Origin: Not Just Another Day in the Trenches

Magic is Real.

We fly over oceans, hold the sum of all recorded knowledge in our hands, and speak with relatives halfway across the world without leaving our chairs. Magic isn't just flying on broomsticks or calling down fire from the Heavens. Magic is limited only by your Imagination, and your Will to make it manifest. There's a battle going on over the nature of Reality and Mankind itself. Pretend it isn't there, or get involved and forge the Future you envision.

Welcome to the Ascension War.

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ManWithDoor
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Origin: Not Just Another Day in the Trenches

Post by ManWithDoor » Wed Sep 14, 2016 10:14 pm

"Understood, Corporal." McKay edges past you, ducking low. He peers around the corner, squinting at the heavy dust flowing through the streets. After a few seconds, he slides back towards the group. You're a little jealous as to how silent he was, especially after your little gaffe a minute ago. "I can't see damn at all through this white shit. King, you've got better eyes, you saw the roadblock. Give us a plan, you're in charge for this action."

Your eyes scan about, picking out the tactical landscape. The fog is pretty thick, so you might be able to chance traveling out of cover, but a chance wind might reveal you at the worst possible time. The next building across the street is about thirty feet away, but a couple guys might be able to make it, allowing a flank. Alternatively, backtracking might give a way to come at them from a different angle than your helmet gave away, but could cost valuable time. And the building you're hiding behind appears to have a second story. Maybe you could take an elevated position?

Your current fire team has the standard loadout of rifles, sidearms, and fragmentation grenades. The two troopers also carry a Predator SRAW with fragmentation warheads. Just in case. The ammo is limited to targets need to be chosen carefully, but it's a powerful extra tool if needed.
Intelligence (2) + Firearms (3) w/ Military Hardware Spec (TN 6) = 3,3,4,5,10. 2 Successes. You make up a plan with a reasonable change of being a good ambush. Have fun creating the attack plan you like, whatever it may be.

Predator SRAW = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FGM-172_SRAW

And *cough cough* Character Sheet!
Rule Number 12: "A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head."

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MiltonBerle
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Origin: Not Just Another Day in the Trenches

Post by MiltonBerle » Mon Sep 19, 2016 11:52 pm

Here we go again...

"So here's what I'm thinking.." Jamison starts in as he mulls over the scene. He knew at least 3 men were hunkered down with the same shit blocking their view that he had. This was an advantage, at least for him personally, that he had to use as best as he could. He also knew the rest of them more than likely couldn't see just hnfsnin front of their faces if they tried to make their way through.

"Seems to me the best bet might be getting a little high ground with cover if possible. I'm not having too much trouble in this sand, so I can lay cover fire from above while you work around to their flank. Sand should make it so they don't see you coming, and I'll make sure they're paying attention to me." He laid a hand on a grenade to indicate his intentions. Another explosion would without a doubt gain their attention, if not take them all out at the same time, and provide some more cover for the men to move freely.

"Any thoughts Sarge?"
I updated the sheet on Roll20. Hope that helps!

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Post by ManWithDoor » Fri Sep 23, 2016 7:48 am

The Sergeant grins, and gives a thumbs up. He motions the other two to the side of the building, waiting on you. The broken building provides an easy path to climb up to the second floor. After a minute of effort, you're twenty feet up and crouched in rubble. This used to be a family residence, however long ago that was. You duck-walk behind a couch, moving to the opposite side. There's an end table in your way, and you pull it to the side to make space at the window. You check your gun, then the grenade.

You peek over the edge of the window, and see the men have taken cover at their barricade. They still seem confused for now, just huddling while they yell a lot. You try to calculate distances in your head, pull the pin, and let loose. It lands just short of the barricade, then goes off. The sandbags are blown to hell, and the three men are knocked off their feet, bleeding and confused. The fire team moves out, rushing the barricade. Looks like the Sergeant changed the plans once the grenade worked out so well. You switch to your rifle and give some covering fire. Within a few seconds, it's all over.
Throw Grenade (Dex + Athletics), TN 7 (-1 elevated position, +2 cover) = 2,2,7,8,10,10. 6 Successes. Fragmentation Grenade (12 Dice + 5 Dice for extra To Hit successes) = Lots of Dice. 9 Successes. They have on Military Armor (I'll lower it to 3 Armor because they've got shitty stuff), allowing them to TRY to soak Lethal. 3 Armor + 2 Stamina = 5 Successes (rolled amazing). So 4 Health Levels of Damage (Wounded, -2). Yeah, they're totally screwed, especially since their cover is blown to hell as well.
Rule Number 12: "A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head."

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Post by ManWithDoor » Wed Sep 28, 2016 11:20 pm

The trio on the ground quickly clear the area, kicking guns out of hands, checking the surrounding block for any other hostiles, and generally making sure they don't get stabbed in the back once they let their guard down. Complacency is a great killer of soldiers.

After the engagement zone is cleared, the Sergeant waves up at you with a tight grin on his face. "Nicely done! Come on down. Our target is less than a klick away."
After some thought, that wasn't a particularly good ending point to have you come back in with a post.
Rule Number 12: "A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head."

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MiltonBerle
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Origin: Not Just Another Day in the Trenches

Post by MiltonBerle » Fri Sep 30, 2016 2:10 am

As the dust settled from the explosion Jamison couldn't help but feel a sense of pride at how well he had thrown that grenade. Execution like that saved lives every day on the battlefield, and this was clearly people's tax dollars paying off... or at least those few years of little league doing him right. Either way the score was in their favor. Smiling down the barrel of his rifle he laid a few shots around to deter the enemy from fleeing, if that were even possible after getting blasted.

The Sarge and the others swarmed in as he stopped shooting, and he watched them secure the area and listened for the go ahead. Before heading back down to join his comrades Jamison took advantage of the high ground and scoped out what he could of the surrounding region.

Better safe than sorry... and at the very least some unexpected walls could be avoided with a little scouting. "Gimme a sec here Sarge. Maybe I can get a decent look from up here quick"
Apologies. I've been less than motivated, all of the fault being mine. I'm back in though.

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Post by ManWithDoor » Fri Sep 30, 2016 9:30 pm

Sarge gives a thumbs up, and you take a good look around. The dust and sand really muck everything up, and the gunfire and explosions certainly mess with your hearing. But you do think you see the complex that fits the mission briefing. It's a two-story, white-walled structure, with a short perimeter wall creating a small courtyard. The surrounding buildings limit your line-of-sight, so you don't get much detail. You do see that there don't appear to be any snipers or mortars set up on any of the roofs on the approach, which gives you some comfort. Evidently the rest of your Company has done an even better job of drawing off enemy forces than you had thought. A straight run on the target seems possible without any obvious danger.

You drop down from the second story and give your observations. McKay agrees with the assessment, and you two take point as the fire team moves on the objective. As you slowly work your way closer, a sense of unease grows within you. The hair stands up on your neck, and you feel a little queasy. It doesn't seem to be from anything obvious at first. The air smells dry and boring. You don't feel anything physically wrong. But the disquiet grows anyways.

As you pass an abandoned market stall, you see a pair of bodies sprawled out, almost concealed by the counter. McKay quickly checks for signs of life, shakes his head, and you continue on. This isn't time to play CSI, you have a job to do. As you get about halfway there, you come across another couple bodies huddled in an alleyway, the figures in an unending embrace. This is starting to get weird. While the other two spread out to cover, you and the Sergeant check out the dead bodies.

You find no obvious signs of physical trauma. No blood splatter, no scorch marks, nothing to indicate a violent death. But their faces are frozen in a rictus of horror. It certainly wasn't an embrace of love that they were performing. It was clutching at another human being in intense fear.
I hear you on Motivation. I struggle with it quite often, even in Games that I really enjoy. Frustrating stuff.

Alertness Check, TN 5 (enhanced senses): 2,2,2,5,6 = 2 Successes. Awareness Check, TN 8: 2,3,3,6,9 = 1 Success.
Rule Number 12: "A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head."

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Post by MiltonBerle » Sat Oct 01, 2016 1:22 am

The army was a unique opportunity that afforded the chance to see some really weird shit in foreign places, as Jamison had come to find out, but this was really on another level. "The hell you make of this Sarge? Some kind of chemical attack?" It was the best his brain could come up with while keeping up his awareness of the area. It didn't seem too far of a stretch for the enemy to have some sort of chemical weapon, hell it was the reason for conflict in the first place as he was told, but he knew they weren't prepared for anything in that vein.

While the Sarge muddled over the situation Jamison took it upon himself to check the alleyway for any clues to the situation. A gas canister, scorch marks on the walls, anything that could explain the unnerving scene. Something here wasn't right, his gut told him that from the second they entered this area, but that wasn't enough to go on. Sadly many people didn't prescribe to "spidey-sense" as a valid argument to get the hell out of dodge, even if that were a possibility now. If the Sarge did think it was some sort of weapon then they would be the ones to find it anyways.

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Post by ManWithDoor » Mon Oct 03, 2016 6:42 pm

McKay looks a little spooked as well. "Didn't hear any briefing about them having chemical weapons. I was just looking for tripwires, mines, that kind of thing. This is an expert demolition man we're talking about. That's a specific type of chemistry. I could imagine him making some sort of fire or smoke that would certainly be lethal, but nothing that could kill as cleanly as this. Definitely nothing in our intel would explain this." He keeps patting down the bodies as you look around.

You look around, looking for signs of fire, canister, shells, anything out of the ordinary. You kick around for a while, not finding anything. As you think about the Sarge's words, you find his emphasis on the briefing and the intel a little strange. He isn't denying having clues as to what kind of thing could cause this, just that nothing in your military intelligence thought they would have that capability. You turn around and come back to the bodies, as your companion moves the bodies aside. Underneath you see a smudged and partially obscured icon burned into the sandy ground. If the bodies hadn't been covering it, it likely would have been degraded beyond recognition by the wind.

You see the Sarge go pale, and whisper something under his breath. Only because of your superior hearing are you able to understand it - "Barabbi" - and his hands clench in tight fists, turning his knuckles white. He just freezes there for a moment, not doing anything.
Image
Rule Number 12: "A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head."

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Post by MiltonBerle » Thu Oct 06, 2016 1:58 am

The symbol was about as foreign as you could get, at least to Jamison. Whatever that was landed well out of his purview and into the Sarge's, which was plain enough to see by his reaction. Anything that unsettled McKay in such a way was unsettling to him, the man had been an easygoing rock since he came on to the group. Hiding information was a new move as well, though not unheard of within the military. Some secrets were better kept from some of the newer men who spooked easily.

The word meant nothing to Jamison, but that only piqued his interest in its meaning more. Any information on he enemy he didn't have before was valuable. "What are we looking at Sarge? That Sanskrit or something? Who or what is a barabbi? You know I don't speak Arabic." Maybe he would get ananswer, or maybe it was above his pay grade. He knew it was worth asking either way, and trusted in the Sarge to spill.

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Post by ManWithDoor » Thu Oct 06, 2016 5:36 pm

The Sergeant doesn't seem to be hearing you at first, then he shakes himself. He gestures for the other two troopers to move close as well, and the four of you hunker down next to the unsettling bodies. "Alright, men. I'm going to need you to trust me. As you can guess from the unsettling corpses and the weird writing, you're about to seem some strange shit. I can't brief you fully on what I think is going on. It's both outside your clearance, and even if I was willing, I don't have enough time to get you to understand the basics before you can get the gravity of this situation." He shrugs as a sort of apology, then points to the writing.

"If you see any unreadable crap like this, you point it out to me, and you don't touch it. Don't even walk near it. We're going to make a beeline for the target, take care of business, and get out. If I give an order, I need you to follow it, even if it doesn't make sense, especially you, Corporal." He pats you hard on the shoulder. "You two privates will be long-range fire support. You've got the heavy weapon, I'll call where to fire. Jamison, I need you by my side. Whatever it is we're facing, we'll do it together."
Rule Number 12: "A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head."

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