The 8-Tank is an all-terrain mechanised infantry support platform: eight strong armoured legs, with wide weight dispersing treads connect to a small thorax that serves mostly as a mounting for the forwards weapons systems and the long flexible turret it has for a head. Behind that, a much larger abdomen contains the primary fusion generator and an armoured compartment that fits two men along with squad equipment and ammunition. The abdomen is wheeled, but usually carried off of the ground or detached.

Its eight legs are tangled and twisted with scorched red thorns, which have penetrated between the armour plates and into the motive systems so deep that lacking repairs you simply can't perform outside of a factory it's forever crippled.
A small seed of the Wolfthorn had been carried inside on Sleipnir, during your units last combat it had reacted by growing on and through it. They were able to kill the central node and stop its encroachment, and after the battle you all had to drag it back from the doors to close them.

Still, despite the wolfthorn, the weaponry on its main body is active and tracking your entry. It's fine with you, your suit announced itself long before you opened the doors. But regardless of your other message to it, at the presence of Iris, the very distinctive whine of a wire cannon fills the chamber.

"INFECTION. STAND ASIDE AESIR TYR."

"Sleipnir, recognise Infected as Dr Iris, grant 'neutral civilian' status."

DONE. DR IRIS, MY APOLOGIES.

One thing you can say about IA, they don't ever try to argue. As it is, neutral status just means that it'll leave her alone so long as she doesn't try anything stupid. Friendly Civilian status is actually pretty smothering, with all kinds of helpful warnings and public relations rubbish.

"Alright, come on Iris. I'm about to keel over. Have you ever been here before?"

She nods, good. The museum is mostly unpowered, except for the formidable security system, but Sleipnir took control of that months ago. Its supply actually comes from the Modern Technology wing's small scale fusion reactor and solar column, though Sleipnir is hooked in and could do it itself. Cosmo has it's own fusion reactor and line to the older geothermal plant a few miles away, but you don't know their status cooped up in the General's suite.

Right, first things first. Soldier needs sleep, badly.

"Alright, then Iris, Sleipnir can open the doors for you, there's actually a pretty good bunker in the Military wing if you want to take that and cold weather gear in the 'Triumph Over Nature' section, those rations are real by the way, plus the gift shop has more. So far the sonic and microwave deterrents have kept prowlers away, but I don't rely upon them and the Arts wing has been sealed off. I'd avoid it all the same. Don’t touch the tank either, that wolfthorn isn't active, but will still take your hand off on reflex. Trust me on that. If you want me, ask Sleipnir or go to the Planetarium. You should be fine. If you want to go, go."

She doesn't reply at all, but nods again. She may be hardy, but that doesn't mean she isn't tired, despite you doing all the work. Leaving her without a gun seems cruel, so you leave the magnum with her and head off. Looking over your shoulder as you head through one of the bores in the Rust Ring, you see her standing before Sleipnir staring transfixed, upwards through the dome, illuminated in a shaft of ruby red light.

Ah ive been waiting for this since part 2 was up.
Im going to lurk but i just wanted you to know you have truely sucked me in to this setting.

Status Bump:

Condition: Yellow - severe bruising, muscle strain and overactivity on top of it. While the painkillers and stimulents are keeping you awake and alert, it's at the cost of your recovery. Even if you hadn't been hurt beforehand, the combat against the warg pack would have had you exhausted.

Suit Status: Yellow - it's badly scuffed, but the real problem is that it's coated in an infectious blood foam. Don't touch anything you don't want contaminated, or be careless in decon.

Gear Status: Yellow - it's all in good condition, but like the suit is thickly coated in blood foam. Cleaning it all is going to be a bitch and a half.

Yellow all around basically.

Well, Bump 2 - I could write more, but it is a quest, not some ORIGAMI DICTATOR DONUT STEEL.

Notes:

You have the rough location of a Bank Vault, the shelter that Dr Iris founded and was kicked out from.

When shooting at the wargs, you heard an answering burst of gunfire from the city. Finding them might be loud and dangerous though.

Iris is tough, being a walking supervirus-tumour, as such she's basically immune to most viral agents and regenerates very efficiently. Without food, of course this is limited, which may help explain why she hasn't degenerated.

Cosmo Shelter, is overrun by something. You don't know what, having escaped it very quickly. You occupy the General's Suite, which had it's own bolthole which leads to the Museum Planetarium.

>>12292849
Decontamination should our first priority right now.

Decon, okay. It's going to be tricky, first you have to clean off as much as you can, the bolthole really isn't able to deal with such a mess.

By the time you reach the Planetarium, you're guiding yourself along the walls with one hand, vision swimming. It isn't bad enough that you think you'll need to take more than a few sips of 'nutrient' fluid, however. Previously you've used the restrooms for preliminary cleanup, having Sleipnir hose you down using the fire suppression system. It's good enough for your suit, though foam has worked its way under the edges of your clamshell and it's going to need a very thorough clean later, if not full replacement of those parts.

That's not something you want to have to do - fresh parts are available, but you only have enough to do this once. It might be better to stick to a full armour suit in future, rather than the environment suit and torso protection.

Two high pressure water jets blast the foam off of you and your gear, your gloved fingers and a brush finish the job. Setting the clamshell aside you scrub down with powder, working it over every inch of the suit and rinsing. Repeating. Rinsing. Repeating. It's monotonous and very tiresome, but you wouldn't skip a step for most anything.

Finally, wearing only the environment suit, you enter the Planetarium. Unpowered, it's distinctly less impressive than your hazy memories of before, though the ancient and previously well maintained projector is an impressive piece of hardware.

(1/2)

Decontaminate, sleep, eat, shower, and repair gear before anything else. Are there any security cameras in the Shelter we could use to take a peek before going in there. I assume the General's suite is connected, but there is a main entrance somewhere else.

At its foot, there's a hatch that leads to the now-compartmentalised maintenance tunnels. But that isn't where you are going - on the other side is a far better concealed elevator that basically freefalls for nearly a minute before slowly decelerating you to a stop. You stagger off of the platform, it really isn't meant for comfort, and through a small airlock. The room beyond is scarcely big enough to hold you, and slowly circles around so that the single entrance faces the boltholes decontamination equipment.

It's not a particularly comfortable experience, and the irradiation at the end can't be good for you, despite the protection of the suit. But you're clean enough that the chamber finishes its rotation and lets you into yet another tiny coffin, this time intended for you to change clothing. After depositing the suit and donning a ridiculously opulent bathrobe emblazoned with a huge letter K, you enter the secured suite beyond.

For a secretly constructed bunker it's the height of style, a large cube spanning two levels. The top is a spartan war room and small armoury, the lower level is an open plan arrangement of false-wood furniture, thick carpeting and Godking-size bed. You close the closet door behind you and bonelessly flop onto the bed. The ceiling has image panels of a simulated night sky, it's somewhat tacky. That's your last thought before your eyes slam shut and you get some much deserved rest.

Do you dream?

Hell yes we dream. And it better be something dark and foreboding.

"Alright. So, Tyr the 'One-Handed' wants himself a new hand?" The voice is smug, but friendly.

"You know I can punch just as well with what I have left, Mimir. It's a silly superstition, a name - a popular name - and a coincidence. So yes, I want a new hand. Not a bionic either, they're unreliable."

You're sitting in a comfortable chair, in an uncomfortable room. Mimir is unquestionably a genius, but his private quarters provide ample evidence for why he has round-the-clock surveillance and regular psychiatric assessments. The wildly deformed skeletons are… non-traditional decorations to say the least, relics of the JOTUNBRUD super-soldier project.

"Touchy today, aren't we. Well, far be it for my humble self to question an AESIR. Oh, stop that glare, if Wotan couldn't kill me with a dirty look there's no point you trying."

The emaciated man steps out from behind a screen. There's blood on his gown, but it isn't strictly human, he's just not very careful with his biomimetic researches. Still, the micromanipulator gauntlet on his hand is entirely too sharp and spidery, quite shattering the 'crotchety old doctor with a heart of gold' vibe he tries for.

The reality of the man had nearly sent you running… for the exit, for a gun, for a flamethrower. You can't really remember, just that so long as he chose to remain in his gilded cage you wouldn't have to challenge this terrifying thing before you.

"So you want a clone? Pah. Boring. What point is a such a name as yours if you simply undo your triumphant sacrifice? No, I have something much better… hmhmhm yes. I think you'll find it quite appropriate."

"Let me guess. You want to give me a wolfthorn hand?" you respond. It's a game with him, he makes grand offers, but is usually willing to be argued down to something sane. Still… this time… maybe something impressive is in order...

Everyone gets to make a few mistakes right?

Mimir turns away, biting one hand. He's frowning fiercely, he despises predictability, but the insane can be just as transparent as anyone. You grin at his back, it's always fun to turn the screw back on him. The cleaning staff, however have repeatedly requested that you not antagonise him.
He's very hard on his assistants.

He turns back and your grin falls flat. He wasn't frowning, a fiercely focused expression twisting into a grin more commonly associated with the bare skulls displayed on his walls. It's something more than the simplistic perception of evil that you grew out of, you've never seen its like on anyone else.
He was playing with you, the bastard. His laughter is shrill and ominous, but it's always like that.

"I'll give you credit, you've a fine imagination. A wolfthorn hand… it could be done, yes… soon. But, well, frankly speaking Tyr - it just doesn't give off the right impression. Wolfthorn is a beautifully flawed terror, but a decade of burning it back from the cities would probably have them burn you with it. Or try. And while that would be a fantastic game to watch, I have big plans for you, which need you alive. More or less."

"There's something I've been working on you see. I'm tired of cutting meat. I've been trying my hands at shaping metal, the results have been rather... fascinating."

He pauses, looking you over with a chilly smile.

"Tell me Tyr, what would you do for power? Would you 'protect' this filthy world, even after its inevitable end?"

This dream is interactive, by the way...

I perhaps should have mentioned that.

Okay, last bump.

If anyone would care to enlighten me as to what I'm doing wrong, I'd be grateful.

Aside from slow updating and only having the time to do this on the same days more popular quests are running.

hard to say man. Running on the same days as some of the more popular quests might be hurting you, similarly, it may just not be a setting anybody wants to do anything with, you know?

personally, I think it's interseting, as a setting, but I don't do quest threads... .so I'm not much damn good in this case, am I?

Well, that's true enough.

Originally this resulted from being pissed off that I lost all my Chimera Quest documents, and throwing out an idea when I finally had the time.

Anyway, I'll try some more with this, then try to reboot Chimera Quest.

>>12295418
HEY OP, I love your quest. I've just never been online to play when you're running it.

>>12296872
To elaborate: you've got an awesome setting, a great bit of mystery in the slowly revealed character history, a good current plot, and a fun main character. I want to see more of this and I hope you don't give up.

The story and setting of this quest is really cool. My problem is just that I'm never on when it runs.

Actually, I'm on, I'm just usually too drunk to be coherent.

Anyway, I enjoy catching this on sup/tg/.

>>12293554
Reply in the positive. After all, it seems we have anyway.

I do like this quest, not as much as STALKER Quest, but I do like it.

Out of curiosity, when did we beat the Wargs?

Fimbulwinter, I'm enjoying this quest very much and would like to see it continue. Don't lose heart at the lack of replies, it's not due to a lack of quality.

bump

Indeed, the quality of this quest is very high, I just never seem to be around when the GM is.

Try and keep this alive for a tad longer.