Worse Than the Disease 2 IC

[Shoot Da Moon]

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UPD: What about the grenade?

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The grenade goes on Richard's turn, so now.

Sean is getting very tired. He fears he may not be able to keep fighting well enough...

He lets loose a barrage, and manages to pop the strange "brain bulbs" on approaching monsters. His shots completely destroy 5 targets, causing the horrors to fall down without any further struggle, eliminated with prejudice. He hits the torso on some, taking out another. He thinks he found a weakspot.

Richard's grenade explodes shortly afterward, tearing up another two monsters until they can not menace anyone.

(OC: Richard, your turn.)

[Volthawk]

While a quick glance back shows Sean having encouraging success with the monsters somehow, Richard keeps moving for now to join up with the militia at the house and...do something. Maybe Sean was onto something.

[Shoot Da Moon]

The militiamen hold their fire as they wait for the signal from Sean and Richard.

One more monster catches fire from the chemical-soaked bushes. The flames do petty damage as the nine horrors shamble towards the exiles.

TURN 4

Sean continues to run a bit more.

[u-b]

Sean shouts "Brains where the stalks originate! Fire at will!" and then continues to demonstrate his findings before running away with an empty mag, planning to lure whatever is left into the fire while not being burned himself*.

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Round 1: 2 yards => 5 yards (3 steps back, end up facing the monsters) => monsters move 4
Round 2: 1 yards => 6 yards (turn 2, move 5, end up facing away) => monsters move 4
Round 3: 2 yards => 7 yards (move 5, turn 2, end up almost facing the monsters) => monsters move 4
Round 4: 3 yards** => 9(?) yards* (turn 1, move 6, end up facing away) => ...

Extra effort to move and attack, ending up with 4/12 FP.
*Can turn a bit for free as he enters each and every hex. The intent is to eventually be on the other side of the fire relative to most of the remaining lot, so the total distance from the nearest might end up shorter than 9 yards, but then there would be a fire in between.
**This is the distance to the closest baddies, but the front row(s) should be by now rather sparse.

Militia men will likely aim at the "brains".

[Shoot Da Moon]

Sean is fleet of foot and fancy-stepping as he puts distance between him and the horrors, before firing another burst of lead at the "skulls" of the monsters.

He scores 4 lethal hits, destroying their brain bulbs, the twisted bodies of the unnatural things falling flat on the ground like a sack of wet dirt.

Five left...

[Volthawk]

Hearing Sean call out the solution, Richard turns and fires a burst at the remaining monsters, trying to hit the bulbs.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Richard is not used to shooting heads (or things the size of human heads anyhow...) and only manages to bullseye a single monster, who collapses into complete stillness as the bulb is splattered by the shot.

(OC: Do the militiamen open fire now? It's their turn....before the monsters come after Sean and Richard.)

[Shoot Da Moon]

The militiamen on top of the cabin open fire on the monsters, taking Sean's lead to fire at their "skulls" weakpoint.

(OC: Sean, the NPCs get +2 to their attack rolls because of their elevated position.)

Two of them score hits on the horrible things, taking them out with satisfying brutality.

Only three of the monster remain combat ready, lurching after Sean and Richard for 3 yards, not in danger of suffering from the fire. The one who was on fire died in the previous salvos of bullets.

TURN 5

Sean is feeling way less panicked, now the horde of monsters has been reduced to less than a mere squad.

[u-b]

From now on, Sean just keeps moving around until he is, say, 20 feet away from the monsters or they all are dead. One or the other should come first depending on whom they will chase.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Sean gets the lead out.
(OC: Full Move.)

Richard acts as his comrade books it...

[Volthawk]

Richard starts moving towards the cabin again - Sean was making some distance for himself elsewhere, and the militiamen knew what was up, so he could get some distance while any following him got closer to and easier to hit for the men up top.

[Shoot Da Moon]

The exiles' backup take aim again, hoping to get in more headshots before the monsters reach Sean and Richard.

Speaking of the monsters, they all keep moving towards Sean, apparently liking the way he smells...
(OC: 4 yards of Move.)

TURN 6

Sean has managed to keep the monsters on his tail, now he just has keep his distance...

[u-b]

Sean has to move it move it, so he surely keeps doing that. He choses a trajectory based on two properties: first, to keep the monsters in clear shot of the people above, and second, to eventually get some fire between them and himself.

[Shoot Da Moon]

With the way the fire is spreading, Sean will need to lure the monsters in a diagonal angle quickly before the fire circles the campsite totally. Luckily, it is not hard to keep them in sight of the elevated platform.

[Volthawk]

With the monsters all following Sean now, Richard starts to aim at one now he has the time to accurately pick one off instead of wildly firing.

[Shoot Da Moon]

The exiles' comrades also take aim some more. They yell at Sean to watch out and not take stupid risks.

The 3 monsters continue to chase after Sean, moving another 4 yards. It would take another 2 seconds of chasing before they all get over to the spreading fire, at this rate.

TURN 7

Sean needs to put some distance between him and his inhuman pursuers.

[u-b]

Sean just keeps moving as per the plan.

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The militia men likely shoot.

[Volthawk]

Richard double-taps the one he'd taken aim at, more confident in his chances now he's taken a moment to steady himself and not seeing the need for a long burst at this point.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Richard manages to blast the unholy thing's brain bulb to pieces.

The militiamen open fire with him, also scoring headshots on the remaining horrors.

As the gunshots fade into silence and ringing ears, the exiles and their men see with relief that all the awful monsters have been sent back to the pit that spawned them - only wretched defiled bodies remain.

(OC: combat over. All player characters earn 1 bonus Character Point for taking down the outpost and the horde!)

[u-b]

After the last thing is done with, Sean quickly gets on the inside of the ring of fire. Then he drags two bodies, one killed by a brain shot and one killed not by a brain shot, to some place beside the cabin. "I'll want to examine these later, but now I will have to rest. I'll give you guys an hour to pack things and ask questions. See if you can get all these barrels with us. Not sure how you load them onto the horses, but we have enough brains in the area..." the pun was apparently intended "...so you might come up with something good. The questions are to include these guys very appropriate defenses and generally their experience with these sorts of things. I'll be on the roof in case I'm needed."

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The plan is to rest for 1 hour after which the militia men should have packed as much as they could, preferably incluing the barrels, both empty and not.

[Shoot Da Moon]

(OC: alright, what does Richard do while Sean is resting and the militiamen are packing up the stuff?)

[Volthawk]

Richard watches their captives while the men work and Sean rests - ostensibly, he's there to ask questions, but after the stress of what just happened he mainly just makes sure that they don't get any ideas and uses the time to think things over and catch his breath now things are calm.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Sean examines the dead monsters as he finally catches his breath. Most of the horrors that weren't shot in the head were burned by the fires. The very few that knocked down by torso hits stayed still on the ground...for ten or so minutes before they began squirming and shaking violently. Fortunately, the militiamen saw this and immediately acted.

They blasted the strangely moving flesh-things in the head and then threw them all onto the fire just in case.

The militiamen have trouble handling the big bulky barrels. The rest of the supplies are easier to move even if they are a lot of them.

(OC: No space in the car/s?)

[u-b]

"Well, seems we'll have to come here tomorrow. No problem with that." Says Sean observing the barrels that have to be left at the site. He then proceeds to lead the group of men and horses back to Bread Basket.

He plans to check with the guards there whether they want to have the captives right away or let the group hold onto them until the morning.

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No space in the car/s?

Sean proceeds to rent the rooms for the night and park the cars somewhere guarded. ... He then takes everyone willing to go for a walk.

So we have left the cars in a guarded parking lot the city.

[Shoot Da Moon]

It takes way too long for the exiles, their friends and the captives to make it back to Bread Basket. The woods seem just a little too spooky now, too deep and dark. It gives everyone chills.

The Bread Basket security forces welcome them back with narrowed eyes. They take the captives off their hands and prepare to hold them for interrogation. The exiles are thanked, but warned that taking unnecessary risks like this should not become a habit. After helping security write a report of what the exiles saw and did, they are let go to do as they wish. They comment that plenty of people would like to buy the horses they have with them.

The cars and their stored belongings are right where they left them, protected by Bread Basket's walls and patrollers.

[Volthawk]

While they're talking to the guards, Richard makes special mention of the monsters they faced, curious as to whether they're a known entity to the people that live here and if they know anything about them or where they came from (or if they could point them in the direction of someone who did). The exiles had seen their fair share of mutants at this point, animal and humanoid, but nothing quite that...unnatural, he supposed was the word for it.

[u-b]

Sean wakes up early in the morning, but lets everyone else sleep to their full satisfaction. He chats with the traders to say the following:
1. The horses are available for sale at NO DISCOUNT, accepting payments in FOOD ONLY and with PAYMENT DELIVERY to a specific place that we name (the delivery might be paid for as reasonable). Their gear and feed is available at NEGOTIABLE PRICE.
2. There is a lot of guns that are for sale at NEGOTIABLE PRICE, accepting payments in FOOD MOSTLY and with PAYMENT DELIVERY as above.
3. Some assorted armor parts are for sale at NEGOTIABLE PRICE, accepting payments in FOOD MOSTLY and with PAYMENT DELIVERY as above. This includes all anti-stab plates and maybe some sharp-protectives. We also have kevlar vests, but these are reserved for bartering for something exclusive, that's not found on the open market.
4. We'd like to transact in bulk, some minor transactions are also possible.
5. If weapons or armor are sold at no discount, we'll make our best to make the transacting party the priority buyer of ALL LATER SHIPMENTS of the same.
6. We propose to arrange the transaction some time today afternoon / early evening. This time can be spent to examine the wares and arrange the funding. Our people will be informed to provide adequate access.

Eventually, Sean is ready for some interview with the officials.

[Shoot Da Moon]

While they're talking to the guards, Richard makes special mention of the monsters they faced, curious as to whether they're a known entity to the people that live here and if they know anything about them or where they came from (or if they could point them in the direction of someone who did). The exiles had seen their fair share of mutants at this point, animal and humanoid, but nothing quite that...unnatural, he supposed was the word for it.

The guards look confused and scratch their heads in response to Richard's tale. They have no idea what he is talking about.

Sean wakes up early in the morning, but lets everyone else sleep to their full satisfaction. He chats with the traders to say the following:
1. The horses are available for sale at NO DISCOUNT, accepting payments in FOOD ONLY and with PAYMENT DELIVERY to a specific place that we name (the delivery might be paid for as reasonable). Their gear and feed is available at NEGOTIABLE PRICE.
2. There is a lot of guns that are for sale at NEGOTIABLE PRICE, accepting payments in FOOD MOSTLY and with PAYMENT DELIVERY as above.
3. Some assorted armor parts are for sale at NEGOTIABLE PRICE, accepting payments in FOOD MOSTLY and with PAYMENT DELIVERY as above. This includes all anti-stab plates and maybe some sharp-protectives. We also have kevlar vests, but these are reserved for bartering for something exclusive, that's not found on the open market.
4. We'd like to transact in bulk, some minor transactions are also possible.
5. If weapons or armor are sold at no discount, we'll make our best to make the transacting party the priority buyer of ALL LATER SHIPMENTS of the same.
6. We propose to arrange the transaction some time today afternoon / early evening. This time can be spent to examine the wares and arrange the funding. Our people will be informed to provide adequate access.

Eventually, Sean is ready for some interview with the officials.

Sean and his friends bunks down for the night...

DAY 75

The next morning, Sean wakes to the comforting noise of civilisation.
The merchants in Bread Basket gladly accept the horses at the offered price - they need the animals for farming. The gear and feed fetches their full value.
The security forces have room in their budget to buy the guns, and the visiting merchants also express interest in weaponry. Sean can get the full value of the firearms. Ditto the armour pieces.
Payment in food and water is pretty standard around Bread Basket, so no problem there. They even prefer that over bullets, to an extent. The food is mostly canned for preserving, but there are bulk supplies of fresh meat and vegetables available thanks to nearby farming facilities. It doesn't take too long for interested parties to start getting out their accounting books and inventories.

The officials meet Sean sometime after that. They are friendly about discussing business. They let him start, if he has a particular topic he needs to know about...

[u-b]

Sean lets Richard do most of the talking, but makes sure the following topics are eventually covered:
1. Ski Resort raider boss papers listing the raiders' priority targets.
2. Shelter 43 Computer(?) information about history of "treason".
3. Stone's papers about inciting the mutants' attacks.
4. The fake used against the WMD guards.
5. All sort of mutant and otherwise abnormal creatures.
6. The recent "power smuggling" attempt.
7. The current situation in general and our both parties' view about what should be done about it, by either party or third parties, if we are to bring us "priority targets" into some sort of cooperation.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Sean lets Richard do most of the talking, but makes sure the following topics are eventually covered:
1. Ski Resort raider boss papers listing the raiders' priority targets.
2. Shelter 43 Computer(?) information about history of "treason".
3. Stone's papers about inciting the mutants' attacks.
4. The fake used against the WMD guards.
5. All sort of mutant and otherwise abnormal creatures.
6. The recent "power smuggling" attempt.
7. The current situation in general and our both parties' view about what should be done about it, by either party or third parties, if we are to bring us "priority targets" into some sort of cooperation.

(OC: Richard, try rolling Carousing, Current Affairs or Diplomacy - or a Reaction Roll for requesting information. These guys are friendly enough, all such rolls are +2. Anything you want to discuss, too?)