Mascot sees the alarm on Spider's face as the noise erupts from outside. Reflexively, he tries his comm, but only gets the same static. "Doc, get yourself and Shrier out of here. You got a vehicle or anything? We gotta move."
"Spider, we gotta be seen if we're going to lead them away. They see us, they can shoot us." He tries to move to a window to see anything outside and determine how many might be coming as well as any potential ambush points.
Mascot sees the previously milling crowd running for cover. He can hear the sound he knows well, a gauss rifle firing. He guesses its eighty or ninety meters away. He can hear other small-arms fire, mostly lasers. The people are screaming and making a lot of noise as well.
Spider nods. "Point taken, Mascot. But we still need to get out of here. We'll try and get to the ship unseen, so we can get what we need to defend ourselves and others."
Spider considers the layout of the town, and considers what path - headed away away from gunfire - gives them the best cover while taking them to the ship.
Spider thinks there's an alley he can use to his team's benefit.
"Don't worry about me," says Ada Harrington. "They're not going to shoot the only doctor on the planet, so far as they know."
"I hope you're right, doc. We'll be back as soon as we can."
"C'mon," Spider says to the others, "Follow me. Stay low and quiet until we've gotten some distance between us and the hostiles." He leads them out the back along what he hopes is the best path.
"I think your being a bit too optimistic Doc. If this place has a basement, you should head down there, and lock the door." Drifter then follows Spider out into the alley.
As Spider, Mascot and Drifter run out the back with the badly wounded Shrier between them and the young man with the handlebar mustache trailing behind, they can hear the panicked sounds of the Berensi population running for cover as Arturo Novohig launches his takeover.
Drifter, most of these buildings are made either of tin or of some local variant of wood. But you spot one made of industrial concrete - probably a local warehouse by the look of it. The walls would make a better defensive position than anything you've seen elsewhere in town, but could also become a trap if you're surrounded.
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Flatfoot, you're in combat armor. Your enhanced audio easily picks up the sounds of gunfire even over the shrill whine of the air/raft's antigrav engine. No building in Berensburg is taller than two stories, making it difficult to approach with stealth. If you want to try it, you'll need to make a Drive+Dex roll of 7+. Otherwise you can easily set your vehicle down wherever you want, but you have no idea exactly where MS-7 went.
Spider leads them to the far side of the warehouse. "We need a way to get a signal to Resolution."
Flatfoot tries his comm, calling to his companions.
"Flatfoot to Team. Stat and location report. Repeat - stat and location report."
Risking taking some ground fire, Flatfoot stays up high slightly above the buildings. He flies towards where the fight had been, wanting to start from the last known spot of his companions.
The ground team can hear Flatfoot communicating -something-, but it's too staticky to be sure what he's saying.
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The air/raft's comms remain full of static. Maybe they hear you, Flatfoot, because your gear is more powerful, but you can't hear them.
Flatfoot continues on, figuring that these yokels will reveal their position by firing on the air/raft.
Suddenly, the air is filled with zipping sounds and the air/raft is struck by small arms fire. It lurches to the left.
Flatfoot wrestles with the controls of the air/raft. He tries to set the craft down where he can have some cover in order to return fire.
Unless one of the others suggests something else, Spider leadsthe group to the warehouse and around to the backside of it so that it is between them and the gunfire.
Drifter follows along besides Spider as he moves to put a building between the men coming and the group.
Drifter and Spider spot the air/raft, trailing smoke and moving fast, coming in towards a field outside of town about four blocks away.
Mascot spots the air raft. "Incoming! Looks like we got ourselves a ride! Maybe we can put this attack down after all." He looks closer. "Shit. He's taken fire! Look alive!"
Mascot prepares to leap onto the raft as it nears.
You also spot a second air/raft park about half a klick outside of town.
The nearby air/raft augers into the pastureland, skipping across the alfalfa fields in a several lurching beats. That air/raft ain't going anywhere fast.
For the moment, Mascot, Drifter and Spider can't see the craft, but know where it is.
Flatfoot, your armor protects you from the worst of the crash landing. Your bells are rung for a few moments, but you manage to begin pulling armor and weapons out of the mostly intact vehicle. You realize that if Novohig's gang gets here before your team, the bad guys are going to have a whole new cache of high-tech weapons.
Flatfoot keeps watch on the town as he moves gear from the crashed air/raft. If he spots Novohig or any of cronies, Flatfoot will fire a warnign shot from one of the rifles.
"Let's go!" Spider moves quickly, leading the team towards the downed air/raft.
Spider, give me a Leadership+INT or SOC check. Roll well!
Then give me a Tactics (Military)+INT check.
Drifter, you don't have Tactics (Military), but you do have Jack-of-All-Trades 1. You can therefore make your own Tactics (Military) check with a -2 penalty.
All four of you, give me Stealth+DEX and Recon+INT checks.
Drifter gets ready to head out.
Mascot races towards the air raft, seemingly deciding to trade stealth for speed.
Flatfoot is far too focused on quickly moving equipment from the smoking air/raft to take care or to notice anything.
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The team hustles along towards the crashed air/raft, prizing speed over stealth. Drifter and Mascot have the injured Shrier between them. You break into the open in a field behind the town and see the smoking air/raft. It's not a terrible wreck, but it's not going anywhere right now. Behind it, someone dressed in Coalition Combat Armor - it has to be Flatfoot - dragging your gear away from the crash.
You can hear that Novohig and his thugs are not far away.
Everyone, tell me your plan.
Drifter puts Shrier down behind what cover he can find and moves a bit away before deciding to risk it and starts stripping off his protec to step into the better armor.
Spider looks around the clearing for tactical points with cover, and then back towards the town, trying to figure out where the enemy will emerge into the clearing.
He calls out, "Flatfoot, Mascot, grab weapons and take position there and there." He directs Flatfoot to a covered point near the direct line between Drifter and the enemy, and places Mascot and himself in cover on opposite sides of Flatfoot. "The three of us will try and pin them down as they emerge into the clearing with our fire, and give Drifter time to finish suiting up. They've got armor, too, so if you have something armor piercing, have it ready."
Spider takes his laser pistol and puts the holster on his belt. He grabs his ACR, snaps the auxiliary grenade launcher onto it, and scoops up a mix of aerosol and tranq gas grenades. He moves to his position, drops the grenades at his feet, and loads a tranq grenade into the launcher.
Mascot powers up his combat armor and then strips down from his protec armor. The marine checks his gauss rifle and loads it before stepping into his combat armor.
His head swivels to where Spider is directing him. "Got it." He begins heading in that direction.
Flatfoot finishes donning the armor, grinning as his companions reach the raft. He follows Spider's direction, grabbing a rifle and moving the position. Once there, he raises the rifle and scans the village edge through its optics, looking for the attackers.
Spider and Mascot suit up while Drifter gets Shrier behind cover. Meanwhile, Flatfoot takes up a defensive position behind a low boulder on the right flank. It's high enough that he is mostly covered when kneeling, but would reach to his thighs when standing.
With Shrier laying behind cover, Drifter kneels behind the air/raft and starts to shed his Protec Suit. Mascot and Spider crouch-run towards the wooden shed on the left flank. It has a low stone foundation which can give them plenty of cover so long as they remain prone, as well as concealment behind the shed itself. However, they haven't yet reached it when the shooting begins.
Theatre of the Mind is good for me, too.
Drifter is the first to spot the enemy. Figures in heavy armor taking up position in an alleyway mostly sheltered from view. Nobody else sees anything, but Drifter (just now donning his armor) hunkers down behind the broken air/raft and calls it in.
Spider, if you were Novohig you'd put a sniper on the second story of that two-story building, but you don't know if Novohig has any military or tactical experience. You don't have time to think about that, however, because you're still running for cover when the first bullets fly.
Bullets splatter the ground right behind Spider. He knows without having to think about it that the shooter is an amateur that failed to lead the runner. But a damned well-armed amateur.
Mascot and Spider make it to the shelter of the shed.
From his covered position, Flatfoot aims at one of the armored figures.
Drifter did not enjoy getting shot recently and focuses on his armor.
Spider loads a tranq grenade into the auxiliary grenade launcher and looks for targets.
Mascot takes aim at the man shooting at Spider. He squeezes the trigger and deadly flechettes fly toward him.
Flatfoot scans the buildings, looking for the shooter who fired at Spider.
Mascot peers out from behind the shed to take stock of their positioning and the enemy formation.