Klaus Kipling
Mongoose
Well, in the latest game a couple of weeks ago, I thought I'd really pile on the pressure. There are two players, both roguish types, and who both ended up with excellent combat skills via mustering out benefits. Both have +5 at gun combat and +4 at melee when you figure in Dex. Liam is an ex-SolSec agent and Darko a former gunslinger, and for some reason I cannot yet fathom Darko keeps getting severely injured and Liam hardly scratched. We'd been playing for several hours and the boys had made some bad to awful rolls, just scraping through several incidents or having to come up with plan Z.
Anyway, it was time for a big set-piece combat. The boys had been sent by their crime boss patron offworld to deliver a special cargo to a Hiver counterpart. The meeting point was a pier next to a canal in a mothballed industrial zone. Every 700m or so was a 500m high by 100m base tower, a sort of refinery type affair, all pipes and valves, all wrapped in industrial plastic.
So the players arrive in their hired grav speeder, and shortly after an air/raft containing the hiver and his 2 Ithklur bodyguards shows up. After some banter, they handover the box to the hiver, who is very excited. At that point, Liam makes his Recon task and spots the glint of a sniper scope a spit second before it fires. Cue much ducking and weaving, as the players dive into their speeder and the hiver rushes back to his air/raft with one bodyguard while the other remains behind giving cover with a laser rifle.
So, initiative is rolled and the players try to get their speeder airborne, as the windscreen is shattered by another sniper shot. Darko makes a mediocre roll for piloting and so the craft will not bet moving until the following round. The hiver's air/raft gets in the air, and the other Ithklur is shooting at a point halfway up a distant refinery tower.
Next round, the big boys arrive. This is 3 air/rafts, each containing 4 'bad' Ithklur, with the 2 in the cargo area armed with rocket launchers, swooping up from the canal where they had been approaching unseen. So Darko and Liam get airborne, the sniper stops shooting, and the rockets let fly. 2 rockets at the slowly disappearing hiver, 2 at the boy's speeder, and 2 at the hiver giving covering fire. I allow the hiver with the laser to return fire before the rockets hit. It hits one air/raft, damaging the cargo bay and the power plant. I rule that this knocks out the 2 Ithklur in the rear out (they fall 50m to the wet grass on the ground) and slows it down. 2 rockets hit the covering Ithklur and all that are left are his smoking feet (rolled high on that damage). One rocket hits and one rocket misses the fleeing air/raft, and one rocket tears through the cargo compartment of the boy's speeder (luckily they had grabbed their gear for the fight).
At this point I should state that I'd given all the Ithklur identical stats, F6F666, and they had 3 points of natural armour. I ruled that the ones that fell were not dead, and instead had all their End and half the Dex damaged (one had a broken leg and was hopping!).
So round 3. The hiver and the players have broken in different directions, with both their craft hit and smoking. One enemy air/raft is also losing speed, and only has 2 Ithklur remaining in it. The second enemy raft fired 2 more rockets at the fleeing hiver. Both hit the craft, and it starts to lose altitude. The last enemy raft chases the players (who have not yet got up to speed). The pair of Ithklur in the back of it fire their remaining rockets: one misses the boys but the other rolls snake eyes. I rule (thinking that perhaps I might have overdone the opposition) that the rocket hits the dashboard and explodes inside the air/raft, which promptly crashes into the canal. Amazingly, all the Ithklur inside survive and remain mobile, if currently out of action due to being in the drink.
Taking stock, the hiver's air/raft is heading north and losing height, chased by one enemy air/raft full of Ithklur (all thankfully out of rockets), and another damaged one with only 2 in it. There are 2 more Ithklur following on foot, and 4 more floundering in the canal. The player's speeder is heading south. Finally remembering that their patron had admonished them that this Hiver was a 'big deal', they decided it would be best to try rescue it. By now they've built up some speed. Darko attempts to fly the speeder around one tower, 'dive bomb' the Ithklur in the drink (Liam will lob stun grenades), then avoid a second tower and come upon the pursuing Ithklur air/rafts.
The bombing run is a linked task - piloting from Darko and dropping grenades from Liam. This goes well, with the grenades (2 of them) landing slap bang in between the swimming Ithklur. Boom, fountain of water, and unfortunately, just some irate Ithklur trying to shoot back with their gauss rifles.
The next step doesn't go so well. Darko has to avoid the 500m tower coming up upon them. He fails by 1, a marginal failure. I rule he cannot avoid the tower, crashing through the plastic wrap into the interior of the facility. I roll 1d6 to determine the difficulty of the next task. Only a -3DM, and Darko actually makes the roll. So despite it going dark and crazy, he manages to avoid all the pipes and cables and bursts out of the plastic wrap on the other side.
Right on top of the damaged Ithklur air/raft! Another piloting roll, and once again, Darko fails by 1 point. This time I rule that there is a glancing blow, but it sends both craft out of control. The Ithklur craft crashes into the base of the tower (but they are not dead!). Darko needs to make 2 more rolls, one to be able to dictate where the speeder will come down, and one to make a soft landing. Checking the situation, the hiver's air/raft has come down on the corner of a bank of the canal where it intersects with a culvert, with the last enemy air/raft circling over it. Darko wants to land there, but fails. The speeder is coming down about 100m away and on another canal bank. He makes the piloting roll, avoiding the bridge and splashes down into the canal.
Some athletics rolls, and both players are up on the bank. 100m or so to the west, and across the canal, the hiver is cowering in its wrecked air/raft while its bodyguard faces off against 4 of its fellow Ithklur. 500m to the south and a bit east are 3 groups of injured Ithklur: 2 from the downed air/raft, 2 more (one hopping) who were knocked out of their craft, and the 4 from the canal, who have got themselves out of the water and are bringing up the rear, fast.
The players swing into action. Liam sprints for the canal bank, with his gauss shotgun in hand. I rule 5 rounds at regular speed (90m to the actual bank, 3x6m per round). He makes an athletics roll and does very well, shaving a round off his sprint. Darko instead takes careful aim with his smart gauss pistol and spits out a round of armour piercing at of the Ithklur advancing on the hiver.
(Note, AP is my house rule, which halves the armour rating of the target if it is less than the TL of the round).
He hits, bringing another Ithklur to the brink of incapacitation.
At this point, I should point out that these 4 Ithklur now have physical stats of F66, after taking fire from the bodyguard, who is now in single combat with the Ithklur leader.
Liam sprints on, Darko follows. The Ithklur leader hits the bodyguard with his axe, dealing massive damage, and is damaged in turn somewhat. The 3 others all fire at Liam, but miss (he ignores the fire and keeps running).
Next round, Liam rolls well again and reduces the sprint by another round. He'll be at the bank next round. Darko, now far behind, stops and takes another shot. He hits well (an 11 I seem to remember, with a +1 DM after range is taken into account), and rolls excellent damage, incapacitating another Ithklur.
Now Liam is at the bank - he blasts another Ithklur with his gauss shotgun, rolling well and obliterating the alien totally (green blood sprayed everywhere!). He uses his minor action to dive in to the canal.
The Ithklur leader dispatches the bodyguard with its axe (it is down to F63). Liam swims across the canal. Darko, halfway from the crash site to the canal bank (about 50m) halts again and fires at the other Ithklur (the one he already hit) and takes it out proper (as in dead). The Ithklur leader is reaching inside the crashed air/raft.
Liam starts to climb the opposite bank. The leader has the hiver on its shoulders and is heading back to it's own air/raft. It will get there before Liam can reach it unless Darko does something, but if he fires he will probably hit the hiver. So he lobs his last stun grenade at extreme range, rolling a 12! I rule that the grenade actually bounces off the head of the Ithklur a split second before going off.
Alas, it does not knock out the alien beast. It does, however, knock the hiver off its back. Darko takes aim at the Ithklur, but at this point his view is blocked by Liam having climbed up the bank, emerging on top of the crashed air/raft. Darko aborts the shot and runs for the bank, as gauss needles start flying around him as some of the on-foot Ithklur get into range.
The Ithklur leader snarls at Liam on top of the wreck. The player is about to open fire with the shotgun, but I manage to persuade him to go into hand to hand! (Basically, I wanted to hurt him, as his character hardly ever gets hurt, and hand to hand vs an Ithklur is way cooler than blasting it at point blank!). The player obliges, and I rub my hands in glee as I envisage an epic fight.
I let Liam make a leaping attack off the air/raft, essentially it being a linked task, athletics + melee, while the Ithklur, in its hubris as it laughs at the puny human, does not parry.
Liam scores well for the leap, gaining a further +1 from it. So now comes the melee attack. The Ithklur leader is at F63. Liam rolls a 12!
12 + 4 (melee + Dex) + 1 = 17. 17-8 = 9. An amzing hit, with an Effect of 9, which ignores armour. Liam rolls his damage (at this point I'm thinking that Liam will probably win but will probably take a nice hefty hit when the Ithklur gets its attack).
Liam rolls damage. 1d6 + 1 (Str) +2 (using the shotgun as a club, thought it was only fair) + 9. He rolls a 6! Total damage 18, ignoring armour. The Ithlkur loses it's remaining End, and all it's Str. Knocked out! Liam KO'd an Ithklur in a single hit!
Both players had been making lousy rolls so far, but suddenly, when it comes to the crunch, they start rolling excellently.
So, Liam picks up the groggy hiver (still gripping the box which the players delivered) and moves to the enemy air/raft. Darko is still running for the bank, with random shots coming from the other 8 Ithklur!
(After the celebrations of taking out the hit squad the player's hearts sink when they realise there are twice as many baddies remaining as they have already taken out).
A few rounds pass as Darko tries to get to the air/raft (Liam cannot fly it, and after some excellent rolling previously, Darko is back to his standard mediocre rolls). He fumbles climbing up the bank, managing to drag the wrecked air/raft over his head, though managing to hang on, and, luckily, it protects him from the gauss fire from the running/hopping Ithklur.
He eventually manages to get to the top of the bank. Liam is trying unsuccessfully to communicate with the hiver, which has lost its voder, and is rapidly consuming the contents of the box (all-butter Scottish short bread biscuits all the way from Earth). Darko looks up, and in the north eat, sees the rapid approach of a pair of G-carriers.
The players give me huge evils. After such a high, an utter low. Bu they cheer up when the G-carriers strafe the Ithlklur with their plasma guns. The cavalry is finally here. I rule that the strafing run will kill 2d6 of the 8 Ithklur remaining, and roll a 7. One survives, balancing on its single remaining leg, shooting back at the swooping AFVs with it's gauss rifle. Darko takes careful aim, and blows it's head off.
They fly back to the hiver's nest with their fighter escort and spend the next day or two in sybaritic decadence, a job well done.
I was quite impressed. They had taken out 4 hivers and delayed 8 more without even being hurt, and Liam had knocked one out with a single punch to the jaw.
There is an epilogue. In all the excitement, they forgot about the sniper. They go back the their hotel to gather their stuff, and in the corridor, are accosted by a single gunman, who has the drop on them.
Now, only Liam is the assassin's target. But he recognises Darko (his Gun Cbt (slug pistol) 4 gives him a bit of a rep among the professionals), and Darko recognises him: Walker, legendary gunslinger, if a bit past it (I use Lee Marvin as my template).
Walker tells Darko to walk away; Liam is the target. Darko refuses. "So we do it the old fashioned way then..."
At gunpoint, Walker makes Liam disarm and kick his weapons across the corridor, then weigh himself down in all the bags (the boys had done a lot of shopping).
Darko and Walker face off. It's an opposed gun combat check, with the highest going first. Walker has a higher skill, but is 60, and so with his Dex Darko has an identical bonus, +5.
Darko rolls a 2! Walker rolls a 6. Darko's hit, his shot in turn missing Walker. Oops. He loses all his End in one go, and falls unconscious (and another bullet scar, to go with the dozen others and the massive machete scar he got in a knife fight). Liam dives for his auto-pistol, is shot by Walker, but his new armour (a gift from the hiver) takes the brunt. He fires back a full burst of HEAP into Walker's gut (my house rule has HEAP adding one point of damage per die as well as halving armour if the rating is the ammo's TL or less), not quite killing him, but putting him down. I rule the rounds over-penetrate, going through the wall. On a 10+ they can attack another hotel guest, which they do, and hit, doing 6 points of damage to some unknown alien.
Liam stands up and resets his weapon to single shot, then shoots Walker in the head.
Despite the alarms going off, Liam does first aid on Darko, who recovers most of his End. They run for it, and are pursued by the police. Eventually, they call the hiver, who tells them to surrender. Using its contacts, and the fact that the cctv footage clearly shows self defense, the boys are let off, and go home.
As a post script, they take back with them a memory flek from the hiver to their patron. In front of all the 'made men' of this gangster group, most of whom do not trust or like the boys (with the exception of the boss, who is an ally of Darko's), the flek is played.
It is a recording from the battle at the canal-bank. The hiver had a recording implant attached to it's optic nerves, which worked even while it was unconscious. Everyone is treated to a POV movie, showing the initial assault, and finishing off with the view of the defending Ithklur being cut down, while around the leader 3 of his cohort are taken out. Then a close up of the leader's face (complete with nasty scar) as it dragged the hiver out of the air/raft, then an upside down view of Darko throwing the grenade, then sky, and the Ithklur standing over the view. Then, Liam leaps across the view and lamps the Ithklur in the face. Finally, the strafing run and Darko's final, cool shot.
After being so impressive it's only fair their bosses knew about it...
On a final note, the Ithklur leader was only knocked out. Although 10 of them were killed outright, and one other would have bled out, this one survived. Now I have a really juicy NPC protagonist to play with.... :twisted:
Anyway, it was time for a big set-piece combat. The boys had been sent by their crime boss patron offworld to deliver a special cargo to a Hiver counterpart. The meeting point was a pier next to a canal in a mothballed industrial zone. Every 700m or so was a 500m high by 100m base tower, a sort of refinery type affair, all pipes and valves, all wrapped in industrial plastic.
So the players arrive in their hired grav speeder, and shortly after an air/raft containing the hiver and his 2 Ithklur bodyguards shows up. After some banter, they handover the box to the hiver, who is very excited. At that point, Liam makes his Recon task and spots the glint of a sniper scope a spit second before it fires. Cue much ducking and weaving, as the players dive into their speeder and the hiver rushes back to his air/raft with one bodyguard while the other remains behind giving cover with a laser rifle.
So, initiative is rolled and the players try to get their speeder airborne, as the windscreen is shattered by another sniper shot. Darko makes a mediocre roll for piloting and so the craft will not bet moving until the following round. The hiver's air/raft gets in the air, and the other Ithklur is shooting at a point halfway up a distant refinery tower.
Next round, the big boys arrive. This is 3 air/rafts, each containing 4 'bad' Ithklur, with the 2 in the cargo area armed with rocket launchers, swooping up from the canal where they had been approaching unseen. So Darko and Liam get airborne, the sniper stops shooting, and the rockets let fly. 2 rockets at the slowly disappearing hiver, 2 at the boy's speeder, and 2 at the hiver giving covering fire. I allow the hiver with the laser to return fire before the rockets hit. It hits one air/raft, damaging the cargo bay and the power plant. I rule that this knocks out the 2 Ithklur in the rear out (they fall 50m to the wet grass on the ground) and slows it down. 2 rockets hit the covering Ithklur and all that are left are his smoking feet (rolled high on that damage). One rocket hits and one rocket misses the fleeing air/raft, and one rocket tears through the cargo compartment of the boy's speeder (luckily they had grabbed their gear for the fight).
At this point I should state that I'd given all the Ithklur identical stats, F6F666, and they had 3 points of natural armour. I ruled that the ones that fell were not dead, and instead had all their End and half the Dex damaged (one had a broken leg and was hopping!).
So round 3. The hiver and the players have broken in different directions, with both their craft hit and smoking. One enemy air/raft is also losing speed, and only has 2 Ithklur remaining in it. The second enemy raft fired 2 more rockets at the fleeing hiver. Both hit the craft, and it starts to lose altitude. The last enemy raft chases the players (who have not yet got up to speed). The pair of Ithklur in the back of it fire their remaining rockets: one misses the boys but the other rolls snake eyes. I rule (thinking that perhaps I might have overdone the opposition) that the rocket hits the dashboard and explodes inside the air/raft, which promptly crashes into the canal. Amazingly, all the Ithklur inside survive and remain mobile, if currently out of action due to being in the drink.
Taking stock, the hiver's air/raft is heading north and losing height, chased by one enemy air/raft full of Ithklur (all thankfully out of rockets), and another damaged one with only 2 in it. There are 2 more Ithklur following on foot, and 4 more floundering in the canal. The player's speeder is heading south. Finally remembering that their patron had admonished them that this Hiver was a 'big deal', they decided it would be best to try rescue it. By now they've built up some speed. Darko attempts to fly the speeder around one tower, 'dive bomb' the Ithklur in the drink (Liam will lob stun grenades), then avoid a second tower and come upon the pursuing Ithklur air/rafts.
The bombing run is a linked task - piloting from Darko and dropping grenades from Liam. This goes well, with the grenades (2 of them) landing slap bang in between the swimming Ithklur. Boom, fountain of water, and unfortunately, just some irate Ithklur trying to shoot back with their gauss rifles.
The next step doesn't go so well. Darko has to avoid the 500m tower coming up upon them. He fails by 1, a marginal failure. I rule he cannot avoid the tower, crashing through the plastic wrap into the interior of the facility. I roll 1d6 to determine the difficulty of the next task. Only a -3DM, and Darko actually makes the roll. So despite it going dark and crazy, he manages to avoid all the pipes and cables and bursts out of the plastic wrap on the other side.
Right on top of the damaged Ithklur air/raft! Another piloting roll, and once again, Darko fails by 1 point. This time I rule that there is a glancing blow, but it sends both craft out of control. The Ithklur craft crashes into the base of the tower (but they are not dead!). Darko needs to make 2 more rolls, one to be able to dictate where the speeder will come down, and one to make a soft landing. Checking the situation, the hiver's air/raft has come down on the corner of a bank of the canal where it intersects with a culvert, with the last enemy air/raft circling over it. Darko wants to land there, but fails. The speeder is coming down about 100m away and on another canal bank. He makes the piloting roll, avoiding the bridge and splashes down into the canal.
Some athletics rolls, and both players are up on the bank. 100m or so to the west, and across the canal, the hiver is cowering in its wrecked air/raft while its bodyguard faces off against 4 of its fellow Ithklur. 500m to the south and a bit east are 3 groups of injured Ithklur: 2 from the downed air/raft, 2 more (one hopping) who were knocked out of their craft, and the 4 from the canal, who have got themselves out of the water and are bringing up the rear, fast.
The players swing into action. Liam sprints for the canal bank, with his gauss shotgun in hand. I rule 5 rounds at regular speed (90m to the actual bank, 3x6m per round). He makes an athletics roll and does very well, shaving a round off his sprint. Darko instead takes careful aim with his smart gauss pistol and spits out a round of armour piercing at of the Ithklur advancing on the hiver.
(Note, AP is my house rule, which halves the armour rating of the target if it is less than the TL of the round).
He hits, bringing another Ithklur to the brink of incapacitation.
At this point, I should point out that these 4 Ithklur now have physical stats of F66, after taking fire from the bodyguard, who is now in single combat with the Ithklur leader.
Liam sprints on, Darko follows. The Ithklur leader hits the bodyguard with his axe, dealing massive damage, and is damaged in turn somewhat. The 3 others all fire at Liam, but miss (he ignores the fire and keeps running).
Next round, Liam rolls well again and reduces the sprint by another round. He'll be at the bank next round. Darko, now far behind, stops and takes another shot. He hits well (an 11 I seem to remember, with a +1 DM after range is taken into account), and rolls excellent damage, incapacitating another Ithklur.
Now Liam is at the bank - he blasts another Ithklur with his gauss shotgun, rolling well and obliterating the alien totally (green blood sprayed everywhere!). He uses his minor action to dive in to the canal.
The Ithklur leader dispatches the bodyguard with its axe (it is down to F63). Liam swims across the canal. Darko, halfway from the crash site to the canal bank (about 50m) halts again and fires at the other Ithklur (the one he already hit) and takes it out proper (as in dead). The Ithklur leader is reaching inside the crashed air/raft.
Liam starts to climb the opposite bank. The leader has the hiver on its shoulders and is heading back to it's own air/raft. It will get there before Liam can reach it unless Darko does something, but if he fires he will probably hit the hiver. So he lobs his last stun grenade at extreme range, rolling a 12! I rule that the grenade actually bounces off the head of the Ithklur a split second before going off.
Alas, it does not knock out the alien beast. It does, however, knock the hiver off its back. Darko takes aim at the Ithklur, but at this point his view is blocked by Liam having climbed up the bank, emerging on top of the crashed air/raft. Darko aborts the shot and runs for the bank, as gauss needles start flying around him as some of the on-foot Ithklur get into range.
The Ithklur leader snarls at Liam on top of the wreck. The player is about to open fire with the shotgun, but I manage to persuade him to go into hand to hand! (Basically, I wanted to hurt him, as his character hardly ever gets hurt, and hand to hand vs an Ithklur is way cooler than blasting it at point blank!). The player obliges, and I rub my hands in glee as I envisage an epic fight.
I let Liam make a leaping attack off the air/raft, essentially it being a linked task, athletics + melee, while the Ithklur, in its hubris as it laughs at the puny human, does not parry.
Liam scores well for the leap, gaining a further +1 from it. So now comes the melee attack. The Ithklur leader is at F63. Liam rolls a 12!
12 + 4 (melee + Dex) + 1 = 17. 17-8 = 9. An amzing hit, with an Effect of 9, which ignores armour. Liam rolls his damage (at this point I'm thinking that Liam will probably win but will probably take a nice hefty hit when the Ithklur gets its attack).
Liam rolls damage. 1d6 + 1 (Str) +2 (using the shotgun as a club, thought it was only fair) + 9. He rolls a 6! Total damage 18, ignoring armour. The Ithlkur loses it's remaining End, and all it's Str. Knocked out! Liam KO'd an Ithklur in a single hit!
Both players had been making lousy rolls so far, but suddenly, when it comes to the crunch, they start rolling excellently.
So, Liam picks up the groggy hiver (still gripping the box which the players delivered) and moves to the enemy air/raft. Darko is still running for the bank, with random shots coming from the other 8 Ithklur!
(After the celebrations of taking out the hit squad the player's hearts sink when they realise there are twice as many baddies remaining as they have already taken out).
A few rounds pass as Darko tries to get to the air/raft (Liam cannot fly it, and after some excellent rolling previously, Darko is back to his standard mediocre rolls). He fumbles climbing up the bank, managing to drag the wrecked air/raft over his head, though managing to hang on, and, luckily, it protects him from the gauss fire from the running/hopping Ithklur.
He eventually manages to get to the top of the bank. Liam is trying unsuccessfully to communicate with the hiver, which has lost its voder, and is rapidly consuming the contents of the box (all-butter Scottish short bread biscuits all the way from Earth). Darko looks up, and in the north eat, sees the rapid approach of a pair of G-carriers.
The players give me huge evils. After such a high, an utter low. Bu they cheer up when the G-carriers strafe the Ithlklur with their plasma guns. The cavalry is finally here. I rule that the strafing run will kill 2d6 of the 8 Ithklur remaining, and roll a 7. One survives, balancing on its single remaining leg, shooting back at the swooping AFVs with it's gauss rifle. Darko takes careful aim, and blows it's head off.
They fly back to the hiver's nest with their fighter escort and spend the next day or two in sybaritic decadence, a job well done.
I was quite impressed. They had taken out 4 hivers and delayed 8 more without even being hurt, and Liam had knocked one out with a single punch to the jaw.
There is an epilogue. In all the excitement, they forgot about the sniper. They go back the their hotel to gather their stuff, and in the corridor, are accosted by a single gunman, who has the drop on them.
Now, only Liam is the assassin's target. But he recognises Darko (his Gun Cbt (slug pistol) 4 gives him a bit of a rep among the professionals), and Darko recognises him: Walker, legendary gunslinger, if a bit past it (I use Lee Marvin as my template).
Walker tells Darko to walk away; Liam is the target. Darko refuses. "So we do it the old fashioned way then..."
At gunpoint, Walker makes Liam disarm and kick his weapons across the corridor, then weigh himself down in all the bags (the boys had done a lot of shopping).
Darko and Walker face off. It's an opposed gun combat check, with the highest going first. Walker has a higher skill, but is 60, and so with his Dex Darko has an identical bonus, +5.
Darko rolls a 2! Walker rolls a 6. Darko's hit, his shot in turn missing Walker. Oops. He loses all his End in one go, and falls unconscious (and another bullet scar, to go with the dozen others and the massive machete scar he got in a knife fight). Liam dives for his auto-pistol, is shot by Walker, but his new armour (a gift from the hiver) takes the brunt. He fires back a full burst of HEAP into Walker's gut (my house rule has HEAP adding one point of damage per die as well as halving armour if the rating is the ammo's TL or less), not quite killing him, but putting him down. I rule the rounds over-penetrate, going through the wall. On a 10+ they can attack another hotel guest, which they do, and hit, doing 6 points of damage to some unknown alien.
Liam stands up and resets his weapon to single shot, then shoots Walker in the head.
Despite the alarms going off, Liam does first aid on Darko, who recovers most of his End. They run for it, and are pursued by the police. Eventually, they call the hiver, who tells them to surrender. Using its contacts, and the fact that the cctv footage clearly shows self defense, the boys are let off, and go home.
As a post script, they take back with them a memory flek from the hiver to their patron. In front of all the 'made men' of this gangster group, most of whom do not trust or like the boys (with the exception of the boss, who is an ally of Darko's), the flek is played.
It is a recording from the battle at the canal-bank. The hiver had a recording implant attached to it's optic nerves, which worked even while it was unconscious. Everyone is treated to a POV movie, showing the initial assault, and finishing off with the view of the defending Ithklur being cut down, while around the leader 3 of his cohort are taken out. Then a close up of the leader's face (complete with nasty scar) as it dragged the hiver out of the air/raft, then an upside down view of Darko throwing the grenade, then sky, and the Ithklur standing over the view. Then, Liam leaps across the view and lamps the Ithklur in the face. Finally, the strafing run and Darko's final, cool shot.
After being so impressive it's only fair their bosses knew about it...
On a final note, the Ithklur leader was only knocked out. Although 10 of them were killed outright, and one other would have bled out, this one survived. Now I have a really juicy NPC protagonist to play with.... :twisted:
