Cloud is Dead (Final Fantasy VII CYOA)

[Kz3r0]

D) [Stealth] Hide and rest/wait for an opening

 

[Jester]

Barret. Shooting at Cloud would risk hitting our own guys, and he'd probably just block it anyway.

Where do black people come from in this world, anyway?

Mako reactors?

If i recall he was working in coal mines. Mby he is just dirty Asian in realty.

 

[a bear named spigot]

E) Activate bullet time and shoot all of the bad guys.

That's a FF feature, right?

 

[Stygian Lurker]

B

 

[Random]

As of right now, B (or rather shooting at Barrett) is in the lead by two votes. Since this is a serious decision, and cuz I won't be around to update for most of the day today, you should all consider it very carefully and if you are on the fence or tempted to switch positions, ask yourself two things:

A) Should I trust my first gut instinct? and
B) Should I trust my afterthoughts?

I'm not saying that this is an exam, or that the currently leading choice is the wrong choice. I'm not saying that there even is a wrong or right answer here. I'm also not saying that there isn't a right or wrong answer. Basically, it's like I'm saying nothing at all! I'm just somewhat surprised that there's only one vote for A and none for C.

 

[Gondolin]

I'm just somewhat surprised that there's only one vote for A and none for C.

Why? We have three targets. Two are moving and fighting, including one who can block bullets. One is stationary and firing. The safest bet is to take out the easy target first.

 

[Elfberserker]

Why? We have three targets. Two are moving and fighting, including one who can block bullets. One is stationary and firing. The safest bet is to take out the easy target first.

Assuming that we can kill him in first strike. Remember that the black guy has gatlingun in place of his arm, if we fail to take him down then there is good chance that we end up as Swiss cheese. At least Cloud ( ex-soldier) and Tifa ( woman with nice ass and boobies ) Would actually have to move over to our shinra guy to kill him and right now they are engaged.

Since we are quite tired and our hands still haven't healed from our encounter with brunette woman I think killing or hitting them will be hard, no matter which one we choose.

EDI: Shit I meant Gatling gun, not mini gun. Freaking whisky.

 

[Zero Credibility]

If he stops firing at his current target the SOLDIER there will take out the girl, and then him next. So if we don't manage to disable him (quite possible considering our state), distracting him now might be fatal enough by itself. If he fires back we can drop down and take cover on the stairs (we should be firing from prone and on full auto anyway), hopefully the SOLDIER could make the best of that opportunity.

Firing at the girl seems pointless as the SOLDIER seems to have that in control. Firing at the sword guy might even the odds a bit in that fight, but he will probably just block it all, like he did before and like the other SOLDIER is doing now. And there's always the extra risk of hitting a friendly in melee (again, not something we can ignore in our state).

 

[Jester]

If he stops firing at his current target the SOLDIER there will take out the girl, and then him next. So if we don't manage to disable him (quite possible considering our state), distracting him now might be fatal enough by itself. If he fires back we can drop down and take cover on the stairs (we should be firing from prone and on full auto anyway), hopefully the SOLDIER could make the best of that opportunity.
Firing at the girl seems pointless as the SOLDIER seems to have that in control. Firing at the sword guy might even the odds a bit in that fight, but he will probably just block it all, like he did before and like the other SOLDIER is doing now. And there's always the extra risk of hitting a friendly in melee (again, not something we can ignore in our state).

Thats how i see this situation to, soldier is waiting for chance to counterattack so lets give him one. He was unable to mop up this because of suppressive fire he have to deal with. We got cover nearby so should be able to hunker down in case of getting shot at and getting heat off the soldier is our objective.

 

[Elfberserker]

If he stops firing at his current target the SOLDIER there will take out the girl, and then him next. So if we don't manage to disable him (quite possible considering our state), distracting him now might be fatal enough by itself. If he fires back we can drop down and take cover on the stairs (we should be firing from prone and on full auto anyway), hopefully the SOLDIER could make the best of that opportunity.

True, but attacking now will reveal our presence. Firing will certainly distract the black guy for moment, but I doubt that the soldier can finish off the girl that quickly. The girl is very capable fighter and can use magic, strong enough that even Soldiers won't be steam strolling her right away. Even if we have cover there is magic, grenades and ex-soldier to worry about, it's quite possible that they might be conservative their powers a little since they have enemies further ahead. I think it's best to wait for opportunity to actual take down one of them before doing anything, even if there is still a chance that we could be discovered.

Firing at the girl seems pointless as the SOLDIER seems to have that in control. Firing at the sword guy might even the odds a bit in that fight, but he will probably just block it all, like he did before and like the other SOLDIER is doing now. And there's always the extra risk of hitting a friendly in melee (again, not something we can ignore in our state).

For now. We are adept marksman in very good position, if we take a breather and possible take a killing shot when opportunity presents itself it will end fight so much quicker. There is also a chance that either our guys or terrorist guys makes a mistake, which can turn this battle in any direction possible, if we stay hidden then there is good chance that we can escape if situation turns unfavorable for us.

 

[Zero Credibility]

I have actually voted to calm down before firing. Our position (hidden from view on the stairs) seems ok for now, no need to move and draw anyone’s attention. Situation seems like a stalemate for the moment. True, the sword guy has an advantage on one side, but our SOLDIER has it on the other. So, it becomes a question of who will make a mistake first. Hopefully not one of ours, at least not for the next few seconds while we calm down. Sure, it's a gamble, but we are in a very bad shape right now, barely able to walk.

I have to say that Random's post got me worried though. I mean, yeah, he says he is saying "nothing at all", but I'm still worried. I'm trying to think of a reason not to target the black dude first, even after we catch our breath. The girl I have to put down as the least danger. She's in a fight with a superior opponent right now, if she spares us any attention she is going down. The sword guy is probably closest to us as he came from the same stairs, and if we manage to take down the gunner he could maybe disengage for a moment to take his vengeance on us. That would be very bad indeed, as he is certainly the biggest threat here. The problem is that I simply don't see how we can help in that fight. We could try to suppress him to give our SOLDIERS a chance (and hope we wouldn't also end up suppressing our guys), but wouldn't that be exactly what all the other troopers lying around us would tried as well? Before they died messily? Wouldn't he just block the bullets and still be able to fight, just like our SOLDIER is doing?

 

[Elfberserker]

I have actually voted to calm down before firing.

The problem is that I simply don't see how we can help in that fight. We could try to suppress him to give our SOLDIERS a chance (and hope we wouldn't also end up suppressing our guys), but wouldn't that be exactly what all the other troopers lying around us would tried as well? Before they died messily? Wouldn't he just block the bullets and still be able to fight, just like our SOLDIER is doing?

I Didn't notice that you voted for calm time.

We have one crucial advantage that other troopers didn't have, he actually doesn't know that we are here. That Ex-soldier probably noticed all other troopers before, since he was the one who initiated attack and our guys just tried to hold him down. It doesn't seem that other guys though about sneak attacking him or couldn't sneak attack him. The difference between our power and power of those terrorists is big enough that it doesn't matter which one attacks us, since we will be toast either way. As you said waiting is a gamble, but even if our soldiers start dying, we have pretty good chance to remain hidden and actually stay alive.

 

[Zero Credibility]

That's another thing - I have zero confidence in our surprise advantage when it comes to this guy. He just fought his way through 25 floors of soldiers just like us. I find it very hard to believe that during all this carnage none of those men thought of the simplest fucking tactic of hiding a squad or two in an office somewhere while he goes by and then sniping him in the back while he is busy with the next barricade. It's just so obvious an idea and they had 25 opportunities to do something like that. So, either is everyone in this organisation completely ignorant when it comes to tactics, or they tried that and a lot of other things, several times - and it just didn't work. So what chance does a single soldier that is already dropping off his feet from exhaustion have?

 

[Elfberserker]

That's another thing - I have zero confidence in our surprise advantage when it comes to this guy. He just fought his way through 25 floors of soldiers just like us. I find it very hard to believe that during all this carnage none of those men thought of the simplest fucking tactic of hiding a squad or two in an office somewhere while he goes by and then sniping him in the back while he is busy with the next barricade. It's just so obvious an idea and they had 25 opportunities to do something like that. So, either is everyone in this organisation completely ignorant when it comes to tactics, or they tried that and a lot of other things, several times - and it just didn't work. So what chance does a single soldier that is already dropping off his feet from exhaustion have?

I wouldn't trust our troopers intelligence, see what happened to that one squad when we started our current character. These terrorists blew through past floors due their own power and they actually seized initiative, I believe that most of our troopers panicked when fire throwing terrorists busted in the floors, too panicked to think beyond defending the barricade phase.

As for exhausting, I did vote for taking a breather. I just don't see how attacking black guy is any less dangerous than attacking other two or any more effective.

 

[Zero Credibility]

But 25 times?

"Commander, the enemy has punched trough our 20th barricade! Should we try to barricade ourself on the next floor or maybe try to flank them and take them by surprise?"
"Nope, stay the course! The last thing they would expect us to do is exactly what we have done 20 times before!" (I love that scene in Blackadder)

Nobody is that stupid. It's been tried, probably several times, but surprising this fucker just didn't work. At least with the other two surprise might work - we know it can work with the girl because we almost got her once. But since she is losing against our SOLDIER anyway the other guy is a more attractive target.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

That's what you get when your soldiers are heavily raised on propaganda instead of tac-*BLAM*

 

[Elfberserker]

But 25 times?

"Commander, the enemy has punched trough our 20th barricade! Should we try to barricade ourself on the next floor or maybe try to flank them and take them by surprise?"
"Nope, stay the course! The last thing they would expect us to do is exactly what we have done 20 times before!" (I love that scene in Blackadder)

Stupidity is infinite thing. Lets see how supposed lieutenant acted when he learned about ex-soldier and materials.

"I'm unarmed!" you protest. "I can't do anything like this! They've got materia and an ex-SOLDIER on their side!"

"Who gives a @#$%? Find a gun or something! You're a First Lieutenant of the Shinra Peacekeeping Corps! Your responsibility is to protect the people of the world! Your own comrades are dying in there! And you're just running away?! %&@# you, you piece of #@$% coward!" Davidson says, throwing you to the ground and giving his squad the signal to move up. They charge up the stairs to the entrance to headquarters, and then into the place. Moments later, you see a red glow emanate from within, and then a huge blast of flames blows out all of the glass doors and windows of the entrance, charring the ground and walls, and the squad bounces out of the flames, tumbling down the stairs, some of the men in pieces. You confirm with a glance that all four men had been burnt to a crisp. The smell of burning flesh meets your nose. You nearly vomit. Then you realize that they still had their weapons on their corpses, which were in relatively good shape still.

Nobody is that stupid. It's been tried, probably several times, but surprising this fucker just didn't work.

lets assume that it has been tried, but doesn't that mean that it wouldn't work against the black guy either? Surely not all of troopers were attacking the ex-soldier.

 

[Zero Credibility]

Well, from our conversation with the sergeant it looks like the enemy attacked the main stairs between floors. Since we deduced that the black guy probably came through the emergency stairway, it doesn't look like he was involved in much of the fighting. I just prefer him as a target because the girl who we know we can surprise is already busy and he is just standing there, a big unmoving target not looking in our direction.

The sword guy, I just don't see our rifle doing shit to him, surprise no surprise. With the sheer amount of firepower that was levelled on him I just have to conclude that one more shooter isn't going to make a damn bit of difference.

 

[Elfberserker]

Well, from our conversation with the sergeant it looks like the enemy attacked the main stairs between floors. Since we deduced that the black guy probably came through the emergency stairway, it doesn't look like he was involved in much of the fighting. I just prefer him as a target because the girl who we know we can surprise is already busy and he is just standing there, a big unmoving target not looking in our direction.

The sword guy, I just don't see our rifle doing shit to him, surprise no surprise. With the sheer amount of firepower that was levelled on him I just have to conclude that one more shooter isn't going to make a damn bit of difference.

Ex-soldier may be a super human, but still just a human. I bet that after all that fighting, he must be somehow tired and perhaps not so fast with the blade than he was when he went trough all those floors. Bullets can still wound and kill game characters in this story, it just seems to be much more difficult than say your average Joe. We have two battles where we can give a opening here; ex-soldier vs 2 3rd class soldiers and a 3rd class soldier vs two terrorists. We don't have to kill or even wound the ex-soldier or the black guy, just distract them for moment so our guys can at laest wound them and pray that we don't day.

Still I vote for resting and observation since we are not in greatest shooting condition and for sake of preserving our horny shinra guy.

 

[Random]

Prologue Redux Part XI

You feel like #@$%. You'd like to just collapse right there, but you know that if you fail here, it will all have been for nothing. You take a shuddering breath, trying to halt your shaking. You feel light-headed, the early signs of passing out from fatigue. But you have no choice. You raise your rifle, flick the fire setting to full automatic, and take aim at the stationary black man. The easiest target by far. You take advantage of your position on the stairs to go prone, the best you can do to alleviate the shaking and stabilize your aim. You can't do much about the wrappings on your hands getting in the way, but you'll just have to suck it up. You lower your breathing as best you can without passing out. You ignore the sounds of battle. You think you hear the blonde ex-SOLDIER yelling something about a shooter, but you can't tell at this point. All you do is focus on your target. Your finger slowly pulls the trigger...

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG

Your rifle sounds out exactly seven shots before you let go of the trigger. Out of that burst, four struck the black man in the back. Two hit him in his left arm, the normal one. You see red start to seep out from his back wounds, into his shirt with torn sleeves. He lets out a weak grunt and falls to one knee. None of the four shots managed to score a sure kill, thanks to the man's huge size, but not even a SOLDIER would be in any position to continue fighting if he had taken those wounds. Or so you think. The black man groans and leans backwards, falling onto his back and staring at you as he bleeds out. The man attempts to move, but finds himself paralyzed. You glance at the situation. The hot chick is now stuck on her own against a SOLDIER, barely avoiding his attacks with impressive acrobatic maneuvers, but not only is she outclassed, your ally has a sword and she's only got her hands and feet. On the other end of the room, the ex-SOLDIER is yelling, "Barrett!" in a worried voice, and pulling out a green materia, raising it at you, while he swings his oversized weapon with his other hand at his foes to keep them at bay. His attention is entirely on you, not his real enemies. You would smile at your plan working, but you're about to be killed.

One of the SOLDIERs sees the opening. In a flash, he lunges forward and slices the arm of the spiky-haired ex-SOLDIER right off, creating a stream of red blood that arcs through the air as the limb flies away. The green orb of condensed Mako falls out of the severed limb's grip and rolls along the ground toward you. You spot a small nod from the SOLDIER towards you, a sign of acknowledgment. The ex-SOLDIER yells in pain and anger, whirling around and swinging his sword in a spiral, forcing both of the SOLDIERs fighting him to raise their swords to block the strike, but the force behind it is so immense that they are both flung into the metal wall across the room. Cursing, you turn your head to check the other fight, but something else catches your eye. The black man called Barrett is weakly raising his gun arm at you from his position on the ground. He's aiming upside down and his arm is shaking like hell. He fires a wild burst that doesn't even come close to hitting you. Then he fires another pointless burst. You consider putting him down. It's just pathe-

CRACK

The next thing you know, you feel like you're waking up from some sort of deep sleep, your senses jarred and your body in an awkward, uncomfortable position. You realize you can't see anything. You unstrap and pull your helmet off, allowing light to reach your eyes again. The visor has been completely ruined by a bullet hole. You realize what must have happened. The black man hit you right between the eyes, in the visor of your helmet. Even though your helmet stopped the bullet, you were knocked out by the force and slid down the stairs. You crawl to the top of the stairs again and see that only seconds have passed since you got shot. The black man, Barrett, is no longer moving, his eyes closed. The ex-SOLDIER is glowing with reddish-orange energy, and you almost gasp. You've seen movies and taken officer training courses on this. He's using a Limit Break, the power unleashed when a person's soul erupts. Most people never experience the phenomenon. But, a trained fighter can learn to regularly harness that power into an incredible, deadly technique that breaks the laws of physics themselves.

The spiky-haired blonde twirls his gigantic hunk of steel around twice in the air over his head with practiced ease, then holds it over his shoulder. The energy coalesces into his sword, turning a bright blue, and then he brings it down into the floor, shattering the steel floor with an attack of pure energy. The energy leaves his blade from the tip, traveling into the ground as a wave of sorts, a blue wave followed by several smaller ones. It rockets towards the wall where the SOLDIERs desperately attempt to leap out of the way, but it is too fast. It hits the wall, creating a huge explosion of energy that engulfs both SOLDIERs, obliterating half of their bodies instantly and killing them. This awesome display of power leaves you stunned and dazzled. Even with only one arm, this man is still capable of so much destruction. You can only assume that he is a former SOLDIER 1st Class. Turning away from the flames and cinders left by his attack, he faces you with a stoic look on his face, walking towards you with his sword at hand. You begin to panic. Then, a small green orb rolls into your hand.

Working off of instinct, you grab the orb and raise it at the man. You feel a strange sensation flow through your body, and a strange kind of knowledge enters your mind. You can suddenly see, so simply, how to create a deadly bolt of lightning. All you have to do is give the materia your energy. So you do. Suddenly, a huge bolt of electricity launches from your hand, striking the man in the torso and causing him to scream and spasm uncontrollably as he is electrocuted unbelievably hard. He collapses to the floor, electricity arcing around his body as he spasms a little more. Then he staggers to his feet, grabbing his sword and starting to drag it towards you. You can't believe he's still alive. That much electricity should have stopped his heart and caused instantly lethal amounts of internal burns to all of his muscles and organs. He's missing an arm, the remaining stump pouring dangerous amounts of blood on the ground. More blood leaks from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. There's second and third degree burns over his whole body, including a nasty one that runs up his face. He is literally steaming. And yet, he is coming for you. And he will reach you in seconds.

You raise the materia, but you are unable to supply it with the energy necessary to use it again. You raise your assault rifle to unload the rest of your clip into him, but when you pull the trigger, it jams. You panic, peering down at it. A bullet from the black man had flown into the action, ruining it. It can't complete a cycle anymore. You toss it aside, panicking, patting over your body for an alternative. Eventually, your right hand finds the holster on your hip. You draw your pistol and pull the trigger, but it sticks. Why isn't it firing?! You glance at it and see that the safety is on. You flick it off, raising it again, and when you look up, the blonde guy is already in front of you, raising the sword to kill you. Aiming is impossible, and pointless now. You pull the trigger as many times as you can. You hear the loud echo of your gunshots. You hear the wet noise of bullets piercing flesh repeatedly. You see the red holes appear, one by one, in the torso, thighs, and arms of the ex-SOLDIER. With every new hole, he staggers a little, buying you more time to live. When you have pulled the trigger fifteen times, the pistol clicks dry, the barrel smoking a little from overheating. The ex-SOLDIER peers into your eyes. You stare back at his. There's a strange greenish glow to them, the most obvious sign of exposure to Mako, and of course, SOLDIER. He seems to try to say something, but only blood spills from his lips. He steps back to maintain his balance, shaking a little, and then his arm drops, letting go of his sword, which clangs loudly on the floor.

Somehow, he stays standing, stiill staring down at you. He almost appears regal with his proud stance and solemn face. Then, you realize he is already dead. He died standing there shortly after you shot him. Through some bizarre luck, or some kind of otherworldly will, he still stands. Before you can do anything else, you hear a blood-curdling scream. You turn your head and see the woman from before, tears in her eyes as she looks at you, and the ex-SOLDIER. The last remaining SOLDIER is charging at her to cut her down from behind, but in the instant that he reaches her, she whirls, golden energy infusing her being. She kicks the sword away with incredible force, embedding it into the ceiling. Then, she throws a punch that the SOLDIER has no chance of avoiding, smashing his helmet and breaking it along with the face underneath it. She follows up with a one-two to his solar plexus, shattering his ribcage, and then an uppercut from low-down, smashing her gloved fist into his chin and shattering it. The SOLDIER stumbles back, already dead, but she's not done. She leaps high into the air, planting both of her boots firmly on the SOLDIER's face, and then kicks off of him with unbelievable power, somersaulting off and landing like a cat, while the SOLDIER's corpse is sent into the ground so hard that the entire metal floor panel just crumples around him.

And then she sprints to the ex-SOLDIER, reaching him in a scarce few moments, pulling him down and holding a green materia over him that does nothing, finding all too late that he is already dead. She silently weeps over his corpse, dropping the materia and letting it roll away. Then she looks up at you. Before you can lift a finger, she's grabbed you by the throat and is crushing your windpipe with sheer force. You can't breathe, and you lack the strength even on a good day to overpower her. You get tunnel vision as your death approaches. She glares at you with tearful eyes, watching you as you die. But, at the last second, she lets go of you, dropping you to the ground painfully hard. You gasp and sputter for air. She says nothing, she merely grabs the materia she had dropped and walks over to the black guy's body, holding it over him. A light green energy flows from the materia into the black man's body. You recognize it as a healing materia. She's going to save that man's life, and probably try to escape with him. You'd like to try and stop her, but... you're so exhausted and hurt, and now so elated that you're going to live, that you find yourself fading fast. The last thought that runs through your head before you pass out completely, is that you need a raise.

CLOUD IS DEAD​

END OF PROLOGUE

Well, that's that for now. Congratulations, you survived the prologue with only your second character! Also you get to see the actual title of the CYOA, and there's no restarts from here. If you die now, you die for real.

 

[Baltika9]

CLOUD IS DEAD
Good fucking riddance.
​

Fix'd.

 

[Jester]

CLOUD IS DEAD​

Its old but... USE PHOENIX DOWN.

Seriously they banned them or what?

edit. I wonder what you will cook up for us, after we become hero of Russia.

The name was Marcus... Marcus Westford survivor of Shinra Tower assault, boss in grunt armour, Legendary minion, user of ancient magic, solver of difficult quests and person who skips his well earned Libation to play whack a minion. Engineering corps 1, terrorist..... never mind. Fuck i expect it will suck for Marcus to contact his squad families.

 

[Baltika9]

The last thought that runs through your head before you pass out completely, is that you need a raise.

Raise? Try "promotion." Or becoming one of those SOLDIER whatchamacallits.

Well, that's that for now. Congratulations, you survived the prologue with only your second character!

The power of a good character name.

Edit:

Fuck i expect it will suck for Marcus to contact his squad families.

Huh, I would actually like to see how Marcus would handle that. GM?

 

[Night Goat]

CLOUD IS DEAD​

That's one ex-soldier down. Now where's Sephiroth?

 

[Random]

Its old but... USE PHOENIX DOWN.

Seriously they banned them or what?

Ha ha, I thought this might come up at some point. Here's the deal about pheonix down as it pertains to Final Fantasy - it's a gameplay abstraction to deal with the gameplay abstraction of death of party members in battle, which also does not actually mean anything in the story :shock:. While pheonix down probably exists in the story as a rare, invaluable magical item that can save lives from the brink of death, it is of no use to those who are already dead. It's definitely something that Shinra grunts aren't going to have access to, if it even exists at all.

Edit: Huh, I would actually like to see how Marcus would handle that. GM?

Well, if you guys want that stuff in-depth, that can happen. It'll be handled as part of the aftermath where Chapter 1 will begin, naturally.