1/2 Polo 2013/05/14(Tue)15:15 No. 510694 ID: c3663c
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I opt to shoot as soon as I can, getting him in the heart. With his bringing me up as fast as possible, I, more out of desperation, also shoot my pistol at his throat. I cannot see the damage for the pistol, but I know that the chest shot, at least, will have him killed.

I have to wonder if Voklit honor will have him acknowledge his defeat, and let me go.

2/2 Polo 2013/05/14(Tue)15:16 No. 510695 ID: c3663c
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The answer is no. No, the voklit honor only applies when inconvenient.

Inconvenient is also a grave understatement to the trash compactor experience I am in, mixed with his sharper teeth. Damage report is currently at Immense Pain, but he will not be able to bite my head off. His bite is loosening, in a relative sense.

... can you shot him some more, maybe even try to knife him a little?

Dangit. We have to reduce the damage he's doing, and try and get him off. Poke him in the eye! Use your knife to slash the tendons holding his jaw together! Get your feet in there and push up, prying his mouth open. Slam your armored tail into his neck- try to get him to cough up air or choke or gag, expelling you.

Close your exposed eye to try and prevent it from getting cut or otherwise damaged.

Er, hm. Well, they have gills, but they still need to take water in. With you in his mouth he has to breathe through his nose. If he's losing consciousness, then maybe if you cover his nostrils, he'll open his mouth on reflex? Or maybe try jab the roof of his mouth with your nose, provoke a gag reflex?

From the look in his eyes the bioarmor might be overloading his nervous system about now. Still we need to try everything we can to get out.

Did he just... put your whole head in his mouth?

>>510695
Well pry his jaw open with your arms.

Polo 2013/05/14(Tue)17:49 No. 510780 ID: c3663c
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My guns no longer shoot, but I get my knife out and start stabbing where I can. I manage to hook my foot on his jaw and push up, which does help.

I did close my exposed eye. It did little against canines the size of my finger. I manage to get out before he manages to grind his teeth on me. I dropped my sniper rifle, but the current kept it nearby, so I retrieve it, as well as peeling Moi's strip back off.

A proper damage report... I cannot see out of my right eye. I am certain it is disabled. My helmet is nearly all broken, and much of my upper armor is cracked and nearly falling off. Although my right shoulder is somehow not broken, the plates there are so dented inward that I cannot move my arm well, so I must take that section off. I believe I have a broken rib, as well, but it is hard to say.

One of the smgs in the back, and the bazooka round, are bent out of shape.

First priority: separation distance from the voklit. Move away just enough that he can't hurt you if there's any fight left in him.

Second priority: Discard anything impeding your motion (provided this isn't too difficult under water). Pry off that damaged shoulder plate. Pull the clip from the broken smg and discard the weapon (keep the ammo). Discard the bazooka round if there's danger it is now unstable. (If it's still stable, keep it. Niam was gonna cut it open for materials anyways).

Keep your helmet. Some head protection is better than none, even if the visor isn't providing augmented vision anymore. And if we ever make it back to the others, they can pull the memory (and AI and maps)and maybe stick it in one of the more intact ones we stole from the hunters.

Bandaging your eye will have to wait till we're out of the water and hiding somewhere. As will tending to your guns that you likely jammed.

Start looking for an exit. Can you estimate how long you've been under water or how far you've travelled?

Well just get away from this guy and see if you can find land for you to surface at

Oh, and assuming we get back to land again, and get your guns working again, how big a problem is the loss of binocular vision going to be for your aim?

Things are going very badly for us.

Ditch the bent SMG. Continue downriver, looking for another exit.

Goddammit. Things just keep getting worse. Well, there is one thing you are low on that you might be able to get out of this situation: Food. You're going to need it, since you have no idea how far away or where this river will deposit you. It's just going to be rather ghastly to get it here.

Secure your sniper rifle and pack away Moi's bio-armor strip. Get out your grappling hook, clip it to your belt, play out the hook and cable and jam the hook into the voklit corpse to anchor you to it. Remove and discard any broken armor that restricts your arm and torso movement, then pull your knife out and start carving chunks from the meatier parts of the voklit's corpse as quick as you can.

Eat one chunk to test if it's obviously poisonous tasting or anything like that; Even if it tastes horrid as long as it's edible enough you can choke it down you're going to get as much as you can. Scarf down as much as you can right here, since it won't go bad in your stomach. Then slice rags from the voklit's rough clothing and use them to wrap more chunks to put in your pouches without getting blood everywhere. Get as much as you can fit for rations.

Once the food is secure, cut some of the longer lengths of hair from the voklit's mane and stuff it into your belt. It'll be useful if you need to tie or bind anything together later on. It might be usable right now to tie up any loose armor plates that are flopping around. It could also be used to tie your sniper rifle to your arm so it doesn't get knocked loose while you're in the water; You can't afford to lose its night scope right now.

Keep your broken helmet on, since even a little bit of protection is better than none, and you'll need to eventually pull the data from it; Taking it off will just make it one more thing you'll have to carry.

Pull the magazine from the bent SMG. Discard the SMG and keep the magazine, just in case you come across another SMG in the future. As long as you have it out, check if the hunter's gun uses the same caliber as the SMG. Keep the bent bazooka round, since it was going to be used for parts anyway.

Once you're done sorting your equipment, don't cut loose from the voklit's corpse yet. You can use it to hide your presence from enemy forces watching the river. Get on the side away from the surface and jam your grappling hook in to hold on. Try to tip the corpse forward so more of it obscures you, and so the arms and legs dangle down to keep it pointed more or less flat to the current.

Polo 2013/05/15(Wed)22:12 No. 511141 ID: c3663c
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I begin dealing with broken gear. My shoulderplate is taken off, and I remove the smg ammo and discard the broken smg. I will keep the bazooka round, as its contents are still intact.

If I had any chance of keeping track of where I was going, I lost it after that. I can only see augmented vision out of my left peripherals, and while I can still maneuver carefully with that alone, I will not be able to aim guns well, at least not without my sniper's scope.

And lastly, I do not know how long I will be stuck in these caves, so while I have a chance, I spend the rest of the time eating parts of the voklit. Raw meat is not to my taste, and it is the least of my complaints about this situation.

I use my peripheral goggles to get out of the water when an exit finally comes, after turning my lantern off. No one is around, so I clean out my guns swiftly, count my ammo and bandage my eye before moving out before the salikai can get a lock on this exit.

And once again, I have no idea where I am, and I doubt my goggles will be much good even if I get the water out of its circuits. What I do know is that I am in a vacuous cavern with glowslugs all around me.

>>511141
Right, gotta scout out this cavern, see if we can't find some exits.

Ask Bell if she can still help you navigate and spot cameras/things behind you via verbal warnings, since you lost your HUD. What we want to do now is re-enter familiar territory.

Oh, is the rearview camera still there? If not, I fear the voklit ate it.

I would suggest stealing glowslugs for food and for camo, but you can't run fast enough to get away from their guardians. So, let's just get our bearings and move out. We might be able to get back to Biles to rest and heal instead of trying to hobble through the route to get back to home base, because right now I expect the salikai to have blockaded the general area they first spotted you in.

the only other spot that we have been that had lots of glow worms in it was by the river exit we almost drowned in that one time when someone cut that cable that was meant to make sure we didn't get sweep away. Don't think we are there though, so I guess all we can do is scout and hope to find a familiar landmark and go form there.

All right.

Now that you've treated your eye, do you know how bad the injury is? Can you estimate how long it will take to recover? Will your suspected broken rib impede your moving?

Do you need to borrow a glow slug to apply camo to your exposed areas? (Fur's probably a higher priority to cover than the bioarmor- your pale blue shows up a lot better against the dark cave walls than the dark blue bioarmor). ...although bothering the glowslugs might attract invisible guardians you can't see, and we don't want to waste ammo or make loud noises. I don't suppose you can sneak one into a pouch to use later without setting off the help me signal?

>Don't know where I am
Can you estimate how large this cavern is? I'm thinking I don't see you don't remember any caverns this size near the rivers on your map.

If I had to guess, you're somewhere east of the salikai base, but we don't know how far, or how far north or south you might have gone. If you still have a functional compass with your helmet offline, or haven't gotten completely turned around, I think we want to head north. You're probably south of Bile's position, and certain;y south of your other allies.

>ate the voklit that tried to eat you.
Welp. Honestly, what bothers me most about that is the growing number of people you know who would approve of that.

>>511143
Nope, leave Bell offline. If we don't let the helmet dry out properly, his circuits will fry when we turn him on.

...assuming the helmet's computer still works at all, after being crunched.

>>511144
No, we're not there. The cave Polo first got washed up into was to the south of valley- we've hiked way west under the mountains since we started running from the hunters. The distance from our last know position to that cave is on the order of the width of the valley, or more.

How waterlogged are you? Are you going to leave a damp trail where you walk for awhile? If so, you're going to have to drop your loose gear and "oscillate" to get the water off. You don't have to strip down, thankfully, since it's only on your armor and bio-armor. You just don't want to leave any indication you went away from the river, leaving the enemy unsure if you walked away or jumped back in.

Best to get away from the river ASAP. It's very likely that more voklits will be coming downriver, since it's likely that riding the river is the quickest way to get wherever you are. You only have however long it would have taken them to run to an upstream river entrance.

You know the river was flowing east/south-east, so unless it did something where it curved back around and under itself, you know if you head away from the left bank relative to the flow you'll be on the side facing away from the salikai's base. So get on that side of the river, walk upstream until you reach the cavern wall, and then follow along it from afar. Keep back from it just in case any tunnel entrances along it have cameras pointed out.

Stick to the big cavern, since it's more likely to connect up with the one Biles' is in, if it does connect at all. Avoid the tunnels, not just 'cause of the possible cameras, but also because there won't be anyplace to hide in them if you do encounter the enemy.

Once you're away from the river, take your helmet off so it'll dry out faster and any drips from it won't be associated with you. Even if you can't see through that last bit of visor left no matter how much you turn your eye, Bell can still hear better than you can and can alert you to noises and footsteps. And if you can barely see through that fragment of visor, that means you still have thermal, night vision, and can check the maps you got from Biles for large caverns to guess where you went.

Glowslugs means food! That means you can stay here (or nearby) and wait to recover back to full physical fitness. You're really working under too many injuries right now, and if you're lost, you're not going anywhere on time to begin with. Tunnels could go anywhere, unless you have any qualification in geology. You need to hide away and get back up to strength. Leave some false trails first, if you can.

>>511195
Not sure that's such a great idea. We're already hours overdue, and it'll take over a day to heal up. Besides, the enemy knows we rode that river. There will be pursuers following it, and they will deploy searchers at the exits from that waterway. This location is not secure.

Polo 2013/05/17(Fri)14:50 No. 511347 ID: c3663c
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I don't bother with glowslugs, as the risk of getting caught by their protectors are too great.

>Can you estimate how large this cavern is?
No. Unless I shine the lanter like an enormous 'kill me' beacon, it is larger than the light goes, and it is large enough for even the glowslugs to dissipate into the distance. Massive, is all I can say.

I start walking... somewhere. Away from the river, as the salikai must be sending forces this way. I hear a squak in the distance, from that multiheaded bird that followed me some time ago. Then a gunshot. It is not far, so I hurry away.

I apply bandages to my eye while I take my helmet off and dry it out. Once a generous period of time passes, I put my helmet back on and turn bell back on. The rearview camera is still intact, somehow. The voklit must have not bit over it.

"Bell?" I make sure to whisper.
>"Yes?"
"Damage report, please."
>"Circuits are online. Helmet is disconnected from other body parts, no physical armor statistics can be made from the neck down. Extrasensory additions are offline, ear plate external receptors and visor calibration are currently out of order. Rear camera is online, but due to the visor's state, I will have to audibly confirm all remaining alerts that the rear camera sees."
"Do that. I don't suppose you know where I am?"
>"Factoring in artifical LED lighting... the rock reflection lighting is partially consistent with areas in proximity to the place you have called your base. However, without a full map of these caves, I can only say there is a good chance that you are either close to your base, or you are far away."
"Apparently you have been eavesdropping on me. In that case, you would know about Biles' place. What are the chances I am around there?"
>"A small chance to be within a few kilometers."
"Alert me if you recognize any place I have been to before. I assume you have a lot recorded."
>"This will be available through the back camera alone. It is recorded up to one day by default. If you have no objections, I will stop deleting footage past the 24 hour period."
"No objections. Keep everything, but remember to delete everything should I give the kill phrase."

I am far enough from the river and have eluded them again, and it is unlikely that they will be able to find me by this point. So while I am not in immediate danger, I have little idea of what to do other than either continue walking without sufficient directions, or stay in one place and attempt to heal without aggravating my wounds. My rib will not slow movement much, compared to my right foot.

All right. We've evaded immediate pursuit.

One big problem now is we've lost augmented vision. That means Bell cannot automatically spot cameras for you anymore.

>what do
Let's split the difference. Start off walking, and see if we can find a connection to anything we recognize (a cavern this big must connect to the tunnels you have mapped somewhere). If it doesn't look like that's going to happen within a reasonable amount of time, bunk down and rest and heal and tend to cleaning out your weapons after being used underwater.

Reasoning behind this: if we're close enough to regroup with allies, you want to. If you're not, we can't risk being discovered by another patrol or camera injured and with your weapons jammed up.

I'd guess this large cave is either past where we met Biles, or near to where we met Niam. When we were over there, Viln mentioned the river emptying into a larger cavern, didn't he?

>speculation
Problem is, you're hours overdue by now. It's pretty much gotten to the point where your allies would have stopped waiting. They might be trying to put another plan into motion, or have moved camp, by now. Rokann and Katzati are likely recovered enough to be functional by now. At the very least, you'd think they'd have had to risk heading out for hunting. There wasn't much food left.

Oh hey, the external mapper is offline, but are your helmet's internal compass and altimeter still functional? You don't have a HUD anymore, but Bell would still be capable of checking them.

Knowing which way you're headed might help, and Bell might be able to cross reference altitude with the last map image in local memory.

I say move a little further away from the river and then (unless you find something that will let you find your way back to base) find a good hiding spot to heal up for a bit. Then when you can move a bit better and our guns work again move some more and just try to find something that can lead you back to base. Also keep your LED lamp off when you don't need it as well it does let you see what is around you in also lets others know where you are as well, just use your sniper scope for now assuming you haven't lost it in the river.

>>511347
Ask Bell if it can feed you instructions to further repair other functions of the suit in the field. Anything that it would suggest be logical. Hell, any advice on anything right now would be helpful if it can compute it.

>>511347
Camo's wearing off. That could be a big issue... oh, that's right. Last time we messed with the slugs, we were able to pick one up briefly and mess with it a bit before the guardians attacked. So we could do a little bit of camo reconstruction safely, probably.

I think it's time to scout around. We can likely do that while occasionally bothering slugs to re-camo ourselves.

You're going to have to stop and let your foot heal up enough to at least be able to walk on it, 'cause as it is now, with you hobbling along on a rifle crutch, you're stuck to moving along the smoother, open terrain where you'd be easily spotted. You're going to need that foot in working order to climb and move across rougher terrain in order to evade the enemy forces, and preferably good enough to run on.

Keep walking along and looking around until you find a good hiding spot, then hole up. Make sure it can't be easily spotted by any flying recon drones. If it's high enough up that it can be only reached by grappling hook, that'd be even better.

Once you're in, take your guns apart and clean the water completely out of them. Also, if your rear-view camera has infrared capability, position yourself so Bell can watch out from your hiding spot. That way if any of those imperfect cloakers comes along, you'll know.

Ask Bell if your helmet has a built-in electronic compass, altimeter, or any other basic navigation and orientation functions, 'cause right now even being able to tell which way is north would be great. Oh, and ask if the helmet's clock is still accurate, or if it was turned off along with the rest of the electronics. It'd be good to know how long you were in the water to estimate how far you went.

Your glowslug camo is wearing off. If it rubs off any more you're going to stand out like a sore thumb. So if you run across any glowslugs along the way, you're going to have to risk climbing up and grabbing one. Perhaps stuffing it in a pouch once you nab it and then either using the grappling hook to swing back down or diving into a body of water will keep the guardians off you long enough to get away.

Also, since your fur color stands out against the cave, immediately cut your ears back as far as you can without it effecting your hearing. While using a glowslug to coat your fur would work, you might not run across any, and cutting your ears off is something you can do to reduce how much you show up right away.

Polo 2013/05/17(Fri)20:59 No. 511423 ID: c3663c
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"Bell, do I have a functional altometer or compass?"
>"Yes."

Good. Bell occasionally tells me my altitude and direction, and I begin going north and up based off of that, given it is the most likely direction I want to be going.

"Do you have any other advice to repairing my armor?"
>"This armor requires special tools to repair the armor extensively."

I walk for an hour using only the remnants of my visor's visibility, but given my pace, that does not get me particularly far. I also slice my ears somewhat to minimize my light, easy to see blue fur. Eventually I find a good spot up along a wall, an alcove built into the cliff. I move into it.

It will take several more hours before I could hope to walk on my foot lightly, and perhaps even more. Another option will be to wait only a couple hours to wait for my arms to heal somewhat, enough to use them and my good leg to walk. It is inefficient energy wise, but I will be able to move at a decent pace nonetheless. Or, of course, simply clean out my guns here and then get a move on as soon as possible.

Alright. We've officially missed the window for rushing back to base.

I think we should at least wait up till your arms have recovered. Not sure we can afford waiting for your leg, but we'll see.

Make sure Bell is paying attention on Camera and the audio pickup for anything approaching- don't want to be surprised.

Might be a good time to get some rest in while you can. If you push to hard you wont have any strength left when you need it. If you can find a place to hide in maybe pile a few rocks around so you wont be spotted right away.

I think that resting up here could be good for us. Go for the 3-legged gait thing. Being able to move at a quick pace means we can steal slugs again, and run away if needed.

Polo 2013/05/17(Fri)22:17 No. 511455 ID: c3663c
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I move out after a couple of hours, when I feel that my arms are up to the pressure.

Which is good, because it is a lengthy, often uphill climb, to which I occasionally must hide from a passing voklit, hunter, and even an occasional arkot this far out. Another hour or so passes by, but I made far more room, and the tunnels even out again.

>"Caution - rear camera has detected light diffraction. Two stalkers are probable, and keeping a similar pace to your own." Both are approximately 15 meters behind, and using 0 degrees as a reference directly behind you, one is 28 degrees clockwise and one 15 degrees counterclockwise.

think you can take them out silently? if so go around a bend or something and wait for them to come around, then end them quickly and then loot and leave, if not keep going forward until you can get to a place with lots of place for you to hide in or easy ditch pursuers. then see if you can ditch them or if not quickly take them out and then find somewhere to hide or run to.

...thanks Bell. I've been paranoia checking every update for extra lines that could indicate a cloaked unit, but 15 meters is kind of out of panel.

Assuming similar equipment loads as before, each should be carrying a knife and a grenade. They'll try and get close enough to stab or explode you.

There's also the chance that one or more of them is carrying a Rokoa-dart. With holes in your armor, you're vulnerable to that now.

I presume they've also got mini-jammers, like Moi's. Otherwise you would have sensed them before Bell saw them.

There's a good chance that if Bell has clear line of sight on them, and they're following at a consistent distance, that you've been seen. Which means while we would prefer to evade them, we want to take them out. Swifty if possible, so we can claim their gear.

While quiet would be nice, against the weapons we expect, range is an advantage. Best choice is probably the machine gun. It's imprecise, but you can but many bullets quickly into the places you expect foes you can't see to be. And the cloak-suits don't offer much in the way of armor.

>>511455
Use the next corner to ambush them. You have experience in spotting them by now without assistance, so we can get some shots off on them despite lacking a visor. The alternative is to let them ambush you when you're not ready and die.

Dammit. No way to tell if these two cloakers are going to move in to attempt to disable and capture you, kill you, or if they're tailing you in the hope you'll lead them to where your allies are hidden. Also no way to tell if they were merely laying in wait along your path and only they spotted you, or if another enemy unit spotted you, saw the state your helmet is in, and sent them in.

You're going to have to figure out if they're here to merely follow you, or if they're going to move in to strike. Keep going along like you don't know they're there, but tell Bell to warn you if the "light diffractions" start moving up to flank you, or start moving towards you. That'll tell you what their intentions are.

If it looks like they're moving in to attack, you're going to have to act right away. Unfortunately they're bugged, so you'll have to go for crippling or kill shots.

Move to get around a corner, but not so fast you alert them that you know they're there. Once you're a fair bit around the corner, ready the hunter's gun and turn around to watch the corner with what's left of your visor. As soon as you see one of them clear the corner on thermal, burst fire at its knees until it falls down, then some more into it so it can't throw a grenade after you, then get away in case the other cloaker decides to throw its grenade at you.

However, if they don't appear to be moving in to attack, keep going while looking for a place that you could lose them, such as a tunnel too small for them to fit, or someplace there you could take them out, such as a narrow ramp up the cavern wall where you could knock one over the edge, then shoot down the ramp to hit the other one.

Suggestion 2013/05/18(Sat)02:08 No. 511504 ID: 78c6ea
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>>511464

>> a Rokoa dart
>> holes in your armor
>> Polokoa is canon

i think they're following you to the base.take them out quickly, a fight is inevitable.
or they might be more escaped science hive guys. it's their fault for sneaking behind a commando, shoot them anyway.

>>511506
Probably don't want shoot them if at all possible, since even in the unlikely case these two are non-enemies the gunfire will draw the enemy here and we're not in a state to run or fight a bunch of them after taking care of these two.

Best to see if they're just following first, since if they are then they can be led into a situation where we can either lose them or take the both of them down silently.

Polo 2013/05/18(Sat)12:49 No. 511571 ID: c3663c
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"Tell me if they begin catching up, Bell."

I keep my pace the same, and do not need to go much further to find a sharp enough corner bend to get behind. Unfortunately, the cavern is wide enough that if they are careful, they can get around the bend at a distance, and I am a bit worried about trying to handle the recoil of this gun made for a neumono significantly bigger than myself. Furthermore, I begin noticing a hissing sound. I do not know where it is coming from, but gas is a safe bet. I do not smell anything yet.

If you could find the source of the hissing it might be good to know how they are pumping the gas through the caves. Being able to hear the hissing means there is a pipe or tank nearby venting the gas. If they were just pumping it into the caves it would not make a noise like that.

If the two following you have seen you the are probably waiting for a moment when you let down your guard or stop to rest to ambush you.

Your current position is not ideal but unless you can find another one might have to do.

>problem handing recoil.
Can you brace yourself or the weapon against the terrain in some way to better anchor yourself or absorb the recoil? Or use your tail to brace against the floor or wall (so you're a tripod). The alternative solution is to use another weapon, bur I don't really like that. I don't think your pistol would do enough damage to put down two hunters before they could close (and then it's grenade hug death time), and the sniper rifle relies on precision you don't have with the enemy invisible.

The rate of fire and damage of the machine gun is what you'd want for this situation, if you can find a way to make it work.

>Hissing
Can Bell pinpoint the source of the sound? Or which direction it is come from at least? Either way, time to hold your breath.

Keep your eyes peeled for any distortion of light in the air.

It could also be that because of your injuries you started halucinating far faster and you're in the denial phase.

>>511571
Could be cave creatures. Keep an eye out.

>>511571
WAIT.
>"LIGHT DEFRACTIONS not a viable option. Highlighting movement..."

How do we know the stalkers aren't a hallucination? The goggles weren't able to detect them before. How are we able to now?

If we start shooting we're gonna reveal our position. If we're not shooting at an enemy, it is a BAD MOVE.

>>511620
Well, to be fair, that was using the forward goggles. Bell's reporting the current observations from the rear camera- different equipment.

And the diffractions the low-grade cloaker suits make are actually visible to the unaided eye. Look here- >>500885, you can actually see the outline of the moving cloackers before Polo switches to IR. That's what Bell's seeing.

So it's not as if Bell's observations are impossible and therefore have to be a hallucination. (Granted, anything could be, but we have no good reason to suspect we're hallucinating yet).

Okay, so there's a chance you inhaled some hallucinogenic gas and you're hallucinating these cloakers, so better figure that out before you go spraying the cavern with bullets and giving away your position. So put the gun away before the possible cloakers clear the corner so they don't think you suspect they're there, if they are there.

Bell said it used "light diffraction" to detect the cloakers, which is something it said before it couldn't do. So first ask Bell if it said it detected anything odd on the rear view video in the last few minutes. If it says it says it did, birectly ask it how it is detecting "light diffraction" now when before it said it couldn't do that. Then ask Bell to replay the rear camera video recording for you in what's left of your visor for the last few minutes so you can see for yourself.

Then you'd better figure out where that hissing sound is coming from, if it's for real. Ask Bell if it can hear a hissing sound, and if so to try and locate its general direction if it can. Otherwise you're going to have to just cover one ear and turn to try and narrow down where it is. If you can't figure out where the hissing is coming from after searching around, then it's likely a hallucination.

You might not be smelling the gas either because you're hallucinating not smelling it, or it's a new batch that doesn't have a scent, or it's not at a concentration yet that you can smell it, but you've been inhaling it enough that it's built up to the point its causing symptoms. That last one sounds like it'd fit, since this cavern is massive and it would take a long time to fill with gas.

Make sure to hold your breath as much as you can while still speaking to Bell. Do you know anything about how long the hallucinogenic gas lasts in the bloodstream of a neumono that's holding its breath?

Even if the cloakers aren't a hallucination, as long as they're merely tailing you at a distance you can keep going until you reach a better place to either lose them, cripple them then lose them, or off them.

Polo 2013/05/19(Sun)14:15 No. 511701 ID: c3663c
File 136899810391.png - (35.17KB , 700x700 , 356.png )

I doubt I am hallucinating anything at the moment, unless they have had a breakthrough in the last 10 hours and replaced the hallucinogen gas with an odorless version.

Unless I did breathe the hallucinogen gas, smelled it, began hallucinating, and my memory tells me that I never smelled it in the first place.

"Bell, can you hear a hissing noise?"
>"Yes, but rear camera input does not allow me to pinpoint a direction."
"And do you know anything about these hallucinogens?"
>"Negative."
"You said you would pinpoint stalkers by movement, and specifically said you would not be able to detect light diffractions."
>"... I was wrong. I can now."

Damnit. This does not sit well with me. Maybe I am hallucinating, although since I am not in some absurd, non-cave location, I do not believe I am heavily influenced. These stalkers have a high chance of being real.

I hold my breath regardless. While I am tempted to move on, I spent too long thinking. One of the stalkers must have quickened its pace and pops out while I hold my breath. I cannot help but notice that it has its weapon out, but has chosen a knife over a gun.

Nono they had a breakthrough and now they can make camera mounted A.I.s hallucinate!

...yeah I got nothing.

>>511701
There's another option. Bell isn't Bell, but is the CAI, or some other individual trying to help us without us even knowing they're helping us- like one of the science hivers.

Also, I bet it's looking around the corner with the reflection on the blade. That's YOUR trick. I guess the ambush is ruined now. May as well start shooting.

>>511701
Bell, can you lie?
Bell, this statement is not true.

>I was wrong. I can now.
Previously, I suspected this was due to Bell using different equipment (the rear camera versus the visor) and them having different technical specifications (ie, the visor may have had night vision, IR and X-ray capability, but it lacked diffraction scanning).

However, if this were the case, your AI would have said so. They're logical like that.

...well, unless Bell is too dumb to realize the reason for his change in capability. But seeing as how he's been able to sass you, and the analyses he's performed for you before, I don't think that's likely.

I think the most likely explanation is that you've been hacked. The CAI got into your helmet and is helping you for some reason.

We'll deal with this later. Deal with the enemies in front of you now, we'll confront whatever's in your helmet later. If it is the CAI, I have a line of reasoning to try and turn them prepped and ready. >>/questdis/69728

>has chosen a knife over a gun
If she's outfitted like the first two cloakers we faced, that's because she doesn't have a gun. But she does have a grenade it may try and lob around the corner at you.

Weapon out means they know you're here. You can't let them continue to tail you, or report in. Gotta shoot. You can see that slight distortion to the right of the knife, right? That's the ear. Use that as a reference and pump several rounds into their head. Regretably, her breast barely pokes around the corner, so you aren't a good angle to put anything in her torso.

Whisper out as if you mistook the blur as Moi. Extremely unlikely that it actually is Moi but that might give you a few seconds to dive around their cover and unload into them.

Is this cloaker peaking around corners with a knife like YOU do at like every corner you find?

I thought we might have an issue with the CIA hacking our suit AI but seeing how the hole thing seemed to be on a close circuit I didn't think it could do it without us or somebody else to hook us up directly to it, like that usb port thing the CIA wanted us to use to hack the war hive's ship. however we have survived this long by living off a paranoia so why stop now, assume your suit's AI is compromised until we can prove otherwise.

Shoot the cloakers and see if you can't just take them down fast since I'm not sure how quickly the sound of gun fire will bring in enemy reinforcements.

>>511738
>how could they have hacked us without direct access?
Remote control is unlikely, as radio contact is intermittent and unreliable down here. Even for the enemy- their hidden relays don't cover everywhere. That means if we've been compromised, we're looking at something that was uploaded, or that Bell was reprogrammed.

As to how? I can think of a few possibilities.

We have a radio, and Bell is connected to it. The CAI could have gained access that way via their relays. That, or our gear was compromised before we left by bugged sabotuers. Sure, not deploying us with weapons or ammo would have been obvious. But giving us a suit with compromised AI? Much sublter. Or possibly, there was something hidden in the map data we downloaded from the hunter helmets.

It is probable that the CAI got into your helmet because a friendly science hiver found your camera at the duel site, and hacked it while it was sitting there unattended.

You're only going to have one or two shots with this gun before the recoil completely throws your aim off, so aim low to start. One shot below where you estimate its arm to be, then one more if the gun is still pointed at the cloaker after the recoil. This is make the cloaker bleed and compromise its cloaking so you'll be able to target it better.

Only continue firing if the cloaker immediately charges you. Unfortunately you'll have to go to burst fire or full auto if you hope to stop it before it gets to you. Otherwise, if the cloaker pulls back, you're going to have to assume it's going to use a grenade and you'd best get away from your current position right away and behind cover.

You can worry about Bell later, when you're not in a combat situation and not possibly hallucinating. However, if Bell was altered in some way it wasn't to the benefit of the salikai, since it has had plenty of opportunities to screw you over and hasn't. For example: It could have quietly turned your helmet's radio transmitter on and gave your position away without you knowing a thing. So its very likely trustworthy, as far as your safety goes.

Polo 2013/05/22(Wed)21:46 No. 512106 ID: c3663c
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I am uncertain how Bell would have been hacked or otherwise compromised, but the chances of it happening are non-zero. I will worry about it later.

I shoot. Enough blood comes off that I must have injured it significantly, but it immediately pulls back. I do not see either one, and a second passes.

At least one of them may very well be using a grenade.

Actually, that's less blood than I'd like to see for someone taking several machine gun rounds to the head.

Anyways, stop wasting ammo, they pulled back. You need to either duck behind cover, and/or pull back or around, to try and avoid a counterattack or grenade.

They're either going to attack around the corner with a grenade, or try and sneak wide with invisibility or something.

Or try to fall back and report in, which would be very bad. Can't really afford that with our mobility still hindered.

>>512106
Let's move back, out of range of an incoming grenade.

i say do a fighting retreat as our main goal is to get away, not kill everything that looks at us funny. We are still crippled and I'm certain they have more bodies then we have bullets. If we can kill them great but don't go chasing after them, and try not to get bogged down either. If they are calling for backup it's going to be like when the camera first caught you which started this whole mess only this time you won't be able to run away as quickly.

You'd best assume additional enemy forces are incoming, since if any with a radio were within earshot of your gunshots the call will have gone out to converge on this position. This means you have an unknown, but likely short, period of time to get away from here, so you can't get bogged down fighting these cloakers in one spot; Keep moving while dealing with them.

Since your shots compromised the cloak of the cloaker you just hit, it'll almost certainly use its grenade if it has one, since it can no longer shadow you or possibly sneak up to knife you. Though it's up in the air whether it'll throw the grenade and retreat or if it'll attempt a berserker rush to suicide bomb you with it; With cloaker being bugged it could go either way.

Even though Bell is somewhat suspect right now, its ability to spot the cloakers is your only advantage here, so you're going to have to trust it for now.

Turn around so Bell has as clear a view as possible towards where the cloakers would be moving and tell it to alert you to any activity that way. Then hold one hand against the wall to hold yourself up while you hobble-hop along it on your good foot as fast as you can to get to any cover.

Watch for spots where you could brace yourself against the wall to fire, since if the wounded cloaker does rush you you're going to have to throw out as much lead as you can to take it down before it can get within blast range.

Tangentially releated to the current situation: At some point in the future you should ask Bell if there's a port or socket on the front of your helmet where you could easily plug the rear view camera in, giving it a forward view. That way if the situation called for it Bell could watch ahead of you.

>>512122
A fighting retreat is difficult when we can't move very quickly. It's also not really what we want as that involves continuous engagement.

And no, our goal isn't to kill everything. But shutting down a patrol that has seen us (hopefully) before it can report in, or preventing it from shadowing us, or attacking from behind with grenades or Rokoa darts? Hell yes that's a priority. We need to shut down both cloaked hunters before we GTFO.

(Presumably, patrols aren't in constant radio or bug contact with command. Or else the ambush tactics we and Biles have used successfully in the past without triggering a full lockdown like when Polo was seen on camera would not have worked. So yes, while there's a good chance reinforcements may be coming, there may be a small window in which we have to prevent that).

>>512145
The main problem with this plan is it involves us turning our back on the enemy, and we have to wait for Bell's warning and Polo's turning around to fire. Which is plenty of time to be attacked from behind.

The cloakers are hard to see, but they are visible to the naked eye if you're paying attention. And with the machine gun, precision isn't as important anyways.

>>512153
Alright, it does make more sense for Polo to remain facing towards where the cloakers probably are. It'll mean she can brace herself against the wall to fire so she'll be able to aim better than just standing.

I do agree Polo will have to neutralize these cloakers before leaving, since she's in no shape to lose them if she flees. She'll have to either kill them or injure their legs enough that they can't follow faster than she can move.

And I think it would actually be preferable if the cloakers left to report Polo's position, since that'd leave her as much time to get away as it would take for them to find an enemy unit with a radio to report to and for the enemy forces to descend on this position.

1/3 Polo 2013/05/23(Thu)22:23 No. 512209 ID: c3663c
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I move back, using the machine gun as a crutch while pulling out my pistol, which is just about the only weapon I can use right now with one hand. Their jammer is turned off, or rather, it's flipped. I sense Four Stripes along with them. The salikai must already know where I am. Take me down, at any cost, even at your own lives is Four Stripes' message. I would say that I had seriously considered moving forward, in an attempt to neutralize them before they had a chance to toss grenades or chase me down. Unfortunately, grenades were what they were already doing, and given Four Stripes directive, I am uncertain if this scenario was yet another case of choose the least worst option.

I see a grenade and a gun leap out. They both come out in synchronized time, and I unload my pistol as quickly, and accurately, as I can. The blood comes out ahead of the grenade. Both stalkers must be there, and the gun wielder is protecting the grenade lobber from getting hit. She tries to shoot me, but misses all of her shots, due to her being particularly good at being a meat shield. The grenade lobber is effectively free to lob.

2/3 Polo 2013/05/23(Thu)22:23 No. 512210 ID: c3663c
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I try to jump out of the way and into the nearest cover. It was cooked, and I was only marginally successful. It strikes my back, and I start rolling and tumbling along the ground from the force.

3/3 Polo 2013/05/23(Thu)22:23 No. 512211 ID: c3663c
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My consciousness is intact, but all I can tell is that I was flung far, and my armor is getting wrecked. Or in the upper body's case, completely wrecked. The voklit loosened it up too much to withstand the grenade. I can barely move, and my vision is fuzzy. I want a break. I hear water nearby.

Right, only chance. Roll into the river.

well shit our only real option for if we want to live through this to to get into the water and hope to god it carries us somewhere safe before we drown or something unfriendly finds us.

>>512211
You can't run yet. There's still one stalker up.

Move your body, soldier. Get a gun out, any gun. Eliminate the enemy. Only then can you escape.

Also the strap's about to break. At this point I just want to get back to base alive, but it would be nice if we still had SOME equipment when we get there.

Fuck. Rest in pieces, Bell. Just became a moot point if you were compromised or not.

...say 'pigiron pomi' anyways, on the off chance there's a large enough piece that Bell is functional and he still has audio. If they weren't destroyed, we don't want the enemy getting those maps.

Anyways, you have several options:

(1) Fight to the last. Wait for the cloakers to come check your body, or enter visual range again, and then shoot them with whatever you've got. Not that it will really matter though. The hunters aren't your real enemy, and are disposable to the salikai. Plus, there will be more enemies coming.

(2) Suicide. Spare yourself a fate worse than death, prevent letting yourself become a source of intel or a mind controlled asset for your enemy. Arm the bazooka round if you still have it, and boom.

(3) Allow yourself to be captured. You're disabled- they may take you alive. Pray that your training will allow you to break free of their control later, and that you will survive, and not be subject to a fate worse than death. Or at least, that your torture distracts the salikai long enough for others to act.

(4) Throw yourself into the river. Either this will turn into suicide or capture, or maybe, just maybe, you'll get away.

(5) Inane option. Play dead, wait for the hunters to get close enough, then grab a rokoa dart off one and infect yourself. Hulk out and do as much damage as possible before you have to kill yourself.

...I'd say realistically, 2 3 and 4 are your only real choices. Try for 4, and if you can't reach the river in time, fall back on 2 or 3.

Disable helmet and roll or crawl to that water. You need to get washed so far downstream they cant find us for a few days.

1/2 Polo 2013/05/23(Thu)23:06 No. 512231 ID: c3663c
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"Pigiron pomi." I say, just in case Bell was not destroyed, to kill the data.

I dropped the machine gun. It is somewhere else. I reflexively put my pistol back in its holster before the grenade went off, so that is with me. I leave it there and bring out the sniper rifle, pushing myself backwards with my foot to the water, resisting the considerable urge to just fall asleep right here and now. The slope starts going downhill, so it turns out to be about as fast as it would be if I were using my sniper as a crutch.

The jammer is back up, as I don't believe the stalker would be that far. But I don't see it. It's either staying still, or simply out of sight. I keep scraping along. My HE ammo is active. I don't have much room, or mood, to try and minimize it anymore. The stalker will die if it pops out to try to kill me. But it isn't. A few possibilities as to why come to mind, but none of them change me going to the river. It could be anywhere, and I am moving slowly, downhill or not. But, I am close to the river. A hasty glance backwards confirms it, and I keep going. My left arm is broken again. Somehow, I feel lucky, as given how close the grenade was, one broken bone could be all I could ask for.

That, and a break.

2/2 Polo 2013/05/23(Thu)23:06 No. 512232 ID: c3663c
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thk

well, thats not good. Get it out of you immediately. Don't stop going for the river though. Lets also hope you're will to live is equal to Rokoas.

>>512232
Oh shit. Oh SHIT. OH SHIT.

Get that dart out of your head immediately! Shoot the fucker that shot it at you!

...damnit, you're in bioarmor! If that can shrug off bullets, it should damn well be able to block something thrown by hand!

Nevermind complaining about fairness, through. You've been darted. First priority is to remove it, limit your exposure as much as possible. Pull it out, or scape it off against the bank as you fall into the river. Crush the dart after, so you can't be restuck.

Fuck the hunter. Shoot if you can, but we have more important concerns to worry about now.

If possible, apply your combat knife or pistol to the affect area. Cut or blow the site of injury off the back of your head.

Fall into the river, and remain conscious. Ignore the outside world, and whatever happens to your body. You need to turn your focus inward. Meditate. Go back to every anti-mind control trick you learned while practicing with three stripes. You need to fight for control of your self, and to deal with the infection within yourself. You've beaten her every time you've fought in the real world. You'll be damned if you're going to lose within your own mind.

If you can't pull the dart out quickly with your injuries (or before you fear the inner conflict will render you immobile) the fastest way to limit the damage is to slam you head backwards against the rock ground, shattering it. This will give you more exposure than instantly pulling it out (since you drive the tip into yourself), but much less than if you let the brain-slurry seep into you.

Dart out first, shoot second, cut out the crazy third.

oh FUCK, well here's a lesson for all you kiddies out there, things can ALWAYS get worse, case and point right here for example >>512232

The msin thing to do right now is remove the dart as quickly as you can, use you knife if you have to (that also might get rid of the infected tissue as well but will hurt like a bitch, but seeing as how you are knocking on death's door right now I don't think that will matter much) And no matter what keep going towards the river. You won't be safe in there but you will be safer then you are out here.

Keep moving to the river and get that dart out. With a dart that size will take a bit to inject much so the faster you remove it the less Rokoa you will have to deal with in your head.

On that note not sure if keeping your silence up would be better or worse for fighting off the dart brain. Guess we can find out later.

1/3 Polo 2013/05/24(Fri)00:21 No. 512254 ID: c3663c
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>If that can shrug off bullets, it should damn well be able to block something thrown by hand!
Unfortunately, bio armor is not resistant to certain things, and is only moderate in actual protection. Its main use is extending biological performance. That, and the stalker may have had a blowdart.

I pull the dart out. Unfortunately my return shot is slow due to having to drop my sniper to deal with that, but it happens, and I dive in the river. I am not confident in my dart removal speed, but at least it was not a full dose. There is just no escaping her.

What happens now, I am not sure. I do not know how fast acting this is. Either way, if there was any chance I would not be silent, that chance is gone.

There is a small water branch. I take it, if just to maximize the chance of not being found as soon as I pop out.

2/3 Polo 2013/05/24(Fri)00:21 No. 512255 ID: c3663c
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Perhap the salikai did not think I would pop out here, perhaps they simply couldn't mobilize in time, or maybe I am just lucky. No, not the latter. I get out and have a chance to continue wandering. Which is exactly what I do. I don't know how long I limp through the caverns for, but I don't think I would argue with anyone who told me days. But, somehow, someway, I'm able to stumble on a location, with just enough presence of mind to realize it is familiar. Maybe a little lucky. I go back in a river to go home.

I can feel something boiling under the surface, but it does not feel like Rokoa is trying to take over yet. Not like I know what to expect. Only the fact that I am underwater keeps me from falling unconscious. That, and the bio armor, and the fact that I am so close to home. But I am overexerted. Swimming with one arm and one leg does not help.

The alcove, and one last bit of energy. I get up to it. For all I know, all of my allies were found out, and I am going to poke my head up so that an enemy voklit can snatch me up out of the water. I pull out my pistol just in case, more out of second nature paranoia than thinking that the waterlogged pistol's single shot will do me much good.

Polo Quest - Thread 2 END Polo 2013/05/24(Fri)00:22 No. 512256 ID: c3663c
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I get to breathe again.

>"Polo?!"
"Katzati. I want a break."

All right, girl. You did good. You get to pass out now.

If you can, at all, warn them that you were hit with a dart. That way they know to kill you if you start turning grey and busting out of your clothes. And that the science hivers will know what to look for while they're busy doing other medicine to you.

Also, if and when anyone asks what the hell happened to us:

Got caught in a cave in, got hit with a grenade, and a voklit tried to eat me.

>>512256
Alright, as soon as you are conscious again, first priority is telling them how Biles was able to disable the bugs. Then give a detailed report of your scouting results, and talk to the experienced soldiers present about your combat engagements and ask for input about what you may have done wrong, and how to improve your effectiveness in future fights.

rest now kid, you've earned it

After all you've lost and given of yourself to get back here, you truly deserve a break. So take your well earned sleep, and here's hoping you have pleasant, comforting dreams (perhaps involving being hugged by Katzati.)

>>512256
you have to tell her about the dart before falling unconscious!

Let your body sleep, Polo. Your mind has a battle still to face.

I really hope the rokoa battle doesn't destroy the ability to be silent.

>>512295
Whether it does or doesn't, until all the Rokoa elements are removed Polo won't be able to be absolutely silent because those Rokoa bits will be broadcasting. Hopefully it won't get to the point where anybody else could sense it beyond direct contact or being adjacent to Polo.

In fact, that might make removing the Rokoa elements possible if they aren't diffused throughout Polo's body. If Polo goes silent then she or another neumono can sense exactly where the Rokoa bits are so they can be cut out.

Hey, whatever happened to the mapper? I can't find any mention of whether we located and pocketed it after the cave in or not in the updates. Because if we did, Polo might still have the damaged mapper on her person for Katzati to try and dig through, even with her helmet lost.

>>512347
...you're assuming any Rokoa elements in her would set up a separate empathic network not under Polo's control. Not that it would blend into her, or be reliant on the same set of 'broadcasting equipment' as it were, that Polo controls the on/off switch to.

Considering we know next to nothing about how this works, these assumptions are unfounded. We'll just have to see what happens.

Personally, I'm hoping for a dream sequence letting us into some of Rokoa's past (compared to body horror or having your personality rewritten, reliving some of someone else's memory is almost benign).

That or we just give into insanity and get to see the slasher smile original flavor jerky Rokoa influences duke it out with the smile-less, utilitarian, amputation-fetish Rokoa dart influences for control of Polo's brain, green and grey hulk style. :V

>That or we just give into insanity and get to see the slasher smile original flavor jerky Rokoa influences duke it out with the smile-less, utilitarian, amputation-fetish Rokoa dart influences for control of Polo's brain, green and grey hulk style. :V
This sounds kind of awesome.

Tell her you got shot with a dart, and if you start turning into Rokoa to just kill you.

>>512349
From the way Polo reacted to it being crushed, I assume it was beyond recovery. And even if it wasn't, it was left behind with the stuff she booby-trapped with the bazooka round, so it was blown up and possibly burned up as well.

However, this doesn't mean that all of the map data Polo collected was lost when her helmet was destroyed. If I remember correctly, she exchanged map data with Biles, so if she or her allies can make contact with him they can get a copy of the map. Polo will have to fill in the areas after that point from memory, but since there wasn't much but tunnels mapped before the mapper was destroyed the loss in detail wouldn't be serious since there's was really only the camera positions and tunnel intersections to note.