Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
GURPS Technomancer Drabble
GURPS Technomancer Drabble
#1
dunno if I've posted this here before, but it almost certainly was hosed in the Hacker attack from a while ago.
the drabble
***
HuAnn Jefferson swore softly from the back seat of the Lincoln Geomancer as she reloaded her twin enchanted automatic pistols. Meanwhile, the animated Tyrannosaurus skeleton gained pace by pace on the sport utility vehicle carrying the plucky UNICORN team.

"What the hell are we going to do, Crimson?" she asked the redheaded sorcerer beside her.
"Cant talk," he replied. "Busy." His fingers a blur, he picked out commands on the laptop in front of him. Several occult symbols flickered briefly across its screen like confetti and coalesced into a rapidly scrolling pattern. "Its going to take some time for me to code this spell. Try to hold it off for two more minutes."
"Just great," she muttered. "If Id known I was going to be fighting skeletons, I wouldnt have gone for the silver nitrate bullets."
"If shed known, she says," chimed in the driver, a fox chimera called Reynard. "If youd had your way, wed have been so loaded down with depleted uranium rounds that we couldnt airlift you with all the cargo carpets in the Army!"
"Shaddap, Reynard!" She gritted her teeth and took aim through the broken window behind her on the menacing skeletal theropod. In a mere second, she had the absolute certainty that her shots would have their maximum effect if she shot . . . NOW!
Twin cracks echoed as the guns fired, and HuAnn knew her shots hit exactly where they were supposed to hit. For all the good it did.
"Why the hell do these museums have to reinforce the display skeletons so much?" she asked of no one in particular.
Grinning, Reynard answered, "So that when atomic liches trade zombie slaves for powerstones, they can animate them and not fear their investment being reduced to dust by international antiterrorists bent on saving the world? Its just a theory Im working on."
Stony silence filled the sport utility vehicle as it zigged and zagged through the underbrush. Then Crimson unleashed a Rebel yell that nearly shattered the eardrums of the much-put-upon sharpshooter.
"Got it!" he exulted. "All I need to do now is execute it!" Softly, he began chanting.
"Checksum error [8A 33 56 F0 E4]. Clear [E9 00 12 BD 43]. Execute program 'DRAGON_SLAVE.MGS' [E8 C6 22 19 A[Image: alien.gif] . Return."
Magical energy began whirling about the sorcerer, sucking photons into a sphere of red energy floating an inch above the keyboard. Gingerly, he picked up the ball, turned in his seat and let it fly. It streaked towards the gaping maw behind them, and impacted. A blinding flash, a clap of thunder and a fine rain of plaster and mana-active polymer raining down on the Geomancer indicated the success of the spell.
HuAnn looked at both her companion and his laptop. Shaking her head in wonder, she holstered her guns.
"Where did you get that thing anyway?" she asked warily.
Crimson looked confused for a moment, then smiled softly.
"Why," he replied, "from the Sharper E-mage catalog, of course!"
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll
Reply
Re: GURPS Technomancer Drabble
#2
The last thing a GURPS cyberpunk game needs is Lina Inverse stopping by for a quick lunch break. [Image: wink.gif]
[Edit]
It also occurs to me that in the Slayers anime, it's been rather clearly defined that the energy for their spells come from dimensional beings. The power to cast the Dragon Slave comes from directly entreating a Demon Lord.
If this particular Demon Lord was unaware of the existence of GURPS cyberpunk Earth, that may not be true anymore. I can see a side-effect of this mostly innocent event being their *needing* to summon someone powerful enough to deal with the side effects of drawing a Demon Lord to their world. There's no shortage of idiots who'd summon him, convinced they could control him. And when the Giga Slave or Ragna Blade are the only spells that will stop him, there's no one on the planet who can save them. I don't imagine the Lord of Nightmares passes those spells out to just anyone.
Of course, I'd also argue that by the end of the many series, Lina's proven herself to be the defacto Avatar of the Lord of Nightmares. She's cast the Giga Slave twice, summoned the Ragna Blade a dozen times, and has been tested (and released!) by LON after being possessed by it. I'd venture to say the Entity is more than a little fond of her by this point, considering how many times she's survived inviting the Entity into her body.
---
Those who fear the darkness have never seen what the light can do.
Reply
Re: GURPS Technomancer Drabble
#3
Cute. I like.
Oh, and .


-- Bob
---------
It's a "magical" land. I think "magical" is ancient Greek for "pain in the butt". -- Bun-Bun, Sluggy Freelance, 11/9/03
Reply
Re: GURPS Technomancer Drabble
#4
Actually,I'm not sure that the Dragon Slave spell would normally be needed.GURPS Technomancers have access to Shaped-Charge Fireballs and High-Explosive Fireballs,remember."There's only one kind of monster that uses bullets"-Colonel VanHeusen , from "It! The Terror From Beyond Space"
Reply
Re: GURPS Technomancer Drabble
#5
An idea for a more courageous writer than myself.
L-sama has been described in ways that, to me, resonate closely with the Daemon Sultan, Azathoth.
Which, given the above description of her relationship to Lina-chan, means that Lina is (or may be an aspect of) Nyarlathotep.
Discuss. [Image: wink.gif] --
"Use of unnecessary violence in the apprehension of General Zod has been approved."
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.
Reply
Re: GURPS Technomancer Drabble
#6
Actually, what wasn't written, as it's a drabble, was that mechanically, the "Dragon Slave" was a high-explosive fireball cast by an anime fan....
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll
Reply
Re: Re: GURPS Technomancer Drabble
#7
Nah, Lina's much cuter than ol' Nyarly.
- CDThat which does not kill us... has made its last mistake.
SERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
" It's crazy to try to spell out all the mega-nooks and hyper-crannies of a Borg contrivance." - Doug Drexler
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows
Reply
Re: Re: GURPS Technomancer Drabble
#8
Lina as a reflection-image of old Gnarly-Hotep? What a horrible thought. [Image: smile.gif]
Of course, if LON is running around killing Gods, the way s/he did in Slayers Try, Nyarlathotep might need replacing by that point, or the ancient god may have abandoned it's post in favor of something more entertaining...
---
Those who fear the darkness have never seen what the light can do.
Reply
Re: Re: GURPS Technomancer Drabble
#9
Like, say, training his replacement?
"Sore wa... himitsu desu!"--
"Use of unnecessary violence in the apprehension of General Zod has been approved."
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.
Reply
Re: Re: GURPS Technomancer Drabble
#10
And as Lina got to Nyarlathotep's palace, there was a note hung on the doors and rather a lot of silence. Rather than just blowing the doors open, she ventured up to read the note.
Quote:
Terribly sorry I missed you. Decided the universe wasn't a place to be. On holiday. Left a gem with my power in it on the kitchen table. Feel free to clean out the cooler and pantry, it'll all go bad anyway.
Cheers, Nyarlathotep.
"Well," Lina thought, "that was anticlimactic."Brazil has decided you're cute.Brazil has decided you're cute.
Reply
Re: Re: GURPS Technomancer Drabble
#11
Quote:
"Why," he replied, "from the Sharper E-mage catalog, of course!"
Pardon me a moment...
**YOINK**
Stolen for future gaming reference... I (or my character) may not SURVIVE springing such an awful pun in-game, but it'll be worth the pain... ^_^
-Logan
-----------------
Crow T. Robot: Well believe me, Mike, I calculated the odds of this succeeding versus the odds I was doing something incredibly stupid... and I went ahead anyway.
-----------------
Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 2 Guest(s)