Clusterfrag

Doc pumps his fist in the air, and clicks his commlink back on.

Max yells to Doc,

"I'm flying without comm-- what's going on?"

"I don't know yet, hang on!"

< Milly, what's your status? Rawhide, you there? >

Doc's face goes pale, and he frantically waves Max over.

"Max we have to go, NOW! This place is about to turn into vapor!"

Doc turns to run back out of the cybernetic tomb.

Max's eyes go wide with alarm and he starts to move. As the team bolts from the cathedral, Max shouts,

"Got your happy thoughts ready, Tyros?!"

((Way to game the system, John. Don't need that karma if you reroll Max ))

Tyros rushes out the door in pursuit of his friends, their churning feet as they run across the atrium suddenly trodding air as his magic lifts them off the ground and out towards the communication tower (levitate, f4).

(( Assuming you dropped invisibility. ))
Tyros raises his arm and the team lifts off the ground.

Just as the team's toes touch down on the comm-tower balcony, Rawhide emerges from the blown-out structure.

"We may have a problem. I spotted two anti-aircraft turrets on either side of the atrium."

Doc raises a hand to shield his eyes.

"Where do you see them?"

Rawhide points out turrets on opposing side of the atrium.

"They're covered with blast shields, but it's pretty obvious what they are from where they're mounted. Our ride won't be able to get within a kilometer of this place."

Doc scowls.

"Of all the... Okay, I might be able to take care of one of them."

He sits on the platform, his back to the wall, and jumps into the Dragonfly that had been busily catching up with the team.

As his senses expand to fill the tiny drone, he gets his bearings, and starts heading toward the furthest AA turret from the runners.

Max looks through the scope on his shotgun and fires at the weakest spot he can see on the turrets. As he fires, Max looks over his shoulder to his troll companion and asks,

"Think you could hit those the way you took down the Amaterasu, Tyros?"

(( Max should be able to fire the shotgun up to 300 meters without a range penalty. ))

((Assuming Max is firing slugs, they shouldn't have an effective range of more than 100 yards...))

Tyros eyes Max with amusement as his shotgun plinks away at the blast shields of the antiaircraft turret. Shrugging, Tyros curls his hands onto a ball and thrusts them forward, a small ball of blue light flying from them and almost disappearing from sight before it collides with the barrel of the antiaircraft gun and releases a massive wave of concussive force (powerball, f6).

Max's shotgun is ineffective at such an extreme range, despite the elf's marksmanship.

The blast-shield shatters under the kinetic stresses of the power-ball, revealing a missile turret.

A speck appears on the horizon as Lo's super-sonic enters the airspace.

Doc looks for a gap in the shield, or an alternate route underneath the gun turret, hoping to get at its internals.

The dragonfly collides with the blast shield, unleashing a brilliant explosion.
When the smoke clears, the blast shield lies in pieces.

Chen's excitable voice ignites the comms.

<Incoming! You better have safe airspace for us!>

Max fires at the turrets with the blast shields now destroyed. His gunfire still ineffectual, Max shouts to the large troll,

"Hit it again!!"

Doc swears at the still intact turret. He lies down on the platform in a prone position, and sights in on the closest gun, opening fire.

"Oh for pete's sake. Max, c'mon."

Rawhide drops off the balcony and begins clumping across the atrium's roof.

"Doc, figure out some way to destroy the the other turret!"


The dwarf winces at the deafening rifle discharge. "Er... nevermind."

The turret explodes in a shower of sparks and roiling black smoke.

Max sees the turret explode and feels his spirit lift. They might just make it!

The speck is quickly becoming a much larger object--namely a fixed wing aircraft that is bearing down on the runner's position.

Meanwhile, the anti-aircraft turret appears to be swiveling.

His spirits bolstered, Doc swivels the rifle ever so slightly, until the intact turret comes into view. He fires again.

The second turret explodes in a column of flame and debris.

Milly's panicked voice breaks through.

<Less than two minutes until detonation! Go Chen! Faster!>

Max raises his arms in the air and screams triumphantly as he begins wildly beckoning the aircraft.

"Get us the frag outta here!"

The super-sonic bears down on the runners, looking like a cosmic needle from hell. The aircraft appears to be on a collision course with the comm-tower until Chen hits the reverse thrusters. A nearly unbearable heat wave slams the team as the thrusters jetison energy, bringing the super-sonic to a wobbly hover-stop just above the comm-tower.

"Chen, you beautiful bastard!" Doc shouts, as he slings his rifle.

The science-fiction-looking fixed-wing hangs in the air as a myriad of thrusters belch flaming columns.

Lo and Chen can be overheard through Chen's comms.

<Put the ramp down, you fool!>
<I have to initiate all stabilizers before we-->
<DO IT NOW!>

A small vehicle ramp extends from the belly of the aircraft, swinging perilously a few meters above the balcony.

<No time! Jump!>

Max jumps for it without a second's hesitation.