Worse Than the Disease IC

[Shoot Da Moon]

The dog fails to notice Sean stalking it, and is punished for its ineptitude with a crossbow bolt straight through the heart, killing it almost immediately.

For the next 30 minutes, Sean cuts off another 40 pounds of meat from the dead dog, worth 40 meals. He leaves behind a grisly mess of fur and bones in the snow as he goes back inside with his bounty.

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Satisfied with the hunt's outcome, Sean goes back to base where he allocates the fresh meat to be cooked and/or frozen according to the group's needs. "Hey, people, fresh meat! I mean, it's meat again, but at least it is fresh! I also saw some tracks of bigger game. Somewhat dated, but it's just a matter of them being in the right place at the wrong time, and they are roast. So I'd say overall hunting prespects are quite satisfactory." Sean proposes to switch to this meat for the coming days, keeping more portable rations for when the party has to travel. He spends some time massaging Richard's sprains and bruises, but takes too much care not to make it any worse, so does not do any better either. Anyway, the outcome is not immediately apparent.

Sean spends the remaining part of the day starting to work on a way into the workshop, clearing a narrow path from the rubble in the corridor blocked by it.

Spoiler

Show

I wrote 42 rations in group google sheet and, if nobody minds, will track all food income and expendure as long as we are on this meat menu.

Nanomachines are allocated for group gear, but divided for individual carry by Richard, Sean and Tariq, just in case it matters (again, see the sheet).

And I'd call it a day. Still waiting for Simone's findings, though.

As an aside - is it immediately apparent if all of the already accessible rooms have been completely searched or if some of them might benefit from some more attention?

[Shoot Da Moon]

Simone, meanwhile, has taken a closer look at the wires connected to the battery.
She reports that the cables connect to a few cameras in two corridors (which seem to connect to the base's computer), another motion sensor set up outside the locked down officer's quarters and some other device in a locked room that she didn't find.

As an aside - is it immediately apparent if all of the already accessible rooms have been completely searched or if some of them might benefit from some more attention?

(OOC: There are still rooms in the base that the group has not searched. What kind of room would you like to look for?)

[u-b]

Sean Pires

In the morning, Sean asks Simone to help him with clearing the way into the workshop. When this is done, Sean proceeds to methodically search the workshop all over. In between, he attempts to help Richard recovering, but is still unable to make a noticiable difference.

[Shoot Da Moon]

DAY 15

The exiles eat their meals and then get to work.

(OOC: Mark off another 3 meals, everyone. I'm not sure if the two people can clear the rubble from the workshop entrance in under a day - it may take multiple days. What time did I give before? Are you both digging with shovels?)

[GnomesofZurich2]

Sean Pires

In the morning, Sean asks Simone to help him with clearing the way into the workshop. When this is done, Sean proceeds to methodically search the workshop all over. In between, he attempts to help Richard recovering, but is still unable to make a noticiable difference.

Tariq pipes up, "I can clear our way in, no problem! It will just take a small explosion."

[u-b]

Sean Pires

"I believe you can. Not sure you should, though. Call me too greedy or too paranoid, but blowing up my rifle's worth of dynamite to find out we have triggered some kind of sensor in the workshop is not something I'm looking forward to. Not saying there is any sensor in there, it's mainly the thing of us not knowing the exact limits of our ignorance. That said, do you think we are pressed for time? I think, not really, but again, I don't know."

[Shoot Da Moon]

As Sean and his fellows start clearing away more debris from the way into the workshop, the sound of multiple footsteps from behind interrupts the calm. Turning around, the exiles see five men, all armed and ready, in heavy wraps that obscure their faces, approaching.

“Who the devil are you, and why are here?” The leading semi-mummy demands.

(OOC: Sean; I’m invoking your Unluckiness Disadvantage. I believe the cooldown is one in-game week for an “once a session” Trait?)

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean stands up, putting down a piece of rubble he was handling. He tries to remain calm and salvage the situation.

"Scavengers, huh? Clearing our way to what seems to be a workshop. Want your share of it?"

[Shoot Da Moon]

The face-covered man in rags bristles at Sean, "We are not scavengers! YOU ARE THE SCAVENGERS!"
The men behind him narrow their eyes, and bring their hands slightly closer to their holstered weapons...
"We have claimed this base as out own - our home, safe from the outside world, safe from the evil that you naturals inflict on us!" The leader continues.
"The workshop is not open to intruders. Explain yourselves!" Another one of the covered men demands from behind the leader.
At the back, one of the covered men looks over his shoulder, apparently concerned about something else. He taps his leader on the shoulder, signaling something. The leader ignores him, keeping his eyes on Sean.

[u-b]

Sean Pires

"Okay, okay! I'm explaining! We've got a lead on this military base from some woman we've met on our way. Came here so loot it and possibly claim it, depending on how it goes. Found it abandoned seemingly a few months ago by some bunch of drug junkies. So checking it out before they are back. No objections to your claim, actually. We mean no evil. We are neither druggies nor slavers. If you don't want to deal with us, we can just leave, but if you are open to negotiations, maybe we could be able to reach a mutually satisfying arrangement."

[Volthawk]

Seeing the group, Richard slowly gets up and hobbles over, hands up to show he's unarmed before offering one in friendship - his injuries were still not particularly healed despite Sean's efforts, but he wasn't planning on letting that stop him trying to defuse things.

"Hello! We're sorry for the surprise and if we've offended you. I have no interest in stealing from good people like you seem to be, so please believe me that this is all just a misunderstanding. We're not a part of whoever has been evil to you. Can we talk about this?"

[Shoot Da Moon]

The covered men are mollified by this gentleness - they lower their guard and relax their faces (what little can be seen).

"You stand in the territory of the Sinful Nature. We are the brotherhood of the one man. You have not heard of us?" The leader scratches his chin.

"Sir..." His underling behind him tugs on the leader's sleeve. "There may be demons around, sir."

The leader sighs and rolls his eyes. "Very well, non-sinners. You may inhabit this base. We will...escort you. Make sure you are safe here. Make sure you are as benevolent as you say you are. Just remember; we will be watching. No man can outrun his sins..."

With that warning, the covered men shake hands with the exiles.

[u-b]

Sean Pires

"Now that you speak of it... yes, I have heard the name. Have not heard much, though. I definitely am not aware of the extents of your brotherhood's territory, but maybe that is just me being ignorant enough." Sean shakes hands with the men. "I'm glad we have reached an understanding. Anything we need to know while we are here?"

[Shoot Da Moon]

The covered men share a glance, before the leader speaks, "Be wary of the strange liquids spilled around this place. They are very dangerous."

And with that, the exiles and their escort make their way into the workshop, crawling through the gaps in the rubble.

The workshop inside is far more put-together than most of the rest of the base. Parts for both auto repair and communication electronics are put aside in the open, clearly labeled for convenience. Someone skilled in those areas could use these things for fixing the car in the garage, or the base's comms.

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean observes the workshop and finds it more than satisfactory. He would propose Simone to start with the radio room if our hosts do not mind. Not being much of a technical person himself, he leaves the workshop to those who are. "Are these your sensors and cameras?" Sean asks the host pointing at the relevant things. Whatever the answer, Sean then goes hunting, inviting any volunteers to come with him.

Spoiler

Show

It seems that the workshop is neatly enough organized and does not need any scrounging. Only one thing left to know: are there any gun parts or major equipment like maybe a milling machine? Even if not, there should be enough tools for Richard to eventually repair the revolver, searching our pile of junk for spare parts (10% of $1000 would be well under our $210 worth of junk).

Hunting success by 6.

[Shoot Da Moon]

The covered men shake their heads. They know nothing of such electronics.
Sean fails to get anyone to come hunting with him. The covered men stay in the base.

Simone gets to work on restoring the radio with the tools found. The workshop does not have gun parts exactly, but the area has enough steel and machinery that one could fabricate the parts themselves. Repairs to a firearm could certainly be done with the tools in the workshop.

An hour later, Sean tracks down a large boar in the woods. He gets ready to take it down...

(OOC: Simone will repair the radio and complete the mission you were given in about two hours of working. The large boar Sean is hunting is SM+1 and has a Per of 12.)

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean takes off his backpack and his skis and places them ontop one another between himself and the boar. He places a loaded crossbow to his right. He then takes the rifle, from which he temporarily detaches the bayonet so that it does not interfere with the shot, lies down, braces the rifle on the low and fairly steady pile of the backpack and the skis, aims for a few seconds and shoots.

[Shoot Da Moon]

The rifle shot hits the boar dead-on in its body, tearing it up brutally.

The boar barely manages to survive, and proceeds to hang onto consciousness. Having been grievously wounded, the boar (futilely?) attempts to take Sean down with it...

COMBAT TIME STARTS

(OOC: The boar's Basic Speed is 6.50. Sean, declare your action this turn, please. The range penalty is still -8, 50 yards of distance.)

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean stands up, taking the loaded crossbow and aiming it at the approaching boar.

Spoiler

Show

That would be three rounds, but presumably the boar does not reach Sean in that time. How's the snow around here?

[Shoot Da Moon]

Spoiler

Show

That would be three rounds, but presumably the boar does not reach Sean in that time. How's the snow around here?

(OOC: The snow is knee deep in most places around here, but Sean is standing on a clear patch of ground. Three turns of Move means the large boar is now 9 yards closer.)

The large boar tries to charge forward at Sean, but it is hindered by both its wounds and the snow. It remains awake, though, fueled by raging vengeance and trailing blood. It is very unsteady, however. That much is plain.

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean aims for one more second, shoots a bolt at the boar, misses, then turns back and hurries to the nearest climbable enough tree in the away-from-the-boar direction with the intent to climb it high enough to be out of reach.

Spoiler

Show

An "ordinary tree" from B349 would do just fine. Will use "combat speed", costing Sean at least 1 FP.

[Shoot Da Moon]

By the time Sean has climbed his tree, the boar has moved another 9 yards towards the scout.

The boar does not even notice the missed bolt despite how close it came to hitting it.

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean makes sure there is enough clearance between himself and the ground to avoid the boar's tusks even if the boar will stand on hind legs and jump up a little, then he just waits for it to bleed to unconsciousness.

[GnomesofZurich2]

Tariq is surprised by the covered men, but after Richard and Sean defuses the tensions between the groups he leaves them be. He is more interested in getting into the workshop to see what's there.

[Shoot Da Moon]

The angry animal gores and rams the tree Sean has climbed as hard and fast as it can manage - which is not that much, really. Sean is still disturbed by the hate he sees in the beast's eyes.
The large boar eventually passes out from the strain. Sean easily finishes it off, stabbing it in the heart and cutting its throat (no need to take chances...), when he climbs down. The boar weighs a good 400 pounds, half of which he can butcher for meat with 30 minutes of work. A good haul, and all it took was a hour, a bullet, a bolt and a few seconds of terrifying athletics!

Meanwhile, Tariq finds himself impressed with the massive selection of useful resources and machines in the workshop. He's pretty sure he could fix a broken down car with the stuff here.

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean packs the boar's meat into the backpack and the boar's own skin (as there is too much meat to fit it all in the backpack), then spends a short time looking for the missing bolt and goes back to base. At the base, he leaves the majority of it to be handled tomorrow and a minority of it to be cooked today. He asks the hosts if they want some fresh roasted pork for their dinner. If the hosts are dining with the party or otherwise hang around, Sean asks them questions, like "Can you tell us about the recent history of this base? I assume the fence and the mine field are not yours either? Do you have an idea why there is a pool of liquid water here in the middle of the winter?". After the dinner, Sean asks Simone to disconnect the sensor in front of the officer's quarters. If she does that, Sean tries to force his way into the officer's quarters.

Spoiler

Show

AtE says the butchering should take an hour per 100 lbs of the animal's weight, so 4 hours total. Any reason for a major speedup? If not, I would talk to the waffle house and call it a day.

Does Tariq want to spend the whole day tomorrow to make all our meat into jerky? If not, we can just freeze it, but it won't be as portable if we are to move.

[Shoot Da Moon]

He asks the hosts if they want some fresh roasted pork for their dinner. If the hosts are dining with the party or otherwise hang around, Sean asks them questions[...] After the dinner, Sean asks Simone to disconnect the sensor in front of the officer's quarters. If she does that, Sean tries to force his way into the officer's quarters.

Spoiler

Show

AtE says the butchering should take an hour per 100 lbs of the animal's weight, so 4 hours total. Any reason for a major speedup? If not, I would talk to the waffle house and call it a day.

Does Tariq want to spend the whole day tomorrow to make all our meat into jerky? If not, we can just freeze it, but it won't be as portable if we are to move.

The covered men refuse to eat dinner with the exiles, they simply move on, disappearing into the woods.
Simone disconnects the sensor in front of the officer's quarters, and Sean fails to force the door three times.

(OOC: Everyone eat another ration for dinner? Also; Oops, sorry, yeah, it should be 4 hours of butchering time. Did Sean critically fail on that third try? If so, he takes 1 point of injury.)

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean strains his shoulder trying to pry open the door to the officer's quarters and decides that to be enough of a try. He goes to the radio room with Simone to report to the Waffle House and hear back from them. The message Sean proposes starts roughly as follows:

"Sean Piers to Waffle House. Sean Piers to Waffle House. Respond."

Then, if we get successful bi-directional communication, the rest of the message is to be roughly as follows:

"Mission accomplished. Site under control. Exploration underway. Was occupied last summer and might be contested by a major player in a matter of months. Instructions?"

This banks on them remembering who is Sean Piers and what is his mission without explicitly stating any of the details in the open for anyone who might monitor the frequency. Any questions are to be answered preferably in the like manner, but if that is not possible, then just answered.

Spoiler

Show

Yeah, it's said to depend on effective skill and the cumulative penalty seems to affect just that, so crit fail.

I'll write off 12 portions of meat for the day.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Sean Pires

Sean strains his shoulder trying to pry open the door to the officer's quarters and decides that to be enough of a try. He goes to the radio room with Simone to report to the Waffle House and hear back from them. The message Sean proposes starts roughly as follows:

"Sean Piers to Waffle House. Sean Piers to Waffle House. Respond."

Then, if we get successful bi-directional communication, the rest of the message is to be roughly as follows:

"Mission accomplished. Site under control. Exploration underway. Was occupied last summer and might be contested by a major player in a matter of months. Instructions?"

This banks on them remembering who is Sean Piers and what is his mission without explicitly stating any of the details in the open for anyone who might monitor the frequency. Any questions are to be answered preferably in the like manner, but if that is not possible, then just answered.

Spoiler

Show

Yeah, it's said to depend on effective skill and the cumulative penalty seems to affect just that, so crit fail.

I'll write off 12 portions of meat for the day.

The radio is silent for a moment, before responding.
"Message received, Piers. We've waiting on your contact. What is your situation?"

When Sean reports in, the voice on the other end is happy.
"Congratulations, well done. Can you hold that position until our people arrive? We'll be sending a truck full of specialists to your location to help you out. Dig in and stay safe. Expect our company and help in about two days."

(OOC: Are you scavenging the workshop today or tomorrow?)