Pangalactic Mutant Rumble! (Round 7)

[AoM]

The young woman's eyes are as icy white as her skin, while her hair is a beautiful shimmering silver. She is dressed in a sleek, form fitting black stealthsuit, and wears a semi-circular band above her ears that is attuned to cybernetic implants in her temporal lobes.

She is Aola Starshield, the most promising acolyte of the Mercuriaites, an isolated sect (or cult) of human off-shoots that dwell upon the remote world of Wynter. The Mercuriaites worship the blue star of their solar system, believing it to be a sentient godly being (known as the Goddess Mercuria to its followers).

In the trillions of miles between Mercuria and Wynter are located many strange anomalies of time/space, known as star rifts by both the Mercuriaites and outsiders. The sect of Wynter were originally the colony of scientists sent to study these strange rifts in the first place. Prolonged exposure to the star rifts, mixed with wild and assertive claims of true "miracles" bestowed to faithful worshippers of the goddess, have caused extreme signs of change in the people of Wynter.

Chosen Acolytes such as Aola have begun to develop hyperspeed capabilities, powered by what they claim to be a psychic link with the star rifts themselves, a gift from their goddess. As a result, they are able to distort time itself, by (so far as they claim) becoming one with their linked star rift. This temporal power is relatively new amongst the Mercuriaites, who have already mastered the art of harnessing cosmic energy - another "gift" from Mercuria, although human scientists have managed to build machinery that can harness cosmic energy as well... What scientists have yet to explain is how the Mercuriaites manipulate the cosmic energy without the use of advanced technology.

Aola has yet to prove herself worthy of the Cosmic Aura technique, but has progressed in her studies far enough to learn the more specified art of Cosmic Shield.

The Mercuriaites are highly paranoid of "outsiders" and view all other forms of humanity with suspicion. However, the news of the alien race advancing toward their system has prompted them to join the Pangalactic Alliance in full earnest. Wynter is at the edge of human space, and likely to be one of the next systems to fall. Unless the Alliance can be convinced of Wynter's tactical importance, the Mercuriaites may well be doomed by virtue of sheer numerical inferiority.

Aola, as a most promising warrior, has been sent to prove to the Pangalactic military the power of the star goddess. Unlike many others in the contest, Aola has been sent directly to General Vicious by her people. She is aware of the danger, but her faith in Mercuria is enough to see her through. Once the general sees the value of her people, her homeworld will receive the much needed reinforcement required to hold off the impending invasion.

Aola fights not for herself, but for a people, a world, and a god.

[formerly known as hf]

A small pod arrives at the outpost, after a few moments an androgynous figure appears. Less androgynous as a-sexual.

The being is almost entirely naked, excepting for a neck brace which extends to encompass the skull around the cerebral cortex. The skin seems translucent, and a hazy blue glow eminates a couple of centimeters around the being's body.

The figure is a member of a small group of humans which were sent to explore deep space. After many years hibernation, their ship encountered an energy field, which seemed to fuse itself the the ship's AI. The energy field was found to have a rudimentary conscioussness, and impressive powers over the physical realm.

The energy field invited the crew to join, and with no thought to the consequences, the crew of scientists fused their minds with the field, through the ship's processing core. Over the years, heading back into inhabited space, the crew have become closer to energy based life forms than physical beings. Indeed, two of the crew have so far crossed the threshold of transcendance and become entirely part of the energy field.

The ship had entered inhabited space with little problems. Great interest had been generated across the intra galactic communication network, but no other ship had yet managed to travel the distance required to reach the edge of the galaxy where they were currently drifting. Until a few days ago when an aggressive boarding party took them by surprise...

*The being stands, and stares blankly. When heard, the voice is not that of an individual, nor of a mass speaking at once, but a voice devoid of individuality and distinguishing traits*
You must return that which was stolen from us.
We sleep now, to preserve ourselves and our thoughts.
We appear here to retrieve the matrix core of our ship. Our home. Our mind.
We come with our strongest form. We will retrieve what has been taken.

[saztronic]

Some of you were brought to Spearpoint Station, some of you came willingly. None of you expected what you found. There was no human contact whatsoever. Gleaming servitors, festooned with metallic appendages, attended to your needs and kept you sedated and calm. For some, this simply meant drugs; for others, a sophisticated diet of polarized energy and plasma; for still others, wholesale breaches of the laws of quantum physics. Regardless of your form or function, the machines seem to have anticipated your arrival and devised perfectly attenuated measures to counteract any resistance.

Your bodies, brains, and auras are scanned and mapped. Tissue and DNA samples are extracted and whisked away for analysis -- or for storage against future need. Your powers are activated against your will, observed, and tested against theoretical models. Finally, when the servitors are finished and have scuttled away, you are transported to a large, open area and brought to the edge of full consciousness.

You are in a room that appears to be perfectly spherical, made of polished, anodized selenium, over 300 meters in diameter. While you feel weightless here, you are held in place by a variety of stasis fields. Crude obstacles hover here and there throughout the room, and a bright light shines from... nowhere. Everywhere.

A dry voice breaks the silence.

"Sim 3144 Alpha. General Vincenzo T. Vicious supervising. Subject mutants: your cooperation is now required. You will proceed to destroy all other life forms in the chamber as expediently as possible, using every means at your disposal. To ensure your enthusiastic and motivated participation, we have, as you know, secured certain collateral. If you survive, this collateral will be returned to you and you will be free to go, assuming you have signed and executed your DNA waiver. Failure to cooperate will result in the immediate termination of your collateral; your beta pattern will be copied and placed in long-term storage, and both your corporeal and incorporeal forms eradicated. There will be no exceptions.

You may begin... now."

[saztronic]

MOD NOTE: Allocation Phase Day One begins.

Your energy allocations are due to me by 7:00 p.m. EST, 11:00 p.m. GMT, on Friday, July 6.

Origin information still welcome, but strategy discussions are now open also.

[AoM]

*Aola glances towards the androgenous being (FormerlyHF)*

"Outsider. I bear you no ill will. You need not fear Mercuria's wrath. Let us work as we can together for now. If I succeed in my mission. I will see to the safe return of your matrix core. And should I fall where you succeed, I ask only that your people work with the Alliance and convince them to save the planet Wynter in the holy Mercuria system."

*she then looks around at the others who have yet to introduce themselves*

"I extend the same offer to those of you who would take it up. Speak to me through the private channels that are allowed to us, and I shall respond to all of you with a plan that will maximize our chances of survival into the second round."

[saztronic]

MOD NOTE:

This reminds me to repeat the PM rules from the last game, for those who are new. Each of you can PM one person privatetly per allocation round. Please copy me on the message.

You can respond to any PMs you receive from other players.

[AoM]

*raises an hand to the side of her head and concentrates, as though she is listening to someone*

"I've gotten at least one response... anyone else willing to hear what I have to say? To the person(s) who've contacted me, I hear you and will respond at the end of today. That will give others some time to chime in."

[saztronic]

8 hours or so until deadline, and several allocations are not in yet. Get them in when you can, mutants.

[saztronic]

MOD NOTE:

I'm still waiting on 2 allocations at this point, and then there's Neuman's limited precognition as well. So we're looking at a delay until the last 2 get their wishes in.

I will be out of contact for half a day or so, checking in at the end of my day.

[saztronic]

ROUND ONE RESOLUTION

The mutants eye each other warily as Vicious' voice fades, staking out territory in the large chamber and for the most part, striking defensive postures. The air and the ether crackle as various shields and parries are readied for use.

Suddenly, quicker than thought itself, AOLA the Mercuriate opens a channel through space and time, flicking a tendril of energy toward the EATER OF SOULS and obliterating him ere he even has a chance to activate his extradimensional evasive maneuvers.

THE CORINTHIAN, just beginning to reach out with a complicated wave pattern designed to copy these evasive flight powers for his own use, instead finds his pattern dissipating uselessly into the space the Soul Eater had just vacated. Momentarily stunned and defenseless, he nonetheless escapes harm as everyone's concentration is directed elsewhere.

With loud snarls, THE PIE THING and RAZORLANCE turn on each other and exchange vicious blows. The Pie Thing draws on the emanations of the others in the chamber to protect himself; Razorlance, targeted by ferocious phase cannons, fairs less well and quickly ducks behind one of the floating obstacles to assess the damage.

The Vampire extends a small, probing attack against BURNING MAN, who quietly manages to defend himself despite leaving his Fiery Shield unactivated for the time being.

A warm wave of air expands rapidly out from behind another obstacle as the ICE DEMON sucks heat from his surroundings and uses the resulting frigidity to give birth to a new being, a Snow Goon, who roars to life and takes his place at his master's side.

As the sizzling energies and detonations subside the mutants recheck their fully charged defenses, looking around with a newfound respect and wondering if they will be able to withstand the next barrage of attacks.

[saztronic]

ROUND ONE ALLOCATIONS:

deadboy:

56 to Mimic the Flight power, 23 to activate Flight

Racetyme:

1 to activate Flight

AoM:

2 on Hyperspeed attack against racetyme, 148 on defense (58 + 90 from Cosmic Shield)

Bowser:

20 on Vampiric Bite attack against reindeer, 68 on defense

Razorlance:

46 attack on Pie (plus 14 from Berserk, for a total of 60), 40 on defense

FormerlyHF:

20 on Kung Fu Reverse, 30 on defense

Pie:

30 on attack against Razorlance (plus 50 for total 80), 85 on defense (altogether includes 90 from Cosmic Aura)

Neuman:

70 on Snow Goon

Reindeer^:

40 on defense (never submitted allocation, half of energy rounded up assigned to defense automatically)

[saztronic]

CURRENT ENERGY LEVELS:

deadboy:79 Energy
AoM: 60 Energy
Bowser: 88 Energy
Razorlance: 46 Energy (gained 3 from Regeneration at beginning of round, before sustaining damage)
FormerlyHF: 50 Energy
Pie: 25 Energy
Neuman: 70 Energy
Nakranoth: 79 Energy
Snow Goon One: 70 Energy

KILLED IN ACTION:

Racetyme (reduced to -1)

COMMENTS:

People a tad more cautious after the bloodbath of the first game, this round was primarily spent feeling things out and trying to stay out of trouble.

For moderation purposes, my call is that Snow Goons will count as full-on mutants/heroes in their own right. Therefore, they count in the calculation of Cosmic Aura and Cosmic Shield, they will take damage from Fiery Shield if activated, they can be drawn on with Vampiric Bite, etc.

ALLOCATION ROUND TWO BEGINS NOW

[deadboy]

*He gives a quick nod of his head* Little on the defensive side are we today? *he grins* Ah, shame that Racetyme's gone, I did like his flight power, but, never mind, he would have torn us all to pieces if we had of let him live too much longer. Anyway, those who I'm helping, please give me a little bit of a hint as to what I should do next yeah *He gives another grin* I swear I'll actually do something this time instead of jumping way out the action, unless it'll be helpful of course *He shrugs*

[deadboy]

*He grins again* I've decided I like your style Pie, I've decided I'll help you kill Razorlance just because I -don't- like vampires, so I'm dealing a 48 attack on him, taking out his shields and just leaving him with his 44 remaining health for you to really big gun away.

I've cool shaded, so, that means I might as well tell you now I've got a 48 attack on Razorlance and after mimicing cosmic shield and adding in a little of my own defences, 236 defence overall

[saztronic]

Edited, nevermind.