Worse Than the Disease IC

[Volthawk]

Once it's confirmed the sniper is down and everyone is safe, Richard leaves his position watching at the window and joins the others.

"That was...something I'd rather didn't happen. So much death for nothing. We're going to have to be more alert from now on - I don't know whether the ones that drove away are planning on coming back or if the losses were enough to get them to try elsewhere, but we can't just hope nothing more will happen."

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean is somewhat worried when, after throwing the grenade, Tariq did not retreat but instead stuck around. Having the rifle ready, Sean continues to look for any signs of opposition until Tariq signals that all is clear. Leaving Richard and Simone in charge of the building, Sean goes outside to help Tariq deal with what's there.

Spoiler

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The plan is to:

Disarm the sniper and his friend. If the rifle seems good, give it to Richard for now. Use a sheet or two from the barracks to make ropes and bandages. Bind, loot and bandage them both, in that order. Put them into a suitable room (most likely basement or first floor), watched by Simone.

Carefully approach the people on the minefield, following their steps exacltly and looking for mines even then and expecially if there is a need to step somewhere else, taking extra time. Disarm them and carry (NOT drag) out anyone still breathing, also exactly following the steps. Bind, loot and bandage anyone so carried and also loot anyone who's dead. Carry the survivors into the same room as the rest.

Transport the motorcycle into the garage (expand the hole in the fence if necessary), being careful for any holes in the tank that may leak gas. Maybe let all of the gas leak before transporting.

Feel strangely cold and get some firewood.

Count the bodies of both kinds. Estimate what time is it now.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Spoiler

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The plan is to:

Disarm the sniper and his friend. If the rifle seems good, give it to Richard for now. Use a sheet or two from the barracks to make ropes and bandages. Bind, loot and bandage them both, in that order. Put them into a suitable room (most likely basement or first floor), watched by Simone.

Carefully approach the people on the minefield, following their steps exacltly and looking for mines even then and expecially if there is a need to step somewhere else, taking extra time. Disarm them and carry (NOT drag) out anyone still breathing, also exactly following the steps. Bind, loot and bandage anyone so carried and also loot anyone who's dead. Carry the survivors into the same room as the rest.

Transport the motorcycle into the garage (expand the hole in the fence if necessary), being careful for any holes in the tank that may leak gas. Maybe let all of the gas leak before transporting.

Feel strangely cold and get some firewood.

Count the bodies of both kinds. Estimate what time is it now.

The sniper still has his (damaged) rifle, loaded with 3 bullets in the magazine and fitted with a broken scope, on him. He is otherwise travelling light.
The motorcyclist is wearing a helmet and thick jacket, but is carrying little else.
Both men are barely alive. They probably won’t be waking up without long term care. The exiles can easily bind and bandage the wounded with sheets from the base.

Those left in the minefield are in a much more grim state. Quite a few of those hit by the land mine blast are just chunks - unlootable, except for pieces of twisted metal. One of the men with rifles barely survived the blast, but his weapon is broken and useless. 2 of the more lightly armed raiders did not die, but their body armour is wrecked and so are their heavy revolvers. The exiles capture those still alive with the same bed sheet bindings. The car wreck is a flaming ruin.

The motorcycle might be repaired, but both of its wheels have been popped and the engine is broken. Fortunately, the gas tank is merely dented - if it was punctured, the whole thing could have blown up. Getting it to the base garage requires both expanding the hole in the fence and dragging it hard.

Sean works up a sweat gathering a day’s worth of firewood for 30 minutes.
By the best count, there are 4 wounded and 11 dead. It is now 1300 military time.

[GnomesofZurich2]

Tariq goes to inspect their defenses. He wants to first assess how much of the mine field is left, and also what condition the fence is in.

Spoiler

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Roll to evaluate the mine field succeeded by 3 or 7 depending on whether this should be against EOD or Demolitions. I'm unsure what to roll against to assess the fence.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Tariq goes to inspect their defenses. He wants to first assess how much of the mine field is left, and also what condition the fence is in.

Spoiler

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Roll to evaluate the mine field succeeded by 3 or 7 depending on whether this should be against EOD or Demolitions. I'm unsure what to roll against to assess the fence.

About 4/5 of the minefield is left after the battle.
The fence now has a bigger hole in it, obvious to most. A human being of average size could easily infiltrate the base unless the hole was patched.

(OOC: Also, every PC gets 2 Character Points for surviving the attack on the base.)

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean makes sure the unconscious captives don't freeze to death and are otherwise safe in a room guarded by a motion-sensing monkey. He then checks the log on the road that he has put there earlier to signal where the reinforcements' car should stop. He spends two hours moving around the second floor from one window to another, looking outside for any attempts to infiltrate the base in case the men in the cars faked their retreat. He then delegates the same activity to Simone and searches three more rooms he intended to search today. After that's done, he takes a four-hour nap and at about 22:00 is ready to take the whole night shift guarding the base.

Spoiler

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#206d:
Scavenging a room full of cabinets (at cumulative -3): (3d6)[11] on Scrounging 13 and maybe (3d6)[8] Search 12
Scavenging the furnace room (at cumulative -3): (3d6)[15] on Scrounging 13 and maybe (3d6)[13] Search 12
Scavenging the mess hall (at cumulative -3): (3d6)[8] on Scrounging 13 and maybe (3d6)[11] Search 12

[GnomesofZurich2]

After assessing the condition of their defenses, Tariq goes to see what he can do about shoring them up. Taking one of the salvaged mines and a pile of junk to the workshop, he spends a couple of hours assembling claymore mines and grenades, and then brings the fruits of his labour to show his companions.

"Okay, guys, here's what I put together. I figured we could array the claymore's around the perimeter, to be set off by tripwire or triggered by one of us - could one of you help figure out where they should go? I'm going to take 3 each of these grenades, but there's another four fragmentation and six concussion grenades up for grabs."

[Volthawk]

Richard, for his part, takes the sniper rifle to the workshop to work on it - it might not be as badly damaged as the other guns there, but he was sure it would be useful if the raiders returned, and it didn't seem like a particularly difficult job. Taking his time to straighten everything out, check the internal mechanisms to ensure the blast didn't cause any hidden damage and service the parts, by the evening he's rather satisfied with the state of the rifle and takes it back to the other, leaving it out so whoever is on watch at any given time has it and the bullets to hand, allowing them to make use of its precision and range sooner rather than later.

[u-b]

Sean Pires

"Nice. I would take one each and you can put the rest here with the other stuff." Sean points to an appropriate corner of the party's quarters. "I'll need some practice, but we'll see how it goes."

"As for the claymores, I think one should be camouflaged near the hole in the fence. Not sure about the rest. We could place some around the building and arrange for electrical detonation from some central panel, but only if you feel particularly paranoid."

[Shoot Da Moon]

Sean Pires

Spoiler

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#206d:
Scavenging a room full of cabinets (at cumulative -3): (3d6)[11] on Scrounging 13 and maybe (3d6)[8] Search 12
Scavenging the furnace room (at cumulative -3): (3d6)[15] on Scrounging 13 and maybe (3d6)[13] Search 12
Scavenging the mess hall (at cumulative -3): (3d6)[8] on Scrounging 13 and maybe (3d6)[11] Search 12

The room full of cabinets has piles and piles of loose materials weighing 800 pounds in total that the workshop might use to make and fix stuff, with a lot of effort.
Sean finds nothing in the furnace room.
The mess hall also has huge piles of random crud lying around, and Sean discovers 500 pounds of it.

(OOC: Everyone, eat a ration for dinner.
Sean scavenged;
Junk worth $80
Junk worth $50)

[Shoot Da Moon]

DAY 18

The gang of exiles wake up on a quiet morning. They have breakfast.
(OOC: Eat another meal, everyone.)
At 10 AM, they hear a van pull up at the base. Checking it out, a group of people wearing Waffle House outfits come out and shout greetings. They quickly introduce themselves as the technicians and guards sent to help with the base radio. They shake the hands of the exiles.

It takes a full 30 minutes to get all their stuff out of the van and into the radio room, and then another 50 minutes of hard work to set everything up. Simone helps them.

One of the techs powers up a base computer with a miniature generator and hacks in. He reports discovering a secret entrance into The Gutter hidden in the lowest level of the base, and shuts down the security systems, including the electronic locks. He notes that this entrance to The Gutter is worth securing the base all by itself - it provides complete 24-hour shelter from the cold.

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean greets the reinforcements. He either helps or at least does not interfere with their initial operations, but makes it known that he has a number of topics to be discussed when they feel they have the time. When they say they have the time, Sean mentions that he expects someone to take notes and proceeds with the following topics:

1. Describe the meeting with the escaped slaves, including the location of the slavers' camp and whatever the escaped slaves told about its security and operations.
2. Describe the meeting with the Sinful Nature. Mention dangerous chemicals.
3. Describe the recent attack on the base. Mention that the attackers seemed to expect the base to be occupied and were already hostile. Mention that he does not know if, when and how the information leak has occured, or to what group the attackers belong, but there are four guys taken alive who might be interrogated for details.
4. Mention the cryptic map found here and the location of some enemies of some guys. Besides, do the new arrivals have any idea what either of those groups might be? Maybe it is in the computer. (by the way, where exactly is the computer and where is the terminal from which we are accessing it?)
5. Ask if they can make sense of the security systems here, like the motion sensors and the cameras (where the reports of them go etc.)
6. Ask if they will be sending the car back or keeping it here (if the former, then when exactly they plan to do it), when will be the next car from the Waffle House and/or what would be the best way to trade assuming we have a surplus and a wish list. Maybe there is a designated merchant or whatever is the title of the man tasked to supply this ongoing operation.
7. Ask if they have a medic with them that would stay here and tend people's wounds. Mention the need to rest and heal and ask about the short-term plan of the new arrivals, including base defense plan and radio ops plan.

Spoiler

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Breakfast deduced. What is the number of the new arrivals? How many of them are here to stay? I think we'll do a lot of talking, but besides that, Sean expects to be able to spend 8 hours to finish looting the officer's quarters.

[Shoot Da Moon]

There are eight new arrivals, two of them are techies. All of them plan to stay and have prepared for it.

The backup takes notes of Sean’s reports. They nod about the escaped slaves - it does sound like other slaver operations they’ve seen in the region. The mention of the Sinful Nature throws them off - they thought the Sinful Nature were all wild animals in human skin, attacking anyone on sight. The chemicals get a shrug from them - they aren’t chemists. The attack on the base worries them - they radio the Waffle House for extra guards. They ask if the attackers bore black tattoos on their necks. They are not interested in interrogating the prisoners - none of them are trained for that. The map just confuses them. They think some of the men mentioned on it are violent biker gangs, but they’re not sure. The computer does not help - the journal files are encoded pretty good. (The computer terminal is in the radio room. There are other terminals around the base.) The techie manning the computer tells Sean the security systems both report to the base computers’ super user accounts and carry out automated responses like triggering traps and locking doors. The van is staying here for now, it is their property (it’s the techie’s favourite!). Another car full of guards will be arriving ASAP to join them and fortify the base further. As for merchants, the exiles are best off going to a city settlement like Red Brick and Gunmetal if they have a huge score to unload. Travelling through The Gutter can get you there, but it is not without danger. The Waffle House men have no medic with them. The men have their gear for sleeping and eating, they have guns and barricades, they have the radio up and ready so they can call in friendly settlements for supply runs.

[GnomesofZurich2]

Tariq gets up first thing to work on fuse cord (before the Waffle House techies arrive). Using a black powder grenade and some junk he gets to work in the workshop, producing about 250' of fuse cord in about 20 minutes. Deciding that it would be helpful having some det cord, too, he raids the junk store, and produces 5 lbs., roughly 275'.

He lets Sean and Richard know what they have available.

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean asks if they can see the floor plans of the base in the computer. He wonders what rooms are flooded or otherwise not yet discovered and whether anyone can come up with an idea about fixing the flood (like pumps, drains and what not). Sean also asks if they will store the van in the garage and, if yes, would they want to remove a section of the fence or clear a path through the minefield. He asks if they have brought some spare gas as was requested by radio. Then he asks if it would be appropriate to ask the men in the next car to bring in some common and cheap enough stuff here, on credit. Like HMG rounds and such and maybe a rifle.

Then Sean goes and checks the prisoners for any tattoos on their necks.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Sean Pires

Sean asks if they can see the floor plans of the base in the computer. He wonders what rooms are flooded or otherwise not yet discovered and whether anyone can come up with an idea about fixing the flood (like pumps, drains and what not). Sean also asks if they will store the van in the garage and, if yes, would they want to remove a section of the fence or clear a path through the minefield. He asks if they have brought some spare gas as was requested by radio. Then he asks if it would be appropriate to ask the men in the next car to bring in some common and cheap enough stuff here, on credit. Like HMG rounds and such and maybe a rifle.

Then Sean goes and checks the prisoners for any tattoos on their necks.

The tech working the computer can't find any unencoded or up corrupted files that map the base. The tech can confirm, however, that only a quarter of the rooms of the lowest level are flooded. Draining the flood would require either one of those pumping machines, or opening some drains manually (which requires some swimming).
The men will store the van in the garage if the exiles will let them. They leave it to the exiles if they open a gap in the fence or clear the minefield. They confirm that they bought spare gasoline. The Waffle House men express doubts about getting more supplies on credit.

And as for the prisoners, checking their necks reveals black tattoos of the number 77 on all of them.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Over the course of 8 hours, Sean picks through every nook and cranny of the officer's quarters. He scrounges up another 800 pounds of miscellaneous junk from the various containers of the quarters, and then 10 pistol bullets under the bed.

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean agrees the garage would be the best place to store the vehicles and proposes the men to make a damaged section of the fence into the gates (possibly removing the gates from the mined section, if there are gates there, or using the workshop's tools to make new ones, maybe of simple construction, from the section of the fence that would be replaced). The gates could be built after the vehicle is in the garage.

[GnomesofZurich2]

Tariq will set up claymore mines to cover likely avenues of approach, before turning his attention to the broken car. He'll ask the Waffle House techs if any of are handy with cars and might be able to lend him a hand.

(OOC: is there a map for the base? I'm having a hard time figuring out how many claymores will be needed and where best to situate them. I can roll against Set Traps (Explosives) to configure the trip wires for them, just need to know how many times to roll).

[Shoot Da Moon]

(OOC: is there a map for the base? I'm having a hard time figuring out how many claymores will be needed and where best to situate them. I can roll against Set Traps (Explosives) to configure the trip wires for them, just need to know how many times to roll).

(OOC: You have more then enough landmines to cover every entrance into the radar base. Just roll once, with Tactics as a complementary skill. We'll record the margin of success, then use that later if an enemy tries to get in.)

[Volthawk]

While Richard spends some of the day socialising with the new arrivals, trying to make a good impression and enjoying talking to new people, most of the day - six hours in all - is once again spent in the workshop, taking apart the broken rifle and his old revolver and using the parts to repair the semi-automatic pistol they'd found. It was going to be nice to have something capable of putting out a bit more fire than the revolvers and single-shot rifles they were otherwise using.

[GnomesofZurich2]

(OOC: You have more then enough landmines to cover every entrance into the radar base. Just roll once, with Tactics as a complementary skill. We'll record the margin of success, then use that later if an enemy tries to get in.)

Tariq spends some time setting up the claymore mines complete with trip wires and remote triggers. Once he's done, he warns his companions and the others at the base of the hazards and what to do to avoid setting them off.

[GnomesofZurich2]

The rest of the day, Tariq is going to spend in the garage trying to get the car working. He takes his time, not wanting to mess up.

[Shoot Da Moon]

The rest of the day, Tariq is going to spend in the garage trying to get the car working. He takes his time, not wanting to mess up.

It takes lot of work, but the tools and parts in the workshop are all he needs. He gets the car fixed.

(OOC: The car is a TL 7 Sedan (see B464) with 6 flaws (-3 HT, -2 SR, -10% Range).)

[Shoot Da Moon]

The exiles go to sleep that night satisfied with their work.
(OOC: Everyone eats another 2 meals for the day.)

DAY 19

Waking up the next day, the injured exiles decide to try resting up to soothe their wounds...

[u-b]

Sean Pires

In the morning, Sean checks the prisoners to see if anyone of them has awaken or died. He plans to do a similar check in the evening and hand any conscious types to Richard for interrogation, but has no more plans for the day.

Spoiler

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Deducted 6 more rations (Sean eats one per day).

Is the access to the Gutter blocked in any way (e.g. by the flood)?

[Shoot Da Moon]

Sean Pires

In the morning, Sean checks the prisoners to see if anyone of them has awaken or died. He plans to do a similar check in the evening and hand any conscious types to Richard for interrogation, but has no more plans for the day.

Spoiler

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Deducted 6 more rations (Sean eats one per day).

Is the access to the Gutter blocked in any way (e.g. by the flood)?

All of the prisoners are awake, but heavily injured, underfed, thirsty and generally not feeling well.

(OOC: The Gutter's entrance is clear.)

[Volthawk]

After Sean confirms the captives are willing to talk, Richard goes down and starts talking to them. He didn't exactly like the direction he needs to take with them, but it wasn't the first time he had to get threatening to get someone to talk.

"So, here's the situation. We want information, and if you value your lives you want to talk. Sean there wants to just shoot you but if you talk, you're valuable enough to feed and keep around - maybe we'll release you next time your people come knocking, providing they're reasonable. If they don't come or won't take you, we'll see. You'll live, though. If you don't, then...well, you won't get shot. He's stingy about bullets like that. The spear, probably. Point is, it's death or talking. Any takers?"

He continues this throughout the day, working through as many of them as he can but taking his time with each person to ensure he gets the best results.

[Shoot Da Moon]

(OOC: You broke the prisoners down pretty good. They all start talking truth.)

The raiders agree that co-operating is what they all want to do. They tell the exiles that they need to know.
All of them work for a large gang of regional raiders, backed up by some kind of paramilitary. They tattoo the number 77 on their necks in black ink as a badge of membership.

The gang itself moves from place to place around the state as ordered by the paramilitary, usually for the purposes of attacking settlements or conducting targeted killings. The gangers hold no delusions about being anything but deniable shock troops on the lowest rung.

They attacked the base because there is an oddly huge bounty out on all the exiles - someone who is part of the leadership wants them specifically dead. They have full details on the exiles - including their origin as a former citizen of Shelter 44. Patrols on the highway spotted the exiles travelling to the radar base, spies confirmed they were squatting at the base 5 days ago, and the order to attack and kill them all was given 3 days ago.

None of the raiders know anything about the radar base itself. Especially that mine field out front...

None of the raiders know what will happen now that the attack failed. They figure another attack will happen, as the exiles are a high value target. Maybe a bigger and badder attack force?

The raiders are only cleared to know certain codes and pass phrases so they may identify the paramilitary COs. They do not know where the paramilitary keeps their base. The raiders' gang has its own base, 60 miles to the south-east from here. They give up the exact location on the regional map.

The raiders offer to tell the exiles the identity of a paramilitary spy in Red Brick in exchange for their lives and freedom.

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean is present for the whole interrogation even if he does not talk much. When the raiders offer to name the spy in exchange for their freedom, Sean nods. "Seems reasonable. As long as it is understood that we will need some time to deliver your info and they will need some time to act on it, and that you will remain our guests until what you say is confirmed. If you agree to those terms, it's a deal."

If they agree, Sean will need everything they know about the spy, not just the name - how long he's been operating there, how he contacts the center etc. He does not have high hopes, but if they do know the spy, it seems reasonable to ask if they know any details.

When te interrogation is over, the raiders are to be given food, water and peace in their room. Sean then goes to the radio room. "Can we reach Red Brick from here? Can we send them encrypted message?"

Spoiler

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Giving them 8 rations for the dinner.