Always Have A Backup Plan (Ash City Alts)

The member 'Narrator' has done the following action : Roll Dice:

'd20' : 3, 9

Zanth starts to glow, and a flash of light.....

appear, swords out, ready to fight!


~ Zanth uses Animate Golem

Mindlessly ignoring the threat immediately behind them, the mechanical warriors focus on attacking Pinstripe and Zanth, which happen to be on either of, and inadvertently guarding, the lady in the middle.



The gears in their hands expanding, contracting, and reshaping to apparently hold massive blades, the first two attack Zanth, "It must die!"

As the second two attempt the same thing with Pinstripe, there is a sudden whoosh like a fan being activated, but it leaves as quickly as it came. The two attackers stand motionless, arms raised to attack and twitching as if in a seizure.

Aside from a brief waver, Pinstripe does not appear to have moved.

~~~~~~~
Cog 1 attacks Zanth with Great Sword
~ 6 + Attack 7 + Great Sword 6 = 19 total

Cog 2 attacks Zanth with Great Sword
~ 2 + Attack 7 + Great Sword 6 = 15 total

Cog 3 attacks Pinstripe with Great Sword
~ 6 + Attack 7 + Great Sword 6 = 19 total (Unable to complete; stunned)

Cog 4 attacks Pinstripe with Great Sword
~ 1 + Attack 7 + Great Sword 6 = 14 total (Unable to complete; stunned)

Pinstripe's Shadow Strike activates!
~ 16 + Swiftness 16 + Speed Demon 4 + God Speed 5 = 41 total

Cogs 3 and 4 oppose Shadow Strike
~ 16 + Swiftness 7 = 23 total (Cogs 3 and 4 lose turn)
~~~~~~~

The member 'Narrator' has done the following action : Roll Dice:

'd20' : 6, 2, 6, 1, 16, 16

Dzara's eyes flashed in the light of the hallway. Her smile grew warmer, more naturally placed on her face. Knowing that Mr. Pinstripe can take care of himself, she focuses on one of the two cogs attacking Zanth.

~~~~~~~
Dzara activates Enhance Magic.

Dzara attacks Cog 1 with Psychic Attack.

~ 8 + 16 Magic + 8 Psychic Attack + 4 Psychic + 4 Enhance Magic = 40 Total
~~~~~~~

The member 'Dzara' has done the following action : Roll Dice:

'd20' : 8

"Cogs and gears, cogs and gears," Pinstripe muttered in a creepily off-key sing-song as his form wavered into three identical shapes, two of which lunged forward to strike the stilled warriors in half, "I hear a death knell ringing near."

~~~~~~~
Dancer Abilities This Turn: Speed Demon and Dervish Dance

Shadow Pinstripe 1 attacks Cog 3 with Katana (-2 Strong Attack)
~ 12 + Attack 8 + Katana 6 + Strong Attack 2 + Spring Armor 1 + Fighter 4 + Dervish Dance 4 = 37 total (25 + roll)
~ ~ Auto-combines with Death Attack!
~ ~ ~ 5 + Magic 16 = 21 total (save or die)

Shadow Pinstripe 2 attacks Cog 4 with Katana (-2 Strong Attack)
~ 10 + Attack 8 + Katana 6 + Strong Attack 2 + Spring Armor 1 + Fighter 4 + Dervish Dance 4 = 35 total (25 + roll)
~ ~ Auto-combines with Death Attack!
~ ~ ~ 19 + Magic 16 = 35 total (save or die)
~~~~~~~

The member 'Narrator' has done the following action : Roll Dice:

'd20' : 12, 5, 10, 19

Zanth, seeing the Cog coming toward him, easily dodges the Cog's attack, leaving an open shot for one of the golems, who swung with it's Long sword and it's Short sword, as the two blades connected, a crackle of electricity could be heard.

~ Zanth Defends against Great Sword 2
~ ~Defense check result = 6
~ ~ ~ 6 + Defense 6 + Medium Armor 4 + Toughen Armor 1 = 17 total (No Damage!)

Zanth's HP 10/14 (-4 from torture)



Cannon Fodder attacks Cog 2 with Long Sword
~ Attack check result = 11
~ ~ 11 + Attack 11 + Long Sword 4 = 26 total
~ ~ ~Combines with Lightning Attack
~ ~ ~ ~ Magic check result = 9
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 9 + 3 Magic + 4 Lightning Attack = 16 total (must match/beat, or lose a turn)

~ ~ ~ Cannon Fodder attacks Cog 2 with Short Sword
~ ~ ~ ~ Attack check result = 13
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 13 + Attack 11 + 3 Short Sword = 27 total

The member 'Zanth' has done the following action : Roll Dice:

'd20' : 6, 11, 9, 13

 

As the golem shattered one enemy, and a shadow tore through another, the remaining two found themselves banged almost beyond recognition and soon to be destroyed. Deciding it was the tactical option, they did something almost human. They ran.

~~~~~~~
Cog 1 resists Psychic Attack (must beat 40)
~ Adaptive Resistance! Mental Barrier
~ 17 + Resistance 7 + Mental Barrier 4 = 28 total (-12 hp)
~ ~ ~ 2/14 hp

Cog 2 defends against Long Sword (must beat 26)
~ Adaptive Defense: Group Defense (+4 Defense)
~ ~ 4 + Defense 7 + Group Defense 4 = 15 total (-11 hp)
~ ~ ~ 3/14 (dying; see below)

Cog 2 defends against Short Sword (must beat 27)
~ Adaptive Defense: Group Defense (+4 Defense)
~ ~ 2 + Defense 7 + Group Defense 4 = 13 total (-14 hp; dying)

Cog 2 resists Lightning Attack (must beat 16)
~ Adaptive Resistance: Energy Immunity (Lightning)

Cog 3 defends against Katana (must beat 37)
~ Adaptive Defense! Group Defense (+4 Defense)
~ Adaptive Resistance! Death Attack Immunity
~ 11 + Defense 7 + Group Defense 4 = 22 total (-15 hp; dying)
~ ~ Cog 3 resists Death Attack
~ ~ ~ Immune

Cog 4 defends against Katana (must beat 35)
~ Adaptive Defense! Group Defense (+4 Defense)
~ Adaptive Resistance! Death Attack Immunity
~ 13 + Defense 7 + Group Defense 4 = 24 total (-11 hp)
~ ~ Cog 3 resists Death Attack
~ ~ ~ Immune
~ ~ ~ ~ 3/14 hp
~~~~~~~

The member 'Narrator' has done the following action : Roll Dice:

'd20' : 17, 4, 2, 11, 13

"Hmm, maybe they do learn," Dzara whispered under her breath before lashing out again. The only sign of the energy she whipped at the cog was a slight breeze stirring the odd stray whisp of hair that had somehow escaped her braid.

~~~~~~~~~
Dzara activates Enhance Magic.

Dzara attacks Cog 1 using Psychic Attack.

~ 15 +16 Magic +8 Psychic Attack +4 Psychic +4 Enhanced Magic = 47 Total
~~~~~~~~~

The member 'Dzara' has done the following action : Roll Dice:

'd20' : 15

As the first of the cowardly cogs began dashing away, it never knew what hit it; the backlash of Dzara's attack threw it against a wall like a sack full of armor and it came crashing down in a heap just as unceremoniously.



"Bastard...," Pinstripe dashed forward past the shadows to strike and kill the final cyborg with just enough force to do so the moment it began turning to flee, "Making me get my gloves dirty!"

~~~~~~~
Cog 1 resists Psychic Attack
~ 14 + Resistance 7 + Mental Barrier 4 = 25 (no chance; dying)

Pinstripe attacks Cog 4 with Katana (-2 Strong Attack)
~ 5 + Attack 8 + Katana 6 + Strong Attack 2 + Spring Armor 1 + Fighter 4 + Dervish Dance 4 = 30 total (25 + roll)

Cog 4 defends against Katana
~ 20 + Defense 7 = 27 (-3 hp; dying)
~~~~~~~

The member 'Narrator' has done the following action : Roll Dice:

'd20' : 14, 5, 20

As the last Cog falls, Zanth snaps his fingers, and his golems form up around him in a box formation.

Zanth says, "We should proceed quickly, since this will not be the only resistance we will encounter."

"You are correct, Mr. Zanth." Her smile had a hint of satisfied predator to it. "We should be going now."

"You are being hasty," a familiar man's voice called from down the hallway, and there stood a figure that immediately made all three of the escapees freeze up a bit.



"Haven't I killed you somewhere before?," Pinstripe shifted his hat to get a good look at the man.

"You would have, had I been a normal man," the cyborg in the lab coat's half-mouth turned up in a half-smile, "But as you can see, having slashed off most of my face, I am as loyal to my beliefs as the foot soldiers you destroyed here."

"An anarchist's devotion is silenced in a cold steel rain," Pinstripe readied a stance, "It has a certain poetic ring to it."

"Far too hasty," the doctor sneezed, holding up what appeared to be a hand-held switch, "This switch will activate a chain reaction that will make a crater of this building in mere seconds. There will be nothing left of any of us."

Without moving, Zanth says in a very quiet voice to Pinstripe, "Do you think you can get to the switch if i can distract him?"

Noting a long shadow just behind the doctor, the assassin nodded slightly so as to confirm the request without drawing attention to himself.

Zanth began to concentrate, and all of a sudden,




appears before the doctor.


~ Zanth uses Animate Golem

"Why would you turn this place--and yourself, I might add--into nothing but a crater?" She kept her tone carefully polite. "Wouldn't that defeat your purpose?"

"Defeat my purpose?," the doctor almost laughed as he repeated the words, "You clearly do not understand what it is we do here! The Machine is endless, and far greater than any one individual. It is the search for perfection. The search for truth."

"The Machine," the doctor narrowed his eyes, looking just off-center toward Zanth, "Is the natural evolution of your race, and every other. Nothing will stop that, and certainly not a bastardization of that dream!"

Zanth's fist starts to clench and shake, the golems surrounding him, feeling their master's anger, slowly move away just enough to give Zanth some room. For the first time, a look of pure hate fills his face, and his head droops, his hair covering his face. Zanth thinks to himself, 'Keep it together.'