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She's a motorcycle chick, alright...
with GADGETS!! and a BFG!!
but sadly she's already been railroaded into joining GMBH, Inc.... -
"Dammit, Sarge, this is the thrid time you've busted me and my boys, all we're doin' is playin' dice, OK? Nuthin' major."
"Look, 'Skullcracker', I saw ya puttin' money down on them dice throws, alright? And my block is my house, which means... house gets a cut. You forgot that already... so's I'm takin' all of it and takin' you in for a night."
"Aw maaan... don't do that, Sarge. Last time I spent the night in that cell, I had some infected dude ralphing his guts up on my shoes. They were NICE shoes too, man."
"Nope, gotta do it..."
The cop and his most recent target were interrupted by the sound of a high-powered engine... approaching at a fast clip. Whatever it was.. a motorcycle... blew by them so fast that the Sarge's police cap got blown off, revaling his balding head.
"Holy Mother of... Dispatch, I got a motorcycle headed east into the Mercy Island demolition zone at high speed. This one's reckless, near killed me and a citizen."
"Acknowledged, Murphy. We got him on Arachnos sat-net. Cordon being implemented, all units converge."
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"Haha!!! You'll never catch the Highside, you stupid flatfoots!!" BRRRRRAM! The bullets from the barrel of the stolen Longbow assault weapon sent cops ducking for cover. One wasn't so lucky, and five rounds traced a diagonal line across his torso, rocking his frame as they impacted with his chest armor. Stunned, he fell back, while another popped up from behind a dumpster to unload several shots at the figure.
Which didn't seem to do much other than attract his... no wait, HER attention. The barrel of the gun was adjusted a few degrees to bear on him, and the next thing he knew, he was flying backward as "WHAM!" the solid slug slammed into his sternum like a sledgehammer.
"Backup, we need backup! We can't drop this woman, she's too powerful!"
"Squad this is Dispatch. Additional units are unavailable."
Greeat. The lieutenant on scene shook his head and switched over to local traffic. "OK men, since just shooting in her general direction won't do it, coordinate fire. Aim for the torso or the head, maybe we'll get lucky and she won't be armored. Ready... Fire at will!"
The figure staggered as several shots hit her at once, almost dropping to one knee. "Bastards... fine... you wanna play... I'll play..." Her wrist flared, and several officers, advancing on her with batons drawn, suddenly felt queasy... and a greenish glow emanated out from them to touch her.
"Dammit, she's got a kinetic inducer. Well.. thing's gotta have batteries... wear her down!"
A fussilade of shots rang out, and again, the woman seemed to stagger slightly... but then righted herself and again the wrist glow.
"Come on, fuzzballs, how you like it when you're the weak and I'm the stronger?" The assault rifle opened up again, cutting down two men, and wounding another. Policemen found themselves hugging the ground as bullets whistled overhead.
"Carlin! How she nail Blake and Sampson?"
"Didn't you hear? She's got a kinetic inducer... she weakened their armor vests and upped the power on her shots! Take cover, guys!"
It was not to be. One by one... the police dropped, as Betty "Highside" Harris graduated from small-time crook and motorsports enthusiast.. to cop-killer.
((Betty Highside plays on Virtue - she is a level 10 AR/Kinetic corruptor)) -
Let's see, 10 tracks at random from an MP3 CD I have at work...
1 Gary Numan - Cars
2 Underworld - Blueski
3 Tangerine Dream - Twilight Painter
4 Roger Waters - Happiest Days of our Lives (live)
5 Stan Ridgeway - Lonely Town
6 Underworld - Pearls Girl
7 Don Felder - All of You (Heavy Metal Soundtrack)
8 Thomas Dolby - Ability to Swing
9 Gary Numan - Stormtrooper in Drag
10 Stan Ridgeway - The Big Heat
(yah the artist selection is pretty low, I don't think this disc is even FULL... ) -
That's the thing. Her awareness will be... as if she was dreaming, or suddenly 'woke up' from a dream. The time she spent 'dead' will have passed her by completely.
She will discover over time how death has changed her... maybe slowly coming to realize that she did indeed pass away and then be resurrected or 'returned'.
Original idea was to make her 'angelic' in some fashion, where she KNEW she passed away, and the reason why she returned.
But I think it'd be more fun to discover that stuff over time. Perhaps powers surface that 'don't make sense'. She's a tech blaster... without her gear she's normal. What if... she herself develops paranormal abilities? Without the gear? Etc etc etc. That stacked on top of the fact that what to her was an eyeblink of time, between falling in battle and waking up at the foot of Atlas (changed costume, perhaps an aura if I get her to 30 before this all happens), it'll have been months for everyone she knew.
I don't know, I suppose I'm delving into the realm of the metaphysical just to see what's there. And it all came about because the current RP 'story arc' has her up against a foe she has little chance of beating, she's been whupped by him twice, captured, subjected to torture, etc. He's trying to break her spirit, but perhaps that the only thing she'll have left when we finish up that story. -
All very good points.
And yeah... the death and rebirth portion is the easy part. I can plausibly come up with any number of devices to explain how and why.
The tricky part will be dealing with ALL of her companions, who believe (quite firmly!) that she's dead and gone, and have probably suffered some emotional upset because of it.
Especially if she comes back... different (until I get her to 30 I can't get her an aura, and I don't really want to respec her unless a freebie shows up with I7, so this'll just be costume changes and the way she's RP'd.)
THAT's the story I'm looking to craft. -
Huh.
Revenant... interesting...
all of a sudden I'm seeing Charlie Sheen and fast cars in the Arizona desert for some reason... (gaah!)
Ah well... kind of tossing the idea around... just came up in a discussion in-game, and all of a sudden my brain went 'why not? stranger things have happened...'
The funny thing is, this character hasn't professed ANY beliefs whatsoever. It hasn't come up until now (mainly because I really try hard to keep my personal religious beliefs out of the game, knowing that if I didn't, someone would be offended!).
I don't know, I guess I'm trying to rationalize why Love would be a powerful enough force or emotion to drag someone back into the world. Up until now it's been hate or greed or the other base emotions. Trying to offset that.... -
Well aside from the 'rise from the grave' bit... that's plausible. She IS protecting what is near and dear.. not treasure or loot, or anything material... but rather her heroic partners and companions. She promised them that she would always be there for them. ALWAYS. She's not willing to wait for them to find her in the next life, she's come back for their sake, as well as her own. Just not into the undead thing...
I dunno.. maybe it's all too much schmaltz. I just see movies like Ghost and Always and such... and I'm thinking, this is perfect! -
My lady thinks it's yet another chatroom dressed up as a game.
Then she was watching as my team took on an AV.
"Who's THAT! he looks mean! And ugly! And why are your friends all yelling?"
"That's Doctor Vhaz... he's one nasty sonofab*tch. Oop, hang on sweetie, I gotta pay attention or..."
-faceplant-
"Oh my god did you just DIE?"
"Yep, looks like it."
"Oh I'd better go make dinner then... have fun." -
So... if I were considering killing one of my characters, or rather, letting someone else do it.. then bring her 'back from the dead' in a form similar to what she had when alive... is this too deus ex machina, or can it plausibly be RP'd?
I'm thinking of having one of my heroines do a 'heroic sacrifice' to allow her companions to prevail... and then get 'tossed back' by (insert Diety here) because ... well, that's what I'm trying to decide.
Guardian angel for those she loves/loved? Atoning for some sin she committed? Too tied to the world emotionally to sit in Paradise? or is the 'death and rebirth' merely some fever dream/delusion as a result of ALMOST dying, and then being brought back out of a coma by medical science?
I'm aiming towards the 'emotional ties' angle... Ghost of Loving Grace, or some such... maybe not only by virtue of how much she loves her companions and friends, but by how much they love and miss HER as well. And being with them, fighting beside them, teaching them... that truly IS her reward, her Paradise.
Would someone be so intensely focused on their earthly existence, no matter how noble, that their diety would grant them that continued existence as such a reward?
Not wanting this to be a religious discussion at all. I'm just looking for a dramatic, tear-jerking, midday-soap-opera schmaltzy RP 'hook'. -
also Hero Corps for villains...
you can use both to catalog your characters and link them to signatures and such. -
"It's time.. to start.... RUNNING!!!"
I can SO see Richard Dawson as a mastermind... -
[ QUOTE ]
I could be caught up in Scientology.
[/ QUOTE ]
DO NOT INVOKE THAT EVIL!! NOOOO! -
BO is BACK!!
Where he go, Bindel fambly take va-cay-shun in St. Martial? -
[ QUOTE ]
Walkin' away blues - Ry Cooder
[/ QUOTE ]
I loved that movie. Even if it did have that Maccio kid in it. -
[ QUOTE ]
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oookay.. lets see what we get:
Ashley MacIsaac: Sleepy Maggie
[/ QUOTE ]
That instilled in me a desire to listen to the Hi!, How Are You Today? album again... but it looks like I don't have it here at work.
/e noooo
[/ QUOTE ]
Good stuff on that album. The lyrics to 'What an Idiot He Is' are particularly apropos for some of the flameage going 'round the forums... -
oookay.. lets see what we get:
Ashley MacIsaac: Sleepy Maggie
Swing Out Sister: It's Better to Travel
Nightmares on Wax: Carboot Soul
Jan Hammer: Transformers
Frank Zappa: Cosmik Debris
KMFDM: Rules
Royal Crown Revue: Hey! Pachuco! (live)
The Heads: No Talking Just Head (feat Debbie Harry)
Santana: El Farol
Leftfield: Inspection (Check One)
I know I know... i'm strange.
BTW, I pulled thses off of Yahoo Music, which is a great way to introduce others to your musical tastes. Simply log in and start rating songs/artists/genres you like.... and after a while it will build you a random playlist that reflects those choices.
Then share the playlist with others as a streaming audio 'station'. PM me for mine if you care to. -
I'd echo Blood_Wolffe's comments.. The prose is fine, very good writing, really draws you in.
But it needs to be broken into smaller chunks.
I'd suggest blank lines between your paragraph breaks, and also consider dividing the longer passages up into paragraphs of their own.
As for dialogue, each speaker should get their own paragraph. You can put comments about what they are doing or how they look in between snippets of conversation, but when a new person talks, or attention focuses to them, start a new paragraph. Always. -
I found out about Morcheeba when La Femme Nikita was still in production, and TVTunes released a compilation of songs that had been played on the show as incidental music.
Morcheeba's "Love and Fear" was the kicker. Skye's voice is simply amazing (very much like Tracy Thorn's work with Massive Attack, only Skye is better.)
I've since picked up a lot more acid jazz in the same vein....
We now return you to your regularly scheduled "random ten" lists... I'd post another, but my selection at work is limited. -
(( eclectic. eclectic good. yet another who's not in thrall to clear channel... this is quite promising. ))
hrmmm....
1) ozomatli - saturday night
2) enigma - mea culpa
3) freestylers - bring the noize
4) david lee roth - lose the dress (keep the shoes)
5) henry rollins - shine
6) b-52's - love shack
7) morcheeba - shoulder holster
8) jazzanova - circe (feat. Ursula Rucker)
9) william orbit - water from a vine leaf
10) venus hum - hummingbirds -
1) BT: Dreaming - (Science Remix)
2) Fluke: Atom Bomb
3) Pink Floyd: Dogs
4) Was Not Was: What Up Dog?
5) Tangerine Dream: Hamlet
6) Joe Satriani: Can't Slow Down
7) Brian Setzer: You're the Boss (feat. Gwen Stefani)
8) Steely Dan: Pixeleen
9) Etro Anime: Endless
10) Supreme Beings of Leisure: Perfect -
LR: Sirocco, you're not working out as a crony very well, are you?
Sirocco: What? I do everything you ask me to do!! What's this rubbish?
LR: You're not... dapper enough.
Sirocco: DAPPER? I'm an evil archvillain! I got the dreadlocks, and the scary crazed expression, and the sword...
LR: Sorry, buddy, but none of this is floating my boat here. I'm gonna have to replace you.
Sirocco: With whom? Not one of those stupid clueless 'Destined Ones', is it?
LR: No, not at all.
Sirocco: Well then, who is this guy??
LR (to guard): Send him in.
Rimmer: Arnold J Rimmer reporting SAHR! (does his goofy salute) -
"Calypso Hawthorne, age, twenty. No siblings, father and mother deceased. No meta abilities manifesting at all, she's normal. Currently on a bio-genetics track at Paragon University, we have her currently working with a roboticist specializing in prosthetic applications and neural nets."
"Tell me about her ... other ... attributes."
"She is quite attractive. Outgoing, affectionate."
"Her compatibility with the subject?"
"Aside from the wrong hair color, she's matched up almost perfectly."
"We'll go with her, then. Reassign her to Psionics Research, and assign her to subject Robias as a 'medical attendant'."
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The beast roared with rage, pain, and confusion. So far none of the hypnotic conditioning had worked at all, and contrary to the MRI scans, there seemed to be no ... sentience.. within its massive catlike face. Instead it was fueled by simple stimuli: hunger, and pain.
"I don't think this particular subject is viable. We cannot train it. We cannot even communicate."
"I'll reccommend that we terminate it.. but we shouldn't toss the millions spent in raising it from embryo. Perhaps we can get samples of the brain tissue once it's been put down. I'll start the paperwork... we'll only have to put up with it for another four weeks, at most."
---------------
"Alex?"
"Caly!! It's good to see you!"
The young man tilted his face up for the kiss. Alex Robias had been confined to this lab since... well, for as long as he could remember... and up until Calypso had appeared, he'd had little to motivate him. Experiments after experiments, all painful, all traumatic; itw as a wonder he was sane. Or, maybe he wasn't. But Caly was ... different. She ... was his friend.
no. Scratch that. He loved her. He didn't know WHY... but for the first time in his life, he went with his feelings, instead of his thoughts.
And she seemed to not care that he couldn't actually DO anything powerful.
Being the son of a Fortunata had been his undoing. When his parents had gone missing, supposedly killed by Arachnos for 'going Stateside' without permission, he'd barely been a week in the orphanage before being 'picked up' by the company. And that's when his 15 years of night mares had started. He'd been operated on, tested, subjected to radiation and electricity... all to supposedly 'awaken' his latent talents as a psionic warrior. But so far... nothing had worked. He could sometimes do mild predictions... see the future.. but then only vaguely, no real definition.
He occasionally had terrible dreams, ones where Caly was gone, and he was alone again.. but every morning she showed up, and in showing up, brought a smile to his face.
And then one day she'd shown up with blue hair. And on that day, he truly could say he loved her. She reminded him of his mother, Estrella. He still refused to believe she was dead; merely somewhere she couldn't reach him. But now this... He folded Calypso in a hug and kissed her, deeply, tenderly. And Caly returned it, with all the passion of a young girl in love.
--------------------
"Stage One has been achieved with the subject. It is good that we let this develop naturally, for our subject would surely see any subterfuge on young Hawthorn's part. Is all prepared for Stage Two?"
"We are still working on the particulars of the Stage Two test. but Biogenetics may have something we can use... a failed experiment that they are awaiting authorization to terminate."
"Good. Appropriate it. It sounds as if we can possibly get some use out of that, before it is written off."
----------------------
Calypso followed instructions she'd been given to meet Alex. She'd been told that this was a special day for him, so she was practically skipping down the corridor. She placed her hand on the lock scanner, and the heavy blast door irised open. "Alex?"
No reply. She walked into the room, which was bare except...
Alex. He was encased in a thick plexiglass globe, suspended off the floor by a few feet and gimballed so that the globe could turn him in any direction remotely... as it did now, to face her. His limbs were shackled to the chair inside, he was gagged... and his eyelids were taped open and his head restrained so that he couldn't move it at all.
"ALEX!"
An expression of pain crossed what she could see of his face.. pain that she saw him like this, pain that she was now part of the Testing... pain and.. grief.
She didn't have time to take a step as the door behind her irised shut... and then another irised open as Alex's globe turned to face it. From beyond came an enraged roar, and the crackling sound of taser bolts. Another bellow, and ... it lumbered out, the massive door behind it also irising shut.
No. Not 'it'. SHE.
She stood at over 8' tall, with dark brown/black fur, a felinoid face, the mouth open in a growl. As she turned to swat at the door, Alex and calypso saw the massive retrograded, clawed feet, the tail swishing back and forth for balance, and the clawed hands, each larger than Calypso's face.
She screamed, frozen in place, and the beast turned and roared a challenge, broke into a lope, then charged the girl even as the plexiglass ball rotated down and swung upward out of the way, ensuring Alex had full view of what was about to happen.
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"EEG readings on the target have not changed. Perhaps there isn't anything there."
"His heart rate is off the scale, and he's losing bladder control. Told you we should have catheterized him."
"No matter, we'll clean it up afterwards. I still say he's a psionic."
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She... roared... in pain and in frustration. HUNGRY. She sniffed. Fear. PREY. She turned, and spotted her quarry. It made high picthed loud noise, which she answered, and broke into a run, intending to take the prey's head off with one swipe, and then feast on what was left.
=======
"NO!" Alex scremed into the gag. No no no, not her, not her, damn you! He frantically tred to 'lock down' the beast, but couldn't seem to get a lock on the brainstem. Caly he could sense, her terror was seeping into him, and he was finding it difficult to concentrate. And when the beast bowled her over and started to maul her, he experienced that too.
CALYPSO! Lover!! I'm here!! Follow me! Come on, you can do it! Her psyche latched onto his mind with the desperation of someone dangling from a ledge over a precipice. And even as she... died... he gathered more and more of her.. but soon found himself unable to continue.
He had to do something. he cast about, rapidly losing ground, feeling memories and experiences fade as he failed to hold them.
And came up short. There were no possible... locations.. to download Caly. Except...
=
She broke off in mid growl. This was... odd. Her prey tasted good, very fresh and young... but... she got the uncanny feeling that this was wrong. And suddenly, more feelings appeared.. guilt, concern, love. Language. Symbols. And in a steady stream, the mindset of a civilized beaing clicked into place inside her head. She howled.
==========
"It's blown. The girl is dead, and not a glimmer from our subject. Scrub it. Scrub them both."
===========
Alex felt his mind clearing, as Calypso's essence was literally dumped into the only vessel close by.. the beast. And ... he could feel her mind taking shape again below him. He dove back down the connection to what was his lover, a man rescuing someone from a house collapsing in ruin around him. He searched... he screamed, he ranted.. as brain cells died off, and with them, the memories that made Calypso Hawthorne who she was. All he was able to get were the last dregs of emotions... which he threw at the beast in a futile effort to preserve his love.
he barely noticed the ball lowering, and clam-shelling open. He didnt' see the tech hold a gun to his temple, nor hear the words that were spoken. "Cost overruns, buddy. Nothing personal."
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NO!! She roared in protest, and her.. hand.. belted the stranger across the side of the head, an audible 'snap' sounding as the figure ragdolled onto the floor. The gun skittered away. She saw the figure in the chair, and... this was HERS. This puny, weak figure... it was hers to protect... to love. She didn't know who he was, or why he was here. She didn't care. Massive hands snapped the locks loose, and strong sinewy arms hoisted him up and out to be cradled against her bosom. Blast doors were hammered and kicked until they bent and yielded, and everyone who stood in her way was shoved aside or hammered senseless... until the blast doors gave way to offices, panicked clerical workers, and finally... outside.
She didn't understand this place. Where was the roof? but the air smelled fresh and full of.. life... and she found herself bounding away over buildings, the semiconscious Alex Robias clinging to her.
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Alex Robias aka Lord Phantasm and Calypso Hawthorne aka Primal Roar are on the triumph server, as a psy/ice dominator and a superstrength/energy aura brute, respectively. -
*clap*
*clap*
*clap* *clap* *clap*
*applause*
*stands up*
*whistles*
That was damn good.
(When's the sequel come out?)
-
if the past is particularly heinous, then there's probaly extensive police files on the 'hero' probation/parole reports, etc... having the magical 'governmental pardon' is handy, but you should have SOMETHING yo can hold up to your SG mtes to say, 'look, i got better!"
And yeah, up front, as soon as you get done with outbreak.
If the crime is one for which you never got caught, and you changed your name in an effort to avoid prosecution... you might not want to bring your 'old' persona to light until it comes around to bite you. Anyone who's seen the movie Sneakers will know what I'm talking about here.