Shots in the Dark

May 10, 2005

Dick: Now that we're all at the gaming table together, let's recap. Alberto, you're returning to the transbot platform after some failed negotiations with the station's attendants. Condi and Donald are in the humanitarian relief cargo car with the technicians, including the recently exploded Lisa-Y.
Condi (ooc): Hey, now. Only her head exploded.
Dick: Of course. George and Samuel are in the caboose, discussing the price of a grenade in a firefight. Tom is documenting. John is cowering.
John (ooc): I'm not cowering. I'm assessing the best course of action to take while remaining in a safe location.
Dick: That's what I said. Alberto-R, what are you doing?
Alberto: Let's see. My laser is toast, and whatever is shooting at us is too far away for me to reach it with the hottorch. I'm going to take a note in my loyalty notepad regarding John-R's failure to act before running to the part of the transbot that has stopped moving.
Dick: You'll reach Tech Services sleeper car entrance at the end of your next turn. Condi-R?
Condi: Readying my laser and taking cover behind the crate whose contents are most likely to block incoming attacks.
Dick: You duck behind a crate labeled "SuperGum." Donald-R?
Donald: I address the techs. "Take cover, you maggots, and prepare a counterattack! Don't you look at me like that, citizen. That's a direct order!" I then bring up the bullhorn and address the attackers. "Attention, Commie mutant traitors. Throw down your weapons and come out with your hands up. If you fail to comply, we will be forced to terminate you all, and your templates will be erased. If you surrender immediately, The Computer may, in its wisdom, show you mercy."
Dick: The technicians have mostly already begun to take cover and ready their lasers. We'll get to the reactions of the traitors in just a moment. George-R?
George: I'm taking cover on the side of the nukes crate opposite the attackers. "Fine. 125 credits."
Dick: John-R?
John passes a note to Dick: I'm going to search the interior of the transbot station for some kind of control room. I'll use Machine Empathy to track it down, if necessary.
Dick: As far as anyone can tell, John-R hurries into the transbot station. Samuel-R?
Samuel: I stand with my back to the nuke crate, tapping my truncheon idly. "125 credits." I hand over the creds.
Dick: Tom-R?
Tom: I'm going to continue documenting. I make sure I get a good shot of each part of the transbot and the motion. I also take in Alberto-R's rush to the transbot and try to catch John-R's flight.
Dick: It'll give the scene a busy look, but you'll get the essential bits.
Tom: That's what post-production work is for.
Dick rolls dice in secret.
Dick: Alberto-R, a slug flies by you as you run, but it misses you.
Dick rolls more dice in secret.
Dick: A slug slams into Donald-R, knocking him backward over several barrels.
Dick passes a note to Donald: Your kevlar reduced it to snafu, but that shot would have incapacitated you.
Dick: Specks of light like miniature flares spray the area near the stopped cars. There doesn't appear to be any damage.
Condi: Can I determine their purpose?
Dick: It'll be a Hardware check.
Condi: Can I buy a narrow specialty for it?
Dick: Sure. What's your adjusted rating?
Condi: 10.
Dick rolls in secret - 6.
Dick passes a note to Condi: They appear to be using the mini-flares to outline the transbot, since it is too dark to see it from their angle.
Dick: What are you naming your specialty?
Condi: How about Creative Uses for Flares?
Dick: Okay. Alberto-R, you reach the door of the transbot. You notice the humanitarian relief car is rumbling toward it. What do you do?
Alberto: How fast is it moving?
Dick: It's hard to tell in this light.
Alberto: Are we talking being rear-ended in a car fast or derail the rest of the transbot fast?
Dick: It's much closer to rear-ended fast.
Alberto: I'll adjust my pace accordingly, use the sleeper car for cover from the slugthrowers, and wait for the impact before boarding.
Dick: Condi-R?
Condi: I sing a cheerful song about returning fire and check on Donald-R.
Dick passes Condi a note: You can see the place squarely on his chest where the slug hit him, but it appears he was wearing a kevlar vest.
Condi passes a note to Donald: Bribe her to keep her silence, or I take pictures.
Donald (ooc): Condi, I don't know if this is...
Condi: I quickly snap a picture of the kevlar with Donald-R's face with my PDC.
Donald (ooc): Damn you.
Condi (batting her eyes; ooc): You had your chance.
Dick: Donald-R?
Donald: I get up and find a better point of cover, trying to track the point of origin of those flares so I can attack next turn.
Dick: George-R?
George: Has anything hit the caboose, yet?
Dick: No.
George: I'm going to stay inside the compartment, but I'll move to the front of the caboose near the door and brace for impact.
Dick rolls in secret and ignores the result.
Dick passes a note to John: You manage to track down the control room. The door is locked, though.
John passes a note to Dick: Fashioning a crude lockpick out of a grenade.
Dick: That blows open the door, revealing a room filled with computer screens and mysterious buttons.
Dick: You hear an explosion from inside the transbot station. Samuel-R.
Samuel: I stuff the grenade in my pocket and brace Conrad-R and myself for impact.
Dick: Tom-R?
Tom: Still hiding in the shadows and documenting, but I'm readying my laser to fire at whoever is shooting the flares. I imagine tracing them back will be pretty easy?
Dick: Even without the ahem, yes. Next turn, though. Time to resolve the NPCs.
Dick rolls dice in secret.
Dick: The unmoving cars of the transbot are now covered in enough flares to attract moths - if there were any in Alpha Complex.
Dick rolls dice in secret.
Dick: The technicians fire into the darkness. Most of the shots don't appear to hit anything, but a few who were aiming at the flare-shooter hit some kind of metal barrier.
Dick rolls in secret and ignores the result.
Dick: There is a hiss as a cone rifle rocket flies out of the darkness and glances off the roof of the Power Services sleeper before exploding brilliantly and showering the area with shrapnel, which barely misses Alberto-R.
Tom: I have a quick question. I'm having some trouble visualizing this scene. Where are our attackers, and what is the layout of the place?
Dick: Okay. There's one rail into the transbot station and one rail out, but in between, the track splits into four rail lines. Each has a platform on either side. The first few cars of the transbot have overshot the platform and are currently sitting on the exit rail just outside of the tunnel into the IRQ Sector. The killer lasers are in there. The station diverted you to the far right track nearest the station. The shots are coming from a transbot car on the far left track. It looks like they've converted it into a sniper nest. That help?
Tom: Yes.
Dick: At that moment, the humanitarian relief car slams into the back of the Tech Services sleeper, throwing everyone inside forward. You're snafued unless you succeed an Agility check.
Condi rolls - 5.
Donald rolls - 5.
Dick rolls dice in secret.
Dick: Most of the techs are snafued, though a couple keep their feet. Alberto-R?
Alberto: Are the cars stopped?
Dick: Yes. The coupling even reattached itself with minimal damage.
Alberto: I'm jumping onto the sleeper and heading for the cargo car. "Anyone have a spare weapon?"
Dick: Condi-R?
Condi: I continue to tend Donald-R's lack of a wound while singing the theme song from the Teela-O show. Mentally, I compose the mission record's soundtrack.
Dick: Donald-R?
Donald: I speak into the megaphone and take aim. "Your non-compliance has been noted. Prepare for termination." Taking a shot at the source of the flares. Energy is 10.
Dick: Anyone care to spend Perversity? Speak now.
Alberto: 1 in favor.
Condi: Nope.
Donald: 5 in favor.
George: 2 in favor.
John: He has all he needs.
Samuel and Tom don't answer.
Dick: Roll it.
Donald rolls - 4.
Condi (ooc): Nice.
Donald: Margin of 14.
Dick: Your laser catches the traitor with the flare gun in the throat. The flares stop coming. George-R?
George: Holding position, for now.
Dick: John-R?
John passes a note to Dick: Trying to shut down the border defenses so we can get the transbot out of here.
Dick passes a note to John: It requires a password. Give me a Hacking check.
John: Anyone allowed to spend Pervs on this?
Dick: Sure. Anyone want to help John?
Condi (ooc): It depends. What are you doing?
John (ooc): Only salvaging this mission before they blow up the transbot with everyone on it.
Alberto: Sorry.
Condi: I'll give you 5. Don't disappoint me, though.
Donald: I have my own problems.
George: I'm a nice guy. 3-point penalty.
John (ooc): George!
Samuel: You can have 1 point.
Tom: 2 in favor.
John: That brings me up to 13.
Dick: Aren't you going to spend any on yourself?
John: Nope. I'm saving their asses. This success is on them.
Dick: I'll roll.
George (ooc): Wrong answer, John.
Dick rolls in secret - 15.
Dick: You're in luck. The password was Computer - most common one in the book.
John: Saved you guys. You owe me big!
Dick: Unfortunately, the jolt from the cargo car drove the engine car far enough into the field of fire that the lasers quickly reduce the engine part of the car to a heap of hot scrap metal.
John sighs.
Dick: Samuel-R?
Samuel: I'm going to poke my head out the door. Can I hurl a grenade from here?
Dick: You think so, yes.
Samuel: Who can spend Pervs?
Dick: Just you.
Samuel: Score. Spending 4.
Dick: Roll it.
Samuel rolls - 13.
Samuel: Not even close.
Dick: Your grenade blows one of the many wheels off the armored transbot car, but it doesn't have any noticeable effect.
Samuel: "How much for another one of those grenades?"
Dick: Have a Perv, Samuel. Tom-R?
Tom passes a note to Dick: Using Hypersenses to enhance this.
Tom: I take a shot at the hostile with the cone rifle - or at the area where the shell seems to have come from. Energy is 12.
Dick rolls in secret - 17.
Dick: Your eyes glow, but you can't see the target and will have to guess. No Perversity. Roll.
Tom rolls - 3.
Dick: With a -5 penalty for the darkness, that's still a margin of 6. You burn out the infidel's eyes while leaving the rest of his head remarkably intact. When I get back from the bathroom, the NPCs will get their turns.
Condi (ooc): Because if you held it until after their turns, there wouldn't be as much tension.
Dick (ooc): I'm the GM. I get to choose the nature of the tension in my games.

GM - Vice President Cheney
Alberto-R-GZS-1 (Alberto) - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales
Condi-R-ICE-1 (Condi) - Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice
Donald-R-UMI-1 (Donald) - Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
George-R-BSH-1 (George) - President George W. Bush
John-R-SNO-1 (John) - Secretary of Treasury John Snow
Samuel-R-BMN-1 (Samuel) - Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman
Tom-R-IDG-1 (Tom) - Former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge