Strance: The Freeform Pulp Superhero Game (In-Character)

[Meirnon]

STRANCE
The Freeform Pulp Superhero Game

Chapter 1
Cast- Shockroach, Smoker, Urban Crusader, The Ninja
The low hum of engines sound in your ears, a slight rocking causing you to sway back and forth. The dimly lit cabin is metallic, with a red tint from the fluorescent lamps lining the ceiling; small red tubes that glow with soft light.

On the benches sit 4 people, only one of them fit for this soldier's job. The imposing man in jet armor glows with the same light as the cabin, covered head to toe in the metal carapace. One would think he was a robot with how little he seems to move on this trip.

A man in a supplied UTNA jumpsuit sits opposite him, looking with a curious, inquisitive eye. The zipper is pulled halfway down the chest, showing a white shirt with a black oil stain. Known as Garret by his old, dead friends, the man escaped Strance a while back, running into a convenient UTNA convoy. He didn't know he'd have to go back when he volunteered to help.

Next to him, a rather young looking boy in a black Gi made of carbon fibers, sits with a cocky smile. The only reason he was able to get away with being able to wear it was because he knew someone in charge and absolutely insisted that it was integral to his participation. The cocky smile was simply because he knew he could do this. His eyes take a quick glance at the woman on the other side, another volunteer for this "mission". He heard about her, and she was supposed to be able to provide intelligence about the city on-spot without special surveillance equipment. He shrugged, and leaned his head back, hands on his head with the fingers intertwined.

A voice on the intercom breaks the droned out silence, the pilot's voice crackling through the speaker.

"We're nearly at destination. Straighten up, drop off is in sight. 5 minutes until you have to clear the cabin."

The red lights flicker slightly as the comm turns off, and all 4 of you are left to stare at eachother. This could be your last night on this earth.

[Lord_Asmodeus]

Shockroach

The imposing armored figure looked around at his fellows, his eyes glowing a baleful red in an insectoid helmet. He spoke into his suit, the sound transferring to their ear pieces without his suit's mouth moving. The voice was deep and a bit gravely, like a graveyard, "I hope you all know what you're doing, I'd hate to get saddled draggin' your dead weight around."

[ForzaFiori]

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure your super suit there couldn't handle an extra straw, right?" The kid's smile grew slightly. "Instead of worrying about straining your back, I have a slightly better idea. Since were gonna be doing this mission together, wouldn't it be a good idea to find out what each other is called? That way, when I'm yelling at you to duck, I have a real name to call. If you add in whatever it is your good enough at to be on this trip, you might even figure out who your gonna strain your back carrying."

[DeafnotDumb]

The woman has been constantly twitchy for the entire journey, staying silent except to ask about how long it would take to arrive to their destination. Her hands constantly drum something tuneless along her seat, and her head is tilted as if listening for something. The sound of others speaking briefly brings her out of her reverie to attempt a smile at the group. "Name's Amber. I'll be doing fine as soon as we-" Suddenly she broke off, moving again again, as she focused on something on the edge of her vision, not really speaking to anybody. "Five minutes. Not long, not long. Just too quiet here."

[Meirnon]

A crackle is heard after your small discussions, a voice over the comm, silencing any further talking with an important brief.
"So," it says, "you all know the deal right? We drop you off in the fields outside, you figure out a way into Strance. It should be 2400 by landing, and the winter means it's pure pitch out, y'hear? Now, as for the city, you'll have a few routes in. Keep in mind that the roads'er blocked, as is any gate. The sewers have patrols runnin' through 'em, but only 'bots cause no Valar in his right mind would be trudgin' down there on foot. Over the wall is kinda risky, and goin' through it would prolly cause a commotion. After you unload, all contact will cease and you'll be on your own."

You all grab the gear provided; a few rations, ammo, and a few basic tools, all inside small, handy packs. You sling your provided weapons over your shoulder; a gauss rifle for Amber and Garrit; a black carbon-reinforced tanto and gauss pistol for Min; Shockroach's self-built and kept battle rifle. The shudder of the craft as it lands tells you it's about to start, a "Good luck, y'all" from the comm sounding off before the crackle of the comm is drowned out by the hydraulics of the loading bay.

A swift, chilling wind breaches the cabin as the bay is lowered, produced from the pitch black. You all get up and load off, being greeted by a screeching wind outside. Two uniformed soldiers in scarves and battle attire await with a 5 and a half foot figure in a long brown duster and a hat reminiscent of the wild west, a rifle slung over its shoulder. An armored jeep sits in idle behind them, one in the driver's seat ready to load up the other 3 and return the long ride home after this little formality is done.

The short man steps forward, looking at Magnus with his green-lensed eyes. A tired, metallic voice, with a heavy Texan accent, can be heard.

"Magnus, it's good to see you."

[Lord_Asmodeus]

Shockroach

The towering figure looked down at the little "man" with the green eyes and smiled inside his suit. "Good to see you too Tex, I was worried you wouldn't make it."

[Meirnon]

"Yeah, yeah," the newly revealed Tex mummers, "I'm just disappointed I can't go on this with ya. It's been mighty hard on the soldiers down south tryin' t'keep the Valar from breakin' through the blockade. I'm needed elsewhere."

The man removes his hat, and brings his robotic hand across his steel scalp. The remodeled SCAR type machine was a convert from Valar forces, and has since been a top sharpshooter, and a friend of Magnus's, going by the name "Texas" for his skill and thorough enjoyment of the Wild West. Plus, "Oklahoma" didn't sound quite right.

Placing his hat back on, the robot started to speak again. "We're just here to give y'all the regards of the soldiers at th'blockade, and to tell ya to watch out for 3 yellow flares comin' from down here. You'll know what it means when it happens, and you'll know what to do. Until then, just give 'em hell."

With that, Tex reaches into his duster and pulls out a bandoleer with 5 metallic disks on it, each one a powerful explosive device that can blast a slightly-less-than-man-sized hole through reinforced concrete. "Almost forgot these. Also compliments of the men down south. Don't tell any officers, though, command doesn't know about it and they ain't gonna appreciate spreadin' resources around like this."

[DeafnotDumb]

In her hurry to get ready for the drop, Amber is the last one to manage to successfully equip all the gear, and has only just grasps her rifle one minute before the vehicle lands. She is still the first to get out of the cabin, and staggers as soon as she hits the ground, arresting her fall with her hands.

Amber manages to push herself up, a slow smile spreading across her face, and quite content to stand there and listen to whatever voices she is hearing, her mouth soundlessly saying something in reply. It takes a few seconds for her to regain some composure, carefully taking one of the disks from Taxas's hands. "How long 'til we get to Strance? It's not long, I can feel it. Mile at most. I need to get there." Taking a breath, Amber rubbed her hand across her eyes and looked around for something to take her attention. Thankfully, the robot in front of her, a miracle of mechanics, engineering, and artificial intelligence was the perfect thing to divert her attention. "Nice hat. Where'd you get it?"

[Meirnon]

Texas turned his head to the awkward girl, not quite sure if she was right for the job but wise enough not to question it. "Got it from a sniper I took out a few years back in the Hiatian conflict, defending Gifted rights in a superstitious locale. If you don't remember, it started cause a big ol' bunch of exopsyhotics where hung when suspected for workers gettin' the brainmelt. Never thought of blaming their overused inducers."

[ForzaFiori]

Min spends little time getting his things together, seeing as they consisted of a sword, a pistol, and a pre-packed pack. He spent the remainder of the trip sitting quietly, calming his nerves. When they land, Min lets the others out of the cabin before him, jumping down once everyone was out of the way. On the ground finally, he stays to the back of the group. As Shock talks to the robot person, he turns to Amber. "I forgot to introduce myself back on the ship. I'm Min." he says quietly. As the strange cowboy bot shows the explosives, Min's interest goes up some. He walks up to take one of the disks from "Tex". "Now these could be useful. If only they weren't so loud... Oh well. beggers and choosers, right? Thanks for bringing them up here to us. I'm sure we'll put them to good use somewhere."

[DeafnotDumb]

Amber looked blankly at Texas, as she did pretty much any time when someone mentioned an historical event not related to Strance, and waited for a thought to arrive in her head past all the jitters and demands to get to the city now. Something in Min's words made her turn to him. ""You plan to blow some of Strance up?" After a few seconds of consideration, she shrugs. "Don't worry, I don't think it'll mind. Not as long as we can get some Valar. And I'll put a good word in for you, anyway!" A brief cheerful smile appeared on the woman's face before being distracted by the silence in her head, and she drew her arms around herself as if to fight away cold. "I don't know how you people handle being alone all the time. How do you get to sleep without a voice in your head?"

[Meirnon]

Texas, raises a mechanical eyebrow at Amber. "I suppose it's because the rest of us just imagine it. Now... I really must be going. If I stay out too long, these boys'll get in trouble with the commander."

With that, Texas shakes Shockroach's hands, an "It was good to see you again, old friend" being heard quietly. One of the soldiers with him gets into the passenger side of the jeep, the other getting up and manning the electromagnetic rail gun.

"Good luck!" is all that can be heard as Texas hops onto the back next to the rail gun and the jeep drives off, the bandoleer that was strapped across his chest now in Shockroach's hands.

[ForzaFiori]

"So... Where to now? I mean, obviously were headed into Strance, but does anyone have an idea of how exactly were gonna do that? While I pride myself on my ability to sneak around, I doubt Mr. Mecha can do quite as well as I can at the "staying hidden" thing." Min turns to Amber "I only plan to blow part of Strance up, and even then, its just a last resort. You know, when were all running for our lives cause everything has hit the fan? Then we start chunking these bad boys behind us."

[Viera Champion]

Hey! Strance! Someone should have PMed me to tell me you were doing this again. Now I think I'm too late to join...

Oops... This is the IC thread isn't it?...

[DeafnotDumb]

"You get me to Strance, I can lead you anywhere. Anywhere." Amber affirms, casting back in her memory for clues as to which way might be the best method of entry. "Roads are far too open and I don't know the sewers, but the walls are good for climbing. And once we can get up there, we've got all the buildings to jump from. The Valar patrols never really gained a head for heights while I was there."

[ForzaFiori]

"Sounds great. Just one question... Which way is Strance?" Min asks, looking around ""I'm not from around here, so you'll have to forgive my lack of direction."

[DeafnotDumb]

There was a long pause as Amber opened her mouth and no sound came out except for a noiseless 'ah'. Finally, she found some words. "You see, I only really ever was outside of Strance when I was running away from the Valar. With bullets and everything." The woman looked at her surroundings with nervous eyes, before alighting on Shockroach. "Big guy, you got a clue? I heard from the grapevine you were in Strance too.