Tales from The Grid, Issue 1: Two Sides to Every Story (IC)

[roseheart]

"Hey, king/queen lady, I think we should help out that 'undead' guy over there. The more people we can save, the better."

WHT Boulder Mech suggests to BLU Valkyrie King to invite BLU Thief.

"And if we can get that assault unit to work with us, that would be even better."

WHT Boulder Mech suggests to Blu Valkyrie King to invite BLK Assault.

"Beyond that, I almost have the readings necessary to figure out what is going on here. Some temporal anomaly spiked up for me, but I'm almost done getting all the static and interference untangled. Some stupid spatial dissonance can't stop me!"

[roseheart]

"Me, ally with an undead? No way! As for that other guy, he hasn't said anything in forever. He's hiding something.

(Yes, I'm aware "that other guy" is female. It's just that my character hasn't realized it yet.)

[roseheart]

"... So being brought back from death is a deal breaker for you? ... I'm feeling generous, want an alliance Mister Undeath? Also maybe a name to call you would be nice."

WHT Sudowoodo proposes alliance with BLU Thief

"He's not really undead. Trust me. Plenty of people have been deemed dead, only to show that, no, they really weren't. Hate to break it to you, but I don't want to essentially murder people just because of assumptions. Now, if they shoot people, then those aren't assumptions."

"As for the assault, they might be, but we can't be too choosy. If people help people, then that's a self reinforcing cycle. People hurting people is too. I like the one where we all are better off."

[roseheart]

"So are you also extending the olive the branch to me? At least enough to say, "you don't hurt me I don't hurt you"? Although, what I'm wondering is how my potential ally cheated death."

"Yeah, no. You killed a man. As for how he cheated death, well, odds are it was chance. Heart attack, lightning storm revitalize him, water moved him around a bit, then just now woke up."

"... Alright, circling back to earlier conversations,

Give me those stars.

"

[roseheart]

"I am willing to accept, should I survive. I am very much alive, whether that be again or still, and plan on keeping it that way."

Thief accepts Sudowoodo's alliance.

[roseheart]

"Actually, I want you to target the horse rider Specifically, I have a plan."

"Look, kid, this place can kill you. It already has gotten that knight due to your friend there. I... I have seen more people die than I care to admit. But, I'll tell you what, I won't harm you. I can't say the same for that plank of bitterness, but I wouldn't follow anyone who seems like they will do anything to accomplish their goal. Especially when they don't seem to care about life."

"The Vex are the end of everything. They killed more in their first hour of invasion than any other event. The holocaust, the cold war, the plague. None of it compares to the scale the Vex operate on. The holocaust killed 10 million. The cold war, even more. The Vex? We're still counting. And we are already at 6 billion 253 million and more. The Vex have a goal. And they sacrifice each and every one of their allies to get there. I get sent back to stop them. I have seen people skewered by chitin horns, families blown to bits from an errant oversized grenadier beetle, children torn in half by Leapers. And those are the more subdued Vex. There's also the Burrowers, which destroyed bunkers and infastructure. Fireflies which take out air support. Spiders the size of houses creating more Vex. Then there's the Psions. I'm not going to subject you to their horror."

"I know a monster when I see it."

"So what if

i'm

the monster? So what if I'm single minded? My goal is to get out of here, same as everyone else. Me pulping that knight was a mistake, but that doesn't matter. This is a ride or die situation. We have to make a choice.

And I already made up my mind.

Strike her down now, we can get out of here if we do this!!

"

(To the BLU Thief, 1. Use the longsword, 2. Stay still)

[roseheart]

"For the love of God, lady, put aside your distrust of anything vaguely against your religion and let us help out that boy. He could be undead but he isn't evil! That much is obvious! He's just trying to survive! That piece of misbegotten wood that even a fire wouldn't burn is clearly not right in the head, or its equivalent."

WHT Boulder Mech

strongly

suggests to BLU Valkyrie King to invite BLU Thief.

"Look, kid, it out right admitted to being a monster. It admitted to being single minded. What more does it take to convince you that it is going to betray you?! Even Hitler and Stalin had the brains to know not to say that out loud. The Vex had that exact same ideology. The grunts were barely animals, but the leaders were sapient. Some tried to stab me, slash me, bury me, explode me, even mind wipe me. Right now, that monster is trying to kill that lady, then is probably going to try to kill me, then those two around us, then you. All in the hopes of getting out of here. How much do you want to bet that it can even do that? I can, and I have machines that tell me I can. Machines don't lie. They just take a bit. Look, I'm trying to save you. What more do you want?"

"... Make your choice, Partner, but let's face it. You can fight for freedom or lie at the feet of these two and

die.

"

"There you go again. There is no, some may die, thing here. We can all leave. We can all get out, without anyone dying. Sure, those other two have taken pot shots, and they will be reprimanded for them, but you. You murdered a man. He could have gone home, lived his life. But no. It may have been an accident, but you are certainly making me think it wasn't."

"Look, kid. I... I want to help. I will help. I just need you to not follow that monster. I can't understand what you've been through, or what you are dealing with, but dealing with it is dealing with a hungry and injured wolf. No one wins and it'll likely kill you as much as help you."

(GM: To keep the game moving forward, let's respect the thief's decision to accept the alliance invite.)

"I'm really sorry to hear that, kid. I'll try to come back and get you out of here."

[roseheart]

Speaking to the paladin, the Valkyrie says, "I presume your magic identified that man as not being undead. He also seemed sincere, which isn't something a undead would show." She turns back to the thief and says, "Listen to the paladin in the giant suit of armor. That monster is not something you can trust." The Valkyrie resumes talking to her ally. "I don't know about that cold war, that holocaust, that Hitler man or that Stalin woman, but those numbers are insane! By the way, my loyal knight was a woman. May her soul find peace in the afterlife."

[roseheart]

[The Sudowoodo is just giving the Valkyrie and Mech the best death glare he can manage. It honestly looks more like cautious fury than anything else, but A for effort, buddy.]

[roseheart]

"Oh, sorry. It's hard to tell through the armor. Theirs, that is. Mine would be hard to tell as well. As for the kid not being undead, yeah. I got a lifesign sensor going at a 10 kilometer radius. Every person I save with it, is one more person the Vex haven't gotten. I can tell you all about the horrendous future of Earth after this, but first I need to unscramble this interference. These star things are making it

much

easier, but the static coming in is rather persistent. Almost like this place doesn't want us to leave. Maybe... no, theories are best served outside the battlefield.

[Nancy Drew 39]

"I need some cover."

Move to E3. Shoot F5.

[Nancy Drew 39]

"That robot is intimidating and beyond what I’ve previously seen from NASA. Could Erik Von Daniken have possibly been on to something with his UFO theory?”

[roseheart]

"Nah, this beauty was built in Germany before we got shipped out. It's amazing what the end of the world can do for making world powers play nice with each other."

[roseheart]

"..." [Sigh] "My nerves are finally catching up to me... I guess I ought to do this before I don't have the chance. If their spirit is still around or something, I'm sorry knight. I didn't really mean to hit you in the first place. There... Isn't really an excuse for what I have done

and what I'm about to do,

so I suppose all I have left to give is an apology, for what it's worth." [The Sudowoodo has a sort of somber expression.]

"For what you're about to do? What about you've already done? Wait, you're about to go nuclear?"

"Get back, everyone!"

"I don't have a nuclear button. I'm... Apologizing for the fact that I'm going to fight you or whatever, and I'm under no illusion that this will end one of two ways."

[roseheart]

"You didn't need to. You don't need to. You are a monster, as is evident from your idea that you have to fight, but you don't need to. You can not fight, for example. Maybe when I come back for the kid, you'll... you'll have changed. Maybe you won't be a monster, then. Every life taken is one less to fight against the Vex.

"... I have to because if I give up now, all the bad things I've done will have been for nothing. I'd rather this end with me as paste on the ground than face that. How this ends... Doesn't really matter for as long as I leave here."

"Well, that is a shame. To see life as having only two paths, or two possibilities, is simply upsetting to me. My Overseer may be a stuck-up rule follower, but they did have this saying I rather like."

"If all you can think of is to follow one of the two paths in front of you, you haven't considered digging a third one."

"As corny as it sounds, that advice got me and my squad through several situations we wouldn't have otherwise. Now, right now I bet you wished it hadn't but, hey, can't blame my Overseer for doing her job."

"Sage is insane. It says it's sorry but then tells us that it's going to continue trying to kill us. That's the very definition of insanity."

[roseheart]

move to D5

Use flail on E5 Move > E6 > E5, Rock throw on D4

Move -> D5. Throw Boulder at F5.

Move to C6, shoot Frogger with Laser Pistol

GM Note: Ranged attacks require a target space, will aim at Frogger's current space of C4.

Move to E6, then cast Excalibur on Sudowoodo on F7.

Stand still,. Attack Horseman with knife.

||Use the Longsword||

Move to E3. Shoot F5.

Melee Phase

The thief pulls out their pulsing

longsword

, before flipping it in the air and quickly thrusting it forward. The valkyrie king is slain. The blade brakes off, destroyed. The sudowoodo makes no melee attack once they see the valkyrie king is gone.

Move Phase

The yellow frog bounds into the north-east corner of the goal zone. The sudowoodo teeters north and west onto the goal zone taking the rider's place. The assault enters the nearby patch of forest. The sniper heads over to the boulder and ducks behind it for

cover

. The mech walks east, and below their village dwarfing form, the tiniest little yellow amphibian is, in the most "extra" of ways possible, squished. The shaking ground causes the boulder the crack up a bit.

Range Phase

The sudowoodo doesn't have a clear shot on the stomping mech, and holds their throw. The assault peers through the thin trees and raises their hefty assault rifle. The debris south of the goal zone is all shot up into bits. Just after that the same spot is filled once again, this time by a boulder from the mech.

Special Phase

The goal zone begins to glow, all but the thief and sudowoodo feel themselves repelled by it. Some sort of vortex of light is forming, this is the victor's chance to go home. For the others, it may still be possible to rush into the portal, or you could flee for now in hopes of finding one that is more stable...

================
|-|- Turn 7 -|-|
================



Score:
5/7 = Alliance of Convenience (Victory!)
4/4 = BLU Thief {AoC} +2 +1 (+4 Victory Points!)
1/3 = WHT Sudowoodo {AoC} +1 (+1 Victory Point!)
0/3 = WHT Boulder Mech +1 (Survivor)
0/2 = BLU Valkyrie King (Deceased)
0/0 = YLW Knight (Deceased)
0/0 = BLK Assault (Survivor)
0/0 = WHT Sniper (Survivor)

Game Set - Alliance of Convenience Victory

Sylveone46 and Pinxed. Spoiler your choice. If answers are different, the surviving teammate with the most Victory Points will decide. Choose your fate:

A

. Boost: Choose a game world from the list to have an extra chance of being drawn. At least one teammate must retire. Boost may be removed by others in the future.

B

. Revive: Can be from this battle or any previous one. The original player must accept the offer.

C

. Progress: Choose a single teammate to gain 1 VP. Optional: Instead, you can choose to

sacrifice

your teammate to gain 2 VP. (You don't have to win the vote to sacrifice them.)

Sylveone46, Pinxed, Space Jawa, HadesTheReaper, and Nancy Drew 39, choose in a spoiler whether to

Retire

or

Continue

. The victors have made permanent progress towards a better ending. For those that were defeated, the points acquired may be useful for character upgrades (if your character has them) and can be used to remove games from being drawn in the next match if you choose to retire. If you choose to continue, you will be stuck with this unit next time you play.

Ending Costs:
Mediocre (Free)
Decent (2VP)
Happy (4VP)
Secret (10VP)

"Nnnng..."

a1s and Accrovideogames can speak as a ghost using this portrait to request, negotiate, or accept a revival...aswell as ArchimedesWojak (Snake, Snake), Glass (Nomadic Trooper, FE7), and 0cra_tr0per (Nu Mou White Mage, FFTA).

[roseheart]

"Another one?! Kid?! Why, why do you jump to violence?! I'm... I'm not going to kill you, kid. Someone or something failed you, to leap to join with... that. It may have a chance to survive and become better than it is now, but it is going to take too long and too much before it realizes exactly what it is. I... I wish you the best of luck out there. I need to get everyone else out that I can. See you on the flip side, I suppose."

"As for you, monster, I hope you end up in an isolated existence with enough time to figure out what you want out of life. Because if it involves friends, love, and fulfillment, you missed that train. People act as their true selves in a surprise crisis. If it isn't a surprise, that won't show it. But you seemed defeated and bitter. You accepted the status quo, and made it your fate. I didn't, and I want to get everyone out of here. No violence if not needed. You sprung to violence as a first resort. Again, you can be better, but not without resources we don't have."

"So long, everyone. If any of you care to join me on my apparently selfish goal of getting us all out of here, follow me. I can even give you a lift. And, kid? That offer extends to you too. You killed her and sided with the monster, but at least we do have the resources to help you."

[roseheart]

(Pinxed: So what's the plan, partner? Anything that works well for you IC?)

[roseheart]

(Sylveone46: sorry for taking so long, I was asleep. I'm kinda thinking about going for the revive option.)

(Sylveone46: to accro/Valk king, I'm thinking of reviving your character if you'd like your ghost to request such. I'd rather Sage get approached by the ghosts first than the other way around.)

[roseheart]

"YoU aRe CuRsEd!"

A ghost is tormenting the thief. It looks like it won't be able to find solace until it can have its revenge.

(Accrovideogames: Yes, I'd like to have my character revived.)

[roseheart]

"... Is that a ghost..? You... Wouldn't happen to be the... The king we killed, would you?"

"And if you are, don't haunt him, if you're gonna take revenge on anyone I'm kind of responsible for this mess, so haunt me." [.... The Sudowoodo looks down at the stars, seeming to think about something.]

[roseheart]

"Okay, whatever. I was told to attack, so I did. Next time don't write someone off for being 'undead'."

[roseheart]

"I think I had a revelation just now. Alright Spirit, I have an offer for you! I think if we do this right, we can use these weird... Star thingies to bring someone back! So if you could stop pestering my friend, I'm pretty sure I can bring you back. Consider this a true apology for all that has happened."

[Nancy Drew 39]

"If you ever darken my door again Aisha Welch, you'll sleep with the fishies."

Continue

[roseheart]

"I'm going to have to ask you don't kill each other. A bother, I understand, but please stay alive long enough to get back to your proper reality?