|
Jack, hearing two raiders cry out in pain, and seeing only one head poking up through the diner booths, just sprints to the nearest cover at the corner and crouches down. He risks a peek around the corner then backs up, covering the avenue of retreat.
Ian sprints up next to Jack, doubling up the bishop-hold along the diagonal, hoping for a quick mate.
Jack calls out to the raider around the corner. "The way I see it, mate, you can walk out here without your guns, or you can stay there and bleed out with 'em. Or, as a third choice, you can run for it and I'll shoot you in the back, and then you'll still bleed out, but you'll still have your guns, so that's the same as choice number two.
Of course, you could shoot yourself in the head, as an option number four, but that's really the same as option two, when you think about it.
Or you could drop your guns and come out holding a knife, but then I think we'd still shoot you, so, yeah, I guess that would be a third option of bleeding out without your guns, so you'd have us there. Or you could join us, be friends with us for three-to-five years, and then we'd let you have your guns back. So that's a sixth option that is really like a fourth choice, where you get to live and -then- have guns.
Or, if you stayed there all night and carved a piece of wood into the shape of a gun...."
This might go on for a while.
Brand sighs and comes around the corner as the vaultie starts running his mouth.... again. He grunts as the motion of bringing his arm up and forward pulls on his wound, but he throws his hatchet anyway.
Unfortunately, it clatters off the counter and passes the raider harmlessly. "Do it, outser!" Brand yells, thumping his chest. "Shoot!"
New Round 1
Gloria fires and misses.
Brand hurls an axe, but misses.
Vulture fires at the Raiders two of them go down, wounded.
Jack tries to intimidate the raiders even more than Vulture already did...but he fails
Raiders unshakes and fires at Brand the bullet barely grazes Brand. The Raider moves further into the ruins
Ian runs closer
Roland
Round 2
Raider
Good Guys
New Initiative
Good Guys
Bad Guy
"Still talking that good s*** motherf***er, or are you gonna give up? Your call, but there's a hell of a lot more of us than you, and we owned your b**** a**es when you outnumbered us, so you think real long and hard before your next move."
"You know what? No. I gave you your chance. Nevermind. F*** You."
Vulture pops out to the west for a clear shot and pops two in the guy, one from each gun.
= Total 11, Raise
AP1
AP1
"Ain't talking that good s*** now, are you?"
Vulture puts down the Raider.
Vulture walks up to the one that shot Brand, unzips, and sighs in relief as he casts create water the only way you can in a setting without magic on the face of the dead man.
"Ahhhhh...Shouldn't have drank so much water at that farm house." After a good shake off he kicks one of the minions. "Call me a dirter, will you? Stupid prick."
Roland rolls his eyes.
"There's a lot more where this one came from. Might want to save some for the rest of 'em."
"Anyone mind if I take this rifle? They always stick me with the s%#~ gear and that's a fine weapon."
Gloria demures, turning her head away from the urinating tribal.
"Help yourself, hon, I'm set with what I have.", she says.
"Go 'head, outser. I'm no good with a gun." Brand retrieves his hatchet and sticks it back in its carrier on his thigh, then groans as he goes back to his axe, resting against the wall. "Don't suppose any of you outsers are good doctors, huh?"
"Take it. I'm more of a pistolero, myself...although I am running low on ammo. Think this town sells bullets? We can trade this crap gear in and lighten our load real quick before we save our friends, maybe?"
"I think the more pertinent question is 'Do they sell bullets to US'"
"Gloria is a local. She could do the buying and selling. Incidentally, very nice shooting, lady."
"True, true."
Roland drops his old and busted Varmint Rifle and picks up the new hotness. He lights up a cigarette and sits, cleaning it off and checking to make sure everything is in working order.
"So, where we gonna go from here?"
"If Gloria can hock this crap and get us some ammo, maybe helmet, shield for my bro, we do that right quick - then, or if not first - we sneak up, you and G stake up as a sniper in a neighboring building, Brand, and the Vaultie after he reprograms that bot kick the door in like the badasses they are while I sneak in the back and start capping heads."
"See if they sell a silencer or two, G, while you're there. That would help."
He looks at his wounded brother.
"Actually, stims first. Then ammo. Then silencer. Bro needs some patching - seriously. You took that shot like a f***ing Yao Guai, Brand! Maybe you ARE invincible. Still...I'd feel better if we patch you up and put you in heavier armor."
"Thanks, hon. Did you have to take a pee on that man? Was that necessary?", she says, stepping over the guy she shot. "I should hope shooting him would be enough."
"Used to be you could sell ammunition and salvage here all the time, but in case you haven't noticed the shops are closed for a bank holiday."
"Yes, I did. He deserved the dishonor. I don't believe in equal payback. You hurt me or those I care for, I will pay you back beyond what you are owed, because you started it. Cut an arm off, I will take at least two of yours. Roland killed him - but he shot my brother. If I had time I would hang him by his ankles for my namesake to pick at him as his people watched with traps set to prevent people from taking him down and giving him a proper pyre or burial."
"Bank holiday? What is that?"
Vulture looks generally confused.
"Dead's dead, what's the point? Not like he can feel it or care."
Gloria sighs.
"Disgusting. And that attitude's exactly how the world wound up as it is, hon."
"If you boys are finished marking your territory, what's our next move? The Schoolhouse or are we going down the warpath to the other checkpoints?"
"Good question. Does this place have an alarm to draw people here? We could set it up maybe to go off and pull people out of the school to here when we attack, after clearing out a second checkpoint we legitimately escape from. Sort of a distraction, maybe?"
"This is the quickest way back, right? Or did I get lost?" Brand shakes his head. "I thought we were taking here, then getting people. Don't do too much killing, huh? More than we need?"
"I figured another checkpoint as a distraction and then we escape through here. But they have our people, Brand, including that cute girl who fishes at the river with the brown hair and the huge...fishing nets... that flat out wants you to put more babies in her than branches on a tree. Don't think I didn't notice, by the way. There is no such thing as too much killing for these folks."
Gloria points a thumb to Brand.
"I like that plan a bit more. And it will save your bullets."
She digs through her pack.
"I got some healing powder in here, hon, if you need it. You'll feel pretty fuzzy, but it might take the edge off of that bullet wound."
"Sure, can't be worse than the Vision Walk." The big tribal raises his hand and speaks in a half-mocking tone. "Take drugs! Kill a bear! Find yourself!" He looks to Vulture. "Surprised you didn't get the same headache after like I did. Still, the visions make up for it. Gotta love knowing the future, right?"
Gloria pulls out a small plastic baggie of powder.
"Here, Brand was it? I don't want to tell you what to do sweetheart, but you might want to learn to duck."
"With all this being said, I'd say we should go for the Schoolhouse. The more we get shot at, the more likely we'll actually BE shot which means that the big fight will be all the riskier."
"Alright. Schoolhouse it is, then. I still say we get snipers posted in the neighboring buildings and have the robot kick the door in as a distraction. Brand and I can sneak in the back. Vaultie, do you need to remotely run the robot, or can you sneak, or can you shoot? All I know about you folks is if there's machines you're probably the ones to hack in."
|
|
Jack shushs the others to be quiet. He can do this. He's been thinking about those C++ courses he'd mostly slept through, and this didn't look anything like C++, but...but he can do this.
He tried not to think that if he failed, they'd have a knifing buring metal engine of destruction gunning after them. He tried not to think that this ally might be the only chance he'd have to saving their people and then finally getting a chance to be with Jessie. Her soft skin. Her pretty eyes. Her two big round firm bouncing...noble intentions. He focused on the task at hand, cracked his knuckles, and went to work...doing SCIENCE! to it.
Jack frowned at his efforts. That...didn't look right. He wanted to hit Enter so badly and get on with the rescuing, but he felt he could do better. He thought he could do better. He...hoped he could do better. Yeah, more a 'hope' than anything. Hoping is a plan right?
Jack nodded at the program. He had to make a spaghetti loop, and ran the combat protocol through some homemaking logic to boost the relays, so it should function. Ah, there, the logic was starting to waterfall, if he could just torque the subroutine...
= 10
Jack hit enter. Then he smelled his armpits. Man, nervous sweat was the -worst-!
Success and a Raise allows you to give the Protectron a simple set of commands that it will begin following.
Examples include: Patrol the premises, attack X, turn in a circle for 100 years...etc.
However, it is not an extra and not under your command.
Brand takes the powder from Gloria and looks at it. "So, do I eat it? Sniff it? How's this work, burned lady?" Assuming he figures it out, Brand uses the stuff, and while it relaxes the pain of his wounds, he also feels a little strange and cramped after using it. "Feels like a trade-off, yeah? Oh well."
Once they get to the schoolhouse, Brand creeps up into the grass and looks around. "Maybe go through that window? But they'd probably hear, huh."
Roland sets up on the left side of the building, finding a cozy spot among the rubble.
Through the window, Brand spots two Raiders inside. They seem to be doing drugs...
Brand looks over to his brother and sticks his hand barely up twice, then pantomimes what the raiders appear to be doing. Finally, he holds up his axe for a moment, then waits for a response.
Brand takes the powder from Gloria and looks at it. "So, do I eat it? Sniff it? How's this work, burned lady?" Assuming he figures it out, Brand uses the stuff, and while it relaxes the pain of his wounds, he also feels a little strange and cramped after using it. "Feels like a trade-off, yeah? Oh well."
Once they get to the schoolhouse, Brand creeps up into the grass and looks around. "Maybe go through that window? But they'd probably hear, huh."
"When I've had to, I just snort it hon. They don't make that stuff where you're from?"
Gloria hides in the tall grasses, backing up the big tribal. Her hands twitch toward her mouth, wishing she could bite her nails without completely ripping them off. Instead she holds her laser pistol in both hands and takes aim through the window.
Crouched in the grass, increasingly nervous and staring down the barrel at another living person- a bastard, but a person nonethless- Gloria asked herself for the twelfth time now if it wasn't just time to wash her hands of people again and leave herself out of this mess... But no, much as she hated violence the only way Rapid Town's folks were getting out of this was when those raiders were put down. Gritting her teeth, she pulled the trigger on the raider she could see through the window.
Energy weapons- assuming aim action negates cover penalty:
Damage AP 2:
(he's raised Jim)
Vulture carefully aims at the Raider's head, sends a bullet through it, and then casually sends one through the dog with his offhand.
"I am so f***ing bad a**."