Iron Stars - Town Infiltration

@Dasvan and @penny

7:27 AM

@真鳥 we will do your half of the mission here)

7:28 AM

The clearing is quiet now aside from a few carrion eaters beginning to gather to feast on the newly gifted to them meal. Some complain quite loudly, and it looks as though its best to be off as the Chimeran had little of immediate value to a human on them. Injuries are beginning to pile up and the window w here this mission can be completed within a measure of safety are rapidly depleting. The group parts ways for now, and Annie;s bike begins to power up again to put some distance between here, and the objective.

Annie brings the two of them a good distance from the settlement and uses her binoculars to survey the town.

(Do you want me to copy the info from the other thread )

4:17 PM

(Wouldn’t be much different than what Kaia saw unless we get real close )

(I’d appreciate it. )

“So, uh…” Penny piped up from her seat. “You’ve got a plan for getting us in there, right?”

“ Plans are for when we know the situation. So lets figure that out first.” Annie answered as she passed the binoculars to Penny.

Penny held the binoculars up to her eyes and squinted through them. "Seems from here we don't quite have the luxury of intel." She handed the binoculars back to Annie. "How comfortable are we with winging it?"

The settlement sits about 500m from the edge of the forest and notably is characterized by 5m high wooden palisade walls that run the length of the settlement. These look to be new constructions, mostly for containment than actual security and you do not see anyone patrolling the battlements there. Most of the buildings seem to be lower than the walls, but you can make out something that looks like a town hall, some sort of security or garrison type building, and a building more modern than the rest that is of Chimeran construction.

( are there any points that seem to be for housing slaves? ) “ Winging it is my forte. I say we appeal to the slaves for help once our friends attack the camp. “

(most of the town would be housing for them)

“okay how does this sound? ok d the fighting starts we head to one of the outlying house and ask for help. playing up your injuries to get ourselves an in.”

“Sounds like we can make it work. You ready?”

“ always am. Let’s Find a place to stash the jumper, and head in “ Annie would look for somewhere they could hide the bike in the forest, and than walk towards one of the outlying settlements

Penny threw an arm over Annie's shoulder and limped alongside her. "I'll follow your lead."

Annie suppers penny and heads towards the house.

(Everything here is within the walls so we would have to pass a guard post unless you’re trying to scale it somehow)

(im guessing wed try to pass it, dont see us scaling the wall)

( I’ve got rope but yeah don’t see us scaling it. Knowing that could we retcon and say I used a portable radio a mile away from the settlement to send the settlement a distress signal and than left the radio there?)

(We can backtrack and narrate that but I don’t do retcons )

2

( awesome that works!) Before heading to the town, and stashing the bike Annie would leave a radio deep in the woods to send a distress signal to the settlement. Than as the signal goes out they would wait to sneak pack the guards until the guards mobilize to the beacon.

There looks to be some commotion. The gate guards stay where they are, just two of them left to watch the gate closest to you while a mounted patrol heads out into the woods. You get the sense that most of the security contingent has just left.

Annie waves a hand over her face activating her Holoskin to hide her equipment and make her look more like one of the workers. Than helping Penny limp along goes to move through the gate.

Penny whisperered to Annie before they got into earshot of the guards. “Give me a signal if you need me to try to take these two out.”

(perform/cha Annie)

(12)

You're not sure what the gate guard says since you do not speak Chimeran, but its translator torc begins to make some kind of whirring sound after a moment. 'What...happened...to...them" the torc says, translating the words. The guard looks on, his comrade slowly gripping their rifle tighter, but for now everyone's weapons remain low.

Annie doesn’t say a word but instead puts forward a front of looking pathetic as they point towards the woods whilst trembling in a fake fear.

Sounds of the attack at the nearby logging camp can be faintly heard now that the sounds of the hoverbikes have gone away. "Answer...your betters..." the Chimeran asks, stopping short 5m from you, about to raise their weapon. Its companion does the same.

When the weapon is raised at her she flinches causing her to collapse and drop penny in the process. She seizes the moment to disguise the use of her translator Torc as she stumbles to her feet and answers “Attackers in the woods came in on flying vehicles.” (edited)

"How,,,many" it asks, looking between the fallen two of you, and its companion. Their weapons remain low, but ready.

“ It looked like a small group no more than 5, but very well equipped. “

Penny kept her head down and her mouth shut while she slowly reached a hand up towards Annie for help back up.

"Get...inside....we will deal...with this..." the guard says, moving outward to cover you from any attackers coming from the woods. Your ruse seems to have worked.

4

Annie picks up penny and quickly moves inside where they ask another worker for help carrying Annie somewhere we can help her.

You see most folks trying to get off the street as they've been ordered to do it by their overseers. It looks as though most ar enot wanting to stop to help, fearful for their own safety for being still on the street when ordered to get off.

Annie follows the lead of the other worker and ducks into one of the buildings to get off the street.

This is his home, and he shoves you out before closing the door.

Annie looks for options for her and Penny to duck away into.

Penny hissed into Annie’s ear. ”We may need a backup plan…” She took a quick look around before whispering again, ”There’s got to be an empty unit, right?!”

(Notice/wis)

(for both of us or just annie?)

(Both)

1

(an 8 here)

(5)

Penelope notices a home at the end of the street that does not seem to have any activity in it. The windows remain dark, and though the door is closed no light seems to be coming from underneath the threshold.

“Straight ahead.” Penny nodded towards the house at the end of the street. “Seems empty enough to me…”

Annie takes the two of them into the empty house, and finds a place to set Penny down.

“Think we’re in the clear?” Penny grunted as she was sat.

“ Not sure, but taking a moment to rest, and contact the others would be wise.” Hoping to create some momentary distraction Annie asks “ So outside of working for the nmc what’s your role in this wild galaxy we call home?” (edited)

“Well, uh…” Penny seemed either uncomfortable with the question or unsure of the answer, maybe both. “This galaxy isn’t exactly the same as the one I call home,” She paused and shifted her gaze to the floor, “Somehow nothing’s different, but everything’s changed so much…” She mused while fiddling with the fingers on her robotic hand. “Guess that isn’t a great answer though, is it?” She chuckled a bit solemnly to relieve the tension. “I’m a mercenary pilot, if that’s what you’re asking. What about you?”

(if you want to drop a message in their thread that is fine, just give me until combat is over

“ I imagine you have something different in mind, but I can relate to that sentiment of everything being the same while also so very different. It’s like a stuffed animal left out in the sun of your childhood home. You’ll return years later to find it waiting for you, but it’s changed. It’s bleached from the sun, its fur is matted from the dirt, and its fluff is soggy from the rain. Yet its still waiting there as if the only thing that's changed is the year on the calendar. " " For me I used to work for a non profit radio station focused on preserving music before that was shut down. Now I am working as comms officer for the NMC trying to do some good, and earn my way to a captains position where I have the power to restart my radio station from a ship. " she taps her forehead and adds on " That way if anyone gives our station trouble we can just take a spike course to the next planet. All that said I can't help but wonder how this war, and the experiences I'm having will recolor this dream of mine."

Penny smiled faintly. “Preserving any kind of art is a pretty noble goal. The right piece can do a lot to bridge the gaps between all kinds of people…” She trailed off and peeked through a window to the outside. “…Or the right voice might help spark some real change.”

" I don't think noble is the right word for it." she seems lost in thought for a moment before continuing. " I think groovy works better. Being a freelance pilot is a good way to pay the bills, but is there anything you have your heart set on?"

“Oh,” She scoffed, “Lost everything, so I guess I’m back to square one. Drifting along until my heart finds something worth setting on, y’know?”

“ I’m sure you’ll find it, but first we need to focus on getting you patched up, and this planet revolting. “ Annie peaks out a window trying to get a general idea of what the settlement has.

(We know it’s mostly just workers and the admin building. This is little more than a prison camp)

1

( Does the admin building have a garage, is their any barracks the guards are stationed at?)

(there is a garage and we can assume its well guarded since its the nerve center of the camp)

(My bad, not sure why this archived, but here we are)

( No worries! Penny idea what you want to do or do we just want to take a moment to rest and recover?)

(i think the other group just cleared out the camp so we could set up comms with them and then try to rest some maybe? im not sure how much else we can do from where we are)

(We can raise them now, combat is over. I appreciate you waiting, just didn't want to have a whole conversation going while we were trying to do all the crunchy bits. You can drop a message in the #hertes-infiltration-nmc channel)

(We've warned the other group reinforcements are coming, and you've snuck into the prison colony here while most of the guards are gone. Your signal is repeating in the forest and presumably people here are listening to it through whatever pirate comms they have got their hands on. I think making this boil over is what you two came to do)

( Sounds about right sorry for the lack of response been busy prepping costumes for an event.)

(do we have the kinda time wed need to rest up or do we need to move asap?)

(Healing in SWN takes an entire day of rest in a safe place , and you only heal your character level of HP per day. There's no short rest type system here, so unless we're making a conscious choice to take the risk of just doing nothing and hoping we don't get caught, we should try to do sometihng. You both suck in here to try to stir the pot, up to you both if you want to continue that plan)

(gotcha. doesnt seem like weve got the time for that then, when annies back we can start causing some trouble)

1

(Sure thing!)

( I’m back and ready to stir up some trouble!)

(Sounds good! things haven't really changed here, we are hunkering down while the bike patrol is trying to find your beacon in the woods. Roger and the others are stirring up trouble at the logging camp. If we can get things to boil over here the Chimeran won't really be able to respond everywhere)

( What’s the tech level of this settlement? Are their speakers, or sirens or anything?)

(TL3, there would be but nothing you could hack into remotely)

(Gotcha. Do I see any buildings where most the workers are heading to?)

The workers all look to be locked down into their individual single or multi family homes, as the Chimeran have a vested interest in not letting their slaves gather or organize into large groups.

Annie looks to Penny and bluntly asks “ Do you want to start a fire with me?”

“A fire?” Penny blinked a couple of times. “Doubt anything could go wrong with that plan, sure. We starting it here or elsewhere?”

" Here could be safe. We need some sort of crisis that will force the workers to react."

“Might be just the kind of chaos we need. You got anything on you that can get a fire going?”

Annie pats the survival kit on her belt. “ I’m almost insulted you have to ask. We could start it off by lighting some spare battery packs.”

"Oh hey, I've got one just like that." Penny stood herself up with a hiss as she's reminded of the pain in her abdomen. "Let's get it started, then."

(survive/wis)

(7)

You find enough flammable material within the home to start a small fire. It will spread soon and you will not want to be trapped inside when it does.

" You ready to get out of here?"

“I’m not looking to be cremated here. Let’s go.”

Bolting out onto the street you see a Chimeran guard 50m away near the gate, beginning to notice the smoke, and you coming out of the house.

Annie waves to him calling for help and pointing at the fire.

The Chimeran begins approaching, looking hesitant to get close to the flames. You remember from the autopsy reports circulated through NMC ranks that they have a hesitancy when it comes to fire.

If Annie was not deeply in character she'd be grinning at the genius of this plan. " This will spread if its not stopped."

The guard looks, before replying in its twin tone voice. "Go to command center, sound fire alarm, now. Or I throw you in"

Annie moves to do as told.

Penny follows her lead, doing her best not to break their cover.

(Are you actually going there, or just breaking line of sight so you can flee?)

( I’m actually going there.)

(guess that means pennys going too)

(Do you not want to? )

7:31 AM

(I'm just trying to figure out how to move the scene, I don't have a preference)

(no im cool w it, sorry for any confusion)

The command center in the middle of the city is the stone building you saw from outside, and two Chimeran slavemasters are whipping a ten strong firefighting team of slaves into shape to get them onto some kind of bucket brigade duty. Most of them are weak, struggling to hold the heavy buckets. Seeing you approach, you get the attention of the slavemasters. "You!" one chirps in its dual voices "Help us with these buckets, now!"

" Stop helping them they fear the flame. Let the fire free us. " Annie commands to the slaves before pulling out her pistol and shooting the slave master who ordered her. ( Can I make a lead check?)

(you can either shoot or make a lead check, both of those are main actions)

(you could make a lead check and penny could shoot?)

(That's fine with me since its a main from each of you. The action economy is important here)

1

( that’s a 14 lead check put the wrong mod in.) (edited)

5

(rolled a 4 on the shot, call it a warning shot

)

2:04 PM

Penny quickly draws and fires her mag-pistol but the shot goes totally wide. She looked a bit embarrassed but tried to play it off. “Next one’s aimed for your head, slaver. Totally meant to do that…”

(just realized thats a nat one with my modifier…

)

(you also drop the lowest dice with specialist still Annie, so thats a 13, Still great, just so you know) The shot goes off, a warning shot, though you totally did mean to hit them. The slaves for their part begin gripping their tools a little bit tighter and you can sense the situation here is going to boil over one way or another. (initiative)

( I added the wrong mod as well charisma is 2, lead is 1. So 11 +3.) (Initiative is 5) (edited)

(4)

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [1d8] Roll: [5] Result: 5

(Annie, the two chimeran taskmasters, then Penelope)

( What do the slaves seem to be doing?)

https://discord.com/channels/345912178072879106/1006901477702389880/1019997880376885298

7:14 PM

(It’s only been a few seconds. They haven’t had time to do anything else )

1

Annie takes a shot at one of the chimera with her thermal pistol. (19/13 ) (edited)

The Chimeran is wounded , though not dead yet. Their whips crack, each of them spending the few seconds they have to rush you, making the combat a series of one on one melee combats. (move and main to get another 10m , locking you both in melee. Penelope is up)

Penny tosses her pistol from her left hand to her right, to keep the chimeran’s attention on her weapon. When she catches it, she seizes the opportunity to sneak in a left hook.

1:58 PM

(7, shock 3 ac 15)

(shock goes through)

2:05 PM

The two chimeran are now both wounded, Annie's opponent worse off than the other. Each of them cracks their lashes, trying to put down this potential rebellion before it starts.

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [1d20+3] Rolls: [19] Result: 22 [1] Result: 4

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [1d6] Roll: [1] Result: 1

The stinging whip sends a lash of pain across Annie's shoulder as the leather cord takes a bit of skin off with it . Penelope, for her part, is unharmed as the leather cord is not swung with enough force to punch through her armor.

3

2:08 PM

(Annie back up)

Annie ignores the pain from the whip. She clicks open her stun baton and tries to jam it into the gut of the more wounded one.( Crit 22/11 ) (edited)

3

This time the blow is perfectly aimed, punching through whatever passes as a Chimeran heart. The slave master gurgles and chokes, before sliding off the end of your blade.

4:16 PM

The Chimeran remaining alive has sparks coming from the base of his neck as his neural overload wiring fails, and he remains locked in position for a moment as Penelope closes in

4:16 PM

(Penelope up)

Penny, not one to pass up on opportunity, spins as she re-holsters her mag-pistol with a flourish and uses the momentum from the move to throw a kick into the Chimeran's torso. (4. 8 total

3 shock 15 ac) (edited)

The second of the slavemasters is heavily wounded, likely to perish if more harm is placed on him

7:06 AM

(his cyberware fizzled, so its back to Annie)

Annie goes to finish this with a swing of her stun baton. (20/5) (edited)

There is a snap of discharging electricity and a thud as the body of the stunned Chimeran hits the ground, out of the fight for a few moments now.

(combat is over, the slaves are growing in confidence but are still kind of nervous and also their homes are burning down)

Penny doubles over, left hand on her knee for support and the right applying pressure to her still open wound. “Whew, okay…” She’d probably ~~not~~ learned her lesson to not do spin-kicks after being stabbed.

Annie is no combatant. Her body desperately wants to take a moment to breathe, and decompress after the stress of combat. Instead she stands tall with a stun baton in one hand and a gun in the other. She looks to the slaves and says “ Your captors fear the flame. Act now to ensure it’s spread, and win your freedom.”

(3xp, 5000 credits both of you)

3

2:45 PM

(if we want to link up with the others, we can. The bike patrol is going to be in a wild goose chase for a while)

(Since we've blown our cover can Annie take a moment to pull out her combat uniform and throw it on?)

(Yeah we have time to do that, and reload any weapons that need it)