Iron Stars - konya-and-glakit-on-angelos

@Kila Stosk | Konya [Nurrun] @Gurk Samson | Glaikit | Gilbert (we'll do the mission here. Rebel HQ is on the northwestern side of the planet, and there are two major cities that still have the heart to fight. Taking those down somehow would end the unrest here)

8:20 AM

https://www.worldanvil.com/w/iron-stars-nekosmash/a/angelos-location?preview=true

Angelos

8:20 AM

(and I believe it was Cydonia where Konya took out the leadership already)

Glaikit stomps along, trying to keep warm. He is dressed for the weather, with thick, fur-lined clothing in the appropriate Communist Red, and a fetching white trim. All of his guns and equipment are in a big heavy sack slung over his shoulder. “Evening. Morning?” He squints in the faint light.

Konya is dressed similarly and her scowl seems worse today than usual. She huddles into herself. “Glaikit. Orders are to disrupt the operations in the remaining cities. I targeted the leadership in Cydonia, that seemed effective. It’ll get progressively harder though so glad you’re here.” Her teeth begin to chitter, “any preferences on where we start?” (edited)

(what do we know about our options at this point?)

(not really anything, those cities are well beyond the range rebel aircraft can scout right now. They can get there, but by time they island hop all the way home for fuel and whatnot, anything they deliver is going to be very out of date. Force recon is really the only alternative to that problem, and the rebels run into trouble projecting force that far away since supplying those operatives is too difficult and too easily noticed. We're dealing with a lower TL world so they 're not lucky enough to ahve planes that last for 10 days without fuel , yet)

(without an obvious starting point, Glaikit is happy to go with whichever target is closer)

(We're at rebel command in the northwest upon getting here your shuttle can drop you off near your first target before needing to amscray )

Konya looks over the intel to see if anything has changed since her Cydonia trip. "Still don't know a lot about either of these places. Why don't we go to Hulw.... Hulwenia... that one?" She points at Hulweieia on the map.

"Why not?" Glaikit shrugs. (Since we're light on info happy to go with this)

(d10 from one of you, and I'll generate our landing hex close to the settlement)

(4)

Landing close to Hulwenia you see the land here is largely empty. There was once a series of large forests and industrial mining projects here. The infrastructure and the machinery is gone now, leaving only a scarred landscape behind of tree stumps, slag piles, and other industrial waste

Konya looks around in distaste, already unimpressed by the bleak and cold landscape, the industrial wasteland not doing much to improve her mood. "Not a lot of cover here, let's get moving." She wraps her coat more tightly around her and starts walking towards the city she can see in the distance.

Glaikit stomps along after her. He secures his binoculars for quick use in case anything interesting comes into view, but otherwise focuses on making best possible speed.

(sneak/dex, each of us)

Kila Stosk | Konya [Nurrun]

used /r

Kila Stosk | Konya [Nurrun] Request: [3d6d1+3] Rolls: [3, 2, 1] Result: 8 [6, 3, 3] Result: 12

(8)

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [2d6] Roll: [6, 3] Result: 9

(not sure if Glakit is an expert or not, no re- roll available? )

(nope - warrior!)

There is a floodlight from the city that illuminates the darkness as you and Konya move between slag piles. Konya is professional, and dives out of the way to not be illuminated. The locals get just enough of a glimpse of you for an alarm to be sounded somewhere on the border of the settlement, though there is no further response for at least the next minute

"Shit. Sorry, I really should've been looking out for you too. Do you see anything?" she asks, pointing to his binoculars.

"Angry capitalists with bright lights," Glaikit says, hunkering down. "I say we push on and aim for a quiet bit of the outer wall to climb over. Once we're inside we can go to ground."

"Got it." She starts rummaging in her pack, pulling out a climbing harness just in case and tossing her knife back in. "Ready when you are." She crouches in a position ready to start running. (Climbing harness readied, small advanced weapon stowed)

Glaikit nods, and runs for it, trying to stick to cover as best he can. He keeps his eyes peeled for a dark, unmanned section of wall - or any other means of escaping into the city.

(notice/wis Glakit)

(8 - he'll be using his panspectral optics to see in the dark here so far as possible)

On the eastern side of the village you see one watchtower where the lights have not turned on. Part of the roof looks to have fallen in, and repair work was not done on it.

“Looks like our way up,” Glaikit says, pointing the tower out. He stows his belongings and triggers his gecko anchors, aiming to reach the top quickly and quietly.

Konya takes a quick look behind them then secures her harness on the more secure part of the tower. She gives a quick tug to check the security before scuttling up after Glaikit, vaguely thinking, I need to get me some of those.

(We've got the proper tools in each of your specific cases, so we don't need checks here)

9:36 AM

Neither of you are noticed as you climb into the ruins of the tower. it looks like a heating unit caught fire inside the guard house at the top, damaging the walls and roof. A staircase leads down into the base of the tower where a postern door leads out into the city streets. You can still hear sirens and commotion outside, and a star shell is fired over the debris field as trackers look for intruders out there who are no longer present.

9:37 AM

(a star shell is like a cluster flare, and it hangs out in the sky for a while)

Konya takes advantage of the flares to try and get some rough numbers of their would-be pursuers and whether she can make out any uniforms.

Glaikit covers the other direction, in case a search party is deployed to the walls.

There are twenty scouts and three bloodhound programmed eyebots among the security response. A flatbed truck with a spotlight and a heavy machine gun follows them from a distance, its weapon panning back and forth slowly. There is no clear uniform from what you can tell, but there seem to be elements of black multicam in each of their mismatched kits indicating at least an attempt at some kind of a standard appearance.

"Looks like a militia. We might blend in if we can find some of that multicam." She looks vaguely around the tower, wondering if everything was destroyed by the fire.

(we can go through the trap door to the floor between this and the ground)

(thanks!) "Let's see if anything survived the fire that we could use." She pulls up the trapdoor setting it down carefully and then slips through the hole.

There is fire damage on this level, the storage cabinets have been blackened by flame and look to be difficult to open, but ultimately something you could force.

Glaikit digs out his telescoping pole to use for leverage, and his metatool as a backup, to embark on the messy job of breaking open the cabinets.

There are some damaged uniforms within, You'll be able to get enough patchwork pieces from each of them to make something approximating a militia uniform. None of them have symbols of rank on them.

"Thanks." Konya digs through the cabinet. "I think we could make a uniform from this. Might come in handy." She tucks the bits in her pack for now. "We shouldn't put it on for now, I think the priority should be finding some allies and this'll just scare them off." (From what you're saying, we found enough to make 1 uniform is that right?)

(2 uniforms ,my bad)

"Failure to display rank in a time of war is usually taken seriously just about everywhere," Glaikit says, "even if they are a ragtag bunch. Getting some rank insignia may be important if we want to use the uniforms to get closer to the target. "I agree we should clear off now - how about we head into the city and look for a part of town suffering under the capitalist jackboot?"

(Didn't know the rank thing, wondered why Neko mentioned it

) "Shouldn't be hard to find." Konya heads down to the ground floor and opens the door a crack, looking for anyone that might notice them leaving the tower.

(Glaikit's background is as a soldier, so he should be familiar with most of the basic ways a competent military should be operating)

(yeah and these folks seem to be trying to operate that way. Probably falling short in some areas with how rough this area looks, but they're trying)

Glaikit tries to reset the room as best he can in the few moments available, to hide the signs of their passage, then follows.

(I think with two stealth focused people here we'd be adept at covering our tracks without needing to test for it)

As they slip out into the streets, Glaikit looks around. "If we want allies, let's try looking for a part of town that seems to be suffering. If we can find some slums, we might find some people who would appreciate a change of government."

"Slums is a good bet. I suspect they'll be more susceptive to, uh, financial incentive as well if that's required." Konya slips her arm through Glaikit's as they move through the streets, giving the impression they're just on a walk rather than scouting for anti-government allies.

(would you be asking people, or just sort of wandering and keeping our eyes out? )

7:16 AM

( just trying to figure out what kinda check I might be asking for)

(I'd say wandering and watching/listening for anti-government sentiment or people who just seem generally downtrodden)

(agree with this - its less risky as a starting strategy. We'll also have to keep an eye out for anyone trying to mug us, I guess!)

(connect/cha)

1:30 PM

(each of you can make the check )

Kila Stosk | Konya [Nurrun]

used /r

Kila Stosk | Konya [Nurrun] Request: [2d6+1] Roll: [4, 3] Result: 8

(5)

Heading through the slums you see one bar near the wall of the settlement on its eastern side where there is some definite anti-establishment graffiti on the side of the building. There are raucous voices coming from within along with the sounds of smashing glasses and people shouting at one another.

3:27 PM

Kila is able to speak to a few people nearby, and without betraying your actual identities- the people tthink they're informing militia officers about dissenters within the bar.

Konya leans in to Glaikit. "So what do you think. Storm in and take the dissenters out back for a little chat?"

"Right up to the bar, like we're in control," Glaikit agrees. He bangs open the door and strides in.

The conversation almost immediately dies down as you enter the building. The spirited debate falls away, and a silence falls over the assembled slumsfolk within

Konya strides in confidently after Glaikit. She stops, shoulder to shoulder with him, cracks her knuckles and crosses her arm over her chest. She glares at the patrons, partly to intimidate, partly to try and figure out which side is which.

Glaikit moves slightly away from Konya, making sure he has enough room to pull out whichever gun is most applicable if things go south.

It seems that almost everyone here is against the current leading body in the city in some way or another. If there was a such thing as loyalists here, they've long ago learned this isn't a safe place for them to drink. (edited)

Glaikit heads to the bar. "Getting into this town is murder," Glaikit says, cheerfully, and, as always, loudly. "I need a drink after that." (Glaikit will attempt to buy himself the least manly drink available. Kila and I discussed this and we think that would be something like a Fuzzy Navel: https://www.liquor.com/recipes/fuzzy-navel/ or whatever the local equivalent is)

Fuzzy Navel

With just two ingredients—peach schnapps and orange juice—the Fuzzy Navel cocktail is an ’80s favorite that couldn’t be easier to make.

(they'd have local equivalents of modified peach and orange, would probably be slightly off maybe compared to what you;'re used to since its specific to this world, but possible )

(I'm reliably informed Konya will order a glass of milk)

The bartender looks sternly at you, since you're wearing militia uniforms. They're not sure if this is a shakedown, or something else.

(we're not wearing the uniforms - we stashed them in our bag for later From above: ""Thanks." Konya digs through the cabinet. "I think we could make a uniform from this. Might come in handy." She tucks the bits in her pack for now. "We shouldn't put it on for now, I think the priority should be finding some allies and this'll just scare them off."") (edited)

(gotcha, well, he will wait for you to order then)

"I agree, I need something strong." Konya leans on the bar, "milk, please."

“And a Fuzzy Navel!” Glaikit booms.

The bartender looks at both of you for a moment, before complying with both of your strange requests. The milk is a bit warm.

Konya looks dubiously at the milk and takes a quick sniff. “Uh, what kind of milk is this please?”

"Milk of the dog" he says, nonchalantly. You're not sure if its a local name for something else, or if he is being serious. The haphazard nature of the settlement could have you believing either .

Glaikit takes a long slurp of the Fuzzy Navel, to see how it tastes.

"Ah, not great for making cheese, but it sure is sweet. Bottoms up!" Konya slurps as she downs the glass, smacking her lips.

Glaikit finishes his drink and throws enough money to cover it on the table. "Seems like the town is in a rough way at the moment," he says. "Where I come from, that's usually a sign people at the top aren't doing their jobs properly."

(was that to Konya, or the barkeep?)

(he's going to say it quite loudly to the barkeep so he and others can hear. He's seeing if the people here are lively enough to speak up to an outsider) (edited)

"And where exactly you come from?" one of the loudmouths from the back table pipes up. He has a knife drawn, but doesn't look to be ready to use it, yet. Depending on what you answer, there will probably not be many protests in the bar from him using it.

Konya very slowly and deliberately unsheathes her sword looking directly at the man with the knife. “Somewhere that teaches people to hold knives properly.” She gives her sword a little flourish for effect. “Now put that away before you take your eye out or I do it for you, and let’s have us a nice conversation, hm?”

He is out of his depth, and knows it. The tension seems to be calming in the bar but you both get the sense you'll need to act fast to keep it that way

"I come from a place where everyone is equal," Glaikit says. "Where everyone labours in the common good, and nobody is forced to work for the profit of some landlord, overseer, or corrupt agent of the state. We threw off those burdens some time ago. It is difficult, but doable - with the right people, the right information, and the right weapons." Glaikit shifts his weight, looking around the bar. "What has stopped you so far?" He keeps his tone level and calm, inviting a response as though they are comrades discussing the finer details of their forthcoming strategy.

"The militia. They're thugs, thugs in uniforms, and theyshoot anyone for even looking at them the wrong way"

"We suspected as much. It was a particularly heavy-handed response to spotting us to send such a large party out of the gates. Not that it did them any good of course, and I guess they're a little concerned after what happened in Cydonia." She lets that hang for a moment, to see if word has reached them of the events there. (edit: accidental enter) (edited)

It does not seem news has made it this far , beyond more than just a few far flung rumors at best. You're going to have to take them by the hand for this.

Konya goes suddenly a little shy. Used to working in the shadows, she's a little apprehensive about revealing her role. "I...our organisation is targeting the leadership of the major cities on Angelos. The mayor of Cydonia was assassinated by, well, me and the people are retaking what is theirs while what counts for government is in turmoil." Her cheeks blaze red as she senses so many eyes on her. (edited)

This seems to confirm some of the rumors that filtered into the area. With a plan, these people might be motivated to help. The militia seems to have little love in this section of town.

“Thuggish militias are prone to infighting and falling apart unless there’s someone keeping them all in line,” Glaikit says. “So who’s doing that job?”

"General Rexan. Doesn't leave the command center much anymore. People throw trash at him when he does, but the militia is more scared of him than they are of us "

"What's he got that scares them? Guns, power armour, drones, blackmail?"

"All of those things, and a willingness to use them on his own people"

"Hmm, I'm not sure taking him out is going to be enough on its own then. It sounds like it might be more of a relief for the militia than something that will cause chaos. Who's second in command?" She looks at Glaikit, "we could maybe pin the murder on them and start some in-fighting."

“Agreed,” Glaikit says. “Who else is big in the militia?”

"Well wait a minute now, you kill their officers , all of them like that, and you're gonna kill us too. We're not going to help you if you're just going to fuck up the city and leave"

“Yes, it’d be civil war,” Glaikit says. “Unless some good comrades were able to step in, convince the militia members it isn’t worth dying for, and turn the administration of the city to something that will benefit everyone who lives here.”

"There's no guarantee they'll listen. This is trying to pull the wheels off a car while it's still in motion" another of the bar patrons says. They look to be weighing out throwing the bottle in their hand or not. (edited)

Konya laughs. "You misunderstand, comrade. There are other ways to convince them that doesn't require listening. We need only get their attention." She pulls out her sword again. "Would you like a demonstration of our prowess?" She looks pointedly at the bottle in his hand.

He decides to test you, throwing it in a wicked overhand throw toward you.

Konya rolls her eyes, and casually flicks her sword to intercept the bottle, aiming to split it in half. (Do you want a roll for this? If it hits, she'll angle her sword just before it loses contact so it diverts the two halves to move away from her so she doesn't get hit - and hopefully Glaikit doesn't either) (edited)

(I think Konya is naturally skilled enough where you could block or slice however you want without a check) (edited)

1

Glaikit watches the bottle separate into pieces, and finishes the last of his drink. It's been quite some time since his last barfight, but the mood here seems on a relentlessly downward spiral, and the pair have enough information to put together a plan somewhere quieter. "Thanks for the drink and chat, comrades," he says, standing up. "You've been very helpful. We'll make sure to prioritise the wellbeing of the city's residents when planning operation." He begins to head for the door, hoping Stab Lady's demonstration will help them avoid trouble on exit, but keeping his spike thrower close if not.

After the display of swordsmanship and skill, none of the locals seem all that eager to continue causing either of you problems, and you're permitted to leave without further trouble.

"The last bar fight I was in I ended up unconscious after being smashed over the head with a cast iron pan," Glaikit comments as they enter the street. "So that was a big improvement." He checks to make sure the street is quiet in either direction. "It seems to me we need to acquire some rank insignia. Ideally from some messengers with an excuse to move around a lot. And I take the point that we don't want the city to dissolve into warring factions where every militia captain with a tank controls his own little neighbourhood. "I wonder if I we can get our hands on this blackmail material, and force the militia to stand down? Or blackmail a senior deputy into doing so after Rexan is dead?"

Konya follows, pouting. “We could’ve taken them. I could’ve popsicle stick’d that guy who threw the bottle.” She stops, distracted. “What kind of a bar that has brawls keeps iron cookware in the kitchen? Never mind.” She huffs, her pout becoming even more pronounced. “I suppose we could solve this without killing people, but that just seems so, so…unnatural. Insignias it is for now then. Where do we look?”

"It wasn't the property of the kitchen staff, actually," Glaikit says. "Messengers will probably come and go from any major site of activity. It's possible we might be able to intercept someone returning with a report on the search parties sent outside the gates earlier this evening - since we know the way, I suggest we position ourselves closer to the gate and see what we can see. "Of course, there's no guarantee the messengers will be on foot," Glaikit says. "We'll have to size up what we're dealing with and if we can't pull it off, we'll have to try for any patrol we can find."

"Sounds like a plan. I've got a fun little trick I've been dying to try to get inside a moving vehicle, so I'd be up for trying to ambush a tank on foot again if we have to." Konya starts to head back towards the gates, keeping to the shadows. As she walks, she whispers to Glaikit. "I need to know about the pan and I expect the story in full later." (if they don't meet anyone on the way, Konya will try and find a good spot to hide at the gates, one that will cover the mountain she has as a companion)

After dark and with an alert in the coutnryside from your attempted infiltration of the city, most people have done the smart thing and have decided to stay inside where they are at until the alert clears. You round a corner, heading toward the gate when you see yourselves backlit as a flashlight is shined on you from behind. "Halt!" a voice calls out. "The city is under lockdown. Why are you out?" Footsteps crunching over loose stones and crumbling pavement let you know someone is approaching from behind and a decent stride (edited)

Glaikit turns around and staggers slightly in the direction of the speaker, aiming to appear a little drunk. "Thrown out of a bar for being a bit too friendly," he says. "so now I'm going home. Can you stop shining that in my face? It isn't helping my headache." He tries to put a bit of distance between himself and Stab Lady, trying to get their attention focused solely on him while he sizes up the numbers and nature of the interrogator.

(talk or perform Glakit, with cha)

(3!)

1

2

1

"If you're local you should know better than to be on the street anyway. Bartender should know too. Turn around, slowly" You can almost feel the officer breathing down the back of your neck. Someone else must be holding the light, because it has not moved.

(Have they spotted Konya too?)

(and can Glaikit activate his panspectral optics to see better in the dark without it being obviously visible?)

(You were both walking together so you're both being illuminated by the flashlight)

12:04 PM

(And yes, you can activate them without it being noticeable)

Glaikit blinks, activating his panspectral optics so he can see his targets. He doesn't abandon the drunk act yet, but drifts his gun hand very slightly towards his weapon. He feels the encounter heading inexorably towards violence. He'll use his cyberware to size up who they are, and gain an advantage - if there's one to be had. As he turns, he hopes the patrol isn't made up of very young men and women, recently press-ganged into war.

Konya turns slowly, trying to side-step stealthily so she can see past the torch-light to it's bearer.

(sneak/dex Konya. We're within 10m so our fancy nullifier stuff won't work so well here)(

2:21 PM

The person holding the light is a teenager- and a young one at that. There is an adult with a rifle pointed at both of you standing next to him. There is a third officer, within slap distance of Gurk that is also an adult and has an aura about them that they're enjoying the authority theyve been empowered with.

Kila Stosk | Konya [Nurrun]

used /r

Kila Stosk | Konya [Nurrun] Request: [3d6d1+3] Rolls: [3, 1, 1] Result: 7 [5, 5, 1] Result: 13

(not sure what you mean by fancy nullifier stuff? - she's not trying to slip out of sight for the purposes of fade, just be stealthy)

(Nope i know, I just meant if we were going to try fade or anything we're within 10m, I never established distances earlier and didnt want to pull a gotcha on you if you decided to commits effort for something)

1

4:49 PM

Konya confirms the person holding the light is a kid, and the other two are adults. The child looks proud to be out here on the hunt, and does not shift the light to illuminate you, not noticing you really slipping away.

Glaikit takes in the three targets. The one with the gun needs to be dealt with, and if Stab Lady can move in on that one Glaikit can deal with the bully officer. Hopefully the bully is too drunk on power to imagine his life might be in danger. Hopefully the child doesn't go for a gun of their own. "You like pushing people around, is that it, making them wait and go?" Glaikit says to the officer, ignoring the others, letting his voice rise a little. He tries to shift forward slightly, so the gunner might have to risk hitting his leader to shoot at Glaikit. "Couldn't find anything more useful to do with your time?" If he can make the officer talk for even a few seconds, Glaikit may have done enough.

Knowing she doesn't have long before the adults notice the child's mistake, Konya nods at Glaikit's attempt to distract the guards and takes a wide berth around the torch-light, moving slowly at first but picking up the pace, closing the gap to the adult standing next to the child. (quick clarification about savage fray - can Konya control who she hits and doesn't? In this case she doesn't want to do shock damage to the child because that seems a little mean unless they have a weapon)

(I would say so, they are holding a flashlight and have not been aggressive so I think they would not qualify as a combatant if you choose not to attack them. Shock implies an attack, or combat at least, so we can decide they're not a valid target)

(Glaikit will see if his ploy with the officer works - trying to give Konya the time to move into position)

"Shut the fuck up scum!" the officer says, moving to quickly spin you around to face him. In his anger, he has not noticed Konya quietly take a step out of the light.

(she's gonna stick the guy if she can, do you want initiative now?)

(Yes, lets do that!)

Kila Stosk | Konya [Nurrun]

used /r

Kila Stosk | Konya [Nurrun] Request: [1d8+1] Roll: [2] Result: 3

(6)

/roll d8

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [1d8] Roll: [6] Result: 6

(Ties go to the player, so Gurk, the guard that's in his face and rifle guard, and then Konya)

(can Glaikit attempt the grapple with the jerk to try and keep him between Glaikit and the gun?)

(Yes, there is a force enemy movement action in the book that I think would fit for this. Let me just crack the book open because I forgot what the checks for it are) (edited)

(okay, first we make an unarmed attack roll, using punch, if it hits, then we move into the next part of this)

(24)

(hits, now we do an opposed punch or exert with str. you get to pick which one we use, just let me know what it is since the NPC needs to oppose with the same)

(11 - exert/strength)

2

/roll 2d6

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [2d6] Roll: [3, 2] Result: 5

(success, you can force him to move up to three meters in any direction, or knock him prone. Your choice)

(does this take away his move action? I'm trying to work out what happens if I move him 3m and he just wants to move back)

(his entire move action if he is knocked prone would be to stand back up, but he would still have a main action to use for something If you're just herding him, he still gets to move when it's his turn, but he would be in melee with you at that point- so he's either got to risk an opportunity attack, or burn his main action on taking fighting withdrawal if he ends up trying to get away from you- so he won't be able to do anything once he does complete his move.) (edited)

Glaikit's hands lock down on the bully's arms, and inexorably shift him to be between Glaikit and the gunner. Without any change in tone, Glaikit keeps up a stream of complaints about the heavy-handed bullying, hoping to cover the noise of Stab Lady's approach without giving the gunner a clear reason to open fire. (so mechanically he's not going to do more than try to keep him occupied and reduce the risk of the gun going off by, I guess, using our guy as some sort of human shield!)

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [2d6] Roll: [6, 4] Result: 10

there is confusion here, but in the sway and twists of trying to force this human shield in front of you, the rifleman takes a shot (morale held, so I'm ruling that as hes not confused, or at least not indecisive )

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [1d20+3] Roll: [15] Result: 18

Nekosmash

used /roll

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

(this should be a 16, since Gurk is partially obscured by the other person, if 16 hits, 1 damage, then Konya is up)

(miss, Glaikit AC = 20)

(damn that dude has a high morale!) Konya hunches as she picks up the pace, sword ready. She lunges the rest of the way to the rifleman, reaching him just after he fires and stabs, aiming to stab in between his ribs. (17/9) (edited)

(they had to meet or beat a 10)

1:43 PM

There is a sickening squelch as the blade sheathes itself inside the rifleman's chest. Wood strikes stone as the weapon tumbles from his grasp to the pavement, and there is a denser thud as the body hits the ground shortly after.

(15/7 - if that's a miss Glaikit would like to use his warrior's luck to convert it to a hit)

With gunfire already in the air, and the element of surprise lost, Glaikit pulls out his sidearm and blasts the target in front of him (close combatant - can use pistol weapons in melee without penalty)

(it ties, he is wearing woven, so we can save your ability)

2:04 PM

Heavily wounded, the once grappled man attacks with a blade concealed in his forearm

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [1d20+3] Roll: [13] Result: 16

(miss, AC of 20 is too high for shock)

Konya turns her attention to the man attacking Glaikit, slashing wildly at his back. (9, shock 3/AC13 shocking assault treats all targets as AC10)

The blade sinks in deep enough to finish the militiaman off. He falls, leaving just the terrified child holding the flashlight remaining

(how much noise have we made and how close are we to a major road?)

(We made a decent amount of noise given the rifle shot. We are three blocks from the gate )

(Uh how big is a block? My European ness is making this unclear!)

(A block is 300 to 350 feet, so about 100 or so meters for our purposes, for ease of math, in total we are 300m from the gate) (edited)

Glaikit leaves the bodies - and their rank insignia - to Konya. He points the gun near, but not at, the child, and looks him in the eye. "I'm not going to kill you unless I have to, kid. Who were these men to you?" (basically he's trying to work out if he just killed his coworkers, or his family)

"My squad. Mortimer and Vif, we had a patrol tonight," he says, trying to put thoughts together. The light is shaking in his hand a bit now.

2

"First firefight where you lose people is always a bad experience," Glaikit says. "And not something training prepares you for." He looks at the bodies, and back to the kid. "Do you have a family? Somewhere to go home to, tonight?" (edited)

"My ma and Da, yes. They're not far. They probably heard that, they're gonna be so worried" he says, almost shivering, though not due to the chilly night air.

"Service is hard on families," Glaikit says, "especially in wartime. Leave this fight to the old men and women. Go home to your parents, right now, and look after them, instead. All this will blow over in a few days. "We'll take care of the evidence," Glaikit adds. "Nobody will know you were here."

He nods once, looking at you for a long few seconds before whispering a thank you, and he begins running home

Konya nods her approval. "Nicely handled, hopefully he'll stay out of the way long enough." She looks over towards the gate. "Someone might've heard that shot though, so let's get these bodies dealt with. I have a charge we could use to make it look like they died in an explosion, at least in the short term, but we'd need something that would be a worthwhile target or it'll look suspicious." Konya kneels down and removes the insignias from both the bodies, tucking them in her pocket, before starting to gather one of them up. "Shame I forgot to bring any burner bags, I usually do."

"I, too, thought this was more of a "demolition charge" mission than a "burner bag" mission," Glaikit says. "I suppose you make do with what you have." He looks around at the surrounding buildings, looking for something worth bombing - or a place to set a trap for the militia team that will surely soon be investigating the gunfire. (basically looking to demo charge the bodies, damaging them enough that the missing insignia isn't obvious and the fact the kid's body isn't there isn't immediately suspicious. We only need a plausible target to cover the fact that destroying the bodies is the entire point of the bomb)

(We're in a residential neighborhood right now, the bar was built near them on purpose since that's where their customers live, we can try to booby trap the bodies, or bring one of the buildings down, that's our options if we are staying where we are)

(booby trapping the body seems a better option, and I think we should have a remote for the demo charge? I'd suggest we plant the explosive under one of the bodies, leave the other body right next to it, retreat to a safe distance and detonate once the militia arrive. If Konya agrees and that seems feasible I can put that in IC - just waiting for her take on it)

(if we have a remote that works, much less likely to injure civilians as well)

(You can set it for time, or for remote control. With Fix-1 you can also make it a shaped charge, so it will explode 40m in one direction, and only 2m in the other three directions)

(both of us have only fix-0! Do we have a sense of what we'd be blasting, or any way to place so we think its less likely to structurally damage the buildings?)

(maybe with your backgrounds we could say the middle of the street, or as close to as you can? )

The soldier and the assassin work hand in hand to lay the bait. With great speed, the corpses are dragged to the middle of the alleyway, between a set of heavy waste bins that will dampen the explosion. The demolition charge lies beneath the patrol leader's body, waiting for someone to turn him over. By their estimation, the resulting blast should take out anyone in the alleyway and shred the bodies beyond recognition, but not destroy the surrounding buildings. "Seems like the sort of thing you'd do to strip the gate of manpower before attacking it, or infiltrating from that direction," Glaikit comments. "Hopefully they draw that conclusion, too. Are we done?"

"I think so. Let's find somewhere far enough away that we can watch and set it off remotely." She hands him the remote and starts looking for somewhere with a good line of sight that's out of the blast radius. "I'll watch for civilians if you want to watch for a patrol."

One of the buildings nearby is much taller than the others, and there is a rusting fire escape going up its sides. A citywide blackout at night to prevent bombardment has everyone's windows closed.

Glaikit ascends quietly, and hunkers down to look for patrols via his panspectral optics (edited)

Konya eyes the rickety fire escape, deciding to wait until Glaikit has reached the top before climbing up herself. She pulls out her binoculars and keeps an eye out for civilians. She whispers, "I doubt there'll be any given the curfew, but better safe than sorry. I'll click my fingers if I see any." (edited)

There is a patrol of six coming, they are two blocks away still but heard the gunfire, and are not running- but are moving at a rapid walk, with their weapons held ready.

7:34 AM

There are no civilians on the street. They are under curfew, and no one is risking being stuck outside.

With the practiced eyes of a soldier, Glaikit sizes up the dimensions of the alleyway against the expected blast radius of the bomb. He doesn't need to catch all of the patrol, but he'll try to get as many of them as he can. (does the fire escape run all the way up the building, to the roof?)

(It does indeed )

10:15 AM

with a 40m blast radius in all directions, if the patrol is coming to inspect the bodies ,you'll kill them all.

Glaikit hangs tight, watching for their approach.

Upon seeing the bodies, the team begins fanning out, shining their lights into alleys and other such places, looking for more information on the scene

Glaikit remains motionless on the fire escape, detonator ready. As he sizes up the position of the troops he keeps an eye out for any attempt to call for backup.

Konya puts a hand on her sword, ready to silently take out anyone if they venture up the fire escape.

The troops are now well within the radius of the blast if the device is triggered, no one looks to be coming up the fire escape. One of the soldier has a bulky bakcpack mounted radio unit, and fortunately is standing closest to the bomb's hiding place

Glaikit turns his head slightly so as not to be staring directly at the fireball, and depresses the trigger.

(need a 4d10 for damage,just so I can figure out the damage to the soldiers and the buildings around us, we should be able to break 1HD pretty easily unless we super whif)

Gurk Samson | Glaikit | Gilbert

used /roll

Gurk Samson | Glaikit | Gatha Request: [4d10] Roll: [9, 7, 7, 6] Result: 29

1

There is a large bang and the ground rumbles. Shards of rock and loose masonry bricks fly into the air as the patrol evaporates under the blast of the heavy weapon. Buildings nearby crack and settle but do not fall. The glass on every building in the surrounding area has been broken

Konya peeks over the railings for survivors. "Pretty sure no one could've survived that, but let's have a quick peek", she whispers, "then I suggest we get changed." (checking for movement - now the windows are out, has this affected the blackout?)

(blackout is still ongoing, nothing is moving right now, since there was just a giant explosion. I would think most immediate people would be shellshocked the first 20-30 seconds after it happened or so)

(is there a window blown out besides our level of the fire escape and if so are there signs of movement within so far as we can tell?)

(its all windows on the surrounding buildings top to bottom)

12:26 PM

The apartment below yours on te southern side of the building facing away from the street seems to hve remained silent. You do not hear anyone whimpering or praying within in the aftermath of the blast

Konya points out the empty house. “We can regroup and change in there. Let’s go down separately in case the vibration made this fire escape even more rickety than it was. I’ll go first.” Konya move slowly at first testing her weight on the rusty metal structure, but aware of the need to move quickly, picks up speed as she becomes more confident in its integrity. While Glaikit descends, she scoots over to the house to have a closer look and make sure it’s empty.

The lights are off inside. There is no evidence of anyone at home. The furnishings are covered with dust cloths and it does not look like anyone has lived here in several months, if not longer.

Glaikit scuttles in behind Konya, avoiding broken glass. He unbundles the clothes as he goes. He looks for a room with no exterior window. "Better make it snappy, and head right for the command centre," he says, already stripping down. "I reckon the head guy will want an update on what's going on at the gate, which might be enough to get us inside."

(They would be for sure, but we have a few mins to prepare before needing to head out)

(Glaikit would like to transport as much of his military kit as possible. The militia's got laser rifles - do we know if a spike thrower and a mag rifle would look crazy out of place to them?)

(Those wouldn’t look out of place given they have other tl4 weapons and are pretty disorganized )

Konya slips in to her makeshift militia uniform, and pulls out the insignias holding them out to Glaikit. "You'd better take the higher rank if there is one. These don't mean much to me, and I'm not that hot on protocol in war, so I should defer to you. Do you know how much authority these might give us?" (realise we haven't checked what rank they actually are or if they're different. but she wouldn't know I think.)

One is a corporal, and the other is a private's uniform -the corporal being the higher ranked of the two, though only slightly.

“How much authority - none. If you are patrolling the streets looking for trouble you are very expendable. But, we may be able to claim authority from a senior officer and claim that we are delivering an important message on their behalf. But, if given a direct order, they will expect obedience. “That said, the militia is poorly trained and as we have just seen, full of people who enjoy authority for the sake of it. Don’t backchat anyone senior to us, but looking bloodthirsty or having less than perfect discipline may be to our advantage. Appearing the model soldiers may itself be suspicious. I’ll shout at you if need be, just don’t backchat me either after that or it might escalate. “Now, if we’re going in hot, what do we want to take and what do we want to leave? This rocket launcher could be handy, but I don’t know if I can get it through their security.”

Konya smirks, "Got it. The rocket launcher isn't a problem if you'll entrust it to me for a while. Don't ask where I'm going to put it." She grabs it and turns around. When she turns back, it has disappeared. "Alright, if we're going to claim authority of a senior officer, we'll need a name at the very least." She checks her uniform for a final time before indicating she's ready. (Void pocket, 1/3 encumbrance remaining 4/6 effort remaining)

"If we're challenged, we can say we're to report to General Rexan. I don't think we know enough about the organisation of the militia to be namedropping others with confidence, but we can say we were ordered to report by the unit leader, who is now dead. "And if anyone asks, the two squad men were Mortimer and Vif. I'd prefer to avoid speaking to anyone besides the bare essentials, but that's three names we are aware of, and using them might get us out of trouble. But looking busy is our best bet, I think."

"OK, we'd better get moving then. Any thoughts on getting in and diverting their attention?"

"I suggest we pitch it close to the truth. Head over to the command centre as fast as we can, with a report to General Rexan on the intruders detected at the perimeter. Relay the basics of the failed search, the casualty report, the military-grade explosives, and say the unit leader believed further attacks in the area were planned, but our forces are now depleted and we need assistance. "We can relay the absolute essentials to anyone who challenges us, but emphasise the stability of the city is at stake, and that we're grunts with an important message to give to the highest level and clear orders. If we can get inside the command post, we can then try to find Rexan - preferably alone. Actually, asleep in bed would be ideal."

"Asleep is no fun." Konya grumbles this more to herself than a real protest as she goes to take a peak out the window to make sure it's safe to exit.

There has not been a response to the explosion yet. One is no doubt being organized , but that will be several minutes if not longer. You have time to slip out into the darkness of the city streets now.

Glaikit pats himself down and makes sure his kit is arranged in such a way that it will pass casual inspection. “Suggest we clear off now, and make best speed to their HQ.”

(If we want to avoid more patrols we can get a sneak/dex each and see how our walk over there goes)

(10)

Kila Stosk | Konya [Nurrun]

used /r

Kila Stosk | Konya [Nurrun] Request: [3d6d1+3] Rolls: [6, 6, 1] Result: 15 [5, 4, 4] Result: 12

2

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [2d6-1] Roll: [5, 1] Result: 5

You are not detected on the way over to the headquarters. Watching from a nearby alley you can see two guards stand in front of the large castle like building in the center of town. It is made of brick with its arrow slits turned into gun ports. Searchlights illuminate the progress of sweep teams going to investigate the blast, and based on the chatter you hear from the guard's radios it sounds like the militia is currently in a state of panic.

Glaikit straightens his back and moves briskly towards the main entrance, trusting Konya to follow. Making no effort at concealment, he tries to give every appearance of being a militiaman going about his duties. (he's not trying to sneak past the guards, and will stop when/if ordered to stop)

At the door the two guards do their duty and stop you, wanting to know who you are and what you’re doing here.

Konya follows, slightly behind Glaikit. She stops as he does, staring straight ahead and not looking directly at the guards.

"Patrol coming in from the gate," Glaikit says, speaking quickly, and firmly. "We've got an urgent report specifically for General Rexan. A very powerful military-grade explosive has killed what looks like a significant number of militiamen, and more are missing. We've been sent to report and then take orders back before whatever happens next happens." Glaikit does his best to project the calm-under-pressure aura of a soldier at war, one with an important job to do where speed is critical.

"Heard it from here" the guard says, nodding to his companion that it is okay for you to pass. "Head in , General is on the command level. We'll let him know you're coming with a report "

Glaikit nods in thanks, and checks the guard's insignia as he passes in case he needs to describe him later on. Hopefully, the layout of the castle/fortress is simple enough to make the command centre easy to locate.

The guard is not wearing a nametag, but you can see they are also a private, and they have a V device for Valor underneath their rank pin.

Glaikit notes this silently, and walks forward into the facility.

The bottom level looks to be reserved for some quieter meeting rooms and the barracks of the specialists and guards working here. A keycard is needed to get into the dorms and this uniform does not have one on it. A winding ballroom staircase split into a left and right section ascend to a second level and you can see the green glow of large electronic screens even from here on the ground floor. Two more guards stand at the balcony the stairs connect to, keeping watch on the front doors and those coming into the command center.

Aware that they're likely to be rumbled if they don't head straight up the stairs to deliver their 'message' Konya starts climbing the stairs at a a half-run. She eyes the guard nearest her checking to see if they outrank her and if she can spot their keycard. She uses her momentum to deliberately trip at the top, in to one of the guards and get his keycard. "Oof, sorry Soldier. Urgent business with the General." (if the guard outranks her, she'll say sir instead of soldier. Trying to pickpocket their keycard. If she can't see their keycard, she'll just go for the nearest pocket)

(these are all privates out here, so you're a higher rank)

12:02 PM

The guard salutes, seeing your rank pins, and steps out of your way so you can enter the command room. It is a massive space with electronics taking up almost every surface between the walls and floor console mounts. Forty techs are working in here, under the watchful eyes of a squad of ten soldiers each stationed about equidistantly around the outside of the room, ready to respond to a threat from wherever it might come from. The General and two of his more senior officers, both of them Majors judging by their rank pins, are looking at maps of the city, and are trying to gain control over the chaotic scene here. Intruders are at large in the countryside, and there has been a major blast in the city. For intents and purposes, the city is under attack.

(did i manage to get a keycard?)

(Yep! sorry!)

1

(what's the layout of the building? can we get a sense of what's on the level right under the command centre - is it the dorms/barracks?)

(underneath is probably a machine space for the computers and whatnot, )

7:06 AM

( all the wires and power feeds and the stuff that makes the command center work. When you came in, there was just a solid wall there that the stairs were attached to. I can doodle something with one of my trademark shitty doodles if you want) (edited)

Glaikit pulls up the clumsy subordinate and delivers a perfunctory dress-down as they head into the command centre itself. With his back straight, he moves directly towards the general, taking note of any windows that might serve as potential escape routes in the event of this all going pear-shaped. (we're not going to initiate combat unless it looks like things are going *horribly * pear-shaped) (edited)

On this floor the windows to the outside are horizontal panes about a half meter wide, where the high walls meet the ceiling. The city is on war footing and the command center was modified so no one would be able to shoot from the street into the building, and if the building was hit, there would be less glass shrapnel to wound the people inside.

1

8:50 AM

(This is what we have seen so far

(can the guards on the door see us from here, or are they physically outside? The ones we passed to get into the building, I mean) (edited)

(The ones you passed to get in are downstairs and physically outside, so there is both an elevation obstruction, and solid wall obstruction between you two and them)

Konya continues to trail behind Glaikit, looking as chastised as she can, head and eyes slightly down.

Finishing off with a vague reference to dealing with the truculent soldier later on, Glaikit approaches the general - at a safe distance, waiting for permission to move closer.

The general sess you approaching and the condition of your uniforms, and reasons out you must have just come in from the streets. "You two, what do you want?" he asks, not yet gesturing for you to come close. He is passively reading a data pad, and is signing another order slate while also keeping attention on you. He has the steeled face of someone who has actually been professionally trained in this role at one point, and is not just some power hungry maniac giving themselves a title.

Glaikit gives an appropriate salute. "Sir, we've been sent from the gate to report and take orders back before things escalate out there. A very large military explosive has killed many militiamen in what looks like a trap to reduce our presence at the gate. Some patrols are missing, and I'm no longer sure who has operational command in the area. It seems likely further attacks are incoming at that location, and we're now undermanned. What are your orders?" Glaikit waits for the response, hoping that hewing as close to the facts as possible, telling no lies, and playing the familiar role of a soldier reporting operational details to his superior will allay suspicion. It seems unlikely that the general will leave the building. If Glaikit can get through this briefing without gunfire, a few minutes access to the level below might be enough to finish their mission.

“We need to re establish the chain of command. Are you the only patrol that made it back so far?” He asks, gesturing for both of you to come closer

"I believe so sir, " Glaikit says. Trying to be tactful, he says "Given the nature and location of the explosion other patrols may be seeking safer, indirect routes here, or digging in at defensible positions while awaiting orders."

Konya copies Glaikit’s salute and stands using all her concentration to try and look like a soldier. (Not much to add but don’t want her to be standing around like a lemon. Happy for Glaikit to take the lead on this and she’ll just follow along)

(Talk/cha Gurk, and that sounds good Konya, is there anything you'd be paying special attention to while Glakit is shmoozing? )

(8 EDIT My math-ing is failing me. It's 9) (edited)

(she'll be listening to the techs/guards around the room for information on the room below, and anyone who indicates they might have access)

You see one tech in what looks to be a mix between workmans coveralls and a military uniform. They have a bright silver keycard around their neck jingling on a thin silver chain. It is encoded with what looks to be many lines of scripting, and several computers around the tech pits here look like they have slots to accept this card. The general continues talking with Glaikit. "What's your name soldier? And your unit? I want to make sure you're commended for getting back here so fast"

"Mortimer, sir," Glaikit says, "our unit handles the residential area around the gate. Dive bars and slums mostly. Not very keen on the militia there, unfortunately. I'm very grateful for the commendation general, I'll do whatever I can during this crisis." (Glaikit is using the name of the dead patrol leader from earlier, and describing the area they were caught in - and what he knows of it from the trip to the bar. If Rexan isn't familiar with Mortimer personally, this info should match what the records show. Did we get a unit number designation from the bodies? If not, and this is what Rexan is after Glaikit is only going to hazard a guess if he has no other choice)

(they're not quite so organized where we have detachments and stuff yet, and not enough men under arms to make even a battalion from what we can tell of the city, from what we can tell)

(in that case he won’t add any information beyond what he’s already said, hoping to move past the question of his identity ASAP!)

"Get something to eat, both of you, I'll get orders out to the sweep teams shortly and I'll have you run them"

7:27 AM

The general takes a moment to sign something on an incoming data pad before dismissing you both

Glaikit salutes and moves away slightly. He watches Konya to see if she was able to piece together their next move. It seems like they won’t have much time before they are forced to leave the building again.

(no one is going to bother you as you leave, but I suppose the matter now is where do we go next)

(I think our plan is still to get into the server room and hopefully stick a demo charge right below where the general is standing!)

the general dismisses both of you, and the indication looks for you to both be expected to leave the command level now, your report given. The general knows you are present still, but is absorbed in his work. In another few seconds he might say something.

Konya salutes the General and then turns and follows Glaikit out the room. She leads the way to the dorms, using the keycard she swiped from the guard to let them in. “We should get some food and rest before we’re called out again.” In the dorms she looks around for lockers that off duty techs might have left one of the silver keycards in.

(notice/wis)

Kila Stosk | Konya [Nurrun]

used /r

Kila Stosk | Konya [Nurrun] Request: [2d6+1] Roll: [5, 3] Result: 9

(8)

None of the silver keycards have been left behind, there are few, and are something that are watched hawkishly. There is a spare tech uniform here though, left in a laundry bag hanging from a dorm room door.

Konya heads over to the door, and runs her hands over the uniform. "Not sure this would be of any use, now that they've seen us. What do you think?"

"We need inside that room, so we need a uniform and a keycard," Glaikit says. "I think we should take it with us and head towards the mess, looking for anyone who might have a card. We know what they look like - which is a good start."

The mess hall is located at the far end of this hallway ( opposite the secure doors w here we came into the building and then into the dorm area) , and there is a platoon eating dinner here now. They are quiet and are wearing combat kits- likely getting a last hot meal before going out to join the effort outside

Glaikit carefully looks each way to make sure nobody can overhear. "Let's grab some food, sit away from the door," he says. "If a tech comes in, I'll cause a distraction and you try to swipe the card." He walks in, a weary soldier intent on getting his rations.

The line is lackluster and the meal is different colors of slop, the smells you cannot identify. The soldiers here seem to have no problem eating it.

Glaikit fills the tray and sets up where he and Konya can see the door. As he moves around, he scans the soldiers looking for any infraction that would require attention from an officer. If Glaikit is going to cause a distraction, a bit of discipline in a time of war would draw eyes without raising suspicion. (he's looking for things like insignia not properly displayed, weapons secured in a way that could be dangerous, or anything else that might get a soldier pulled up)

Two of the soldiers have not put back plates in their carriers , a cardinal sin if you want to survive being shot in the back.

Konya tucks in to her slop determinedly. She's eaten her fair share of scraps as a child, so hopes it won't be too bad. She watches the door discretely for anyone in a tech uniform.

The technical crew has been run ragged by the demands of the garrison commander and both of the techs you see resting in one of the corner tables are about to fall asleep into their meals.

(if they don't have back plates in the carriers, does that mean there is a gap in their armour Glaikit can poke? He's going to be overdramatic if possible)

(No gap it would just be soft on the back)

Glaikit gives Konya a meaningful look, and stands up quietly. If he can get everyone watching him for ten or fifteen seconds it might be enough. He approaches the first under-equipped soldier from the rear, remaining stealthy. Immediately behind his target, he extends his index finger and gives a good, sharp poke in the soft part. "BANG," Glaikit says, loudly enough to drown out everything else in the room. "You're dead, soldier."

1

the soldier sighs, knowing you've noticed the failure to insert his back plate, as has his squad's senior officer, who is now getting up to roast the unfortunate soldier. This will be a dressing down for the ages,

Konya saunters around the room towards the techs, waiting for the dressing down to truly begin. She leans near their table eyeing them up. (have they responded to the commotion at all or are they still sleepy? you said the key was on a chain around their neck right?)

(yep! chain around neck, for these guys since off duty probably under the shirt like part of their dog tags, and they're not part of this unit so they'reprobably enjoying watching that poor private about to get smoked, but they're not in trouble themselves)

Konya steps up to the nearest tech and chuckles, "enjoying the show?" She pats him on the shoulder, using the movement to disguise her fingers fiddling with the chain around his neck. (the plan is to knock his cutlery to the floor and after retrieving it, slip her hand in to his shirt to dip the keycard, but don't want to go too far until I see his reaction)

(we can get a sneak/dex for sleight of hand to try to grab it while this is happening)

Kila Stosk | Konya [Nurrun]

used /r

Kila Stosk | Konya [Nurrun] Request: [3d6d1+3] Rolls: [5, 3, 1] Result: 11 [6, 5, 2] Result: 14

2

1

The technician is sleepy and does not notice as the card is delicately plucked from their neck, thinking they must have brushed it on the table. No one sees you pocket the keycard.

Konya heads over towards Glaikit and the commotion, indicating with a flick of her head towards the door that they got what they came for. She heads back to her table and clears up her tray, not wanting to give anyone that might be looking to take the attention away from their wrong-doing an opportunity. She heads back towards the dorm to don the tech uniform, waiting for Glaikit to extract himself.

Glaikit, his job done, ducks out after her.

The roasting of the poor cadet continues as you leave, and the technical crew is none the wiser that their keycard is missing.

(Assuming the dorms are still empty) Konya slips in to the tech garb and pulls her hair free of its usual bun, running her fingers through it to give a slight bedhead look. She slips the keychain around her neck and turns to Glaikit. "Is this different enough? Is hair free of fastenings even allowed in the militia?" She bites her lip, waiting for his verdict.

"Might be a considered a breach, though as an indoor tech, there may be more leeway in what you do. The disguise doesn't have to hold for long though. I'll go right in front of you until we reach the server room door. I'll wait outside - you'll have to go inside alone, so make sure you have the kit. If the room is empty and you need help I can follow you in - otherwise I will loiter outside." Glaikit opens the door, preparing to head to the server room, keeping an eye out for potential trouble along the way.

With uniforms and the keycard no one looks to bat an eye as you approach the door. You've also been seen in the company of the General recently, allowing you a measure of passability for any schemes. There is a beep as the door to the server room opens, and two other technicians are inside. The room is a 10m large cube that is swelteringly hot,with cables running through the ceiling and in every possible direction between various server stacks The technicians are facing the door from their desk at the back of the room looking over some schematics on a computer

(our plan is to set the demolition charge for maximum damage. Can the charge be concealed under e.g. a desk and can it be done quietly? Or do we think we definitely need to deal with this pair first?)

(They're standing at the desk and are going to notice a giant block of explosives dropped at their feet probably)

(what else is in the room? Server cabinets?)

(just what I described. It's an efficient work area)

(so if this is a castle, how solid do the walls/door seem to be? Enough to muffle a pistol?)

(I would sort of run this like DnD dungeons work where the longer the fight goes on ,the more people could take notice checks, and easier notice checks)

(Murder it is then!) Konya walks briskly passed the desks and then wheeling suddenly stabs the nearest tech in the ribs, muffling his screams with her other hand. (11/8 - assume miss? But should do 3/15 shock - shocking assault treats all targets as ac10)

(It's a miss and you'd do shock damage. I think we're going to need initiative before anytihng else happens though since we've now started hostilities)

Kila Stosk | Konya [Nurrun]

used /r

Kila Stosk | Konya [Nurrun] Request: [1d8+1] Roll: [1] Result: 2

1

1

(10)

(dice maiden isn't cooperating, I tried rolling a few times and nothing is working, so I'll circle back to this shortly and hopefully the bot is more cooperative)

1

Nekosmash

used /roll

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

(okay, Glakit, Konya, Techs one of whom is already bleeding. Thanks for your patience, I tried again before I went to bed last night so you;'d have been able to hopefully do something this morning while you waited for me to get out of bed, and it was still down) (edited)

(no worries! Can Glaikit hold his action until after Konya, by using his move action?)

(I had Glakit as basically just behind the door to the server room that just closed, so you're a move action-ish away from the techs, just for figuring out melee purposes. If that all tracks for ya, we can certainly hold)

(he'd be blastin' with his pistol, so that works)

Konya slashes again at the side of the tech she is holding. (14/6 - 3 shock if miss. She'll move to engage the other tech in melee - I think Glaikit will take his shot to finish this guy off if he isn't already) (edited)

(this one hits) The tech is bleeding heavily and falls as the knife punches into something more vital this time. He does not manage to get any shouts of alarm out before falling. (Glakit up, one unharmed tech is left)

As Konya returns to her default behaviour - stabbing - Glaikit draws his pistol and fires a shot at the head of the remaining tech. (14/8, if that's a miss he will use warrior's luck on it) (edited)

The shot takes the other technician in the head. There is a perfect circle of crimson in the middle of their forehead and they collapse backwards. Their chair is knocked over and they leave a red smear down the wall as they collapse.

"Right. Let's work fast in case anyone heard that and get the hell out of this city." She starts opening her pack and removing her demo charge. "Where do you think the General's station was, above the server stacks?" (edited)

"Close enough," Glaikit says. "Let's stick it and go - I doubt we've got more than sixty seconds before someone arrives. And we need enough time to get out of the building."

"Alright." Konya heads over to the server stacks and sticks the charge as close to the ceiling as she can manage. She slips the detonator in to her pocket, memorizing its shape in case she needs to quickly identify and send it to the void if they're searched for any reason. "Alright, I'll go first and knock when it's safe for you to come out." She heads out the room, to make sure the coast is clear.

There are two guards above you that you can hear coming down the stairs to investigate, but they are out of your immediate eyesight and are a few seconds away.

Following Konya into the empty hallway, Glaikit extends his stride to the maximum length possible, and makes briskly for the exit. Projecting the air of a man on a mission, he'll try to brazen his way through the door guards and out the other side. Hopefully before those two guards raise the alarm.

(is the demo charged being timed, or are we using a remote detonator? )

(Konya has the remote in her pocket) (edited)

Konya steps quickly to the side of Glaikit, unsure as to whether techs are allowed to leave in this manner, and keeps pace using his rather large bulk to hide her from the guards.

The general is occupied in the other room as the both of you leave. THe guards had all seen you here before, and think you're authorized so likewise do not stop you as you exit the building.

After ten seconds of brisk marching, hopefully enough to get out of the blast zone, Glaikit looks at Konya. "Boom?" he asks, quietly. (edited)

Konya fingers the detonator in her pocket. "Let's get out of sight first, it'll look suspicious if we're not running back towards the explosion when it goes off." She looks around for somewhere to shelter. (Not looking for a fantastic hiding space, just between 2 buildings will do and somewhere that's quick to access because the quicker we blow this thing the better)

(There are plenty of alleys around, I think that would be easy to find)

“This way.” Konya marches briskly once more to an alleyway. She makes sure Glaikit has followed her and then pushes the button in her pocket and waits for the boom.

(just get me a 4d12 so I know how much damage the building is taking too, and we'll move on)

(15

)

4:55 PM

(39 - reroll

)

2

There is a muffled blast from inside the building. There is a bright flash and smoke begins to pour from every window in the structure. Cracks begin to appear on the walls of the castle and large rocks begin to fall from the ceiling onto the wounded inside below. Dust rises into the night sky in a mushroom cloud and the first of the fires ignites as the entire building begins to collapse on itself. Two soldiers who had been standing near the door throw themselves outside, trailing smoke and dust. They lay on the ground coughing and wrenching and are in no condition to chase anyone or anything.

Konya allows herself a small smile and pulls Glaikit further down the alley looking. "Let's get out of here. What do you think? Get changed and try to sneak out - I'm sure there'll be some sort of panic we could take advantage of as people try to flee. Or keep our gear on and hide in plain sight?"

"Think there might be a lot of folks out for revenge against the militia tonight," Glaikit says, "so I'd prefer civilian clothing. If we can get out by the abandoned guard post after changing clothes I think we'll have no trouble making pickup."

(how did we get in? were we teleported in from the ship in orbit again, or was it shuttle?)

(It was a shuttle and comet suits iirc. They can teleport you out though back to space you just have to get out of the city , since you need unobstructed sky )

(thanks) "Back to the house we changed in and then out over the tower? We'll have to play that by ear, they might've figured out we went that way." Konya takes point, taking care to choose paths with things big enough to hide Glaikit's bulky frame. "If anyone asks, we can say we're tailing suspects...I hope."

"We should use that authority we were given so far as we can," Glaikit says. "But moving quickly is our best hope, I think."

(sneak/dex for each of you, and we'll be off)

(6)

Kila Stosk | Konya [Nurrun]

used /r

Kila Stosk | Konya [Nurrun] Request: [2 3d6d1+3] Rolls: [6, 5, 1] Result: 14 [6, 4, 1] Result: 13

1

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [2d6-1] Roll: [4, 1] Result: 4

The pair make it through the tower to change before heading back over the walls. Upon sprinting into the slurry field, there is a flash of light as you find yourselves on the teleportation deck of the vessel that brought you here. The second of three opposing cities has been cast into disarray, and after spending the night resting, by morning they've issued a statement to the emerging communist government on the planet urging for peace.

1

7:20 AM

(6xp, 50 ,000 credits )

2

2

(since we clobbered those techs without them taking an action, I think this meets Glaikit's goal "End a fight before the enemy even has a chance to try to fight back"? He needs to level up and would like to resupply, but is happy to go after city number three after that!) (edited)

(Yep that would satisfy the goal)

(I'm levelled up and would like to basically buy some "normal" military kit - demo charges, a pistol. Will we have access to that before we roll out again?)

(I too would like to replace my demo charge if they're available, but not essential)

(Yes we would have access. there are a few demo charges available, not a large supply, enough for two each)

(Glaikit is all levelled up and resupplied then!)

(Same for Konya) Konya sidles over to Glaikit, feeling refreshed and warm after a very, very long, hot shower. "There's still one city left. Taking out the last bastion will be difficult but it should tip the scales and make this war a lot less bloody. You feeling up to another infiltration mission? They'll almost certainly be expecting us this time."

"Sure, never leave a job unfinished," Glaikit says. "As to them expecting us, I think you're right. "And I was wondering to myself: if I were the leader of the last stronghold of a military force and I had just learned black ops agents infiltrated and subverted all the other military strongholds, what would I be doing right now?"

(didn't want to cut this off, but seen)

"Hiding?"

"Maybe. But also, I'd be learning everything I could about what happened to the other cities. And then ordering a shoot-on-sight order for anyone without clear authorisation to be where they are, pre-emptively arresting anybody who even looked like they might be able to help out an infiltrator, and getting my very best people pretending to be would-be-revolutionaries and then shooting the infiltrators in the back as soon as they made contact. "I think we'd better learn as much as we can about our target before touching ground and avoid repeating any of the tricks we've used so far."

"Do you have any thoughts on how we do that? As far as I know, we still haven't made any headway in that area and communications out of there are sparse. One of the other cities might have information, but it won't be up to date so I'm not sure how much it will help us."

"I didn't get the impression the other cities have done much construction, so hopefully the basic layout of the city has not changed. If we can get a good map, we might be able to locate a quiet route in. "Maybe it can't be done, but I'd prefer to get into the city undetected and keep out of everyone's way, then identify who we need to shoot, stab, or blow up from there. I think talking to locals is likely to be very high risk now."

"I know someone in Cydonia who was pretty adept at...acquiring things. We could possibly ask around there? I owe them one anyway."

"Might work," Glaikit says. "And it'd be nice to stop by a city where not everyone is currently trying to kill us." (Glaikit is happy to try and get a map or route into the city from this person, if we can find them)

(you could also teleport in, so long as its on top of a building or something, )

(I think what we've agreed on here is to try and operate in the last city with as little contact with locals as possible. So ideally, we'd want a building we could teleport onto and operate out of - abandoned, wrecked, in a dangerous area etc. with only a small chance of being spotted. If we can figure that out from orbit, we'd like to try to work out what we know about the situation in the city then beam down. If we can't establish this from orbit, we'd like to try and get that info before teleporting in)

(I'll get you a city map with some buildings on it)

7:24 AM

(this would be the immediate area that looks to fit most with what you need)

7:24 AM

(There is more to the city than this)

Konya pours over the map looking for an infiltration spot. "Or this works. The slums (low rent housing project) would probably be ideal if it weren't so near the government building." She traces her finger on the route between the two buildings. "I think they might have a presence there. "If we go in under cover of dark the warehouses just north of them might work. What do you think?"

"We could take some actual food and water supplies, disguises, something to break into a storage unit with, and live out of one for the duration of the mission," Glaikit says. "If we get a long-term storage unit or warehouse block we might go undetected."

(seen! )

"I was hoping it would be short term accommodation, but being prepared doesn't hurt." Konya heads towards the ship stores and pull out some rations. "Oh, you'll be wanting your rocket launcher back, I assume." She holds her hand empty hands out and concentrates until the rocket launcher appears. "Ya go."

Glaikit hugs the rocket launcher to his chest, then packs it away. "Alright. We'll need to gear up but I think we are just about ready." (Glaikit has a metatool and survival kit, and would like to take 3 days of rations. This should be enough to break into something with and sleep on. For disguises we were looking at something to pass as homeless people)

(I think we can call that available. It would technically be "street" in terms of armor classification so it can be worn either on its own ,or under other armor with no problem)

(Glaikit has everything he needs then)

(Konya will take the same amount of rations and she’s good to go)

(We're wanting to TP down by the slums still? )

(We decided to go for the storage units/warehouses and we’d like to go at night since it should be night shift levels of staff)

There is a brief displacement of air as you are both teleported into an alleyway in the warehouse district. There is nothing happening in the area and it does not seem patrolled during this time of night. Almost all of the city has its lights off fearing an air raid by the now growing communist forces. Only the government building in the center of town has its lights on, but is also protected by a thicket of anti air cannons and missiles. No one is on the street. Curfew is in effect and aside from the occasional passing military vehicle repeating that the city is under marital law and no one can be on the street without a pass from the government.

Glaikit listens to the ambient sounds of a fascist hellhole for a few seconds. "Well, this sounds awful. Hopefully we can break into a building without too much trouble." He begins to look for possible entry points into the storage units, looking to see if there's anything resembling a long-let storage depot.

There are six warehouses here. Each of them has been divided inside into long term storage units and none of them show signs of being accessed recently from what you can tell. The locks each have a coating of dust on them from what you can tell of the exterior doors. In a theft prevention measure, the windows are made of reinforced glass and are 2m up the side of the building, out of reach for random passer by traffic to bust a window and gain access to the buildings (edited)

2:09 PM

Each is secured by an entry door with a keypad that needs either a keycard, or a four digit combination.

(are they one-storey buildings? Can we tell from here if the roof is flat or sloped? Trying to work out if we could climb up and try to find an access door up there)

(It is sloped, but gently. more curved than angled if that makes sense)

7:45 AM

(and yes, one storey)

(just checking that I've not misunderstood...the dusty locks and the ones that need a keycard or combination are the same thing?)

(it needs one or the other. Basing it off my irl storage unit where you can either be scanned in with a card, or you can type in a pin they give you, but it doesn't need both )

(would a metatool be able to cut out/break off this type of lock?)

(I was going to try and Nancy drew them before we resorted to that! But would still be useful to know)

(A meta tool could do it yes, it would let us attempt a fix/int to try to break it (

(Let's use that as plan B then) Konya studies the locks for a moment, "we might be able to guess the code. Let me try a technique I've used before we do something noticeable." She removes a small, fine makeup brush from her bag and starts lightly brushing away the dust, careful to only dislodge the loose flecks. "When people type in the number, oil from the skin is left on the keypad and hopefully the dust has stuck to it if they've done it enough times. We might be able to guess the code if they've made it something easy, like a year or date or something. And if they've repeated numbers in the code the oil build up should be higher and there should be more dust sticking to it." She looks up at Glaikit, "that's the theory, anyway. Doesn't always work."

The 8 is repeated twice or is used in my combinations, the other digits are 1, and 5 based on how you are swabbing the keypad (edited)

(which way up is the keypad? 1s at the top left, or like a computer one where it's bottom left?)

(Top left )

(so 1 would be at the top left. It's not meant to be a high security facility)

"It might be a year, I guess, though a very distant one, but we could try a couple of patterns before we bust it open? People usually go in chronological order, or top to bottom that sort of thing. 1588 is both chronological and top to bottom so I'd suggest we try that. Failing that I'd suggest 1858 unless you have other ideas?" (edited)

“None whatsoever,” Glaikit says.

1588 beeps an angry red and nothing happens, 1858 rewards you with a brief flash of a green light, and a beep. The door unlocks. No lights come on inside, but you find a switch next to the door upon entering the long row of storage units inside this warehouse

2:23 PM

(think like those mini garage door style ones where they're locked at the bottom with a cheap little padlock or something)

Konya does a little fist pump. “Aw yisss!” She says gently to herself. “Let’s get in before anyone sees us and see what we’ve got.” She walks along the row. “Those locks look much easier to deal with. See any you like the look of?” She sweeps her hand indicating the basically identical units, smirking.

Glaikit looks up and down the rows, holding out his hand with the metatool. "... This one." He heads towards the lock, to see if he can snip the bar in such a way that it can still pass muster to a casual inspection. (not looking for anything fancy - if he can rehang the padlock that's fine so long as the missing metal chunk isn't huge)

(I think we could just pick the lock fairly routinely with your metatool and don't need to cut it in that case)

7:33 AM

(especially given your combined backgrounds, routine matter for either of you, not even skill check worthy)

Glaikit inspects the lock, and gets to work with the metatool. After a few seconds, it clicks. "I'm in," he says, and stoops to quietly roll up the door.

Several pieces of home furnishing have been stored here with dust coverings keeping them from getting further tarnished by their time spent here. There is some room to walk around inside and you can make out a couch, a chair, and the back wall has been heaped with several taped closed boxes. A tall lamp missing its harp and lampshade has been tucked int the corner.

"Great!" says Glaikit, who had absolutely not been worried they were about to stumble upon some serial killer's corpse-pile. "Let's get set up, then I want to see if we can get onto the roof and get a look at fascist HQ through the binoculars."

At the back of the hallway of storage units and to the right where it forms the shape of a T, access to the storage unit offices is available, and a rickety looking metal ladder with peeling paint leads through a hatch in the ceiling, allowing roof access.

"Perfect. Cozy even. But let's not get too comfy and get this done as soon as." Konya pulls her binoculars out and tests the rickety ladder with her weight. "Catch the ladder if it falls. Don't want it to make noise." As an afterthought she adds, "I'll be fine."

Glaikit waits at the bottom of the ladder, ready to grab on if it wrenches free of the wall.

The ladder creaks and makes a few noises you're not happy about, but it extends properly and you are able to get to the roof. (notice/wis Konya)

Kila Stosk | Konya [Nurrun]

used /r

Kila Stosk | Konya [Nurrun] Request: [2d6+1] Roll: [6, 5] Result: 12

1

(Aside from generally describing the building to you, is there any specific information you'd be looking for or would be paying close attention to? I

11:51 AM

will wrap that into the description )

(with the strategic situation on the planet right now, would disabling anti-air defences be enough to force this last stronghold to surrender?)

(I would say so, if they can be air raided with impunity from three different directions them mounting a defense is not something they can hope to do anymore)

(So I think we're interested in knocking out the air defences to force a surrender. We're on the lookout for anything that might help with that: -climbable routes up the outside of the building to physically access the emplacements -any sensor arrays or power trunk lines that might act as weakpoints we could sever -any structural flaws in the building that might be targeted by a remote rocket strike Besides that, a general sense of the visible security setup would help)

There are no climbable routes on the outside of the building (outside gecko anchors or a roach harness to just make the surface climbable, but nothing climbable by design)
- The city power station is likewise well defended from the air. Ground defenses seem more porous as utility workers are still needing to report to work.
- The city hall itself is protected by an umbrella stand, which will slag incoming mortars and rockers while power is active.

(since Glaikit has gecko anchors, does that appear to open up any options for an ascent + bombing?)

(We'd have to see how things look from street level in terms of access to the sides of the building, but if we can get to them there isn't anything to prevent you from climbing. The umbrella stand doesn't stop demo charges so long as they're planted and not thrown) (edited)

Konya inspects the buildings through her binoculars, then shimmies carefully back down the ladder. "So, their power and city hall are protected from air strikes for now, but if we could procure some uniforms for the power plant workers and take out the plant we could probably force a surrender with air raids. That'll leave a lot of people high and dry, and really cold though." She shivers. "You could climb city hall with your nifty implants, but there's not obvious way for me to follow you." (How likely are we to just be shot on sight if we break some minor rules as homeless people under martial law? If they'd just jail us for a while, where would we likely end up?)

(I think so long as you're in an alley or something they would leave you alone after a bit of menacing)

8:45 AM

(It looks like the people here are being fed, so they might throw you into jail for the day or a few days rather than shoot you to save the food for another mouth)

Glaikit waits for her to descend. "I wonder if they realise there are two of us?" he asks. "A well-timed distraction by you could give me enough time - but we'll definitely need to take a closer look before deciding on this plan. "How about we get some rest and in the early morning take a wander through the streets? If it's cold, moving to keep warm might be enough of a cover story for what we're doing. I think we need to do everything we can to avoid arrest."

"I agree, definitely need to see more of what's going on and that we rest now." Konya pulls out a sleeping bag and some of her rations to nibble before getting a rest. "Don't think we need to bother with a watch since we got in so smoothly."

(Glaikit is happy with this, but will make sure any lights we turned on are back off before settling in)

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [d10] Roll: [2] Result: 2

Nothing happens during the night. A patrol vehicle drives by a few times repeating the curfew warning that most of the city knows by heart from now on. Morning comes with gray dawn and a light snow falling. The temperature is just above freezing, and the locals with early shifts and other permitted duties begin moving , going about their errands in another day of this city, their wartime home.

Konya sleepily pulls on the disguises they brought with them. "I'm going somewhere nice and warm for my next mission. Screw this snow. Is there anything you want to take with you that would look suspicious on a homeless person? The void beckons." She holds her hands up and wiggles her fingers spookily.

"Well, how about you take my pistol and a metatool? That way even if we're searched we'll just look harmless."

(That will all work if we want to put it in the void pocket. )

(Low on spoons lately, sorry for the delay) "Done." She makes a show of using 'magic' to make the things disappear and then stashes everything in her pack except her knife which she slips in to a cunningly disguised pocket on her wrist and a burner bag which she sends to the void as well. "Never know when you might need to hide a body. Are we ready to head out?" (3/3 encumbrance used for Void Pocket, 2/6 effort available - fade is also active)

Glaikit watches his gear vanish into nothingness and stretches. "Ready enough. Better get our meek, downtrodden, victims-of-fascism faces on I guess."

(you and me both dude)

2

There are few people on the street when you decide to leave and begin walking around ,but they are slowly filling up with people taking advantage of the freedom of movement daylight hours provides. Several columns of smoke rise from the countryside as a bombing raid by the other nation-states fell short of their intended targets here and did not stirke the city directly

Following the plan, they set off in the general direction of the government building, slowly, circuitously, and looking as though their two main priorities are keeping warm and not getting beaten up. (I think if we can get within a couple hundred meters of the place we'll take stock of what we can see and go from there)

Building materials for physically walling off the command center are in short supply. You can see where a few rows of bricks were laid but it was not nearly enough to form a barricade of any kind. The gutters and drain pipes allow access to the roof and are well bolted on, you think someone getting close enough could climb them. The roof has a sandbag wall on it, covering sky facing anti aircraft defenses. A guard booth on all four corners of the building houses three guards, one watching the street and two keeping mind of a radio and spotlight to look into the sky at night. Almost every security arrangement you've seen has been pointed up to keep an eye on the sky rather than the surrounding streets- which are left to more distant rings of patrols. The patrols are a mix of on foot and vehicle mounted. The vehicles are light to medium armored trucks , some have a machine gun on the back while others have the sound systems you heard blaring through the night, announcing the rules and curfew to those living on the path of the patrol and beyond.

(can we see our bombing target from here? are there any ground oriented defences near it?) (edited)

The power station is more heavily defended from the ground. IT has several large rocks backed up behind a chain link fence to prevent someone from just driving through it. There are twenty guards who keep to patrolling the building and the grounds there. There was an attempt to construct an umbrella stand here as well, but the special parts needed to complete it must have never come in,a nd only the spindly legs remain stuck in the ground in front of the building where it has a clear view of the sky.

(sorry, I forgot the name of the umbrella stand so my post wasn't clear! What I meant was: if we can get past the guards to the edge of the government building, do we think the route to the Umbrella stand is clear of hostiles from that point?)

(they don't work that way, they;re basically like the modern day iron dome, just laser based. They shoot down drones, rockets, mortars, ect, not really designed to both depress low enough to shoot at personnel or ground targets, and aren't really a suitable type of weapon for doing so as folks on foot are going to be able to scatter and follow more evasive and random paths than a projectile.

11:18 AM

(We've seen they cant replace the stand though should it be destroyed, so that would still make an opening for coalition aircraft or something. You don't have to bring down the city yourselves necessarily, just create an opening for it to be done- rebel leadership understands some things would be outside the skillsor ability of just two people) (edited)

The pair draw up somewhere out of sight of hostile patrols, where it seems they are less likely to be shot out of hand for being loitering homeless people. "The umbrella stand seems like the best option," Glaikit says. "If we can time a distraction to draw attention from the guards, I might be able to use my anchors to go right up the building and stick a demo charge on. They'd be defenceless against air power and have to surrender. "That's my idea anyway. Given how cold it is, blowing up the power plant seems like it would come back to haunt us so I'm not keen on it."

"I agree. Don't want to make the situation worse for the people living here just because their leaders are stubborn. You don't think they expect more bombings though? Although I suppose if we cause a convincing distraction they'll think they thwarted us. Alright, let's see if we can get closer and scout out a way up for you and something that'll make for a good distraction." Konya hunches over a little, wrapping her arms around her and starts slowly shambling towards the government building. She keeps her head down as though bracing against the cold, occasionally looking up to take in her surroundings. (So I think a good distraction would probably be to setup something that looks like we're repeating tricks from the other cities. Not sure how much they would have learned or been able to transmit to the other cities since our lot went in fairly promptly, but presumably some of their leadership survived and took refuge here or at least got messages through. So she'll be looking for sewer entrances and lines of sight for assassination, as well as a fairly easy route for a gecko anchor climb up to the umbrella that's as out of view as possible)

(Glaikit agrees with this plan)

(I think they'd have messages or would have heard rumors. LEaders would have had to move over land or over water so with how quick we got here I don't think anyone would have made it here yet. I think they'd be looking in sewers and are on guard around government buildings in terms of keeping unauthorized people out, but I don't think they have the manpower to continually shake down everyone on the street for ID) (edited)

(think that sounds workable - we're mostly looking to make a situation that makes most of security go "we've found the assassins" at which point Glaikit will try to run up the building. If we find a good spot for the distraction we can figure out the specifics from there...)

(got it. I'm fine with however you want to bait that hook, I guess my side of this will come when they react to whatever it is that you're doing)

(are there any sewer exits near the government building? thinking we could set up a fake attack in the sewer and have them focussed on that so we can get Glaikit up the building)

(There are! We could get within 100m or so of the building using the closest sewer grate encountered during your morning walk)

8:10 AM

(there would be others further away as well)

Glaikit shuffles around, eyeing the sewer grate. It is close enough to the building that over-eager locals might rush it if they think they have laid hands on the would-be assassins. "I think this may work," Glaikit says. "If we can time it for nightfall, and you create some noise trying to "break it open" we might persuade the guards to chase you into the sewers. I could then climb up to the umbrella, with a bomb. "Of course, this leaves you in the sewers with a bunch of angry fascists."

(There would be enough time during this day to lay some traps and stuff down in the sewers to even the odds, assuming Konya agrees with the plan as a whole)

Konya puffs out her chest as much as her hunched posture will allow. "Pfft, I can handle them." She scratches her chin, thinking. "Still though, I managed to set some traps last time I used the sewers. I didn't need them but hopefully the architecture is similar and we can setup something down there. Just in case. Let's try and find another entrance that won't be as well-guarded. And preferably away from our hideout. Would be daft to lead them to that." She laughs dryly.

Glaikit nods, keeping his eyes out for other entrances - and patrols - as they move through the city.

(notice/wis each of you)

(8)

Kila Stosk | Konya [Nurrun]

used /r

Kila Stosk | Konya [Nurrun] Request: [2d6+1] Roll: [2, 1] Result: 4

There are no patrols aside from the normal loop pattern you've observed over the past day and night cycle, and you are able to find a sewer entryway that runs north, close to the central building that originates in the warehouse area you've taken shelter in. THe hatch is rusty and it takes both of you to pry the lid off, but it comes free and reveals the ladder leading into the watery depths of the city drainage system.

Glaikit defers to his comrade's well-known expertise concerning sewer traversal. "After you," he insists.

Konya can barely believe she's going in to another sewer by choice. She sighs and throws in an activated glowbug, lowering herself after it. "Remember to replace the grate so we're not rumbled early."

Glaikit carefully returns the grate to its original position, making sure it will pass muster in the event of inspection. "Hopefully we can make this quick. Do you want to gear up, or try to set the traps now? I'm hoping we can launch this plan tonight, instead of waiting any longer."

(Caught up, just wanna see what you do so I know if we need to do checks or something else)

Glaikit ignores the horrible wetness seeping through his boots. The pair heads towards their target, trying to get a sense of where they might lay some traps to delay pursuit. (we're heading to the grate near the government building. Looking for sharp corners, unstable/slimy ground, low ceilings, exposed wiring or sharp metal, or anything we build off of to make a trap. We don't have our kit with us but once we've done this we'll try to get back to the shelter and return here with everything we need)

(I think all these conditions would be present her eunder the old city, so maybe to put some guide rails on this, we'll say that you and Konya can put three different types of traps together down here with what you have on hand, it'll just help me to know what kind)

Eyes watering slightly, Konya walks back and forth on the route to the government building analysing what they can use. "We'll want to make sure they don't suspect we've lured them here on purpose for as long as we can, so I'd suggest the first trap we make look like an environmental hazard. Maybe shovelling some of this, uh, sludge near the grate at the government building that they can slip on." She wanders a bit further up the passage away from the government building. "Here, we'll need something that makes it look like I've just done some quick thinking to get them off my back. We could stack some sharp metal here that I could easily push over to block their path and maybe injure them. Then the last trap can be something that's an obvious trap if we want. Maybe use some of this wire to make a snare?" (Does that sound doable Neko, and is Glaikit happy with that or have other suggestions? Not sure how long the sewer is but this stuff would ideally be about 20m apart if possible.)

(Glaikit is happy with this)

(I think everything you're suggesting could be done with the time we have and with the materials on hand. With your combined skills I don't think we need any checks for this either, so it just becomes a matter of getting folks down here to take this bait when the time comes)

1

(in theory, could we try to fire Glaikit's rocket launcher at the umbrella or some other hard target from by the sewer entrance? We know it won't hit but would immediately show there's a serious well armed threat right on the building's doorstep)

(Yep, we could do that. The stand will vaporize the rocket before it gets far, but if the idea is just hey we want it to be dramatic and make a big boom, you'd accomplish that)

(Works for me. I was going to just make it look like I made a mistake coming out of the grate and make a bunch of noise. The rocket boom would almost certainly bring more people though and give Glaikit more time. Hopefully they'd just assume we just made a mistake and not assume it's a trap)

(the city is currently being bombarded ineffectively from the air, right? could we time it close to nightfall at the same time as an attack is in progress to make it look like we were trying to overwhelm it with a lot of incoming fire at once?)

(It is sitll being bombed, so we could coordinate it with the bombings

"I've got a great idea," Glaikit says, "and you can tell it is a great idea because it involves a rocket launcher. We wait until it is almost nightfall, and there's a serious air raid on. While the umbrella is knocking off incoming ordnance left and right, you leap out of the sewers and fire a rocket at it from below, trying to overload it with too much incoming fire. "The local goons will immediately realise you are packing military-grade equipment and should try to rush you before you can try anything else. "In the confusion I run up the building with a demo charge and bomb the umbrella, leaving the city core defenceless in the middle of an air raid. "If we can avoid the immediate retaliation, we'll be home free."

"Feel like I'm more likely to be on the 'immediate retaliation' end of this great idea." She makes air quotes, but doesn't take long to ponder it. "But I've always wanted to fire a rocket launcher at stuff so I'm in." She double checks the trap layout and that the triggers are working where necessary so she can seamlessly run, avoid and activate traps as she escapes come nightfall. "Better remember might low-light goggles," she murmurs to herself. "OK, let's go get our kit." She leads the way out of the sewers, careful to listen for approaching patrols before easing out the grate, and back towards their hidey-hole.

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [2d6] Roll: [5, 3] Result: 8

You have been careful and have surveyed your routes through the sewers back to your hiding spot. You are not detected on the way back, and all seems to be quiet around your warehouse. This may be your last night her.e

Glaikit double checks the locks are secure and beds down, taking care to avoid leaving obvious footprints to their storage container/refuge. "Happy to take first watch," Glaikit says. "Hopefully we can spend the downtime tomorrow morning getting nice and limber for all the running and climbing we have to do." He sorts his gear out - the demolition charge, his pistol, and a scrambler grenade. (he's going to to conceal these under his outfit, though he knows it won't pass a close inspection if he is stopped)

Konya re-materializes Glaikit's metatool and pistol and hands them back over, retrieving her burner bag from the void too. "May I have your rocket launcher? Probably be good to have a spare rocket too if you have one that I can use to pretend I'm reloading when they 'catch' me." (Void encumbrance 0/3, effort remaining 5/6)

(hot, we'd pass a shift of rest so effort will be restored as well when we finally go and do this)

With considerable magnanimity, Glaikit passes over the rocket (loaded), and a spare missile. (rocket launcher is 2 enc, missile is 1 enc. Don't think he has anything else to do before heading off)

(I'm ready if you two are! )

(we are both ready)

You are awakened from your rest an hour before sundown to the sound of air raid sirens beginning to sound across the city. This normally begins when aircraft are first detected on radar, fifty kilometers out from the settlement. You have a bit of time before the bombs start to fall to get into position, but the sky will be filled with flak, fire, and airplanes before long. Citizens outside are racing to get to shelters, and the patrol car that normally drives through the neighborhood issuing warnings speeds off to the closest gun battery so its crew can use it to defend the city.

Glaikit limbers up and organises his kit. "I'll slip out the grate and cower near the government building," he says. "When I hear the boom, I'll go straight in. We should try to meet up back here, if we can." (So we found two grates: one almost on top of the building which Konya is going to fire the rocket from, and a second grate further from the building which Glaikit is going to slip out of and then hang around near the building)

(Yep! that trakcs with me! Last admin question and then we can light this candle. did you wantme to move the spotlight around here, or do the individualparts in our own threads )

(we are happy to have the spotlight move in one thread)

The droning sound of aircraft engines comes closer to the city as both of you move into the sewers. Konya looks to be up first with the launcher as the two of you get into position. Even from underground the sound of the first of the antiaircraft guns is a thunder in this confined space.

Careful to avoid their own traps, Konya picks her way through the sewer, rocket launcher strapped to her back. Not wanting to be rumbled too soon, Konya listens for signs of movement as much as she can over the noise of the engines. Happy that it's clear for now, she pushes up on the grate carefully, relying on the sounds of the air raid to cover any small noises she might make. She climbs the ladder, crouching in to a kneeling firing position and taking aim at the umbrella, double checking the rocket launcher is ready to be fired.

The rocket launcher is ready, and as you approach the position you wanted to occupy near the grates, the whistles of the first bombs falling from the overhead bombers can be heard. The propeller driven planes are loud and one of them has been hit, descending toward the city in a comet of fire. You can tell based on its angle of descend that none of the crew will survive, and it will crash somewhere outside the city walls. Anti air guns and the sounds of their repeated firing is all that can be heard in the city streets aside from shouting and air raid sirens.

Konyas eyes follow the hit plane for a few seconds. "Dammit. Hope you're ready, Glaikit. Need to get these defenses down quickly." Konya aims the rocket launcher at the umbrella, braces and fires. She fishes out the second missile and starts to reload, continually looking around for signs she's been detected.

1

The concentrated beam of energy slags the rocket, and it pops in the air close to the building in a harmless white cottonball of an explosion. You hear some additional shouts of alarm as the closest observation points to you figure out what is happening. The guards who can see you are too far to shoot or chase for the moment but they'll respond soon. You have a chance to get a second rocket off before they get there.

Konya smirks in the direction of the voices, not sure if they can really see her in enough detail but hoping to goad them. She takes her time aiming to give them time to get closer and make it worthwhile them chasing her. She chooses a slightly different angle so it looks like she’s trying to compensate from her last shot, and fires.

The closest of the soldiers approaches and the squad of four is within 100m , able to give chase as you pack up the launcher. The second shot is fired and the stand once again fires a beam of energy into it. It stops the rocket from hitting the building just a few meters from the brickwork, before pivoting to swat any of the falling dumb bombs that come too close to the town hall. "Get them!" one of the guards shouts.

"Dammit!" she calls as she watches the shot be taken down again. She checks out the group and looks around as though desperately looking for a way out. Running over to the grate, she pretends to pull it open and descends the ladders. She doesn't do this is too much of a hurry, as she wants them to catch up a little by the time she gets to the second trap so they can see her 'spontaneously' using her environment to block them. She deftly avoids the sludge pile as she jogs towards the second trap.

(not sure why this didn't light up for me, weird)

2

7:43 AM

As the guards on the street begin leaving their posts to chase Konya and the abandoned rocket tube, thinking a heavier attack is coming- Gurk, who has been watching nearby, prepares to make his move now that the outer layer of security is otherwise occupied.

Glaikit feigns the sort of alarm a civilian might expect to feel in a sudden battle, and tries to flee to the relative safety and cover of the government building. From there he looks for the ascent they previously identified, seeking to scoot up the building on his gecko anchors.

(sneak/dex Glaikit)

1:18 PM

(At a +2 due to the distraction from Konya)

Glaikit moves fast, hoping observers will overlook the hobecko scaling the walls. (9)

The attention for the moment is on the rocketry and the attempts at the building. Konya has vanished into the sewers below, but not too fast, and the pursuit has dawn everyone but the anti air gun crews from the building. Hand over hand, foot over foot, the hobo mountaineer climbs the side of the building toward the ramparts, where the anti air guns and the unbrella stand are perched.

1

Glaikit sticks his head over the parapet, to see how many people are between him and his target, and whether they seem alert to potential intruders. (edited)

There are four guns here with a crew of three each between the gunner ,loader, and spotter. A commander on the roof oversees the entire operation, with his own assistant, bringing the total number of bodies on the roof to 14. The gun pits are in each corner of the tower, while the umbrella stand is in the middle. They'll see you vault over at some point, but may not be able to catch you. None of them have rifles, and only the commander and his assistant look to have sidearms.

(Does he think he needs to attach the demo charge to the umbrella in any complicated way or can he just slap it on the base? Is there enough roof space for him to get out of the blast zone before setting it off or will he have to drop down from the roof?)

(You'll have to drop off the roof, and you;d have to just slap it down at the base)

Glaikit stays low and waits for the gun pit crews to begin tracking the next wave of incoming targets. A split second delay in which the commander has to decide to order all hands to converge on the intruder, or stay focused on the targets in the sky, might give him the edge he needs. He puts the demo charge in his left hand, and secures the detonator. He aims for the route that will put him closest to the edge of the roof after delivering the package. He will stay low and quiet, then break into a sprint the moment he is detected. With everything now ready, he moves in.

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [2d6] Roll: [5, 3] Result: 8

For the moment the gun crews and the commander are busy keeping eyes on the sky and do not notice you slip over the edge of the roof. You have a clear shot to the base of the umbrella stand.

Glaikit breaks into a run, ready to slap the demo charge onto the target as soon as he gets in range. Eyes focused on the umbrella, he can only listen out for signs the crews have spotted him.

As you come to the base of the stand and drop the charge, the commanders assistant spots you and calls out a warning. Only a few of the gun crew can hear it over the tremendous ringing crashes of the weapons firing their explosive payloads skywards. All most of them can do is shout and begin to run toward you, trying to tackle you to the ground. (I think this would be another exert /str and that’s the dc they have to test against to grapple with you)

(11)

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [2d6] Roll: [5, 1] Result: 6

You are speed. You are unable to be tackled or stopped as you bound back over the roof, explosive package waiting for use at the bottom of the umbrella stand.

1

Glaikit wastes no time. He slithers down the building just enough to be clear of flying debris and then detonates the bomb.

There is a creak,followed by a shriek of twisting metal as the umbrella stand begins to fall on its right side. Momentum will carry it off the roof to crash into the street in a few seconds. In the sewers, a squad of four guards armed with handguns and flashlights are beginning to chase Konya. They are 50m from the agile CBSS agent, and are about to run into the first of the dummy traps Konya has placed in readiness for them.

(I think this one was the board with the nails in it)

(sorry, chest infection is kicking my ass, will get on this when I can form coherent thoughts

first trap was the sludge, but she'll be triggering the boarded nails soon)

(Right, and no worries!! Hope you feel better super soon)

11:18 AM

The pursuit catches up to the sludge and they fall to 150m behind the fleeing Konya as they move slowly, unsure if the sludge is acid, meant to be slippery, sticking, or something else. it takes them a few moments to doff a couple of their uniform jackets to walk over.

Hearing their plight, Konya screeches to a halt near their second trap and looks back at the patrol. She laughs loudly to provoke them further and smiles inwardly as she watches them remove their gear. She once again pretends to look around and 'spots' the second trap. She activates it, littering the sewer with deadly nailed boards and shards of nasty looking metal. She decides to forgo jogging and walks ahead this time, her cocky laughter echoing through the tunnels as she heads towards the corner where their snare traps have been setup. She delights as she thinks about the light workout she'll be having soon once they've rounded the corner.

The soldiers approach the second trap and begin to scatter, forced to slowly pick their way through it to not be hurt on the scattered debris. One of them yelps as they are not careful, are cut by a piece of rusty metal and in their pain they walk backwards to step on a nail filled board. They will no longer be chasing you, leaving just a few soldiers remaining.

Konya slips around the corner, positioning herself at the wall near where the snare trap has been set. She looks around for a rock, and then settles in listening for the approach of the soldiers. (Plan is to throw the rock further ahead as they're approaching the corner, so they still think she's close enough to pursue and they'll hopefully walk in to the snares. She'll use into the void to pop out of existence just before they come round the corner and then pop back once they've triggered the snares and engage them in combat.) (edited)

The snares are positioned low and the team begins moving around the corner. THere are three of them in condition to fight until running into the snares and getting bound up. They surged into the wires upon hearing the rock,thinking they were making up time in following you. The umbrella stand is confirmed down now, and the ground rumbles as the bombs dropped by the prop bombers overhead begin to impact parts of the city they normally do not. There are screams and shouts from above as people work to get to safety, and others work to respond to the damage and spreading disaster.

(Are any of them able to fight?)

(Two left out of the big group that came down here with you)

Konya pops back in to existence, with a laugh. "You really should have turned back when you had the chance, but if you surrender now, you'll walk out of here much more..." she looks the guard caught in the snare up and down pointedly, "...intact than your colleagues." She holds her sword up menacingly, and steps in to the space of the two guards. (Into the void, 5/6 effort remaining. Initiative 6 if we need it) (edited)

Nekosmash

used /roll

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

(5 for them, so you're up first!)

Konya shrugs at their refusal to surrender, and swings her sword in an upwards arc, trying to infringe both guards. (16/7, 3/AC13 shock if misses, 3/AC13 shock to adjacent enemies (savage fray), shocking assault treats all enemies as AC10) (edited)

One of the soldiers is wounded and the other is hit by the flat of your blade on the downswing (hit, and the other gets shock) They each take a moment to prepare a swing at you with their combat knives

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [2 d20+3] Rolls: [13] Result: 16 [14] Result: 17

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [2 d4] Rolls: [2] Result: 2 [1] Result: 1

(16/2 and 17/1 , then back to you. )

(17 is a hit, 37/38 HP) Konya uses her momentum from her previous attack, only slightly hampered by the glancing blow of the knife, to attack again in the opposite direction. (Going for the guard who took shock damage only this time. crit/13)

1

There is a hot rush of blood and a stinking smell as the blade cuts through the guard and their thin armor. They have just enough time to look up in surprise as they fall over dead. The other guard, heavily wounded, attempts to continue fighting

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [d20+3] Roll: [20] Result: 23

Nekosmash

used /roll

Nekosmash Request: [2d4] Roll: [3, 2] Result: 5

(crit/5) The blade scores a deep cut, but not enough to down the CBSS assailant in their midst.

Konya scowls at the knife that has punctured her, then turns her scowl to its owner before striking once more with her sword, giving a little huff as she does so. (14/10, 32/38 HP) (edited)

The last of your pursuers is felled by your weapon, leaving you alone in the sewers with corpses, spent traps, and the cascading bombardment of the prop driven planes hammering parts of the city they have never been able to reach before. A flurry of communication activities from the city above announces their surrender to any who are empowered to accept it.

Konya looks up at the tunnel ceiling and smiles. Glaikit has clearly done his job, she just hopes he's alright. She tells the ensnared guard that she promises to send someone for them, eventually, and heads back towards their storage unit to pick up her gear and hopefully wait for Glaikit's safe return.

Down in the street Glakit finds himself largely alone. The guards on top of the roof don’t have the weapons to shoot him and the ones on the street have vanished into the sewers after Konya or have run inside shelter to take cover from the bombings that are now getting much closer.

Glaikit keeps up a steady pace as he jogs through the streets, listening out for the signs of bombers and their payloads. He hopes to make best speed back to the storage unit, and keeps close to the buildings ready to duck into doorways as a last resort against stray explosives.

(sneak/dex)

Gurk Samson | Glaikit | Gilbert

used /roll

Gurk Samson | Glaikit | Gatha Request: [2d6+3] Roll: [6, 1] Result: 10

You're not seen on your way back to the warehouse. The bombings, the spreading fires, and the constant thud of the city's remaining anti aircraft guns hammering away at the trailing edge of Communist Coalition bombers is a chaotic backdrop that allows a lone man to sneak through the street without most people noticing, and those who do notice are far too busy saving their own lives to stop you. The city is broadcasting its surrender on every possible frequency.

Glaikit hurries into the warehouse and pulls up the storage unit door. "Amazing what you can do with enough explosives," he says. "I think we should get back to orbit and see what the picture looks like from there."

“Sooner we get off this damn cold planet the better.” She shivers a little. “Let’s get on to the roof.” She heads back towards the ladders and pulls herself up, signalling to the ship they’re ready for pickup.

(6xp, 50,000 credits)

11:48 AM

There is a flash of light as you're both teleported to space, safe in the bowels of the CBSS ship overseeing the combat operations on this planet. The last city has surrendered, and a time in the coming weeks has been scheduled for a full transition to a city wide communist government, with the original rebels being heavily represented.

4

(Awesome! Can I mark off my goal, take down an organisation by assassinating their leaders?)

(you sure can!)