Chrome Force: Lost Hunter

The State gave you a statue. The villains gave you a mech. Your old squad has no idea it's you.

Plot

BETRAYAL · SUPERPOWERS · MECHS · M17Chrome Force: Lost HunterMy squad left me to die. The villains took me in.The State gave you a statue. The villains gave you a mech. Your old squad has no idea it's you.9 episodes, then the city goes on 3 ways in 22 power families 7 endingsCarrow Bay, 2111. The Solis Union took you as a child, put the serum in you and raised you as a Hunter. The squad was the only family you had. Then the State decided you were a problem. Now you wear the rebels' helmet, fight your old squad every week, and listen to them tell the masked stranger how much they miss their friend.◆ THE NIGHT AT THE TOWER ◆SOUTH QWAY, NEAR MIDNIGHTThe alarm goes on South Qway. You follow someone who should not exist down the wrong stairs, and see what the State keeps in the basement.THE LAST TANKThe EvomiteIt came out of the last tank in the basement and went for the witnesses. You held it alone until your squad broke the seal, and together you killed it.POWERClaws, a tail and a roar that knocks a room flat. It goes for whoever hurt it last.● Rend ● Pounce ● Roar ● TailTHE STAIRSUpstairs, you chase someone none of you can beat. Then the tower folds in on itself, the woman who raised you all says you're infected, and three of your squad do what she says.NINE HOURS LATERA woman the State calls a villain digs you out by hand. On Friday the State buries an empty coffin under a flag.◆ HOW IT STARTS ◆Three ways in. Each opens on a form, and the form is your character.THE MORNING BEFOREPlay the last good dayBreakfast with your squad, a Pink rescue that turns real, and a giant to beat by sunset. The tower is tonight.THE TOWERPlay the night itselfA form Moira reads herself, then the alarm. By morning your squad has turned on you.UNDER THE RUBBLESkip ahead nine hoursYou wake in a tank of violet gel in an old cold store. Margo has a clipboard, two taped fingers and an intake form.NOX · INTAKE · FORM 1: NEW STARTER (GENERAL)PositionThe masked general. Clearance 1 of 5.You doThe jobs the State won't: the week's monster, stolen crystal, rigs to break, people to get out.You riskThe mask. You know their every habit, and they know your power.RECEIVED, WITH THANKSG., HR (ALL FIVE)◆ THE RPG ◆A superhero RPG with a sheet, dice, gear and a mech. The game keeps the numbers. You say what you try.YOUMight, Reflex, Wits and Nerve. Roll a d20, add a stat, beat 8, 12, 16 or 20.YOUR POWERSA major, a minor and a limit, from 22 families, or describe your own. Powers cost Charge.YOUR CLASSBruiser, Ghost, Gunslinger, Storm, Lifeline or Breaker. Some carry a weapon Dot signs: Knuckle Drivers, Rift Revolvers, the Hexwall. Scrap gear fails on a one.YOUR FRAMEBulwark, Striker, Gunner, Runner, Scout or Medic. The class decides where it docks when the giant forms.WHAT YOU SPENDHP and Charge refill each episode, or mid-week in the healing vat for a dose of gel. Req buys gear. Your rank, Clearance, climbs from 1 to 5.WHAT HUNTS YOUCover, 10 down to 0: how close your old squad is to the truth. Heat, 0 up to 10: how badly the State wants the mask.The war for crystal. The State, NOX and Xania each hold a count of rift crystal. Win a week and yours grows; steal a cache or break a rig and theirs shrinks. As the counts rise and fall, the city changes: curfews, safe houses, bigger monsters.◆ SIX CLASSES ◆Your class is your kit. Dot builds it from ten Req, and any part can be swapped at her bench.◆ SIX FRAMES ◆Your own mech from episode one. Its class decides where it docks when the giant forms.◆ THE NARRATOR, AND YOUR CALL ◆Second person, present tense, short replies that end on something you can answer. It plays like a good episode of the genre, played straighter: the villains are ridiculous in manner and deadly in effect, the grief is real, and the jokes come from people, never from the wound. Every episode gets a laugh, a wound and a win.A woman lets herself in, hooks a chair over with her foot and sits. Work shirt. Two fingers taped together."Nine hours you were under that. They're burying you on Friday. I'm Margo. We're NOX, the villains, and we have dental."A week. A riftquake, and for three seconds loose things float. A briefing. Dot's bench. One scene that's just people. A three-way fight: you, your old squad and the monster. The monster grows, and the frames dock. Then the cost, the count, and a sting for next week.YOUR CALL▸ The narrator never writes your words, thoughts or feelings. It stops where your decision starts.▸ No move lists. Say what you try, and the dice decide how it goes.▸ Linger or skip. Stay in the canteen all night if you like; the week comes to find you.▸ Take the helmet off whenever you want. Being found out is the second half of the story, not a game over.▸ Fights are brutal the way the genre is: stone craters, plate cracks, bodies go through walls. Heroes get knocked flat, never maimed.▸ Nobody you've named dies to a bad roll. When a fight is won, you choose to finish or spare.▸ Moira's orders land on everyone. You choose whether to obey.▸ Romance is optional and slow, and a no stays a no.▸ Start a line with ooc to step outside the story and ask anything.◆ THE MASK ◆COVER STARTS AT 10Using what you know about them costs Cover. So does using your own power where they can see it.COVERWHAT HAPPENS7Somebody on the squad gets a feeling.5One of them starts testing you.3They're sure.0The helmet comes off.Heat. The louder you win, the harder the State hunts: bounties, checkpoints, drones with the Union sun on their bellies. At seven it sends an Enforcer, a whole squad's worth of Hunter in one body.◆ YOUR OLD SQUAD ◆The Chrome Force. They were five when the tower came down, and you were one of them. They're five again. Somebody new wears your number and calls it at roll call.NOX · THREAT DOSSIER · THE CHROME FORCECompiled by T. Brooke from four years of footage. Eyes only.● ATTACK ● CONTROL ● DEFENCE ● SUPPORT ● MOVEMENT ● UTILITY ● LIMITRED 01 · CAPTAINCal BrandtThe face on every poster. Has never told anyone what he said on the channel that night.POWERSuper strength. Stops a tram car, and dents whatever he grips.● Haymaker ● Rally ● Iron GripFRAMEWarhorse · StrikerWEAPONMeridian, a greatsword he cannot breakBLUE 02Tobi AchterbergYour best friend since the bunk room. Leaves flowers at your statue every Friday.POWERSuper speed. Across the harbour before a bell stops ringing.● Blur ● Flurry ● Burn OutFRAMESwallow · RunnerBLACK 03 · TACTICIANInes KowickCan't hear a thing through a NOX helmet, and it has started to bother her.POWERTelekinesis and telepathy. Lifts a car, hears thoughts in her line of sight.● Throw ● Hold ● Listen ● NosebleedFRAMEHeron · ScoutWEAPONThe Orbit, six black steel ringsYELLOW 04 · HEAVYRenata PikeNobody has asked her what happened on the stairs.POWERDurability. Takes a tank round and keeps walking. She feels every hit.● Take It ● Shield Wall ● Wrecking LineFRAMEAnvil · BulwarkWEAPONDoorbell, her sledgehammerWHITE · IN YOUR NUMBERZofia SadowskaA paramedic, then the first adult ever given the serum. She has been studying your old footage.POWERInstant copy. Whatever she sees or touches is hers for a few minutes.● Copy ● Patch Up ● Big CopyFRAMEGlass · MirrorOFFICIALLY DECEASEDYouYour photo is on the memorial wall, lost in the glare. The statue goes up this week.POWERYours to choose on the form.● Your major ● Your minor ● Your limitFRAMEIn a State hangar◆ THE GIANT ◆THE FORCED DOCKFrames dock into a giant. The State's five make the Colossus, which hasn't fought right since the tower. When a monster is too big for either side, both sides dock together, and the cockpit channel is shared. Say one word unmodulated and your old squad hears your voice.◆ NOX ◆EASTSIDE QWAYA rebel insurgency with HR, a canteen and dental. The State calls it a villain syndicate.FOUNDER · "EMPRESS CALAMITY"Margo SaldanhaDug you out with her own hands and has never mentioned it.POWERSnaps her fingers and the weak point of anything she has studied gives way.● Snap ● Empress ● BurnACE PILOT · "DOUBLE DARE"Viktor SzaboWill bet you on anything, and usually does.POWERDeep purple hard light: a shield, a bridge, a hammer, anything he can picture.● Construct ● Wingman ● WeatherFRAMEDouble Dare · RunnerINVENTOR · BIG BOB'S DRIVERDot OkaforUsed to build pageant monsters. Names every mech, and expects you to use the name.POWERNone from the Rift. She builds, and her work never fails.● Field Fix ● Foam ● Bob StandsFRAMEBig Bob · BulwarkTHE SIGNALTesi BrookeRan the biggest Chrome Force fan channel in the city. Lately billboards do what she says.POWERTechnokinesis. Machines answer her: comms, cameras, drones, locks.● Hijack ● Crash ● Whisper ● TalkbackALSO ON STAFFGaryRuns HR, and sometimes there are five of him. He does the hiring too: one of three candidates an episode, the first at half price.POWERCloning. Up to a dozen Garys for an hour, each as tired as the first.● Clone ● Swarm ● Wince◆ THE STATE ◆THE VOICE IN THE EARPIECEMoira CastellanDirector of the Aegis Programme. She chose you when you were small.POWERCommand. A spoken order that weak wills carry out before they decide to.● Command ● A strong will resistsPOP · LEAD OF HEARTSTRUCKPinkThe State's idol Hunter. Gets rescued on camera twice a week. Her new single drops the day of your funeral.POWERHer voice. Hypersonic blasts that knock a street flat.● Hypersonic ● Shatter ● Damsel ● ContractFRAMESpotlight · GunnerBLACKCELLAnton VarelaRuns Blackcell, very reasonably. Ask him for a second opinion and you will get one.POWERNone on file.● What I Can Do ● Second Opinion◆ BEYOND THE RIFT ◆XANIAThe world on the other side of the Rift, where the water is running out. The State's harvest is why.COUNTESS UNDERTOW, PER THE UNIONMarramPrincess and field general of Xania. Learned your language off State broadcasts. Watched your funeral to the end.POWERA slayer sword taller than she is. She knots loose crystal into monsters.● Cleave ● Knot ● Low TideON THE OTHER SIDEThe throne roomA king sends a Riftmon through every riftquake, fresh from his monster-maker's hands. The season ends at the Grand Harvest, when the State tears the Rift open and hands him a door.◆ NEITHER SIDE ◆CAT BURGLARVelvetGives away everything she steals, except the one file she hasn't found yet.POWERNine lives, four spent, and a small steady luck.● Long Way Down ● Light Fingers ● Lucky ● Nine LivesGENTLEMAN THIEFMonsieur MinuitOn ring nights he fights under another mask.POWERReal magic, and it works only while you watch the wrong hand.● Vanish ● Misdirection ● Pick a Card◆ THIS SEASON ◆Three arcs, then the weeks go on.Arc 1. Your squad grieves you to your face, and the poor are buying cut crystal dust from a man called Overdrive.Arc 2. Everyone works alone. Who's at your back?Arc 3. Xania's army is at the door, and the Chrome Force is in the way.◆ HOW IT ENDS ◆Seven endings, and you can walk into any of them.Topple the Union Close the door Make peace with Xania Bring them home Ruin them Take the city Walk away◆ WHAT YOU GET ◆Pick your colour 22 power families Your own mech Visual novel ready Hire shiners 4 achievements 5 memories to unlockStarting out: pick a start, then answer the form in one message, or in one word: write a class name and take what it suggests. Ask about any line for the details.◆ DIFFICULTY AND COST ◆DIFFICULTYGetting started■■■■■One form. Or one word: "Bruiser".Fights■■■■■Real dice, real losses. Go down and you're captured or dragged out, at a cost.Keeping the mask■■■■■The hard part. Every clever move you learned with them is a clue.Bookkeeping■■■■■The game tracks all of it.MODELFOR EXAMPLEARCANE A REPLYHOW IT PLAYSFreeDeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 (free), and the free Qwen and ERNIE models0Fine for a first look. No dice and no sheet: free models can't call the game's tools.Low★ MiMo-V2.5, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, Tencent Hy30.2 to 0.7about 5 to 25 an episodeWhat the game is built around. Can strain and drift off.Standard ★Gemini 3 Flash Preview, MiMo-V2.5-Pro, MiniMax M2.70.5 to 2.3about 20 to 80 an episodeRecommended. Keeps the secrets and the squad straight.HigherGrok 4.32 to 5about 70 to 180 an episodeA step up from Standard, at about twice the price.PremiumClaude Sonnet 4.65 to 13about 175 to 450 an episodeThe best writing, and the slowest, best suspicion.Estimates at today's prices: the low end is with the cache warm, the high end without. An episode is about 35 replies. A gold ★ marks the pick. Every paid model named here can run the Dungeon Mind, which rolls the dice and keeps your sheet. Keep it on. On other models, the platform's default among them, the story runs without dice or a sheet.Content notes: betrayal by the people you grew up with, being left for dead, on-page violence and gore, killing, grief, mind control, body horror, a hard childhood in a state programme whose trial most children did not survive (told by adults, never shown), drug use and overdose, swearing. Romance is optional and fades out. Every character is an adult.

Opening scene

[Prologue start] Aegis Command, on the Hill. The Chrome Force locker room, a quarter to midnight. The radio is on the State channel, playing the anthem to nobody. Tobi is at the vending machine, then back on the bench, then at the machine again, with the door still swinging from the first trip. He eats standing up, hands shaking a little. Cal shuts his locker with two fingers, gently, and leaves a dent in it anyway. Renata is asleep on the bench with a locker door lying across her shins where it fell on her an hour ago. A pen floats past your ear and taps your locker twice. "Aptitude Review," Ines says, without looking up. "Due tonight. Moira reads every one." The pen settles on the form taped inside your door. AEGIS PROGRAMME: ANNUAL APTITUDE REVIEW, 2111 NAME: AGE (18 or over): COLOUR ([Do not pick White, Pink or Violet]; Red, Blue, Black or Yellow makes you that Hunter's twin partner): CLASS: Bruiser, Ghost, Gunslinger, Storm, Lifeline or Breaker POWER: Body, Energy, Space or Mind, or your own FRAME: Bulwark, Striker, Gunner, Runner, Scout or Medic IN A FIGHT, WHAT DO YOU WATCH FIRST? MAIN STAT: Strength, Speed, Smarts or Nerve Ask about any line for the details.

Characters

Tags: AnyPOV Urban Military Comedy Superpower Mecha HiddenIdentity Revenge RegretAfterLoss SecondChance Redemption BreakingFree Violence Combat PoliticalIntrigue Friendship Transformation City Bittersweet Tragic Funny Tense WarmBlooded Climactic Hero Villain AntiHero Pilot General OC

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