Up topside, Vult and Kalsk are happy to see you. "Some monsters came by," says Kalsk, "but Vult and I drove 'em off good. They were weak, and Vult was at his strongest." The speaker is a humanoid, but with leopard-like head, hands, and feet.

Vult is currently a vaporous being again, floating like a thin but persistent orange wisp in the air. "Yeah, you guys missed my fourth form. Oh well, it'll come around again eventually."

Then Vult notices Pesky. "Oh hey, speakin' a fourth, hi! You guys found a fourth human!" The orange vapor wafts over to Pesky. "They tell me the big guy is a human, but I'm waiting to see more evidence before I'm convinced," he whispers to Pesky. "Anyway, I'm Vult! What's up! Besides you guys, I mean. Oh, and there are the moths, back, too. Wondered where they went."

The Duke shows their companions the over stuffed cooler and even the big bowl of fries he took to go enough to feed a whole family for a week which he is happily munching on.

"There was a real cafetaria down there. Its a great place."

Alyn nodded.

"Yeah...a lot of crazy stuff happened. Robots on the fritz, bandits. Large ant-bug centaur monster things. More bandits. Weird but pretty friendly and oddly gracious owls. Oh and the moths are here because I gave them some dinner. But I got my hardware at least, plus a few other things that let me fix up our gear, and we have a medkit now too. So more options is always great I say." Alyn said.

"Sorry about the monsters, by the way. Those were probably the ones who escaped the Duke and my err...um, let's just say there was a diplomatic breakdown, but everything is okay now. And yes, we have another human in our group. He's going to be our scout and medic, and wants to find the Cloister with us too."

Alyn looked silently toward his Psiwalker, which was parked a bit in the distance, and it began to suddenly move and head toward him as it was prompted by his silent psychic command.

"We're gonna head back to the Doomwalker now, and from there, to Gnost. The moths will um...they'll be around. Or perching on my Psiwalker. Or something." he added, followed by a shrug.

Pesky squints a bit as he exits the facility.  It's a little brighter than he expects.  As his eyes adjust, he begins to take in the others waiting for them, oddly surprised that they are not human like the others.

After the leopard man speaks, the ethereal mist draws closer.  Not wanting to cause any division between himself and his new teammates regarding Duke's humanity, Pesky simply nods noncommittally.  He crosses his arms across his chest, vaguely uneasy, slightly defensive.

He scans his new team, and in the light of day he can tell that Duke, despite his focus on food only, seems injured.  He pulls the newly acquired medkit from his pack as he walks toward Duke.  "Hey," he says, nodding at Duke's visible injuries.  "Let me help with that?"

The Duke eyes Pesky as he comes closer and puts the cooler on his back  interposing himself between the new one and their main food supply. He does however offer the bowl of fries.

"They are extra salty."

Pesky stops, surprised by what appeared to be Duke's refusal of healing.  He shrugs, reaching back to return the kit to his backpack.  He eyes the fries and nods a firm no.

"Thanks though," he added.

Kalsk nods at the information. "It is good to have healing skills."

"I don't think the monsters we fought were your fault, though," says Vult. "I've seen 'em around before-- kinda rodent-bird-dude-hybrid guys, led by a... bird-cyborg guy. They're losers. Just scavengers. I mean, you don't wanna just laugh 'em off, but they were no match for Kalsk and me at my most awesome, and they knew it, so they ran off. No big deal."

It is just as well that we leave this place, say the mind-moths, although only Alyn hears them. The strange minds to the east should be avoided.

And so, the humans and their allies get back on their vehicles and head back toward the Doomwalker...

(Somebody make an Insightful roll! (Just one person!))

18:45, Today: Alyn Reed rolled 6 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 4,1.  Insightful.

The vehicles move across the landscape, back the way they'd most recently come...

...Then, after hours of staying alert... from the northwest...

(...Alyn gets 1 new xp.)

"Aw, crap, they're back," says Vult. "And right when I'm about to become a liquid."

Kalsk and Vult explain that it is indeed the mouse-parrots they drove off earlier... led by their general, the cyborg Commander Hornbill...

"Now it makes sense," says Kalsk. "They only retreated to get their hardware."

Each of the mice-parrots are now riding atomic fusion-bikes... With Commander Hornbill plugged into some sort of wrecked spacecraft that he's lashed to the nosecone of, to which giant tires and shock-absorbers have been added.

The horde is faster than you, and coming to run you over and kill you all...

"Crackers! Crackers! Buckets of blood! Pieces of eight for the horde!" the biker mice-parrot pirates squeak furiously as one over the purring of their fusion-engines.

There's about 20 of them (although some have sidecars too).

None of them have guns, but they do have swords (some of them are vibroblades).

(What's the first line of self-defense to be?)

"I have a strong desire to buy them off with some of the food we have acquired, and looting rights to the place we left. Any other ideas?" Ajakstu suggests.

The Duke looks at Ajakstu as if the man lost his mind as he cradles the cooler close to himself and then as he works himself upright in the hoover car makes sure its securely strapped to his back.

"You lost your mind?"

His fixed mauler gloves crackle with energy as the biker parrots come closer and the Duke pops his neck and rolls his shoulders. Then as the beasts are close enough he leaps from the hovering vehicle straight at the first bikes zooming towards him.

"NOBODY STEALS MY FOOD!!!!!"

ooc: Only a little atrocious on these vile creatures that want the Dukes food. He will employ the gloves that are destructive and impactful.

7 to 9: Weak Atrocity: Charge any weak opponent and destroy them. You don't even need to use any weapons (though you may).
If your next move is a basic attack or an Atrocity, take +1 forward.

23:25, Today: The Duke rolled 8 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 3,4.  Atrocity.

(Choose one, The Duke:

--You defeat 1/3rd of the attackers but take no damage yourself
--You defeat most of them but take some damage yourself)

Having successfully goaded The Duke into lambasting the current set of marauders, Ajakstu cackled out loud and nimbly maneuvered the walker behind Alyn's cumbersome and poorly piloted pile of junk so that he was afforded maximum concealment and cover by the other vehicle.

21:54, Today: Ajakstu Gul rolled 10 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 3,5.  Agile to use Alyn as my shield wahaha.

The Duke gets the green light from Foers to totally waste these mouse-parrot biker pirates, so he leaps amongst them with his weaponized Mutilator Gloves. Each punch causes nigh-seismic impacts of kinetic force that deeply disrupt the safe balance of the nearby biker mice's atomic bikes, gyroscopes be damned. Soon several of them are crashing into one another, and subsequently falling off.

Meanwhile, in a feat of tactics, Ajakstu moves his vehicle behind that of Alyn. How can Ajakstu lead from behind if he isn't behind!? So he makes sure he is.

"Take this," Pesky says, leaving the wheel without waiting for Kalsk to answer.  He climbs into the back seat, immediately spotting the obvious leader.

He looks back to see Kalsk grab the wheel as the car jerks suddenly to the left.  "Keep it steady," Pesky yells uselessly.  Their path straightens and he readies his rifle, aiming to take out the big one.

He exhales, then fires.

OOC: 11:47, Today: Pesky rolled 5 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 2,2.  Shoot cyborg hornbill-man.

OOC: Changed xp from 3->4.

Alyn sighs as the Max-Max style parrot-bikers emerged over a dune/hill ont heir bike things to attack his party. He absolutely agreed with the Duke's sentiment about guarding their food. He also wanted to guard their dignity if at all possible. What little they had, heh.

He decided that he needed to take action, but then he had an idea as his eyes flickered with energy...

OOC: 11:54, Today: Alyn Reed rolled 9 using 2d6+3 with rolls of 3,3.  Charming.

So Alyn made 2 rolls, because the first is to try and forcefully establish a psychic connection with them. He rolled a 9, which is enough to force contact (without them even knowing) among weak targets which I suspect these are. His power will let him connect to the group, if he wants, which is what he does. Then. he does something more insidious

11:55, Today: Alyn Reed rolled 11 using 2d6+3 with rolls of 3,5.  Charming.

And implants a hypnotic suggestion in all of those the GM declares affected to have a suggestion of "ignore the mind moths."

If Alyn feels his suggestion take hold:

Alyn sends a quick telepathic message to the mind moths who were perching on hos psiwalker, or who may be otherwise flying around nearby:

Oh mind moths! You guys said you wanted some better food, right? Well...how about some poultry? They are there to nom on and I even went ahead and made it easier for you. Bon apatite!

(Pesky gets 1 new xp point. (Be sure to record it on your character sheet or whatever.))

Pesky fires... and misses. The shot zips right past the hornbill-machine-man's head.

It does get his attention-- a red laser sight zeroes in on Pesky.

ZORCH

Oh, no, wait, that was an actual laser, not just a targeting system. Owwwwww.

(Pesky loses 2 health levels.)

Having made his intentions known, the big spaceship-on-wheels changes direction, heading specifically to run Pesky (and his vehicle--those are really big tires) over.

Meanwhile, the mind moths settle on the heads of the mice-parrots, feasting.

Yet still the mind-moths complain. Stupid creatures. Hardly worth bothering with. Barely a snack, they grouse.

"Son of a BITCH," he yells, almost dropping his rifle out of the car.  He ducks down, one hand immediately going to his recently bandaged shoulder.  It comes back wet and red.  Burns like hell.  He sinks down a little further, hopefully protected by the back of the seat.

He looks to Kalsk, who hasn't noticed that he is almost laid out in the backseat.

"Hey!" He grimaces and yells again. "HEY!"

When Kalsk finally turns and sees what's has happened, Pesky, still yelling, says, "Can you shoot?!"

"I'm not too bad a shot," says Kalsk. "Want to change jobs?"

The jaguar-man looks ready to grab the gun and let Pesky try driving the vehicle, if Pesky gives the word...

Pesky winces, trying to get back upright and into the front.  He passes the rifle to Kalsk, then holds out the same hand for an assist.

Kalsk emits a low growl of effort as he pulls Pesky quickly and firmly to the front seat.

Pesky grunts in pain with the move, but slides toward the steering wheel.  His left arm hangs almost limply by his side as he clutches the wheel with his right.   Without turning to look, he nods, indicating it's time for Kalsk to take up the fight.

Kalsk aims carefully, trying to get the feel of this new weapon he's never fired before...

(16:51, Today: Kalsk rolled 7 using 2d6 with rolls of 5,2.  Kalsk, firing defensively..)

He takes a sort of practice shot. He doesn't come as close as Pesky did at all-- misses by about 6 feet-- but he's got the feel of the weapon now. Also, the return laser fire goes over Kalsk's head.

"All right-- keep driving defensively, then keep it straight and smooth for just a couple of seconds in 5... 4... 3... 2... NOW--"

(16:51, Today: Kalsk rolled 13 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 6,6.)

BAM-- the hornbill's large head goes back and to the left, and the spacecraft-on-wheels veers off to the left, also (running over two of the remaining bikers, for that matter).

“Chaos!” Ajakstu shouts with a certain amount of glee.

With that, he sets The Duke’s walker off in pursuit of the spaceship on wheels.