Savage Rifts and the Tomorrow Legion

Game Master Shadow Bloodmoon

Shakti smiles at the offer of the rank insignia, but hold up one of her many hands to forestall the Chief in her offer.

"You have sought to include me within your command structure!"

Her smile might seem to indicate that she is amused by something, but given the seriousness of the situation, she composes herself before responding. She gives off the impression that she had been about to say something very different before changing direction and choosing to respond with respect.

"While I appreciate the offer, I believe accepting rank within your organization would be misleading on my part. My intent is to work with the Tomorrow Legion towards our mutual benefit. However, taking rank would imply I intend subordinate myself to its commands, and this is not the case. I would instead prefer instead to operate as a... civilian contractor: an individual of Specialized skills hired to support your team, but outside your quaint hierarchy."

Elle of Owls' lips become very thin at Shakti's response. After she finishes with the others, she comes back to Shakti. "If that is your wish, we can arrange for that. It will be a nightmare for logistics to figure out at what payscale to pay you and you will not have access to all the amenities that being a Legionnaire provides, but we will do what we can as your services are needed. I understand your position. I myself was not appreciative of being given any sort of command in the beginning, but it seems my abilities were needed and so I acquiesced to the council's wishes. I am not saying that you should do this as well, but the offer will always be there."

Slight retcon...

Burgurk, worried on the inside, but showing no hesitation or lack of confidence, says "No ma'am, no questions at this time."

Anya stares agape at "Sergeant" Burgurk and starts to get up to slap him dead in the face.

Spirit!: 1d10 ⇒ 6

But her Super-ego is able to reign in her Id (not a common thing) and she re-connects her seat with her shapely buttocks and instead raises her hand.

She doesn't really wait to be called on and just starts talking.

"Um, I have a few questions?

Also, if you really wanna get down to brass tax," she always wondered why someone would want to put a tax on brass specifically, but never really got an answer, "I kinda got a thing.

Narfed one too many belts to the cantaloupe," she says, knocking on her head with her fist and clucking her tongue, mimicking knocking on wood. "Always meant to jaxx the chips, but I tripped the rift fantastic and just never did make my appointment with the street doc.

If y'all could see your way to chip my jack and straighten my brain-curves, well I think we might just have the start of something non-barghast pudu, scan?"

Persuasion!: 1d10 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 2 = 12
Persuasion ACE!!: 1d10 ⇒ 10
ARE YOU FRAGGING KIDDING ME WITH THIS NONSENSE?!?: 1d10 ⇒ 3 = eleventy billion
WILD PERsuasion!: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8
I only roll Aces now. Set AllDicesThatAreNotAces -> 0: 1d6 ⇒ 2

Top Chief Elle of Owls looks at Anya with first curiosity, then confusion, then concern. "Miss Wraith, while I am well versed in many of the dialects of American, yours has to be one of my favorite pet projects. I'll tell you what. Before you leave, I will talk to one of the Cyber-Docs to see what they can do for you. Even though they are some of the best we have, there are no guarantees. The technology from your world, though similar, is not the same. If you are willing to risk it, we can have them attempt to perform the surgery. In exchange, I want you to regale me with how your world works and help me put together a lexicon to help the Legion understand any others from your world that might show up." Her eyes tell you that she isn't taking no for an answer, especially if this is something Anya wants.

"As for the mission itself," she returns to addressing all of you, "The demons are varied in type and size, similar to our world. In fact, it is possible that they may even be related to one another, but that is only a theory at this point. It will be up to you to determine what you're up against out there. I will say this, if you catalog them and bring that information back to base, it will go a long way to advancing your career. What we know for sure is that most demons are susceptible to magic. I know that Shakti now has a price on her head, but she will be valuable to taking down any demons you encounter. Otherwise, any high powered weapons you have or can scrounge in the field would probably be ideal. That being said, try not to kill anyone you don't have to. Paragould is a mining town and we would like to allow them to continue..."

She pauses and her eyes seem to roll slightly back before she continues. She doesn't mention the incident, but only continues answering Anya's queries. "Paragould is outside of our influence because they have chosen to go it alone. Getting them to join our umbrella would be a mission for the Diplomatic Corps, but as you are special operatives, if you manage it, your careers would definitely fall under the rising star category. Consider it secondary to your investigation. Unless there is anything else, Captain Tiller has cleared his flight plan for your mission. He will drop you off just outside of Paragould. From there you will make your way into town and start your investigations. I'd like you to leave as soon as possible, but I did agree to help one of your members with her problem, so I will do that first. After that, I expect you to be on your way. Remember, this mission is classified. Act accordingly."

She turns to start walking out, unless any of you have more questions.

"Wizard!" Anya squeals in acceptance of the offer. That the Top Chief just told her that it's more than possible that her lexicon does -not- equate the title for a magic-using arch-mage with a synonym for happy feelings does not bother her head. "Yer no bakebrain Johnson!" she follows approvingly.

"See, the first slang t' scan is concrete poisoning. That's when someone gets aced in a swan dive from about ten floors up..." she begins, thinking the debt was to be paid now, but the continuation of the concerned look shuts down her head of steam.

"But I guess we can go over it later," she ends, sheepishly.

Before she can leave the room, Burgurk speaks up : "Chief, how do we 'catalog' demons? Size, shape, color, number of limbs, whether they fly, what their main attack type is, etc., or something else?"

The Chief stops and turns to look at Burgurk, "Do any of you have recording equipment? Or a portable computer? If not, go and see Requisitions. I am sure they can give you something along those lines. Whatever information you can get will suffice."

Burgurk asks the mechanics and medics how many days it will take to fix Anya's armor and...brain...then goes off to Requisitions and asks for a "portable recorder to document different types of demons and other creatures".

When you arrive at the supply depot, you can see that another major operation must be occurring as several Legion troops are here gathering their gear with officers shouting orders to get moving. One of the harried technicians comes over and adds you to the waiting list. When your requests finally come through, it is half an hour later. A different technician beings you a small device about the size of a toaster. It has several buttons and lights on it, plus a large lens on the front. "This will record everything as soon as you turn it on. It also has a small database of creatures pre-installed, should you be in need of some light reading."

The mechanics at the repair bay are rather disgruntled with what happened to the Mountaineer, but Anya's machine will be fixed by the morning, including her upgraded guns. "We got the blasted things on, but the wee ones had to go and we can't seem to get the targeting array to line up with the larger bursts. It'll do for close up work though. "

The heavy lasers are installed, but they are at -1 to hit.

When Anya goes in for surgery, of the nurses of the med bay tells you how it's going. "The technology is not all that different from our own, but it is still not what we're used to. The new implants are having trouble interfacing with what's in there. She's a fighter though, so we have high hopes for success, but it's going to take all night and then she's going to need at least a day of rest. Minimum. " That last part sounded almost like a threat.

Burgurk informs Shakti that they won't be leaving until at least the day after tomorrow. She can do what she wants until then.

Description: Ezekial looks like a mishmash of different aesthetics, all of them seeming like they should clash, but weirdly working together. He wears a dusty old longcoat and a flat topped leather stetson, with standard issue Survival Combat Armor underneath. Crisscrossing his chest is a simple military bandolier, festooned with grenades and other tools. At his hips are a pair of weapons: some kind of standard issue Legion revolver, and a strange purple bladed sword with a simple half-sheath. On his face rest a pair of dark, modern looking Magic Optics System goggles. From the way his pockets bulge, it's clear he has other secrets hidden underneath.

TL;DR: Honestly, he basically looks like a Veteran NCR Ranger without the helmet.

Ezekial calls out to Burgurk.

"Howdy there! Yer Sergeant Burgurk, right? I was told to look for one of them dog fellers, but it's hard to tell y'all apart. Name's Ezekial. Ezekial Ashcraft. They call me a 'Techno-Wizard" around these parts, and I'm s'posed to be joinin' yer squad. Nice to meet ya." he stands before the Sarge and extends his hand for a shake.

YES! All hail unto the mighty Wasteland! Did ya get the Director's Cut? Did ya make a drunk? Watch yer squeezins! Also, I'm waiting for Burgurk to give the new guy drek for having an awesome accent. =p

"I can jazz th' chips for th' panzer to compo the panther, but when I get back can we make with the nice so it's spirit sings a better song? Or do ya need more dakka? I'll see if I can scavenge from th' waste so we can make with the newtec," Wraith chatters at the mechanic whose competence she has reason to question. Maybe they need more parts, or some cash on the side, or he's just trying to make a run at the happy hole--all plays she can understand, respect even, but she doesn't have time to charge his input and make the beast with two backs, so it'll have to wait until after this mission.

She'd normally mope about getting short-nuyen'd about her ride for a week, at least. But she's getting new chrome! And that is always a reason for joy-joys.

"Sub-zero," she replies to the medinurse, reassuring her. "I can have a nip of the hard stuff while I do the convalesces, yeah?" she asks. "Null persp with laying on m'back for a tick, but chip-truth I'm wholly unable to conceive of 24 hours stationary without a wee bit of the creature."

Sometimes it's good to just be clear.

Burgurk stares at Ezekial coldly for a moment, ignoring the extended hand, then says tersely "My kind look nothing like Dog-Boys. What kinds of things can you do, in or out of combat?"

Burgurk doesn't mind the accent, at least the words he uses are understandable. :)

Ret-con :
Before arriving at Legion HQ, Burgurk talks to Anya and Shakti : "We could sell these weapons and other things we 'acquired' on the black market and make quite a lot from them, the Legion will just take them as spoils of war and not pay us anything. What do you think?"

DB SBM, will we have to role-play this out, or can we just say it happens?

DB SBM, will we have to role-play this out, or can we just say it happens?

Ditto.

You can certainly roleplay it out, but if you're eager to get going on the next part, we can just say it happens and later on, your new friend might call you in on a favor...

YES! All hail unto the mighty Wasteland! Did ya get the Director's Cut? Did ya make a drunk? Watch yer squeezins! Also, I'm waiting for Burgurk to give the new guy drek for having an awesome accent. =p

Deadlands, actually. =) Alt. timeline Wild West where the return of the supernatural and a weird substance called Ghost Rock that allows for the creation of tech far beyond the norm for the time. I've thought about playing the new(-ish) Wasteland, but I've never been a huge fan of CRPGs.

Burgurk stares at Ezekial coldly for a moment, ignoring the extended hand, then says tersely "My kind look nothing like Dog-Boys. What kinds of things can you do, in or out of combat?"

Burgurk doesn't mind the accent, at least the words he uses are understandable. :)

Ezekial bobs his head in apology. "Right, right, o'course. Young'un who told me must've been mistaken! You look nothin' like a dog." Ezekial lies through his teeth.

"As fer what I can do? Well, a little o' this and some o' that. Got a solid grasp of New Science, o'course, but I'm more than a fair hand at tinkerin' besides. Learnt myself how to drive one of yer newfangled vehicles fair well, and anythin' with more than a couple of movin' parts is within my domain of ex-pert-ise. Fair crack shot too, and not to bad with a saber neither; trained as a cavalry officer, y'know, what before the incident made that career path a mite difficult to foller."

He thinks for a moment.

'Side from that I've got a few gadgets and gewgaws hangin' around what could be useful. My 'Miraculous All-in-one Tonic fer what ails ya" (patent pendin') closes up wounds a treat, and I'd bet dollars to donuts it can scare off any ol' rattlesnake's venom right out. The Omnidirectional Portable Infrasound Generator can creep the bejeezus outta anyone if we need to hock it and vamoose from summairs, and if things get a little too violent for comfort I've got some less friendly explosives on my person as well."

"That good enough for ya? If not, gimme 10 minutes and I can whip up summat else, whatever ya need." he says, giving Burgurk a wide smile.

Since it's a ret-con, I'd like to say it just happens, and not try to role-play two threads at once. Anya, Shakti?

Burgurk gets less frigid after the apology, and hears out the newcomer.

"So, you can drive our vehicles? How well? We have a private who usually drives us, but if you're better than him I'd rather have you.

Whatever I need? How about something that does more long-range damage than a rifle? Or something that would make us harder to be seen by our enemies? Or the ability to fly?"

I am just fine with the ret-con. I'm presuming a three way split: Anya, Burgurk and Shakti? Was Anya with us yet when we got that gear?

Shakti offers a ladylike hand to the newcomer, in the Victorian style, making no effort to hide the other five in her possession.

She is a tall woman, a head over 6 feet, and while she looks more or less human, she is clearly not. As opposed to the pinkish or brown tones of humans, her skin has a slight bluish cast, he eyes are inhumanely deep in colour, and a red-violet shade besides. Her ears ever so slightly pointed, as are almost all of her teeth. Most dramatically of all of course, she sports three arms on each side of her body where a human would only bear one. If she is self conscious about her strange appearance, it certainly does not show.

"Welcome to our troope, divinely fortified and dweller of the Croft. I am Shakti. I've not met your El, though I certainly know him by reputation. Are you of the priesthood, or is the name merely symbolic?"

Burgurk gets less frigid after the apology, and hears out the newcomer.

"So, you can drive our vehicles? How well? We have a private who usually drives us, but if you're better than him I'd rather have you.

How many of those healing tonics do you have? Can you make more?

What exactly does this Infrasound Generator do?

I hope you're very good with your rifle, because if something here gets close enough to get into hand-to-hand combat with you, your chances of survival drop a lot.

You might want to go to Requisitions and get a lot of bullets and some more grenades before we leave on our next mission, which should be tomorrow.

Whatever I need? How about something that does more long-range damage than a rifle? Or something that would make us harder to be seen by our enemies? Or the ability to fly?"

Ezekial answers the questions in order.

"Well enough, given I'd never seen nothin' like 'em afore I got here."

"I kin do the flyin' thing, and maybe the hidin' thing. I must admit I'm plum confused as to what you mean by 'more long range damage than a rifle'. What, like a cannon or somethin'? I can make some boom-sticks but they ain't so much fer shootin' at things more'n a toss away."

"Welcome to our troope, divinely fortified and dweller of the Croft. I am Shakti. I've not met your El, though I certainly know him by reputation. Are you of the priesthood, or is the name merely symbolic?"

Ezekial takes Shakti's hand, and briefly wonders whether 6 arms means he should be giving her three handshakes or not. Eventually he settles on just one fairly long one.

"Nice to meet ya, Shakti. As a matter o' fact my name ain't 'merely symbolic', my mama gave it to me on account of she loved my grandpa so much. If'n it's too hard to prounounce you can call me Zeke though, since you seem to have got it wrong the first time. Ain't no priest though, was never much for the 'no drinkin' and carousin' or generally havin' fun' pro-scriptions they put on the boys in the white collars."

I don't think Anya was with us in the cave with the multi-dimensional being, where we got most of the stuff we want to sell. Yeah, just confirmed that. But she was with us when we got the CS rifles.

"How long does each tonic take to make? And a revolver has much less range than a rifle, which could be a problem."

"Ya got cotton in yer ears boy? I said it scares the bejeezus outta people."

Burgurk visibly frowns at this, and as his hands clench together into fists he says with a deep growl, "I meant *how* does it work?"

"How long does each tonic take to make? And a revolver has much less range than a rifle, which could be a problem."

"Longer'n a bit, but shorter'n a while. Maybe an hour if I'm not doin' somethin' else." at the comment about rifles, he shrugs. "I just got what the folk at the quartermaster's office gave me. Y'all got any spare rifles, I'd be glad to use it, but gen'rally I prefer to be within spittin' distance, what so I can stab and slash and all that whatnot if I need to. Got this nice sword off some feller that tried to kill me when I popped out in this godforsaken nightmare world, and I was trained to use a sword and pistol together-like."

Burgurk visibly frowns at this, and as his hands clench together into fists he says with a deep growl, "I meant *how* does it work?"

Ezekial speaks very slowly, as if to a child, or simpleton.

"It's an Om-ni-di-rec-tion-al Por-ta-ble In-fra-sound Gen-er-ator. It's portable, and it generates infrasound. Omnidrectionally. Which scares the livin' daylights outta folk."

"It's an Om-ni-di-rec-tion-al Por-ta-ble In-fra-sound Gen-er-ator. It's portable, and it generates infrasound. Omnidrectionally. Which scares the livin' daylights outta folk."

Burgurk tenses as if about to jump Ezekial, but then holds back with a visible effort. He growls in a low tone "If you *ever* take that tone with me again, I will disembowel you. That's not a threat, that's a promise."

Ezekial straightens up and stares Burgurk directly in the eye.

"Son, let me give you some free life advice. We're all servin' in this army together, for one reason or t'other, but presumably because we want to do some good in this world. We're all on the same side, in other words."

"We're s'posed to have each others' backs, and a squad protects t'others from harm."

He pauses for a moment, so the next bit sinks in a little clearer. "A commandin' officer what has aspirations to be more dangerous to his own command than the enemy -say by promisin' murder for every little bit of insubordination and suchlike- might well find that when it counts, their squad might be a little too slow to warn 'em of danger."

Meeting Ezekial's gaze unflinchingly, Burgurk growls back "I will not threaten you in the future if you do not talk-down to me in the future. Deal?"

Ezekial nods. "Fair enough, deal. Let's shake and call it quits then." he says, extending his hand again.

Burgurk extends his hands and shakes Ezekial's.

"So then, what's the mission Sarge?"

Burgurk says : "another race's world was overrun with what some might call demons. Something happened and numerous Rifts opened up on their world and many of their kind came here to what they thought might be safety. We now know that it was some of their own kind that brought this disaster to their world and it is possible that some of them are trying to make that happen here. We can not allow this. We have recently received word that a few of their kind have been sighted east of here in a town called Paragould. From what we know, the townsfolk there are an independent community and not associated with the Legion or anyone else.

Cataloging the new demons is of high priority, and this" gesturing to a box slung around his shoulder "should do that for us automatically.

Paragould is outside of our influence because they have chosen to go it alone. Getting them to join the Legion would be a mission for the Diplomatic Corps, but we can consider it a secondary goal of our investigation."

Zeke's eyebrows raise to his hairline.

"Demons? And here I thought I'd done seen everythin'. So, simple exterminatin' mission? Sounds easy enough at least."

Seems a decent place to expedite things?

"Just to be clear, our primary mission is *reconnaissance* and data-gathering. We only kill demons if forced to."

Shakti shrugs and adds in under her breath, "Or if they piss us off."

New Mission, everyone starts with 4 bennies rather than the usual three because I'm enjoying the banter. When everyone is ready:

Saturday, 11th November, 109 P.A., 10 am. 27oF. Flurries.

You meet with Captain Tiller in the Legion Hangar of Castle Refuge. His Silver Age, because it's 'older than the dirt you're standing on', heavily modified and upgraded troop transport is ready to go when you arrive. He looks at all of you and says, "Well, I guess one thing never changes around here. Everything is always changing. I hope they find that Jonis girl, I took a bit of a liking to her." He shrugs. "Anyway, we've got a busy flight schedule. I'm to drop you off out east a bit and then head back. Ready?"

As you climb aboard, you realize that you are happy you at least don't have to trek the wilderness this time. What seems like a few miles can take days in this world. Once you are airborne, you try to catch some a few minutes of rest.

As you are flying, you spot a few things you usually don't see from the ground. Ley lines are beautifully scary, but in the air, you can see how they connect and intertwine. It is an intricate network that few get to truly understand. At one point, as the tiny flakes of snow fly by, you cross a valley that is covered in snow. You see a large cloud of something on the ground. At first it is too fast to identify, but as you get closer, you see that it is a herd of Fury Beetles. They seem to be running from something. Whatever it was, it will have to stay unknown as you zoom past. Ariel speaks up, visibly excited. "This is awesome! I've flown before, but not where I can see so much! I wonder why we don't do this more often."

As if in answer, Captain Tiller makes a hard right and everyone is forced to hang on to whatever they can. A shadow passes over the aircraft and as your bellies return to their usual position, he comes over the radio. "Sorry about that. Almost had a rough meeting with a flying ray." Looking out of the windows, you see what appears to be a gray blue manta ray lazily soaring through the sky. It is easily three times the size of your aircraft. You wonder how your pilot could have missed something so big until you watch as it fades out of existence. Private Casey looks pale. "I think... I think I'm going to puke." He does.

Eventually, Tiller announces your arrival. "Specialist Anya, I am pre-dropping your suit and then I'll land nearby. We're in a small clearing about two clicks west of Paragould. I'll dust off in fifteen. After that, you're on your own. Good luck."

Tiller manages to land smoothly in the open clearing, the repulsors sending up small clouds of snow as he does so. You shiver as you exit the craft. As he said, Tiller set Anya's suit down nearby, the trailing lines falling off of it automatically. Before he leaves, Tiller comes out and looks at Private Casey. "Sergeant, I need to borrow him for a moment." He takes Casey over and hands him a set of cleaning equipment. After that, Tiller gets aboard and prepares for take off. You clear the area and he leaves. Now your team is alone.

From the description, I am assuming we were dropped off without the APC (or was it being carried under the belly or whathaveyou)? If that is the case, why is Pvt. Casey here with us?

Shakti looks around, so far unimpressed, "Another forrest's glade, pretty much like every other forested glade we've seen in this part of your world. Well?" she says, gesturing in the direction of the village, "Shall we?"

Because he is a member of your team, driver or not. No APC this time. They still have much work to do to repair it. Other than feet, you'll have to come up with another way back when you are done or hope that you can reach home to call for a pick up.

"Hey now, don't you have no 'preciation fer nature? It's a darn nice glade. COuld see myself buildin' a cabin in a place like this some day. Assumin' there ain't no partic'ly nasty beasties 'round these parts."

Nevertheless, he nods in assent and starts walking toward the village, chattering as he walks.

Anya was forced to skip the meet'n'greet on account of some deep-brain surgery and scientific upgrading, because we can rebuild her. We have the technology.

She rolls out of bed and shows up to fly off the tarmac just barely on time. At the sight of a new face she steps up. Her hair is shiny and full. Her face is perfect, her smile is bright, and, faily, she pipes up to Ezekial, "Hoi chummer," she gets out before her eyes lose focus and her face becomes rigid, like an AI personality having a screen glitch. "I'm rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...{rebooting}," she repeats, mechanically.

Then her eyes shut and she falls asleep standing up for two and a half minutes.

After a brief nap, her eyes flutter open at 3000 rpm and she seems a bit the worse for wear.

"Sry chummer. m little bit drinky," she mutters, apparently feeling the effects of a well-deserved hangover.

She spent all the time from the end of the surgery to now returning to the world's supply of real-live bootjack back-door hotch that seems to infest all army bases the multi-verse over, apparently counting that as 'rest'.

During the flight she nurses and eventually puts away a large gallon-sized jug of some kind of orange-colored liquid that apparently restores her to her pre-boot status.

"Aye-aye," she states at the captain about the status of her suit.

Once again on Terra firma, she looks about and lets the suit's scanners play out.

Notice!: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4
WILD Notice!: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8

It won't take more than an hour to walk through the clearing and towards the outskirts of Paragould, you determine, so you start walking after Anya suits up and powers on her battlesuit. While the area is indeed similar to many of the forested glades you have visited in the Ozarks before, it quickly gives way to more rock and hard ground as you leave the trees behind. You can see Paragould ahead, along a half reconstructed road. The town looks to be part modern technology and part 1800's tech, if the history vids are to be believed. With wooden structures along with parasteel reinforcements. As you approach what you're limited navigation reads as Crowley's Ridge, you notice another road leading out of town and towards the mountain itself.

Anya's sensor suite picks up movement fairly quickly as you get within range of the town's gates. Zooming in, she relates that there are two men with laser rifles and armor standing guard and a few more apparently unarmed people around them. The gates themselves stand closed. They haven't seen you yet, but there doesn't seem to be any approach that would hide you from them as you get closer.

You can simply walk right up, or try a different route, your choice.

"Our status as agents of Castle Refuge is supposed to remain undisclosed, yes? What shall we tell these people our purpose here is? We are a rather non-homogynous group to be random travelers..."

"Who said that? No one said that. And since we're gonna get them to join our big happy fam-fam, I think 'we're from Castle Refuge and we're gonna help you with your demon problem' would be a good way to start."

"In my experience, them independent types don't care too much fer gov'ment types sweepin' and tellin' 'em what's what. I say we pass ourselves off as 'independent op'rators', like. Then once the job's done, we can reveal ourselves as Tomorrow Legion and apologize for the deception."

"Plus, if we fail, they'll never know the Legion's full of a buncha incompetents." he says with a smile.

"Ooo. That's a good point," Anya concurs.

Their method of action approved of, Anya jets over to within sight distance of the two armed guards and walks the rest of the way. This will show both power and humility. Probably.

"Ho the guard!" she says, holding up an empty hand in a sign of peace. "I am Anya. WhiteAngel. These are my companions, Burgurk the Wise, Shakti the Divine, and Exekial Ashcroft." 'Who doesn't have a nickname yet but really should.'

"We are the Grey Death Legion, a band of wanderers in seek of employ. We do what we are paid to do with respect, discretion, and the utmost care. We seek to right wrongs, do good deeds, and cure the land from the evils that blight it.

We are in need of shelter. Will you allow us to stay here for a spell?"

Persuasion!: 1d10 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7
WILD Persuasion!: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

'Where did all them pretty words come from?' she wonders at her brain.

All she gets back is a kind of electric static.

As you approach and Anya starts speaking from within her suit, the guards at the gate raise their weapons in your direction. "Hold where you are. Outsiders are not welcome inside the gates without authorization." After a few moments, one of the guards lowers his weapon and activates the gates. The other beckons you to approach. As you do so, you notice a large cargo container just inside the walls. The speaking guard points to it. "All suits, heavy weapons, rifles and magical foci are to be placed inside the vault. You can retrieve it upon exit. Make your way to the Canary's Last Song if you're looking for a place to stay for the night. We have little in the way of other lodgings for outsiders." You imagine him glaring at Burgurk and Shakti under his helmet as he watches you enter.

"Sounds good to me!" Ezekial chirps. After all, they hadn't asked him to surrender anything he was actually carrying.

Burgurk gives them his laser rifle, and demands a receipt if one isn't offered. I don't think he has anything else they listed.

After being relieved of your heavy weapons, the guards give you a datachip with a claim number on it. "Don't lose it," they warn. Then, you are moved along your way into Paragould proper.

The town is fairly empty of people at this point, though a few guards patrol here and there. You notice that there are quite a few of them for such a small mining town. Any people you actually see turn away from you, as if they either don't want to be seen, or don't want to see you. Their faces, most of them human, are dirty with soot and grime.

A small child, no more than 5 human years runs up to your group as a young woman chases after him. "My dog can't stand on two legs, can you teach him to do that mister?" It takes you a moment to realize he is talking to Ezekiel about Burgurk. The woman keeps her distance, but tries to coax the boy away. "Come here Brady, leave the nice travelers alone." She looks up sheepishly. "I'm sorry, we don't get many travelers around here. The Canary's Last is just up the road a ways, can't miss it." The boy stares a bit longer and then goes back to his mom. She takes him by the hand and starts to lead him away.

Notice!: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7
WILD Notice!: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

Anya rolls her eyes so hard it's audible as she is now deprived of her suit after just getting it back.

But there's no use for it so she pours herself out of it, keeping her laser pistols slung low and snug on her slim waist.

She snorts in barely-supressed laughter as the wisdom spouts from the mouths of babes.

"Thank you, miss," she says is gratitude as the mother covers up her offspring's faux pas, trying to do what she can to allay the woman's obvious fear of her group. Whether it was just that they were newcomers in a two-star town, or because Burgurk looking like Burgurk, she couldn't tell, and just filed away the data for later.

She turns to the group. "Now sure what a 'Canary Last' is but it sounds like a drinking establishment and that, me chummers, is where we aught to start, for little can loosen tongues like some liquid grease. Also, there might be a lot of people there, so finding people to talk to becomes easier. Forward!"

She saunters off, following the woman's directions, here chrome ever vigilant.