Contract #1: Big Man, Japan!

[Drew Buddy]

Doc sights in on Brutus, and finishes him off with a burst of AV ammunition.

[GM Nick]

Ranged Combat (Doc)

[Battle Rifles (8) + AGI (9) + Smartlink (2) + Hallucinations (-2) = 5]
2 3 1 3 5 1 3 5 3 6 1 6 4 2 5 3 4
[REA (6) + Partial Cover (2) + Wound Modifier (-3) = 2]
6 5 1 2 1

Damage Resistance

[BOD (5) + Armor Vest (6) + AP (-4) + Wound Modifier (-3) = 2]
3 5 5 2

(( 8P DAMAGE! ))

The cannon-like report is followed by a brief moment of silence as Brutus crumples backwards, a smoking hole dead center on his forehead.

[GM Nick]

Val shudders as something works its way through his blood stream.

Toxin Resistance

[BOD (3) = 0]
4 4 2

Darkness clouds his vision as blindness sets in.

[Drew Buddy]

Doc swings the barrel to bear on the mage. The rifle taps out a gleeful song of carnage.

[GM Nick]

Ranged Combat (Doc)

[Battle Rifles (8) + AGI (9) + Smartlink (2) + Hallucinations (-2) = 5]
3 4 1 5 4 4 1 1 6 5 5 4 1 2 3 5 1
[REA (5) + Good Cover (4) = 5]
6 5 1 5 6 5 4 3 3

Doc's barrage clips the column, sending up a plume of smoke and dust.

[John]

Max shoots the fraggin' mage.

[GM Nick]

Ranged Combat (Max)

[Shotguns (8) + AGI (10) + Smartlink (2) + Hallucinations (-2) + Firing From Cover (-2) = 8]
4 3 3 6 2 1 6 5 6 5 5 6 6 3 4 2
[REA (5) + Good Cover (4) + Wound Modifier (-2) = 2]
5 4 1 4 6 3 3

Damage Resistance (Gundo)

[BOD (5) + Armor (6) + Wound Modifier (-2) = 3]
4 2 6 4 6 1 2 6 1

(( 10P DAMAGE! ))

There's a snap, a flare and a scream. The ork mage falls from behind the column, looks at the runners with shock and then dies on the floor.

[John]

Max swings how shotgun to bear on the last man standing and seeks to end his life.

[GM Nick]

Ranged Combat (Max)

[Shotguns (8) + AGI (6) + Smartlink (2) + Hallucinations (-2) + Firing From Cover (-2) = 5]
3 4 3 5 1 3 6 4 4 6 6 6
[REA (6) + Wound Modifier (-3) = 1]
3 3 5

Damage Resistance

[BOD (5) + Wound Modifier (-3) + Armor (5) + AP (-4) = 1]
4 6 4

(( 10P DAMAGE! ))

Marlowe blows a hole through the side of Roadhog's ribcage. The man gurgles and crumples and the tunnel falls into silence.

[John]

Max sniffs aggressively and cracks his neck and finally lights that cigarette.

[Drew Buddy]

Doc keeps the rifle trained on the corpses until he's certain that they won't move anymore. He looks around to get a better fix on the rest of the team.

"We have any injuries?" He calls out.

[Stephen]

As the last failing echos of the vicious skirmish cascade to nothingness into the vast darkness of the tunnel system, Val picks his head up and swivels it from side to side in a decidedly futile attempt to locate his teammates.

"Doc?... Tyros?... Anybody? What the frag is happening? I can't fraggin' see!"

[Drew Buddy]

"Drek"

Doc moves over to the decker, and looks at his unfocused eyes.

"Tell me what happened," he says.

(( Roll biology to figure out what's affected Val, and what might be done to treat it, if possible ))

[Stephen]

Val hikes up his sleeve and shoves his forearm toward Doc's disembodied voice.

"Dart. Fraggin' ork fraggin' shot me. Ripped it out. Too late. Fraggin' thing should be here somewhere."

[Drew Buddy]

Doc searches the ground, and finds the dart. He unscrews the small payload capsule, and looks inside, paying attention to the color and smell of the residue, hoping it will help with the diagnosis.

[GM Nick]

Biology Test

[Biology (5) + LOG (7) + PuShed (1) = 5]
5 4 2 6 2 1 5 6 6 2 4 2 4

Doc deduces that the toxin used was Ekyelebenle venom, a compound extracted from awakened green mamba. If Val had regular eyes, he would have suffered permanent blindness, but as it is, the compound is simply interfering with the optic nerve and should subside within the hour.

[Drew Buddy]

Doc pats Val on the shoulder.

"Well, the bad news is that there's not much I can do about it here. The good news is it should be out of your system pretty soon."

Doc retrieves the Fly-Spy minidrone, and presses it into Val's hand. He commands the drone to subscribe to Val's PAN.

"Here, bring up this drone's sensor feed on your AR. Use it like an eye until your own are working again."

[John]

Max is getting restless,

"Guys, I don't mean to rush this, but perhaps we can continue our discussion once we are out of enemy territory. Let's get moving before more drekbags arrive!"

Max runs to the body of the ganger who fired the gas grenade at the team and takes his launcher, as well as the dartgun which poisoned Val. Tossing those weapons and their ammo in the top of a crate, Max picks up two boxes of guns and begins to make his way cautiously back to the rover.

[Drew Buddy]

Doc walks back to where the unconscious Yakuza lies slumped in a heap on the ground. Retrieving the last Laés syringe, he rolls the man over, and plunges the needle into his neck.

"Sorry, pal, it looks like you're going to take the fall for this one."

Putting his things away, he heads back over to the statue and hefts it under an arm.

"Wish we knew what this fraggin' thing was," he mutters.

"Tyros, want to grab the turret?"

[John]

Max suggests again,

"You can probably levitate a lot more than any of us can carry. Val-- you need a hand, or can you find your way back on your own? You can keep a hand on my shoulder if you need it. Come on-- train's leaving the station."

[Drew Buddy]

Doc looks at the absurd scene. A handful of professional runners head toward the entrance, loaded up to maximum capacity with piles of stolen goods.

He chuckles, "well, at least we'll finally blend in in this neighborhood."

[John]

Max jokes back as he heaves the stolen ordinance through the dark tunnel,

"Just what I always wanted-- to be mistaken for a common street ganger. I wish my mom could see me now."

[Stephen]

Val stands on unsteady legs and tries to get the hang of walking while carrying his eyes in his hands. He stumbles after the team. Every step wreaks havoc on the functions of his inner ear.

"Ugh... this drek is gonna make me sick. Let's get to the rover so I can be comfortably blind again for a while, eh 'manos?"

[John]

Max snickers at the pun, as the distance between he and the flying-blind Val Merrin continues to grow,

"Way ahead of you, pal."

[Stephen]

Val can't help but crack a halfhearted grin even as his free arm pinwheels in an attempt to keep himself upright.

"Bloody elf."

[John]

Suddenly, Max is struck with a thought that so tickles him that he can barely contain himself. Through stifled laughter, he manages,

"Hey Merrin-- would you mind terribly if I started calling you Pin Cushion?"

Val may not be able to see, but one doesn't need eyes to bask in the luster of the drek-eating grin pasted across Max's face.

[Stephen]

Val's grin turns to a mock grimace.

"Y'know, Max, to at least one of us, that one qualifies as 'too soon.'"

[John]

Max scoffs,

"Lighten up, Helen Keller-- you're still alive and are gonna be fine."

[Stephen]

Val smirks again.

"If only she and I had more in common. Then I wouldn't have to listen to your abysmal jokes."

[John]

"Pretty certain you meant DAEEEEEERUUUGHHAAAAAAAGGGHHHHHHH or something like it."

[Conway]

Rubbing his chin where the ork clipped him, Sinjins head begins to clear as the hallucinogenic gas begins to leave his system. Stooping to pick up some of the scattered ordinance, he mutters curses under his breath as he helps retrieve the arsenal.

"Bloody guns...flaming unnatural...heavy, useless bloody stovepipes..."

[Stephen]

Val bursts into uncontrollable laughter at Max's latest quip, utterly destroying the pale simulacrum of balance he had been managing to maintain, and falls flat on his face.

"Ow."

Val gets up and continues more gingerly.

[John]

Chuckling over the incident, Max hangs back a little to allow a closer distance between himself and the temporarily blinded decker. His fun had, his interest returns to getting the entire team out of the tunnel safely. Nearing the exit that will lead them back out to the holocaust that passes for nighttime in the barrens, Max asks of Doc,

"You just about ready to blow this slitch?"

[Drew Buddy]

The statue is making faces at him. Doc blinks the hallucination away in time to see Val tumble.

"Uh, carful there. You know, because the poison and, uh, yeah."

The light trickling in from the entrance appears to be a solid mass, as if it's painted on the ground and walls.

"God, I hope Lone Star doesn't roll us on the way back."

[John]

Max shakes off the suggestion,

"We don't stand out in the Barrens. I think we'll be fine. It doesn't hurt to keep our eyes open for flaming pumpkins and lotus flowers that turn into vaginas that turn into helicopters, though."