Cade felt the creatures before the Dead Boy started screaming.

She'd already charged up her armor as the shadow creatures started to swarm.

Leaving her grenade in her left hand, she pulled her pistol and began shooting even as she tried to figure out what she was shooting at.


Cade rolled 18.  Initiative

Cade rolled 11,10,23,21,15,19,16.  Strike

Cade rolled 20,17,13,24,17,15,11.  (Potential) Damage


Cade is also going to try and figure out what these creatures are.

Cade rolled 14 using 1d100.  Lore: Demons & Monsters @60%

Joran's shots stagger the shadowy creatures, but appear to do no other damage. They hiss in anger at the disruption, their eyes glowing red.

Cole also opens fire, all his shots landing. But they appear to do nothing except burn away the tattered clothing the creatures wear.

Zeke and Cade also fire, but their shots do much the same. Cade suspects that these are vampires, but something is off. They act as though possessed.

The coalition grunts engage in hand to hand combat with the creatures, but with little success.

Suddenly, the wind of supernatural evil seems to take various foggy forms, as our heroes feel attacks rock them beneath their armor.

Hoss runs up and grabs our heroes. "This way! I found the room the compass leads too!" The compass glows brightly, and seems to stave off the spirits a moment.

GM: Spirits do damage straight to SDC. Everyone takes 40 SDC damage.

What do you do?

Cade ignored Hoss.

Instead she let forth a piercing howl that filled the close confines of the basement.

She then fell upon the spirits, lashing out with fist and feet and claws.

Cade rolled 13,16,11,21,21,12,14.  Strikes

Cade rolled 11,13,18,10,15,11,17.  (potential) damage.

Cade's physical attacks are effective against ghosts and other such entities, and the chance to hunt such prey is the only reason she gets out of bed in the morning.

Cole felt like someone had used him to practice their rabbit punches on. He was bruised all over and while it didn't feel good, he wasn't dead yet. He knew he couldn't take too many more shots like that though, which is why he was glad to see that Hoss's weird compass seemed to be repelling the shadow ghosts or whatever the hell they were. His and everyone else's shots sure hadn't mattered to them one whit.

Like the old song said, sometimes you have to know when to run and this seemed liked one of those times. He responded to Hoss's shout with one of his own, a simple, one word reply; "Moving!" He then rushed after whichever way Hoss's compass was pointing.

OOC
SDC: 40/118

Hopefully whatever area attack they used doesn't happen too many more times! It cost me a third of my SDC but hey, at least our armor hasn't been damaged this time, right?

Whatever it is that the shadow creatures did, it hurt.  However, his martial arts training, the body hardening exercises he had been taught, had prevented any real damage to his body.  Realizing the futility of blasting these damnable shadowy things with individual shots from the Big Bore, he holsters it, and unslings the grenade rifle.  The only problem is that, in using it, they are likely to have to dig their way back out.
Unless you want those things to add you to their collection, he bellows towards the Coalition troops, you may want to join our strategic withdrawal!
He waits a couple of moments to see if the Deadboys decide his assessment is correct, before firing off two bursts from the rifle in the direction of the shadow creatures, even as he tries to think of what exactly they are...

04:00, Today: Joran rolled 56 using 20d6.   MD to forty feet.
04:00, Today: Joran rolled 23 using 1d20+4.  Frag grenade burst.

03:59, Today: Joran rolled 65 using 20d6.  MD to 40'.  MD to forty feet.
03:58, Today: Joran rolled 23 using 1d20+4.  Frag grenade burst.

03:58, Today: Joran rolled 16 using 1d100.  Lore:  Demons and Monsters @ 40%.

A strange shriek fills the corridor as Cade seems to destroy one of the spirits. The corrdor almost seems to swell as even more spirits swarm into it, hungry now for Cade.

Cole rushes into the room Hoss indicated. The leader holds the compass up to a circular engraving on the wall and it glows as bright as a ray of sun.

Back in the corridor, the vampires shriek in fear as some of the sunlight from the room leaks into it. The surviving coalition grunts dart forward, not needing to be told twice by Joran to make their move.

Joran's frag grenades explode, driving the vampires back a bit more.

Cade feels life drain out of herself as she is again attacked by spirits. If someone doesn't grab her by the collar and pull her away she may just die fighting spirits.

GM: Cade - 21 SDC damage.

All - What do you do?

Cade!  Cade!  The deep voice bellows the name of Joran's mutant animal companion.  Brandishing the grenade rifle like a massive club, he charges forward in an attempt to grab Cade and make a retreat for cover with the others.
With his naturally augmented strength, he holds the weapon at waist height and begins firing another burst of grenades at the spirits, since it seemed to work the last time.  Then, as he enters the light, he does his best to form his arms and body into the shape of a cross so that his cruciform shadow falls across as many of the as possible.


01:11, Today: Joran rolled 78 using 20d6.  Grenade damage.

01:10, Today: Joran rolled 17 using 1d20+3.  Grenade burst.

Cade feels herself yanked away by Joran even as she berserks against the evil spirits that have possessed the vampires. The corridor begins exploding and shuddering as Joran's grenades do their job.

Our heroes, followed by two coalition grunts, stumble into the room Hoss called them to. He nods curtly seeing everyone in there and turns the compass in the wall where he has latched it into an engraving. The room lurches strangely, beginning to rotate.

The group stumble end over end as the room rotates. It halts suddenly and Hoss stumbles backward into the corridor. He looks to his left and opens his mouth even as he begins to spasm at the onslought of evil spirits devouring him en masse. He coughs blood and thrashes around as he absorbs the invisible attacks. Mikhail roars in rage and dives forward to save their leader, hurling grenades down the corridor and causing violent explosions.

The corridor shudders and begins to collapse even as the room once again rotates. A golden spiral goes out from the compass and the cement of the wall falls revealing darkness.

The room ceases finally to rotate and our heroes see that it has changed. They find themselves in a hot, muggy cave, with no sign of Hoss or Mikhail.

Or Walmart for that matter.

"What...the...fuck?!" pants one of the coalition grunts.

GM: Life got too busy for Mikhail so he bailed from the game.

Hoss is also toast.

What do you do?

Cade fought a bit in Joran's grasp, but either he was too strong for her to break away, or she was too stubborn to give up without an excuse, even if she knew giving up the fight was the smart thing to do.

Once all the fun and games were over and she'd calmed down a bit Cade moved to the edge of the "room" and took a step into the cave.

She took a deep breathe and reached out with her other senses to try and get a sense for whether whatever happened just blocked them off from where they were, or if there was some magic shit involved and now they were actually who knows where.

Joran stands stunned by what had just happened.  Hoss!  Mikhail!  He called out to the vanished men in the hope that they might return under their own power.
After what seems like an eternity, but is really only about three moments, he turns to the CS troops.  I am sorry.  For calming you down so there would be no need for an immediate fight.  For finding you lost companions; they had been torn apart by those monsters.  Sorry for getting you guys stuck in here with us.

15:15, Today: Joran rolled 55 using 1d100.  Just in Case Skill.

15:15, Today: Joran rolled 18 using 1d20.  Just in Case Save.

15:14, Today: Joran rolled 7 using 1d20+3.  Just in Case Perception.

This message was last edited by the player at 19:16, Tue 14 July 2020.

Cole wasn’t fast enough to do anything other than watch as his friend and leader of their mercenary group was devoured by the shadowy spirits. He staggered, trying to regain his footing enough to do anything while the whole room lurched. Mikail, who had been the closest, had been able to stumble his way towards Hoss but then both men vanished from view as the room gave a final heave and suddenly they were somewhere else.

Somewhere else with no Hoss, no Mikail and with two of the Dead Boys. The living Dead Boys, which was less desirable than the deceased ones in Cole’s opinion. He listened as Joran apologized to the CS soldiers but he had no clue why the Ogre felt the need. If anything those Coalition city slickers should be thanking them for saving their lives.

Figuring that Joran could handle the two CS soldiers if they decided to get violent, Cole, like Cade, began to take in their new surroundings.

OOC
Cole rolled 47 using 1d100.  Detect Concealment (65).
Cole rolled 15 using 1d20.  Perception. (16 for Undead and Vampires)

Nathaniel takes off his helmet and then pukes over in a corner for a few moments. Carefully wiping his mouth on the outside of his armor he uncaps his canteen and takes a swig to get the taste out of his mouth. Recapping it he looks around, not having realized it was dark. He puts his helmet back on and starts looking around through the nightvision scope on his rail gun.

"Well then, that was unpleasant! Cade are you still with us?"


OOC: JIC
14:10, Today: Nathaniel rolled 21,15,11 using 1d100,1d20,1d20+2.
Skill/Save/Perception.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:11, Tue 14 July 2020.

"Thanks to Joran I did make it in time for... whatever the hell that was."  Cade reassured Nathaniel.

"You want to see if you can get a hold of your, uh, brothers, however you guys do that?  I don't know if this cave is below the building we entered in front, of some place who the fuck knows where, but if they answer then we'll know more than we do right now."

The grunts nod wordlessly at Joran, their eyes wide at dealing directly with a civil looking ogre. They are in a bit of culture shock, it would seem.

The group looks around, taking in their surroundings. They are in a warm, muggy cave. Behind them, where the doorway was, is now gone. They appear to have been transported elsewhere...but where exactly?

The cave tunnel bends up ahead and Cole can see a hint of light. An exit, perhaps? As he looks around he also notices, nestled in the far corner of the cave, a large chest. He does not detect undead or additional vampires.

GM: I don't have names for the grunts yet. I'm seeing if any new players want to join and run them.

What do you do?

Joran looks at the surprised CS soldiers, almost as surprised as they at the fact they have their helmets off.  He gives a short, deep, rumbling chuckle.  I understand.  Where I was born, ogres are not particularly known for being hospitable or kind.  Most humans and human-like species consider us to be monsters.  And not without good reason.
He takes off his pack and kneels down to open it, taking out a ration package big enough for two human-sized meals, and a two-quart canteen.  Let us sit down and take a breather, he rumbles to everyone.  We have all just been through a wringer, and have lost friends.  Plus, I need a chance to replenish my Inner Strength.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:54, Wed 15 July 2020.

Zemere shakes his head, “Joran, brother, sometimes you talk to much.” He holsters his pistols, joran had already talked a lot, so cats were out of bags it seemed. “I’m Zeke. These are my friends. Sorry bout your boys back there. Not sure how long they’d been dead. You all whole, nothing Missin, no bites we need to know about? If not then let’s rest, recover, figure out where we are...And let’s see what’s in that chest. That’s what Hoss died for, say did we snag that compass?”

OOC Zeke would’ve tried to get it, if possible.

Cole couldn’t believe Joran was actually sitting down with people that would kill him without hesitation if they thought they could…and even offering them food! Seeing and hearing the impromptu picnic with genocidal maniacs as Cole continued to search the area until he felt it was secure enough to move to the chest, made him search his feelings on the matter. “Would I rather they sit tight like good little city slickers or be stupid and try to stab us in the back right now? I’d rather they try something right away, not have to constantly watch um. On the other hand, maybe they are willing to be reasonable. Might could be they aren’t total sidewinders. Might even stick to a deal.” Cole shrugged mentally, deciding Joran, with his psychic abilities, would be the best one to figure out if’n they meant to lie and kill the team or if they could be trusted and how much.

After he completes his initial circuit, he leaves the possible exit to Cade and moves closer to the chest. Without touching it, he examined the chest, learning what he could about it and the area immediately around it before he got right up on it and touched it.

OOC
See Aura and See Invisible is still up. Looking for any pressure plates, trip wires, buried landmines, anything suspicious around the chest and then looking over the chest itself.

While Joran decided to have lunch, and Cole investigated the chest, Cade slinked more forward into the cave, looking to get a better idea of whether this thing was just a single tunnel or lead to multiple places.

She stayed within shouting distance, just in case, as she slowly explored.

Cole inspects the chest, finding it free of magic and traps. It does stink rather heavily of garlic. He sees that a scroll is rolled up in the latch.

Meanwhile, Cade walks up ahead a bit, and peaks around the bend. There is more light this way, and it definitely looks like sunlight.

Zeke finds the compass on the ground near where they came through. It is bent and broken.

GM: What do you do?

Cole was curious about the heavy scent of garlic. It made him wonder if the wizard that hid the chest here had been worried about vampires and with cause.

He set that thought aside though as he couldn't feel the presence of any vampires, and proceeded to open the chest.

OOC
Unless someone tells Cole about the possessed vampires, he doesn't know about them since he never saw them. He was already in the room when they attacked outside.

I don't remember the chest being described as having a lock but if it has one, Cole will still try to open it with brute Force; his 30+ Augmented strength or his vibro-knife.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:03, Thu 16 July 2020.

Cade decided to stalk stealthy closer to the source of sunlight, until she could pick up enough of a scent to tell whether whatever was at the end if the tunnel smelled like above ground, or had the same earthy scent of below.

Meanwhile Nathaniel, not having found anything through his night scope provides cover for the rest of the group while trying to contact his brothers.

++Ferrari to Scuderia, Ferrari to Scuderia. Do you copy?++

He waits for the response, fearing it will not come.

The ogre falls silent, opening a ration pack and rooting through it.  A small, lopsided smile crosses his lips a moment.  Tastes like shit, but you can eat it.
He draws out a packet and tears it open, squeezing a paste like concoction of what is supposed to be spaghetti with marinara and meatballs.  He considers using the enclosed spoon to eat it, but decides it is probably just easier to upend the pouch and squeeze it out into his mouth.
He then works to squeeze as much of it out as possible, rolling it from the closed end like a tube of toothpaste.  He them follows it with a generous gulp of water from the canteen.  The rest of the meal, crackers, cheese paste, and desert chocolate bar disappear just as quickly.
His psychic senses are still functioning, so he sits and rests, hoping to get some time to meditate and recover some of his Inner Strength.

Zeke picks up the compass, and tries to straighten it, "Best check that thing for traps... Hoss died for whatever we're getting here. It better be worth it. Reckon we got a nest to clean up... once we figure out where we are and how to get back to Dallas."

The chest opens easily, and in it are filled strange looking weapons and items. The scroll falls out to Cole's feet.

Meanwhile, Cade skulks a bit further and finds the source of the light. At the mouth of the cave is blazing hot sunlight and an expansive, rocky desert. The mouth of the cave stinks of garlic and herbs. Cade notices that dried garlic is hung all around the mouth of the cave.



GM: PHAT LOOTS!

Items:

5 silver crucifixes (2d6 to vamp HP)
10 wooden daggers (1d6 damage to vamp HP)
1 NG 202 Rail Gun with wood ammo. (1d4 MD, or 3d6x10 H.P to vampires)
6 Metal Pump Style Sawed Off Water Shotgun (4d6 HP to vamps)
Belt of Holy water vials. 10 vials. (3d6 HP to vamps)
2 TW Storm Flares (fired into the air 2000 feet high causes a rainstorm that lasts 1d6 minutes. 4d6x10 hp for every half melee round vamp is exposed)
4 necklaces of dried garlic

Each weapon comes with a hip tank. But they are all currently empty. A full tank adds 40 shots to smaller weapons, and 20 shots to the rail gun.

Various credit sticks amounting to 150,000 credits

New thread is up!
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:11, Fri 17 July 2020.