Clusterfrag

The fourth trooper turns his LMG on Doc.
Doc catches a cluster of rounds and goes down!
Chunks of marble crumble above him and pelt the injured Doc.

Max cries out in dismay as he sees his comrade and friend go down!

((I think it's my turn...not sure where we are exactly in initiative order. I wonder if there is any way we can keep track of it better - maybe Nick can identify the next pc's turn after the bad guy goes?))

Tyros charges through the hail of bullets, the puffs of snow kicked up by his invisible feet lost in the eruptions caused by the gunfire. With a cry, Tyros tries to cleave the first guard in twain.

Tyros' claymore sails through the man's body until about mid-torso where the blade sticks. His enemy falls backwards, free of the blade, mortally injured.

Max draws up from cover and swings his shotgun to bear on the first uninjured trooper who has the misfortune of being first to land in the elf's sights.

Max's first blast sends one of the troopers tumbling backwards, a gaping hole in his torso.

Max swings his shotgun to the next victim on the killing agenda.

Max's second shot ricochets across the courtyard floor.

Doc clutches his chest and keeps breathing even as he feels blood enter his lungs.

(( Full Defense ))

Rawhide leaps out of cover and alternates a burst between the two remaining troopers.
The first trooper to be fired on lets out a cry as he is riddled with bullets and falls to the floor.
Rawhide's second burst just narrowly misses the second target.

The uninjured trooper seeks cover behind a marble planter.

His injured comrade pulls out a sidearm and fires at Rawhide.
Rawhide yelps as a slug buries itself in his shoulder.
The trooper's second pistol shot whips past Rawhide's ear.

Rawhide stumbles over to Doc's body, clutching his shoulder. Making sure to remain behind cover, he sticks a spare hand over the wound to staunch the bleeding.

Max fires on the uninjured trooper.

Max's shot hits home and splatters blood across the atrium floor.

Max shoots again, hoping to see his target wave goodbye to the mortal coil.

Max's second shotgun blast finishes off the trooper.

Taking a chance, and choking down the pain, Doc Adams peers above the barrier. The rifle is leaden in his hands, and darkness creeps in at the corners of his vision.

He finds the final, similarly wounded trooper and lines up the shot.

His chest gurgles as he breathes out and fires.

The top of the trooper's head explodes as Doc's round slams into it.

The courtyard falls into silence after the brief skirmish.

Max rushes over to Doc, whips out his medkit in a hurry, and sets to work patching up his companion.

Doc looks at Max blearily.

"Hehe, my lungs sound like a fish tank..."

Max suppresses a chuckle and gruffly says,

"Shut up you silly bastard."

Tyros rushes over to where Doc and Rawhide lie wounded. Putting a hand gently on Max's shoulder, "Let me try first, save the bandages until after I mend their flesh with my art."

Tyros first places his hands over Doc's chest wound (centering), and a soft glow infuses the damage as it knits back together and fresh air rushes into Doc's lungs (heal, f6).

Taking a quick breath to steady himself and giving Max a nod, Tyros turns to Rawhide's shoulder and similarly infuses it with healing magic (centering), tugging the muscle and flesh back together (heal, f4).

As Tyros moves on to Rawhide, Max steps back in over the team's resident Sawbones and wraps his wounds in a gauze bandage.

Doc's serious gunshot wound mends somewhat, becoming a minor wound instead.

As Tyros' fingers weave through the air, Rawhide's gunshot wound seals itself--becoming little more than an annoying scratch.

The spy drone, which by this point has surfaced above the ruined atrium roof, reports back something strange:

From its vantage point to the horizon exists nothing but ice caps and frozen tundra. The snow-covered contours of the facility (which truly is massive) slope down from the atrium until they disappear in the white blanket of the terrain.

Max lifts Doc by his underarms and grunts,

"On your feet, pussy. Think you might try dodging some bullets today rather than catching them?"

The razzing is clearly good-hearted by the elf's tone. Max turns to Tyros and nods to large troll, saying appreciatively,

"Well done, Tyros."

The moment for levity and gratitude passing, Max sets about investigating the atrium-- heading first to the entryway through which the troopers and magi appeared.

(( Out of curiosity, was Doc harder to heal because of his 'ware specifically by magical means, or would a physical medkit/healing have had the same modifiers applied? ))

"Thanks, Tyros," Doc says appreciatively, ignoring the feedback he felt from his cyberware during the healing process.

"Okay, step one, we kill the Deus. Step two, we get the frag out of here. Am I missing anything?"

Max traces his fingertips over the massive door. From the construction, it looks to be inches thick. At the center of the door is a panel with an advanced mag-lock. The ice-encrusted panel at the top pulses a crimson red.

Doc looks at the camera feed from the fly-spy, and pans the drone in a full circle, looking for any obvious communications tower.

A dilapidated satellite array sits atop a sliver of a structure, jutting out from the end of the atrium. A metal staircase wraps around the tower, though the bottom few flights have been destroyed.