Savage Rifts and the Tomorrow Legion

Game Master Shadow Bloodmoon

The undead creatures nearest you go down in a dazzling display of psychic power and flashing blades, but more keep coming. While your armor prevents them from doing any real harm, they may be able to overwhelm you..

So, since you're not assigning initiatives, do we just keep attacking?
I count 9 dead that weren't in powered armor - is that right (12 original, 2 ran, 1 healed and left), so 5 left? Are the ones in powered armor able to get out? As I recall, you described one of the armors as exploding "massively", so is there anything left to animate?
In terms of game mechanics, what does it mean to be "overwhelmed"?

I also wonder whether there would be enough of the ones hit by the boom gun to animate. If they were slurry, there might not be much to animate there either. Of course, it depends on how they are being animated, as in plenty of fiction, bodies kind of reassemble themselves in order to initially be animated (though that may be more of a skeleton trope).

By overwhelmed, I would imagine that in a zombie horde, it would count as an aid other kind of action until we could not help but fail grapple checks. At that point they could just pull off armour, or limbs, etc. Of course, as you pointed out, I'm not sure 5, or even 8, would constitute a horde.

Let me answer all those questions with the following..

As the first wave of zombies gets slaughtered by you, the trees seem to come alive as more animated dead crash through them and make their way towards you. The ground underneath your feet starts to heave as well. Those of you with powers to see into the unknown begin to feel a presence coming nearer. Something powerful and dark...

Don't know about anyone else, but I'm waiting to act based on the detailed particulars of the situation (and maybe an initiative order?)...

Wasnt really worried about an initiative order, as this is more of an ' environmental hazard' at this point... you are still in the road between the trees of the forest and you have some time before they reach you, but not much..

"<<I'll handle these. You two find and deal with the necromancer.>>" whispers Auriel over the radio, before trying to attract as much attention as possible.

"Perhaps it would be wise for us all to retreat, forcing the undead hoard to follow us, then Jonis could use her Boom gun on them en-mass?"

Trying to use my Presence Sense to locate the powerful dark presence.

I don't expect the undead that are attacking us to have minds, but what about the powerful dark presence?

As the horde gets closer to you, a loud boom sounds from behind you. Now that the closest of them have been dispatched by you, she is free to open fire. Bits of dead flesh and tree splinters fly in all directions as she blasts them, but they still keep coming.

Over your comms, she says "Get out of here! I'll hold them off for you!"

Retreating as rapidly as possible towards Jonis.

Having seen the devastation of the boom gun up close, Auriel has no desire to be hit by a stray round. Running back towards the group, he says "Killing the zombies won't solve the bigger problem; We need to find the necromancer!"

"As far as I can sense, there's no necromancer around!"

As you are running, you notice another of those shiny things laying on the ground near one of the zombies you recently dispatched. Burgurk gets a sense that this might be the focal point of some of that dark energy..

Burgurk swerves and stops only long enough to pick up the shiny thing, then continues running.

"Can anyone work some magic on this thing to figure out what it does? I get the feeling that it might somehow be animating or controlling these undead..."

Shakti will check to see if her more refined senses can detect anything Burgurk's could not.

Exalted Detect Arcane: 1d12 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 91d10 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

She examines the silver object, and then casts her gaze out over the zombie horde, in order to see if she can detect anything about them, or see the nature or source of the enchantment animating them.

Shakti's power senses that these pendants are linked. The energy coming from them is dark and strong. It seems that through these pendants, the dead come to life until destroyed a second time...

Where are we running to?

Burgurk is running towards Jonis, so she can fire freely at the undead hoard behind him.

What is the local terrain like? Is there a hill, a ridge or a rocky outcropping anywhere we could make for? Some sort of defensive position that would allow up to be out of reach of the horde while Jonis cleans up.

You are on a wide dirt road surrounded by forest. I thought you had also brought the borrowed vehicle as well...

The boom gun keeps firing, shredding the zombies as they come. The horde seems to be thinning out, but it hasn't stopped yet.

Burgurk moves to 4" behind Jonis, just out of range of the sonic boom from her gun, and lets Jonis continue to fire. If any of them get within 12" of Jonis, Burgurk will mind-blast them.

You are right Bloodmoon, forgot about that.

Shakti will follow Burgurk back, and climb up on the Moutaineer, standing in the door, waiting to see what happens with Jonis' efforts to wipe the zombies out.

So, what's happening? Are there any zombies getting thru Jonis' blasts, or does she wipe them all out?

Sorry guys, been dealing with some serious RL issues, so haven't been keeping up with all my games.. I'm working on getting caught up. That and making a decent exit for Jonis..

The Glitter Girl keeps firing until she no longer can. Her Boom Gun has run out of ammunition. Though the horde has thinned, it is still coming. You watch as Jonis drops the weapon and releases the anchoring spikes. She starts running right towards them. The last thing you hear as you start up the Mountaineer is "Go."

You drive off for a ways until you are sure they are in your dust. There is no response to any attempts to reach Jonis, or anyone else for that matter. Judging by your location, you are about 6 miles from the bunker. You notice in the trees around you a dirt path that leads from the road into the forest..

I didnt know Jonis was leaving... that's too bad. Did Corsario say why?

Dont know that I like leaving her behind like that. Not that Shakti would care personally, but I feel like if we thought she was being overwhelmed, we would have offered her assistance or helped her fall back. Shakti would say it was a waste of resources.

Surprisingly, Auriel is okay with it....well, not okay, but it seems appropriate for his background and people, many of whom sacrifice themselves to protect others.

Burgurk, too, comes from a warrior race, and would not hesitate to leave if a comrade told him to as they raced towards certain death to save the rest of the group.
...That being said, I'm sorry to see Jonis go, she had a sparkling personality.

To clarify, I have no trouble with heroic sacrifice, and it can be a great way for someone to leave a game and have a meaningful contribution. My confusion was that I didn't get the impression that the situation was all that dangerous. Actually, I was under the impression that we were extremely underwhelmed by the threat of the zombie horde, and that we were essentially cleaning our nails and checking our twitter feeds while Jonis mopped up...

"So, what is our next step? Jonis is either dead or captured, and if she is turned she will likely willingly share what ever intelligence she has on us. That means that acting swiftly might be our only means to avoid that. Other the other hand, their guard will be high, though that is as likely to be true later as it is now. We could seek out a Techno-Wizard, and get them to examine this device that appeared to be affixed to each of the zombies, but that would take time. It might however let us know how they function, and how to defeat them. There appeared to be far more that would be typical of the kind of necromancer that requires corpses to raise their dead. We could leave the road, and approach by foot, but that could make retreat difficult if we encounter that horde again."

"Those were mindless undead, not Vampires; Vampires, even spawn, carry the semblance of life, whereas those creatures did not."

"That is not to say, however, that they were not raised by a Vampire; many of them practice necromantic arts."

Auriel thinks for a moment, then adds "those undead seemed to have been raised in a wave; perhaps we can backtrack it to find the location of the necromancer."

"Have you a method to accomplish this without wading through them? We know the location of their base, and it is likely the trail would simply lead there regardless. The question now is do we press on, or do we fall back and rethink our approach? If we press on, we likely need to find another route, or secure our transport against harm from these walking dead, and drive on through them. I suspect such a direct approach would serve only to bring us to the attention of another form of ordinance; one from which our vehicle would prove only a thin shell."

"So, fall back and investigate these silvery devices, or seek access from another way around the enemy? I believe I favor the latter, as time is likely of the essence."

"We should skirt around them and keep heading towards our objective."

"I agree."

As you are pondering what to do next, your comms start buzzing in your ears. "..read me.. Atl...21.. row Legion... response requ.. "

"That radio is on a Tomorrow Legion frequency, is it not? It is hard to make out... but it could be Jonis. Is anyone skilled with these devices? I'm afraid the technology is a little new to me..."

Sensors: 1d4 - 2 ⇒ (4) - 2 = 21d6 - 2 ⇒ (5) - 2 = 3

She fiddles with the dials the way she has seen others do, but can't seem to do much to improve the reception.

The big mech finally stops running and sits down, his back against the biggest tree he can find, and his inner gears whir and click in rhythm of a metallic approximation of a being trying to catch their breath.

With no one currently shooting at him, he prioritizes his audio scanning, trying to discern pursuit.

Notice-audio: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5

While his Core Electronics Package chats with his internal combat programming about his chances of survival, he turns his attention to the still-smoking char on his leg. Briefly he muses that his meat body would never have survived this. Briefly he bemoans that, indeed, he is no longer meat.

Drawing on his internal programs, he sees if the leg can be jury-rigged to a mockery of functionality.

Repair all of the things!: 1d12 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

Satisfied that he will not cease functioning in the next few seconds, he directs all internal power to his radio, trying to boost the signal...no longer carrying who gets it, just that _someone_ does.

He's tired of being alone.

*kssssk* Attention any Legion unit. This is Assault Mech Atlas Twenty One Dash Twelve. My mission has failed. My unit is decimated. I have sustained injuries. Request IMMEDIATE extraction.*ksssk*

He'll try repeating it, but his internal battery is red and flashing. He'll need to let it charge up a bit.

He wonders how Jonis is doing.

"Perhaps we are just outside of range. Maybe if we get closer?"

Shakti attempts to fiddle with the comms, but is unable to reach any sort of signal, but as you begin traveling to skirt around the area where the undead army was, the signal gets more clear and you can pick up the Legionnaire's full message.

"Attention Assault Mech 21-12, this is Special Expeditionary Team... Do we have a unit number or something? Anyway, we are receiving your signal. Is it just you, or have you really been decimated? I get confused by the changes in vernacular some times; are you aware that decimated is a term that means having lost one in every ten of your fighting force? If you have been decimated, how many warriors remain in your band? If it is just you, describe your location, perhaps give us some landmarks, and we will pass your report on to Castle Refuge." She stops talking for a moment at a funny look from her colleagues in the APC.

"Um, no, we won't pass on your message, because you are likely injured and not worth the resources necessary to retrieve you. No, that doesn't seem to be what you want either... Um, what should I tell him? Do you want me to tell him to sacrifice himself for the greater good? That seems to be a Tomorrow Legiony kind of thing to do. Help me out here, this is confusing. Oh damn it, this thing is still transmi..."

For a moment the large mech is dumbfounded by the odd response his Core Electronics Package picked up as a reply to his distress signal. His machine programming and the scraps of his meat brain war against each other for an eternal heartbeat, trying to determine if there's something wrong with his language functionality.

In a panic he cycles through his SME chips, and at last finds enough clues in History to enable a reply.

*kssssk* "Attention Unidentified Expeditionary Team Member: While I believe the original roots of the word may come from the Latin usage of the term 'Deci' I believe I am accurate to use the phrase 'decimate' as a synonym for 'annihilate,' 'exterminate,' and 'obliterate'.

As you are definitely a librarian or English Teacher, can I speak to someone else that has combat experience? Perhaps your commanding officer? Or any infantry officer. Or literally anyone carrying a weapon that might be standing near you?" *ksssk*

Atlas briefly wonders if the Tomorrow Legion has been overrun and this is the best the Coalition can do to trap him.

But he's already trapped, so that doesn't make much sense.

Shakti looks angrily at the mic in her hand, "Actually, I'm the History teacher. And while there were a bunch of walking rotting corpses around a moment ago, as you are obviously just some sort of pre-programmed automaton, I'm afraid you would not be up to their level of intellectual discourse. Would you like me to get you a toaster to speak to? Or perhaps you'd like to speak with my blaster rifle?"

"<<Attie, is that you?>>" asks Auriel through the radio.

Internally Atlas despairs. If the Legion has been so devastated as to need public school teachers suddenly take over sole responsibility for radio communications, then they might be in more trouble than he is.

He was just about to play that, yes, if the blaster rifle had AI enough to communicate it would undoubtedly be preferable to a government employee when a familiar voice cam over the vox.

"*ksssk* Affirmative Infantryman Auriel Acherean. That is the designation you have known me by.

Are...are you in need of rescue also? It appears your communication corps has been taken over by what appears to be a political appointment of a crotchety old pensioner. *ksssk*"

Auriel gives Shakti a sideways glance, then says "<<What are your coordinates? We'll come pick you up. I'll explain everything when I see you again.>>"

DM, do I know where I an enough to give them coordinates? If so then I'll do that. In not, then I'll describe landmarks around me.

They have a map of the area and you have a rough idea of where you are supposed to be. Given that we want to get back to the story, it is fairly easy to triangulate where you are versus where they are. They are about 2 klicks south of you.

*ksssk* "I appear to currently be approximately 2 kilometers to your due North. Are you able to advance on my position?" *ksssk*

Atlas looks to his South, trying to gauge the likelihood of enemy interference.

"<<We have a vehicle in route to your position. We should be there shortly.>>"

Attie does not detect any further enemy movements as he scans the area. After about fifteen minutes, the Mountaineer comes upon a wounded Atlas Combat Cyborg, laying against a tree that has seen better days. You don't have much time for a reunion party however as his sensors pick up incoming aircraft, possibly power armor. Range 2 miles and closing fast..

Is there anywhere nearby we can hide our vehicle?

You could attempt to hide it in the trees with a Stealth roll at -2.