SRW Unification RP Comm

[As it turned out, Daniel's friends were real all along - or rather, based on Tam Defoe's old friends, acclaimed scientists Marjory Marita and Rupert Nestore, who came to UG's help during the final fight with Lost Seekers. And now, all three of them are sitting on a heavy duty (to sustain Daniel's size) couch, eating from a big bowl of popcorn and watching a movie. Though it's currently on pause, which means they focus on talking instead.]

( Read more... )
[Among the banter, Daniel starts the movie back again. He looks happy.]

To my friend Daniel:
I knew you will find this eventually. Listen to my message; the password is something only you would know.
The first part is the name of your energetic friend.
The second part is the name of your calm friend.
The third part is the third name of God.
Access the data, and learn the truth.
TD

[That was the message attached to the data disk Daniel found in the ruins of the old Lost Seeker compound. And now, thanks to Greta's answer, he knows the third part of the password.]

Maggie. Bobby. Nothing.

[He inputs the password. The datadisk accepts it. On it, there is an audio file. Daniel starts to listen as a voice can be heard in the room - a voice that, if you discount the lack of artificial synthetic parts and metallic resound, sounds suspiciously familiar...]

( The recording )

...

[Click. Daniel stops the recording. Slowly, he takes a step to the side, without saying a word. And he slams his fist into the wall.]

[1] Alright folks. I promised I'll explain everything. Sit down; this will take a while.

( Daniel's story )

That was nearly four years ago. I returned to the compound a year later, to scout it. Abandoned ruins. I thought the Lost Seekers, and their terrible crusade, were no more. I was wrong. The first sign were mecha similar to Steel Wanderer, sighted near a town in Mexico. That's why I took that job. If you were there, in that fight, you know what happened: Defor and Prospero died in that fire three years ago. But Godefroy survived. He rebuilt the Lost Seekers, created a new army of cyborgs. And now, their crusade started again. We killed the leader of one legion, but there's more. They'll attack again. And soon. Probably.

If you have questions, ask me. I'll say all I know.

[announcement - no responses necessary to this one]
I'm going to the old Lost Seeker compound tomorrow. To look for clues. Maybe there's something I missed; something that'll hint where their new base is. If you wanna tag along, go ahead. Doubt we'll meet any hostiles, the place is in ruins. But take weapons if you want. Just in case.

[2 - exploration, feel free to talk to Daniel or others]
[The compound is located in southern US, in a mountainous area - hidden from plain sight, it's easy to miss even by airborne observers. Good that Daniel knows the way. The buildings, as expected, are ruined and completely abandoned, with no signs of human presence for years. There's also a lot of damage, from the incident that put an end to the first crusade before it even started. Because of that, it's hard to tell what use some of the buildings had, but there are remains of a hangar, at least, and less damaged residential and work areas.
It's hard to find anything of value here, but there's a lot of rubble and old, useless scrap, some of it in the form of mysterious machines in a few rooms, too rusted over and trashed to recycle or figure out their function. Overall, the whole compound has a bit of an abandoned hospital vibe. Not the nicest place to be.]

[3 - Daniel's discovery]
[After looking (and failing to find anything) for several hours, Daniel looks like he's ready to head back. But then...]

...What's this?

[He heads towards a ruined stairway. Under it, he pushes a part of the concrete wall, seemingly indistinguishable from others. And yet, a part of the wall gives, and a hole appears. Daniel puts a hand inside and recovers a paper-wrapped package. It looks old. He stares at it silently.]

...

[1 - backdated a little]
[Daniel wasn't around for several days - he suddenly asked for a leave, if anyone bothers to investigate his disappearce. But now, he just as suddenly shows up again. He also looks kinda dejected. The large cyborg sits down in a chair heavily (which creaks in protest), and boots up a tablet (he has to use a stylus - fingers too big), which shows an e-book titled Tales From The Old West. But Daniel doesn't look like he's in the mood for reading. It's a mystery if he's physically capable of sighing, but he looks like he really wants to.]

...Thought I finally found them. But I was wrong. It was a false trail. A red herring. Again.

[2 - the outskirts of Alhambra]
[Steel Wanderer is being piloted right now, for a practice session. The mech fights against a target dummy, hitting it repeatedly with a training sword (pretty much a large steel tube). The attacks, while certainly strong, are very simple and without skill, as if delivered by a rookie - very different from Daniel's usual precise sharpshooting. Is he really the one who's piloting the robot?]

1. [The mercenary who helped out in the fight against Sapphire Eyes and her goons shows up. And he turns out to be a hulking metal colossus. One who's wearing a long coat, for some reason.]

Hello. I am Daniel, an independent contractor. Or merc, if you prefer. Your commanders agreed to hire me, and I'll work for Unity Group now. I always wanted to do that; I think that's my most prestigious boss yet. If you don't trust me, check my website. It has credentials.

There are two things I'm asking in return. First, don't touch the Gun of God and Apostle's Armory. I'll handle them. The rest of Steel Wanderer is fine for touching. Second, I'm looking for my friends, Maggie and Bobby. If you've seen them, let me know.
...I'm also asking for payment, but your commander covers it. So it's technically three things.

2. [The website in question turns out to be embarassingly amateurish - like something out of Geocities, or Japanese internet. It even has a midi song playing in the background (a theme from some old western movie). But there are recommendations from previous people Daniel worked for, and they have only good things to say. And it seems he never took any morally questionable jobs, only honest ones like protecting settlements or convoys.
Feel free to comment on the website to other people or to Daniel.]

3. [Steel Wanderer kneels down in the hangar. It looks like the mech's only visible weapon is a hugely oversized revolver - the Gun of God Daniel mentioned. The cyborg is here too, operating some kind of console, connected with a cable to Wanderer's shoulder-mounted Apostle's Armory system. The console is full of switches, and screens showing unlabelled charts that mean nothing to an untrained eye, but Daniel doesn't look lost, and operates it with confidence. Finally, he presses a button, the Armory starts to buzz, and after a few seconds, it spits out a mecha-sized bullet on the hangar's floor. Only then Daniel notices he has company.]

Yes?