Worse Than the Disease 2 IC [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

Shoot Da Moon

2022-01-10, 12:09 PM

The exiles settle in and rest in the cabin for the night.

(OC: everyone eats their meals for the day.)

DAY 58

The exiles continue to stay in place as Tariq recovers.

Sean stays on the radio, keeping in touch with his allies.

Richard studies the captured intelligence and figures out some stuff.

The battle bus crew provides reinforcement for the more important and permanent gang hideout, typically the slaver camps or the gangs planning large assaults on settlements. The slaver camp here is mostly meant to protect Stone and his co-ordination of various gangs, or act as a secure corral for recently captured slaves who will eventually be sent to a northern factory and mine. Gunmetal is not yet going to be attacked, but the raiders are considering it and studying the city for weaknesses. For now, the gangs are mostly nibbling around the edges, raiding the lesser settlements within 10 miles of Gunmetal.

The other raider camps are scattered around, sometimes reporting into Stone’s hideout and delivering captured slaves, supplies, stolen bounty and soldier rotations. Once a month, men from the northern stronghold arrive to recieve the slaves and take them to the factory and mine.

Only one raider camp is near the power plant, and it is temporary, 10 men strong, and focused mostly on foraging or keeping watch on travellers.

The Shelters are numbers 38 and 51. 38 is abandoned, it was attacked by the raider army and cleansed of life. 51 is still sealed up, populated by the original survivors and their descendants, ignorant of the larger conflicts, and in contact with Overseer Mailer (who deceives them). Shelter 38 is located on the base of a mountain in the centre of Vermont. Shelter 51 is located 10 miles north of 38, entered through a mountain cave.

The triangulated location was not marked on any maps before now. It is probably the factory and mining operation the raider army maintains.

The papers name and detail various raider gangs answering to Stone; bad guys calling themselves Jackpots, Jacks, All-Blacks, 14 Words, Lucky Strikes, and Gamblers. They all have black tattoos on their necks, of course.

u-b

2022-01-10, 01:37 PM

Listening to what Richard has discovered, Sean has more questions:
1. Can we discern "northern factory and mine" location from the intel gotten from Stone? If it is not marked anywhere on the maps, maybe some travel times and/or distances relative to verious points are given or some such?
2. We have been given the location of a "Work Camp" somewhere in the north-west of the state, about 70 miles from the radar base.
2.1 Does it seem to be it?
2.2 Does it match the triangulated location?
3. Can we deduce anything on how many people are there? Roughly approximate numbers would be good for now. Related numbers (slaves/day, food consumed et cetera) also qualify.
3.1 Number of slaves.
3.2 Number of slavers.
3.2 Number of guards.
4. Any combat vehicles mentioned anywhere? In particular, anything more of a combat vehicle than a battle bus?
5. Number of people in a similar rank and position as Stone (also, approx is good enough)...
5.1 Here in Vermont.
5.1.1 Their approximate areas of concern, names, anything.
5.2 In total in the whole organization.
6. Any info they have on the mutants?
7. Any info they have on The Gutter?
8. Any info they have on Shelter 43?
9. When was Shelter 38 attacked?
10. Name and title of the head of the whole lot?
11. What happened to/at Point T?
12. How many teams under Stone have radios?

What are the tattoos of everyone we got? This Sean can check himself. After this check, Sean will help Waffle House men inhume the bodies as he probably does not have much more to do.

OC: everyone eats their meals for the day.
Done.

Volthawk

2022-01-10, 02:18 PM

u-b

2022-01-10, 02:39 PM

While Richard is on the radio, Sean mentions two things that he intended to bring up later, but can as well bring up now. First, that we should probably arrange a face-to-face meeting with Gunmetal leadership to discuss the situation further. Maybe a week+ from now, when we are done recovering and looking through the intel. Second, that we should check with Shelter 43's computer about "treason" / "not treason" status of shelters 38 and 51.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-01-10, 08:06 PM

While looking into Sean's further questions, Richard gets on the radio to relay his findings to their allied settlements. In particular, he wants to talk to Gunmetal City, as the last time he'd talked to them extensively about their position with the raiders, they had thought the raiders were giving them a wide berth, but with what he'd now learnt he wanted to be sure that they kept alert for anyone investigating their defences. He also wanted to stress the need to take this seriously, as after all they'd been skeptical about the ability of the raiders to capture Shelter 38 when Richard had reported their initial information about the place, but his new intel was very clear on what had happened to it - not only had they been able to claim a victory over the shelter-dwellers, but from how the raiders had described it they were able to kill (or enslave, he supposed - it dependended on how literally he took 'cleanse') every one of them.

He also asks around if anyone knew anything about Shelter 51 - naturally, as a sealed-up Shelter their contacts wouldn't have any direct contact with it, but nonetheless he was keen to hear anything of note about the surrounding area, raider activity in the area, that sort of thing. He still wasn't sure what, if anything, to do with 51, but he felt like it was worth asking about, just in case - given their status with Mailer, they could be a source of allies for the raiders if the exiles' campaign pushed them too hard, but at the same time they weren't so far in league with the raiders that they couldn't be brought on-side with the right approach. A dream for the future at the moment, but still one worth thinking about.

Gunmetal City is deeply alarmed by the new intelligence. They declare a new inquiry, sending over teams to the abandoned Shelter to pick over the bones and find out what exactly happened. They'll also shore up their fortifications, hire new guards.
Nobody knows anything of a Shelter 51. The location where the Shelter is supposed to be is infamous for heavy raider activity, so most people avoid it.

Listening to what Richard has discovered, Sean has more questions:
1. Can we discern "northern factory and mine" location from the intel gotten from Stone? If it is not marked anywhere on the maps, maybe some travel times and/or distances relative to verious points are given or some such?
2. We have been given the location of a "Work Camp" somewhere in the north-west of the state, about 70 miles from the radar base.
2.1 Does it seem to be it?
2.2 Does it match the triangulated location?
3. Can we deduce anything on how many people are there? Roughly approximate numbers would be good for now. Related numbers (slaves/day, food consumed et cetera) also qualify.
3.1 Number of slaves.
3.2 Number of slavers.
3.2 Number of guards.
4. Any combat vehicles mentioned anywhere? In particular, anything more of a combat vehicle than a battle bus?
5. Number of people in a similar rank and position as Stone (also, approx is good enough)...
5.1 Here in Vermont.
5.1.1 Their approximate areas of concern, names, anything.
5.2 In total in the whole organization.
6. Any info they have on the mutants?
7. Any info they have on The Gutter?
8. Any info they have on Shelter 43?
9. When was Shelter 38 attacked?
10. Name and title of the head of the whole lot?
11. What happened to/at Point T?
12. How many teams under Stone have radios?

What are the tattoos of everyone we got? This Sean can check himself. After this check, Sean will help Waffle House men inhume the bodies as he probably does not have much more to do.

Done.

(OC: Richard will need to study the intel again for a day to answer those numbered questions. Richard, roll Intelligence Analysis again.)

Looking at the bodies of the prisoners and the dead, Sean finds more black neck tattoos. Some of them look familiar, some are new. Roulette wheels, four playing cards fanned out displaying aces and eights, the ace of spades, skulls, the suicide King, two dice showing ones, the number 77, the Old World dollar sign, poker chips, knaves...Stone himself has a fierce-looking snake coiled up and hissing open-mouthed.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-01-11, 11:45 PM

The exiles welcome the new calm after their latest brushes with violence.

(OC: everyone eats more meals for the day...)

DAY 59

The next day, Richard manages to analyse his collected info and comes to some conclusions;

Richard figures out where the factory and mine would be, it is likely the "Work Camp" 70 miles from the Radar Base, or otherwise is close by it (the work camp may have a direct and regular route between the two points). It certainly matches the general vicinity of the triangulated location, to about 10 miles.

A mine and a factory in the same settlement or fortress would imply roughly 200 people. A quarter to one half of those would slaves, the rest are mostly security and jailers. Slaver crews would be the smallest portion, frequently coming and going, dropping off new slaves every month.

An Old World tank is briefly mentioned in the documents, but it is described as a very old model (something marked "WW1") with "only" machine guns and not cannons.

Judging by Stone's tone and comments in some correspondence, the factory and mine have four commanders equal to his rank posted there. And he hates them all.

With the exception of a few slaver gangs and his security forces, Stone's activity in Vermont mostly covers gangs that travel frequently across the state, to avoid getting tracked down and eliminated. Most of them seem to be heading south, near the lower border of Vermont, for the season. Only the slaver gangs did not get new orders to back off their attacks. It is apparently a loss prevention tactic. The total active raiders mentioned in the documents add up to about 80 now, a single gang consisting of anywhere between 8 and 15 troopers. Several gangs reported heavy casualties recently, three were wiped out. None of them are counted among the current active raiders.

The mutants are rarely mentioned in the reports, except for the "Sinful Nature". Stone thinks he can use them as a spoiler while the gangs are retreating, by encouraging them to attack settlements while raiders hide.

The Gutter is mostly off-limits to the men under Stone's command now, he claims the place is too dangerous and not their concerns as far as objectives go. Indeed, a lot of reports state raiders regularly suffer unacceptable casualties when they go into The Gutter.

Shelter 43 is a special objective, mostly handled by other commanders, who do not want anyone messing with it. Stone contemptuously dismisses it as a "secret project", and a waste of time.

Shelter 38 was not attacked recently. Not even within the last decade...

The army Hugh command as a whole considers itself "Shelter 77".

Richard figures what happened at Point T is that a fall back position was prepared sloppily and the retreating raiders were panicking, so they tried to desperately hide at an unvetted rally point - the Shelter - and got slaughtered there by the security robots.

5 teams under Stone have radios.

u-b

2022-01-12, 03:49 AM

Sean has a lot less open questions after hearing Richard's findings, but there still are some:
1. Any use stated or implied that the tank is currently or normally put to? Like, guarding the factory and mine or something?
2. Judging by the size of Stone's area of responsibility and other factors, how many other field commanders of his level can we expect to find in Vermont (i.e. not at the factory and mine, but spread throughout the state)?
3. How far back are the oldest Stone's papers dated? How things were back then? How long is he in the area?
4. What are reported to be the cause of those recent casualties? Any specific settlements and/or mititia groups? Who was attacking and who was defending? Are there detailed reports of the events? Sean is mainly interested in:
4.1 How our own actions are reported and attributed?
4.2 Who else is effective at waging this war and how they achieve it?
5. Is it in any way clear how Stone managed to "encourage" the mutants? What is the deal? What are means by which they keep in contact? Radio?
6. Is it in any way clear what the losses in The Gutter are from? Armed humans? Mutants? Automatic security? Something else?
7. Who is the current leader of Shelter 77? Sean would like this name ran through Shelter 43's computer (we have secure radio channel), along with shelter number itself and shelters numbers 38 and 51.

Also, we want to keep in touch with the team going to Shelter 38 and get a clearance to receive a copy of their report.

OC: everyone eats more meals for the day...
Done.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-01-12, 09:06 AM

Volthawk

2022-01-12, 10:00 AM

u-b

2022-01-12, 12:50 PM

This time Sean joins the radio chat to make a correction and two proposals. The correction is that the team does not currently need the equipment to go after the tank as that is, as of yet, not anywhere near decided. Still, the decision to go after one target or the other can be made, and the team has demonstrated some level of capability, so... The first proposal would be to get together and chat. Then maybe come up with some plan and maybe discuss the equipment as would be appropriate. Stone's papers and the guy himself could be a part of the deal. The second proposal would be to keep in touch, which we, from our side, mostly do, but would not mind some reciproity w.r.t. outcomes of our leads.

Hm. Richard doesn't have either skill. Tariq has Soldier, but I suppose since this is the day he's healing up to 0hp he can't do it. I suppose that means either Richard or Sean will have to default Savoire-Faire (IQ-4) - we have the same IQ I believe, and Richard's doing intel work, so I guess Sean should roll?
Sean's Savoire-Faire is at extra -1, making it the same IQ-5 as Sean's Soldier default. Well, at least the chance was non-zero and Sean does not crit-fail.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-01-12, 11:02 PM

As always, Richard relays his findings to their allies and starts to look for answers into Sean's new questions. He also tries to get in touch with Gunmetal again, asking about their more advanced weaponry - he remembered that they would need authorisation from the Elders to buy such things, and they'd previously denied the exiles, but hopefully the mention of the raiders having a tank (he mentions the details he doesn't understand, like the WWI designation - maybe given their focus, they might know what it means) and their more recent successes might convince them to part with the kind of equipment needed for a target like that. Sure, Tariq could probably put something together with enough punch to deal with it himself, but there was no harm trying to get hold of something purpose-built, if the Elders went for it.

The Elders are happy to hear Richard out, but their decision will need to hold off for other issues and their final decision might still be not in his favor.

(OC: Richard, make a reaction roll to see how the Elders judge it, apply your usual modifiers and another -2.)

This time Sean joins the radio chat to make a correction and two proposals. The correction is that the team does not currently need the equipment to go after the tank as that is, as of yet, not anywhere near decided. Still, the decision to go after one target or the other can be made, and the team has demonstrated some level of capability, so... The first proposal would be to get together and chat. Then maybe come up with some plan and maybe discuss the equipment as would be appropriate. Stone's papers and the guy himself could be a part of the deal. The second proposal would be to keep in touch, which we, from our side, mostly do, but would not mind some reciproity w.r.t. outcomes of our leads.

Sean's Savoire-Faire is at extra -1, making it the same IQ-5 as Sean's Soldier default. Well, at least the chance was non-zero and Sean does not crit-fail.

Sean fails to get approval from the soldiers. They say they can handle their own business, and it's not safe to get too open about what they're up to. They'll report back to Sean when they have the time.

DAY 60

(OC: Another day's worth of eating. Mark them off. Tariq, you get to recover some more.)
Richard finds out more from the intelligence.

There might be another 3 field commanders like Stone active in Vermont.
The raider causalities are due to militia pushback and defense of settlements, and the exiles' attacks on them. Not many detailed reports of that stuff at all.
The reports on the exiles are fairly regular, but relatively vague despite their accuracy. (They report the exiles have taken the radar base and repelled attacks, but not how, for instance.)
The Rangers are noted to be especially prolific in defeating raiders.
It seems Stone wanted to bait mutants into attacking settlements mostly by covertly leading wandering patrols of the Sinful Nature into travelers and settlers on the road or by getting people to stumble into mutant lairs, rather than direct methods.
The losses in The Gutter are mostly from automatic security and diseases.
The current leaders of Shelter 77 are a council of five "generals" or oligarchs. The leadership occasionally get bogged down in making high level decisions quickly, but often split up responsibilities and select operations amongst their own personal spheres of subordinates and influence efficiently. One general got "retired" and replaced (reason given; "judged logistically insolvent") four months ago.

The Shelter 43 computer is not taking calls right now. Or perhaps it is simply a bad connection?

u-b

2022-01-12, 11:50 PM

Sean has no more open questions. He asks if Richard and Tariq can come up with some of their own. As for the plans, Sean proposes the following:
1. We let Tariq recover to full.
2. We do some crafting. E.g. Richard can make precision ammo when the supplies arrive, then Tariq can spend one day when he is at full health.
3. We hit the raider camp that is near the power plant.
4. We let Waffle House people take over guarding the armed powerplanters as they restore the power and secure the site.
5. By this time, maybe Chalmers will have some news.

OC: Another day's worth of eating. Mark them off.
Done.

GnomesofZurich2

2022-01-13, 07:07 AM

DAY 60

(OC: Another day's worth of eating. Mark them off. Tariq, you get to recover some more.)

Tariq fails his recovery roll, the physician roll succeeds, putting him at 1 hp.

Volthawk

2022-01-13, 09:54 AM

Looking over his accumulated findings, Richard just has a few loose ends to try and find an answer to. For one thing, the mutants - if Stone wanted to make use of their patrols and lead people into their territory, he must have had some idea of where their settlements are (or at least which areas have above average numbers of them), so Richard tries to collate any information in the intel on the subject and makes a few calls to the settlements he knows that have had problems with mutants to compare their experiences, hoping to get a better idea of where they're more or less likely to find mutants. It felt useful to have a better idea of where to avoid when they didn't want trouble, and where to go if they needed to take action against a mutant group again.

He also double-checks the reports on the Gutters, hoping to learn about any other ways in than the ones the exiles already knew about - in order for the raiders to lose people, they must have found entrances, and he hoped they might have said enough about it for him to figure out where. The mention on people dying of disease down there also concerns him, so he looks for any information on what - sure, the raiders probably weren't exactly doctors, but they might have said enough to figure out whether they're talking about the kind of regular diseases you find in the wasteland, infections and the like from wounds inflicted by the defences, or something unique to the Gutters themselves. The prospect of the last possibility has Richard a little worried, given what brought about the world they now live in.

He looks over Stone's comments on his peers and superiors again (the commanders at the mine and factory, the other field commanders, 77's generals, etc), hoping to glean any hints about the people themselves, how they like to operate compared to Stone. Sure, it'll be coloured by Stone's own opinions, but there might be something the exiles could use in the future there.

Outside of the intel, he calls around and gets talking to his usual contacts, asking if they any idea about when the troubles with the raiders actually started - between how long it had apparently been since the attack on Shelter 38, and the involvement of Mailer (who had been 44's Overseer for as long as he could remember, and who'd been a part of this long enough to have sent out enough exiles to irritate the people she was working with), he was started to wonder just how far back this went. He had other questions about the beginning of all this, but they would have to wait until they could get their hands on one of the real leaders behind all this. He also checks in with the Funny Platoon, asking if their snooping on enemy radio channels had picked up on anything interesting yet.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-01-13, 06:10 PM

A call from Gunmetal tells Richard that the Elders will probably approve his request, but he'll have to wait until tomorrow before he can actually order any goods.

In the meantime, he digs up more findings.

He narrows down the locations of three Sinful Nature bases much like the one the exiles destroyed in Springfield. One is in The Gutter, another is hidden beneath a mansion, the third is in the mountains.

According to reports, raiders enter The Gutter through tunnels in Springfield. The diseases caught in The Gutter sound like nastier cases of influenza and skin-eating rabies. But Richard is not a doctor...

Richard's investigation into the generals and the field commanders gives up some hints. They seem fanatically hateful towards non-Shelter dwellers, selfish, greedy and bitter. They often put their own self-interest ahead of the mission when fighting directly. Their loyalty to the army is mostly secured through personal gain and opportunities to express their unpleasantness.

Most of the non-slavers tend towards shooting on sight or capturing for torture. Most raiders have anger issues and an unreasoning desire to kill their enemies as fast as possible. The slavers tend to buck these bloody-minded trends, but in the worst ways possible.

According to those he speaks to, Vermont has ALWAYS had trouble with raiders and slavers, for decades at least. The Funny Platoon reports rumours on enemy channels that a raider boss has gone rogue, taking his entire gang with him, and is trying to defect. They think it has been confirmed, but they have no details on the traitor yet.

u-b

2022-01-14, 01:27 AM

Shoot Da Moon

2022-01-14, 05:14 PM

Sean mostly takes some time to relax and do nothing much, but he does think of something else that Richard might try to find out:
1. The yellow substance, its use, origin, composition etc.
2. Prevoius (groups of) Shelter 44 exiles. Number, timing, composition, fate, etc.
3. Location of Shelter 77 (approximate is fine).
4. Any life in The Gutter to carry those diseases (like rats, bats, insects or what not). We should also consult the doctor present here, show him the papers and ask to comment from his experience about curability of any of those diseases etc.

The reports on the exiles explain that the yellow substance is some kind of beast attracting pheromone they used to herd mutated animals. They often spray it onto meat and then throw it around to get swarms of scavengers or predators to disrupt settlements.

The other Shelter 44 exiles are given only passing mention - they died or were murdered by raiders, that is all the enemy cares to record.

Shelter 77 is not given any location in any intelligence obtained so far. No doubt for OpSec reasons. You doubt even captains and some field commanders know where Shelter 77 is. Maybe the officers at the factory and mine do.

The doctor opines, after looking over the findings, that the diseases were mutated influenza and Ebola. The infection was probably carried through tainted water, a bio-weapon, a mutated animal bite or tainted air. Antibiotics would be ineffective against the "Mega Flu" and curing the Ebola would require Old World high-tech anti-viral medicine.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-01-15, 07:52 AM

The exiles continue to enjoy the cabin in the middle of the stone field...

DAY 61

Tariq continues to recover from his wound.

At the end of breakfast, the Waffle House couriers arrive with the stuff ordered by Sean. They ask him where he wants it all offloaded.

u-b

2022-01-15, 01:26 PM

Sean tells to deliver 10 rifles, 10 shotguns, 50 shots, 50 slugs, and also 100 rifle cartridges Sean is providing, to the powerplant people at the Waffle House. They would be welcome to allocate the guns and practice a little, but Sean is not providing more ammo, so that is on them. Sean will tell them when it is safe to relocate. Most of the rest of the stuff goes into the trunk. The only exception, and only if the cargo for the Radar Base is not already in transit, would be 50 slugs. In either case, Sean asks when the cargo to the Radar Base is expected to be delivered (food and armor in bulk; maybe these 50 slugs).

Tariq is notified that we now have 26 pounds of TNT. Richard is notified that we now have 200 empty rife cartridge casings and 10 pounds of other components (primers, powder and lead).

Sean asks Richard and/or Gunmetal about the details of the deal:
1. Do we get a permanently elevated status?
2. Or open-ended high-tech purchase limit of some amount?
3. Or one time high-tech purchase limit of some amount?
4. Or some pre-approved list?
5. Or we just name what we want and they see how it goes?

This makes our accound balance with the power plant people 640 rifle cartridges, to be eventually repaid with power and/or guns back.

Also, should we relocate to Waffle House settlement? They probably have a doc there too, to tend all the wounded fighting the mutants, and we don't really have any business here in the cabin.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-01-16, 12:56 AM

The Waffle House crew nods in agreement and gets to business. They inform Sean the radar base cargo is not yet in transit.

Richard receives a call back from The Gunmetal Elders. They inform him that they can approve buying Old World high-tech equipment sets (a primary gun, armor, working gear, gun accessories, a secondary firearm) for two people right now. Any more purchases, and they will need further favors or earning citizenship.

(OC: What kind of TL 8 things do you want to buy?)

Volthawk

2022-01-18, 05:39 AM

With his intelligence work done for the time being, Richard turns his attention to the delivery of ammunition parts, grabbing the reloading press from the car and spending most of the day making new match-grade rounds for their rifles.

u-b

2022-01-18, 01:15 PM

Having completed the shopping list, Sean checks with the others that it is correct and the expressed priorities are as intended. Then he has a chat with Waffle House people proposing to lend them the good radio and get the bad radio in return. They would be free to use the good radio until a reversing transaction completes and the proposal does not include payments of any kind. Sean explains that he would like to sell a radio to procure some stuff, but does not want to sell the good one. Also, he expects to be able to find more older model radios, so the transaction should be reversible just fine. Whatever the answer, Sean puts two sniper rifles, a radio and some other stuff into the trunk, and, having Bart with him, drives the sedan to Gunmetal and unloads the goods as arrange. He picks up everything that can be picked up right away, asks when other stuff is expected to be available, asks to be notified over the radio when it actually is, makes sure what is purchased is marked against what is authorized (and what is not purchased not marked against what is authorized), tells he will be back to pick up the remaining ordered stuff (and other authorized stuf, funds permitting), then is on his way back.

After he unloads and distributes the gear, Sean intends to lead the way of two cars with the team and two most valuable prisoners to the Waffle House to spend the night there and begin the interrogations in the morning.

Okay, the proposal is like this (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UB2DfTqiFqjDXtfrV_eeewbZ6b7hVAdybZ5mxvMtPAI/edit?pli=1#gid=532424194). Notably, we purchase quite a lot of armor, so are unable to cram in there most of the other stuff, but we don't plan to go after the tank right away, and likely not into enclosed spaces, so, if we hit one or two groups before the rest runs away, we should be good. We are able to cram night vision goggles in there, which is a good thing. There are still a few things that can be opined about. For one, Sean's IR stuff is optional, but it will take time to produce, so I'd rather order it sooner, not later, and by omitting it we get nothing more urgent anyway. The best alternative I can think of is the lot of anti-armor bullets plus better trauma plates. We don't quite need the bullets right now and trauma plates would be extra $12800 for extra 2 DR, so Sean would rather get the laser. We can upgrade the trauma plates later on and pass these to the troops or wear them on the back, so nothing is quite wasted by going for cheaper ones first.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-01-19, 12:46 AM

Tariq sleeps pleasantly as the doctor sees to him.

Richard almost flawlessly crafts some excellent rifle rounds, for future killings. It takes him a total of ten hours, but the effort is worth it.

After a brief exchange of wheeling and dealing, Sean hits the road and the road (thankfully) does not hit back. He complete the deals they made at Gunmetal and the Waffle House, with Bart riding shotgun (almost literally). The radio exchange is accepted as fair. He is informed that he can expect wanted inventory within a few days.

Bart watches over Sean as he goes to sleep in the Waffle House tents, surrounded by strangers and hearing the occasional animal noise off in the distance.

(OC: Mark off the meals eaten, fellas. Tariq, roll to see how much HP you recover...)

DAY 62

The morning is chilly, and the sky is a bit overcast.

u-b

2022-01-19, 01:35 AM

In the morning, Sean proposes to choose one most promising-looking mutant, take it away from the others, and see if it can be reasoned with. He proposes we conduct negotiations, rather than interrogations, with this one guy, and our position would be roughly like so:
1. The mutants attacked the Waffle House. Twice.
2. They were hit back. Hard.
3. For reasons that follow, we see this as enough of a retaliation, so if the mutants won't do it again, we also won't do it again.
4. Our preliminary investigations show that the mutants were tricked into attacking the Waffle House by tattoed raiders. We hit the raiders. Hard.
5. We want to know how the situation looked like from the munants' perspective and to what extent it matches the description above. In particular, what they thought was their reason for attacking.
6. We want to know if the mutants would be willing to condict negitiations.

OC: Mark off the meals eaten
Done.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-01-19, 04:08 AM

The mutant mostly stays silent, except for when it starts blurting out random threats and curses.

By the end of the talks, however, it reveals why it hates "normal" people so much;
The Sinful Nature were created in the image of some insane and evil genius just after the virus ravaged the Old World. They were created to kowtow to their creator and serve his twisted whims, helping him carry out his megalomaniacal affronts against nature, apparently with the full backing of the Old World and the blessing of the "normal" humans.

The mutants rebelled against this unnatural evil, and instead destroyed their creator. In the aftermath, they decided they must devote their lives to stopping the threat of humanity of subjugating the natural world to their unholy ambitions, and punish it for their sins. Humanity will once again endorse another savage "genius" like their creator unless they are crushed. Most, if not all, of humanity is probably just as cruel, power-hungry and murderous as their creator, anyhow.

That's what the Sinful Nature believe, anyhow.

u-b

2022-01-19, 05:08 AM

GnomesofZurich2

2022-01-19, 06:21 AM

Tariq sleeps pleasantly as the doctor sees to him.

(OC: Mark off the meals eaten, fellas. Tariq, roll to see how much HP you recover...)

DAY 62

Tariq continues resting up. (OC: Both rolls succeed, Tariq is at 4 hp.)

Shoot Da Moon

2022-01-20, 01:03 AM

Sean listens to the mutant, trying to understand the proposed worldview. He has some things to clarify:
1. What does it mean to be "created in the image" of an evil genius? In particular, does it mean having evil tendencies to begin with? How this relates to clearly unhuman physiology?
2. Sean informs that the Old World was apparently split, with some part of it committing high treason against the other, and that's only on this side on the pool. Can it be known who exactly gave and not gave their blessings?
3. What is the nature of the punishment and the plan for imposing it and how did it work over all those years? What those punished are supposed to do after receiving their punishment? Meaning, it's not a capital punishment, right?
4. What "natural world" are we talking about? Something as evolved before year 10000 BCE? Something no more technologically advanced than 10000 BCE? Other criteria? How the clearly recent and artifical mutations fit into the picture?
5. What is their method of ensuring the mutants don't endorse another savage "genius" maybe like that they were imaged after?
6. Given all this seeming hate, how do they manage to coexist with the people of Springfield? Meaning, they share a city, but so far no side seems to have eradicated the other.
7. Can we contact those higher up to have a more coherent talk about our differences?

Sean displays patience, partial disagreement and genuine interest through his Easy to Read trait, if that's relevant.

The mutant answers;
1) The creator cloned himself. All of the Sinful Nature are clones of the creator, albeit with mutations and genetic drift, thankfully. The cloning labs all have his DNA template on file, and that is what they use to make new mutants.
2) The mutant admits he does not know for sure, but the creator HAD to have a lot of support. How else could he set such horridly brilliant feats of science?
3) Humanity did evil when they enabled the creator, so the Sinful Nature must punish them for it. The Sinful Nature have come to the conclusion that the punishment should be death, as the creator's crimes were too grave to be forgiven.
4) The natural world is the world without humanity's interference. The wilderness where no human lives must be protected, with force if necessary.
5) So far, no Sinful Nature clone has ever done so, the issue has never come up.
6) The Sinful Nature tried, but the humans of Springfield pushed them back every time. The attack on the Waffle House was a splinter faction trying to wipe out a settlement so the greater mutant population could gain a foothold in better territory.
7) No. Leadership is a fluid and scattered thing amongst the Sinful Nature. Aside from their shared goals, the mutants rule each other mostly by charismatic mob rulers who direct mere bunches of mutants at a time, who are easily replaced or unfollowed in accordance with the fortunes of war.

The mutant seems deflated and uncomfortable, not used to such intense social contact.

u-b

2022-01-20, 02:22 AM

1. Sean inquires how the mutants reason about a modified clone of evil being a model for good. Would not it be better to find someone "provably" good and clone them instead? Or being good is not necessary for one's fight against (other) evil?
2. Sean enquires about the mutant's awareness that the humanity is not a clone of one person, so, even leaving alone culture and education, not everyone is the same. So, even assuming humanity did evil by enabled the creator, not everyone would be neccessarily in favor of it, even if they would be aware of it and capable of doing something. And many things are done by the leaderships without consulting the masses. How do the mutants feel about replacing the leadership only? Maybe with themselves or "good" clones discussed above?
3. How long had the Sinful Nature this goal of imposing the death on the humans? Do they have positive progress so far? Are they noticiably closer to their goal? What must happen, to them and to the world in general, for them to reconsider either the desirability or attainability of this goal?
4. Why do the mutants need a territory? Sean has an impression they do not necessarily need to eat, so not require agriculture or hunting. What purpose would it serve to have control of some territory? In what respects this territory was seen to be "better"?
5. What is planned to happen after all the humans are killed? Do the mutants want to establish a civilization of theirs? Devolve their culture to live naturally as animals? Kill themselves to rid the planet of all possible future sources of evil?
6. What is their take on responsibility and blame? Sean explains that the Old World humans largely had individual responsibility in many matters*, so it was not customary to punish someone for something he had no real influence on committing. There were other concepts of blame, though. Group blame was to some extent used, where a group was often an oganization or a country (the first - mainly for economical matters, and the second - for political and military matters). There was an older practice of family/tribe blame, which involved all three of genetic, cultural and organizational similarity by those committing the acts and those held responsible for them at the time this practice applied. There is also a religious notion of the "original sin" that is supposedly passed down to every new generation and cannot be lifted from those that had no business committing it. The mutants seem to extend the blame to the whole genus, so Sean does like to know if this is a conscious decision and whether the much greater diversity of natural humans relative to clones was taken into account making this decision.
7. Can the order of the eradication be subject of negotiations? Like, coming to an agreement that some humans are more evil than others, then teaming up to eradicate them first, then fighting among ourselves for our lives if, by that time, we are unable to reach a consensus?
8. Is there an idea how the slaver/raider leadership could have influenced the decision of the splinter faction to attack this settlement? Meaning channels, contacts, arguments, etc.

*I assume Sean's basic education covers that much. We do know today of Ancient Greece, for example. I will edit it if Shelter education in this regerd is in some way limited.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-01-21, 05:21 AM

The mutant asserts that their status as clones of the creator does not mark them as evil - they DESTROYED the creator, not take after him. If anything, the creator's visage constantly reminds them of the importance of opposing evil. As for cloning another, they know nothing of that particular technology.

The mutant seems ignorant of human culture and society, really. It also knows little of human leadership, come to think of it.

The Sinful Nature have been waging their war on humanity for "decades". The mutant is not sure how the war is going, just that it is not over yet. They'd like humans to leave Vermont or be killed to the last in Vermont, at least. Securing Vermont would keep the entire world from falling to the human evil, at least. The mutant is not sure what could happen to make him change his goal. Whatever made the creator evil, that would have to be removed from the enitre human race.

The Sinful Nature need territory so that the good in the world can be protected from evil by them. They do not need to eat or drink. Good can flourish under their care if evil was driven out of the region.

The Sinful Nature, once they secure the region from the evils of humans, will occupy the region and nurture whatever good they can find. Whatever good remains, it is in danger from humanity. The Sinful Nature will probably simply live as they have done, without the warfare, once humans are out of Vermont. Their culture is communal and harmless, free from evil.

The Sinful Nature believe that good is simply the default and evil takes deliberate effort to attack the world. When one does evil, there is no mistake. They must be punished for doing evil, simply for the sake of protecting good, as all evil threatens good willfully. The mutant knows nothing of this "education" and thinks Sean is lying somehow. It knows very little of countries, organizations, religions, genus and armies. He understands tribes and towns, but not "human diversity".

The mutant does not know if the order is subject to negotiation. Some mutants might negotiate, it guesses, but some is not all. Very little has changed regarding the shared goal of the Sinful Nature since the beginning.

The mutant knows nothing of "raiders" or "slavers". It has never talked to one, or even a human at all, before now.

u-b

2022-01-21, 11:24 AM

Sean was at a loss how this could be salvaged. There just did not seem to be any solid point of contact. "Say, chap, just how old are you? What did you do in that isolated hole you've just emerged from? Would you think your faction leader values your faction lives enough to come here and talk?"

If Richard has ideas, this might be a good time to try some.

Volthawk

2022-01-21, 05:15 PM

Richard was a little stumped too. Ideology like that was a lot harder to deal with than self-interest, mutual betterment, and what Richard believed was most people being basically alright people, particularly when it this...blanket in its applications of good and evil. There was one point that confused him though. "If good is the default state of the universe, and evil is perpetrated willingly, why are those that you don't know to have committed any evil acts still judged guilty by your people? If it is a matter that a given human may at some point in the future do evil, why do you consider yourself exempt from this? Surely you don't think that mutants are incapable of comitting evil acts - attitudes like that, a total certainty in your own beliefs and your superiority over any others, is precisely what leads to people like your creator arising in human communities." He doubted that someone like this, a devoted follower of the cause, would be swayed by any of this, but he was curious about how much they actually thought about all this, and how much they just accepted as gospel. On that thought, a memory came to mind. "On another note, we first met people of the Sinful Nature..a month and a half ago or so. They were suspicious of us at first, seeing us as invading their home, but they were willing to talk and we came to an agreement. They called us non-sinners, and let us stay where we were. They wanted to make sure we were alright people, and given that they left us later that day without any more complaints or attacking us, it seemed like they'd judged us kindly. We didn't even know that humanity as a whole was your target until much more recently. Is the way they acted unusual or normally forbidden for your people, or is there room in your beliefs for humans to be judged good?"

Shoot Da Moon

2022-01-22, 12:58 AM

The mutant is confused by what Sean and Richard are saying.

It does not know how old it is. It spent most of its free time training for a fight, learning survival skills, engaging in group story telling, and playing with animals. It does not really understand what Sean is getting at when he brings up his leader. The leader does not negotiate - nobody he knows is in charge of negotiating. After all, anyone can talk, right?

Richard gets even more blank stares. As far as he understands, the mutant thinks Richard is arguing good will...eventually lead to the evils of the creator? Did humans not do evil? Has he ever met an evil mutant? Met a good human? He does not think so. Quite frankly, the mutant is not smart to grasp the point.

Richard's account of his brush with friendly mutants is shrugged off. So what if some other people judged them sinless? They're not his people.

u-b

2022-01-22, 01:02 PM

Sean sighs. "Humans don't always do evil. I'll prove my point. Go think about it, and think about it again next time you are to murder a child. Come back with a white flag if you want more of yours released."

Sean leads the mutant outside, a bit away from the settlement, and lets him go. He is not sure if this will do any good, but just one extra mutant probably does not increase the world threat level by all that much, so he's willing to risk it. He warns Waffle House people about the mutant possibly returning with a white flag, even though he does not have much hopes. He's ready to hear all the things they would say about the idea, as long as nobody claims he's overstepped his authority.

Let's spend some more time, shall we? Sean does nothing much. If Bart needs some funds to relax in the settlement, he just has to name the amount.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-01-23, 03:08 AM

The other men accept the idea.
They actually have heard accounts of mutants being friendly with normal people.

The mutant, once freed, graciously flees into the wilderness as fast as he can. He seems unsure about what he should do, or how he should feel about Sean and his talk.

Volthawk

2022-01-24, 08:32 AM

Happy that the talk with the mutant ended about as well as he could expect, and thinking over the conversation to figure out if there was anything useful there, Richard returns to work on the bullets - he's a little slower than usual, taking more breaks and enjoying being in a proper settlement, but he figures he has the time for once.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-01-24, 09:39 AM

6 hours of work later, Richard has made 60 match-grade bullets, which should make the killing to come easier.

u-b

2022-01-25, 07:40 AM

Sean first decides he won't do anything useful today, but then he thinks why this would be the case and comes to a conclusion that he does not want to hunt near Shelter 44, Springfield, mutants and all. So he chooses a different approach. He takes Stone's radio, has Richard set it up so that Sean only has to push a button to place a secure call, takes Bart, the dogs, and drives to the Sky Resort, saying to expect him back some time tomorrow. At the Sky Resort he tries to get two men to help and chooses a place somewhere around the mountain where to release the dogs, hoping to shoot, kill and butcher something big enough to worth the trouble.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-01-26, 04:55 AM

Sean makes the drive without trouble, gets two men to help him, lets the dogs lead the way, and finds a good pack of 8 wild dogs to hunt.

(OC: they each have Dodge 10. Your hunting companions have Guns (Rifle)-12 and they do 5d Pi per shot.)

Shoot Da Moon

2022-01-26, 04:57 AM

Sean shots three dogs dead as they get spooked by their own dog companion.

Each dead dog weighs 80 lbs.

(OC: Sean's fellow hunting men also get to take a shot each, as well. Roll for them.)

u-b

2022-01-26, 05:40 AM

Bart and the two local men each take a shot. Sean then tries to get the remaining dogs before they get away. Whatever is the total catch, Sean allocates the local men one dog each and takes the rest for himself, placing them in the pickup truck. He drives everyone back to their base, which is close enough, and says he came here to hunt and share the news. The first part is done for today, so we can proceed about the second. Dining with the local militia, Sean tells about the recent operaton against the raiders' outpost (how it went and that one man got seriously wounded) and the mutants (their attacks on the Waffle House and the retaliation, also the mutants' tough physiology and their resistance to e.g. melee and buckshot attacks). Sean says nothing about Chalmers and his op, nor about the north-western base, nor about the team's further plans, but is otherwise ready to answer the questions. He says he expects the surrounding lands to be calmer, at least in short term, and if the locals can start looking for that vault that is pesumably nearby and if they need any help or have any expectations with regard to the task. Meanwhile, do the locals have any news of their own?

That's it for today and Sean will go hunt the first thing tomorrow.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-01-26, 09:16 AM

All of the wild dogs die as the men continue to open fire and then coup-de-grace the dogs who were merely knocked out. 8 corpses of the dogs are left over, bullet holes in their torsos.

(OC: each dog corpse is 80 lbs., for about 40 meals and weighing 40 lbs., IIRC.)

Back at the ski resort, the men skin and cook the dogs, and dine on their meat that evening. The militia stationed at the resort share that it's been very quiet since the attack that the exiles helped out with. They've focused exclusively on rebuilding the base and repairing gear. They've had the occasional new recruit come in.

After dinner, Sean can take it easy and rest.
Richard hits the hay as the sun goes down.
Tariq goes to sleep feeling better...

DAY 63

(OC: mark off meals eaten.)
Everyone wakes up to a clear day.

Richard spends 6 hours making new bullets.

Sean goes hunting at the ski resort area when he gets up. He, Bart, the dogs and whoever he can to come with him all eventually track down a herd of bulls and cows grazing in a lonely field. A quick count puts the herd at 12.

u-b

2022-01-26, 12:15 PM

Sean designates the targets (he gets the the side with the most compact group and everyone else gets the other side, in the ame order as they are themselves positioned), then tries to carefully approach the herd, but not too close as not to alert it prematurely. Then he shoots one long burst, trying to get as many targets as he possibly can.

Volthawk

2022-01-26, 02:58 PM

The bullets handled, Richard turns his attention back to the prisoners, particularly Stone. He spends a few hours questioning the raider leader, focusing his questions on the northern raider holdings. Besides trying to use Stone's knowledge to get information on the layout of said bases and operations, Richard also tries to learn more about the people involved - Richard's investigation of Stone's notes had already told him that the man hated his northern counterparts and given him a general overview of the kind of people they were, but perhaps Stone could be convinced to elaborate a little more about them.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-01-27, 01:40 AM

Richard's pressure bounces off Stone even after more than a hour.

Sean gets a stoppage and only slaughters five cows, while Bart and the two other men fatally shoot one bovine each. The rest of the herd stampedes away, leaving eight dead huge piles of raw burger behind.

(OC: each cow weighs 1390 lbs.)

u-b

2022-01-27, 02:16 AM

Sean takes his time to clear the stoppage without damagin the gun. It takes a minute for what looks like a simple task, but Sean really does not want to end up with a non-functional gun off the base. It turns out just a shot case failing to extract, which Sean extracts, and the rifle seems to remain in a perfect condition.

The cows seem a perfect match for pickup capacity, if transported one at a time, so Sean estimates getting them anywhere would take a while, as he does not want to risk and overload the pickup, having no ability to fix it. He asks the snowbunnies to guard the location and transports two cows to their base, one at a time. At the base he unloads them saying it is their share and says he will transport the rest to Gunmetal. Also, he asks if the locals would be interested in a similar deal the party has with the Waffle House, namely, to get stuff in exchange for some future repayment in services or such. If so, do they want to get something in particular? Then Sean drives the rest of the corpses all the way to Gunmetal, which is not quite far away, but it's still a number of trips, so might take all day. On the last trip he makes a quick detour to bring local people home and thanks them for their cooperation. In Gunmetal, Sean asks if they will take the whole lot of fresh dog meat and dead cows in their present condition in exchange for adding a trauma plate and some radio detonators to his previous order.

OC: mark off meals eaten.
Done.

UPD: And I think I'll need to account for the mileage:
1. Waffle House to Sky Resort
2. Sky Resort to Gunmetal and back (11 one-way trips)
3. Gunmetal to Waffle House (today or tomorrow, depending on how late is it now)

Shoot Da Moon

2022-01-27, 12:07 PM

Sean makes good time on his deliveries of meat.

The folks at Gunmetal are wary of making a deal of "store credit" or whatever, but they certainly accept the dead animals as payment - worth $2 per pound of edible meat as rations.

The people of Gunmetal mostly like the idea of salvage from The Gutter - particularly quality metal for their workshops and factories, and Old World electronics for study. That would be worth "credit".

They add the trauma plate and radio detonator to the order in exchange for the food.

(OC: do you need any help counting the miles?)

u-b

2022-01-28, 11:24 AM

When it starts getting dark, Sean is back to base. He returns the Stone's radio to Waffle House men at the workshop and then parks the car in the party's garage. He shares the news with Richard and Tariq and asks if they have some of their own.

Sean has to refuel twice, mid-way and in the end, for 4 bullets each time (8 total).

GnomesofZurich2

2022-01-28, 12:31 PM

Shoot Da Moon

2022-01-29, 10:35 AM

Richard tries to crack Stone some more, but finds the scum defiant.

It takes another four hours of badgering him before Richard breaks for the day, having seen the sun go down.

(OC: everyone eats their meals for the day.)

Sean is back just in time to go to bed.

(OC: going to the next day?)

GnomesofZurich2

2022-01-29, 06:53 PM

(OC: going to the next day?)

Sounds good to me.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-01-30, 05:23 AM

DAY 64

The exiles all wake up at the remains of the slaver camp, the sun shines brightly in the sky and the winds are chilly.

(OC: if you guy are still waiting on a delivery of stuff you've bought, it arrives today.)

u-b

2022-01-30, 07:21 AM

Sean wants to get the following info out from Stone, for a start:
1. An actual hand-drawn map(s) of the north-western facilities.
2. Some comments.

The map(s) and the comments answer the following questions:
2.1 The number of differents sites in the area.
2.2 The purpose of each site.
2.3 The number of people verious sort at each site (slavers, guards, technicians, etc.).
2.4 Which site is guarded by the tank.
2.5 Whether the tank standing in the open or in a garage or maybe dug in (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hull-down) to some extent.
2.6 Whether the tank is camouflaged.
2.7 How many men guard the site along with the tant.
2.8 What equipment these men have and use (like, snipers, machine gunners).
2.9 What are the fortifications.
2.10 What buildings are at this particular site (number, purposes, sizes, etc.).
2.11 What would be the distance from the buildings to the outer perimeter of the guarded area.
2.12 What would be the distance from the outer perimeter to bush/forest type of vegatation (both the minimum such distance and the maximum such distance - Sean wants to know both how close he can sneak in and from how far away he can shoot, he's not yet sure what approach would be preferred).
2.13 What traps etc. are employed.

Also, there is a bunch of unrelated questions that either Stone or his papers could answer:
3. Can the groups Stone had under him communicate only with Stone's base and among themselves? Or can their radios reach any other entities, such as the HQ? If so, Sean would like the list of all those entities.
4. What would they most likely do now that Stone is out? Is there a contingency plan? Will they try to do business as usual? Try to move and hide? Something else?
5. How many cars of what types do they have?
6. What is the purpose of moving south for the summer? Are there any specific seasonal dangers to run from?
7. What is known about the situation outside of Vermont? A general picture would suffice. Any interstate war, commerce, or maybe other interaction? Radio contact?

Shoot Da Moon

2022-01-31, 04:13 PM

Stone won't give up any information without some hardcore focused questioning, taking notable time.

(OC: Sean, roll Interrogation skill against Stone's Will 13. The base time for each roll is 1 hour.)

Shoot Da Moon

2022-02-01, 08:56 AM

8 hours of sweaty confrontation later, Stone still does not crack. He is wavering, however.

(OC: Stone wins three of four contests, ties on the last. No information is gotten.)

u-b

2022-02-02, 06:45 AM

Sean attends the interrogations, but otherwise does nothing much. He is not particularly surprised that this Stone is one tough cookie. Given Tariq's condition there seems to be no pressing need to hurry up, so Sean intends to spend another day or two doing the same and see how it goes.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-02-02, 02:16 PM

After a hard but fruitless day of interrogating Stone, the exiles go to bed as the sun sets.

DAY 65

The next day is clear and temperate.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-02-03, 11:06 AM

In the next eight hours of interrogation, Stone breaks a bit and reveals information.

Stone has been in contact with groups under him, and those group do not talk to anyone else. He does not trust other field commanders to do their job well enough. Anything those other commanders want with his subordinates, they have to go through him for it.

The men under Stone, now that he is captured, are likely to either drop their flags and run to hiding, or hook up with raider bosses if they can.

Most raiders have only motorcycles, sedans, horses, their own feet, and bicycles to use as transportation. Trucks may be used by certain raiders assigned to supply runs and slave transportation. There are exceptions, of course...

Fleeing south is meant to be a strategic withdrawal from a situation that's gotten too hot. They'll lick their wounds in the south, gather their numbers, build back up, and move back north to fight again when they have the chance.

Stone does not know much about regions outside Vermont, nor does he care. He knows the raiders have training camps and proving grounds down south, where new raiders are somehow recruited or raised, then prepared for their duties.

Stone resists talking about other things.

u-b

2022-02-03, 12:02 PM

Sean is present during all of the interrogation and wants to clarify one thing: whether the withdrawals like this are a regular occurence or this time is somehow different. He is then inclined to let Stone be for the evening and try getting more info from him the next day.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-02-04, 01:15 AM

Judging by how Stone phrases it, Sean thinks that the withdrawal is not a regular thing. It is probably a response to recent events.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-02-05, 09:30 AM

Another slow day down, the exiles turn in and try to dream of better things.

(OC: everyone records the meals eaten, of course.)

DAY 66

The morning after their slumber is peaceful and clear.

Volthawk

2022-02-05, 11:52 AM

Thinking over what Stone had told them, Richard gets in touch with his contacts across the settlements again, asking if any of them have contacts or ties to the south - people who might be in the path of the raiders' withdrawal and who might be willing to pass on information if they do see anything of them, or who might need the exiles' help if the raiders' resupplying and regrouping comes at the expense of the locals. While the confirmation that they're having an effect is nice, and fewer raiders operating here was always nice, Richard was still concerned about the longer term situation.

Once he's done talking, he gets back to interrogating Stone, this time staying focused on the matter of the northern base and anything Stone has on it - he was resistant on the topic previously, but Richard really needed to know what they might be heading into if they tried to take the base on.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-02-06, 01:05 PM

Richard's contacts do know a few scattered settlements to the south, even across the Vermont state border. They pass in the message to be on guard against the raiders coming their way. They've already heard reports of highway banditry, so it seems the information is good.

His 8 hours of interrogation hits a breakthrough today.
Stone confesses to some juicy intel.
He draws a basic map of the mining operation and factory.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/14o0xwdgw6dfdbw/MAP_mining.png?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/v9f1h0k8074z0yi/MAP_factory.jpg?dl=0

According to Stone, there is only a base for the raiders stationed there and their prisoners, other than the factory and mine. The base has living quarters, an amory, mess hall, and other standard areas. The factory is for manufacturing gear and supplies for the raiders region-wide, and the mines are for getting raw metal materials with slave labor. The mine and factory has about 40-90 slaves at any one time, a staff of 100 guards, 20 technicians, 10 officers, and a total 40 of miscellaneous base staff serving them all. The tank mostly guards the factory. The tank is kept in its own separate garage for most of the work day and is scrambled if there is an alarm or substantial corralling of slaves. The tank is not camouflaged. 10 men accompany the tank, the rest of the guards patrol the sites (factory, mine, base) on rotating shifts. The tank has a machine gun, the guards have automatic rifles or shotguns with slugs, a few snipers in high places, body armor, barricades on checkpoints, and searchlights. The sites have metal security doors, checkpoints for pat-downs, holding cells and a big pen for slaves, murder holes, watchtowers, barred windows, stone cover, barrels filled with sand or water, and barricades. The buildings are pretty big, much bigger than any found in the rest of Vermont. The base has four buildings worth of areas, where the raiders sleep and eat when not at work. The entire collection of sites is almost a city in of itself. The outer perimeter is 25 yards from the buildings, but a checkpoint has been set up at the entrance. Woodlands is 20 to 30 yards from the outer perimeter, but the terrain is also rocky and fairly mountainous. The sites have barbed wire fences, flare guns for signaling, alarms, some surveillance cameras, sweeping searchlights and locks.

u-b

2022-02-06, 01:27 PM

Sean adds a few more question for tomorrow's interrogation:
2.14 Judging from the map and accompanying comment, the buildings are just 50 yards from the trees. Does it mean they pretend to be hidden or just are not afraid of anyone coming that close?
2.15 How do they secure the woods? Like, traps, secret snipers camouflaged on the trees, patrols, other stuff? If patrols, how far do they go and how often?
2.16 What is the composition of the perimeter? Solid concrete wall? Low wall of sandbags? Wire fence? Or some other design?
2.17 How many searchlights? Any backup strategy in case those are disabled? Like flare guns maybe or night vision gear?
2.18 How many stories high is the tallest building?
2.19 How Stone expects the base would react to something like artillery fire?
2.20 Where exactly is the tank's garage? What is the garage built of? Does it have anything like windows facing the perimeter?

I thinks the pics elude us. I'll put them here as URLs:
1. https://ibb.co/gTkJMdh
2. https://ibb.co/3NG0HRX

Ready for tomorrow.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-02-07, 08:59 AM

With that progress made, the exiles turn in as the sun goes down.
(OC: note number of meals eaten.)

DAY 67

The next day is pleasantly temperate. Stone is still defiant, despite the cracks in his resistance.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-02-09, 07:28 AM

Sean and Richard get more out of Stone.

Stone says most "rabbits" never close to the buildings or the trees - they have men watching the roads a mile away from the place, with strict checkpoints and orders to shoot to kill if they encounter anyone not a part of the army.

The woods are secured by regular patrols, who keep an eye on the local roads up to a mile away. They switch up teams on a weekly shift.

The perimeter is mostly a wire fence with barbed wire, and watched by guards in towers. They also have stone walls and metal gates on buildings and restricted areas.

Eight searchlights. All the guards have flashlights and one in five have flare-guns.

The highest building is three stories high.

Artillery fire is something they are not prepared for.

The tank's garage is half-way between the base and the factory. It's made of concrete, it is probably an Old World structure. It does not have windows.

u-b

2022-02-09, 02:04 PM

Sean can think of no more questions to ask of Stone at the moment. He can think of some to ask of a random mutant guy. It seems the one we let go does not report back, so maybe we should prepare for the worse, if only because we have the time. So, Sean lays out the following proposal for tomorrow:

1. Ask radio guys (or, if they do not know, ask over the radio) if the mutant attacks seem to have stopped. If not, ask how they are localized.
2. Take one random mutant guy and ask him a few things:
2.1 What building(s) in Springfield are in use by the mutants and for what purposes? We do not necessarily disclose that one of those buildings is out, but, if more than one major building is mentioned, try to determine which one of those it was.
2.2 How many mutants are in Springfield and how they interact with other locals?
2.3 What they produce, what they trade for and whom they trade with?
2.4 Where the mutants were produced or born? How quickly did they grow up?
2.5 Are there different kinds of mutants? If so, are they different from the start or are the differences somehow acquired? What kinds of mutants can be named?
2.6 Anything known about mutants/clones attack at Killington Sky Resort?
2.7 Anything to be told about centaur type, other strange types and, especially, the one big guy?
2.8 Any way the mutants interact among themselves, especially long-distance (radio or what not)?
2.9 Anything known about the nanomachine injectors that cause mutations?

Shoot Da Moon

2022-02-10, 12:05 AM

With that planning completed, the exiles can wait out the night.

DAY 68

The next day, Sean and Richard get to work.

Asking their contacts on the radio, they learn mutant attacks right now seem to come, usually, from out of entrances to The Gutter, around Newport, and around a mountainside.

The captive mutant refuses to talk. He looks afraid of the exiles.

u-b

2022-02-10, 02:03 AM

Shoot Da Moon

2022-02-11, 02:08 AM

Sean would like to know more about the mutants' attacks:
1.1 Total number of attacks recorded. The timing (day / night / either). The composition of the attacking forces (numbers, gear used).
1.2 Their success (both absolute and relative). Number of settlements fallen, people killed, attacks repelled, etc.
1.3 What exactly seems targeted (major / minor settlements, travelers, etc.) and any insights about sanity of those attacks or an overall plan (we might have to roll something for this).

Is this Mount Mansfield we are talking about? How are Red Brick and Bread Basket positioned relative to this?

The mutant attacks have numbered eight so far, mostly at night. Two settlements were destroyed, three were damaged severely enough that their long term survival is in serious doubt, the rest were repelled successfully with only a handful of causalities. A total of 33 people have been killed.

The mutants have mostly targeted settlements with a strong food trade or those dealing in drugs. Travelers have ben picked off opportunistically along the roads. The usual method of attack is simply rushing the front with a wave of enemies on foot backed up by a few enemies on horseback or on motorcycles.

It is Mount Mansfield, yes. Red Brick and Bread Basket are both west (give or take some north-ish) of that place. About 20 miles and 40 miles respectively, but it's not a straight route.

2. Take one random mutant guy and ask him a few things:
2.1 What building(s) in Springfield are in use by the mutants and for what purposes? We do not necessarily disclose that one of those buildings is out, but, if more than one major building is mentioned, try to determine which one of those it was.
2.2 How many mutants are in Springfield and how they interact with other locals?
2.3 What they produce, what they trade for and whom they trade with?
2.4 Where the mutants were produced or born? How quickly did they grow up?
2.5 Are there different kinds of mutants? If so, are they different from the start or are the differences somehow acquired? What kinds of mutants can be named?
2.6 Anything known about mutants/clones attack at Killington Sky Resort?
2.7 Anything to be told about centaur type, other strange types and, especially, the one big guy?
2.8 Any way the mutants interact among themselves, especially long-distance (radio or what not)?
2.9 Anything known about the nanomachine injectors that cause mutations?

The mutant captive is easily broken, giving up what he knows.
The mutants in Springfield have a dozen different buildings they've taken as safe places, they often sleep there during the day.
The mutants mostly attack and kill normal humans in Springfield that loiter near the biggest buildings because they are mostly evil drug dealers and bandits. They otherwise stay away from humans, since they are often diseased.
The mutants sometime produce this or that advanced Old World medical drug, so they can secretly trade it to humans outside Springfield for lots of food, in disguise if possible. The buyers for the Old World stuff tells them as little as possible, in return for no questions about the mutants.
The mutants are usually created out of Old World laboratories they guard in secret, highly defended, underground areas. They usually come out of the cloning labs fully grown.
There are plenty of mutants in all sorts of...sorts. The mutant can only tell you that some mutants have multiple heads, multiple legs, wings, webbed feet, weird eyes, flippers, and any number of unusual traits. He understands nothing of the cloning process itself or mutations as a medical condition.
The attack on the ski resort was done by another tribe of mutants, ones trying to secure the southern border from humans.
The centaurs are war leaders of various tribes, directing foot soldiers in attacks. When not fighting, they defer to smarter and stranger mutants. Giant mutants are sometimes seen around the southern border, but the mutant itself has never seen one. Tribes often use the giants as secret weapons against humans with explosives.
The mutants communicate with each other by information couriers making trips around Vermont every 3 months or so.
The mutant assume you mean Old World technology...and he knows little of it. Maybe a mutant running a lab is making it?

u-b

2022-02-11, 04:07 AM

To ask over the radio:
1.4 Would any of the heavily damaged agrarian settlements want to relocate? We can negotiate if they are, and can start negotiating now if they have the radios. What do they need for long term survival besides protection? This offer does not extend to known drug-dealing settlements.
1.5 Would Bread Basket want to chat about the situation, either in person or by radio (we have strong encryption available, so the later should be viable as well)? Maybe they might think they need assistance, desire to post bounties or just comment on the matter...
1.6 We warn Radar Base to watch it at nights, possibly burn fires near the perimeter and have shotguns loaded with slugs.

Assuming it did not take too much time to get the info out of the mutant and we have made lots of rolls, some more questions to ask him today:
2.10 Why do they target settlements with strong food trade? Why do they trade for food? It's not like they have to eat, or have they? Why don't they grow their own instead or hunt for it or something?
2.11 Does this one mutant know the whereabouts of any such secret laboratories? Like maybe the one which he's from? If not, how comes?
2.12 What does he know about that lab, if not the location? Like, how many people were in his batch, how long time per batch, does it seem to be running at full or seriously reduced capacity (and if later, reduced by what), how exactly it's guarded and so on and so forth...
2.13 How comes the mutants avoid diseased humans in Springfield, but not afraid to use The Gutter? Is The Gutter free of disease?
2.14 Do they operate motorcycles and horses through The Gutter?
2.15 Is he aware of any specific reasons to target mountainside and Newport in particular? Any specific reason to start now and not earlier or later? Can he contact the tribe claiming command of the ops in the area? Any relation to the attacks in the south?

Then Sean thinks of one more question:
2.16 How do mutant animals come to be? Are they being fed human corpses?

Aster all of that:
3. Provide Waffle House leadership with all this information and ask if they would like to comment or chat.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-02-12, 05:33 AM

The other end of the radio says to Sean that the survivors of the attacked settlements would love to join up with the exiles, they can go to the radar base and restart their farms and operations there. Food, water, and shelter is what they want most.
Bread Basket can get in contact with the exiles, they have representatives that handle matters with outsiders, the rest of the settlement seems to prefer extensive isolation. Maybe they are shy? They do not need assistance, but they would like to trade their food for other kinds of supplies.
The radar base crew roger that, and double their security.

Attacks on settlements with lots of food discourages the normal humans from sticking around, they won't risk starvation. The mutants mostly steal food to bribe normal humans for various favors or supplies. The mutant himself once got a new gun from a human this way, buying it with a month's worth of rations. Getting food other ways either takes too much time, or exposes them to danger through hunting.
The mutant knows little of the other laboratories. That's by design, they can't risk this knowledge getting out to normal humans.
The lab was being maintained by the smartest mutants he knows, of course. It was protected by the best equipped and best trained warriors. The lab had a huge steel door isolating it from everywhere else. He thinks most batches are ten mutants at a time. Each batch took a month to produce. It might be running at reduced capacity, he does not know. He is not allowed to be near the lab for very long or a lot, the mutants who are tend to be the very best of the batches.
The Gutter is VERY diseased...but the mutant tribal leaders know where you can get anti-biotics for those specific diseases. The labs can make some, and they know a few traders who sell the stuff. And the diseased humans in Springfield tend to act weird and somehow get really good at finding and killing mutants.
The mutants do not bring horses or motorcycles into The Gutter, of course. What a ridiculous question! That's way too dangerous!
The mutant is unfamiliar with the mountainside and Newport. He does not know how to contact the other tribes, that is handled by special members of his tribe. He figures those attacks might be driven by the local humans annoying them.

The mutant shrugs when Sean brings up mutant animals. He thought they might be creations of a lab, or simply the result of animals eating mutants. He thinks most mutated animals like eating people. They certainly like eating mutants unless they are tamed. And no, he does not handle animal taming in his tribe, that's someone else.

The Waffle House leadership is intrigued by the information provided. They want to know more about mutants infiltrating settlements or disguising themselves as normal people. They would like to know the identities of anyone working with mutants, including merchants trading with them.

u-b

2022-02-12, 06:47 AM

Radio communications:
1.7 The survivors would be welcome at the Radar Base. There is food, shelter, and should be enough water. There will be also protection. Sean gives the survivors directions and tells the base to expect arrivals.
1.8 Sean asks if Bread Basket has means to do delivery (after all, food is bulky), if they have any problems / limitations trading directly with Gunmetal and what supplies they would like to get?

Last few of questions to ask of the mutant today:
2.17 Can he name / locate / describe any traders who he know deal with the mutants?
2.18 Can he name / locate / describe any mutants operating in disguise?
2.19 Does he know if Bread Basket is in any way infiltrated? Can he tell about any other settlements? Like, maybe, this one?

Volthawk

2022-02-12, 07:20 AM

Shoot Da Moon

2022-02-13, 08:24 AM

As the mutant describes the lab, Richard asks whether the mutant remembered seeing any numbers labelling the lab - a secure location sealed with a thick door made him think Shelter, so it was worth seeing if the mutant knew anything to help inform him one way or another.

The news of survivors coming to the radar base raises Richard's spirits quite a bit, and he asks the guards there to keep in touch as the situation develops and people get settled, and to let them know if any of the newcomers find that something important is missing there. It felt good to be able to provide something to people other than their combat expertise.

The mutant remembers lots of numbers, but he can't say which ones. It was usually a string of numbers and letters with the occasional dash breaking them up.

Radio communications:
1.7 The survivors would be welcome at the Radar Base. There is food, shelter, and should be enough water. There will be also protection. Sean gives the survivors directions and tells the base to expect arrivals.
1.8 Sean asks if Bread Basket has means to do delivery (after all, food is bulky), if they have any problems / limitations trading directly with Gunmetal and what supplies they would like to get?

Last few of questions to ask of the mutant today:
2.17 Can he name / locate / describe any traders who he know deal with the mutants?
2.18 Can he name / locate / describe any mutants operating in disguise?
2.19 Does he know if Bread Basket is in any way infiltrated? Can he tell about any other settlements? Like, maybe, this one?

The messages go through over the radio.
The merchants of Bread Basket prefer to trade in person rather than risk a delivery. They can deliver, but they typically only do so for truckloads with armed escorts. Their trade with Gunmetal is mostly limited by The Elders' lack of trust and Bread Basket's policy of "shyness". Bread Basket would like medical supplies, guns, ammo, melee weapons, gadgets, fuel and tools.

The mutant can not talk about traders who deal with mutants, as that was not his job. It was special information, trusted to better mutants than him.
Likewise, the mutant was never authorized to get involved with espionage in any way.
The mutant is certain Bread Basket is safe from mutants, their security and isolation is too tight. As for other settlements, the mutants guesses there's infiltrators in Red Brick. But not this one.

u-b

2022-02-13, 12:44 PM

Sean has no more questions for the mutant and is inclined to call it a day.

Skipping until the next morning, I guess.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-02-13, 09:38 PM

(OC: mark off the meals for the day.)

The exiles leave their captive to his cell and rest for the rest of the day.

The night is peaceful, even with the wolves howling.

DAY 69

The exiles wake up and have their breakfast. A few hours later, as they do their morning chores and check the perimeter, a call comes over the radio. It is addressed to the exiles, and it is from a man identifying himself as a former captain of a raider gang. He wants to cut a deal.

The man says his name is Blackwire.

u-b

2022-02-14, 01:02 AM

Sean is not against making a deal with Blackwire as long as it is understood the man will not be trusted anytime soon. He wants to hear what exactly is being proposed.

OC: mark off the meals for the day.
Done.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-02-14, 07:39 AM

Blackwire wants the exiles to help him defect to their side, including safe housing at the radar base. Do that and they’ll get his full co-operation, including his gang fighting for them.

Soon after Blackwire ends his communication, the exiles receive another message. This one is from The Rangers. They demand the exiles do not accept Blackwire's deal, but instead capture him and deliver the raider boss to them. Do this, and The Rangers will allow the exiles to join the militia as full soldiers, with all the privileges of rank that entails.

And still after that, the exiles get a message from Red Brick. It turns out the gang leaders of the city have an alternative offer to Blackwire's as well. The Commission of Red Brick want him tortured and executed instead. Do this, and the exiles will be recognized as a fully established members of any major gang in good standing of Red Brick they wish to join, any boss with a chair on The Commission will welcome them as made men.

u-b

2022-02-14, 10:18 AM

Sean takes some time to discuss the proposals with the companions. Nobody else should be present and Bart is to make sure of that. He states that the options seem to be like following:
1. Accept Blackwire on his terms.
2. Accept Blackwire on different terms.
3. Hand him here.
4. Hand him there.
5. Do nothing.
6. ???

Sean does not like option 1 as proposed (he said he is not going to trust the man; housing him at the base should be out of question, even if Waffle House people would choose not to object). Sean also does not want to share the man's reputation, for past and future actions of himself and his gang.

Sean is not sure if option 2 is possible, and if it is possible, what should be the terms. Off the top of his head, Sean can think of only two uses for Blackwire at the moment. One is to put him at the power plant (this will need agreement of power plant people, will not offer solid protection against those going after Blackwire's head and is not guaranteed to be a good plan for all the other reasons, but this is a plan). The other is to hire Blackwire to defend people against the mutant attacks while housing him somewhere (this will offer the man even less protection and Sean is not sure how he could compensate for that, but seems otherwise as foolproof as it gets; might even get him reputation enough for a pardon or something).

Sean does not totally like option 3 as that would mean acquiring a reputation of a traitorous guy. Also this would discourage subsequent defections of other slaver gangs, which Sean sees as a minus. The opportunity to be "full soldier", while it might seem attractive, probably comes with orders and duties, so would severely limit our choices (we are now an independent force and might cease to be such).

Sean does not like option 4, for mostly the same reasons.

Option 5 would mean we pass on all the opportunities, moderately annoy at least two parties and let Blackwire harvest the supplies however he can, so even in that regard is far from ideal, but at least it is an option.

Sean welcomes any thoughts or proposals related to the matter.

Did the messages from Rangers and Red Brick come encrypted? The Rangers do totally have the ability, so might have as well used it. Not so sure about Red Brick - they could have done it too, if they really wanted to, but maybe they chose not to care.

Volthawk

2022-02-14, 02:20 PM

Richard's...conflicted about the offer. On the one hand, it really appealed to some parts of his beliefs - the idea that this could end in some kind of peace, that the raiders on the ground could be open to negotiation, hell, just that at least one potential fight can be ended before it begins was a nice thought. However. Richard, being the one who'd spent the most time reading through the intel and talking to their prisoners, was also well aware of the nature of their enemy. They were the ones with proper intelligence networks, the ones with spies and scouts everywhere who'd managed to infiltrate many of the other factions of the region. He wouldn't put it past them to attempt a trick like this, presenting a false defector they could use a double agent and who'd betray the exiles at the worst time - could they really trust the gang to not change sides again at an unknown time in the future, or to use their access to the radar base to pave the way for a successful retaking of the facility, to attack the exiles' support structures like they'd been doing themselves? Richard just wasn't sure. He's also concerned about the gang's future behaviour - the raiders hadn't needed to follow any kind of moral structure or code of behaviour before now, and Richard wouldn't stand for them fighting in the exile's name and acting in the same way. Could they trust the gang to act properly, and not ruin part of what they're building here by bringing disrupute to the exiles' cause?

As far as the offers from their allies goes, Richard instantly dismisses the prospect of taking Red Brick's bargain - he was willing to deal with them to an extent, to ensure the exiles had access to what they needed and to work together against the raiders, but this was a step too far. He wasn't handing a man off to be tortured. No way. Ignoring both Blackwire and their allies didn't seem like much of an option either. The Rangers and their offer, however, gets more consideration from Richard. They were much more like the proper forces of law and order of the old world which he looked up to, and it seemed like they had some kind of sense of justice to them. Blackwire had definitely done enough wrong in his time among the raiders, given the rank he'd reached, that imprisonment would be justified, but he definitely saw what Sean was talking about when it came to their independence (although he reckoned that, given their record so far, it wouldn't be too hard to convince the raiders that they were best left to act as they were now), and the point about their reputation and the prospect of future defections definitely gets him thinking.

After some thought, a potential route comes to mind - a bit of a mixture of their options, albeit with some caveats and necessitating some negotiation. Was there some way of having Blackwire's gang nearby to the radar base, and able to benefit from it's protection and resources, but not fully brought into the fold - a camp within the fence, perhaps? A way to mitigate the potential damage the gang could do if they turned against them but still give them what they need. If they figured that out, then they could potentially negotiate a middle-ground option with the Rangers - Blackwire would stay with the exiles, but a condition of their agreement with the gang would be that they would have to also cooperate with the Rangers and answer any questions they might have. Not quite what anyone wanted in full, but a way that the most people got a little of what they wanted. It was a rough idea at this point, but Richard thought it had potential.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-02-15, 12:19 AM

Did the messages from Rangers and Red Brick come encrypted? The Rangers do totally have the ability, so might have as well used it. Not so sure about Red Brick - they could have done it too, if they really wanted to, but maybe they chose not to care.

(OC: Yes, both messages were encrypted.)

GnomesofZurich2

2022-02-15, 06:12 AM

Tariq, after his long recovery from the sniper's bullet, weighs in. The thought of dealing with a defected, possibly treacherous Blackwire is not appealing, nor is Red Brick's offer. I think either we propose different terms to the Rangers (some reward other than becoming full militia members and compromising our independence), or just pass on the offers.

u-b

2022-02-15, 09:57 AM

Having collected the input, Sean enters the following message for Vermont Rangers:
1. We will make a deal with Blackwire. We have people under attack by the mutants and want to have Blackwire at those mutants as the first task, a probation of sorts.
2. We provide them with another gang leader instead. Namely, with Rex Stone. And with what is left of his gang.
3. We invite them to send a team to have a chat with Blackwire and his men to extract information.
4. We ask them to defer imposing any punishment on Blackwire for as long as he works on our side. Whether he gets an amnesty or exile after the war would depend on his performance and contribution to ending it.
5. We have not yet made this proposal to Blackwire and the terms are not final. We ask The Rangers if the terms as proposed would be acceptable, maybe with some corrections. We don't insist on being joined in as full soldiers under these terms, we would be satisfied enough with maintaining friendly and productive relations.
6. We are ready to take an encrypted voice call to discuss it further.

If he has no objections form neither Richard nor Tariq, he sends this message to Vermont Rangers over an encrypted channel. If they chime in, Richard is to explain our reasoning.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-02-16, 07:26 AM

When they respond with an encrypted message, The Rangers do not seem very pleased with Sean's proposal. They do accept the idea of getting Stone delivered to their clutches, they hate the idea of Blackwire escaping their punishment. Blackwire was directly responsible for several battles that killed Rangers. They do not trust Blackwire to give good intel or make a deal in good faith. As far as they are concerned, killing Blackwire or capturing him for their jail NOW is worth two in the bush, or whatever. They reject the terms, they can still treat the exiles as friendlies, but not full members. They restate their previous terms as their best offer.

GnomesofZurich2

2022-02-16, 12:21 PM

They do trust Blackwire to give good intel or make a deal in good faith.

Is that supposed to be, "They do NOT trust Blackwire..."?

u-b

2022-02-16, 12:58 PM

Well, that went as good as it might have been be expected, which is not very good. Sean is not rushing to make an offer to Blackwire, a honest one or otherwise. He asks Richard to get more info. From docs and from Stone himself on these topics:
1. How long ago has Blackwire defected? Assuming it was before we got Stone (this is important), but Sean would like the details.
2. What Blackwire and his gang did before and after the defection? Did he control a territory? If so, which one?
3. What seems to be the reason for defection? Too little pay? Too little hope? Too much work and/or risk? Personal issues maybe? Anything else?
4. What was done about it by his former bosses and why it does not seem to have worked?
5. What was the man's reputation with his superiors and peers? Competence? Reliability? Was he known to be lying?
6. How long ago and under what circumstances he was recruited? His track-record in general and compared to peers?
7. Other Blackwire-related topics that Richard might invent or come across.
8. And, while he is at it, we might try to get some tangentially related info on Blackwire's peers, his bosses, and Mailer. Anything that can be easily had. Like Mailer's/Shelter's part in this whole business, for one.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-02-16, 10:57 PM

Is that supposed to be, "They do NOT trust Blackwire..."?

(OC: Yes. Fixed.)

Well, that went as good as it might have been be expected, which is not very good. Sean is not rushing to make an offer to Blackwire, a honest one or otherwise. He asks Richard to get more info. From docs and from Stone himself on these topics:
1. How long ago has Blackwire defected? Assuming it was before we got Stone (this is important), but Sean would like the details.
2. What Blackwire and his gang did before and after the defection? Did he control a territory? If so, which one?
3. What seems to be the reason for defection? Too little pay? Too little hope? Too much work and/or risk? Personal issues maybe? Anything else?
4. What was done about it by his former bosses and why it does not seem to have worked?
5. What was the man's reputation with his superiors and peers? Competence? Reliability? Was he known to be lying?
6. How long ago and under what circumstances he was recruited? His track-record in general and compared to peers?
7. Other Blackwire-related topics that Richard might invent or come across.
8. And, while he is at it, we might try to get some tangentially related info on Blackwire's peers, his bosses, and Mailer. Anything that can be easily had. Like Mailer's/Shelter's part in this whole business, for one.

Neither the documents nor Stone know anything of Blackwire dropping his flag. It must be a recent development. Stone has never interacted with Blackwire, he just knows OF him, as a gang boss in charge of assassinations and pitched battles against militia.

Stone has never heard of Mailer or the former Shelter of the exiles. He has never set foot in a Shelter, but he thinks the commanders above him are from Shelter 77.

u-b

2022-02-16, 11:37 PM

It must be a recent development. ... a gang boss in charge of assassinations ...
Well, those are important news, in Sean's opinion, and might suggest the intent. So, do we get this guy, and, if so, how?

Volthawk

2022-02-18, 10:21 AM

The information about Blackwire's reputation and role has Richard concerned - if this was their enemy trying to infiltrate the exiles with one of their agents, someone with Blackwire's skillset would be their choice. But at the same time, if he was legitimate...an assassin might know a lot of useful information, things that someone with Stone's role might not be privy to. Decisions...

"Why don't we go to see Blackwire for ourselves? Perhaps it'll make it easier for us to make the proper judgement call if we can actually talk to him face to face, and see what he has to say for himself."

u-b

2022-02-18, 10:48 AM

Sean responds to Blackwire as follows:
1. We won't start the deal by providing the housing, but this can be done.
2. This radio channel is being monitored. Unless Blackwire has a high-rech radio capable of establishing a secure channel over an insecure channel like ours can, we should discuss the details in person.
3. [If no secure communication] The meeting will be near the hideout of Oscar Rex Stone. We will provide the details when Blackwire is there. He is to choose, and announce, the time.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-02-19, 06:43 AM

Blackwire does not have good encrypted communications, so he sets up a face-to-face meeting.

Blackwire can get his gang over to the meeting place near Stone's hideout in three days of travel. He'll need to travel slow and careful to avoid getting caught by those who want him dead.

u-b

2022-02-19, 07:57 AM

We do nothing much for the rest of today. Tomorrow morning Sean plans to operate some radio. The party Sean wants to contact in the morning is the Funny Platoon and the questions he is going to ask are as follows:
1. Have they intercepted the party's comm with Blackwire? If so, have they an approximate location of where he was at the time? Have they intercepted other noteworthy activity from the same general area, even if on different frequencies?
2. We would be very interested in any radio transmissions pertaining Blackwire. In particular, we would like to hear about anything with him on the radio as well as any ongoing effort to to help or hunt Blackwire from yesterday on, including in the future. We kindly ask to be promptly notified about any such stuff.
3. Have they intercepted anything from the subordinates of Oscar Rex Stone? Of particular interest is whether they seem to have moved anywhere since the moment we got their boss, but anything else might be of use. We kindly ask to be promptly notified about any transmission from or to these guys for, say, a week, assuming they are still in the area.

UPD: Using secure encryption, of cource.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-02-20, 07:03 AM

(OC: everyone eats their meals for the day.)

The exiles turn in for the day, and get some sleep. Tariq is no longer aching, but he still has scars where the bullet hit him.

DAY 70

The exiles wake up the next morning to rough winds.

Sean gets on the radio and contacts the Funny Platoon.

He learns the Funny Platoon did not intercept communications, they simply learned of Blackwire's efforts through second-hand informants. They figure Blackwire was probably hiding out in the backcountry at the time, near the abandoned farmland along the biggest trails. Activity in general is thick around the area, but no large settlements are there and no reliable intelligence operations are embedded there. Not that Sean would be cleared to know about it if there was.

The Funny Platoon is reluctant to share what they know about Blackwire with the exiles. They simply note that Blackwire is a wanted man, for very good reasons. Lots of people want him dead.

The Funny Platoon share that many of Stone's former subordinates have panicked and scattered since their commander was defeated. Raider bands have dropped their flag or simply fled the region across the border to the south.

u-b

2022-02-20, 10:13 AM

Sean proposal is that we check all the raiders' camps in the region marked as occupied in Stone's papers as of the day we got him. This will achieve two objectives:
1. Make sure the area is secure indeed.
2. Maybe they have left in a hurry and we can scavenge something.

Sean does not insist on taking Tariq with him if the man would prefer to spend the time with his grenade launcher. After all, if the group does find an occupied campsite, we can turn back and come another day.

GnomesofZurich2

2022-02-20, 01:58 PM

Well, Tariq is finally at full health, and you had asked him to make some multi-flechette shotgun rounds a month and a half ago IRL (it took that long to heal up, in part thanks to a streak of really bad rolling), so he was going to start with that. What do we have to use for parts? Is it lines 54 and 55 of the spreadsheet?

u-b

2022-02-20, 11:49 PM

Having preliminary information that the gangs have vacated the business, Sean takes most of the party for a ride to visit the sites they have supposedly left. Hopefully, they have left in a hurry, after all they were monitoring Stone's frequency, weren't they? Sean takes some care in case some gangs feel themselves brave enough or have left some surprises.

OC: everyone eats their meals for the day.
Done.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-02-21, 07:08 AM

(OC: each such site is 2dx5 (roll individually for each camp) miles away from Stone's base camp and cabin, if we have not already established the distance. If we have not established the number of camps, let's call it 1d+2 camps on the map.)

Shoot Da Moon

2022-02-21, 07:27 AM

Sean and his comrades drive a decent amount (35 miles) through the wrecked backroads of Vermont to arrive at a raider camp near the power plant.

Being sensible and cautious, Sean has the car camouflaged and slowly sneaks up to the camp on foot. He finds the well-trod camp site is deserted, previously well used by a gang of six, and horse tracks leading into the wilderness. Trash and remains of people living rough litter the area.

A dead body, picked clean by scavengers, was left hanging on a tree. It is mostly naked.

Looks like this site's a dry hole.

u-b

2022-02-22, 02:35 AM

Sean searches the deserted campsite for anything of significance, takes anything of value, then plans to leave for the next site, in some sensible order.

Rolls in #947 (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25372507&postcount=947).

As for the buggy shells, I think if they are clearly identifiable, we just discard them to simplify accounting.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-02-23, 07:25 AM

Sean tosses over a few logs of cut down trees and discovers a box of ammo left behind, no doubt due to severe hurrying.

The box contains 20 pistol bullets, 15 shotgun shells, and 20 rifle cartridges, all of it ready to fire and wrapped up in waterproof plastics.

There is nothing else of any use at this camp site.

(OC: the closest camp site closest to here is now 10 miles away.)

Shoot Da Moon

2022-02-24, 02:48 AM

When Sean drives the car to the next X on the enemy map, he finds what appears to be a small settlement built out of old cars. The rusted out automobiles have been converted to secure people shelters, with raised platforms and barricades on the ground. A large fire pit, black with constant use, is at the center of the camp. In the tree-line, Sean spots four dead people left hanging from branches and well past rotting. The ground has lots of motorcycle tracks tearing up the soil, leading in and out of the camp site.

All is quiet here.

u-b

2022-02-24, 09:48 AM

Having not spotted any guards, Sean leaves Ricahrd and Bart on position where they can observe the settlement, then takes a tour around it to make as sure as possible that it is all clear, there are no bikes and seem to be no people, and that the latest footprints in and out are not too recent. If that is the case, he sneaks in to take a closer look.

Any signs of continued presence? An antenna or smoke would be those, but there might be others.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-02-25, 10:08 AM

Walking through the site is disappointing. There is not sign of recent human activity here. No smoke, no electronic equipment set up (let alone turned on), no food waste, no unfurled sleeping bags...

More horse tracks into the wilderness can be found at the outskirts, near abandoned hitching posts and scraps of hay. All tracks he finds are too old. Blood stains are dried well past brown.

Another dry hole.

(OC: Next closest camp site is 10 miles away.)

u-b

2022-02-25, 12:42 PM

Sean spends one hour searching through the site for anything usable, packs whatever he finds, then drives to next one and follows the standard procedure of camouflaging the car, approaching on foot, and taking a good look through the scope.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-02-25, 01:17 PM

Sean's insistence pays off when he discovers a small case left behind, under a car ruin.
Inside the case, there's 4 HMG cartridges and 15 LMG bullets.

Pretty good for a gutted hideout.

Moving on, Sean drives 10 miles, and takes care to camouflage the car before sneaking around. The road to this camp site has been blocked by newly wrecked cars. Sean hears the growls and patting of a wild dog pack around the area as he makes his approach. When he finally gets a good angle on the site, he finds 5 feral canines chewing on corpses in a barren and ruined camp - the fire place still has a few scant embers. Sean counts six dead bodies of raiders still intact enough to be confirmed as freshly dead people. A tipped over and destroyed stagecoach (with no horses) is at the far end of the camp.

(OC: The next unexplored camp is 10 miles away.)

u-b

2022-02-25, 02:37 PM

Having finished preliminary observations, Sean tries to sneak upon the dogs and kill them all, for meat and profit. When all the dogs are dead or away, he proceeds to examine the site, the corpses, their possessions, and also asks for Richard's expert opinion on what might have happened here.

Who and when might have most recently left the site is of particular interest, but also generally what happened.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-02-26, 06:58 AM

Sean successfully avoids attracting the attention of the dogs and fires a nasty barrage of lead their way, killing them all and wasting only 2 shots in the havoc.

The shots tear through the hounds and leaves them dead on the ground. With the threats taken off the board, Sean and Richard can have a good look at the grisly scene before them. The dog tracks are recent, of course. So are the dead raiders, who all have the black tattoos (the ace of spades, eight of spades, ace of clubs, eight of clubs) on their necks.

The dog were also certainly rabid, foam around their mouth suggesting hydrophobia. The raiders all died of bites to the throat and major veins. They were all carrying small knives, bloodied. They were wearing padded leather armor under cloaks. Tucked into the trousers of one dead raider is an emptied and cheaply made derringer, recently fired. Going through the pockets of the dead, they find a total of 24 pistol bullets, unloaded into guns.

The stagecoach looks like it was sideswiped by a car and then run over - there's nothing left inside it. The two horses galloped off in a panic. Bullets holes from less than 4 hours ago are embedded in the surrounding wood and rock. Spent brass is nowhere to be found.

u-b

2022-02-26, 07:49 AM

The fact that the dogs turned out to be rabid was somewhat disappointing. Sean leaves them when the bullets caught them. He pockets the knives, the bullets and the casings from his own shots. Sean wonders how long ago have the horses ran away, but does not set to track them right away. Instead, he spends one hour to search the site for any valuables while Richard and Bart stand guard. If this ends up without any surprises, the group then sets after the horses - they are presumably herd animals, so probably are to be found together. The dogs are to be let loose by Bart, then followed by Sean while Richard is driving the pickup and Bart rides the pickup in the open to issue any dog-related commands.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-02-27, 05:51 AM

(OC: the -4 penalty to Scrounging skill means the roll fails. Sean finds nothing.)

The site is a gross carnival of offal, dirt, bodily waste and small bits of materials. Sean can not scavenge anything useful from the wreck.

Bart's dogs go forth and lead the way through the woods. Sean and his allies follow behind for 30 minutes, until they all arrive at a clearing. There, grazing on fresh grass, are two horses with damaged barding. They certainly have saddles, bits and braces, blinders, reins and all the usual gear you'd put on them for travel. Both horses seem healthy, their manes groomed and their coats a rich brown.

u-b

2022-02-27, 06:02 AM

Sean takes an aim at the horses, but lets Bart try to handle them first, in case they are human-friendly enough (or at least human-tolerant enough) to tie them to the back of the pickup and lead them home.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-02-27, 09:11 AM

Bart approaches the horses and gets them under control, taming them enough that they'll allow Bart to take their reigns.

The exiles can take the animals back to their cars.

(OC: Back to the Waffle House is 35 miles.)

Sean and his comrades make the journey without incident.

u-b

2022-02-27, 12:07 PM

Back at the Waffle House, Sean gets someone competent to appraise the horses - some guys have cared enough to put barding on them, so maybe they are worth more than their meat value. Sean then gets their gear summarily appraised and checks for anything that might be in the saddlebags. With all of this done, he checks back with Tariq to share the news and rest for the evening and night.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-02-28, 05:25 AM

The animal handler at the Waffle House looks the horses over and finds that they're minorly injured but otherwise pretty good draft animals, capable of pulling a coach or cart. Their gear is also up to snuff. The saddlebags contain supplies for the horses - hair brush, feed bags, spare horseshoes, blankets...

Sean checks back with Tariq no problem.

(OC: Richard and Tariq, anything to discuss or get done before the day is done?)

u-b

2022-02-28, 10:21 AM

Shoot Da Moon

2022-03-01, 09:04 AM

Sean gets on the radio and:
1. Contacts Gunmetal to check if they have, and will sell, a broken Desert Eagle instead of one of our pre-allocated fully operable sidearms. The motivation stated is that we are low on funds, but should be able to repair the thing. Sean would not be surprised if this "item" is out of stock.
2. Also with gunmetal, checks if they have a stock of cheap and/or broken WWII-grade rifles. Springfield M1 Garand would be ideal and we'd be willing to procure upwards of a dozen.
3. Contacts Chalmers to check if the man has news.

All of the communications should be securely encrypted.

UPD: In the evening, Sean has a chat with power plant people to:
1. Explain them the suituation (mostly "all clear").
2. Give them new ammo instead of conventional shots.
3. Ask if they want additional armed escort (if so, Sean will arrange with Waffle house to provide said escort funded out of our account and partially equipped by us).

The Gunmetal merchants are a little reluctant to sell the exiles a Desert Eagle, as that is a very high tech and powerful pistol...They'll discuss the matter for a hour and then get back to Sean.
(OC: Sean, make a reaction roll at an extra -4.)

In the meantime, they discuss the old rifles in stock. They can sell the exiles 3 semi-junk items, but no more than that. The rifles won't work without getting fixed thanks to broken firing pins and wrecked internal springs, and they're well-worn to the point of needing new parts anyhow.

Chalmers confirms that mutant attacks have been increasing, while raider gangs have been pulling out and breaking off attacks. He claims that one of their patrols discovered multiple raid camps in Newport.

In the evening, Sean gets in touch with the power plant crew. They accept the new ammo shipment, and would prefer an armed escort just in case, thanks.

u-b

2022-03-01, 09:43 AM

Sean defers the negotiations about the broken (or cheap; I think we can stretch a bit to afford cheap) Desert Eagle to Richard, who would be the one to use it and who's better at talking. Richard is told to mention two horses worth of food if the negotiations don't go as expected, but no sooner than that.

Sean asks Chalmers about the deal with Shelter 43 and progress there, if any. He also asks about those "raid camps" - whose camps they are, are their locations known, will someone do something about that or we better do it ourselves... that sort of thing.

Sean then talks to Waffle House people and asks if they can allocate three men to accompany power plant people. They are free to allocate more, no problem with that, but three is the number we can equip almost to our standard and the power plant men will have at least 20 guns among them, so we are talking more about bringing in some qualitative edge. We will be on-call nearby and check the site before everyone is there. The assignment is to last until no longer needed and to be funded from our account with the Waffle House.

So three cheap broken Springfield M1 Garands for $204 apiece?

GnomesofZurich2

2022-03-01, 08:25 PM

(OC: Richard and Tariq, anything to discuss or get done before the day is done?)

No, Tariq is good for now.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-03-02, 07:45 AM

So three cheap broken Springfield M1 Garands for $204 apiece?

(OC: Yes, 3 cheap broken Springfield M1 Garands for $204 apiece.)

The Gunmetal merchants come around to accepting the deal, they need the food. They offer the exiles a broken Desert Eagle for the rations.

Chalmers simply says the Shelter 43 thing has come to peaceful terms, but the settlement within wants everyone to stay away from the Shelter for now, as part of the accord negotiated. He says the raid camps found had dead and dying mutants left behind by their previous inhabitants. He informs the exiles that the general region around Newport is where such camps were found.

The Waffle House settlement agrees to committing three more men to the power plant workers. They record the account changes.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-03-03, 10:01 AM

The exiles welcome the cool night and go to sleep after a satisfying dinner.

DAY 71

The exiles wake up to a quiet and cold morning.

u-b

2022-03-03, 10:33 AM

Sean leaves Tariq with his toys and takes the rest of the party to the rest of the raiders' campsites...

Mark off the meals eaten.
Done.

GnomesofZurich2

2022-03-03, 04:59 PM

Tariq spends the day crafting, producing 22 HEDP TL8 rounds, 8 IR illumination flares, a Glock 17, and an upgraded Milkor with 12-shot cylinder in a bit over 6 hours.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-03-04, 07:50 AM

Tariq makes excellent progress, surrounded on all side by spare metal and tools for hours on end. He loves the feel of mechanical weaponry in his fingers.

Sean drives 20 miles from the base to the marked area on the map. The road gets increasingly rough as the trip goes on.

When Sean and his companions get near the site, they leave the car, camouflage it, and start sneaking.

What they find further ahead is a fortified cabin in the middle of a clearing. No sign of an outside campfire, or hanging corpses...

Through the scope, Sean spies two cars - sedans, just his own - parked around the back of the cabin. Both of them look pretty weathered. 6 armed raiders are living in the cabin, casually eating breakfast and carrying guns (zip gun pistols, 2 H&R Model 8 shotguns, and one Winchester Model 92 rifle). There is an bell on a pole next to the cabin, an alarm to be rung by the raiders in case of...well, him.

They're not on alert, but they know enough about guarding that they may spot Sean and his comrades...
(OC: Stealth vs Observation contest tied.)
Indeed, one of the wandering raiders pauses a little, suddenly looking in Sean's direction!
(OC: think fast, Sean, either get your gun out quickly and shoot, or duck and hide NOW. You have not been fully busted yet, but you're in the danger zone.)

u-b

2022-03-04, 09:12 AM

Being crouched, preferably behind some cover and with the rifle in hand, Sean tries to bear the rifle to do real business as fast as he can...

"Got contact. Release the bastards."*

*Might be only Richard hears that, depending on the range between Sean and them (which depends on the amount of cover and concealment available).

Will use extra effort on any active defenses. Not this round as it was an all-out attack.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-03-05, 03:00 AM

*Might be only Richard hears that, depending on the range between Sean and them (which depends on the amount of cover and concealment available).

Will use extra effort on any active defenses.

(OC: Got a throat mike or comms headset equipped? Roll Electronics Operation skill. Alternatively, roll Gestures. -6 Range is correct, as that is the distance you chose for your position.)

Sean breaks the silence with rapid fire. He hits only once. The range, awkward posture and inadvertent cover that some raiders in the cabin have causing the scout to mostly miss.
The man Sean bulls-eyes drops dead without a prayer. The rest are shaken from their morning routine by the hostile action.

(OC: combat time starts. Richard acts next.)

Volthawk

2022-03-05, 04:50 AM

Between the shooting and Sean over the comms, Richard has a pretty good idea what's going on, so he indicates to Bart to follow and let the dogs off the leash as he starts heading to Sean's position.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-03-05, 07:07 PM

Bart the Hunter nods, and drops the leashes while making the command whistles for his dogs.
The dogs receive his crying havoc with gusto, and charges forth towards the enemies.

Speaking of the five raiders, they are surprised and freeze up, but the adrenaline kicks in for all but one. Soon, they will start fighting back.

TURN 2

Sean catches his breath as his rifle steadies from the kick of the last second's burst-fire...

u-b

2022-03-06, 01:53 AM

Sean shoots another burst at the men then reloads in an instant.

No active defense this turn, but with distance, cover and crouching, Sean expects they'll have to spend time to aim.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-03-06, 09:45 PM

Sean nails two of his targets in his lead spraying, both in the belly rather than the heart. One falls down dead, the other is merely dealt an extreme wound...and falls down, out of the fight.

The dogs rush over to Sean's position, eager to help their friend.

(OC: Richard, you can't see the enemy yet?)

Volthawk

2022-03-07, 03:05 AM

Richard keeps moving towards Sean, trying to get eyes on the enemy.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-03-07, 11:12 AM

Bart the Hunter follows Richard's lead, moving with him, gun in hand.

The raiders get the hint and move out of Sean's line of sight, ducking down or running away, into cover. The lone raider still out in the open does not snap out of it. He is left to be picked off by his fellow scum...

TURN 3

On that note, Sean has only one target available...

u-b

2022-03-07, 12:38 PM

Overtaken by the dogs on their way to the the raiders, Sean joins the movement, taking a bit to the side from Richard's and Bart's lines of fire, and makes a short burst on the go. He misses, but the bullets fly all around the stunned raider.

Move a total of 7 yards, of those 5 are forward. The dogs should have overtaken Sean some time about now, but then Sean also moves. If attacked, will dodge with extra effort.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-03-08, 10:46 PM

The dogs keep barking and charging as Sean lets loose. The lone exposed raider trembles some more as the bullets fly past him.

(OC: Richard, your turn. Players, do you have orders for Bart the Hunter or the dogs?)

Volthawk

2022-03-09, 06:17 AM

Richard holds his fire as he keeps advancing, instead shouting out "Surrender! You know you can't win here!"

Shoot Da Moon

2022-03-11, 03:08 AM

One bad guy breaks, throwing down his gun and raising his hands. He shouts pleas to not hurt him.
Another raider screams and spits, refusing to yield.
The stunned raider drops his gun, falls to his knees and starts crying.

Bart the Hunter takes aim as his dogs get closer to the enemy positions.

TURN 4

Sean sees the un-surrendering raider is in good cover 15 yards away.

u-b

2022-03-11, 03:26 AM

"You two will live." says Sean as he shoots another burst at another guy, while still on the move.

Sean moves up to 7 feet (forward and/or to otherwise have a better shot at the fighter) at the cost of another FP. Will use extra effort and drop if he is to dodge.

Bart will watch fot the crying guy to shoot if he does anything inconsistent with surrender. He has been aiming last turn, so that will be aimed shot, if it comes to that. He will call back the dogs if and when we are done with the actual fighting.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-03-11, 08:23 PM

Sean's gunfire hits home and shreds the target. The last hostile crumples over, dead.

The dogs bark and growl at the surrendering enemies, keeping them under control.

(OC: combat over.)

The place looks secure now that the raiders are either subdued or given up.

u-b

2022-03-12, 01:22 AM

Sean makes sure the surrendered guys are disarmed and searched, then leads them outside to be guarded by Bart and the dogs. He has a few questions to the prisoners:
1. If we got all the men stationed here or some are currently away.
2. Why haven't they left after their boss got taken out.
3. Did they hook up to a new commander or otherwise what was their plan for future operations.
4. Whether they have received any instructions at all, from anyone on the radio or in person.
5. If they can say anything about the states of any other teams.

While Richard does the interrogations, Sean searches the rest of the bodies and the site for any valuables, especially the weapons, the car keys, the radio and the supplies, but also for anything else. This will take at least four hours.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-03-12, 05:22 AM

The raiders allow themselves to be corralled. But they may not respond well to Richard's interrogation...

The raiders are disarmed and searched, the exiles and Bart find a total of four small knives, 12 black powder paper cartridges, five zip guns, six sets of leather gloves, 2 H&R Model 8 shotguns, 7 shotgun shells, 13 trail rations, six sets of leather torso armor, 20 rifle bullets, one loaded flare gun, six sets of boots, the car keys, and one Winchester Model 92 rifle between all six of them.

There is a small and no-frills radio set up in the cabin, turned off. The cabin is a rather pathetic living space, mostly given over to cramped improvise beds with one private bathroom off to the side. Everything else is in the same space, a chaotic mix of domestic drudgery and planning for violence. The cars are all in bad shape, and packed with a few supplies for the road.

The cars and cabin (in all) have 2 road maps, 20 gallons of fuel in jerry cans, 48 trail rations, 3 whistles, 8 blankets, 2 first aid kits, a stack of firewood, a fishing rod, 4 buckets full of water, cooking instruments, an axe, group basics for camping, 20 full plastic bottles of water, 2 sets of binoculars, 20 black powder paper cartridges, 8 shotgun shells, 10 rifle bullets, and 12 human skulls stripped of flesh and put on display in the cabin's main room.

u-b

2022-03-13, 05:18 AM

Unless Richard's interrogations uncover something funny, Sean proposes we get the cars, the loot and the prisoner back to base, then visit the last site, approaching it the usual way.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-03-14, 03:01 AM

For the first hour of interrogation, things go poorly. The newly captured raiders simply zone out with tears in their eyes or scream foul language at Richard.

Then Richard makes a breakthrough.

The raiders confess that there are no other men stationed here, just the people the exiles found here. They didn't leave because they were running on food and water, they needed to restock before they could make the journey. No new commander has contacted them yet, they assume chaos has overtaken the chain of command for now, so they decided to regroup at a fall back point across the southern border. No instructions from other raiders have been received since Stone got hit. They suspect the other gangs were killed or captured or simply deserted. They do not care, they were wastes anyway.

The prisoners - the ones who still live - are tied up and are easily escorted back to the exiles' base along with the rest of the spoils. The last X on the map is 25 miles away from the Waffle House.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-03-15, 05:58 AM

After settling the aftermath of the camp encounter, Sean and his comrades drive to the last camp they've heard of, and make excellent time.

Just like the last times, the exiles get out a decent distance away, camouflage their car, and send Sean ahead to scout.

Sean screws up, however. He bumbles into a small flock of birds resting on a nearby fallen log, disturbing them into flying away and squawking loudly. From a small distance away, Sean hears some men shout to each other that something is up here. They are walking towards his position.

In the tiny clearing ahead, Sean spies just under twenty alert raiders, trying to both corral 3 bunches of prisoners (9 people in total) and search caravans full of stuff. He can see 4 people with ready guns (revolvers) coming to investigate the noise he made.

u-b

2022-03-15, 06:55 AM

Sean whispers "Contact. Incoming. Incoming are yours." then aims at the largest group of raiders not coming after him and, eventually, shoots a long burst.

Sean would be crouching, but not necessarily behind cover.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-03-16, 08:42 AM

The sudden outburst of gunfire fills the air as Sean unleashes his wrath upon the raiders ahead.
He hits 8 of his targets, spending 13 bullets in a big spray.
The assault leaves 5 bad guys dead and 3 enemies knocked out by the severe wounds.
10 are still standing, ready to fight...

(OC: Combat time starts. Richard, it is your turn...)

Volthawk

2022-03-16, 09:07 AM

When Sean alerts him to incoming raiders, Richard tells Bart the situation before gets moving towards Sean's position but off a little to one side, trying to get a line on the advancing group before they find Sean.

Moving up - I suppose the time Sean took to aim and this move, and the fact that they were also moving closer, means Richard might be be able to see the investigating group now? Not sure.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-03-17, 03:18 AM

Moving up - I suppose the time Sean took to aim and this move, and the fact that they were also moving closer, means Richard might be be able to see the investigating group now? Not sure.

Yes, Richard can see the group moving towards him. There is four of them. They're all 15 yards away from Sean, -5 Range. The rest of the raiders are further away, -8 Range penalty.

Bart the Hunter keeps up with Richard, the dogs stay close.

The raiders react with vicious violence. The four that are closer open fire - all of them shooting at Sean. Fortunately, at that distance, none of them have the skill to land a shot on the scout. Instead, Sean feels a few bullets whizz by him.

The 6 remaining enemies at the camp site, by the caravans, get nasty. Three fire their guns at prisoners, but only one hits his helpless target, brutally wounding the captive in a potentially lethal manner. The captives scream in horror as their friend goes unconscious and bleeds like a lamb.
The other three reach for grenades in their pockets.

TURN 2

Sean is relatively exposed, but he has the range advantage...

u-b

2022-03-17, 04:08 AM

Sean shoots another long burst at the far group of raiders and quickly reloads his rifle preparing for more action.

There is four of them. They're all 15 yards away from Sean, -5 Range.

4 bad guys shooting;
skill 13 -8 Range +1 AoA
(3d6)[8]
(3d6)[7]
(3d6)[7]
(3d6)[10]
I notice some range discrepancy here, even above and beyond the difference between "-5" and "-8". Suppose the main group is some 50 yards away from Sean (in fact, 31+ yards away). Suppose they started towards Sean (1 move), Sean aims and warns Richard, who also takes 1 move, then Sean shoots, then Richard takes another 1 move, then the raiders shoot. This scenario does not bring them in 15 yards from Sean. Any scenario that does bring them in 15 yards from Sean would have given Richard considerably more time (at least two more rounds or so). Anyway, if they have been AoAing from 15 yards from Sean (and how many yards from Richard?), those sevens would hit even a crouching target and the question becomes whether they have been targeting the torso... Their guns do some solid pi+ damage, and Sean's armor is concealed, so they might as well try not to waste it on the limbs. I'm writing Sean's attacks with this assumption.

Extra effort to reload instantly. Sean will defend himself also using some extra effort (and also drop from what seems to be the last attack from this group of four).

Shoot Da Moon

2022-03-17, 10:59 AM

I notice some range discrepancy here, even above and beyond the difference between "-5" and "-8". Suppose the main group is some 50 yards away from Sean (in fact, 31+ yards away). Suppose they started towards Sean (1 move), Sean aims and warns Richard, who also takes 1 move, then Sean shoots, then Richard takes another 1 move, then the raiders shoot. This scenario does not bring them in 15 yards from Sean. Any scenario that does bring them in 15 yards from Sean would have given Richard considerably more time (at least two more rounds or so). Anyway, if they have been AoAing from 15 yards from Sean (and how many yards from Richard?), those sevens would hit even a crouching target and the question becomes whether they have been targeting the torso... Their guns do some solid pi+ damage, and Sean's armor is concealed, so they might as well try not to waste it on the limbs. I'm writing Sean's attacks with this assumption.

Extra effort to reload instantly. Sean will defend himself also using some extra effort (and also drop from what seems to be the last attack from this group of four).

Yeah, you're in the right here. I'm comfortable with still saying the shooters all miss. The reason the group of 4 are closer to Sean (Richard is probably less than 5 yards from Sean, correct? So the Range penalty is only one step worse, I guess.) is because they were patrolling the perimeter when you guys showed up. They were also full Move for multiple turns when alerted. The shooters would be shooting at your torso. I also note you basically chose the Range penalty and distance when Sean first made his attacks (your post specifically said "-8?" Range), I assumed that was you telling me how far from the bad guys Sean would be sneaking. Richard's Move would put him within 10 yards, I assume, when Sean is sneaking and scouting ahead. Although I guess we should work these specifics out when Sean declares he's scouting, in the future.

The raiders in the distance hit the dirt as Sean fires at them. Three of them manage to avoid the bullets coming their way, but two take it in the heart. One is knocked out and the second dies. All six of the raiders further away are now face down on the ground.

Volthawk

2022-03-18, 05:49 AM

Needless to say, Richard is not happy at the sight of prisoners being executed, and a not small part of him wants to ignore Sean's plan and put more bullets towards the raiders at the camp, make sure they're dead and can't harm the innocents any more, but he keeps his cool and takes on the closer group, firing a burst at them as he keeps advancing,

Shoot Da Moon

2022-03-18, 09:49 AM

(OC: the closer group is -5 Range. Richard potentially hit with all shots.)
The advancing raiders try to avoid the shots. Only one barely manages to do it. Three suffer a nasty body hit and fall over, down and out.

Bart the Hunter joins in, and fires off a blast at the one who was lucky. Bart clips him, and the pellets strike him in the groin. Ouch!

The dogs charge forth, eager to chew on some throats.

The lone investigating raider, clutching at his groin, throws himself to the ground.
The raiders at the center of the camp (those who AREN'T dead or brutally savaged) continue to lie on the ground, crawling away 1 yard.

TURN 3

Sean is pleased to see the enemies have wisely chosen to stop murdering captives...

u-b

2022-03-18, 10:07 AM

"Admit you have lost, throw your hands up!" shouts Sean aiming at one of the remaining raiders, specifically at one he thinks could soon get out of sight.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-03-19, 08:21 AM

To his horror, Sean realizes the 3 men who pulled out grenades have pulled their pins and they're now on a fuse!

(OC: Sean has Aimed, Richard's turn now.)

Volthawk

2022-03-19, 07:23 PM

Still walking towards the last of the investigating raiders, Richard calls out "How about you? Had enough? Surrender!"

u-b

2022-03-20, 01:06 AM

The dogs close on the man that Bart has just shot while Bart himself aims at one of the grenadiers that is further away from the civilians.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-03-20, 07:59 AM

Bart the Hunter aims his shotgun as two raiders (one grenadier and the closer survivor with a pellet in his private parts) take Richard's advice and surrender, throwing up their hands. The surrendering grenadier lets go of his explosives and lets it roll a bit on the ground, indifferent to the threat to his own life.

The other two, however, scream defiantly that the exiles will have to kill them both. One throws his grenade at the prisoners' pen, the other prepares to throw his grenade at the exiles. The toss goes wide, 3 yards to the right. The merchants, bound in their pen, freak out all the same.

TURN 4

Sean knows the fuses can't be anymore than 2 or 3 seconds now...

u-b

2022-03-20, 12:50 PM

Sean lets the surrendering man be and shoots a long burst at the other two, mostly at the one still with the grenade.

Let's say 9 bullets + 2 wasted + 1 bullet?

Shoot Da Moon

2022-03-21, 05:24 AM

Sean lets the surrendering man be and shoots a long burst at the other two, mostly at the one still with the grenade.

Let's say 9 bullets + 2 wasted + 1 bullet?

No, waste no bullets, they're crawling side-by-side. Just spend 9 on the attack.

Sean's attack complies with the demands of the two defiant raiders - they both suffer a lethal injury courtesy of the automatic rifle.

(OC: Combat over. But think fast, the grenades are still live!)

As the blood sprays out from the raiders, the grenades continue to count down...The captives are too restrained to get away from the grenade near them, the surrendering raider does not move, and several raiders are not even conscious.

u-b

2022-03-21, 05:59 AM

"Everyone duck away from the grenades!" Sean aims at the grenade closest to the captives and ignores the other two. He could do only so much, and he hoped what he does would have the desired effect.

Bart makes the dogs accept the nearest man's surrender and aims at another surrendered man just in case.

Shoot if I have to, as per the dice thread.

Volthawk

2022-03-22, 09:15 AM

Knowing that Sean's a better shot and trusting him to handle his part, Richard gets closer to the captives - they might not be able to escape before the grenades go off, but if they survive he wants to be able to get to them as quickly as possible.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-03-22, 10:22 AM

Sean lets loose in a desperate attempt to wreck the grenade before it explodes.

For a moment, no-one is sure if he managed it...

Until the grenade at the feet of a surrendered raider and the one in the dead raider's hand both blow up, and the one Sean fired at does not. As he recovers form the recoil, Sean sees the grenade he shot at was torn up by the bullets.

The dogs panic and run back to Bart as the explosions go off, the injured raiders and the one surrendering at the camp are caught in the double blasts, killing them all. Dirt and pebbles fly and rain down. Only the man who has hit in the groin remains alive. The three besides him are near death, bleeding heavily.

The merchants held in the slave pens are not harmed by the blasts. But one is also in critical condition.

(OC: all Player Characters are rewarded with 2 bonus Character Points.)

u-b

2022-03-22, 12:01 PM

"Richard, you make that man hand over a first aid kit! Bart, you go to the car to fetch ours!"

Sean then takes the lockpicks and tries to free the captives. It takes some time, but eventually the lock is unlocked and a first aid kit is produced. Sean does no better job at bandaging than anyone else would, but at least the man will live. After that, while Richard collects the stories from the captives and the raider guy, and also wishes / requests from the captives only, Sean goes all over the area to search for useble stuff.

BTW, you should heal the injured merchant if you can, because I think at least one of you has the Guilt Complex disadvantage.
Freeing the merchants from the prison goes without saying.
Yeah, Sean was planning to do exactly that, though for reasons of some inexcusable oversight, that is more problematic than it could have been...

Shoot Da Moon

2022-03-23, 06:33 AM

The injured merchant is still unconscious, and will need to spend a lot time recovering.
The prisoners are freed from the cages. They hurry to check on their caravans full of possessions and inventory stock.
The 4 captive raiders have concealable torso vests on under their shirts, and Colt .45 SAA revolvers in their hands. Pistol bullets gathered from their guns and pockets totals 37.

(OC: The concealable vests are DR 12/5* for the torso.)

The other raiders were blasted by the grenades, and their gear is thoroughly ruined - it seems their ammo cooked off. Nasty way to go. Lot of twisted metal and shredded fabrics. The food's wasted. Camping gear's wrecked. Bottles of booze started a small fire. Blood everywhere.

The raiders have no radio at their camp site. The merchants explain that the gang stumbled upon their own journey two days ago, and got forced into the restraints. The initial gunfight destroyed most of the raider's equipment when a stray shot hit explosives carried by an unlucky raider. They say two more gangs met up with and joined the raiders who grabbed them, in the time between now and then.

u-b

2022-03-23, 10:39 AM

Volthawk

2022-03-23, 12:13 PM

Richard...isn't entirely comfortable with Sean's plan (and he's bad enough at bluffing that the merchants can probably tell), so when he talks to the merchants he leans his arguments more towards the potential for a good-value trade deal - besides the fact that the exiles are always looking for newer and better equipment in the field (he emphasises the things Sean's specifically looking for, seeing if they have them or know where to get them) and have enough barter goods for anything of interest the merchants may have, he also talks about the radar base and the people settling there, suggesting that if a good deal could be struck between the exiles and the merchants a good word could be put in for them at the base, opening up a new potentially valuable revenue source for the merchants. The idea isn't just for the merchants' benefit, of course, as Richard sees quite a bit of value in the notion of getting smaller merchant groups to include the base in their routes, but naturally his pitch focuses on the value of the contact to the merchants.

He won't say no to a reward here and now if they are willing, and it'd be an excellent source of goodwill, but he doesn't reinforce Sean's implications there, presenting himself as genuinely appreciating any support for the campaign against the raiders and trying to appeal to their better natures and the idea that the exiles are working to stop what happened here from continuing (although he does take the point of the raider's things being the exiles' property now as a given). He also asks about the merchants' needs and if there was anything more the exiles could do for them - naturally, any material needs or further work for the exiles would need recompense, worked into any greater deal established, but Richard is confident that something can be worked out that is (while probably advantageous to the exiles) a good deal for everyone involved.

GM, should this be a reaction roll, a Merchant roll, or both

Shoot Da Moon

2022-03-24, 09:09 AM

Sean lets the merchants check their possessions. He is in no hurry. Eventually, he sets to talk to some of their lot.

"Now, gentlemen, I'm sorry about your wounded friend, but overall, I'd say you got out of this well enough, assuming your stuff is in order. Your caravan belongs to you, and you yourselves also belong to you. That said, we don't get paid by any form of taxes and would like to know if you would like to negotiate some entirely voluntary reward for our rescue services. If you do, my friend Richard will work with you on the details. If you don't I will be disappointed."

Sean does not say what, if anything, he would do if/when he will be disappointed, but he did say the reward should be "entirely voluntary", didn't he?

Sean lets Richard negotiate the details, and walks away to get the car on the site. While at it, he describes over the helmet-mounted radio the parameters of the deal he is expectimg to make. The loot from the raiders is ours. Not negotiable. The caravan and the wares is theirs. We want something in between the following endpoints: (A) ten percent of the total value of the caravan, including the wares and the transportation, (B) zero percent, but they procure some amount of sufficiently exotic and sufficiently expensive goods for us, paid by us at par. If they do not agree to something of that order, we walk away, but we will spread the word.

Things of particular interest:
1. Shots and/or medicines against typical Gutter diseases and/or non-dexterity-limiting NBC suits. The later would be TL9, but so are the nanomachines, so we might be in luck. If they have it all, we'll buy at their price and express many thanks.
2. A TL8 video surveillance drone set, like this (https://www.amazon.com/DJI-Quadcopter-Hasselblad-Adjustable-Accessories/dp/B07HKNGVZT/ref=sr_1_17?crid=1ZMYQSTJR1JSL&keywords=DJI+Mavic+3&qid=1647931931&sprefix=dji+mavic+3%2Caps%2C176&sr=8-17) one.
3. A TL8 radio surveillance receiver set.
4. A TL8 notebook computer and software to use with #2 and #3.
5. Other stuff might be considered.

Richard...isn't entirely comfortable with Sean's plan (and he's bad enough at bluffing that the merchants can probably tell), so when he talks to the merchants he leans his arguments more towards the potential for a good-value trade deal - besides the fact that the exiles are always looking for newer and better equipment in the field (he emphasises the things Sean's specifically looking for, seeing if they have them or know where to get them) and have enough barter goods for anything of interest the merchants may have, he also talks about the radar base and the people settling there, suggesting that if a good deal could be struck between the exiles and the merchants a good word could be put in for them at the base, opening up a new potentially valuable revenue source for the merchants. The idea isn't just for the merchants' benefit, of course, as Richard sees quite a bit of value in the notion of getting smaller merchant groups to include the base in their routes, but naturally his pitch focuses on the value of the contact to the merchants.

He won't say no to a reward here and now if they are willing, and it'd be an excellent source of goodwill, but he doesn't reinforce Sean's implications there, presenting himself as genuinely appreciating any support for the campaign against the raiders and trying to appeal to their better natures and the idea that the exiles are working to stop what happened here from continuing (although he does take the point of the raider's things being the exiles' property now as a given). He also asks about the merchants' needs and if there was anything more the exiles could do for them - naturally, any material needs or further work for the exiles would need recompense, worked into any greater deal established, but Richard is confident that something can be worked out that is (while probably advantageous to the exiles) a good deal for everyone involved.

GM, should this be a reaction roll, a Merchant roll, or both

The merchants talk amongst themselves before they turn back to Richard with smiles on their faces.
"Well, we have rifle bullets and magazines to hold them in. They have plenty of bottled water, clean and fresh. Would you like that stuff as your reward for helping us? We have antibiotics that can help with exploring The Gutter, it's been proven, you can have some for free. We don't have any advanced Old World technology on us now, but we do know other merchants squatting at our shared hideout in the mountains that can sell you the stuff. It'll take time, but we can arrange a deal with Mary that scores you the gear. She has a small computer, radios, video surveillance gear, a few other electronics gadgets..."

The merchants take 300 rifle bullets, 10 gun magazines, 60 bottles of water and 12 doses of antibiotics out of the caravans' stocks, and offer the lot of it to the exiles. They ask if the exiles would like different types of bullets instead of the rifle rounds?

u-b

2022-03-24, 10:13 AM

Shoot Da Moon

2022-03-25, 08:17 AM

When Sean is back with the car and learns the details of the deal, he seems quite satisfied. The immediate reward is good enough, and a proven medicine would be very good too, but the prospective deal with that Mary is what Sean is really after. He carefully examines the antibiotics, comparing them to what he purchased earlier and asking the merchants whether they know if those other brands also work, and how common would be the diseases that even this stuff is ineffective against (like some mega-flu or suchlike). As for the deal with Mary, Sean would like to procure a full-blown quad-copter kit right away (a "takes time" sense of "right away" is acceptable) for the cost of about one car, plus or mius some stuff. We will buy the radios and the computer at some later time as a separate transaction. If this hideout is hidden, do they run the delivery? Sean would like the delivery to Waffle House and there would transfer the car. The car is right there at the moment and will be designated for this deal. Sean asks to be notified over the radio if there is any change of plans. Speaking of radios, do the merchants want to buy one? Sean has one spare. Also, if their base is active on the radio, Sean would like to be given the contacts for future communications. We can communicate encrypted, so this won't give away all too much.

After all the negotiations are complete, Sean drives the party and the POWs back to Waffle House and starts to prepare for tomorrow's trip to the power plant.

Sean has some antibiotics from HT226 and some antibiotics from B289 and he checks if these are some of those or different.

Anything better than 60% and they can have a small TL7 thing right now. They probably don't need one in general (as the hideout hosts some), but if they don't have one with them, might be worth striking a deal.

The merchants change out 80 rifle bullets for APHC pistol rounds. They promise to contact Mary, who will contact the exiles via their radio frequency, she has a full dedicated staff for deliveries and money transactions. They can definitely handle journeying to the Waffle House and make the trade. Expect her radioing you in the near future.

The antibiotics are as per HT226.

The merchants comment that they've heard of Old World nanotech medicine that can completely prevent infections from wounds AND all diseases with only a few side effects, but they've only seen such wonders a few times, sold by a big shot merchant who only deals in Red Brick. The same guy also sold another type of nanotech med, that dramatically speeds up the body's natural healing, at the cost of increased consumption for the patient.

The merchants are willing to buy a radio from Sean. They offer 70% of the item's full value, what say you?

The merchants swap contact numbers.

The car is somewhat cramped as the exiles drive back to Waffle House. They eat their meals for the day as they get back in touch with Tariq and their allies. The rest of the day goes by smoothly, even when it rains during the night.

(OC: everyone eat meals.)

DAY 72

The next day is still lightly rainy.

u-b

2022-03-25, 12:58 PM

Shoot Da Moon

2022-03-26, 01:57 PM

In the morning, Sean gets everything ready to leave for the power plant. The plan is to take two cars (the station wagon and the pickup), overtake the caravan, then park / camouflage the cars and approach on foot just as usual.

Done.

Yes, we trade the radio. We are willing to take in return any and all of the following (will pay or get paid for the difference in bullets or such):
1. Crash kit, at $3200
2. Dark 'military' sneakers, at $160
3. Simple camouflage clothing, at $480
4. Basic camouflage net (woodlands), x3 at $320 each

We will use any gear we buy. The bonuses are not included in the rolls as I'm not sure about what would be available. Also, upgrading Bart to wear a better vest.

Sean and his allies can easily outride the caravan. It is still faintly raining when they arrive at their destination. Approaching the power plant, however, reveals the job is going to be rougher than expected - Sean spies eight winged humanoids flying around the power plant's outside, all of them packing heat. It seems they are patrolling the area.

(OC: How far from the power plant's front entrance do you wish to be (where most of the enemies are), Sean? 20 yards? 30 yards? Your comrades are further back than that, at least 5 yards.)

Despite the drizzle, there are three burning car wrecks around the front entrance of the power plant. Three large packs of mutated hounds (5 to a pack) are being roughly led by familiar armed guards. The goons are bizarrely twisted, with gross facial features and discolored skin. The Sinful Nature are staking out this place. Most of them are carrying pistols or axes, the fliers have shotguns. Sean counts five of them. One of them is stationed atop a rickety wooden platform, built out of stacked furniture and a ladder, keeping an elevated position. The last lone guard is standing right at the door to the power plant, alone, 3 yards from anyone else.

(OC: Range penalty could be -4 to -7, depending on how close Sean wants to get. The fliers have an extra -2 to their Range penalty, because they're in the air. The raised platform also gives the guard (4 yards away from the nearest pack) on it +2 for him and -2 to target him. The three packs of dogs are 3 yards apart each, with one guard each directing it - no bullets wasted if a burst targets JUST a single pack. You will waste bullets in a burst if you target more than one pack or the fliers, 3 rounds. The lone guards plus anyone else in a single burst means 1 wasted bullet.)

They're all on watch, but not alerted to the exiles' presence and none of them are in cover. Yet.

You can buy the crash kit, the dark sneakers, the simple camouflage and the camouflage net. They're all available for purchase. You choice of shotgun shells, pistol bullets, rifle rounds and SMG bullets can make up the difference.

u-b

2022-03-27, 02:04 AM

Crouching behind some appropriately-sized tree, Sean observes, and describes, the scenery. He is not sure what to make out of this. The mutants, who supposedly shun all technology, occupying a power plant? The level of due diligence of their, can we say, "employers"? The burning cars... any signs of a recent fight anywhere around? Tracks, corpses or such?

Sean whispers to Richard over the radio: "I am not sure we can survive failing the negotiations. So, shall we attack? If so, I take the fliers, yours are the right bunch, but please start with the lone guy near the entrance. Tariq should place two or three grenades centered at the central bunch, which would also hit the other bunches with fragmentation. Bart loads a slug in the chamber and targets the guy on the platform."

Let's say Sean is 20 yards away for -6 range penalty and the rest of the group is 30 yards away for -7 range penalty.

You can buy the crash kit, the dark sneakers, the simple camouflage and the camouflage net. They're all available for purchase. You choice of shotgun shells, pistol bullets, rifle rounds and SMG bullets can make up the difference.
Sean will buy three camouflage nets, if they have that many. The whole transaction then would be as follows:

+2800 Small radio
+2000 Rifle cartridge x200
-3200 Crash kit
-160 Dark 'military' sneakers
-480 Simple camouflage clothing
-960 Basic camouflage net (woodlands) x3

I will update and send you the sheet.

Volthawk

2022-03-27, 09:21 AM

From his own cover, Richard looks over the scene in front of them and frowns, before responding to Sean. "Yeah. A big group like this will probably be more entrenched in their views than the small group we were able to negotiate with before. Particularly if they had to kill the previous occupants to get hold of the place. They're not going to make a deal with a group of "sinners" like us that we'll like. Shame. Haven't figured out the right way to deal with them yet." He sighs, getting his rifle ready for the fight and starting to aim at his target. "I'm ready to go on your mark."

u-b

2022-03-27, 12:48 PM

Sean whispers again: "Relay the plan and tell when everyone is ready."

Sean is not quite sure about the mutants and the laser, especially in the rain, so he flips it on when evaryone is ready and just before he shoots a long burst at the flyers, getting most of the lot.

Operating a familiar control of a familiar gun is a free action with the limit of one such free action per round, so even if they can see the laser, they won't have time to react.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-03-27, 01:04 PM

The burning cars... any signs of a recent fight anywhere around? Tracks, corpses or such?

Let's say Sean is 20 yards away for -6 range penalty and the rest of the group is 30 yards away for -7 range penalty.

Sean will buy three camouflage nets, if they have that many. The whole transaction then would be as follows:

+2800 Small radio
+2000 Rifle cartridge x200
-3200 Crash kit
-160 Dark 'military' sneakers
-480 Simple camouflage clothing
-960 Basic camouflage net (woodlands) x3

I will update and send you the sheet.

There are no corpses, blood trails, drag marks or other such signs of violence around. The burning cars look like they've been neatly arranged before they were set alit. Maybe they're simply sources of fire and light for the enemy?

Range noted. Three camouflage nets are available. Purchases made, and noted. Use the new stuff well, this situation could be trouble.

Volthawk

2022-03-28, 04:30 AM

When Sean opens fire, Richard joins in and fires a two-shot burst at the mutant by the door - they'd learned before that these guys could be tougher than they thought, so he wanted to be sure he put his target down.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-03-28, 10:35 AM

Sean, Bart and Richard unleash a satisfying hail of gunfire upon the front security.

6 of the fliers drop out of the sky, most of them dead. One notices the shooting of his fellows and where the shots came from...but the other is completely clueless.
Bart the Hunter blasts the guard on the raised platform with a slug and absolutely punches a skylight into his chest. Sliced away with the reaper's scythe, the sentry's deceased form falls over, off and onto the ground.
Richard nails the guard at the door twice in the heart, leaving two very big ugly holes in the poor SOB's solar plexus. The mutant slumps over onto the wall behind him and slides down, blank eyed.

(OC: Tariq, you can act with the rest of your allies, this is a surprise attack.)

GnomesofZurich2

2022-03-29, 05:10 PM

Tariq carefully aims his shot and then fires three grenades at the centre of the opponents.

(OOC: It looks like one shot hits, and the other two are going to scatter. I'm one off the recoil score needed to have two hits and three off the recoil score needed to have three hits on target, so that probably indicates how far the second and third shots scatter.)

Shoot Da Moon

2022-03-30, 07:33 AM

u-b

2022-03-30, 10:36 AM

Sean shoots a short burst at the remaining two flyers.

I think three attack rolls, in a Ranged Rapid Strike (with -6 penalty for two attacks, -12 for three attacks, Quick Shot Technique buys off the penalty), is more appropriate than a burst fire, but whatever. Did you mean to shoot all three grenades at the same hex?
Sean's idea (and I think that's how Tariq understood it) was to target the hex of the one central guy, getting enough concussion to take him out and enough fragmentation all around to get most or all dogs. The state of the other two handlers would then depend on their reaction to numerous [2d] fragments, about which Sean was unsure, so they might well be still up. No fancy targeting was intended, just RoF 3 Rcl 2 at the same hex, not a burst, but still one attack semi-auto.

I am not sure how many bullets would be wasted between the remaining two flyers. I default at shooting 5 rounds (as that is the lowest number to spray-fire at multiple targets and maybe has something to do with the previous round's waste of 3). If Sean can waste less than 3, he'll target one or both of the guys with more than one round (preferring the guy looking at him over the other guy). If he has to waste more, he has 4 spare and will use them as needed.

GnomesofZurich2

2022-03-30, 03:25 PM

(OC: I think three attack rolls, in a Ranged Rapid Strike (with -6 penalty for two attacks, -12 for three attacks, Quick Shot Technique buys off the penalty), is more appropriate than a burst fire, but whatever. Did you mean to shoot all three grenades at the same hex?)

The explosive expert brutally KOs one guard with a grenade, killing the 5 dogs around him.
The second grenade rumbles another pack, breaking bones of the 5 dogs and severely wounding their handler.
The third grenade has similar results; the dogs are ripped up and the mutant directing them lies on the ground bleeding and sliced.

Sean's idea (and I think that's how Tariq understood it) was to target the hex of the one central guy, getting enough concussion to take him out and enough fragmentation all around to get most or all dogs. The state of the other two handlers would then depend on their reaction to numerous [2d] fragments, about which Sean was unsure, so they might well be still up. No fancy targeting was intended, just RoF 3 Rcl 2 at the same hex, not a burst, but still one attack semi-auto.

Yes, u-b has it right, this was intended as a RoF 3, Rcl 2 attack targeting the same hex, with the assumption that any shots that did not 'hit' would then scatter from that point.

Tariq learned from his last encounter that left him lying bleeding out from a sniper hit, so he is looking for cover before attacking further (OC: Move action to nearest cover).

Shoot Da Moon

2022-03-31, 07:19 PM

Sean's gunfire claims another two lives, as one mutant tries some aerobatics to avoid the bullet, but fails.
The direct hits destroy their vital organs, and their limp bodies smack into the ground half a second later. Clear skies.

(OC: Richard, your turn.)

Volthawk

2022-04-01, 04:52 AM

Satisfied that the state of the remaining mutants makes this relatively safe for the moment, Richard starts moving forwards towards the power plant.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-04-01, 11:43 PM

As Tariq and Richard move towards their desired spots, the two guards who barely survived the onslaught look tom each other for a micro-second before they both shoot themselves in the head with their pistols, killing themselves simultaneously.

(OC: combat over.)

With that, there is no more enemy presence in the area. The mutated dogs who were caught in the edges of the exploding grenades twitch and bleed in an icky fashion, prone and dying.
The guards are all shot down like clay pigeons.

The power plant is a large abandoned building housing a decommissioned turbine and generator, hooked up to a off-line transmission interconnect. A penstock and tailrace lets a diverted river flow through the powerhouse from the hills, where an intake channels it through a forebay and a sediment exclusion bay almost a mile away.

u-b

2022-04-02, 12:59 AM

Sean is not too quick to call this over. He tells Richard not to enter the building, then tells Bart to take the dogs and wander around looking for any signs of other groups or individuals. While Bart is thus occupied, Sean reloads with a full magazine and spends some time looking around and at the bilding, in case any more threats surface. In case no threats are found in, like, half an hour, Sean tries to sneak into the building and check it out.

GnomesofZurich2

2022-04-02, 04:22 PM

Seeing the combat is done, Tariq will take the time to reload and then just keeps an eye out for any trouble.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-04-03, 01:16 PM

Bart gets the dogs under control and directs them to sniff around the area.
Sean, meanwhile, scans the building with his binos.

Their caution pays off royally. They easily detect the telltale signs of nesting and swarming animals going in and out of the building. Bart thinks there's ratdogs afoot - packs of mutant animals numbering 14. Occasionally, a few dire bears wander through the place to predate on the smaller animals.

But that's not all. The building has a lot of its interior infested with mutant plants. Bart recognizes them as spore bombers and venus guy-traps - the first one releases air-borne toxins and the second mimics other plants then lashes out with biting mouths.

Oh, and the other entrances to the building are booby-trapped with tripwires hooked up to noisemakers and fragile bottles full of...water? The mutated humans mostly kept out of the building other than that. Indeed, their presence is relatively light around here. Perhaps the guards the exiles just defeated were simply a stay-behind? Or scouts? Bart certainly doe snot think the primitive camp site the guards had could be for anymore than 15 people.

Sean spies a way in up top, a window on the second floor where the most plants are. The front door is not booby-trapped, but the animals inside would certainly take that as an invasion of their territory. The side doors are not safe, secured by crude guerilla warfare.

u-b

2022-04-03, 01:41 PM

Sean discusses the findings with the group. A direct advance seems not very wise. He thinks we should be able to handle the bears, but too many ratdogs, and any spore bombers would be somewhat problematic. Sean lets the group think about it and fetches the cars. Then, while the rest of the team covers him, searches the bodies for loot and for any survivors. Those are brought to the cars. Then Sean proposes we radio our "employers", describe the situation at hand and have their opinions regarding the following:
1. Have they been aware of the situation and, if so, what would be their plan?
2. If not, in what condition do they want this building? We can easily hand it over infested, blasted and/or burned, but if there is any major equipment in there, it might not survive the later two options. Sean highly suspects the building is wanted safe and intact, but he prefers to be sure.
3. When they are expecting to arrive on site?

As for the plan, Sean thinks we can try to get the animals out, with smoke, gas and flashbangs, but maybe we should have a larger team to aid with the shooting, if they can arrive soon enough. Sean is not so sure about the plants.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-04-04, 03:10 AM

Two-thirds (10 counting) of the dogs are still technically alive, but they won't last long without immediate medical care.
Most of the mutants are also dead, except for 2 flying men who just barely survived getting shot and falling straight down. Their blood shines weirdly rainbow-ish in the light, like oil.

Going through the mutants' pockets and wraps turns up not much ammo. Aside from the shells and bullets already loaded into the guns, only 5 other shells are loose, for 13 shotgun shells and 28 pistol bullets in total. The five Colt SAA revolvers and the eight H&R Model 8 shotguns are all in okay condition. It seems the guards were running low.
Aside form that, the guards were all wearing mere cloth armor over their unnaturally hardened skin. Tucked into their bags and satchels, Sean finds a bunch of empty plastic bottles (7 of those), three torches (unlit, obviously), two cigarettes lighters with some fuel left, two glass bottles of strong liquor, four lengths of strong metal wire, a screwdriver, two pocketknives, two wrenches, a claw hammer, five bandages, 6 pairs of socks, eight tobacco cigarettes, three small batteries, a pill bottle with 8 pills inside, and a large towel.

Calling up on the radio, Sean discusses things and gives his sit-rep.
They reply that they did not know of any mutants in the area, but gingerly comment that they should have anticipated that the monsters may be around. Their only plan in the case of mutants is to simply avoid them if possible, unless they can be dealt with decisively.
The building must be cleared out AND kept in one piece, or else they will have to abort the whole operation. If they can find a way to get the animals and plants out or dead without damaging the machinery within, that would be ideal. Perhaps some kind of chemical warfare is in order?
They expect to arrive in 3 hours.

u-b

2022-04-04, 04:58 AM

Sean kills the mutant dogs, packs the loot, the two live flyers (he spends two bandages to keep them that way and two pairs of handcuffs to keep them from causing trouble) and one dead flyer (the blood is quite interesting and he wants to take a more thorough look inside). Then he reloads the magazine he has used in combat and uses two camouflage nets to camouflage the cars. He uses the third net to set up an ambush site for Richard, Tariq and Bart, which would allow shooting at anyone approaching or leaving the building. Then he leaves the rest of the corpses near the burning cars, throws one flyer ontop of the fire, maybe makes some shots at the lock(s) (but not the traps) to make sure at least one exit facing the burning cars and the ambush is freely operable, takes a hiding spot in some location, separate, but not distant, from the rest of the group, and waits for either the caravan or some movement that can be fired upon.

If burning meat does not attract anyone and no mutants appear from anywhere heading to the site, we just wait those three hours for the arrival of the main group.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-04-06, 09:19 AM

Tariq scopes the building and figures the ground floor is mostly taken up by the internal workings of the hydro-electric generator and the turbine. There may be smaller rooms around the edges, but none of particular importance or sturdy interior doors. The upper floor, meanwhile, is where most of the windows are, and there is a larger room (an main office?) dominating the place with catwalks and stairways leading down to the ground floor and up to the roof.

Sean piles the meat up and prepares the camouflaged kill zone. The stanch of burnt death fills the air in less than ten minutes. 30 minutes later, four large mutated animals lumber out of the nearby wilderness to investigate the corpses. The animals are on all fours, furry, extremely muscular and large toothed. Sean recognizes them as black bears that have undergone the unnatural biological changes that so much of the region's wildlife and plants suffer from.

Eager to devour the free food, the bears do not care to look around the area, and simply snack on the dead bodies left out. None of the animals realize the exiles are there...

(OC: how many yards away from the bears have you set the camouflage spot, Sean?)

u-b

2022-04-06, 10:22 AM

The animals come from not exactly the direction Sean would expect them to be, but they go after the meat, not after Sean, so that might be just as well. Sean waits for them to get busy together and, before they start dragging the corpses aside, announces his plan over the radio, heard only by Richard. "Mine are left to right, yours are the other way around. Tariq and Bart stand ready in case that won't be enough." If the plan is accepted, he says "Shooting at implied zero... five, four, three, two..." a silence for one and then one long burst.

how many yards away from the bears have you set the camouflage spot, Sean?
Let's say both our spots are some 40 yards away from the building, if it can be clearly seen from that far, making them maybe some 25..30 yards away from the fire? The spots would be, say, 15 feet away from each other (one left and one right) and the cars are some further 30 yards away.

GnomesofZurich2

2022-04-06, 03:36 PM

The animals come from not exactly the direction Sean would expect them to be, but they go after the meat, not after Sean, so that might be just as well. Sean waits for them to get busy together and, before they start dragging the corpses aside, announces his plan over the radio, heard only by Richard. "Mine are left to right, yours are the other way around. Tariq and Bart stand ready in case that won't be enough." If the plan is accepted, he says "Shooting at implied zero... five, four, three, two..." a silence for one and then one long burst.

Let's say both our spots are some 40 yards away from the building, if it can be clearly seen from that far, making them maybe some 25..30 yards away from the fire? The spots would be, say, 15 feet away from each other (one left and one right) and the cars are some further 30 yards away.

Tariq will aim at the nearest bear, should his grenade launcher be needed.

Volthawk

2022-04-06, 06:44 PM

After Richard relays the plan to the others, he take aim and fires along with Sean.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-04-07, 06:14 AM

(OC: I forgot to mention, the bears are SM+1. Sean's burst only wastes 2 bullets, ditto Richard.)

The rifle fire is deafening. The four hungry bears are slaughtered by the shots tearing through their lungs and hearts.
When Sean and Richard lower their smoking guns from their shoulders, they see the ursine mutants are nothing but gruesome roadkill now.

u-b

2022-04-07, 08:04 AM

Sean reloads with a full magazine, then goes for part two. He aims at the bottle hooked up to a tripwire across an entrance, makes his shot, and waits patiently.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-04-08, 06:31 PM

The bottle explodes into shards and liquid splashing everywhere along the doorframe. Inside, there is some scattered and hurried movement by small creatures, spooked by the sudden destruction. Five minutes pass, but nothing happens. Four dog-like beasts with glowing eyes and rat snouts skitter out of the underbrush near the building, and start nibbling on the corpses of the dead. Circle of life.

(OC: the beasts are SM +0.)

Volthawk

2022-04-09, 07:30 AM

Richard nods as he sees the ratdogs appear. "Thought so, same stuff that was used against the Snowbunnies to cause their animal problems. Interesting security system, although a little unreliable. I wonder if the mutants have a way of dealing with these things peacefully so they don't have to fight them off every time someone triggers it."

u-b

2022-04-09, 08:25 AM

Sean thinks if he should spend more bullets, but then decides to let the explosives person have some fun. "Tell Tariq he can have a shot at the lot. I wonder why none appear out of the building and if those there are locked in some of the rooms. If so, would be less problematic to handle."

GnomesofZurich2

2022-04-09, 03:04 PM

Tariq takes his time setting up the shot, and then fires a single grenade targeting the centre of the ratdogs.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-04-10, 02:47 AM

Gore flies as the grenade lands and explodes!
All four ratdogs die as the blast and shrapnel rips them apart.
The pile of corpses is brutally disrupted by the blow up. Entrails and skin are left scattered around.

u-b

2022-04-10, 01:50 PM

Sean is inclined to let the caravan appear and the scents disappear before checking the building. He says that and, if no objections, does that.

GnomesofZurich2

2022-04-11, 03:29 PM

Sure, Tariq is in no hurry. He will reload his grenade launcher and otherwise just keep an eye on things.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-04-13, 04:25 AM

An hour passes as the exiles rest in their hiding spot, keeping watch on the power plant.
Mostly nothing happens. The blood and meat mess made of the corpses attracts birds to peck and nibble on the offal.
The rain increases a little, it is now a bit more heavy but it does not affect sight lines or soak anyone too bad.
45 minutes after the exiles start resting, 10 more rat-dogs crawl out from the power plant building to both feed on the corpses AND attack the carrion birds. The strange ten monsters make a meal of slow birds and wrecked bodies.

In the distance, the exiles also hear a riverboat's engine rumbling and steam billowing further up the nearby river connected to the plant, coming closer to the power plant.

u-b

2022-04-13, 05:02 AM

Sean warns Richard about the approaching boat, requests a grenade or two at the doggies and declares his intent to meet the boat as it lands while keeping in touch with the rest of the ambush, which probably should remain put. If/when the doggies are out, Sean plans to approach the river and observe the boat while it's still some way away. The boat's reaction to the explosions is of particular interest.

Sean's speed is 7+1 for most of this movement, then he will slow down to use stealth.

GnomesofZurich2

2022-04-13, 03:31 PM

Tariq obliges Sean's request and will put another carefully aimed grenade into the "doggies".

The damage looks pretty low, he's prepared to launch another one if needed.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-04-14, 07:21 AM

Tariq's salvo hits the center of the animals, who are spread out more than previous clusters.
4 of the animals are caught in the innermost blast, injured badly enough to knock them out, flinging them through the air.
The other six animals are merely hurt by the rim of the explosion. They screech and scatter away, as fast as they can.
(OC: the rat-dogs can Move 6 yards every second.)

Sean can not quite see the riverboat approaching, it looks like the explosion does not affect it. Did the crew not hear the boom?

u-b

2022-04-14, 12:18 PM

Seeing the flight of the surviving dogs as something unfortunate and not yet worrying too much about alerting the approaching vessel, Sean and Bart spend a few seconds practicing shooting...

Three seconds worth of actions rolled. Will wait for Richard/Tariq/GM to act and resolve what happens. If most or all dogs are out, Sean will hurry to look at the boat ASAP, using stealth on approach to the shore only.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-04-15, 02:27 AM

Sean manages to bulls-eye three of the mutated animals with deadly precision, and Bart the Hunter bags one of his own with a shotgun blast, putting it down and out. Then Bart takes aim at another rat-dog...

Volthawk

2022-04-15, 09:47 PM

Given that the ratdogs are more concerned with escape than attack, Richard is content to leave it to Sean and Bart and instead looks in the rough direction of the riverboat. They might still be a fair distance away, and out of sight, but Richard still feels better keeping eyes in that direction at all times - after all, people may have left the boat and began a stealthier approach on foot, and if they're mutants who knows what abilities they may have at their disposal. He was probably worrying for no reason, but he still kept a lookout, just in case.

u-b

2022-04-16, 01:18 AM

Sean and Bart target two remaining dogs, after which Sean tells everyone to stay put and quickly moves to some hiding spot near the water where he can see the vessel.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-04-16, 01:53 AM

Bart shoots the animal he previously hit, knocking it out once and for all.
Sean kills another animal with a shot to the vitals.
Only one rat-dog thing left running away.

Neither Sean or Richard can see the riverboat too much. It is very much far away. The steam from its chimney rises high into the air. It is moving at a minimal pace, perhaps 1 or 2 yards a second. It's too hard to make out much more detail than that.

It is now about over ten minutes away (600 yards?) from the power plant.

(OC: if you want a Range penalty, consider it -15, extreme range. Note that the riverboat itself is SM +10.)

u-b

2022-04-16, 05:14 AM

Shoot Da Moon

2022-04-17, 05:30 AM

That was quite a large boat. Sean highly suspected we could still take it out, but was not yet sure if we wanted to. He decided to spend a minute or two on observations, telling everything of note on the radio. Of particular interest:
1. Any signs of whom this boat belongs to? People onboard, mutant air support, flags, whatever...
2. What is the type of the boat and relevant details about it? A TL7/8 cargo vessel? Passenger vessel? A steambot from a museum? Some sort of conversion?
3. Any warlike modifications to it? Armor plating? Gun mounts?
4. Where it seems to be heading? Assuming Sean got to the river wherever it was closest to his original position, the actual pier might be some distance away. Or the boat might head to the far side of the river or something, or be turning right now, for example...
5. What is the terrain at the pier? How much distance those disembarking will have between the boat and the cover? Can we navigate safely hidden somewhere about there, e.g. to plant some radio mines?
6. How wide is the river here? What is the condition of the dam? Is the water up to power plant operation levels or ways down or what? Can the dam be safely crossed out of view of the boat?
7. Not an observation, but just a note: how long it would take us to fold down the nets, start the cars and get lost?
8. Any effect from the rain on these long-distance observations? Expected effect from the rain on long-distance shooting?

The boat should be ~500 yards away when Sean is done with the first pass of observations. I'm not sure how many rolls would be needed. Sean is in no hurry, so could repeat with more time on any topic(s) he's not immediately sure about. Skill is 15 with an extra +3 to offset range penalties, so the boat itself would be observed at an effective skill of 13 before extra time. Even better about the pier, river and such. People and guns might be problematic if they are not in plain view (an x8 scope means those in plain view should be observed just fine). All of the above is before rain modifiers, whatever they are.

From his viewpoint and through his scope, Sean sees only a few people patrolling the open decks of the riverboat, all of them clad in black that covers the entirety of their bodies. The riverboat has multiple barricades set up on the decks and metal panels on the sides, seemingly as armor.

The riverboat flies no flag. If it has guns mounted, Sean does not see them. If the people on board have guns, they do not have them ready.

The boat looks older than any nautical vehicle Sean has ever seen. It is Old World tech, of course, but not in the advanced whiz-bang connotation of that term as usual. Steam engines were outdated for the pre-virus civilization.

The riverboat is definitely heading towards the power plant. There is a wharf by the river, 20 yards next to the building. The wharf is minimal, merely four wooden boardwalks and hitching posts. From there to the building is open ground, no cover.

The river is very wide, 50 yards from one end to another. Sean can not see the dam, it is probably much further upriver, maybe two or three miles away. The water is high right now, lots of it and flowing rapidly.

Getting the nets down and starting the cars would take about 2 minutes, if done smoothly.

The rain is not yet heavy enough to obscure vision significantly. It certainly makes the vista more miserable, and the river look more menacing, but it's clear enough for shooting. Hopefully, it does not pick up today.

u-b

2022-04-17, 07:12 AM

Having described what he sees, Sean then turns to actual options. It seemed the teem could do quite a lot of things, which Seans tries to summarize as follows. This is audible only to Richard, who is expected to consult with the rest of the team.

"So, first of all, we can just pack and leave. This would abort the whole mission and I don't see enough of a reason to do it, but we certainly can. Second, we can shoot at them from some distance and either sink them or make them turn. Might be the safest, short term, but not my preference. Third, we can get them here at the wharf. Will be much more risky, but will do them for good, one way of another. Might also get us the boat. We also can try to parley before that, if you, Richard, feel lucky. I would suggest Tariq to place the whole load of our TNT with an attached remote detonator into a small backpack we have in the trunk, then put that on the warf near some mooring gear, then get a safe distance away, where I will wait him. We will discuss the rest while he does that, but I will want the safe distance to be announced up front. Richard meanwhile could take a spot behind a corner of the building and Bart will take the camouflage net and bring it here where I set camp."

Sean hopes the lone backpack would not look too scary, thus not preventing the mooring, and will give Richard an option to parley with the sailors from a position of strength. If the general plan is agreed upon, we can discuss our position for negotiations while we carry it out. To summarize:
1. Tariq is to place 25 pounds of radio-controlled TNT on the wharf near the mooring gear / landing gear.
2. Tariq is to announce a safe distance. By my calculation, the explosion will deal 6d6x10 damage, averaging 210 cr ex damage at the spot, falling fast. 20 yards away, at the building, it will deal an average of 3.5, likely safe enough with armor and protected vision/hearing that Richard now has. Bart and Tariq (and, thus, Sean) should be a bit further away (and in a different direction). Let's say, 40 yards along the river, for an average of 1.75 (rounded down).
3. Sean will set up a hiding place woughly where told, trying to get both some cover and some concealment (trees/bushes), while sill able to see and target the ship and the way to the building.
4. Richard is to wave at the arrivals and start negotiations by shouting when the ship is at the wharf. The details TBD.
5. Just a note: shooting the bag with TNT will do nothing much. It is not dynamite.
6. 210 damage does not seem like that much for a ship-sized target, but if it gets to the boiler, the inhabitants might get all sorts of additional damage.

Sean is open to other suggestions.

Volthawk

2022-04-17, 10:41 AM

Richard relays Sean's summary to the others, before considering the situation himself. "Yeah, I want to talk to them. We don't have confirmation of who they are yet, and I'm not firing at a potentially neutral party, particularly since if they aren't mutants or raiders they might prove a useful ally - I haven't seen or heard of anyone else in these parts with a boat like that. So let's go with your wharf plan. Still, if it does come to blows lets see if we can handle the situation without using the explosives. An intact riverboat is worth taking some risks to get hold of, I think."

GnomesofZurich2

2022-04-17, 12:54 PM

u-b

2022-04-17, 12:58 PM

Sean looks at the warf to see if Tariq's change of the plan is compatible with its particular construction and comments on that, possibly giving Tariq a go on the whole affair.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-04-18, 10:39 AM

Sean looks at the warf to see if Tariq's change of the plan is compatible with its particular construction and comments on that, possibly giving Tariq a go on the whole affair.

(OC: Do you have the Architecture skill, Sean? Does anyone else? I'm certain Tariq does. Please note the riverboat travels approximately 90 yards towards your position every minute.)

Shoot Da Moon

2022-04-19, 08:07 AM

Tariq loads the TNT into the backpack and takes it onto the wharf. Once it's set to blow on compound, he'll attach it to one of the posts supporting the wharf, near where the ship would presumably dock, using rope and duct tape, and try to conceal it. It takes 3 and half minutes.

He feels uncomfortable, as the rain chills him even as the work makes him sweaty and hot under the collar.

When the bomb is in place, Tariq backs off. Just in time, too, as the riverboat is only 25 yards away from the wharf by the time he bugs out. It as slowed down upon approach.

Nobody can be seen on the boat. The people who had patrolled the deck went inside 2 minutes ago.
The passenger riverboat is driven by a single big stern wheel and steam coming out of multiple tall smoke stacks from high-pressure boilers. The riverboat has three decks with staircases (plus a pilot house on top of the highest deck) connecting them. Lights, winches, whistles and ropes can be seen left out on the lowest deck.

GnomesofZurich2

2022-04-19, 03:28 PM

Volthawk

2022-04-19, 04:00 PM

As the others get into position and prepare, Richard steps out from the corner of the building, in sight of the boat and raising a hand in greeting to the boaters. He still has his rifle with him, but as a sign of goodwill he doesn't hold it ready to fire. Hopefully they were the type willing to at least try talking.

u-b

2022-04-19, 10:39 PM

Sean mostly covers the boat and the bomb, making sure that nobody does anything fancy, like stealthily disembarking, including under the water, disabling the bomb, aiming at Tariq and Richard, etc. The net has been already set up, covering Bart, Sean and dogs, but Tariq took his time almost to the limit, so Sean does not expect the man here in the hiding. Maybe he will side with Richard or take some other spot.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-04-20, 04:16 AM

The riverboat comes over to the wharf and starts to dock. The people in black scramble out of the cabins and the deck, getting ready to disembark.

One of the dockers spots Richard and alerts the rest of his crew. The sailors seem disturbed and wary. They particularly do not like the sights of a messy fight, what with the blackened ground from the bomb blasts and gruesome offal scattered around. They do not attack or flee at the sight of Richard, they talk amongst themselves and do not call out to him...

Richard then notices another mutated bear wandering closer, out of the wilderness behind him. It sniffs the air with deep curiosity and eyes him with heavy stoicism. Perhaps the dead bodies are giving off enough of a meaty stink to attract the beast?

(OC: the bear is 15 yards away from Richard.)

u-b

2022-04-20, 06:20 AM

"Bart, you watch the men and the bomb. Richard, please disregard the bear, I have you covered." Sean aims at the bear's heart through the scope, but does not shoot right away.

Waiting with an aimed shot. Will shoot before the bear is in melee range of Richard.

Volthawk

2022-04-20, 08:24 PM

Richard murmurs back a quick "Got it." to Sean over the radio before getting back to his part of things - the boaters. They were wary but not hostile, which was a good start, and Richard was confident that if he got talking to them he could make something happen here. He starts walking towards the boat, arms outstretched to show that he's not about to start shooting, but doesn't call out - Sean may have the bear in his sights, but that doesn't mean Richard wants to get more of its attention on him than he can help.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-04-21, 04:04 AM

Sean can see the bear starting to eat the gore of the dead mutants and animals.
Richard sees the sailors are caught between keeping an eye on him and doing their work. They call out for someone, probably a superior, to come over to them.
Bart tries to keep his dogs under control. The two canines seem to want to sniff around the trees.

(OC: Tariq, what are you doing?)

GnomesofZurich2

2022-04-21, 11:39 AM

(OC: Tariq, what are you doing?)

Tariq is likely still seeking to get into cover and out of the notice of those on the ship.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-04-22, 04:42 AM

Both the riverboat crew and the bear seem to have their attention squarely held by Richard or food respectively. Neither notice Tariq as he slips away. Sean's camouflage suits him fine.

GnomesofZurich2

2022-04-23, 07:10 AM

Tariq will continue moving away until he's reached what he judges to be a safe distance should there be need to use the explosives.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-04-24, 08:52 AM

Richard picks up on the sailors' distrust of him, fearing him like some sort of rabid animal. They all keep their guns close to their hands.

And speaking of their guns, they're all carrying SAA revolvers, all of them loaded and in okay condition. Judging by some of the scratch marks, they were bought in bulk by a dedicated arms dealer, who smuggled them in a crate. They were not just picked up from dead people or cobbled together with junk - an actual craftsman with a complete workshop made those weapons.

In 2 minutes' time, another humanoid in black arrives at the dock, led by a sailor and coming from below deck. This one is obviously a lieutenant of some sort, as he seems to hold authority over the sailors. He certainly has a better quality garment covering his body. A lit cigar turns in his mouth, smooth smoke wafting from the burning end as he surveys Richard.

With an suspicious eye, the newcomer steps off the boat and approaches Richard. He makes no secret of expecting a trap...or a fight. The lieutenant takes out his cigar to coolly blow out a gray cloud as he walks toward the exile. He's ready.

Volthawk

2022-04-24, 09:42 AM

The quality of the guns isn't too much of a surprise to Richard - they have a working boat of that size and sophistication, and them having one or both of pretty high-quality facilities or good trading connections follows naturally on from that. Although...fear? Sure, they might be distrustful, but why would they fear him like that? Unless...maybe. While waiting for the representative to show up, Richard whispers his theory into his helmet's mic. "I think they might be Sinful Nature."

He doesn't let his suspicions change his reaction to the lieutenant turning up, though. They'd been able to deal fairly with a group of mutants before, and he might not even be correct about his theory. Nodding in recognition of the man, Richard starts talking. "Hello! I'm Richard. Nice boat - I haven't seen anything like that before. Are you traders or something like that?"

Shoot Da Moon

2022-04-25, 05:13 AM

The lieutenant rolls his eyes at Richard's compliment.
"We are not traders. We are protectors of America, avenging the treason of the dark overlord Malice. The overlord you serve, the mutiny of the Shelters you carried out on the orders of that evil woman."

The stern stranger in black leans closer, talking deliberately, "Richard. Why have you chosen to serve the overlord? Do you not know of her evil? Why did you betray America?"

u-b

2022-04-25, 06:35 AM

Since the bear seems pretty much occupied and the negotiations have started, Sean takes the liberty to have a look at the negitiators. He does not quite like the close approach, so... "Bart, watch the bomb and the bear, them both. I'll have to take care of this one guy..." Sean switches to watch this new target, ready to pull the trigger to shoot at the guy's heart whenever he does anything funny.

Richard also hears that. Bart will not be able to shoot right away, but the bear seems occupied at the moment, so the instant reaction will hopefully be unnecessary.

Volthawk

2022-04-25, 07:31 AM

Richard pauses for a moment in surprise when the man talks, blinking before laughing. "You think we work for Mailer? Hah, that's a good one. My friend - and if you're being honest about your aliegances, you are my friend - we personally pissed her off a few months back and ever since we've been on the top of the raiders' to-kill list and doing quite a lot to kill them back. I think we've been doing a pretty good job - after all, their recent withdrawal south is because we, and the settlements we've been helping, have been doing enough damage that they've needed to." He pauses again, thinking. Proof...he did have the intel they'd accumulated so far, that showed he was telling the truth about their enmity with the raiders and the withdrawal, along with an apparent enemy of the raiders information to use against them, but...it sounded like this group took the rogue Shelter angle very serously, and it might be the case that if they found out the exiles were originally from 44, Mailer's personal Shelter...it might not end well. Richard takes a breath. He had to risk it, and if it went badly he had the team backing him up. Okay.

"I think, in the interest of showing that we're on the same side, I should tell you the exact situation. We're originally from Shelter 44, you see - the one that Mailer, the evil woman you talk about, is Overseer for. The people in there have no idea about the situation out here, the deals she's made or that the betrayal happened at all, but every so often when people in there do something that angers her enough - for instance, I supported a group trying to politically oppose her influence and change the way things were run in there - she exiles them. We didn't know it at the time, but she also then gets into contact with her raiders and gives them orders to kill the exiles. A little sadistic game of hers, I suppose. We managed to survive, though, and since then have been fighting the raiders, helping the settlements they've been targeting around here, both as a matter of survival and morality. We've accumulated a lot of intelligence over this time, through attacking their bases and interrogating their people, and part of it should prove my story - we have the dossiers they passed out on us, straight from our Shelter records, and the related orders, for instance. Perhaps, if you accept this, we can share information against a common foe?"

Going to try a Diplomacy roll to get a better reaction from this guy, if allowed.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-04-25, 07:48 AM

The man looks quite convinced by Richard.
"Alright, let's say I believe you. Is why you came here? To talk to us?"

The man looks back at his crew and the boat.
"We suspected something was seriously wrong with the Shelters. We figured the overlord had total control over the people within..." He says absent-mindedly to no-one in particular.

He looks again at what information Richard is offering. "I'll have to pass this all up the chain..."
He signals to a sailor who was watching him and Richard. The sailor goes to the riverboat and heads below deck.

Volthawk

2022-04-25, 08:01 AM

Richard shakes his head. "Until now, I had no idea you existed. Hell, I didn't know anyone outside of their organisation knew Mailer was involved. No, we're just here because we've been generally helping out the settlements around here when not fighting the raiders, and a group wanted to restore this plant to functionality so we went out to make sure it was safe for them. Is this place yours, then?"

Shoot Da Moon

2022-04-26, 10:10 AM

The man in black shakes his head.
"No. We do not own this place, it belongs to America, we merely use this building as a landmark and shelter from the elements. Are your people aligned with America or the overlord Malice?"

The bear behind Richard moves over to another pile of corpse meat. It greedily gorges on the dead, making disturbingly juicy sounds as it chomps, chews and swallows.

GnomesofZurich2

2022-04-26, 11:29 AM

If Tariq is, presumably, now at a safe distance, he'll ready his grenade launcher in case the people on the ship become hostile.

Volthawk

2022-04-26, 11:44 AM

"We're not allied with her, no. Hell, the reason I'm out here is because I joined a group in the Shelter that was opposed to her. As for America..." Richard pauses, putting the thought into his next words he felt the topic deserved. "Before going into the shelter, my ancestors were among the lawmen of the old world. They upheld order in the old world in the name of America, and were a force for justice. My family has always held onto that principle, which is why many of us joined the security forces of the Shelter, unaware of what Mailer was really up to but wanting to honour that legacy." Richard reaches into an inside pocket and pulls something out - an old badge, the name of one of the organisations of the old world barely legible on it, and looks at it when he continues. "It's why I did the same and joined up, and why I tried to change things when I saw the unjust ways Mailer had led my fellow officers to act. It's why out here I've been doing whatever I can to restore order and help the people we come across to rebuild and live in safety." He looks back up at the man. "So yes, I suppose you could say I'm aligned to America, loyal to its values."

Neat, a chance to play up some of Richard's quirks that haven't come up much (namely "Carries a family heirloom" and "Idealistic about the old world").

Shoot Da Moon

2022-04-27, 06:08 AM

The man in black looks at it and nods.
"You carry a heavy burden and a worthy heritage then. So do we. We are dedicated to fighting the overlord Malice and her betrayal of America."

Then the man in black looks over the area.
"That bear is dangerous. We should either kill it, or leave the area. What say you?"

Volthawk

2022-04-27, 06:30 AM

Following the man's gaze over to the bear and readying his rifle, Richard nods and gets on the radio. "Sean, we're good here. They're on our side. Guess it's time to deal with the bear, can't leave it hanging around for the settlers to run into."

u-b

2022-04-27, 07:44 AM

From his hiding, Sean aims at the bear and makes two shots. "You stay here, Bart." He says as he emerges from hiding. Assuming nobody is too startled, he then approaches the arriving delegate, with the right hand empty and the rifle in the left hand. Sean has heard only half of the discussion, so is not really up to speed, but Richard's final conclusion is clear enough. "Sean Pires. We have a lot to discuss."

Shoot Da Moon

2022-04-27, 08:46 AM

The gunshots scare the riverboat crew and the man in black, they all draw their guns and look around for the shooter. The mutated bear dies as Sean drills it in the heart twice.
The man in black eyes Sean with anger and aims his pistol at him, but he keeps it cool enough to stop shooting.
"First thing we should discuss, Sean, is that you need to tell me before you start shooting that big gun of yours."

The riverboat people come out with guns at the ready to greet Richard and Sean, demanding answers. When the two men explain, they calm down.
Eventually, another higher-up man in black arrives on the scene, walking out of the lower deck flanked by bodyguards. He is introduced as the sergeant of the sailors, not the highest ranking man on the riverboat, but definitely in charge of the boat's fireteams.

The riverboat people ask the exiles for a full debriefing.

u-b

2022-04-27, 09:23 AM

GnomesofZurich2

2022-04-27, 03:29 PM

Tariq is a bit disappointed at the lack of opportunity to make things go 'boom', but seeing that his comrades have both approached the boat, he sling his grenade launcher and make his way over towards where Bart is stationed.

Volthawk

2022-04-27, 06:23 PM

When it becomes Richard's time to talk, he takes a broader view of things, telling the general story of the exiles and their clashes with the raiders - from learning of their existence, to the battles at the radar base and the early information they learned there, to the battle at the ski lodge helping the Snowbunnies and the leads they learned there, to their campaign since of attacking raider camps and bases and using the intel and prisoners found at each to decide the next target. He talks about Stone, his papers and the information they learned from his interrogation - about their northern holdings, the factory and mine, and also about the southwards retreat and the training camps apparently down there for the retreating raiders to rebuild out of. He mentions the spies, too - he didn't know how much the riverboat people knew about the raiders' intelligence network, but much like with the settlements he felt it was important to make sure they knew now.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-04-28, 06:55 AM

Sean nods and starts talking. Accirding to him, the events have been as follows:
1. Two recent attacks of the mutants on the Waffle House, who seem to be friends with the people of the region. Repelled, taking some mutant prisoners.
2. The retaliation against the mutants in Springfield. Mutated animals feeding on human bodies.
3. Information from a hit slaver camp about them effectively inciting the mutants. Matching some earlier facts about the slavers inciting mutated animals.
4. The attempt to start some meaningful communication, releasing one of the mutant prisoners and quoting him #3 above. Intending release of the rest if peace is established. Lack of effect.
5. Desire of some people to restore the power plant's operations to provide the neighborhoods with electrical power.
6. Some mutants here, with some mutated animals. Too many to safely come out and talk, given #4 above. Hit them. Hit the mutated animals. Have not been inside, but planning to.
7. You came. We made sure we can safely talk. We are talking.

The "war chief" nods along and listens.
He comments that there are apparently several different bands of mutants active in the region - he has never heard of his people attacking Waffle House. His people have been sticking to the rivers, and trying to find the Shelters so they might eliminate the overlord.
He reveals that the men who were guarding the power plant - the flying shotgunners and the dog handlers - were their stay-behind rear guards meant to make sure the army of darkness does not get their hands on the power plant.

When it becomes Richard's time to talk, he takes a broader view of things, telling the general story of the exiles and their clashes with the raiders - from learning of their existence, to the battles at the radar base and the early information they learned there, to the battle at the ski lodge helping the Snowbunnies and the leads they learned there, to their campaign since of attacking raider camps and bases and using the intel and prisoners found at each to decide the next target. He talks about Stone, his papers and the information they learned from his interrogation - about their northern holdings, the factory and mine, and also about the southwards retreat and the training camps apparently down there for the retreating raiders to rebuild out of. He mentions the spies, too - he didn't know how much the riverboat people knew about the raiders' intelligence network, but much like with the settlements he felt it was important to make sure they knew now.

The war chief takes it all in. The man confesses that most of it comes as a surprise to him, despite being an active member of the band (and created) for 8 whole months. He had no intel on the local regional militia, the raiders and their network of spies, the ski lodge, the training camps or the northern factory.

He asks the exiles what they would like to know about him and his people, or what he found out. He offers to tell them about their origins and their campaign against the overlord's dark army.

u-b

2022-04-28, 11:48 AM

Well, what is done cannot be undone, but we can try to do the next best thing, including the following (debatable individually):
1. We can offer some reasonable compensation and will hand over two guys that are still alive.
2. We offer the mutants an option to continue to guard and/or monitor this power plant, provided they don't mind it being brought online. In particular, they would be allowed to get and verify information on what amount of power goes where and raise any related concerns.
3. We probably should establish some legal status for this group of mutants with the local settlements so that both parties know they won't be attacked on sight. We have unverified information that some 7shelters were not part of "treason" back in the day. We have verified information that some settlements based on some of those shelters oppose Mailer's allies today. Some are more wary of the mutants, some are less goodly-good, but hopefully some sort of understanding can be reached if we do not consider the world black and white only. In particular, some faction name, territorial claim, flag, chosen color of headband / armband, a public statement and other such things could be useful. We have the radio frequencies to start the process.
4. Feeding animals on humans, even on enemies, would be very bad public image and is therefore strongly discouraged. Using mutated animals wherever humans can see them is somewhat bad public image and therefore is somewhat discouraged. Sean is not quite sure about flying guys and the lot, but they should be probably ok, if introduced gradually.
5. Direct radio communication between the mutants and us should be established. Encrypted, if they have the gear. If they don't have it, but want to obtain it, it's debatable.
6. We have had reports about mutants attacking settlers in the north. We request all sorts of assistance solving this issue. We can provide and request from the sources additional details as available.
7. We'll want to consult with the mutants about The Gutter, but this one can wait.
8. We are ready to hear any information deemed relevant and/or valuable. Of particular interest would be the date the campaign was started, it's success (if any), any major events or changes of the approach to it, whether each group of the mutants has its own cloning facilities, or those are shared between some or all groups, if this group has any established relations with any human group or settlement (and, if so, whether it is secret or advertised). Of tangential interest would be the mutants desire in trade (anything specific they would buy or sell), their desire to participate in joint operations (we don't aim for Mailer at the moment, but her allies have been, and would be, heavily hit), their desire and ability to participate in preparing the building for normal operations (clearing out mutant plants and that sort of thing).

Volthawk

2022-04-28, 02:36 PM

Richard is very interested in what the war chief has to say about their origins and what they've been doing. He's also curious about their relationship (if any) with the Sinful Nature - when they were able to talk to members of the latter group, they didn't say anything about the war this group is fighting. Hell, the raiders planned on using the Sinful Nature as a weapon, trying to direct them at settlements to cover their retreat (albeit indirectly, by misdirecting their patrols into people or leading people into mutant settlements). When it comes to the power plant, he emphasises the fact that the people planning on coming here to restart the plant were opposed to the raiders, the settlement they're from having suffered their attacks like anywhere else, and would be bringing their own security eventually (whether in addition to or instead of the chief's own men is up to him and anything that be can worked out there), ensuring it can hold up against any raider attention.

Shoot Da Moon

2022-04-29, 09:46 AM

The riverboat mutants take those still alive back into their care. They state they would prefer any compensation in the form of guns, armor, bullets, tools, motorcycle fuel and survival gear. They do not want any rations or water.
The mutants are not against restoring the power plant, but they mention that the interior of the building has a whole host of dangerous mutated flora. Clearing that out without damaging the internal machinery would require a lot of herbicide. The mutants suggest seeking out some kind of chemical stockpile. They have not studied the interior of the building in any depth.
The mutants can modify their uniforms with some kind of insignia - one that is used by friendly human settlements. The mutants would like to know more about the Shelters, the hardest intel the exiles have. The riverboat men have not had contact with other gangs of humanoid mutants. They suggest contacting the Waffle House and establishing an alliance with them as a first step.
The mutants do train and leash mutated animals when they have the chance, usually when they have to come ashore for long periods of time. They often feed the animals with plants or rations. They have multiple working motorcycles. There aren't many flying mutants among their number - the eight stationed here were the majority of every one.
The mutants do not have a radio or phone. They're not sure about getting one - they do not have that kind of mechanic on board.
The mutants have not been to the north in a while. They can patrol up there, the river reaches the north. They'd like to know more about the attackers - how can they identify them?
The riverboat men have not been to The Gutter.
The people in black were created by automated cloning laboratory, with mostly identical looks and some variation in mutations. The records and messages from their creators found there gave them their mission; defeat the Dark Lord Malice, who betrayed America and usurped the Shelters. For most of their first months alive, they simply scraped by and stuck to the same general area as the lab. They found a riverboat 2 months after they were "activated". By then, they had scavenged enough gear and supplies to hunt down local raiders. They took the riverboat as their "base" and main ride. They travelled up and down the river whenever they could, slowly improving their operation. They made secret deals with merchants, gaining better stuff in return for whatever valuables they could pick off the dead raiders or steal from settlements with stealth. It's been slow-going, fighting raiders that aren't too embedded or well-equipped. They've otherwise avoided contact with humans. The mutants mostly want to left alone for now. They would co-operate if there is a raid on a really big raider operation or a Shelter.
The riverboat people have only heard of the Sinful Nature in bits and pieces - they're some other group of mutants, right? What is their deal?
The raiders are fine with friendlies taking over the power plant and turning it on.