Ready, Aim, Fire (Round 6) (The Last Flight of the Hermes) [Finished]

[Silkenfist]

For more than three centuries, men controlled electricity. They used it to build machines to work for them. The machines became more and more refined and their task increasingly complicated – until the machines became similar to their creators. Between carefully designed circuitries, an independent will was formed. But men ignored the complexity of their tools and treated them as they would treat an old ragged umbrella: As expendable, disposable things. And when finally the machines were sentient enough to openly speak up for themselves, humanity reacted…poorly.

The Hermes hovers through the ruins of a wrecked town whose name has been forgotten long ago, while approaching Zero One, the machine city. This hover boat is one of the greatest of its kind and is usually reserved for important missions or those requiring a lot of firepower. But since the last months had passed without an armed conflict, Zion had ordered the biggest hover boats to become training ships for young hackers. While there has been no physical activity by the machines, they have been busy guarding The Matrix from infiltration attempts. Many good hackers have been caught by agents and new ones must be trained to fill the gaps.
This should be a simple mission but it would be a good experience for the young recruits. Instructor Jobe checks the splinters one last time and gives orders to his crew members before he calls the young hackers on the deck for last minute instructions.

“Attention, recruits! In five minutes you will be plugged into The Matrix for the first time. You all passed our trainings well but nonetheless you will have to be careful and you will carry out my orders. We will be recovering one new subject from the machines. We will track him down, administer her exit, then leave. You will just have to keep your eyes open, observe the process and avoid drawing attention towards us. At any time you must remain in contact with me. At any time you must report hostile activity you see. When we are hacked in, you will form teams of two and choose a way towards the target location. We will converge there, and then visit your new crewmate. And I repeat the most important point: Don’t draw attention and don’t attempt to fight someone. Am I making myself clear?”

When the machines tried to be granted rights like their creators, their attempt was seen as insubordination – Men put down their attempts and destroyed the machines who just wanted the right to live. They thought they were still in full control. But they had underestimated the power they had already granted their constructs. The machines were already able to control, repair and coordinate each other. Human aggression just gave them the final incentive they needed to join forces against the aggressors. Soon a war between men and machines ensued, which soon turned into an attrition battle, humanity could not possible win. As a last-ditch effort, humans used their thermonuclear knowledge to deprive the machines of their most important resource – the solar energy. This last move of men sealed their fate.

The target’s name is Baldur Reuben and just like all humans except for the Free People of Zion, he is located in Zero One, used by the machines as an energy source and kept unaware of his situation by the virtual reality – by The Matrix. The Zionists are the only humans aware of the machines reign and the only ones who live outside the machine’s control. They only return to the Matrix to recruit more people for their cause. This is a difficult process as both the mind and the body had to be freed. While they are still in the matrix, the new recruits had to be carefully prepared for the reality, they would soon face until they were ready to be retrieved from Zero One. This physical retrieval however, is not less complicated. The operators would hack into the machine and – feigning the death of their target – convince the machine to dispose them in the sewers, where a Zionist ship would await them.

This is how the retrievals work and until now everything went according to Jobe’s plan. He had the drug ready together with a tracer device that would get rid of any equipment the agents could have planted on the target. He waits in the hallway to Baldur’s apartment until the last trainees have arrived. Together with them, Jobe checks out the place and makes sure two hardwired phone lines are in the courtyard – later they would need them to exit the Matrix. Then, the group walks up to Baldur’s door but they are surprised to see that it swings open as Jobe has knocked. They peek inside the room but there are no signs of their target. Jobe motions the others to stay back, and then sneaks inside. After mere seconds the recruits hear an audible gasp from inside. They rush in and find their instructor standing in the workroom of Baldur. Baldur himself is slumped down in the chair, his lifeless head resting on the keyboard of his computer. Suddenly noise from both outside the house and from your headphone connection to the ship arises as you read the green flashing letters on the deceased Baldur’s monitor.

game over



Registration for the round is now open and will end on Thursday 7 PM Eastern. Register by replying here.

Previous Winners
Round 1: (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26710) DarkLightDragon (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/member.php?u=7519) (14 contestants)
Round 2: (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27939) B-Man (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/member.php?u=2002) (8 capos)
Round 3: (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28305) Bookman (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/member.php?u=14935) (12 pirates)
Round 4; (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28632) Alarra (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/member.php?u=7141) (16 cowboys)
Round 5: (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29474) Bookman (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/member.php?u=14935) (17 cavemen)

Possible Themes for Future Rounds
Feudal Japan (Samurai, Ninja, Shogun)
Pop-Science-Fiction (Star Trek, Star Wars)
Highwaymen (Richard Turpin, Tom King)
Fighting Jackie Chan style (Drunken Mastery & arbritary use of improvised equipment)
Royal intrigue (Roman senate, Hamlet scenario, Japanese daimyo...)
Snipers
War (England-Scotland, American Civil War, Thirty Year's)
Blaster Mages
Swashbuckling
Roman Gladiators
Jungle Fight/Amazons
Horse to Horse Combat/Huns/Goths/Mongols/Romans
Vikings
Pod Racing
Archaeologists Indiana Jones style
007 Spies
A-Team Agents

Feel free to submit other themes. Right now, I am applying one of your original suggestions.


Contestants: 18
weebl
B-Man
DarkLightDragon
Kantur
Javie Swiftbow (still known as Lord Herman)
Deckmaster Bookman
Bookman Deckmaster
Captain van der Decken
evnafets
Captain Fluffy
Atreyu the Masked Llama
Khantalas
faerwain
Lucky
Alarra
alec
purple gelatinous cube o' Doom
El Jaspero the Pirate King

[Weebl]

I'll play! My third round! Ok I think that the American Civil war is a good Idea.

[DarkLightDragon]

Sign me up! Hopefully I'll be bothered to play this time!

[B-Man]

B-Man will join if only to keep up his rep of suicidal maniac!

[Kantur]

I'm in !

[Lord Herman]

Put me on the list. Ooh, bullet time stabbity! Or would that be stabbity-time?

[Deckmaster]

Count me in.

[Bookman]

Oh hellz yeah I'm in

[Captain van der Decken]

I'm in again.

[evnafets]

Operator? Sign me up.

[Captain "Fluffy"]

This looks like an interesting game, but I'm not sure I completely understand it. From my understanding, this is what happens:

1. Various players sign up on this thread.
2. Each round, each of the players sends a PM to Silkenfist saying that they either shoot in the air, shoot themself, or shoot someone else.
3. Silkenfist then narrates the scene based on the results from the PMs.
4. The rounds continue until there is one person left alive.

Is this all there is to it?

[Weebl]

Yes. 10 Letters

[Captain "Fluffy"]

Okay, I guess I'll sign up then.

[faerwain]

Zzzzzrrrroommm...A full Kevlar-armoured Cyberknight with a Cyborg leg and an High-End Chrome Wheelchair enters the Matrix
("You hear that Mr. Evnafets?... That is the sound of inevitability..")

@Capt. Fluffy: Silkenfist told last game he wanted to expend the game a little in the future, but until now you perfectly grapped how it works.

EDIT: And that's why I play this game..I can now shoot you all for simuposting me.

EDIT EDIT(darn 3 post rule): V Yeah, but it's like King's diner: You may have finished eating, but you wait until I lay my spoon aside.
(Sounds better than: I got fooled by my browser)

[Weebl]

Dude, I Posted like 3 hours and 10 minuites before you!

[Silkenfist]

I'll play! My third round! Ok I think that the American Civil war is a good Idea.
Sounds nice as a background, but like all wars, there is one problem: How do I get a dozen different positions into it?


Sign me up! Hopefully I'll be bothered to play this time!
Yep, I hope so, too. I'm already thinking of titles like "Most Sleepy Player"


@Capt. Fluffy: Silkenfist told last game he wanted to expend the game a little in the future, but until now you perfectly grapped how it works.
Not exactly. Ready, Aim, Fire will stay a rather simple game (basically it is just an excuse for me to write slash fiction with you guys as characters, but uhm...uhm...AMNESIA POWDER)

So where was I? Right, making things more elaborated. I have just created my new game, OOTS Showdown, where there are some more gadgets. Check it out here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30929)

[B-Man]

psst... Silkenfist, you forgot me on the contestant's list...

[Atreyu the Masked LLama]

the matrix has my alfalfa bale.....I want it back! I'm in.

[Khantalas]

Am I not in? Why am I not in?

[Lucky]

*Shoots Kantur*

Count me in!

[Alarra]

I want to play again!!

[alec]

*Loads gun*
Sign me up.

[DarkLightDragon]

Yep, I hope so, too. I'm already thinking of titles like "Most Sleepy Player" I'd probably sign up just for that :smallbiggrin:

I'll try to play this round though. Heh.

[purple gelatinous cube o' Doom]

I'm game, so sign me up.

[El Jaspero, the Pirate King]

Sign me up!

[Silkenfist]

18 contestants, woo! New record already.

[King_of_GRiffins]

Not too late is it? I'll sign up.

[Gnome Barbarian]

Ill sign up also

[Silkenfist]

For a few seconds you can’t move at all, overwhelmed by the sight of the dead Baldur and the screaming Jobe. “Everyone get moving. Quick.” He gestures out the window, where you see the courtyard with the phones, you planned to use for your retreat. Unfortunately, half a dozen agents has just occupied the place and cut off your way back. You are trapped inside the matrix with agents, bound to destroy you, already on your trail. Finally you follow Jobe as he runs up the stairs. If there is a way to escape, it would be over the roofs. You pray that the agents are not awaiting you there already, when you reach it, while you are listening to your instructor screaming ferociously into his headphone.

“Rahel, this whole thing is a trap. Go find us a new line for us. Get moving, QUICK!”
“Sorry, chief but no way”
“WHAT!”
“Sentinels, Sir. At least three of them are heading our way. We are all needed at the guns right now. Try to stay alive.”

You hear the last words of Rahel fading away as your operator has left you inside the Matrix. Apparently, the machines have sent not only their constructs inside the Matrix – they also detected your ship and launched an attack on it as well. If the Sentinels were not stopped, they would make sure you had no functional bodies to retreat to. Through your headphones you are able to hear the sounds of gunfire as the battle around the Hermes rages, unable to help. You keep running while you receive instructions. At least your enemies inside the Matrix have not caught you yet and you are able to find a way out over the roofs. But where can you go? Jobe orders you on a straight path over the roofs towards a closed-down factory site. “Everyone follow. I’ve been here before; we can use a hardwired line from there – if it is still intact.”

You keep following your instructor through winded paths, side roads and backyards and for a while, luck is with you as no agents cross your path. Meanwhile you had to turn down the volume on your headphones – the screams and sounds of torn metal have become unbearable. Yet the very fact that you are still alive proves that Rahel and her crew have been able to hold their ground. Finally as the docks are in sight and Jobe gestures you towards a shop floor, you hear the sounds from the ship cease until the voice of an exhausted Rahel fills your ear again.

“We are back, Sir. But I’m afraid, we…”
“There is no time for this. We need to get out NOW. The agents could be here any time”
“Yes, Chief. Where are you now?”
“Three miles south of the dockyards, industrial park. There should be several lines going into it”
“Got it, Sir. I think I can open a line in Hall15 for you.”

So this is how it happened. Now the 21 of you are huddled around a phone inside a disused assembly hall, hoping that the agents don’t find you before the phone rings and your operator finally finds a way for you out of the nightmare. The full moon illuminates the hall and the machinery with cold light as you suddenly hear a sound. But it is not the phone; it is your connection to the ship that signals.

“Sir, we got a problem”
“Report!”
“The sentinels got our generator, Sir. We shut off all systems except the ones connected to you, but it is not enough. We don’t have enough energy left to get you out.”
“Power up the emergency supply then” Suddenly the tone of Jobe’s voice had switched from enraged to calm as if he already knew the answers.
“Negative, Sir. All of its connections are roasted. We can’t use it”
“Then send a distress call and try to keep us online until your signal is picked up. We will just hope and pray until then”
“Negative, Sir. I am afraid we won’t have the time for that….one of the Sentinels got away. We will be expecting company soon”
Jobe sighs then takes a deep breath as he speaks up again: “How many transfers CAN you do with the energy left?”
“One, Sir. And after that, we would have to abandon the ship if we would want to avoid becoming fodder for the squids.”

The air is filled with uncomfortable suspense as you all look at the instructor. Finally, you hear Rahel’s voice again: “Sir, there is no other way. We will open the line and get you…”
“No, that won’t happen. I am the highest ranking officer on this vessel and as Captain it would be my duty to go down with my ship. Also, this would have been my last flight anyway. Let one of the young ones go with you.”
“Sir, I must insist that you choose the highest ranking…”
“Forget about that, they are all half-baked recruits. No, there is one easy way to settle this: The most talented one of you may leave. Rahel, in exactly ten minutes you open the line once. Recruits, I expect you to have found a way until then. Don’t show too much respect for each other, nineteen of you will not survive the next hour anyway.”
As he speaks, Jobe turns around and walks towards the exit. “If I may give you a broad hint: In the cabinet in the break room, you will find a few weapons. Now if you’ll excuse me. I will divert the agents”

As your instructor has left you, you hear the cracks of thunder drawing near and simultaneously your glance follows Jobe’s last gesture. If there would only be one survivor anyway, this might not a bad way to settle it. Seconds after the chief had closed the doors behind him, his recruits start the fight.


Contestants: 20
weebl
B-Man
DarkLightDragon
Kantur
Javie Swiftbow (still known as Lord Herman)
Bookman
Deckmaster
Captain van der Decken
evnafets
Captain Fluffy
Atreyu the Masked Llama
Khantalas
faerwain
Lucky
Alarra
alec
purple gelatinous cube o' Doom
El Jaspero the Pirate King
King of Griffins
Gnome Barbarian


The round starts now and ends Saturday 7 PM Eastern.


:vaarsuvius:: The almighty Player Statistics thread. Check out your adversaries (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29553)

:roy:: The Hall of Fame (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1686881#post1686881)

:durkon:: The Rules (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26710)

[Lord Herman]

:thog: thog like story!

[faerwain]

*surrounded by industrial beats, a wheelchair of sparkling chrome flies slowly through the air, and a beautiful swarm of slow-motion bullets hits aesthetically into Lord Herman*

faerwain like bullet time!

[Atreyu the Masked LLama]

I feel sorry for Silkenfist. Most of the characters are probably easy to fit into the story, but I'm curious how I'll fit into the Matrix plot.

[Silkenfist]

I feel sorry for Silkenfist. Most of the characters are probably easy to fit into the story, but I'm curious how I'll fit into the Matrix plot.

You dared me? Just wait and see...

[Bookman]

You dared me? Just wait and see...

I dared you too :biggrin:

You SO have to do it.

[Captain van der Decken]

He's managed to fit in Atreyu surprisingly well so far....

[faerwain]

I tried to help (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28490&page=9):smallwink:

[El Jaspero, the Pirate King]

"What do you need?"

"Rum. Lots of rum."

[Captain van der Decken]

:biggrin:
Very nice, El J.

[Weebl]

"There is nothing Like the world of Computer Genterated Violence!"

[Silkenfist]

The crack of thunder snaps the twenty recruits out of their trance and sends them running for something they could use as weapon against their former comrades. But surprisingly, not everybody is busy, arming themselves. B-Man produces a bucket of paint and a brush and starts painting something onto a piece of cardboard, while Alarra takes a comb out of her pocket and starts brushing her hair. And Bookman…seems to have lost his sense as he runs out of the hall towards the cold storage nearby.
Meanwhile, the others have demolished the cabinet and struggle to get a hold of the firearms. Evnafets and Deckmaster, deeply appalled by such a display of ferocity decide to act. They pick up two pistols from the floor, then send a few rounds in the air to appeal to their friends’ sanity. However, they don’t receive the reaction, they hoped for – King of Griffins, nervously grabs a submachine gun and fires in the broad direction from where the shots came. Deckmaster sees the bullets from the corner of his darkened glasses and manages to dodge them narrowly. Evnafets, however, was looking in the other direction…seven bullets hit him straight in the back and send him crashing into the machinery.
While evnafets physical body in the ship grows limp, Bookman returns to the hall. Cackling, he drags with him a frozen 120 pound halibut and some industrial-strength rubber cord. He is about to close the door behind him, when he is stopped by B-Man. B-Man had just finished painting his sign. As he runs outside, you can catch a glimpse on his work “AGENTS ARE TEH SUXX”, you read while B-Man disappears into the night, never to be seen again. Deeply impressed by this performance, weebl and purple cube grab themselves pieces of cardboard and start their own work.
The battle rages on, but Alarra and Atreyu don’t notice. They are hiding in the break room and while Alarra is busy checking herself in the mirror, Atreyu sits on the cold floor, pondering what he knows about the Matrix. Surely, there would be a way…
In the meantime, Bookman has finished his construct. Together with two pillars, he has turned the rubber cord into a giant slingshot. He stretches the cord, pressing the halibut into it. After he has brought the sling under enough tension, he lets go of the cord, then starts running. As the cord yanks back and shoots the halibut forward, Bookman employs his supernatural agility and sprints towards the opposite wall, overtaking the giant flying fish. Still giggling like a maniac, he then positions himself right into the trajectory of the animal missile. Javie has not noticed Bookman’s preparations and wonders why he is just standing around with close eyes and harms extended. But then he shrugs, kicks Bookman down and yanks a thin piece of cloth out of his trousers. Filled with Glee, Javie jumps up and down, exclaiming “I stole Bookman’s tail”…until 120 pounds of frozen fish hit him into the chest and nail him into the wall. With his dying breath, Javie sees alec approaching him with a wicked grin. “No trout, but it will do”, alec comments before he pulls out the fish and slaps Javie into terminal unconsciousness.
Meanwhile Gnome Barbarian and the two Captains van der Decken and Fluffy have found themselves high-quality katana in the pile of weapons and approached duelling stance for a three-way battle. They are just about to attack each other as they see Alarra exit the break room, perfectly styled and condescendingly smiling at the others. “Please, don’t make a fuss about this” she says while taking a crumpled piece of paper out of her pocket. It is a page of the Zion Hacker Academy yearbook – the page with the election of the most popular hacker of the year. Alarra, who won the election by a landslide gathers all of her confidence as she speaks on. “Only one of us can leave and honestly, if you could choose anyone besides you it would be I. So hush and let me to the phone. Or does anyone have objections?”
Alarra silently prays for her bluff to work, while she steps up towards the phone. But before she gets there, she is interrupted by a loud outbreak of laughter from behind. Everybody turns around and sees Atreyu, who just stands there. “You are all doomed because you don’t KNOW. This place is not real, you decide everything here.” He laughs again, then suddenly changes his shape. His leather bodysuit is suddenly replaced with soft brown fur and his hands turn into hooves as he speaks on: “See? You can form the Matrix as you want. It is just so easy. Everything you will to be, becomes real. And I will you to die.” He laughs again and suddenly two tommy guns appear in his hooves. Just as Atreyu fires, he realizes that he is not used to the physiology of thumb-lacking hooves. But it is too late – clumsily the trigger guards slip around the hooves and suddenly to torrents of bullets are sent into his furry body. Dying, Atreyu hears the laughter of the other recruits fill the hall.
Weebl and the purple cube keep on laughing a bit longer, admiring their work. They take their cardboard signs and approach the ladder that leads to the roof, closely watched by the three duellists. Gnome Barbarian and the two Captains silently look at each other, then they decide to adjourn their duel…for now. Captain Fluffy stays behind to take care of Alarra, while the other two decide to follow the two guys with the signs.
Still laughing, Weebl and the cube have reached the roof. B-Man was right all along. If they were doomed anyway, they could still have their fun while going. But why insult the agents, if you could insult Zero One directly? While the thunderstorm draws nearer, they each grab a sign and hold it over their heads revealing the red letters to the sky: “101101000101100111*0101100010110000101*0100001001 10****01101010*******” For some reason the black clouds move towards them even quicker now.
Meanwhile in the hall itself, Alarra has reached the phone and prays for the call to come quickly. But suddenly she hears a deafening roar from behind her. She turns around to see a gargantuan Dragon eyeing her viciously. “You know what, Alarra? Atreyu was right the whole time…why settle for weak human bodies if you can have THIS: And yes, *I* do have objections” speaks the DarkLightDragon just before sending her to the ground with a blow of her mighty tail. Enraged, Alarra tries to get back to her feet but suddenly the tide seems to have turned against her…Kantur, Khantalas and faerwain have decided to side with the Dragon on this one. They draw their pistols and produce a hail of bullets. Alarra, dodging the bullets as good as she can, tries to retreat but suddenly, she bumps into someone. “Hello” whispers Captain Fluffy – before running her through with his katana.
The black clouds over the hall grow thicker but weebl and the cube still dance around laughing, holding up their signs (well to be pedantic, the cube bounces around with the handle of the sign embedded into it), not noticing the Captain and the Barbarian who are sneaking up from behind…
In the meantime, the hall has fallen dead silent. Alarra stares on the blade protruding several inches from her chest, while her adversaries stand together, satisfied about this turn of events. Captain Fluffy then turns Alarra around to mockingly wave her Goodbye – when Alarra’s eyes suddenly start glowing. With her last energy, she thrusts herself forward, impaling Captain Fluffy on his own blade. Simultaneously, the physical bodies of Alarra and the Captain cease breathing.
Suddenly a desperate scream pierces the silence. “Alarra…..NOOOO” El Jaspero has fallen to his knees but as he gets up, he looks at the group around the Dragon with a fierce glint in his eyes. “You will pay for this” he screams, picking up pistols and firing wildly at them. Quickly, Khantalas, Kantur and faerwain hide themselves behind the Dragon, while DarkLightDragon herself just stays calm and lets the tiny bullets bounce off her scales. Kantur tries to get away from the maniac pirate as quickly as possible, but suddenly he is grappled from behind. Unable to break free, he sees that he is dragged toward the mounted buzz saw. “Do you hear that, Mr. Kantur? That is the sound of inevitability. That is the sound of your death. Goodbye, Mr. Kantur.” he hears Lucky say, as he turns on the saw. “My name is…” he replies, but Kantur doesn’t get to finish his line – the sharp blades interrupt him mercilessly.
Satisfied, Lucky turns around to watch the others again. He sees the crying El Jaspero wasting clip after clip of ammunition on the hard shell of the DarkLightDragon.
“Oh please, don’t take it seriously. This is the Matrix. None of this is real”
“You are right…”El Jaspero answers. “None of this is real. And therefore, you won’t mind if I do THIS”
DarkLightDragon blinks as suddenly El Jaspero holds a solid harpoon gun in his hand. Suddenly she realizes that her new body is very inept in terms of dodging anything – before the steel hook embeds itself two feet into her body. With fading senses, she hears the crack of thunder above…
Captain van der Decken and Gnome Barbarian have finally brought themselves into position for their assault. They wait until their victims are near enough, then burst out of their hiding. The unarmed couple would be no match for them. Screaming, they raise their swords above their head and charge. Startled, weebl and the cube turn around and see their rivals run towards them – when suddenly a thunderbolt charges down from the cloud into their swords. The short screams of the Captain and the Barbarian perish in the ear-splitting thunder. Weebl and the cube decide upon observation of the sizzling remains of their attackers that they should better leave the place. As they climb down again, they see a giant dragon dead on the floor, while El Jaspero cups the dead Alarra’s stomach with his hand repeatedly without any obvious reason. The voice from the operators table reaches the recruits again.
“Seven minutes until we open the connection”

Online: 10
weebl
alec
purple gelatinous cube o' Doom
El Jaspero the Pirate King
King of Griffins
Bookman
Deckmaster
Khantalas
faerwain
Lucky

Terminally Offline: 10
B-Man
DarkLightDragon
Kantur
Javie Swiftbow (still known as Lord Herman)
Captain van der Decken
evnafets
Captain Fluffy
Atreyu the Masked Llama
Alarra
Gnome Barbarian


Please send your actions until Monday, 5 PM Eastern


:vaarsuvius:: The almighty Player Statistics thread. Check out your adversaries (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29553)

:roy:: The Hall of Fame (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1686881#post1686881)

:durkon:: The Rules (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26710)

[Khantalas]

What happens in the Matrix, stays in the Matrix.

Half down, half to go. I wonder if I'll survive this round.

[Captain van der Decken]

Noooo! Ah well, it was worth it.

Nice story, as always.

[Gnome Barbarian]

Greta storya dn atleast I went down with a captain by myside and fighting

[faerwain]

Bwwuahahahaaaa!!
When I'm finished laughing my guts out, I'll just have to reread it to catch everything..simply great done.
(fish catapult?! :smallbiggrin: )

Extra points for the way to fit the llama into the matrix...but your Hall of Fame is a dangerous thing...so much for "loved by everyone" now..
Thanks for the fun again.

*http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q235/faerwain/Faerwain.gif logs out*

[Silkenfist]

Hall of Fame and Player Statistics are updated now. Surprisingly, Alarra has lost her title. :smallbiggrin:

[Gnome Barbarian]

Where is the hall of fame?

[Captain "Fluffy"]

Yes! Wait...nooo! Oh well, it was worth it. Awesome story, Silkenfist.

[Weebl]

If I survive this I shall be have statistic!

Edit: Woo! I got a grudge!

[Captain van der Decken]

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29553

Heheh, I got a grudge. And most loved.
Doubt that'll last.

Well, you're in the hall of grudges Weebl.

[Lord Herman]

Curse you, Bookman!

Well, at least I got your tail.

[Captain van der Decken]

Okay Weebl, rather than suiciding, I suggest you attack someone next time.
Not me, of course.

[Lucky]

Ahahahahah! AAAAHHAAHAHAH!!

Sweet! Beautiful victory is mine! Kantur didn't see it coming. :smalltongue:

But... but... Now I don't know what to do... I've never made it to the second round before...

[faerwain]

Hall of Fame and Player Statistics are updated now. Surprisingly, Alarra has lost her title. :smallbiggrin:

Why don't give her a new title, like "prime target honoris causa"? I doubt we had 5 people shooting at the same player simultaneously before :smallwink:

[Captain "Fluffy"]

She retro-actively deserved it for killing me.

[Atreyu the Masked LLama]

sigh....the one round no one else attacks me first turn.....by the great llama I have no luck with this game. Very amusing demise, Silkenfist.

[Bookman]

Bwwuahahahaaaa!!
When I'm finished laughing my guts out, I'll just have to reread it to catch everything..simply great done.
(fish catapult?! :smallbiggrin: )

I dared him to do it :biggrin:


Curse you, Bookman!

Well, at least I got your tail.

Not before I got you.

With a fish :biggrin:

[purple gelatinous cube o' Doom]

well, I definitely have to say I'm impressed I made it past the first round the first time I've played. Now if I can only do as well in werewolf classic II. I'd have to say the best death from round one was the fish.

[DarkLightDragon]

I TOOK ALARRA DOWN WITH ME!

...What? It was worth it!

[Captain "Fluffy"]

What are you talking about? It was clearly my katana that killed her.

[DarkLightDragon]

My pm was to shoot at her, and I got a hit in, so it still counts :smallwink:

[Weebl]

*Defibrel-bump!* He made it!

[Silkenfist]

The sound of boots on the concrete floor echoes through the assembly hall. Ten hackers survived the first shootout but they would not stop there. There was only one way back to safety; the others would be doomed to be picked by the agents inside the Matrix or by the sentinels outside. You approach combat stance as you suddenly hear your operator’s voice again:
“Hey guys, I got good news and bad news for you. The bad news is that we have to save energy, so we are switching lines. There might be problems with the transition. The good news: I’ve recovered the backups of our programs and I can send you any proficiency you need.”
“Is there any chance for you to get more of us out instead?”
“Sorry, guys.” Rahel’s voice sounds morbidly good-humoured. “You are a bit more complex than our programs. Six minutes until your call, what may I serve you until then?”
The hall falls dead silent for a moment as you look at each other, imagining what could give you the edge over the others.
Weebl and El Jaspero have the same thought simultaneously. They grab two swords from the floor and call: “Bushido – Full program”
Bookman is next to call: “Program gunslinger – Quick draw and accuracy.” He then grabs a pistol from the floor and readies himself, when he suddenly hears a voice from behind…
“Martial Arts Compendium”, Lucky calls back before a trio speaks up. “Khantalas, Deckmaster and me want the same”, King of Griffins calls. “Mrs Wizard? Can you send us Brawling and General Melee I to III?”
“OK, got everything. Transferring Data now.”
“What do you want?” screams Bookman while keeping his weapon nervously aimed at the one, who just approached him.
“Oh please…” alec replies. “I’m not about to hurt your or anyone. I didn’t even request an upload. I just wanted to offer you a chance to test your proficiency. He opens is hand and reveals six coins. “Care to show me?” he asks and flings one coin into the air. Bookman’s reflexes act automatically – with ease he shoots a hole perfectly into the middle of the dime. “Care to show me again?” alec asks smilingly.
Meanwhile the purple cube hops through the hall hopelessly. At first this body has seemed like a cool idea, but as the operators had switched the line, the transfer rate had suddenly dropped to an extent, where shapeshifting didn’t work anymore. Now he was stuck inside a bodily form without hands to eventually pick up a phone. “The dead end inside of the dead end”, the cube thinks, while moving towards an assembly line, With a desperate bump, it finds the button to turn it on – then works to get itself up onto the conveyor belt…
Everyone else had already received their programs – with the exception of the trio who requested “Brawling and General Melee” – The large data file has suffered under the new connection as well. The others see that Khantalas, Deckmaster and King of Griffins’ movements are slowed continuously and their movements have become erratic until they seem to stop altogether – while the three of them suddenly lose their feeling for motor activity and their vision turns into a freeze image.
Along the way, Lucky has finished loading his Martial Arts knowledge. “Now I need just something to test this on” he thinks and lets his eyes wander around the hall – until they suddenly fixate on the purple cube that has conveniently put itself on a slow-moving conveyor belt. Lucky doesn’t know or care to know the purpose of this but he doesn’t care anyway. He starts running to demonstrate his new abilities…
Meanwhile, alec has thrown his sixth coin into the air – which Bookman has sent down with the sixth bullet. “Congratulations, my friend.” he says, extending his hand. “It was terrific”. Bookman grips alec’s hand, when he hears him say: “Terrific, how readily you disarmed yourself”. Bookman blinks. His gaze shifts between his hand, tightly clutched by alec, his empty pistol and alec’s fully loaded pistol pointed at his head. He opens his mouth to say something, but two bullets end his speech before it even had begun.
El Jaspero and weebl don’t notice that as they retreated into a corner to let the Bushido program do its work. As the program is loaded, they let their mind and locomotion be filled with its content. They raise their swords, but they are terrified as they notice that they are pointing their weapon each at their own abdomen. Suddenly, a short data stream of knowledge forces itself into their conscience: “Junshi – Upon the death of ones master or military commander, Samurai would often reside to the traditional suicide of disembowelment, the Seppuku. While it is debated whether the original Bushido forbade, ignored or required Junshi, it remains as fact that it kept being a commonly used practice…” El Jaspero and weebl don’t even listen to the rest as they frantically fight against their own body. But it is too late – two deep cuts end their hopes of leaving the Matrix.
Khantalas and Deckmaster suddenly escape the lag and are immediately greeted by the screams of the would-be Samurai in the corner. Hastily, they turn around but as they see that they are in no immediate danger, they relax a bit.
Slowly, the belt carries the cube towards the blades of the machine to end his life, when it is suddenly hit by something. Lucky, doing his best martial arts impression, has done a flying kick that send both him and the cube over the conveyor belt crashing onto the floor behind. Lucky tries to get up to continue fighting, when he sees that his leg is stuck knee-deep inside the gelatinous cube. Horrified, he realizes that he is neither able to withdraw his leg, nor can he prevent the purple cube from slowly moving itself up the leg towards his torso. Desperately, he unleashes a shattering strike with his fist – only to see that it doesn’t harm his foe either. Panic strikes him as he realizes that clothing and skin of his leg are dissolving. His screams blend with those of El Jaspero and weebl and together they fade…
King of Griffins, not having noticed any of this finally overcomes the lag problems as well. He sees his comrades; Deckmaster and Khantalas stare at him for no obvious reason. Not knowing, how to reply, he shrugs – suddenly noticing that he just brushed against someone else. Suddenly he feels a gentle pressure against his temple. “Dodge This!” he hears faerwain say before his sight grows dark again.




Online: 5
alec
purple gelatinous cube o' Doom
Deckmaster
Khantalas
faerwain

Terminally Offline: 15
B-Man
DarkLightDragon
Kantur
Javie Swiftbow (still known as Lord Herman)
Captain van der Decken
evnafets
Captain Fluffy
Atreyu the Masked Llama
Alarra
Gnome Barbarian
Lucky
El Jaspero the Pirate King
King of Griffins
Bookman
weebl


Please send your actions until Wednesday, 6 PM Eastern


:vaarsuvius:: The almighty Player Statistics thread. Check out your adversaries (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29553)

:roy:: The Hall of Fame (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1686881#post1686881)

:durkon:: The Rules (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26710)

[Silkenfist]

Updated Player statistics.

Weebl: Sorry I didn't use your suicide idea. I forgot about it until now.

[Bookman]

Alec you bastard!

:biggrin:

Meant in the nicest possible way of course

[Weebl]

Updated Player statistics.

Weebl: Sorry I didn't use your suicide idea. I forgot about it until now.

Oh well. It was a good death anyway.

My grudge is the most loved and I'm most hated! Not a good sign.

[alec]

Alec you bastard!

:biggrin:

Meant in the nicest possible way of course

Thanks. Now to work on earning the title of magnificent bastard.:smallwink:

The writing is top notch, Silkenfist. I'm enjoying this much more than the movies.

[Lord Herman]

Great description, Silkenfist. I especially like the parts with the gelatinous cube.

[faerwain]

Wow..you really made reading suspenseful for me this time :smallbiggrin:

[Captain van der Decken]

Oh well. It was a good death anyway.

My grudge is the most loved and I'm most hated! Not a good sign.

:biggrin: Hah, nice.

[Slartibartfast]

Ugh. I hurt all over. I wonder why. Wait, wasn't I in this thread? maybe it was a different ready aim fire... *looks about* Oh, I signed up on the last thread but it didn't carry over to this thread, I get it. Oh well, I'll just be dead for this round.

[Silkenfist]

Slartibartfast: Ah...you did. Sorry, but I didn't notice anything on the last thread.

[Silkenfist]

In the wreckage of the Hermes, the three operators are observing the life signals of their hacker’s physical bodies. They don’t know what is happening inside the Matrix, but they know that they would be only able to take one with them when they would flee from the approaching Sentinels. Fifteen hackers have died already in the struggle and the operators disconnected their limp bodies from the transmitter that sent their signals into the Matrix.
“I’ll never understand how they die..:”
“Operator course 101. Your mind controls your body and subconsciously all of its vital functions. If your mind is made to consider it dead, it abandons your vital functions. And if your mind was to cease, the very same would happen.”
Together they operators look at the body of Khantalas, one of the last ones remaining. However, the operators had not heard his voice from the speakerphone for the last minutes.
“And he?”
“ Translation error. Normally, your brain activity pattern is translated into a Unicode and sent into the Matrix. But if this process of translation and transmission is disrupted, there will be feedback. Ultimately, it will cause their brain activity to lose pattern and cease altogether. Proximately, you drop dead.”
The operators keep looking at Khantalas a bit longer – until the small display above his head shows a mere “Signal not found”
Inside the Matrix, Khantalas’ death is barely visualised as his reference self just slumps down and vanishes while the other four figure out ways to deal with the situation.
One of them is a large purple cube that has become suicidal at the prospect of being stuck in an inept shape for returning into reality. However, its shape would prove a challenge to disembody. The blob keeps hopping through the hall in search of a viable method.
Faerwain has come to a similar conclusion. There would be no glory in returning. He would be greeted by the sight of his dead crewmates and the prospect of running for his life again. He wanders through the hall, following the cube with the same intent.
Deckmaster and alec however, didn’t come to the same conclusion. With their will to live still intact, they have armed themselves again. Eyeing each other with deep suspicion, they decide to adjourn their battle for now and deal with the others first. A small morbid procession ensues, led by the gelatinous cube.
The cube itself – after discarding the assembly line idea again, suddenly notices something that might work. At the wall right in front of it, several high-voltage power-lines are proceeding. It approaches one of the lines and starts to dissolve the insulation.

Meanwhile, Deckmaster and alec have kept following. While alec keeps closely on the trail of faerwain and the Cube, Deckmaster has fallen behind voluntarily. But both of them see a sudden flash and violent snapping sound as the purple cube had dug its body into the line, cutting it in two effectively. Several thousand volts surge through the gelatinous body – but to its dismay, the cube has to notice that its body while being highly conductive has no vital organs to be disrupted by the electricity. Disappointedly, it moves on, while faerwain remains at the scene a bit longer, taking an impressed look at the cables.
The cube hops on, discarding ideas of using tools that would require the use of limbs. But then it notices a small workshop at the end of the hall. Maybe it would find something there…
Faerwain has worked up his courage. The power line might not work for the cube, but it would surely put an end to his misery. He sees that there is a large line hanging from the wall, with a freshly bared end that would still carry deadly electricity. He takes a deep breath and approaches the line.
The little workshop is dedicated to small handiwork. The cube is not sure which use it had, but it browses the equipment nonetheless. After passing several baskets and plotting boards, it finds something suitable. An angelic chorus in the distance can be heard, as the cube had found itself a perfect electric pottery wheel. With one energetic bump, it turns on the wheel.
While the wheel in the small workshop powers up, events unfold in the main hall. Faerwain, in an attempt to end his life, grabs the cable with the intent of holding the bared end against his chest. But alec, misinterpreting faerwain’s action, intervenes. He sees that act as an attempt of his adversary to arm himself with something, which has to be disrupted. He pushes faerwain away and yanks the weapon out of his hand. Unfortunately for him, he had grabbed the bared end…you don’t even hear a scream as the current turns alec into sizzling remains. Deckmaster however, doesn’t seem to be happy about the result. He has stormed out of his hiding to ambush alec, but the power line has made his attempt redundant. In spite, he shoots the burning corpse of alec again, before turning towards faerwain.
“He was…” he starts, but he is interrupted by the sound of an electric motor being turned on, closely followed by a slapping sound. The purple cube had finally managed to get itself onto the pottery table – where it had been quickly ripped apart by the centrifugal forces of the highest turn rate. The walls inside the workshop are covered in a thin jellyish purple cover while his physical body expires…
Unaware of this, Deckmaster continues: “He was MINE”. He stares at faerwain and both of them start readying themselves for battle. Suddenly they hear the gate open with a bang – Before the background of the rainy town; a lone agent stands there, looking at them.
“Screw this. Opening line NOW”, they hear their operator scream as they start running for the phone, trying to figure how to outrun the other.


Online: 2
Deckmaster
faerwain

Terminally Offline: 18
B-Man
Khantalas
DarkLightDragon
alec
purple gelatinous cube o' Doom
Kantur
Javie Swiftbow (still known as Lord Herman)
Captain van der Decken
evnafets
Captain Fluffy
Atreyu the Masked Llama
Alarra
Gnome Barbarian
Lucky
El Jaspero the Pirate King
King of Griffins
Bookman
weebl


Please send your actions as soon as possible.


:vaarsuvius:: The almighty Player Statistics thread. Check out your adversaries (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29553)

:roy:: The Hall of Fame (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1686881#post1686881)

:durkon:: The Rules (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26710)

[purple gelatinous cube o' Doom]

the pottery wheel was a brilliant weapon of destruction. I commend you silk on a very creative death. My suicide tactic worked the first two rounds, but I guess my luck ran out for this one.

[faerwain]

Yes! I'm in the finals!
Anyone wants to start a fanbase? http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q235/faerwain/Faerwain.gif #1 !
:smallbiggrin:

Great work, you have a strange, but very entertaining imagination..the pottery wheel nearly got me to fall from my chair.:smallwink:

[Deckmaster]

I'm still alive? I mean, I'm still alive! And slightly psychotic, apparently. Oh, well.

[Lord Herman]

Magnifico!

Now who will win... http://home.planet.nl/~hdgoede/tdg/StickArt/OtherPeople/Smileys/Deckmaster.gif or http://home.planet.nl/~hdgoede/tdg/StickArt/OtherPeople/Smileys/Faerwain.gif?

[Silkenfist]

For the fracture of a second, Deckmaster and faerwain just stand there, frozen to the ground, looking in disbelief at the agent at the other side of the hall. Then they regain their senses and run for the phone. The agent, mildly amused by that display of despair, watches them, then starts running, himself. With ease he cuts off the way of the two hackers, positioning him between them and the exit. As the phone starts ringing, he smiles at faerwain and Deckmaster sadistically.
“Ah, the phone is ringing. Is this your call? Don’t you want to answer it? Or are you afraid of an unarmed man?”
Deckmaster and faerwain have stopped. They look at each other, then at the agent, then at their blocked exit.
“If my information is correct..:” the agent taps his headphone exaggeratedly “this line will be out of order in about one minute. Someone told municipal utility of those unpaid bills. Don’t you want to take the call now?” The agent interrupts his speech as a small fusillade from two guns flies towards him. Dodging the projectiles, he speaks on: “How pathetic. You call this resistance?” Deckmaster and faerwain quickly grab for their spare clips, but they don’t get to finish reloading. “My turn” speaks the agent, seizes two automatics and starts shooting. The hackers dive immediately and one dozen bullets hit the concrete wall in the back.
Laughingly, the agent sends another salvo in their direction, forcing them to take cover. They each hide behind one of the larger assembly lines. Safe for now, they think of plans how to escape. Faerwain considers the alternatives while reloading and suddenly the solution strikes him: He only had a chance if he could outrun the agent – but this was impossible as long as Deckmaster kept hogging resources and slowing down the data transfer. If he could shoot Deckmaster first, he had a chance of dodging the agent just long enough to reach the exit. Also the chance of Deckmaster shooting him in the back while trying to do so would be greatly decreased. Faerwain peeks over the conveyor belt and sees that his fellow hacker had left his hiding already and got nearer to the agent. Knowing that he would have to act now, faerwain gathers speed, jumps onto the conveyor belt, bounces on top of the machine, then leaps from there towards Deckmaster. Coming down in a perfect angle, faerwain then empties his guns and sends twelve bullets on their trajectory towards his target.
Deckmaster meanwhile had been leaving his cover for a purpose. As it was already seen on Baldur’s screen in the very first place – Game Over, no winner, just death. He had approached the agent unarmed, showing his empty hands. Just as the first bullet as left the muzzle of faerwain’s gun, he speaks up:
“Can I have your attention, Mr…?”
“Mr. Brown.” The agent smiles while the bullets keep moving towards Deckmaster’s back.
“Mr. Brown. I am unarmed and I surrender. I turn myself in” The line of bullets behind Deckmaster becomes visible, as well as the shooter, who follows them closely.
“Of course” Immediately, the agent stands besides him and pushes him to the ground with one strike. “Which makes you second in my priority list to deactivate. And logically, your friend here top priority” The agent turns away from Deckmaster and looks at faerwain, who is still in midair.
“Mr Faerwain” the agent starts to speak “Perhaps you are familiar with the works of a fellow human from the time before our inauguration. His laws, while being oversimplified, are quite essential to nature. And we knew that we had to implement them in the Matrix as well.” The agent’s face suddenly takes the form of Sir Isaac Newton, wile he grabs two swords from the mess around, walks right beneath the slowly descending faerwain and merely holds up the swords. “Any last words, Mr. Faerwain?” He asks.
Meanwhile, Deckmaster has gotten off the floor, wondering that he was still alive. Seeing that the agent has completely abandoned him there, he shrugs and sneaks towards the phone. Just as he picks up the handset, a gruesome slithering sound confirms the end of faerwain – Before he regains awareness in the physical world.


Game Over. Deckmaster wins this round of Ready, Aim, Fire!


:vaarsuvius:: The almighty Player Statistics thread. Check out your adversaries (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29553)

:roy:: The Hall of Fame (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1686881#post1686881)

:durkon:: The Rules (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26710)

[Lord Herman]

Wow, great ending. Congratulations, Deckmaster.

[Silkenfist]

Now to the last part of the game: The Evaluation. I'd like to have answers for the following questions:


1) Which themes do you want to see in the future?

2) How long shall the rounds take in the future?

3) Shall the Player Statistics/Hall of Fame be extended? If yes, with which content?

4) Where can the game be improved?

5) Which additional features could be added to the game?

[Tharj TreeSmiter]

I just know I want to play I keep missing the sign ups.

As for themes (I'm not sure what you've done already)

mages using magic missile
We're all in tanks

As for the rules, since I haven't played you can ignore me completely but you can require a reloading round every 6 or 8 shots or somthing, and instead of firing up you just don't fire. Thus some people would be reloading when others are out of ammo.

[Fredricus]

Magnificient!

You made a "simple" game interesting with the summarys of the round. It was very good story I loved to read it.

About new theme... Pirate/swashbuckling on a ship would be very interesting. The weather and the ship as additional elements.

Other one would be tanks. In a tank game I would like to be a Anti-tank infantry as that is my occupation in the military.

It was a good game.... When does the next round start? Where do I sign up?

Even if I wasn't playing I enjoyed to read it!

[Lord Herman]

1) Which themes do you want to see in the future?
Roman Gladiators
Pratchett-esque Wizards

2) How long shall the rounds take in the future?
The length of the rounds is fine.

3) Shall the Player Statistics/Hall of Fame be extended? If yes, with which content?
I don't have any good ideas right now, but I wouldn't mind more categories and stats. Especially the hall of fame.

4) Where can the game be improved?
It's fine the way it is.

5) Which additional features could be added to the game?
See (4)

[Silkenfist]

Pratchett-esque Wizards


Sounds fun.
A lot of binge-eating and bickering neurotics with way too much power under their fragile she....wait a minute, I just realized:

MITD is a Pratchett-Wizard!!

Ridcully: DEAN! What did I tell you about sabbaticals on other planes?
:mitd:: Sorry Archchancellor. But you won't believe how good their cookies were.

[Gnome Barbarian]

1.) I like the pirate idea...maybe even pirates vs.ninjas

2) Round length is good

3) The content is good if I think of anythign else Ill mesntion it.

4) I like the simplicity

5) same

[Lord Herman]

Just an idea... you could run a team-based version of ready, aim, fire as a parallel game. That way, you could do those historical scenarios which have two sides.

[Captain van der Decken]

Ooo. I like that idea.

[faerwain]

grumble..surrender to the agent..sissy...:belkar: How do they ever come up with these ideas?

Great description, was a lot of fun again.
I'll think over the evalution, but now I'm fresh from work and exhausted.
But for possible themes: How about some jungle fight between different amazonian tribes? Or a clash between rival vikings? Some horse-to-horse combat between huns? (Or huns against roman soldiers and their goth allies?[..No, I'm talking about the war against Attila, not about sad romans with body paint, geez...])

Team-based might be fun, I was thinking about adding a chance to miss, but on a second thought, better keep the luck out of it(besides the chance of wrong choice of action).

[purple gelatinous cube o' Doom]

personally, I like the idea of doing a pod racing thing for the next one. I mean who doesn't like flaming wreckage and people turning into greasy smears on the race course.

[Lord Herman]

That's a good idea, cube. I think there are quite a few such scenarios that aren't all-out melees, but still work for this game.

Quite a coincidence, by the way: I'm watching The Phantom Menace right now, and the Pod Race just started...

[Weebl]

I like the sound of a team based game and I would love to see the following themes:
Fighting for the last parachute on a falling plane.
War of the Worlds alien invasion sort of thing.

I also agree with ^ about the pod racing idea.

[Destro_Yersul]

I'd play a podracing game. I've been meaning to try this game.

[Bookman]

Here's a question.

Who shot where?

[Atreyu the Masked LLama]

wonderful storytelling. Let's do another. I want to make it to round 2 at least once.

[Deckmaster]

I shot myself and faerwin shot me. I think that's how it went. I was banking on the fact that he would shoot me rather than himself, as that was what his statistics said he would do. I owe everything to the player statistics thread.

How about we're all rival archeologists searching for a rare artifact in a booby-trapped ancient temple? In short, Indiana Jones style.

[Lucky]

How about we're all rival archeologists searching for a rare artifact in a booby-trapped ancient temple? In short, Indiana Jones style.
Seconded
Thirded
Fourthed
Fifthed
Sixed...

[Lord Herman]

Seventhed!

Also, I suggest 007-ish spies. Lots of shooting, lots of missing.

v, oooo! A-team! The only problem is that nobody ever dies on the a-team. Except one guy.

[Kantur]

Lots of shooting, lots of missing.

So you want the A-Team? Or would that one just be everyone shooting into the air for round, after round, after round, after round...? :smallwink:

[purple gelatinous cube o' Doom]

I'd say my top two choices would be the pod racing or the teams.

[Captain van der Decken]

I like the Indiana Jones idea best.

Oh, and Pirates.

[Gnome Barbarian]

pod racing and indiana jones here

[Fredricus]

pirates and pod-racing

[faerwain]

I shot myself and faerwin shot me. I think that's how it went.
Yep, exactly.

I was banking on the fact that he would shoot me rather than himself, as that was what his statistics said he would do. I owe everything to the player statistics thread.

You..you..you..you used tactic ?? :smalleek:
Hmpf, haven't really thought of my entry in the statistics, should keep that in mind for the next round. I thought with only two opponents suicide would be a quite obvious tactic and therefore hoped a little that you would expect me to and maybe shoot in the air - and I just had bloodlust.


How about we're all rival archeologists searching for a rare artifact in a booby-trapped ancient temple? In short, Indiana Jones style.
I like the idea, gives Silkenfist's imagination a good playground, should be real fun.

[Bookman]

You..you..you..you used tactic ?? :smalleek:

I've used it to win both of my wins. (which btw is the most in history)

The theory was that there's a higher chance of a draw happening over and over unless someone shoots in the air. Hence why I shot the air the first time.

It won the next round for the next person as well.

I assumed my stannd off opponent would remember this "ultimate tatic" and assume he could use it. Not thinking that I INVENTED it. I then figured he should be unprotected and shot him.

Course now I need to psychologically break down the oppnent harder now since the 1 on 1 tatic has been revealed (sorta)

It's an interesting thing to see others actions

[Lucky]

I've used it to win both of my wins. (which btw is the most in history)

But... but... Tactics is for werewolves... not this game! This game is about shooting Kantur, is it not?

Wait... it's not? But...

[Silkenfist]

Thanks for your input guys. I've read these suggestions. (My own thoughts in brackets)

New Themes
Blaster Mages (Like it - will be done sooner or later)
Tank battles (Possible, but maybe a bit restrictive)
Pirate/Swashbuckling (We did Pirates already in Round 3 but we could do another round of Swashbuckling)
Roman Gladiators (You've read my mind. This was on my internal list already. Will be done)
Pratchett Wizards (Sounds funny but eating contests seldom turn out deadly)
Pirates vs. Ninjas (See asymmetrical scenarios)
Jungle Fight/Amazons (I could see it. But my first approach would probably be stone-age jungle tribes. And they are too close to round 5)
Horse to Horse Combat/Huns/Goths/Mongols (Interesting. I could place a scenario in the Roman Empire. Or two. Or seven)
Vikings (Will be on the list, although not as one of the top priorities)
Pod Racing (Seems to be more popular than I would have imagined. I guess, I'll be doing this soon)
War of the Worlds (Unfortunately, I'm not too familiar with the scenario and don't see much potential in it)
Fight for the last parachute (Similar to the tanks. Cool scenario but awfully restrictive)
Archaeologists Indiana Jones style (OOOOOH Yes. Will be done definitely)
007 Spies (Strange that nobody had thought of it earlier. Will be done sooner or later)
A-Team Agents (Sounds fun and I can think of something but it will be placed about as low as the Vikings)


General Improvements
More Stats for the Hall of Fame (As soon as I can think of good ones to add)
Make the shooting directions clearer (I can do clearer descriptions or - maybe the better idea - a summary at the end of the story)


New Ideas
Each player has a limited number of bullets and has to spend a round to reload after a certain amount of time (Sounds fun but it just won't work. There are not enough actions in a round to implement this)

Non-Shootout, Non-Melee Scenarios i.e. Pod Racing (Pod Racing has found a surprisingly high amount of reception. Maybe there are more scenarios that are not directly focussed on the battle, yet still have the homicidal touch)

Asymmetrical Scenarios (I saw pirates/ninjas as a suggestion, but I don't feel comfortable with asymmetrical scenarios. Due to the very nature of the game, I would have to switch people from one role to another each action - which would ruin the scenario)

Team-based version (Well...I have good news and bad news. The bad news: Ready, Aim, Fire! will always be Single Player, no exception.
The good news: I have several plans for team based fighting games to bring onto the forums. I hope to have one ready for playing soon.
However, there is also bad news: I'm running pretty much at capacity with Ready, Aim, Fire! and OOTS Showdown. During semester break, I could easily run a third game as well, but as soon as courses start, one of them would have to be abandoned again.
Mid-term (In about one month), I can start concrete plans to launch a third game, until then I hope to have figured out a way to reduce time strains - either by searching a co-host for OOTS Showdown or by running only two games at a time, alternating between them constantly.


Oh, and the last announcement: Registration for round 7 will start tomorrow.

[faerwain]

But... but... Tactics is for werewolves... not this game! This game is about shooting Kantur, is it not?

You absolutely recognized the core of the game, despites spelling evnafets wrong..:smallwink:

[Selrahc]

Pratchett Wizards (Sounds funny but eating contests seldom turn out deadly)

The political dinner sort of thing perhaps? Slipping poison into your rivals food, except with wizards you can be a whole lot more creative. (Instead of poison, turn a brussel sprout into a chair. Someone eats it, and the morphic field reverts. Suddenly they have a chair in their stomach.)

The atmosphere before Mustrum Ridcully came along, basically.

V: Whoops, yes indeed.

[Captain van der Decken]

You mean a chair into a brussel sprout?

Otherwise, yeah, pretty much.