The protectrons activate rapid fire on their lasers ,sacrificing accuracy for sheer output.
= Total 15 vs Toughness 8 w/AP = hit with 2 raises
= Total 15 vs Toughness 12 (metal has +1 vs energy), nut AP2, so = hit w/raise
= Not enough to even shake.
Miles takes the blast clear in the chest, burning a hole through his armor and leaving a horrible baseball sized burn in his pectoral. He shakes his head, and then looks at Aeryicka with suprise, finally understanding just how powerful of a kick these things hit with and the fact the small girl took one that seemed even more deadly.
Kristophe spits Your gonna f%@+ing pay for that! and he charges straight at the Protectron
total=10 Hit with a raise?
18 damage...15 if its not a raise. I think the protectron is disabled regardless.
Not to be outdone by a frickin mutant, Kristophe sends the same amount of force into the protectron that he did the last human he fought covered in as much metal, and miraculously the wooden cricket bat Discipliner doesn't shatter as it slams into the robot, sending it flying back ten feet and hurting the ground, shattering.
Warhammer speaks up.
"Ah, yes, the former headmaster ordered that hand crafted from out of the country. I believe that is pressure treated mahogany with a clear resin coating. I asked the headmaster if he was a fan of cricket, and he said, and I do quote at this point, 'No you stupid Janitor, but b****es like paddling, and if you're gonna spank someone, you do it with style. Now go clean that vomit out of the library.' He was a rather silly chap."
Aeyricka nodded as the mutant Miles was struck by one of the laser beams and didn't fall. 'He is powerful,' she thought to herself. Getting her head back into the game, she rushed forward, 'Dog-Tooth' primed for a thrust, and upon getting close, struck with the pointy end!
Unshake:
Badger gapes at the hole in his side- but really well this time.
Recoiling slightly at Warhammer's comments, Harper raises her hockey stick once again and brings it down upon the robot.
It hits the robot's outer shell with a satisfying thunk.
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Warhammer, feeling a sense of fulfillment that he could describe the origin of so quality an implement of sport, turns his attention to the malfunctioning robot. The comparison between the well-crafted bat that serves its function so well whereas these servant of METAL can not maintain their own programming fills him with a higher sense of duty to put them down so he can get back to what's -really- important...he never did get a chance to clean up that vomit.
= Some really high number.
Thomas calls out to the robot, "Bloody well jolly good what!" Man, ass-kicking things with a British accent are contagious.
Thomas raises his frickinlaserbeem to finish off the robots, but pauses, as they all seem to be dead. He walks over to grinning Jimmy and tussles his hair, the boy beaming.
Kristophe reaches down and pulls up Badger, he whispers in his ear
Then he walks towards Aeryicka Hey shortstuff, you did alright. Really f~#*ed up that metal a&%*@*+.
Harper's hockey club knocks the robot back and has it sparking, stunned (shaken), and then Warhammer takes the opportunity of it's distraction to pretty much split the thing in half with his ripper.
Aerickya rushes up and pretty much sticks dogtooth straight through the robot, making a Protectron-Kabob, and when she pulls back the spear, the machine drops.
The mutant seems to be paying a lot more attention to his own wounds than Kristophe talking, as well as being distracted by the end of the battle.
Badger nods, limping over to the fallen Protectron and grabbing his hatchet back.
"That was not fun," Aeryicka said before a thoughtful look crossed her face. "And yet, it was strangely exhilarating." As she walked closer to the protectron she had felled, she reached into her bag and pulled out a stimpak. Uncovering the needle, she jabbed it into her leg and let the healing properties infuse her body. "Do you think that the other slavers heard our battle?" As she bent down to examin her kill, she had to stop herself from grabbing a handful of dirt and eating it. 'Iron is getting low,' she thought to herself.
"I would assume they did, if they're still kickin'.", Badger grunts, limping through the garage and vainly hoping there's anything of worth remaining.
Notice:
Estelle shakes her head, trying to clear the battle and confusion from her mind, waiting a few seconds for adrenaline to start to die down. Grumbling to herself over the waste, she looks through the wreckage of robots in search of something worth salvaging.
Yeah, they prolly did. F~#! em, they'll get whats... and suddenly Kristophe sprints dead out for the Super Mutant Miles
Either +0 or +2 depending on if Kristophe got close enough before he engaged
Miles, already shaken and wounded is completely thrown off guard as Kristophe charges in at him and clubs him in the side sending him staggering back a couple feet from the mighty blow, but yet the mutant still stands.
The mutant seems utterly overpowered by the attack, and his reactions are slowed by the wounds and the suprise.
"Most worthy of the lot. At least I fall...to a real warrior. Ave. True to your purpose, warrior."
Kristophe says Sorry for you bub. Wasn't no way you was walking outta here alive.
Kristophe swats Miles to the dirt
As the Super Mutant crumples, Kristophe pulls the .44 and finishes him off with one shot to the forehead.
One less f%$@ing thing to worry about.
Unfortunately, Estelle and Badger don't mention to find anything of use in the open garage, except for scrap metal, scrap electronics, fission batteries, and small energy cells from the destroyed Protectrons.
Aeryicka stood there, completely taken back by Kristophe's actions. "WHAT THE F$%# WAS THAT??" she screamed out as she moved towards the fallen mutant. "Why did you kill him?? He did nothing to you!!" 'Have to watch out for him, he'll probably snap and kill us all,' she thought with a glare.
Badger can't help but look relieved when Kristophe puts the super mutant down. The scorched wound in his side certainly puts a damper on the mood. He glances between Kris and the others, especially the ladies before clearing his throat, a sheen of sweat on his forehead.
"They definitely heard that, if they're here. So we got two down, far as slavers go. That leaves four more skulking around. We can all have it out over how this went but (huff) let's make sure we mop up the other hostiles, right?"
I killed em because he was gonna kill me. So I killed em first. That f&+#ing mutie would have snapped your neck and eaten you as soon as look at you. F~!+ing idiots to trust it. I told you to cut it loose, but no we wanna f%#!ing make friends with a g@@*+!n eight foot tall killing machine. The f+*+ing slaver said he was nailing m@@+~@%!!$#~s to a tree when he was caught, what kinda f+@!ing thing does that? Kristophe says, whirling on the little girl.
Kristophe continues ranting You listen here. This f#&$ing place is wild. It's f!!!ing dangerous. Ain't you figured that s#!& out yet? Those Green f&*!s will eat you, those f+&*ing zombies will eat you! F*&+, those slavers might eat you too, if they got hungry enough. You gotta make a f%$~ing choice, you gonna stick with me and Bloom? Or you gonna get f%@*ing eaten?
Timmy comes up beside Kristophe and says K, chill the f$@+ out dude. and Kristophe kinda snaps out of it.
F%!~. I need a f%@@ing drink. And something to take the edge off. and he calms himself by reloading his weapon.
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Thomas takes pause, gazing at the dead mutant. "Is that a philosophy you want us all to live by, Kristophe? If you can't trust something that is more dangerous than you, you should kill it when it's weak? Interesting....
Of note, we have only the slaver's word that Miles was a bad man. He came here with us peaceably and then ran into battle with an enthusiasm equal to your own. We were given NO indication that he PLANNED ANY betrayal! Was he kinda loopy? Yes. Was he one of us? No. But it is a BIG WORLD out there, Kris! And we are alone out here! You can't just shoot EVERYONE you don't like! Suppose he wasn't as hurt as you thought? Suppose he could have done us a lot of good had he lived? We'll never know because you F@~@ING WASTED HIM!
More importantly, he was an asset. One of those slavers in the food court has a bullet with his name on it that will now find one of us. You've lessened us and killed a man on no hard evidence in a time when we really, really, can use all the friends we get right now.
Do not do this again. You are NOT a dictator. You are NOT an overseer. If you act like a tyrant you will be dealt with like a tyrant."
As Kris stares murder at Thomas, Thomas cooly meet his gaze. "Yes. It means what you f%@+ing think it means."
A hearbeat passes.
"Now, there are other slavers out there. Let's let Estelle patch us up a bit and then renew our offense. Warhammer, Jimmy, everyone who's not hurt, take watch. Let's get patched a little then re-take this complex."
Jimmy raises an eyebrow and walks over to his brother, grabbing his shoulder, and looking at Kristophe, and then Thomas.
"Look, we're with you guys no matter what - you saved us. But...um...what exactly do you mean by 'not one of us'? Cause we just met you."
Timmy pulls back from his brother and gets behind Kristophe. "He means f***ing human!"
The look of concern on Jimmy's face over Kristophe's influence on his brother is visible, but the man saved their lives, so he shrugs and nods. "I...I guess so...er...I guess the f*** so," he retorts, trying to not rock the boat.
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Thomas smiles a Reasuring smile. "No. We mean someone who wants to settle down and build a stable community with a better life. Miles was part of something else, and was just crossing our path. After the slavers were dealt with, he would have left, and possibly even would have fought against us later if it was in his interest.
If, later, we find a mutant that wants to be as a brother to us and build a stable community, then he will be as family. We must judge a person by their actions, not their blood type."
"Blood type? Thomas, I'm not sure where they come from, but that mutant was speaking prewar language from way back when. The same one you've used here or there. Latin? I recognized what he said. Ave. Means like...greetings and farewell. Think that's what happened to all the humans when the bombs dropped? I heard tell the ones that lived became ghouls, but maybe ghouls...turn into mutants?"
Timmy shakes his head. "Jimmy, ghouls turn crazy with more rads. Like Old Ghoul Johnson we used to sell scrap to. Remember when we showed up at his junkyard that one time and he was running around in his underwear chasing after dad like a rabid dog until mom capped him?"
Jimmy nods. "I guess so. Miles was...well not that kind of crazy. Still, it doesn't make sense."
"(huff) Miles was a psychopath. Like, a real one that tortures people for fun. Hell, I didn't do s!*$ to him- I freed his ass- and he almost strangled me the second those cuffs were off. You all saw him grab that guy when we said 'No, we'll send him out quick'. I don't think that slaver was lying, 'specially when he begged us to off him with the collar."
Badger slides down against the wall.
"But you're right- he was an asset, even if he wasn't new best friend material like Jimmy and Timmy. But he wasn't under control. And I agree that it was better not to wait for him to get out of control again."
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Thomas nods. "I ain't said 'was wrong, just a bit premature, is all. Not a line crossed, just dances a little close. I'm not gonna plant my flag on that hill, so we can move on to the task at hand."
Thomas helps keep an eye out for a counter attack until he can get a turn at being healed so Badger can get treated first.
Estelle almost collapses as the group turns on each other, and sits in silence for several moments as everyone argues, mostly staring at the dirt, and Miles's body. She felt too tired for any kind of outbreak of violence or emotion. So much had happened in such a short amount of time, and all she wanted to do was close her eyes.
"But he wasn't under control. And I agree that it was better not to wait for him to get out of control again."
"Neither is Kristophe". she mutters, mostly to herself. Thinking back to how quick Badger was to shoot Miles in the chest, she almost adds "neither are you", but instead says, "We're all makin' it up as we go. Miles was right before. We're fractured."
Seeing Badger looking clearly in pain and covered in blood, Estelle drags herself to her feet and walks towards him. Pulling out one of the first aid kits, she gets to work on his wounds.
"You threatenin me Overseer? " Kristophe says with narrowed eyes. "You'd best f$$~ing think real good about that. Overseer" Kristophe spits the word as an epithet. Kristophe's hand rests on his .44 "Think really f%&~ing hard with that big f%~&ing head of yours. Because you can't f~~# this up. Or your brain will be all over the floor. " Kristophe ends his speech with his voice low and menacing. Timmy pulls on his arm "K, just f$@+ing drop it. It's over. " he says. Kristophe says "Yeah kid. It's over. " but he doesn't turn his back on Tom.
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Badger keeps a stiff upper lip as Estelle patches him up a bit.
"Thanks, Estelle. I appreciate it."
He steps between Kristophe and Tom for the moment.
"Yeah, Timmy's got the right idea. Usually does. Let's let this drop- we gotta save our energy for those slavers, right?"
Aeryicka didn't care what anybody said. Miles was an ally if not a true friend. Regardless, she vowed from then on to keep a close eye on Kris, because one day he might decide that she wasn't worth having around. Shaking her head, she tightened her grip on 'Dog-Tooth' and said, "Let's just go, we still need to clear out this group of slavers."
Sight had lost its meaning. Touch had lost its meaning. Smell mattered not, and taste there was none. For the last split second of the battle against the robots, Harper's auditory senses sharpened to a pinpoint. She felt adrenaline, pain, fear, destruction; the entirety of the battlefield concentrated into simple, tactile noise.
Ping. PFFFFF. A bullet embedded itself into the iron framework of a machine; something inside of that machine gave out in response. Shiiiink. Metal slashed across metal. Tunk. Her hockey stick made contact with her target. Pthhhthththhh. That target was now in a state of electronic shock and hardware faliure, sparking in a heap on the ground.
Quiet.
Or, at least, relative quiet. Harper let her burning lungs suck in a much needed breath of oxygen. Her own heart beat filled the void of the battle's sounds; a steady lub-dub filled in for the absent gunshots. Then there were voices. Harper let the world come into focus through her watery brown eyes once more.
She immediately wished that she hadn't.
Her ears were deafened by the firing of a pistol, though nothing compared to the horror of the scene laid out before her eyes. Though the battle should have been won without any casualties, one of Harper's own had taken care of fulfilling the daily death quota. Kristophe stood with a gun clutched between his sweaty palms, his index finger firmly pressed against the trigger. Miles lay dead on the ground before him, blood spatters gracing the cold, hard ground. Kristophe's jaw was clenched, though he stared at the corpse of the mutant with an unspoken aura of victory. Harper shut her eyes. She couldn't accept this as the truth.
Kristophe had killed Miles.
No.
Kristophe had murdered Miles.
Through the shock, through the terror, through the meaningless babbling of her party, a little voice rang out through Harper's consciousness. Calm, Harper. Calm yourself, do not give into your urges, DO NOT! It was as if the voice knew Harper better than Harper knew herself. Somehow, hearing and making out the little voice's words gave Harper the mental strength to form a sentence, a silent sentence formed on moving lips without the air support to make a sound. M-m-murderer... I... I knew it. I knew it! I knew that I was right! We should never have let him stay with us! I should never have trusted him! Look what he's done! ...Stay calm, Harper, please! Harper payed her little voice no heed. This was wrong. Placing one foot in front of the other, and then again, and then again, Harper made her way across the battlefield towards her peers, quietly, stealthily, silently. Unconsciously, her hands worked her bow out of her backpack, into her hands, and weaved an arrow into the bowstring.
Her hands weaved, maybe by chance or maybe by choice, an arrow tipped with deadly poison into the string of the bow. Maybe someone saw her, maybe, as a young, innocent girl, she was invisible to the rest of the party. Somehow anyway, step after step inched her closer and closer to the man who had so ruthlessly and remorselessly killed one who had put his trust in her. In her family.
The only thing that Harper consciously realized was that Kristophe was no longer part of her family. He was a murderer, a betrayer, he was one who did not deserve her trust or love or kindness.
So with the same cold demeanor in which Kristophe placed the barrel of the gun to the back of Miles's head, Harper placed the poisoned tip of the arrow to the back of Kristophe's neck.
She felt him shiver under the sudden touch.
Harper, NO! You cannot become what you so despise!
She felt herself shiver under the weight of her own perversion. But Harper did not waver. Her duty was to her family. Her duty was to herself. Her duty was to loyalty.
She let out five, short, piercing words, laced with the venom of her own arrows, preceded by a casual cough to rally the attention of her family.
"Move, and I kill him."
Harper! Put down your bow! This is WRONG!!
"This monster of a man was a protector. How ironic is it, that after forcing so many of our family members to this hellhole, that after sentencing so many of them to death, he should be damned to the same fate as his very victims?" Harper paused, her own mind not fully grasping the intensity of her own emotions. Her inner dialogue was riddled with the screaming and begging of her own inner voices. To any onlooker, Harper was visibly shaking, though her eyes still blazed with an uncharacteristic fury downright alien to see on her pale face. "He claims that he put down a horrible beast, one not worthy of our trust. But really, how is it any different than him putting down one of our own siblings? One of our own grandmothers? How is it any different than what he did to us? He cannot be trusted to watch us without shooting us in the back of the head, just as he did to Miles."
Harper's voice lowered to a dangerous growl.
"We end this now. Either he dies, or we all do."
Timmy grabs a molotov out of his pocket and his lighter and jumps in front of Kristophe before Harper's bow.
"He saved me and my brother's life! You aren't hurting K, you crazy b****!"
Jimmy grabs his brother's shoulder and shakes his head.
"They all did, Tim. He popped the collar, but he didn't walk in alone. This isn't our fight, bro."
The younger brother has tears in his eyes, and sniffles, and then looks at Kristophe imploringly, and then at his brother, and he shakes his head and runs up and grabs his brother, crying. "I don't want anyone else to die Jimmy!"
Jimmy looks at the others and shrugs, whispering. "He's a tough little bastard, but he's still eight. Like I said, we're with you guys. The lot of you. But we ain't picking a side." For added emphasis he looks at his brother. "Neither of us."
Warhammer stares around at the commotion with his three eyes. "Right, well I'll just float over this way and make sure we don't get ambushed while this plays out..." and he starts to float over towards the entrance.
Little girl thinks shes tough. Go on then. Do it. I f*@!ing dare ya, but you better not f~~@ing miss. Because I most certainly will not... Kristophe says, and while Harper is thinking about killing...Kristophe is moving.
Agility = 14 for interrupt.
Kristophe goes for the bow, attempting to disarm Harper.
Agility w/wounds:
Badger, despite his limping, launches himself between Kristophe and Harper's crossbow.
"ALL RIGHT! That's enough- the three of ya! You wanna get pissed at somebody, get pissed at me. I freed the mutant, I shot him in the chest (with a bean bag, so maybe that's half a shot really) and I didn't try to stop Kris or talk him out of it. Once you let this settle... and once you think about what Miles had said yesterday, his attitude toward us- you'll see that even if you disagree with what was done, we only had everyone's safety in mind- this didn't come outta nowhere."
He keeps his hands up staying between the girl and the hulking man.
"Kris ain't the friendliest guy. And there's bad blood, especially now if (for some reason) you trusted that... guy. But now, we're all each of us has got in the world. And Kristophe's saved our bacon more than once, whether you like him or not. So we gotta coexist, right? At least until we find more people and can tell each other off one last time before we go our separate ways- or whatever we're gonna do."
"So let's lay off the threats and the- what's the old timey word for what Tom said? 'Edits'? Edicts. Lay off that s+$~. It's a dangerous world. We don't have to be a danger to each other."
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Thomas advances on Harper. Slowly. Arms held out.
"Honey, honey, put the bow down. Shhhhh. Shhh. It's okay. It's okay honey. It's okay. Just put the bow down." Over and over again.
He keeps walking towards her. No mater what, he doesn't stop. He keeps talking. When he gets close enough he holds his arms up and snakes them around her. He hugs her close, kissing her head. His words muffled by her hair. "It's okay. Miles was a bad man. If Kris hadn't done that now, I would have had to later. Shhh. It's okay. You don't need to sink to his level. You're above that. We've learned something here. Let me handle this. In a perfect world I wouldn't need to tell you that you don't need to be a murder, but that's what I have to do. It's okay, honey. It's okay."
He backs off.
Slowly.
Then spins on Kris quickly. You see now? That is EXACTLY what the f@!% I'm talking about! When you deem Justice small enough for ONE person to hold, then suddenly you have NO control over who's gonna take it next! That's why we TALK about s$#~! You...you keep calling me "Overseer" but do you even know WHY you're doing that? I am NOT the one you just acted as Judge, Jury and Executioner here!
If you wanna call me an Overseer because I think we should at least ask ONE other person before blowing a friend's brain out THEN FINE! I, OVERSEER TOM, now declare that killing a person who is not an active enemy should at least have ONE other person thinking that it's a good idea! Is that not too radical? Can...can we all agree to that? Huh? Fine! Great! Let's go shoot some f*&+ing slavers."
Kristophe shrugs "Bloom thought it was a good idea, Overseer" " and he grabs his weapons and backpack off the ground. Kristophe reaches in and finds a cigarette "Hot damn, this tastes like s#~+. "
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