ShadowForce: Runners in Time E2
Fade in. The party stands around the wreck of the Aeroship drone. Demma is shirtless, but carrying his gear and clothes, with his suit jacket draped around his shoulders.
Narrator: And that wasn’t the weirdest thing about that day.
Jo: Did we decide that the rigger got first dibs to the future tech?
Lija rips through the innards of the white opaque sphere of the aeroship. Some of them are discarded while others are caught by the Mule that stumbles back and forth.
Lija: I figure if it's a drone then who better.
Demma: But it's not an everyday drone.
His tiny cameras flit back and forth recording the scene.
Demma: No incoming data, but it is pumping out AV to the south.
Asako transforms into her metahuman form.
Asako: So are we gonna wait for someone to find us? I doubt they’re going to be happy we destroyed and stripped their toy.
This gives Lija pause for a moment, but then examining the damage she had already done to the interior of the aeroship drone, she shrugs and continues to scrap it.
Jo: How much longer you going to be on the smash and grab there?
Lija: I’ve got some good stuff. If we need to go we can go.
Asako: (in Japanese): We have enemies to the south. This was their scout, who has already relayed our whereabouts. Do we wait for their attack, or push towards their base, Samurai?
Toshiro hums his intrigue, and nods.
{Note: Toshiro only speaks Japanese}
Toshiro: Do we have a scout?
The samurai looks to the heavily laden Mule. But expresses doubt on his face.
Demma: I’m working on accessing their systems, I think I’ve found something to the south, only a few kilometers south.
He then mounts the highest dune around them and looks, squinting, the camera emphasising the mechanical nature of his irises.
Jo: Tell me ‘mancer, What do your elf eyes see?
Demma: Single story outpost, like a village, or Barrens camp. Flat metallic wall structures surrounding tents.
Jo: I’m starting to feel them, I do not detect any Awakened.
Lija: Hell, then let’s storm the castle. Any chance what we’re after is there?
Demma: Fuck if what we’re after even exists. Give me some time to observe. If they’ve got cameras outside, maybe they have cameras inside.
Lija clears some space on her mule for Demma to sit, he sends his mind to the future matrix. The future matrix of this town looks like the village set, but instead of textured all of the walls are painted green.
Asako, as a fox, climbs up on the Mule to rest. The team walks through the desert to the village, Lija modifies the Mule as they walk along. They reach an outcropping of rock where they stop. Demma uses his small camera drones to project a holographic map of the village.
Queue planning montage music.
Demma: There are eight guards.
These guards wear a sword sheath on their hip, and carry a rifle. They are shirtless human men with wolf skins on their heads. Each of their arms are covered in patchwork wolf fur.
Demma: Each of them have a dual set of cyber arms.
Demma projects an X-ray of the fur covered arms, they are a strange, dark metal overly square with claw-like spikes coming out of the fists.
Demma: There are three entrances. In the South East, we’ll send Lija and her drone.
Lija: Arion.
Demma: Alright, Arion.
{When marked with VO screen shows what is being described.}
Demma (VO): Arion has a mounted grenade launcher, throws out a flash.
*Boom* The projection guards shield their eyes. Lija finishes them off with Stick-and-Shock from a shotgun.
Asaka: Not that I don’t already love this plan, and how effective it is so far, but maybe we don’t have to be aggressive out of the gate?
Jo: She’s not wrong.
Demma (VO): Alright, at the western entrance, Asako and Toshiro will approach, try and get in without bloodshed.
Asako approaches the guards, the FX team puts a purple glow around her throat as she speaks in an unknown language that sounds like a series of growls.
Both of the guards nod to each other and make way for Asako, but stop Toshiro who does not look pleased by the turn of events, he puts his hand on his scabbard.
Cut to black, screams from the guards.
Demma: If that doesn’t work, the rest of the team will commence with plan B.
Demma(VO): Jo and I will be invisible and approach the main northern gate, she’ll throw out a blast, and then -
Demma flicks his Ares Predator between the two guards who shake as they collapse.
Demma (VO): We’ll meet in the middle and approach the inner tent, there isn’t any connected tech in that area, except for the final two guards.
Demma stands in the middle of the future Matrix village. His sprites, mishmashes of cables and wires, emanate from his body and begin to tear apart the cyber arms.
Demma: I’ve got those under control. I’ll take point inside with Jo providing a shield… I guess we’ll play it by ear from there.
He looks disappointed and takes a long drag from his cig.
Lija: All that just to play it by ear.
Demma: Look we have to get to the central tent. Jo, you getting any magic, I figure the cube has some sort of magic to it.
Jo: It’s dampened, but I can feel it.
Cut to Demma with a green shield projected in front of him. He holds his Predator out in front of him as he enters the main tent.
Sounds of bone crunching and slurping fill the air. Both a faraday cage and magic runes cover the inside of the tent. In front of the party is a giant bear.
==Tune in Next Time!==