BACKGROUND:
On the trip from the sabotaged monorail train, you learn some basic facts about Quazzt's Depression:

Quazzt is a town of some 500,000 inhabitants (75% Human/25% Vrusk). It is primarily a farming town with some light industry. Any item not forbidden on Kraatar can be obtained here.

Following the death of Legrange, relations between the two races here have been
very strained, but have not erupted into violence as in Gozzorf. (You take into account here that you have two Vrusk in your group and should take this into account in your interactions.)

Within Quazzt's Depression, the air is dense enough to breathe normally. For travel into the surrounding uplands, however, breathing apparatus and/or pressurised transport is required. Pressurised vehicles can be hired from Sik' Triksta trade house at the monorail station. Hire costs are 10% higher than those in the rulebook (AD p29). The PCs have to pay for any damage done to a vehicle in their possession, and in the case of a vehicle being written off, they must pay the full cost of replacement.


For your troubles, the monorail company, Transglobal, has agreed to pay for two nights at a local hotel establishment in Quazzt's Depression.  Beyond that, you are on your own.



MISSION:
As a reminder, you have two basic objectives here in Quazzt's Depression:

1) To see Legrange's funeral; and
2) To investigate unauthorized starship landings.
OPTIONAL:
3) You now may have reason to look into or try to figure out who was behind the sabotage on the monorail, and if it had anything to do with you or your mission.
4) Investigate the Sanitorium about the strange implant put in the Vrusk brain that killed him on the train.



You are now in the hotel lobby, checked into the hotel, and can see the concierge and several locals who work at the hotel.  There is also a restaurant and bar.

You recall that the funeral was supposed to be held tomorrow, so you arrived just in time.

Hammer has been relatively useless for awhile, but now he says, "Let's find out where this funeral will be held at and scope it out early, just in case there's anything that could go wrong.  We've had enough fighting and sabotaging and other surprises recently."  He will ask a local thes questions.

"That's a good idea Hammer.  We can resupply and maybe get some answers.  We've got a couple of different options to explore and maybe find out about those unauthorized landing that were seen out this way."

OOC: Can we spend XP now?

"I agree.  Check out the funeral site first.  Then, if we have time, we should start looking into the reported illegal landings.  I'm also curious about the implant that was put in poor Kit'kat's brain.  I think we're going to be busy here."

Before we do anything, though, Porter wants to treat S'Krllk to whatever his favorite drink may be, for saving all our butts back on the train.

OOC: And do a bit of shopping if we have time, too.  Should we do that in character, or just make some purchases OOC?

You make your way to a shopping district.  (OOC: You can make purchases as needed, but they must be items that are legal and available on Kraatar, which leaves out most weapons.  EDIT: More specifically, only pistols and melee weapons are allowed.  Please clear all purchases with me first, especially weapons.)

OOC: XP can be spent or saved any time after it is doled out.

If you talk to any locals, please indicate if you will be talking to a Vrusk or non-Vrusk, as their reactions will be different.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:08, Thu 22 Jan 2015.

In reply to GM Heath (msg # 5):

OOC: Purchases to follow shortly.

Spent [12] XP to bump Projectile weapons from Level:3 to Level:4

As far as the local go, probably not a good idea to intermix our talks with each other.  Hammer and Orvo can be split between us Human and Vrusk.  Fair enough?

Discussions???

Orvo suggests splitting the Vrusk into one group and the non-Vrusk into another group, and then meeting back at the hotel later after trying to see what information can be gathered.

Yup, and then have Hammer and Orvo pick a group to go with because our Vrusk aren't military/weapons savvy.

Orvo's point was to have the Vrusk group be only Vrusk so that the Vrusk citizens are more friendly with them.  Same with the non-Vrusk.  Since ther are racial tensions, a mixed group might be seen as suspicious by both Vrusk and non-Vrusk.

Understood.  Just looking for security.  We can do that.

In reply to Desiraye Lipost (msg # 10):

Has there been tension between other races, or just Human-Vrusk?  In general Vrusks and Dralasites get along fairly well.  Might not hurt to have Orvo with the Vrusks.

Anyway, I agree that splitting up would be best.

THat was the point i was trying to make about splitting the team.  I only wanted to send another non-human to go with the Vrusk as back up because they're not the fighting types.  If they would prefer to be on their own, they may choose to do so, even though I wouldn't recommend it after seeing what took place in the city and on the train.

S'Krllk is of the opinion that maintaining a mix of Vrusk and human in whatever group goes out would be best. After all, "there's no reason to assume the more militant and dangerous groups out there belong exclusively to one or the other races."

"Just trying to be a little preventative S'Krllk.

OK, let's do this then.  Me, S'Krllk, and Orvo will lead one group.  Sergeant Porter, Doc, and Hammer will take the other.  We go and see what we can find and meet back at the hotel at dinner time?"

You split up the group, trying different mixes--interracial as well as a group of Vrusk and a group of non-Vrusk.  The results of your interactions lead to the following discoveries:

You find that the humans in Quazzt's Depression are courteous but not exactly friendly to the group when there are no Vrusk in the group.  When you add Vrusk to the group, the human townsfolk are standoffish and only answer routine questions.  The Vrusk in the town will only respond to you at all while you have Vrusk in your group.  Otherwise, they try to avoid you entirely.

The facts you discover are relatively the same, including some basic information you already knew (see post #1).  New information includes:

Legrange's funeral was moved up.  It is no longer tomorrow.  In fact, it was held yesterday!  You missed it already.  Apparently, a "will" was produced, signed by Legrange, in which Legrange requested that his body be cremated. Contrary to the usual practice on Kraatar, the body has already been cremated!  (Burial is the normal practice.)

Enquiries concerning starships landing at night are met by blank stares.  In fact, such questions cause the townsfolk (both Vrusk and human) to treat you with suspicion. News of their enquiries spreads quickly during the day as your investigation continues, and you find that even the human townsfolk begin to avoid you by evening.

But with Kri'lik and S'krllk with you, you are able to talk to a Vrusk group that confirms that strange lights have been seen in the mountains to the east.

Jack Legrange's parents still live in the area and can be found at the Manbela Farm, about 50 km west of Quazzt, just off a fairly well maintained road.

The residents are also familiar with the High Peaks Sanitorium.  There is only one road from Quazzt to the sanatorium.  It is reasonably well maintained.


For any of this travel, you will need to rent a vehicle (see post #1).

You are able to put together a rough map of the area as follows:


This message was last edited by the GM at 17:14, Thu 29 Jan 2015.

A little disappointed that their investigations didn't bring up much, she retires with the rest of her team to their hotel, freshens up, and then goes down to join the rest of them for dinner.  She orders a meal and a drink then begins the conversation on what to do next.

"I thought by splitting up we could've gotten some more Intel but, it looks like we've only got a couple of leads.  First, the Legrange family.  Maybe they can be of some help.  Secondly, the sanitorium.  Is it worth a trip out there?"

Orvo says, "Yes, but I think we hit the sanitorium last.  It seems like the most suspicious of the places, and that guy's head exploding right in front of us on the train doesn't give me any sense of comfort."

He will change shapes a few times during the day to "stretch his muscles."  He also tells a few lame jokes during the day.

S'Krllk remarks on how sullen the people here are, at first contrasting it with his hatch-hive then appending, "at least, they seemed that way before they booted me out."
"I'm also a little concerned with the lack of imagination around here. No one suggested anything about a connection between the sanitarium and the strange lights, despite both being in the mountains to the east."

"SO far, I'm hearing the LeGrange family first, then the sanitorium?  Anything else other than renting transportation there?"

After gathering information all day, you retire to your rooms.

DAY 11

The following morning, you head out to rent a vehicle.  There are several options to choose from:

For renting, the charge will be 1 percent of the cost of the vehicle per day (double on the first day).  So a 5,000 credit vehicle will be 100 for the first day, and 50 credits for each additional day.  Then add 10% to your total cost due to the higher prices here (e.g., 110 first day, 55 each additional).

Note: Cargo is in addition to weight of passengers, as I read it.

Vehicle Type -- Cost -- Top Speed - Cruise Speed -- Accel/ Passengers - Cargo Limit

Ground Car     5,000    100kph 175m/t 60kph 80m/t  60/40     6           150kg
Ground Transport 15,000 75kph  125m/t 60kph 50m/t  40/30     3           10,000kg
Ground Cycle   2,000    120kph 200m/t 60kph 100m/t 100/40    2           20kg
Hover Car      8,000    150kph 250m/t 60kph 70m/t  80/40     6           100kg
Hover Transport 20,000 150kph 250m/t  90kph 40m/t   60/30    3           10,000kg
Hovercycle     2,000   100kph  175m/t 80kph 90m/t  100/40    2           20kg
Explorer       20,000   90kph  150m/t 50kph 100m/t 60/40     6           2,000kg
Aircar         50,000   900kph --     400kph --    100/100   4           1,000kg

Figure out what you want and who will pay for it.  Your UPF credentials are enough to avoid collateral to secure the rental.

Descriptions of the vehicles are found on page 29 of the rulebook (original rules).

Rules can be found/downloaded here: http://www.starfrontiers.com/Rules/
(Remember that we are using the expanded Alpha Dawn rules.)
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:09, Fri 30 Jan 2015.

Let's start with how much money we have to throw down and pick a vehicle from there.  Desi has about 3,000 credits.

More importantly, what can we drive or fly?
This message was last edited by the player at 22:17, Fri 30 Jan 2015.

Orvo says, "I've only got 285 credits to my name, but since I'm the new guy, I'll put in my dues.  I'll dish out up to 200 credits to make this happen, but you may have to listen to some of my poetry on the drive and let me use you as my martial arts dummy while I practice."  The difficulty of expression on the dralasite makes it hard to determine how much of that was a joke, but his jellyfish arms undulate as he speaks.

"I don't think we need much, right?  Just a ground car oughta do it."

"We need something that's going to hold at least six.  Maybe a little more room to accommodate our Vrusk."

"We can get an explorer, but it might get expensive real fast." Orvo was suddenly wishing he'd been better at saving his money.

"We're looking at ground car, explorer, or a hover car.  Maybe even a cycle if someone is feeling lucky?"

Porter considers the issue.  "One of us on a hovercycle while the rest take a car might not be a bad idea.  It's a bit more expensive than all of us piling into a ground or hover car, but it gives us a few extra tactical choices if we get into trouble.  Also, if I were on the bike I could scout out areas ahead of the party and be less likely to be noticed.  Recon is my MOS, after all."

"As long as you're OK with handling the bike Sarge, that's kind of why I suggested a second vehicle.  I may be able to put out the creds for the extra bike.  Let's see what we can afford after we buy the gear we need."

"I can handle a cycle, alright.  And with such a high Vrusk population, I figure it won't be hard to find a groundcar or hovercar that has room for our two Vrusk plus everyone else.  Does anyone else need to do any shopping before we set out?"

"I guess it can't hurt to look around to see what's around.  I may need a couple of SEU clips for my K-Pulse pistol."

So 132 credits gets you a ground car and ground or hovercycle for first day, 61 credits each additional.

Hover car is 172 credits first day, 86 per day thereafter.

Explorer is 440 credits first day, 220 thereafter.

Orvo says, "I say let's just get a hovercycle and ground car for the first day while we visit Legrange's relatives.  We can rent an explorer or something the second day and go up to the sanitarium."

"That sounds like a plan Orvo let's do it," Desi says as she pays for the vehicles so they can get out to the LeGrange farm to continue their investigation.

Porter takes the rented hovercycle for a spin around the block.  When he gets back, he says, "I may want to keep this for another day.  It's good to be on a bike again, especially after several days on that monorail.  Is everyone ready to roll out to the LeGrange farm?"

OOC: Porter's ready to go.

"We'll keep it for a bit Sarge.  It may come in handy and at least we have another vehicle in case we need it.  We can always upgrade the main transportation later if we need to."

OOC: Desiraye is ready to go as well.  Credits updated to show of rented vehicles
This message was last edited by the player at 18:25, Thu 05 Feb 2015.

You get your rental vehicles and drive to the Manbela Farm.  You have no difficulty finding the farm where Jack Legrange's parents still live.  About 50 km west of town, it is just off a fairly well maintained road.

You knock on their door, and Mr. and Mrs. Manbela are both there.  However, when he answers the door, Mr. Manbela becomes immediately hostile, grabbing a very dangerous looking rifle and pointing it out you.  "Get off my land!" he yells.  "It's your fault he's dead.  You work with those murderers who killed him!"

"You're right," his wife says from behind him.  "It's them!  They really did come here, just like he said."

S'Krllk addresses the humans he's with, "This should be easy, his parents already know who killed him and they can tell us right away."

Porter assesses the danger as the farmer points the rifle at the group.  For now, at least, he seems to merely be threatening.

Porter slowly reveals his Star Law credentials so as not to give the impression that he's going for his weapon.  "Excuse me, sir, I'm Sargent Porter Min with Star Law.  We're here to investigate and find your son's murderers.  If you have some information, we'd like to hear it.  And if it implicates some associates of ours, rest assured we will see them brought to justice regardless."

In reply to Sgt. Porter Min (msg # 37):

With S'Krllk and Min already starting to talk to the parents, she just hangs back some and keeps an eye out around them.

The old man says incredulously, "Who did it?  It's you!  You killed our son.  They said it was you, and that you'd come.  Now get off our property.  I will be within my rights to take you down right there.  Star Law has no jurisdiction here, and neither does the RIK!"  He slams the door before you can respond and goes to a window, where you see him pointing the rifle out at you.

Desiraye just stands there speechless.  "Well, that could've went better."

Orvo says, "You know, as soon as we leave, he'll be telling whoever it is that we came by, and our enemies will know we're here, even though we don't know who those enemies are.  I think that means that time is of the essence.  We've been behind the curve at every point.  Think about it.  We got our pockets picketed, you guys were in that initial explosion before you met me, the monorail was sabotaged.  We've been one step behind at every turn.  Why don't we just go straight to the sanitorim as fast as our new wheels can take us?  It all seems to be connected to that place, if you ask me."

Orvo begins stepping away from the house to prevent getting shot at.

"I agree Orvo.  We should take off and maybe, just maybe, we can gt the drop on somebody.  We'll have to appraoch the Sanitorium with a little tact I feel.  It's a long shot if they're even involved in this but a Vrusk's head having an implant in it is very suspect right now.

What do the rest of you think?

You have a problem with me riding shotgun with you Sarge?"

Orvo adds, "An exploding implant, mind you."

The Sanitorium is actually over 2100 kilometers of driving through the winding mountain terrain.  Although the road itself is supposedly well maintained, it will likely be a two day trip. You probably won't be able to travel more than 100 km/hour.

So you can switch your rental vehicles or continue with the current ones, but keep in mind that you probably won't be back in Quazzt's depression for about 4 days minimum.

Here's the map again:

Hammer says, "If Orvo is right and they know we're coming, maybe it's time we upgraded to a better vehicle.  Just in case, you know.  Maybe an explorer and keep the hovercycle."

"I don't have a problem with that Hammer.  It should be more durable than the car we have now.  DO we need any other supplies or are we good to go?"

Orvo suggests, Maybe an explorer and a hovercycle?

"Thinking the explorer is the best bet for us too." 

Porter nods at the suggestions.  "I get the feeling we might find out some useful information if we could stake out this farm, and monitor their communications.  Whoever told the Manbellas that we killed their son is likely to get a call from them as soon as we leave...or appear to leave, at least.

"I don't have that sort of gear though, so unless one of you does, it is probably a waste of time to remain here.  Let's head back to town and rent that explorer and be on our way." 

Porter hops on the hovercycle and waves for Desi to join him as he fires up the motors.

In reply to Sgt. Porter Min (msg # 49):

Desiraye hops on the back of the hover cycle and waits for the others to mount up or hear any other plans.

S'Krllk looks sideways at Min, "gear is gear, what you don't have, you make. I think it's the time factor that keeps us from following that plan."

There is only one road from Quazzt to the Sanatorium. It is reasonably well maintained, but once into the mountains, you find that the road is less traveled and there appear to be more natural hazards.

However, you make it through the rest of the day without incident and decide to rest when it is getting late and the road could get too treacherous in the dark.  Besides, your lights would be very obvious, even from a great distance.

There are many places to make camp along the side of the road.

Porter will look around to see if there's a good camping spot where rockfalls look unlikely.

10:24, Today: Sgt. Porter Min rolled 99 using 1d100. Survival Check 50% chance.
Not good...

Desiraye dismounts from the back of the hover cycle and begins to stretch her legs and arms that have become a little stiff riding the back of the bike.  Walking over to where the explorer is parked (probably very close to each other off the road), she gets some of her gear  from the rear and breaks out some food and water.  "I don't know about anyone else but, I think the drivers should get some rest since it's been a long day.  Me and the others will take the first watch.  Come the morning, we start out again for the sanitorium.  I wish we had some shoulder fired weapons so, we're going to have to go with what we have, if we even need them.  Make sure that weapons, ammo, grenades and defenses are always ready!  If anything goes bad, me and the Sarge will try to draw their attention away from you guys since you got the explorer and the majority of our gear.  Orvo and Hammer will handle the shooting part.  Kri'Lik and S'Krllk got defensive and driving?

Sound good or something else or better?"

"That works for me, but I think I'll give the transportation a once over before I rest. For the equipment to fail at this point would be rare, but very stressful."
Putting action to his words, S'Krllk will check the rented vehicles for possible malfunctions.

Porter nods at Desi's plan, yawns, does a few stretches and some light exercise, then curls up to get some sleep.  It took him a while to get comfortable.  During the Sathar War, this sort of thing was usual for him.  Police work was making him soft, apparently.

Hammer agrees to take second watch, his robotic body seeming not to mind the extra stress or lack of sleep, if he even slept at all. "We have seen a lot of action in the past week.  I fear we are being targeted and that none of this is at all random.  I wonder how much of it has to do with that sphere we found."  The Mechanon is pensive as he stands nearby staring at the road.

The next morning, everything seems to be in working order.  You had no disturbances and all the equipment seems to be working fine.

You set out in the explorer and hovercycle once more...

It is as you work your way along the winding, narrow mountain trails that it happens.  Your vehicles round a corner, and you see an explorer blocking the trail ahead.  You slam on the breaks to avoid a collision.

Then you see two KLC in the explorer, two on one side of the trail, and two on the other.  They have been very quiet, have turned everything off, tried to somewhat camouflage the explorer, and now they are ambushing you!

The moment your explorer rounds the corner, a gunner on the side of the road fires a rocket launcher at the explorer.  The rocket launcher fires a visible and large rocket, and you barely evade it as your explorer skids and spins to avoid a collision.  The rocket explodes just behind you, taking out a tree.

They fire up the explorer as the others begin to raise their guns to fire...

The rocket launcher gunner is reloading...

You are barely 10 feet away from the explorer and the two armed KLC within, and about 20 from the gunners on either side of the road.

For clarity:

The road is about only 10-15 feet across and, though paved, it only slightly better than a dirt road.  It winds up through the mountains, meaning there are many sharp turns and you cannot travel too fast.  The left side of the road has trees and a steep hill going down into more forest.  The right side is the opposite--trees and a steep hill going up into the mountains.

You came around one of those sharp turns to the "roadblock" ambush set up by the KLC, forcing you to turn sharply and hit your brakes to avoid a collision.

There are six KLC total.  Two are in the explorer blocking your path.  One holds a pistol of some sort and his window is down.

There are two on the left (down slope) who are raising weapons in your direction.  To your right (slightly up the slope) are two more KLC commandos.  One of them holds a rocket launcher, which he is now trying to reload.

Your explorer is only about 10 feet from their explorer.  The KLC commandos are about 10-15 feet into the trees on either side of their explorer (roughly 20-25 feet from you), taking cover with the hillside, rocks, and trees as they attack.

You can, of course, try to reverse course and run, or attack.  Trying to ram their explorer might be difficult, as it would jam up both explorers in the middle of the road and make you a sitting duck.

On the back of the hover cycle, holding onto Min, Desiraye reaches down and activates the mechanism for her albedo screen and telling him, "We'll take the two with the rocket launcher then, we'll help with the others."

Desi then reaches down and activates her spring holster to access the LE-1500 laser pistol secured there to her hand and then the sights on the center of mass of the KLC guy trying to reload the rocket launcher.  If she is close enough to jump off and attack or if Porter stops the cycle, that is her intent to try to take out the rocket launcher trooper with [2] rounds set at [5] SEU each shot.

I will try to adust (if needed) actions after Porter posts.

IM: +6
CURRENT STA: 62/62
Beam Weapons: 6 [DEX:30 + 60 = 90%]
LE-1500 DAM: 1d10+2/SEU / SEU 1-10/shot = 5d10+10 per shot (x2)

From inside the explorer, Hammer can't hear what Desi is saying, but he sees they're in clear trouble.  He jumps out of the explorer, his laser pistol coming to his hand, and he rolls and fires at the soldier with the rocket launcher.

5 SEU setting--2 shots.  He will be moving toward the cover of the trees on the same side as the rocket launcher gunner as he fires.

Porter switches on his albedo screen and yells to Desi, "Hold on tight!"  He throttles up the hovercycle and attempts to ram the rocket launcher gunner with the bike.

21:22, Today: Sgt. Porter Min rolled 20 using 1d100. Reaction Speed Check (70%).
21:22, Today: Sgt. Porter Min rolled 25 using 1d100. roll to hit with hovercycle.

OOC: Assuming I'll need a RS check to avoid hitting a tree as we close in on the gunners, passed.  Trying to ram someone with a hovercycle I'm guessing is a standard attack?  By basic chance is 35%, 45% if (long odds on this one) it counts as a melee attack.  :D  Not sure what penalties I'd have.

Only three posts in three weeks that I've been traveling? Is everyone still around?

A gun battle breaks out...

ROUND 1
Desi and Porter are activating their albedo screens while those in the explorer are frozen in fear.  But Hammer jumps out, firing at the man with the rocket launcher...

Desi tries to fire at the same man from the moving hover cycle...

Meanwhile, Porter speeds up to ram those in the trees.

Porter hits the man with the rocket launcher, injuring him and sending him flying into a nearby tree.  He groans and slinks to the ground, injured but still moving as he pulls a pistol from a holster.

Desi adjusts her aim, shooting at one of those near them as she jumps from the hovercycle, hitting and severely injuring one of those with a rifle (loses turn) with one of her two shots.

Hammer also fires, hitting and killing the man that Desi had just injured.

They begin to fight back...

The man in the explorer fires his pistol twice, but misses.  His shots send splintery cracks into the side window of your explorer, which is now side by side with theirs after slamming on the breaks to avoid a collision.

The one next to him is exiting the vehicle on the far side while taking cover and pulling out a rifle of some sort.

The two on the far side fire at the explorer, but those within the explorer have solid cover and the shots go wide.

You check yourselves to see that everyone is miraculously unharmed as you prepare for yet another round of battle with the 5 remaining combatants.

Porter somehow manages to stay on the hovercycle and not tip it over as he slams into the attacker.  He smiles at the feat as Desi hops off and fires off her shots.

Seeing the man he hit hurt and still willing to put up a fight, Porter remains on the bike, draws his automatic pistol, and fires a controlled burst at the attacker he rammed.

OOC: Burst fire on a single target, base chance to hit 85%, -10% if short range not point blank, damage 5d10, IM 7

21:22, Today: Sgt. Porter Min rolled 18 using 1d100. burst fire at former rocker launcher guy.
21:22, Today: Sgt. Porter Min rolled 20 using 5d10. damage.

Desiraye steps away form Porter and the cycle and watches as the others have a chance to react and her instincts kick in.  Seeing the biggest threat is the person with the rifle, she shifts the sights of her modified laser pistol to that person, and pulls the trigger twice.  "Don't let that explorer get away," she yells out as she tries to close the distance on the enemies explorer as well.

Emptying the last [10] SEU worth of energy of her clip at the man exiting the explorer with the rifle and try to close the distance between her and their explorer.

x2 shots at [5] SEU/each
IM: +6
CURRENT STA: 62/62
Beam Weapons: 6 [DEX:30 + 60 = 90%]
LE-1500 DAM: 1d10+2/SEU / SEU 1-10/shot = 5d10+10 per shot (x2)

OOC: Still ALL IN here Heath...

Hammer takes cover behind the explorer and fires directly into the window of the explorer where the man is firing from.

Orvo jumps from the explorer after the other players, his laser pistol handy.  He trains his sights on the two attackers on the side of the road, firing 2 shots at SEU 3 at them while he takes cover behind the explorer.

If you have screens or suits that absorb some damage, they have not been taken into account below.  Please indicate in your next post if anything, and how much has been absorbed.

ROUND 2
The second round of battle breaks out, with most of you behind cover.

Lasers and bullets fly, but only two shots find their marks, and the man with the rifle misses.  Desi is hit by a projectile (10 damage), and Orvo is hit by a laser (16 damage).

Desi fires (critical hit), and she hits one of the commandoes in the head, killing him instantly.

Porter's hit from his automatic pistol finishes off the injured man hit with the hovercycle.

Orvo hits with both laser shots (34 damage), badly wounding a third man.

Hammer also hits twice, injuring yet another of the commandoes.  (38 damage.)

Kri'lik hits once, but it is a flesh wound.  (4 damage.)

The other shots miss.

There are 4 commandoes left: 1 in the explorer (driver), 1 holding a rifle using the explorer as cover (uninjured), and 2 in the trees just behind the explorer (both wounded 38 points).

Hammer fires at one of the wounded soldiers on the side of the road, using the explorer as much as possible for cover.

Desiraye shrugs off the hit as much as possible thanks to the ballistic protection of the suit she's wearing and moves to the cover of one of the explorers as she reloads her pistol.

[RELOADING LASER PISTOL THIS ROUND.  NO SHOTS FIRED!]
x2 shots at [5] SEU/each
IM: +6
CURRENT STA: 57/62
Military Skein Suit: 45/50
Beam Weapons: 6 [DEX:30 + 60 = 90%]
LE-1500 DAM: 1d10+2/SEU / SEU 1-10/shot = 5d10+10 per shot (x2)

The shimmering effect of his albedo screen serving its function reminds Orvo to be done with this quickly. He continues firing at the two on the downslope of the road (if I understand the layout correctly). As he does so, he tries to unnerve the group by calling out. "Remember, we only need the driver alive. Kill the rest of them."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:07, Fri 27 Mar 2015.

For newcomers and those who may have forgotten:  when it comes to battles, please give me any critical stats I need to know, such as your "to hit" number, damage, and Stamina.  Although I typically roll for the players, if you really want to roll, that's fine--you will just have to live more strictly by the numbers without my fudging them in your favor from time to time.

If you do roll, put the results in a private line to me in your post.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:18, Fri 27 Mar 2015.

S'Krllk shakes his head, apparently emerging from some private reverie, "oh, good, the universe is shooting again" he mumbles. Despite the fact that it would probably remove him from the path of a rocket, he doesn't leave the vehicle and instead starts to fire his needler through the closed window before he realizes what he's doing. Opening the window enough to fire through, he starts to spit needles at the downslope commandos.

OOC: Oops, forgot about that.  Too many other games here on RPOL where we roll and post in the game that way.  I'll let the DM roll in the future (unless I forget again...)

Porter feels relief at seeing the adversary drop, and quickly scans the battle. He hops off the bike and moves up past the enemy explorer to fire at the rifleman taking cover behind it from a flanking position.  If possible, he'll also take cover behind a tree or rock.  And if he can't get his shots off this round, he'll empty his clip at the rifleman.

[Moving to flanking position and taking cover.  Burst Fire at the uninjured Rifleman behind the explorer, if time allows]
1 burst (10 rounds) for 5d10 damage
IM +7
Current Sta: 50/50
Military Skiensuit 50 pts
Projectile Weapons 3 [35 +30 +20 for burst, total 85%]
Automatic Pistol range 5/15/30/60/150

Kri'lik takes cover inside the explorer and fires out an open window at the man with the rifle behind the other explorer. "I was built for healing, not shooting," the doctor murmurs.  (Laser pistol SEU to 5, 2 shots.)

ROUND 3
Lasers, needlers and other types of shooting fly across from the explorers in an exchange of gunfire.

Your cover saves you, and none of the operatives hit except one (see below).

The two operatives by the side of the road are taken out.  The one in the explorer ducks down, evading a shot, as he exits the explorer on the far side.

The one with the rifle is also unhurt.  He fires at Porter twice, and hits once.  You realize his rifle is not a laser rifle, easily recognizable by its long barrel.  It is a gauss rifle used by the military, and it can fire bursts of needle-like projectiles using an electromagnetic field.  It is one of these bursts that hits Porter, who takes massive damage from the burst of needles.  (40 STA damage; defensive screen is an inertia screen.)

OOC:
Gauss rifles fire needle-like projectiles using an electromagnetic field generated along the barrel. The projectiles themselves are long, thin slivers of dense, armor-piercing allow surrounded by a jacket of softer metal giving the round both good stopping power and armor-piercing capability. The rifles are easily recognized by their long barrels (up to 2m in some models) and are easily located by magnetic scanners. This ease of detection has limited their battlefield use, though they remain in service with several UPF units. They are strictly military weapons, and their possession is a felony offense on all UPF member worlds.

Porter cries out in pain as the flechettes rip through his skiensuit and into his flesh.  Luckily for him, the armor does somewhat lessen the impact.

The marine takes full cover this round, reloading his gun and considering whether he should try to take on the heavily armed man with only a machine pistol or not.  If only I had some grenades, he thinks.

OOC: taking full cover, reloading, and bleeding this round.

Orvo continues to use the explorer as cover as he lays down covering fire for Sgt Min.

[Fire twice at mercs using their explorer for cover.
IM +5
Current Sta: 60/60
Military Skiensuit 50/50
Albedo Screen 50/50

Beam Weapons 35%
Martial Arts 40%

Laser Pistol: set to 3 (3d10 dmg)]
This message was last edited by the player at 12:38, Wed 01 Apr 2015.

Using the cover of the explorer and watching Porter take a big shot from the rifle (and just a little jealous she doesn't have anything like that right now...), Desiraye punches her laser pistol out in front of her flipping the SEU out put to 10 SEU.  With the sights coming up to her eyes, she places them on the soldiers center of mass and then presses the trigger twice, emptying the new clip with just the two shots.

[2] shots at the rifleman at 10 SEU per shot
x2 shots at [10] SEU/each
IM: +6
CURRENT STA: 57/62
Military Skein Suit: 45/50
Beam Weapons: 6 [DEX:30 + 60 = 90%]
LE-1500 DAM: 1d10+2/SEU / SEU 1-10/shot = 10d10+20 per shot (x2)

OOC: Where did everyone go?  3 posts in two weeks is not very great...
ROUND 4
The fight continues.  Porter is reloading behind cover.

Desi fires two shots and takes out the rifleman that had hurt Porter so badly.

Orvo hits the other one using the explorer for cover, injuring him.

Hammer fires and misses.  Kri'lik fires and misses.  S'krllk also fires and misses.

The remaining fighter is apparently their leader.  He ducks down after firing once at Desi and missing.  You think he might be picking up the gauss rifle dropped by the other operative Desi just killed.

ROUND 5
The fighter pops up his head and fires the rifle at Desi, hitting with a  burst from the gauss rifle.  (43 damage, minus any absorption suit for inertia.)

The return fire is immediate and deadly.  Porter makes the shot that hits him in the head and takes out your last opponent, who slumps to the ground, the rifle falling on top of him.

When the last combatant drops, Porter moves cautiously up to them and checks to make sure that they are all down for the count.  After inspecting the bodies, he'll remove any weapons he can find from them and place them away from the explorer.  "Quite the ambush.  These guys were well prepared for us.  Is everyone OK?"

After he's done policing the bodies, he calls the Doc over to check his wound.

In reply to GM Heath (msg # 80):

Desiraye is knocked back by the burst from the rifle and feels immediate pain and discomfort from the wound.   She knows that if it wasn't for the body armor she was wearing, she would be in bigger trouble because her pistol was empty and she knew that a reload mifmight just cost her, or someone else their life right now.   Porters shot ends the firefight and they can now gather their thoughts and form a better plan.

"Nice shot Sarge!  Your timing was spot on.  Let's get our wounded tended to and search the bodies and vehicle for some Intel.  I'd like to see that rifle that almost killed us Sarge!"

-21 STA (36) / -22 Inertia suit (23)

Orvo inspects the contents of the ambusher's explorer.

You begin searching the bodies and the explorer.

The explorer is carrying a case of grenades (3 tangler, 6 fragmentation, 3 doze and 4 smoke); a box containing 5 rockets for the rocket launcher, 30 power-clips, 20 automatic pistol bulletclips and 9 automatic rifle clips; and two backpacks with climbing gear (pitons, crampons, 200m of rope, and so on).

Also, the modified explorer has been slightly retrofitted.  Heavy weapons can be fitted to the roof hatch of an explorer by means of a swivel mount. The swivel mount fits around the roof hatch and takes one technician an hour to install both it and a heavy weapon. No more than one heavy weapon can be mounted on an explorer at a time.

Further, the KLC explorer has air-tight hatches that can be pressurized to allow the occupants to breathe normally when travelling at high altitudes. They also carry breathing apparatus for use outside the vehicle, or when one or more of the hatches are open. Additional oxygen tanks are carried, as well as a portable compressor with which to refill them.

For weapons on the bodies, you find:

1) Commander: Laser rifle, Heavy autopistol (3 20 round clips), Vibroknife (Beltpack 30 SEU and 4 Powerclips), Albedo suit (40 points), Inertia screen(F), Magnigoggles, Military skeinsuit (35 points)

2) KLC 1: 1 Gauss rifle (see below), with 2 40 round clips; Gyrojet pistol (3 Jetclips), Military skeinsuit (35 points)

3) 1 Rocket Launcher; Automatic rifle (5 Bulletclips), Albedo suit (20 points)

4-6) Laser pistol (5 Powerclips each), Military skeinsuit (40 points each)

In inspecting the weapons, you find that all of the weapons are manufactured by Stysor Arms of Madderly's Star.

There is also enough food and water in the explorer to feed 6 people for 5 days, and there are radios, but a code must be input into them for operation, including listening, which you don't have.

Heavy Autopistol .38/9mm
Damage 2d10
Ammo 20 rounds SEU -
Rate 3/1
Defense Inertia
Range(meters) PB 0-5 Short 6-15 Medium 16-40 Long 41-75 Extreme 76-200

Gauss Rifle
Damage 3d10/8d10 burst
Ammo 40 rounds SEU -
Rate 2/1*
Defense Inertia
Range(meters) PB 0-10 Short 11-65 Medium 66-200 Long 201-600 Extreme 601-1200

Gauss rifles fire needle-like projectiles using an electromagnetic field generated along the barrel. The projectiles themselves are long, thin slivers of of dense, armor-piercing allow surrounded by a jacket of softer metal gving the round both good stopping power and armor-piercing capability. The rifles are easily recognized by their long barrels (up to 2m in some models) and are easily located by magnetic scanners. This ease of detection has limited their battlefield use, though they remain in service with several UPF units. They are strictly military weapons, and their possession is a felony offense on all UPF member worlds.

I'd like the Laser Rifle, but there's probably folk with better skill here than Orvo. So, I'll take another Laser Pistol and several power clips.

S'Krllk looks at their new vehicle, and the various things with it. "I guess I'll need to check the transport out. I don't see any damage, but it would be best if we were sure."
Ignoring the weapons, he starts to give both transports a once-over to insure the firefight didn't damage anything.

The explorer also has markings on it that identify it as part of the KLC.

OOC:
Since we've had some player turnover (and due to the passage of time and fading memories), I want to reiterate a few factual issues that arose.  I added a post at the end of the adventure summary thread that is worth reading through:
link to a message in this game

Hammer says, "So the only real question here is whether we drive up in one of their marked vehicles or our rented one.  I'm not sure if the sanitarium is KLC or not.  If not, they might shoot at us on sight."

Porter nods.  "Good thing we've got the bike.  We could scout it out from the hoverbike and decide which one to roll up in. If the sanitarium is KLC, it would give us a nice advantage."

"We've got enough to crew all three vehicles.  Sarge, you'll have the point on the bike.

Anyone able to use the rocket launcher with any proficiency?  That's our weapons platform.

Then we have the support guys in the rental.  You support guys want to step up on assignments, that's your call and no one will be mad if you don't.  You're our only two real specialists so we need you safe.  Doc can maybe take a look at our wounds and gets us on our feet again?"

"Can anyone get us a layout of the Sanitarium  on a computer?"

"It'll take me about an hour to set up the turret and rocket launcher on this thing, but I don't know that we need to rush in any case."

"As long as it's ready to go when we're ready to head out, that's fine S'Krllk."

Hammer searches the vehicle carefully.  Are the operatives wearing any kind of uniforms?  Maybe they can be worn by whoever goes in that explorer as a disguise?

"I will have to go in the rented explorer because there is no way a Mechanon can pass as a KLC operative.  Same thing goes for our Vrusk friends here since the KLC are against the Vrusk."

"OK Hammer, you're security for the rental with the Doc and S'Krllk.  Me & Orvo will take the KLC explorer.  How are your driving skills Orvo?  Sarge has the bike."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:13, Tue 21 Apr 2015.

"On paved roads with designated lanes and citizens adhering to the rules of the road, they are exceptional. Out here, though, they are rather suspect."

"That'll have to do for now Orvo.  Unless you can use the rocket launcher, you're my driver!"