Iron Stars - Hack-A-Thon

The Hack-A-Thon Event begins in a large arena resembling something like what E-Sports team of old would have used for their more public or televised events. A terminal with several monitors has been laid out for everyone so identical equipment is being used, and everyone has their own. A large selection of wires, TL4 Computing Equipment, and refreshing drinks have also been laid out for participants to use once the event gets going. Dry ice smoke fills the air and neon in the flashiest colors available seems to be the design choice here. A massive trap door in the middle of the arena floor a good 30m from all the consoles (arrayed in a circle, monitor backs facing the center) remains closed, the object of the Hack-A-Thon not yet revealed. (lets have only the athletes in this thread so things dont get too crowded) (edited)

7

5

Soovi enters the arena, already partially blinded and partially drawn to the neon light. After staring at the light for a good minute, xe puts on her facial mask so xe can focus on the actual challenge here. Soovi waits to be seated or for the others to arrive.

1

Ana set everything in place on her desk. She wanted to be sure she knew exactly where was what. Has she move in front of the monitors she could see that her short blond hair is messy. Ana try her best to put them correctly and checked one last time her sportswear. The logo of IA on the front and back of her shirt to show allegiance and her own logo in the shoulders. Even if it still doesn't exist, she wanted to show the spectators the existence of her future company. From the distance she could hear someone exclaiming her name. She don't know who it actually is but she raised both fist and exclaimed : "FOR THE INHERITOR ALLIANCE !"

10:06 AM

(Ana logo)

7

Soovi stares at the audience that is here, in place to watch the event. Xe hears xyr name. And people cheering xem up. Some with rather specicist chants, others with funny ones. Xe waves back at them. Xe says xyr prayer in C, before choosing a seat xyrself and looking at Ana. "I am happy that we didn't end up in the IA, I will beat you girl, and the rest as well."

3

(So far IA and EP have entered a competitor. Anyone else?)

3

Ana moved next to Soovi and extended her hand but stopped promptly. "Oh oh, I was going to be good sport but that's it. You are going down."

3

Entering the event room, Iracus looks over the equipment that is to be used before looking across the competition and focusing himself on the event that will be starting soon.

4

(Sounds like CBSS is going to not be represented in this event. Loriya from the UNW and Jake from GSC are our remaining competitors, I'll let them introduce themselves and I'll move the scene)

Jake walks in dressed in a Greystar uniform carrying a large thermos while waving at the spectators. He sees a setup next to Icarus and heads that way, greeting the rest of the competitors with a smile and handshake “Hello Icarus! It’s good seeing a familiar face. Would you care for some freshly brewed Acastus coffee?” He makes himself comfortable and arranges the interface “Good luck to you. This should be fun, I’m no expert as I’m sure some of these fine folk are, but I do love a good puzzle!”

(sounds goo,d just need @Vibe Check then, and we're set to go)

Lori enters the scene. That’s… a lot of strangers. Okay. You got this, Lori. Deep breaths.

Iracus nods towards Jake while accepting the handshake. "I'd happily take a cup, thanks. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what we have here, should be a good start to the games. And good look to you as well." Iracus smiles as he takes a sip of the much needed coffee.

As everyone takes their seats the lights in the large arena all shut down at once. A dazzling display appears in the air above as fog rolls in. A proud laser lights show generated NMC brig rolls out of the simulated storm clouds. Arcane symbols of the Inheritor Alliance flash through the air as the lighting flickers within the clouds. A brave protectorate warrior steps out of the clouds, proud shield and spear held high in salute to the crowd. A worker with the hammer and sickle likewise emerges , placing a comradely hand on the Protectorate’s laser light show representative. An eagle soars out of the clouds, trailing a UNW banner and circles around the assembly twice before settling on the fore-sail of the NMC ship. It’s caw shakes the stadium and the crowd is enraptured by the display

3

4

2

4

2

6:38 PM

—- The main trap door in the center of the stadium opens. More fog pours out to almost fill the entire working arena floor. Six combat bots emerge from the platform and are hunched over, facing one another. Five lights come on under them, the sixth spot of the hexagonal platform remain empty as the CBSS has not entered an athlete.

6:39 PM

An announcer on a floating platform waits for the crowd noise to settle before announcing the rules and the challenge

(More coming. Just doing some last minute irl stuff)

The announcer finally speaks. “The object of the contest is to use the various computing gear, hard data lines , and your brains to be the first to activate and program your combat robots. Once the robot is activated , it will do battle with the others autonomously , and you cannot issue it any commands beyond what it was programmed to do. “ (If anyone’s got mechanics questions I can make another thread )

(I do have questions regarding turns and what is exactly possible with the robots)

(I was going to get initiative in the sense of there being a turn order, and I was looking for creativity here I didn't have an elaborate set of homebrew mechanics, I was mostly going to apply whatever rules seem relevant to what you guys come up with, but keeping each turn "bite sized" or about what you can do in a normal 6-10 second main action is a good place to start. Some more elaborate things might take multiple rounds)

(Going last seems to be a big advantage here. We should probably reverse the initiative order. Maybe even not seeing what the others decide to program so we have surprises during the match)

(Wou;dn't that just be the same problem in reverse? If its going to be an ordeal we could re-roll every round but its going to slow things down quite a bit as we're across many different time zones. Everything would be happening at the same time roughly lets not forget, and if we find ourselves unable to not metagame then we shouldn't be doing it) (edited)

(Yeah you are right, I overthink sometimes. I'm ready for some battlebots)

(hell yes battlebots!!!!)

(Let’s get initiatives for everyone so I can organize this)

(9)

(1)

(8)

(2)

(7)

(Soovi, Jake, Loriya , Ana, iracus )

(Alright, I try my luck here. Let's see if what I do is how it is intended.) Soovi is quick to react. The others seem to not have gotten the message that the game started. Maybe they aren't as quick thinking as Noctua are. Soovi smiles and pheromones indicating excitement fill the area around here. Programming the bot? Child's play. Sabotaging the opposition? Should be easy! But Soovi starts with a surprise, xe grabs some cables from the table and rushes over hovering to the battle arena, and xyr bot. Xe needed to know how capable the bot actually looks to be like, before fiddling with the software side of it. (basically xe wants to examine the bot to see how it seems to work so xe knows how to tackle the programing part later on. And most importantly, so xe knows which areas of the bots are critical, both to attack and defend.)

The bots are humanoid in shape and look to have the same range of motion and vulnerabilities you’d expect on an organic humanoid. There are several access ports on the back where cables can be plugged when the time comes to enter programming data. Sensor clusters on the head seem to be the most vulnerable places. (edited)

(I guess it is still the end of my move, right?)

Jake takes a bundle of cables and a data phase tap with a remote link to connect his designated robot's ports to the workstation. While working, he connects to his workstation via his ghost talk transceiver, hoping to make interactions faster, and starts pulling up the bot's specs, operations manual, installation manual and programming interface on separate monitors/windows/retinal displays.

The sheer amount of information you’re trying to request at once will take time to download and display. And then more to organize it. You expect about 30 seconds of work (2 more rounds after this ) will be spent getting yourself set up for maximum efficiency later- making the time up when it counts more later on

2

Nekosmash pinned a message to this channel. 9/25/2021 2:53 PM

(Loriya up)

Lori finally realizes that the game has, in fact, started, and she grabs some cables to link her data pad with the bot, and pulls up its blueprints to look at what it can do, its weaknesses, and its strengths.

(Did you want it to be as thorough as Jake or a more abbreviated view to be done in fewer rounds ?)

(a little less thorough, as to save some time, but thorough enough to know the bot she's working with)

(I'll send you a semi redacted statblock, we'll move on to Ana while I get to coloring)

9:55 PM

(Jake will get the full entry after a couple rounds)

Ana started to move slowly towards her bot, a hand on her mouth, thinking what the best strategies could be. She had an idea but would need to have more information on the bots itself. Snapping back to reality, she started to take a look at the documentation. In particular the different connection method to the bots. As she read the file, Ana will open the interface application .

The bots can be controlled via wireless on a host of different programmable frequencies, and they can also be directly hard wired to a control box. Everyone’s work station has those. Broadcast Wires and adapters to give them more length if needed are available in more then abundance for everyone on the many material tables about the arena floor

(Iracus)

Slow to react to the bell, Iracus moves to his station and connects to the bot through his ghost talker implant. He then begins analyze the bots programming, looking for possible vulnerabilities in the software that might be able to be exploited and turned into a virus that his bot could deliver by forcefully attacking the others with data phase taps or line shunts.

There are many frequencies the bots can use to receive wireless commands. These frequencies can also be used by others potentially to send information to the bots as well and represent a vector for attack.

9:10 AM

(back to soovi)

Soovi smiles as xe sees most of the others seemingly copy xyr move. "I am in the lead, let's keep it that way!" xe thinks. Without weapons for xyr bot, but with the weaknesses pinpointed, various tools appear in xyr hands, the appearance and disappearance goes hand in hand with some flickering green light and sound of the flapping of the wings of a thousand little moths. With those tools Soovi tinkers with the bot's hands to sharpen them. So that instead of simply punching, it would have an easier time to pierce through the hulls of its opponents, to more quickly damage critical components in their heads.

(fix/int)

(10)

1

You realize when you begin sharpening the bots there is a weapon housing on each arm. One has a long monoblade sword, while the other looks to be an inbuilt firearm of some kind

Soovi smiles once more once xe finds the weapons. Nods and gets ready to connect to the bot. (which will happen next turn, as this turn I already did enough I thought.)

1

(yep, main action is a skill check, and we have Jake still downloading the entire specs for this round, so we move on to Loriya)

Lori is going to take this turn to begin programming the bot to aim for sensitive points in the chassis, and will also disable any remote access to the bot as she remembers that this is, in fact, called the "Hack-a-Thon."

(program/int)

(13)

2

Hack-A-Thon indeed it seems as Loriya begins shutting down any frequency receptors on the robot that arent ones she is planning on using to control hers by herself. Looking for weak points and looking fighting programming will be future things to take care of. (Ana)(

With the information, Ana understood it was possible to communicate between the bots. It was time for her to start working on her Bot. Codename HA.B.B.A (HAcking Bot By Ana) Her goal is be able to change the Friend and Foe system if there is one. All bots infected would see her HABBA as a Friendly entity. if they don't have 'FaF' she will change all the attacks modules to not trigger if HABBA is targeted. The other competitors probably figured that the bots could be hacked Ana say to herself. She need to find different communication methods...

(Program/int)

(12)

1

3

(damn we all really said good rolls huh)

(We are the best of the sector after all

)

(hackerwomen amirite)

The bots do have a FaF system to ensure they don't accidently attack any competitors. You begin working to expand those settings on the other bots, but see Loriya's has been secured already. On everyone elses console a warning that code is being changed begins flashing. (Iracus)

"Well that is just rude" Iracus thinks to himself as he moves to counter the attack and attempt to piggy-back off it to deploy his own malicious code, using his analysis of the programming to his advantage. He moves to create a program that will swap the various variables of the other bots programming, so that a command that is supposed to, for example, make the bot turn left, it will instead turn right until it is at its desired direction. If it wishes to move forward, it moves backward instead, and so on, opening the bots up to attack as their own programming works against them.

(lets get a program/int here too so we have something to oppose their hack)

(13)

10:53 AM

(the title of his program will be ambiturner.virus)

(beats the 12 and ties the 13, since this is a check and Loriya's check set the DC, you've met it, so the virus will begin to effect everyone's systems even despite theirs being hardened.) A control swapping virus called Ambiturner.exe begins running in everyone's robots and you can see lines of code being moved, deleted, fragmented, and otherwise put into positions where things will not work as expected. (back to Soovi.)

Soovi, happy with finding the weapons connects to the bot just to see that lines of code appear and change just for it all to become a next level mess when a short amount later, different code seems to override what happened before. It all was a mess and Soovi had no idea what xe was dealing with. And no hope to win if the bot would go into competition like this. Radical measures were needed. With the bot being autonomous when the battle starts, there was just one way to protect the bot from outside attacks, and maybe still enough time to reset it. To stop any outside access, while still being able to program the bot later, Soovi tries to pinpoint the wifi module and then, remove it, so only cable bound contact was possible.

(fix/int for this too)

(9)

It will take a moment to remove the wireless transmitter and its related circuits, but it seems possible to do (working on this for a couple rounds. ) (Jake up, You now have the complete stats for the robot and that action has ended, so you can do other things now)

Jake is impressed with his competition’s initiative, and aggressiveness at this early point. He uses some of the technical specs and built in routines he’s gathered to set up an encrypted firewall with a virtual console server and bot behind that for all outside hard and wireless connections to go through mimicking his console and bot. It responds as if whatever commands and hostile code have been sent are implemented, but is isolated from the true operating systems. Trying to keep any further hacks from entering his systems.

(you got stuck sitting for a few rounds while preparing and whatnot, so I think this is part of your prep and getting organized, we can say that completes this round)

6:53 AM

(loriya up)

Woof, talk about a nasty piece of 1s and 0s. Lori is going to attempt a full reset of the robot's code. She hadn't made much progress anyway, so it's nothing she can't recover from.

6:46 PM

(rolled a 10 for program/int if you need that)

Flushing her previous work this round, Loriya’s system is now brand new, and is quickly hardened against the virus due to her previous technical work. (Ana)

At the view of the code moving, Ana was quite surprised. "That look bad...". She didn't feel confident to be able to remove the virus. Hard reset it is, she would lose the code she had started working but that was the best solution. After reset, Ana would work in an encrypted certificate to only allow her computer to connect to HA.B.B.A. She will keep a copy on an external device.

12:29 PM

(Program + int : 11)

(that will be done this round since the cehck is good. )

12:32 PM

(Iracus)

Iracus moves to create a mobile honey pot by opening certain frequencies on the bot to attract would be hackers. He configures a trap that will upload the created ambiturner virus to the attacker should it trigger. Should enough time allow, he begins evaluating how to modify any range weaponry with the ability to launch a limpet node/phase tap type of ammo to deliver the virus to secured bots.

It seems the robot has a shear rifle installed and as you go to examine it while your plan begins formulating you realize you won’t be able to change it to fire any kind of projectile with the time and tools it has available The event is beginning to wind down as soovi begins her final moves

While most of the competition seem to be excellent hackers, Soovi feels like xe is the tech butcher among them. Time was running out. But through all of it, Soovi kept xyr calm. With the wifi module destroyed. Soovi quickly resets it and in the last moments of xyr time, tries to feed it with videos of Dax Withers. Xe wants xyr bot to surprise the opposition. It should charge at them and mostly use its sword to quickly destroy the other bots. And it should say: "Nothing personal kid!" if it ever gets to slay an opponent. If xe gets to finish that and is not just thrown out of the ring for time violations , xe would leave the battle area, hovering to xyr station to watch the battle unfold.

(you'd get to start the download and itll just finish as things wind down here)

7:10 AM

(jake up)

”Definitely in over my head.” A little sheen of sweat comes up across his forehead. “No way I’ll be able to figure out how to counter these programs directly and still be left with time to do anything constructive.” Now that his bot and console are isolated, Jake starts the reboot routine to clear the malicious code. While it reboots, he gets a excited at having found a list of autonomous threat response programs not activated. He readies the best grade well rounded threat response program he finds the codes for in the tech manual to activate once the reboot finishes. Just in case his connections are blocked or severed.

(That will likewise go into effect at round end while it loads/installs, but you can do it)

8:19 AM

(Loriya up)

Okay. Virus gone. Now we gotta program this bot to fight... and as someone who doesn't fight, like, at all, that's gonna be interesting. That's when the idea hits. She may not know how to fight, but she knows someone who does. Lori starts feeding the bot videos of the one and only Hailey Clements in action, translating the "pistols and blades" to the robot's rifle and monoblade. (14 for program/int)

(ana up , this will likewise work this round)

Times was almost up, Ana would probably need to make her last decision. She decided to focus on the HA.B.BA itself this time. Ana program HA.B.B.A manly for counter attacks. If HA.B.B.A is targeted she will try to avoid and use her weapons. And if possible, she will try to inject a virus "JustDance" via HA.B.B.A weapons that will make the infected bot sing and dance. On the last few seconds, she add a line that if HA.B.BA win, the bot will infect herself with "JustDance". (Program+int = 11)

(no issues here, lets wrap up with Iracus, I'll summarize everything and once we all look it over we'll wrap this up!)

With the bot programmed to counter attack any hacking attempts, Iracus codes in the bots standard engagement profile. He will have the bot focused on keeping range from others and using the rifle on bots that have been well secured against any outside hacking attempts. Those that have not, however, will be subjected to aggressive attempts to autonomously crack through any faults Iracus previously identified in the code. He hopes to catch those who attempted to reset out of his virus's effects off guard with their limited time to repatch any pre-existing vulnerabilities.

(okay, summary incoming and if anyone disagrees with their bot status let me know, I won't move on until we hammer things out) Soovi- Melee Focus, Wireless Control, Was reset but not hardened so is subject to HABBA Dance Virus as it came last and hardened stance was not specified beforehand. +2 to melee damage due to the sharpened claws and later "tech butcher" preferences. Jake- Programming working as normal. Will go last in round due to commands going through remote console and latency is higher, but not subject to penalties. Loriya- Normal stats, normal initiative. Work was reset in final round so no penalties, downloaded videos of hailey give it a +2 to its shear rifle attack "to hit" roll. Ana- +2 to Robot AC (will post stat block) due to dancing and weaving motions, but also suffers -2 to hit for its ranged attacks due to the motion throwing off aim. Iracus- No penalties, +2 on shear rifle "to hit" due to programming.

3

1

(robot react = g2g from me)

Good to go here!

(Yes ! I'm exited to see how everything turns out)

(this'll be good)

(alright and I see Dai answered with a robot so we're good to go. Let me post the stat block so we see the base values we're working with, apply your respective bonuses and penalties from there. Lets get a new initiative, as some of you have penalties to it)

10:01 PM

10:02 PM

(This is for 1E, so AC is 16, everything else is the same)

(so you want us to roll init? Just 1d8?)

(5 on initiative if we're rolling with our character's initiative)

(just a 1d8)

10:06 PM

(its off the bot, so it doesnt have the innate attributes your characters' have)

(okay lemme reroll with a d8)

Nekosmash pinned a message to this channel. 10/1/2021 10:06 PM

(1 lmao)

10:06 PM

(unlucky today)

(still going before jake!)

(I’m here to make you all feel better about yerselves! Lol!

)

(3)

(4)

(Just need iracus and we are set

(8)

(Iracus, Ana, soovi, Loriya, Jake)

10:32 AM

(Iracus is yellow Jake is blue Soovi is green Ana is purple Loriya is red)

4

Nekosmash pinned a message to this channel. 10/2/2021 11:23 AM

(so then is it just like regular combat at this point? with move/main actions and what not?)

(That’s right )

As the bot activates it begins to follow its built in programming to start getting range from the other bots, moving back to the edges of the arena. (would there be signals coming from the other bots that would indicate if they have open frequencies that could be exploited in order to remotely hack them? - if that is something the bot can do) (edited)

(Everyone either shut theirs down or locked theirs out during the programming phase when we got offensive super early )

8:30 PM

(It means there’s not as much variety in this combat )

As the bot moves to the back, it targets one of the closest bots and randomly locks onto the Greystar bot and takes a shot with it's Shear Rifle. (so 1d20+5+2 right? 24/13)

(That’s rifht )

7:48 AM

The Greystar bot is heavily damaged , close to being inoperable due to the shear rifle’s discharge and the dancing virus it’s been infected with

7:48 AM

(Ana)

HA.B.B.A opportunist module activate after the violent attack. The IA bot graciously move next to the Grystar bot as it still try to recuperate from the shot and with a splendid aerial movement try to decapitate the bot with the monoblade. (D20 +5 = 6

)

The blow misses as the two of you are now locked in melee against one another.

3:06 PM

(Soovi)

Soovi's beast of a bot moves into striking range of H.A.B.B.A. and the Greystar bot. With a whoosh sound it makes its presence known to the other bots, before it strikes. Targetting H.A.B.B.A it tries to dig deep into its back with sword and claws. (rolled 8 for an attack. Used re-roll token to please my awesome EP crowd! reroll is 22 to hit! so 22/5)

(That does indeed hit. Habba is down to 10/15)

6:27 AM

(Loriya )

Lori’s bot takes to a more ranged approach, opting to use the Shear Rifle to go for a ranged attack on Jake’s bot, as that’s the only one not busy right now. (how would I roll to hit for the bot?)

(Just d20+7)

(bet, I’ll do it once I’m on the computer)

(Jake and Ana’s bit are in melee right?)

(bruh I rolled a 1, +7 and then +2 bc of my modifier so 10 in total) (edited)

12:50 PM

(also just realized that I do not know my factions lmao)

(Jake and Ana are in melee. There would be a -4 there for shooting but with a 10 we're missing anyway )

1:03 PM

The shot goes off and one of the small distortion fields warps deck plating and some of the arena floor where the two bots in melee had been just a second before.

1:03 PM

(Jake up)

Jake cheers at his good luck surviving the first round as his ‘bot is sputtering and sparking with a fractalized hole through it’s chest from a well placed shear rifle beam The Greystar ‘bot barely dodges a powerful swing from Ana’s mono blade, get’s some lifted plating but no real damage from a near miss as another shear rifle beam gets close and swings upwards with the monoblade hoping to strike deep into H.A.B.B.A.’s chassis and scoring a few points before it falls to the combined efforts of the participants falling short as H.A.B.B.A deftly twirls to the side (Monoblade 12/7)

(miss, and the stat block was done before melee shock damage was a thing- but generally once you're above AC15 like these bots are ((16)) , you're generally not going to be hurt by shock without a focus anyway)

1:08 PM

(Back to Iracus)

With the melee swarm underway, the NMC bot reassess threat levels and determines that the UNW bot has the next highest chance of survival and then takes a shot at it. With prior care to improve the long range capabilities of the bot, the shot hits true for some significant damage. (23/13)

(2 health left for Loriya's bot) The shot is clean and damages it as badly as Jakes, some poetic justice applied to the attempted coup-de-grace.

1:39 PM

(ana)

1:39 PM

(Whose bot is in melee with Jake right now) (edited)

~~(Ana’s and Loriya’s i think)~~ (edited)

4:33 PM

~~(Well, Ana with Jake, and Soovi with Ana….).~~ Edited to redact. (edited)

(I used the wrong who)

(I'm not in melee with Soovi bot ? )

(You are locked with Jake, my bot just stabbed and clawed you in the back, at least that is how I see it) (edited)

(Oh, ok. Tough that you were with us in a tree way fight. Will update soon.)

(I mean all three bots are close together in a melee brawl. If anything is unsure, we can always wait for Neko clearance.)

(Jake, Ana, and soovi are in melee with one another )

5:16 AM

(So cannot use their shear rifles right now

"Stay Alive! Stay alive, HA.B.B.A ! " Ana says at the stab of Elysium bot. Her monitor start flashing red to show her the damage from her bot. Components that manage stability are severely damaged. Should be fine with the software amelioration that she added, the process would need to calculate continuously now to keep it on his two feets. Her bot will be slower in general but it shouldn't impact too much. Proof came later as the IA bot was able to avoid Jake bot blade. HA.B.BA change priority after being close to Elysium bot. She tries to stab the front of the Elysium like a gymnast with a ribbon. (edited)

6:24 AM

(D20 + 5 = 10)

"Not even close!" Soovi yells after H.A.B.B.A. misses xyr bot. The missed attack creates an opening to H.A.B.B.A.'s front and head that Soovi can't get by unused. Winning here was one step towards beating the Ascendancy, at least in Soovi's head. Xyr bot was ready to butcher H.A.B.B.A. as its claws go for H.A.B.B.A.'s head, which ended up being not as impactful, but the sword that digs into H.A.B.B.A.'s side, was. (1d20+5= 19 beating H.A.B.B.A.'s AC of 18 | Damage 8) (edited)

Okay! Lesson learned! Don't let Iracus do that again! Lori's bot recognizes the NMC robot as the biggest threat, and goes for another ranged shot, landing a SOLID hit this time. (d20 +7 = 21 to hit | 2d8 +1 = 11 damage)

(2 health left on habba) (4 health on NMC bot)

6:49 AM

(Jake is up)

Surprised that his bot is still functional he stands up at his console. Jake pumps his fist as he sees an opportunity while his bot dances in melee with it’s two partners, bringing around his weapon to successfully return the intended favor from H.A.B.B.A. The Greystar ‘bot’s sword neatly removes the head of the IA bot as it rounds to face it’s remaining opponent (Monoblade sword: 21/3)

(Habba is down)

7:56 AM

Ana's console goes dark as the HABBA bot is decapitated. On the jumbotron, the IA symbol dims and moves to the bottom of the ranking board. (Ana gets the next rank of perform , as some of the robotic dance moves have some cross-over to normal life, and she might need to bust it down in some dance battle in the future)

7:56 AM

(Iracus up_

HA.B.B.A heads still light up one last time and start to sing with his powering out voice "So when you're near me, daAaarling can't.. you ...heaaAr.. me. S..... O............ S................ " (Good luck for the rest of match boys ! )

3

1

2

Iracus intently watches the fight and data flowing through his terminal as the bots go at one another. Iracus winces as the shot tears through the chassis and nearly destroys his bot, but it manages to hang on and send out a return shot right back at the UNW bot. (21/15)

The shot is clean, too clean, and the UNW console likewise deactivates. The bot falls over as internal fires begin ravaging its delicate interior.

12:26 PM

(loriya was quick to notice several things in this fight, so may take the next rank of notice as a reward for participating)

12:27 PM

(With ana down, Soovi is next)

Soovi's bot is ready to butcher. Bots start to fall left and right, and none fell at the Noctua's bot's hands. With H.A.B.B.A out of the way only Jake's bot was next to xyr bot. Ready to butcher, Soovi's bot jumps forward and tries to rip the bot apart. It hacks and slashes at it and its claws sink deep into Jake's bot. "Nothing personal, kid!" It says while it rips something off to maybe use it as an improvised weapon. With Jake's bot fallen and destroyed, "The Butcher" slowly looks around to find another target. Only the bot of Iracus was left, and it slowly moves towards it. Ready to butcher once more. "The perfect weapon to attack Chimeran troops!" Soovi thinks. (used reroll token as first hit roll was 11, with reroll crit/14!! against Jake's bot)

(GSC is down, Jake will get the Bronze Medal and I'll do something there once the event is over)

3:16 PM

(Back to Iracus then)

Jake leans back and reaches for his coffee mug and sighs. Better showing than I expected, good to be lucky every now and then!

As the final bot emerges from the melee, Iracus realizes it is the EP bot and sees it remains fairly unscathed and sees the chances of his bot surviving are decreasing in its badly damaged state. His bot begins to try and move further away from the more melee focused combatant and keep it at range. But as his bot goes to aim, he notices the programming gets stuck on a runtime error and is about to fire into empty air. Out of desperation he rapidly begins hitting the F5 button to refresh the calculation. It somehow manages to work and recalculates the proper angle to land a fairly devastating hit, however it is not enough to take it down in one go. (fate will not take this medal! reroll token to turn a 9 into a 20 / 11 dmg)

3:29 PM

(not sure how large this arena is and if it is even possible to keep range, but the little dude is just doing it's best to run from "The Butcher" as it pew pews behind it)

(Shear's are 100/300 iirc, so we're going to be at short range for most of these early movement rounds. 30 feet is near enough to 10m so it moves about the speed of your normal human, I'd call it 15m between the two since there was some space already between the NMC bot and the melee) (edited)

3:31 PM

(EP bot has 4HP left, with Soovi now up)

The Butcher gets heavily hit by the NMC bot and Soovi realizes that it might never get into melee range of the rather ranged focused bot. Soovi pushes a button and opens its clawed hand where the Shear Rifle is located. "Get them!" Soovi yells at The Butcher, as it shoots at Iracus' bot. (16/13)

(Believe that downs iracus. I’ll do a medal ceremony when I’m done with dinner )

Try as it might, the little New Moon bot makes a vain attempt at one last shot, but before it can get a chance, an explosive shot tears through it, ripping it apart and sending top half flying along the arena wall in pieces. The lower half continues along its predetermined path for a few moments before it too, crashes into the wall and tips over, useless. Looking over to Soovi, Iracus gives them a smile and nod as if to say 'nicely done' before joining the audience in their applause to congratulate the winner.

A podium rises from the floor, showing a 1, 2, and 3, all at slightly different levels from one another. There is also a smaller commemorative podium for Ana and Loriya to stand on also rises from the floor as copper “Galatea Games Participant” medals on thick cloth lanyards are placed around their neck. The laser light show begins again showing the Protectorate Hoplite waving a victory banner depicting the polity’s symbol and Colors before it vanishes into mist. 1st Place Electrum Medal - Soovi (may choose one TL5 drone to have, or a global hawk) 2nd Place Gold Medal - Iracus (may take a level of ghost tech or hacker foci) 3rd Place Silver Medal- Jake (5 mil credits, moderate amount of face)

5:13 PM

(Thanks for rolling with that guys. I kind of winged that whole thing since the hacking rules in the crb are terrible so I appreciate everyone being a good sport ) (edited)

8

jake salutes the other competitors. “First three rounds at the bar are on me my friends whatever you want! That was fun!!!*

Soovi raises a fist as it breaks out of xem. "Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Butcher you did it!" Xe would jump into the air if xe wasn't already hovering. "Wohoo! This is for all the Noctua! And the Protectorate of cause! Yes! Yes! Yes!" Soovi waves at the stands towards the EP fans, without them, this win would not have been possible. Xe proved it, the strength of the Noctua. Just then xe realizes Iracus' congratulations, Soovi bows, acknowledging him as a worthy competitor, all of them were, but only one can carry the Electrum Medal, xem. To Jake xe replies. "Sorry for mauling your bot, and um, do they have nectar here?"* Before leaving the arena, Soovi approaches the Butcher to hug it and thank it for its superb performance. There will be no sleep tonight, xe was sure of it. (Thanks all, and especially Neko for running it, awesome event boss!) (edited)

(If you want to keep butcher, technically these Kami bots are tl5 too)

*Jake hugs Sovie back and says imma sure we can find a suitable nectar and takes her arm leading her off toward the bar, come on folks, he says to the rest of the Hackers, “First ‘bout of the Galatean Games is down and time for a commiseration/celebration! Come! To the bar!!!”

DOESN'T DRINK ALCOHOL "Um... Sure!!"

"Great!! I know this nifty little spritzer with simple syrup...." As he leads Loriya away toward the bar.