotta spit in the Devil's eye to do it."
Looking up for her creme, the orange cat simply mews at her companion, as if telling Cade that there was never any doubt.
OOC
Over the course of the next month Cade will be spending a lot of time focusing on research into all of the Hoffmann Institute AARs (After Action Reports) that his clearance level allows for, on tactics (mainly focused on small unit and guerrilla tactics), and working on an invention for the team.
On the invention, if/when Cade hits a point where he knows he cannot do it alone, or hits a breakthrough and just needs someone to manufacture it, he'll contact the Institute through 'Z'.
In fact, Cade will bounce things off of 'Z' from time to time and she is the only person, outside of the core group, that he currently bounces his ideas and thoughts off of. While Cade loves working for the Institute, he is still getting a feel for who he can trust, or should trust his ideas and thoughts with.
He does not withhold anything from the Institute, but he is guarded while he works himself through the process.
What is the invention?
It is a OSIRS-based PDA that works on an encrypted short ranged WiFi ranged and the Hoffmann CellNet that will assist Hoffmann agents investigations through enhanced communications, access to needed OSIRS tools and resources, and miniaturized tools, both add-ons and incorporated.
An example, from popular media and culture, are the Atlantean PDAs from Stargate Atlantis.
In order to pull this off as quickly as possible, Cade will bring 'Z' on it as soon as possible, right after he has schematics and future development written up on it. Cade will store his original ideas on a secure space on the OSIRS servers, as well as in archives, in order to cover his a$$ - basically, it shows that he was not developing something with Hoffmann's resources with the thought to not give it to them, plus it establishes a timeline of his development.
One key device that will be part of the PDAs will be a motion detector (very short range, only 6 meters) and high quality camera functions. If Cade had the tech, he'd go for the floating orb PDAs, ala NASA, but that'd just be spendy.
Cade's hope is that his group will be the field test group for the tool, as his whole reason for designing it is to try and beat the 'Numbers Game'.
"You can over do it, Cade," 'Z' said after she told him to go home or she'd lock his accounts. "You won't be good to anyone if you over do it."
oO She's right Oo thought Cade as he walked through his apartment door. oO I'm obsessing Oo
The apartment is a modest apartment in Lincoln Park, a top floor corner/tower unit on an old turn of the center stonehouse that was converted into apartments in the young professionals district of Chicago.
Cade walks away from the door, which would seem careless if not for the near-silent metal on metal click as the portal locks automatically.
An orange cat jumps up on the edge of an oaken framed couch and mews at Cade in greeting.
"Sorry, Selina," says Cade with a half-smile and a scratch behind her ear. "The numbers got to me, again."
"There's gotta be an edge, aside from the 'X' factor," says Cade as he takes a carton of creme from the fridge and pours it into a dish for the matronly feline. As he sets the dish down for Selina, Cade gives her a couple of long strokes on the back before making sure her food dish was full.
"Still got food in the queue, fat cat," says Cade with a chuckle. One of his first inventions as a kid was an automated food dish that was mostly timed, but had a 'need' feature as well. If Selina meowed a certain amount of times, it would override the time and dispense food, but she could only do it three times in 24 hours. "Spoiled, fat cat."
With a freshly poured stout in hand, Cade heads over to his office-away-from-office, which was a wall-length desk that held a trio of trio of monitors attached to a series of computer (all running OSIRS).
oO At least she left my access on Oo thought Cade as he pulled up some more of the After Action Reports. Accessing the report on his main screen causes a statistical analysis to pop up on a small, which he looks over at before returning to the main report.
"It's just a numbers game," says Cade as he rubs his eyes. "There's gotta be a way to beat it, frak!"
For days now Cade has been doing one of three things; Reviewing AARs, studying guerrilla and small unit tactics, and working on the only edge he can think of, right now, against the 'Numbers Game' - The Handhelds.
"We've beat the odds so far, Selina," says Cade as he turns in his chair, taking a long, deep pull off of the beer bottle before continuing. "But, for how long?"
"Only one in four groups of new recruits avoids a casualty in their first hostile contact, with the next hostile contact taking the odds to one in six." As Cade's eyes pass over the bronze sword mounted on a cherry wood plaque by his bedroom door. "Which means, if you count the Pharaoh in the library, ours odds just got steeper."
"I'm not losin' any of them," says Cade after draining the bottle of stout. "Not the kid, the face, doc or the reporter. Not on my watch." With a casual toss, Cade flips the bottle over his shoulder, a tinkling of glass follows the bottles rapid descent into the recycling bucket. "If I gotta die tryin', then I will."
In fact, at least as far as his access allows, Cade reads up on their dossiers, again. A casual glance, checking for any updates, or notations that have been added.
"We're gonna beat the numbers, kitty girl," says Cade with a grin at Selina as he gets an energy drink out of the fridge before turning back to work on some technical write-up for the Handheld. "Even if I gotta spit in the Devil's eye to do it."
Looking up for her creme, the orange cat simply mews at her companion, as if telling Cade that there was never any doubt.
OOC
Over the course of the next month Cade will be spending a lot of time focusing on research into all of the Hoffmann Institute AARs (After Action Reports) that his clearance level allows for, on tactics (mainly focused on small unit and guerrilla tactics), and working on an invention for the team.
On the invention, if/when Cade hits a point where he knows he cannot do it alone, or hits a breakthrough and just needs someone to manufacture it, he'll contact the Institute through 'Z'.
In fact, Cade will bounce things off of 'Z' from time to time and she is the only person, outside of the core group, that he currently bounces his ideas and thoughts off of. While Cade loves working for the Institute, he is still getting a feel for who he can trust, or should trust his ideas and thoughts with.
He does not withhold anything from the Institute, but he is guarded while he works himself through the process.
What is the invention?
It is a OSIRS-based PDA that works on an encrypted short ranged WiFi ranged and the Hoffmann CellNet that will assist Hoffmann agents investigations through enhanced communications, access to needed OSIRS tools and resources, and miniaturized tools, both add-ons and incorporated.
An example, from popular media and culture, are the Atlantean PDAs from Stargate Atlantis.
In order to pull this off as quickly as possible, Cade will bring 'Z' on it as soon as possible, right after he has schematics and future development written up on it. Cade will store his original ideas on a secure space on the OSIRS servers, as well as in archives, in order to cover his a$$ - basically, it shows that he was not developing something with Hoffmann's resources with the thought to not give it to them, plus it establishes a timeline of his development.
One key device that will be part of the PDAs will be a motion detector (very short range, only 6 meters) and high quality camera functions. If Cade had the tech, he'd go for the floating orb PDAs, ala NASA, but that'd just be spendy.
Cade's hope is that his group will be the field test group for the tool, as his whole reason for designing it is to try and beat the 'Numbers Game'.
Falkus
Explorer
OOC: That was truly wonderful writing, both of you. I'm awed and amazed by it's quality. Well done.
You don't get a reputation bonus, but you do get take the allegiance to the Hoffmann Institute, giving you a +2 to all charisma based checks when interacting with other members of the Hoffmann Institute. I'll be putting the link to the new thread here and in the OOC thread when I start it.
Meredith will be issued a mastercraft +1 longsword (her choice wheter the bonus is an attack bonus or a damage bonus). Cade will get an opportunity to test his new invention shortly.
You don't get a reputation bonus, but you do get take the allegiance to the Hoffmann Institute, giving you a +2 to all charisma based checks when interacting with other members of the Hoffmann Institute. I'll be putting the link to the new thread here and in the OOC thread when I start it.
Meredith will be issued a mastercraft +1 longsword (her choice wheter the bonus is an attack bonus or a damage bonus). Cade will get an opportunity to test his new invention shortly.
Last edited:
Falkus
Explorer
The new thread is up, The Chicago Ripper, here: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=186313
Yee! Thanks for the comments, everyone!
As I become more familiar with people's characters and more confident extrapolating and paraphrasing for them, it's possible I might fictionalize a mission or two... I can't commit to it right now though, mainly just because it takes a lot of time. However, just because I haven't committed to something doesn't mean I won't give it a shot sometime.
Thanks again!
PS - Great stuff, Cade! Perhaps some kind of collaboration would be fun...?
As I become more familiar with people's characters and more confident extrapolating and paraphrasing for them, it's possible I might fictionalize a mission or two... I can't commit to it right now though, mainly just because it takes a lot of time. However, just because I haven't committed to something doesn't mean I won't give it a shot sometime.
Thanks again!
PS - Great stuff, Cade! Perhaps some kind of collaboration would be fun...?
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