>>4682416
Hello again everyone! I'm back, and ready to write!

If anyone is joining us for the first time, the archive for the quest is at thisisnotatrueending.
>>http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=TrashQM

And for those that are returning players, I'd like to thank you again for sticking with the quest.

>>4682416
The sky is completely clear, the night is completely still. Even seen through the goggles of your mask, this is an undeniably beautiful night. Your appreciation of its beauty however, takes a second seat to more practical appreciations – specifically, if the night is clear, and the weather does not break, then that means that you should not have to worry about the roads being any worse than they already are. Which, as you understand, is pretty bad – the whole reason that Fleckkers and Norton even went to Greenly’s in the first place is that they had to make a pretty substantial detour because of a blockage. Further reflections on this particular point are cut short as Tolle pushes you into the Motor Pool building and the night sky is replaced with the garage ceiling. After a bit of negotiation, your stolen hospital bed is squeezed into a dark little nook, in between some old standing toolbox and a large air compressor, and you are left with only your thoughts for company as Tolle moves to go assist Gunther with the preparations.

With no other instructions to give or advice to dispense for the moment, you allow yourself to try and fall asleep. Surprisingly, you somehow manage to do so – despite still wearing the mask and respirator, despite all of the coming and goings of your men and the buses into and out of the bays, despite the whining and grinding noises of the power tools that your guys must have found somewhere. Of course, you do not get to sleep the night through; you are woken up once or twice by Tolle, and then later, Fleckkers, to answer questions on what to bring and on what vehicle it should be stored. With you falling in and out of sleep, morning sneaks up on you, but it is of no matter; Gunther, Tolle and Fleckkers were able remove the seats, and externally mount the generators, all like you had discussed. They had even managed to get some sleep for themselves. And as both the alarmingly red morning sunlight and the Motor Pool’s mechanics start to filter into the garage, you and the three of your men go over the preparations one last time. Once you are all satisfied that there is finally nothing left to say here, Tolle, his part in the preparations complete, wishes you all the best of luck before heading off into Mt. Kineo to collect Matthew for housesitting duty.

>>4682434
While you wait for your other two hires to show up, Fleckkers shows you something he pulled together for himself yesterday – a Crudely Improvised Flak Vest. Judging by the way that the former(?) thief is talking about it, and showing it off, he is clearly quite proud of his ‘invention’ … but the thing looks ridiculous. He took one of those old over the shoulder style life jackets, with what looks to be ¼ inch steel plate strapped on the front of it. The inherent humor in the idea of a metal life jacket is not lost on you, and to make matters even funnier, he either did not care to or have the time to conceal the blaze orange of the preserver. You do your best to sound supportive, but you have a bit of difficulty keeping the laughter out of your voice. Gunther on the other hand, seems to be genuinely impressed … or is a much better liar than you thought.

You should not be too hard on him – the basic idea is sound. ¼ steel should be enough to stop most rounds that a civilian would have ready access to, and the life vest behind the plate would prevent any spalling from slicing into you, as well as providing something to dampen the force of the shot itself. Of course, the thing is probably much too heavy to be practical – and the way the vest sits over the shoulders, it would definitely prevent a proper cheek weld with any shouldered gun. To be honest and objective, he would almost certainly be better off without it – but considering that you have asked the man to take point on the convoy, you find yourself unable to just tell him to take the damned thing off. Instead, you offer some pointed, constructive criticism. While he does not take offense, or just dismiss your advice out of hand, he still seems set on wearing his ‘life preserver’. Before you even have a chance to wonder if you are making a mistake by not forcing the issue, Sucec shows up, carrying a battered cardboard box with a hunting rifle carefully balanced on top of it. The four of you exchange greetings and pleasantries, but as Gunther and Fleckkers take him aside to show him the externally mounted Generators, you find yourself hit with a few doubts about including the man.

File: Walk and Talk.jpg (55 KB, 736x490)

55 KB JPG

>>4682438
When you were in the conference room and you first saw that quick glimpse of him, he looked like he might be closer to four feet than five. But as you finally get a good look at him in the uncannily red morning light, you are certain that he is closer to four feet. And as you watch him walk with Gunther and Fleckkers as they show him their handiwork, you notice that there is a noticeable hitch or stutter in his step when he moves. In spite of that, he does carry himself with a certain ‘deliberateness’ – much like the way your Grandfather did. For that matter, your Grandfather had a much more serious limp, and he could still move like lightning when he had a need to. So … you do not even know where you are going with this. Are you trying to talk yourself into uninviting him? A matter of minutes before departure? You have concerns about him, of course, but you have concerns about everyone you brought along. Hell, you have concerns about almost everything – you are paranoid, after all. But that is what makes paranoia such a bitch; you cannot always figure out what is a reasonable fear and should be acted on and what is unreasonable fear and should be ignored. Your reflections are brought to an end when Gunther and Fleckkers run out of work to show Sucec, and the three of them return to your bedside, as your hired man points out the bus that you assigned to him.

Sucec’s Improvised Outwear rustles and even squeaks as he just sort of shuffles in place to turn and look at the bus. After a moment, he just shuffle-turns back to the rest of you, without further comment. Not for the first time, you think of how awkward interactions with other people can be when you cannot see their faces. However, your mood is immensely improved when Sucec shifts the rifle off of the box he is carrying, and opens it up for you. Inside is a pair of consumer walkie-talkies. They might be fixed on one single band, and of course, there is only two of them, but you are happy to have them regardless – with Lakers all over the place and the phones dead, portable radio comms are at such a premium you had not even bothered to look for them. After thinking it over, you decide to give one to Fleckkers, and you will keep the other with you, and as you will be able to talk to Gunther – or shout to him over the running generators on the way back – you should be able to actually coordinate things. As for everyone else between the lead and the rear car, they should be able to work things out simply by listening for the horn on Fleckker’s bus. One blast means ‘proceed with caution’. Two blasts will mean ‘stop’ and three blasts will mean ‘reverse’.

>>4682440
The next minute or two is a blur of introductions. Your mother and Petra walk into the garage, and head over. You were about to introduce Sucec, but Gunther beat you to the punch on that. Those introductions had just ended when Midge Norton walked in one of the bays. So, then she needs to be introduced, and your mother – who unlike you, has actually met Norton (and has a high opinion of him) – starts talking about one of the meals that he pulled together on that first night, and how she never knew that venison could taste so good. It is definitely a nice thing to say about someone’s husband, but that compliment would mean much more coming out of … well, just about anyone else’s mouth. The one silver lining to your mother’s complete inability to cook is that she thinks that anyone who can – even passably, like yourself – is amazing. Thankfully, before your mother can gush too much and make things awkward, Chickless shows up with the Bursars and the fuel. As he established in his written offer, you will receive as much fuel as you want, and will only be charged for whatever you do end up using. It is a real sweetheart of a deal – and after having to take on an additional 11% tax for the next two years, on top of the baseline 12.5%, all to get your Gasifier back – you feel that it is deserved.

The final set of introductions here, being you, introducing everyone in your party to Chickless, is made awkward when you realize halfway through that you do not know the man’s first name. Thankfully, one of his minions calls him away to check something before your ignorance can become readily apparent. When Chickless, his Bursars and your people are distracted by a loud, metallic crash coming from the other end of the garage, you take advantage of the distraction to consult the Attendance List that you got from Nate Light at the Steering Committee. Chickless is on it, nestled in between the Taylor and Beaty … but just as ‘Chickless’. No first name mentioned. Well … that is kind of unusual, is it not? Even as someone who as a rule refers to people almost exclusively by their last name, the omission of his given name strikes you as weird – and is made all the weirder when the twenty-six other people on the list have their full names written out. But at the very least, if Chickless’ first name is some sort of state secret, then there was no faux pas. Everyone else, oblivious to your self-imposed discomfort, just mills around as the Bursars finish fueling. As they finish topping off all of the vehicles and move on to filling up the trailer with diesel and the jersey cans with gasoline, the Chief Requisitions Officer instructs one of his men to give Fleckkers and Gunther a fuel siphon ‘as a precaution’. Beyond that, and the brief acknowledgement during your introductions with everyone else, Chickless remains silent until the last of the fuel is loaded. Finally, he speaks.

>>4682443
“For all of our sakes, I hope this works out.”

And … that is all he has to say on the matter. Probably for the best – what else is there even to say, really? He offers you his hand, and you awkwardly try to shake with your injured right hand. With that attended to, he clears out, followed closely by two of his three Bursars. The third sticks around long enough to inform you that you were expected to leave from and return through the Primary Gate – which is apparently standard procedure for convoys – before hustling off to rejoin the others. With Chickless and company now departed, the only people left in the Motor Pool garage are you … and the Mechanics. As you are loaded into the back of your Farm Truck, you get a decent look at them. Most of them are diligently working, but there are a few who are not, and are just standing around, watching the proceedings as you and yours load up.

Between the shadows and red sunlight inside the garage, as well as the distance they are at, you would not be able to make out their expressions even if all of them were not wearing masks. But they way they are just standing there, looking at you and the buses, with their arms crossed makes you feel like they are glaring at you. Perhaps it is just nothing – you still are not used to everyone wearing masks – but could Beety, the Motor Pool’s night manager have said something to them already? His offer – the buses in exchange for a few live crabs, and all of the die off – was reasonable, but in the end, the buses were not his to lease; they belonged to the Armory. Accepting them from him would be effectively stealing – and considering that you had just paid through the ass to get your gasifier back after Reaves sold the thing out from underneath you – you were not going to be a party to it. Beety did not take well to that as he intended to trade the crabs (living and dead) for nonperishable food to ensure that his wife and daughter would not immediately starve if the common supply dried up unexpectedly. He wound up making a toothless threat about not letting you take them – and when you called his bluff, he stormed off. You have not seen him since.

This could just be more paranoia on your part. God, you hope so. The last thing you need is to have the people responsible for fixing your tank-thing pissed off at you.

>>4682445
Cargo Manifest of the Greenly Expedition:

112 square feet in the Automatic Short Bus, driven by Fleckkers.
0 square feet taken up by the Generator, as it has been externally mounted.
0 square feet taken up by Mounted Armament, as there is none.
1 square foot taken up by Carried Armament (1x M240b w/b, 1x M16v w/3xM, 1x Revolver w/20xLoR)
3 square feet taken up by 4 Spare Bus Wheels
2 square feet taken up by Tarpaulins and Tie-downs + diesel siphon
106 square feet remain available.

192 square feet in the Automatic ¾‘s Bus, driven by Midge.
6 square feet taken up by the Reclaimed Gasifier.
0 square feet taken up by Mounted Armament, as there is none.
1 square foot taken up by Carried Armament (1x BA Hunting Rifle w/15xLoR)
3 square feet taken up by 2 Spare Bus Wheels
2 square feet taken up by Tarpaulins and Tie-downs
2 square feet taken up by Clearing Equipment.
4 square feet taken up by Gasifier Fuel.
174 square feet remain available.

48 square feet in the Older Commuter Truck, driven by Dawn.
0 square feet taken up by the Generator, as it has been externally mounted.
0 square feet taken up by Mounted Armament, as there is none.
0 square foot taken up by Carried Armament (Rape Whistle, and Brace of Mace)
3 square feet taken up by 4 Spare Truck Wheels.
2 square feet taken up by Tarpaulins and Tie-downs.
42 square feet remain available.

400 gallons in the Diesel Fuel Trailer, pulled by the Older Commuter Truck.
400 gallons taken up by Diesel Fuel.
0 gallons remain available.

224 square feet in the Manual ¾‘s Bus, driven by Sucec.
0 square feet taken up by the Generator, as it has been externally mounted.
0 square feet taken up by Mounted Armament, as there is none.
1 square foot taken up by Carried Armament (1x BA Hunting Rifle w/15xLoR)
3 square feet taken up by 2 Spare Bus Wheels
2 square feet taken up by Tarpaulins and Tie-downs
10 square feet taken up by 20 5 gallon jersey cans of gasoline + gasoline siphon.
208 square feet remain available.

120 square feet in the Manual Farm Truck, driven by Gunther
0 square feet taken up by the Generator, as it has been externally mounted.
3 square feet taken up by Mounted Armament, (1x M85 w/b).
1 square foot taken up by Carried Armament (2x BA Hunting Rifle w/15xLoR, 1xM16v w/3xM)
3 square feet taken up by 4 Spare Truck Wheels
2 square feet taken up by Tarpaulins and Tie-downs
10 square feet taken up by Stolen Hospital Gurney.
104 square feet remain available.

File: Primary Gate - Interior.jpg (261 KB, 1300x958)

261 KB JPG

>>4682450
From your position, mounted on the bed of your Farm Truck, you watch from your perch as things finally start to move. Which is a change of pace from your previous outings in this condition, though it will remain to be seen if it is a welcome change of pace. While there are plywood walls to your left and your right, and a tarp overhead, in front of you there is nothing but the hitch beneath the bed. You will be able to see everything that happens behind the convoy – for whatever that is worth. If it came down to a chase, you did not expect to be much help, even with the beater 10/22 that you had given Gunther earlier (which was the only gun that you could reasonably hope to fire in your condition) and a bucket of nails. Still, whatever you could do, you would do. At the very least, you could hopefully buy enough time for Gunther (or God forbid, Petra) to climb out of the cab through the rear window that had been removed, make their way across the bed, and man the mounted M85 beside you. Honestly, this is not ideal – for several reasons. First and foremost, there should be a dedicated gunner. Secondly, the plywood walls on the bed act like blinders, and while the .50 BMG of the M85 is strong enough to pass right through the wood as if it was not even there, shooting at things you cannot see is never a good idea. Thirdly, anyone manning the gun in a combat situation would be ‘shooting the breeze’ – that is to say, real fucking exposed. Finally, your head is about a foot and a half from that thing’s muzzle, so for your sake, you hope that no one has to use the damn thing, even after all of the work it took to get it mounted. Another thing to worry about while you wait.

And you are waiting. Forming up inside the relatively crammed space available is difficult and involves a lot of starting and stopping, as well as coordinating across all of the vehicles, which is a messy affair when only two of the vehicles have radios. Finally, everyone manages to get into position, and the Primary gate is opened for you. There is an unexpected roar of a distressed sounding engine, and you immediately start to panic that the buses are not going to be fit for duty. It takes you a second to remember that an old cement mixer was parked inside the gate’s vestibule, to prevent any would-be attacker from gaining access to the prison by battering the gate down. It is a good idea, but now you are worried that the damned mixer is going to die on all of you parked there, so at the worst possible time, someone is going to need the Primary Gate, and then –

Your downward spiral is interrupted, as you lurch forward. Before you even realize it, you are passing through the Gatehouse. Now you are on your way – soon to be outside of the relative safety of Mooseleg Lake.

>>4682454
A few minutes pass. Then a few more. Twice now, Fleckkers has honked his horn once, the signal for caution. The first time, you had to buzz to ask him what it was. For the second, he buzzed you, right after he finished honking. Neither were of particular concern – a damaged powerline leaning over the road and an abandoned car, but under these circumstances, it was good to be cautious. Another ten minutes or so pass, and then there is another single blast on the horn of the lead car ... er, uh, the lead bus. Fleckkers comes on the walkie-talkie again, but this time, he sounds moderately nervous instead of mildly put upon.

“Hey Mantle? There's a dump truck, parked right in the middle of a sharp turn up ahead.

“Oh yeah? Is ... is there not enough room to get by it, or …?”

“Uhh … there should be. It’s just … I was thinking. I mean. we use snowplows, and trucks and fucking cement mixers as barricades. Do you suppose someone else had the same idea?”

“What, you saying that were entering another group’s territory or something?”

“Maybe? I don’t know. Why else would a dump truck be parked, in the middle of the road, in the middle of the woods?”

>Please Choose ONE of the following:
>You knew the risks inherent in forcing your way through the most direct route to Greenly’s farm. One of those risks was encountering another group in the more built-up town centers that you would be passing through. If that is what this is, then you have prepared for this. Press onward. (Encounter Frequency remains the same, Encounter Danger remains the same)
>You might have bitten off more than you can chew here. Backtrack, and find an alternate route, even if it takes longer to do so. (Encounter Frequency increases, Encounter Danger decreases, more fuel will be burned).
>This might be too much for you to handle at the moment, but if you were to return to Mt. Kineo, and pick up a few Deputies and some extra Lakers, then you should be able to overcome whatever this other group can throw at you. If they even exist, that is. (Encounter Frequency remains the same, Encounter Danger decreases, more fuel will be burned, and more people will want crabs).
>Write-ins accepted.

>>4682465
>>You knew the risks inherent in forcing your way through the most direct route to Greenly’s farm. One of those risks was encountering another group in the more built-up town centers that you would be passing through. If that is what this is, then you have prepared for this. Press onward. (Encounter Frequency remains the same, Encounter Danger remains the same)

>>4682465
>You knew the risks inherent in forcing your way through the most direct route to Greenly's farm. One of those risks was encountering another group in the more built-up town centers that you would be passing through. If that is what it is, then you have prepared for this. Press onward. (Encounter Frequency remains the same, Encounter Danger remains the same)
The way I figure it, we got a very good Roll for the Encounter last thread, and this could be a positive Event for us. Besides, we need to burn as little fuel as possible.
And Welcome Back Trash!

>You knew the risks inherent in forcing your way through the most direct route to Greenly’s farm. One of those risks was encountering another group in the more built-up town centers that you would be passing through. If that is what this is, then you have prepared for this. Press onward. (Encounter Frequency remains the same, Encounter Danger remains the same)

Welcome back QM. :)

“Okay, maybe you have a point. But when we decided to drive straight through, we knew that we might run into something like this. And even if it is another group – clearly, they are not as large as we are, otherwise they would have manned their roadblock, like we did. So … we stick with the plan. Of course, we – and by that I mean you – need to keep an eye out, but so long as we – sorry, you do that, and the rest of us are ready to fight or flee at the drop of a hat, then we should be fine. Actually, I have an idea. Hit the horn twice, and come to a stop alright? I’ll get Gunther to pass the word along.”

There is a terse confirmation on the other end, followed by two honks. The truck, which had already been slowing down, shortly comes to a stop, and Gunther, anticipating that something was up, is trying to lean over towards the rear window to ask you what is going on, but it seems that the safety belt is giving him a hard time. By the time he gets the better of it, Petra has already clued in to what her cousin is trying to do here and has already managed to poke her head through the window. You explain to her and Gunther (once he stops swearing under his breath at the belt long enough to listen) that you might be entering another group’s territory, and could he please move up along the column to tell each and everyone of the drivers to be on alert – and if it comes to it, to shoot first and ask questions eventually. Faced with an actual threat, Gunther’s professionalism quickly returns. He gives you a quick ‘alright, I’m on it’, and then in a moment, the Farm truck is moving forward, judging by the ruckus up front before Petra had a chance to put her seat belt back on – only to stop a few car lengths later once he pulls up alongside Sucec. You cannot exactly make out what Sucec is saying, but at the very least, his tone remains composed, and Gunther does not need to belabor the point that these are just precautions to him.

>>4682850
Not so for your mother. Gunther spends so much time trying to reassure her that you are almost tempted to order him to just keep moving, but before you actually can, he seems to finally get through to her (or perhaps he just gave up), and he moves along. The rest of the line is informed in short order. With everyone now on the same page about the potential danger, you get back on the walkie-talkie and tell Fleckkers to pass the improvised blockade.
Slowly and deliberately, Fleckkers leads your line of buses and trucks slowly around the truck, and once Sucec passes you in the old ¾’s bus, Gunther falls back in behind him. While he still has you on the other end of his walkie-talkie, Fleckkers raises two salient questions. The first was to question the original assumption that he had – clearly, parked as it was, this dump truck was a completely inadequate barricade. Was it instead placed to create a chokepoint for some sort of ambush? While that question was enough to send your heart into your throat and your stomach into your ass, thankfully, no ambush materializes as you fretfully watch the truck and the hairpin turn it was parked across shrink in the distance. Still, you cannot just dismiss this disturbing idea out of hand. It is possible that there was an ambush, and that even right now, you are passing people just out of sight who would target cars that were forced to slow down to make their way through the choke-point. It is entirely possible – they just might have figured that the convoy was too much for them to chew.

While you are almost certainly going to be spending the rest of the trip hopelessly on edge, his next question is much more to your liking. If we have Greenly with us on the way back, and if he can drive stick and that truck can run, do you think we should try to take it? Having a big truck like that – a real and proper construction truck … it would pair really well with your tank-thing. Lots of potential, oh what is the word … ah! Synergy. Lots of synergy. Of course, you recognize that there are a lot of ‘ifs’ involved in that prospect. And for that matter, if there were ambushers here, perhaps they would not be so restive if you were to try to take their truck with you on your way back. So for now, it is not even worth thinking about – and you tell Fleckkers as much, who accepts your decision readily enough. But after about thirty seconds of silence, Fleckkers comes back with a third question.

"Um, I gotta ask. If we actually do get into a fight with another group, or just some randoms, and for whatever reason, we are forced to abandon the truck your are in - and we are under fire, or duress, or something ... what should we do about you? You're kind of stuck back there."

>>4682852
>Please choose ONE of the following:
>"Well, then you are going to have to figure away to get me un-stuck.We are not planing on leaving anyone behind, for any reason, under any circumstances- and yes, that includes me."
>"Well, if it comes to that, then you or Gunther or someone is going to have to make a decision on whether or not I can be saved. If there is a fighting chance, then try. If not, well ... you aren't supposed throw good money after bad, right?"
>"Well, if it comes to that, then you are going to have to a make a decision on whether or not I can be saved. If there is a fighting chance, then try. If not, well ... you aren't supposed to to throw good money after bad, right?"
>"Well, the Captain goes down with the ship, right? If whatever happens is serious enough that this truck needs to be immediately abandoned, then it is serious enough that trying to save me would just be reckless. What are you going to do anyway? Roll me back to Mt. Kineo under fire?"

Run will resume around 1PM Eastern Standard Time tomorrow - potentially earlier.

>>4682860
>>"Well, if it comes to that, then you or Gunther or someone is going to have to make a decision on whether or not I can be saved. If there is a fighting chance, then try. If not, well ... you aren't supposed throw good money after bad, right?"

>"Well, if it comes to that, then you are going to have to a make a decision on whether or not I can be saved. If there is a fighting chance, then try. If not, well ... you aren't supposed to to throw good money after bad, right?"

>>4682860
>''Well, if it comes to that, then you or Gunther or someone is going to have to make a decision on whether or not I can be saved. If there is a fighting chance, then try. If not, well ... you aren't supposed to throw good money after bad, right?

>>4682860
>"Well, then you are going to have to figure away to get me un-stuck.We are not planing on leaving anyone behind, for any reason, under any circumstances- and yes, that includes me."
No man left behind

>>4682860
>>"Well, if it comes to that, then you or Gunther or someone is going to have to make a decision on whether or not I can be saved. If there is a fighting chance, then try. If not, well ... you aren't supposed throw good money after bad, right?"
Pretty sure that mum will look out for us if things turn sour.

>>4682882
>>4682956
>>4683088
>>4683143
>>4683249

Alright - looking at the votes, we have two for someone taking charge and making a decision on whether or not you can be saved, we have two votes for Fleckkers specifically taking charge and making a decision on whether or not you can be saved, and we have one vote for no one is left behind, including you.

Hm. To be entirely honest, I didn't expect that there would be a tie between giving Fleckkers the responsibility or simply stating that someone needed to take the responsibility. As I am not ready to start the run yet, I will let this sit a little longer. If there is not a tie breaker by the time that I am ready to run, I will simply roll for it. But for now, I could use one roll of 1d100 for the next encounter on the road. As (almost) always, higher rolls are better.

Rolled 2 (1d100)

Let the good times roll on.

>>4683467
Oh no. Well, it has been a while since our last fight, right?

Well as least we won't have very far to go back and get that box truck. Shucks.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

Before anything else, I need to break that tie. Depending on how the next encounter shakes out, a lot might hinge on this one decision.

1: explicitly tell Fleckkers to make the decision
2: tell Fleckkers that someone is going to need to make the decision

Rolled 8 (1d8)

“Well, if it does eventually come to it, then someone is going to have to step up and make a call. I am not going to lay here, like a sack of fucking potatoes, and demand that everyone put themselves needlessly in danger to save me. If there is a fighting chance, then of course, save me – but if not … well, no one should throw good money after bad right?”

There is a bit of static on the other end as Fleckkers digests that. Eventually, acknowledges that he heard and understood you – and that is all he has to say about it. You tenderly set the walkie-talkie down, and then you resume your rearguard watch. With the former safecracker’s question about ambushing fresh in your mind, you find yourself watching the tree line more than road as it slips pass for the next few minutes. You think you are making good time, but all of the maps are with the drivers, and you still do not have that decent hard-wearing watch you were thinking about getting. Unfortunately, there probably were any in the Prague Farmer’s Union – or if there were, then with your recent luck, they would probably the one thing that Fleckkers actually did not grab. You find yourself actually thinking about buzzing him on the walkie-talkie and asking him if he grabbed any watches, but you talk yourself out of it – this whole affair is really serious, and you should not be trying to distract yourself or others with banal –

>Rolling 1d8 to determine which vehicle is being targeted.
>1 is a miss. 2 is a miss. 3 is Fleckkers. 4 is Midge. 5 is Dawn. 6 is Sucec. 7 is (you). 8 is a miss.

>>4683920
Suddenly, there is a deafening roar to your left. Instinctively, you brace for impact … an impact that thankfully never comes. Passing less than a car length behind you, a second dump truck, which looks to be larger than the one the convoy had to pick its way around careens out of what must have been a blind driveway. Clearly, the driver of this truck intended to ram you. You find yourself in this incredulous, nearly dissociative state – this cannot possibly be happening! You are within pissing distance of someone who is seriously trying to kill you, or at the very least, is trying to wreck this truck, and is uncaring of whether or not you live or die. Gunther and the rest of the convoy is putting some distance between themselves and the dump truck, but the driver – or rather, the highwayman – behind the wheel of the dump truck somehow manages to keep that fucking elephant of his from going straight off the road. You can see the brake pads on the truck glow and the wheels squeal as he swerves a bit before straightening out to start chasing after you in earnest – clearly, whoever is behind the wheel of that thing knows how to put a big machine through its paces.

At about three or five car lengths away from the hostile, you become aware that there is someone speaking nearby – a split second later, you realize that Fleckkers is shouting at you over the walkie-talkie, but at some point, it slipped almost out of reach. As you sit up, and start to reach for the radio, Gunther yells back at you, asking what the fuck is going on. It is enough for you to pause, just for half a second … and in that half-second, you notice that the truck seems to be gaining on you. With a sick feeling in your gut, you realize that so long as Gunther remains in formation, he will probably not be able to outrun or outmaneuver this bastard. If that thing crashes into this truck, or even just rear ends it with enough force … you could die. On the other hand, if Gunther breaks formation, you would be running away with the strongest weapon in the entire line. Compared to you, Sucec, Midge and your mom might as well be unarmed – actually, now that you think about it, your mom was unarmed, unless you count the mace or the rape whistle as ‘armament’.

Before you can make up your mind on what to say to Gunther, you remember that you were trying to grab the walkie-talkie. Still sitting up, you lurch forward fast enough that you see spots and dots … and realize that in these precious few seconds, you might be better served dumping the bucket of roofing nails or trying to take a shot or two with the beater 10/22. Under the weight of all of these choices, knowing that the wrong decision might result in somebody or somebodies, probably including you, dying, you just kinda freeze up for a moment. It is only when you notice the Highwayman’s Dump Truck incrementally gaining on you that you snap out of it and you …

>>4684060
>Please pick ONE of the following to use RIGHT NOW:
>The walkie-talkie
>The bucket of roofing nails
>The beater 10/22

>Please pick ONE of the following orders for Gunther RIGHT NOW:
>Maintain position in the line, and risk the truck (and your life). Also, send Petra back here.
>Break position in the line to protect the truck (and your life). Also, send Petra back here.

>The walkie-talkie
>Break position in the line to protect the truck (and your life). Also, send Petra back here.

>>4684061
>The beater 10/22
>Break Position in the line to protect the truck (and your life). Also, send Petra back here.
We are a fantastic shot, so we can probably get him in Three or less.

>The walkie-talkie
>Break position in the line to protect the truck (and your life). Also, send Petra back here.
Need to coordinate so we don't crash into each other. We won't make the shot until Gunther holds it steady.

>>4684061
>>The bucket of roofing nails
>>Break position in the line to protect the truck (and your life). Also, send Petra back here.

>>4684061
>The bucket of roofing nails

>Maintain position in the line, and risk the truck (and your life). Also, send Petra back here.

what's with all those votes for breaking position? We're rear, we're supposed to, and equipped to, handle this shit. Cowering behind mum in that situation is fucked up.

...Fair
changing
>Maintain position in the line, and risk the truck (and your life). Also, send Petra back here.

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>4684297
>>4684332
Two votes for the walkie-talkie
>>4684301
One vote for the beater 10/22
>>4685081
>>4685054
Two votes for the bucket of roofing nails

>>4684301
>>4684332
>>4685054
Break Position
>>4685081
>>4685085
Maintain Position

Rolling to break the tie:
On roll of 1: Walkie-Talkie
On roll of 2: Bucket of Roofing Nails

“GUNTHER, BREAK FORMATION, GET US AWAY FROM THIS IDIOT! AND PETRA, GET BACK HERE, AND GET ON THE GUN! RIGHT FUCKING NOW!”

The exertion required by that bit of bellowing makes your chest feel as if it was put through a cider press. God, you are so fucking weak. As you grasp for the walkie-talkie, there is a terrible second or so where the only thing that happens is that the highwayman’s dump truck continues to inexorably close the distance between its front bumper and your feet … but then, to your immense relief, your Farm Truck swerves to the side and starts accelerating – enough that the dump truck is no longer gaining. However, your relief is somewhat undermined, by the fact that Fleckkers is still screaming into the walkie-talkie. Before anything else can go wrong, you grab the thing. The former safecracker is loud enough that you can make him out without even completely bringing the thing to your ear – but at this point all he is doing shouting your name, basically begging you to pick up. Not wanting to waste any time, you throw yourself back through the cider press, to ensure that Fleckkers hears you.

“FLECKKERS! I’M HERE – I’M RIGHT HERE, DAMN IT. WHAT THE FUCK IS IT?”

There is the unmistakable sound of a sob being choked down on the other end of the line … or, considering that this is a radio, would it be ‘the other end of the band’ instead? Whatever the nomenclature is exactly, Fleckkers rebounds quickly enough.

“There’s … there more on our plate than that guy behind us! There is another fucking barricade up ahead! A trash truck this time, and a pickup truck parked off to the side of the road! What … what the FUCK do we do?”

No doubt a great tactical mind would have figured already figured out what exactly to do here – and even the most middling of officers would be working on a solution as fast as they possibly can. But the first thing – and the only thing – you can think of right now, is that you pretty much are going through what you put that fuckstain Carter through, on the first day, the first hour of the Strike. You tear your mind away from such assine distractions, and try to formulate a plan … only to again be distracted by the realization that Petra is still not here. God fucking damn it! This is all coming undone, right in front of your eyes!

If only you had a dedicated gunner! If ... if only you were fucking whole enough to be the dedicated fucking gunner!

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Tell Fleckkers to attempt to run the Highwayman’s barricade. (The M85 will remain ‘un-Petra-ed’ for the immediate future)
>Tell Fleckkers to stop and fight it out in front of the Highwayman’s barricade. (The M85 will remain ‘un-Petra-ed’ for the immediate future)
>Alternatively, shout at Petra to get on that fucking gun! (Fleckkers will have to make his own decision on running the barricade or not)

>Tell Fleckkers to attempt to run the Highwayman’s barricade. (The M85 will remain ‘un-Petra-ed’ for the immediate future)
Buckle up and ram that pickup truck. Stopping is death.

>>4685231
>Alternatively, shout at Petra to get on that fucking gun! (Fleckkers will have to make his own decision on running the barricade or not)

>>4685231
>>Tell Fleckkers to attempt to run the Highwayman’s barricade. (The M85 will remain ‘un-Petra-ed’ for the immediate future)
Fire up, man. Gun it.
Mooseleg number 1.
Ram. Driver's side.

>>4685231
>Alternatively, shout at Petra to get on that fucking gun! (Fleckers will have to make his own decision on running the barricade or not)

>>4685996
>>4685949
>>4685321
>>4685256
Boy, it really is neck and neck, isn't it? Considering that this choice may have life-ending implications, I'm not going to roll for this one. I'll wait for a proper tie breaker.

Assuming the tiebreaker comes in overnight, I will try to have a post up before, say ... 1pm EST. Hope to see you then.

>>4685231
>>Alternatively, shout at Petra to get on that fucking gun! (Fleckkers will have to make his own decision on running the barricade or not)
Fuck it, changing to this to break the tie. Lets hope Fleckkers pulls himself together and decides something himself.
I'm more leaning towards him hopping out and shooting, he has that vest and from the vehicle loadout sheet, a total fucking arsenal.
And more people heading up to him that could act as reinforcements.
If we opened up with 2 LMG volleys, they would be in deep shit and might decide to just run.

From Flekkers driving style so far I rather take him for the "break through" type of guy. On the other hand, knowing Trash, he'll just roll for it.

>>4686409
Alright - that settles it. Petra will be called over to the M85, and Fleckkers will have to make the call on his own. I know I said expect the post before 1pm EST time, but looking at the stuff that I need to do before class, it might wind up a bit later than that - just a heads up.

>>4686409
I think you might be confusing Gunther with Fleckkers. If it was Gunther in the lead car, with his (on the whole) positive experience from running the barricade back at the Bangor city limits, then the vote right now would be to either let him run it, or try to order him to stay and fight. On the other hand, all of this fancy driving is by and large new to Fleckkers - he is out of his depth, and in absence of clear instruction, I think modeling his decision with a coin flip is reasonable.

>>4686496
>I think you might be confusing Gunther with Fleckkers.
No, I was referring to when Gunther was driving slowly to avoid damaging the truck and was scolded by Flekkers for his slow driving. Left the impression that Flekkers likes to drive fast and dirty and without much care for the vehicle.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>4686569
Well, that is sort of a fair point, but I intended that sequence just to be more of Fleckkers acting sort of callous, cool and disaffected about past or future hypothetical dangerous situations, as a contrast to how he acts when he is actually in danger.

I'm going to stick with the coin-flip for this - mechanically, I think it does a better job of creating a truly unpredictable and chaotic fight (or flight) sequence.

Roll of ONE: Fleckkers hits the horn once, and attempts to slip through.
Roll of TWO: Fleckkers his the horn twice, and stops to fight it out.

Also, since you have focused on getting Petra through this, I just realized I am going to need a boatload of rolls. One modifier roll, with -2, to reflect the piss-poor learning environment you are trying to teach Petra in, and then 4 sets of 5d20. (CR 15 baseline. If by the grace of God, you somehow make it to CR 35 with your bottom of the barrel Teaching Skill, then Petra will automatically gain two levels in Ranged - Volumetric and one level in Ranged - Targeted and Ranged - Sidearm.)

If you have rolled once, and no one else does, wait ten minutes or so, then roll again.

>Please, ONE roll of 1d6 and FOUR rolls of 5d20.

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>4686612
Here goes

Rolled 19, 18, 2, 10, 14 = 63 (5d20)

>>4686612

Rolled 16, 14, 16, 4, 15 = 65 (5d20)

>>4686830

Rolled 18, 10, 1, 20, 20 = 69 (5d20)

>>4686844

Rolled 1, 16, 12, 11, 14 = 54 (5d20)

>>4686852

File: ...but it will be death f(...).jpg (71 KB, 500x700)

71 KB JPG

>>4686810
>>4686830
>>4686844
>>4686852
>>4686905
Alright, alright alright! Petra is officially on her way to becoming a Gun Moll, thanks to your surprisingly capable tutelage.

With your Teaching Skill at Delusional or Unwilling, you take the worst of the four rolls of 5d20, and you use the Tier I Modifier Table.

(1 * 1.125) = 1.125
(16 * 1.125) = 18.000
(12 * 1.125) = 13.500
(11 * 1.125) = 12.375
(14 * 1.125) = 15.750
The Final Roll = 60.750

60.750 > 15.000 First Degree Passed - Petra can operate the M85
60.750 > 35.000 Second Degree Passed - Petra gains two ranks in Ranged - Volumetric and one rank in Ranged - Precision and Ranged - Sidearm.

I need to go get something to eat, but this is very, very good news for everyone in the convoy.

Rolled 1 (1d3)

>>4686932
You put Fleckkers on point … before Sucec gave you the walkie-talkies. If you were in this exact situation, but you did not have the squawk boxes, then Fleckkers would have been on his own for this. For better or worse, you believed that Fleckkers would be able to make the right decisions on his own – that is why you put him at the head of the convoy. And even though you did have a way to make these decisions for him, he is going to either have to make the decision on his own … or wait just a little bit longer so you can coax Petra over to the M85. Anyway, as far as what the right call here is, it is not like he has given you that much to work with. There is a trash truck across the road, with a pickup to the side. Is the road completely blocked by the truck or is there space to squeeze by? Is this blockade on another turn or curve like the one with the smaller dump truck? You are in the dark on all of these pertinent points – Fleckkers, on the other hand, is not. He is in a much better position to make the call, even if he does not trust himself to make it. Petra on the other hand – she needs to be mother henned, otherwise she may never get on the gun, and that dump truck will ram this poor old antique Farm Truck to Kingdom Come and you along with it.

“PETRA! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, GET ON THE GUN!

Finally, you hear the unmistakable sounds of movement from behind you, as Petra squeezes her way through the removed rear window of the truck’s cab and stumbles on to the bed, with you and the M85. You are about to tell Fleckkers that he needs to make the call, when in what is the first pleasant surprise of the trip, he does on his own. The blasts on his horn are just that, blasts – short and violent – but there is no mistaking that there was two of them. While all of this is happening, the highwayman in the dump truck seems to have started to gain again, and Gunther has pulled high enough abreast of Sucec in the older ¾’s bus that you can actually see the tail end of his bus, poking into your range of vision from around the plywood walls. As you are trying to make a mental map of the road and the position of all of the vehicles on it, Petra rushes over to the gun, and hesitantly grabs at the thing, looking at you as she does. Even as she remains silent, you can tell from her frantic, jittery stance that she is panicking.

“PETRA, LISTEN. YOU DON’T NEED TO SHOOT THE DRIVER, YOU DON’T EVEN NEED TO SHOOT THE TRUCK, YOU JUST NEED TO FIRE THE GUN, SO THE BASTARD BACKS OFF ALRIGHT? YOU CAN DO THAT – EASY.”

Obviously, you would prefer if the bastard in the dump truck died – but it is more important that Petra starts firing the gun, and you would wager that she’d be more comfortable with it if she was told that she did not need to kill anyone. Judging by how her body language seems to calm down a bit, it seems that your wager pays off, as she turns to the gun to follow your instructions.

Rolled 14, 8, 4, 5, 16, 7, 15, 3 = 72 (8d20)

>>4687117
With a roll of 1, Petra will fire ((3+1)*2)) = 8 shots per round of combat. Additionally, as she is firing at the engine block of the truck, all of her missed shots have a 1 in 10 chance to reroll against the driver instead.

“Put your shoulder into it, and lean in a bit. Keep your stance wide – yeah, like that. When you fire, it is going to want to rise up, so be sure to keep steady. Now, you want to do it bursts. Trigger down for a second, let it up for half a second, then press the trigger down again. Now, let them have it!”

She does, to the best of her ability - and for someone whose only previous experience with guns was negligently discharging a harpoon through the roof of her cousin's truck, she actually seems to be doing a pretty good job, objectively speaking ...

CR 8 to hit the Engine Block
CR 14 to hit the Highwayman (on re-roll)

Rolled 20, 19, 9, 4, 8, 8, 4, 14 = 86 (8d25)

>>4687130
Against Petra's rolls are the resistance rolls of the Hostile Dump Truck's Engine Block, which from now on will be referred to as DTEB. It has a static 1x Resistance Modifier, it rolls d25's on resistance tests, and it has 15 pips of health. For comparison, the Prisoner Transport that we fought in thread two had the same 1x Resistance Modifier, but rolled d20's on resistance tests, and had 12 pips of health.

Rolled 1, 10 = 11 (2d15)

>>4687160
With no armor, cover or counter attacks to protect DTEB - and especially at such close range which mean that attack and resistance will be paired high to low, instead of sequentially.

Grosses:
Petra 1: Gross roll of 14, with AM 1.25x becomes 17.50
Petra 2: Gross roll of 8, with AM 1.25x becomes 10.00
Petra 3: Gross roll of 4, with AM 1.25x becomes 6.00
Petra 4: Gross roll of 5, with AM 1.25x becomes 6.25
Petra 5: Gross roll of 16, with AM 1.25x becomes 20.00
Petra 6: Gross roll of 7, with AM 1.25x becomes 8.75
Petra 7: Gross roll of 15, with AM 1.25x becomes 18.75
Petra 8: Gross roll of 3, with AM 1.25x becomes 3.75

DTEB 1: Gross roll of 20, with RM 1x remains 20.00
DTEB 2: Gross roll of 19, with RM 1x remains 19.00
DTEB 3: Gross roll of 9, with RM 1x remains 9.00
DTEB 4: Gross roll of 4, with RM 1x remains 4.00
DTEB 5: Gross roll of 8, with RM 1x remains 8.00
DTEB 6: Gross roll of 8, with RM 1x remains 8.00
DTEB 7: Gross roll of 4, with RM 1x remains 4.00
DTEB 8: Gross roll of 14, with RM 1x remains 14.00

Attacks:
Petra 5 v. DTEB 4: 20.00 - 4.00 = 16.00
Petra 7 v. DTEB 7: 18.75 - 4.00 = 14.75
Petra 1 v. DTEB 5: 17.50 - 8.00 = 9.50
Petra 2 v. DTEB 6: 10.00 - 8.00 = 2.00
Petra 6 v. DTEB 3: 8.75 - 9.00 = No damage
Petra 4, Petra 5, and Petra 8 are misses.

Damage:
No Critical Attacks, but Petra 5 and 7 are Near Critical, do 2x damage.
32.00 + 29.50 + 9.50 + 2.00 = 73.00, or 7.3 pips of health.

Results:
Petra expends eight rounds, gets 3 free shots at the driver.
DTEB loses 7.3 pips of health, and is now at 7.7 pips of health. It has lost more than 20 and 40 percent of its health in one turn, and must make two separate saving throws of 1d15. If it rolls a one through an eight, it remains functional. If it rolls 9 through a 15, it will be retired from the fight.

Rolled 10, 2, 9 = 21 (3d10)

>>4687199
With a roll of 10 on one of its saving throws, DTEB retires from the fight! No explosion though, the engine simply gives in.

This roll is to determine if there are any accidental shots on the driver: if any of these three come up as tens, then that means that the misses are re-rolled as attacks on the driver - who will be modeled as a typical human for purposes of damage calculations, with a RM of 4x to reflect the cover afforded to him by his position behind the wheel of the truck.

Rolled 11 (1d20)

>>4687208
Holy fuck, Petra might actually get a kill here! Genuinely was not expecting this...

As established in >>4687130, the CR to engage the highwayman is 14, and her AM is still 1.25x

>>4687214
Petra 3R: Gross roll of 11, with AM 1.25x becomes 13.75.

Well, she wasn't able to hit the guy after all, but that was a close call - I'd say she blew a portion of the steering wheel off, or something. If his truck was not in the process of slowing down (and potentially catching on fire), he would have to pass a Mental test to continue trying to force you or Sucec off the road. I will write this portion of the fight in a more narrative format, and get it up for tomorrow, but for the overnight vote:

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Tell Gunther to remain by the rear of the line with Sucec, allowing the highwayman to disengage.
>Tell Gunther to drive to the front of the line to help Fleckkers, to engage the highwaymen there.
>Tell Gunther to drive towards the disabled dump truck, to prevent the highwayman from disengaging.

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Understanding that Mantle is going to be relatively unable to fight for the immediate future, players should be allowed to do the combat rolls for one nearby allied NPC.
>If Mantle is not fighting, or cannot fight, then that means that players should not be rolling, even if that means the combat is just the QM playing with himself (heh).

>>4687250
>>Tell Gunther to drive to the front of the line to help Fleckkers, to engage the highwaymen there.
We should radio up to him to hold out a while longer, and that we're on our way. Praise Petra and that shooting, but let her know that we aren't done just yet.
>>Understanding that Mantle is going to be relatively unable to fight for the immediate future, players should be allowed to do the combat rolls for one nearby allied NPC.

>Instruct Petra to crouch down and take cover or at least get concealment. Leave manuever choice to Gunther.
Luck runs out. Lets quit while ahead.

As to the second choice? No preference here.

>>4687250
>Tell Gunther to drive to the front of the line to help Fleckers, to engage the highwayman there.
>Understanding that Mantle is going to be relatively unable to fight for the immediate future, players should be allowed to do the combat rolls for one nearby allied NPC.

>>4682454
"Thirdly, anyone manning the gun in a combat situation would be ‘shooting the breeze’ – that is to say, real fucking exposed. Finally, your head is about a foot and a half from that thing’s muzzle, so for your sake, you hope that no one has to use the damn thing, even after all of the work it took to get it mounted. Another thing to worry about while you wait."
Feels like foreshadowing.

>>4687317
>Feels like foreshadowing.
Fair point.
I'll change my vote to support yours, let Gunther make the call.
Petra should get concealed, but should remain back here if possible in case she needs to hop back on the gun immediately.

>>4687321
Yeah, she can always just pop back up if needed.

>>4687351
>>4687321
>>4687317
>>4687306
>>4687276
>>4687260
Okay - I will have a post up with the scene after dinner.

And surprise, surprise – the best of her ability is actually enough to see you through. Well, see you through this part of the fight, at least. As the shots ring out – Jesus Christ, they are loud! – it looks like most of them are hitting, but the M85 does not have the tracer rounds like your Firecracker, the M240b, so you are not one hundred percent sure where everything is landing, beyond that the front grate is now stoved in.

Compared to your first firefight, this one seems to be over as soon as it starts – as the shots start to land, the highwayman, having quite clearly realized that he has bitten off more than he can chew, begins to break off, swerving away from the back of your Farm Truck and the mounted gun. But Petra manages to keep the bead more or less on target, and just as suddenly as the dump truck burst out of that blind drive, it stops accelerating, and moves to disengage. As the bastard falls back, you think you see smoke rising from the hood – but if there is, it is not a lot. The truck clearly is damaged, perhaps even to the point to where it could be considered totaled, but while it may not be in any condition to ram, to run anything off the road – anything more substantial than a unicycle, at least – you have to consider that not only is it not destroyed, but it also still seems to be able to sort of drive … or maybe it is just coasting at this point, you are not sure. But the important thing is that you have no reason to believe that the driver is in anything less than fighting shape still. Regardless, you allow yourself one short (and under the tight embrace of your respirator, ragged) sigh of relief as the shots stop.

You glance over at your gunner. Clearly unwilling to continue to shoot at what appears to be a downed enemy, Petra just abruptly stopped shooting and decided on her own to allow the truck to retreat, as she shakily stands up from behind the gun. She really should have asked first – actually, no, she should have kept shooting until you told her to stop … but you have already gotten so much more out of her than you expected, and perhaps it is best to save the ammunition. .50 BMG is not a common round – in fact, you will make a point of saving the brass for reloading … which you really should be doing anyway, now that you think about it. Setting aside the worrying thought that there are really obvious things that you should be doing that you are not, you decide to let Gunther to make the decision on whether or not hold position with Sucec or to advance to the front to fight with Fleckkers as the rest of the line comes to a stop to fight it out at the barricade. And after the dump truck is an appreciable distance away, and clearly is continuing to disengage, you quickly congratulate Petra, before sending her back to the safety of the cab.

>>4689163
This could have gone to shit – really, really easily. You force yourself to ignore the ringing in your ears, and remain alert for any other attacks … but you cannot help but realize how close of a call this was. If you had not ordered Gunther to break position and pull abreast of Sucec, then the dump truck would have been much, much closer to you – perhaps close enough that the highwayman might have still been able to ram you, or continue to try to force you off the road. But it seems that between the damage done already and the distance between the two of you that Gunther had been able to maintain it was enough to make him reconsider. So it seems that breaking formation here, under these specific circumstances, was the right call … as was letting Fleckkers make his own call on whether or not to run the barricade up ahead.

And of course – getting Petra on the gun. That was the real ‘play of the game’ here. Of course, it was not like she pulled off some incredible feat – the truck was at point blank range, the engine block was completely unarmored, the .50 BMG the M85 shoots was more than enough to destroy an engine, and the most moving it did was a slow and predicable list to the side before falling away. And it is not like guns are not some sort of esoteric enigma – they are made simple enough so that malnourished African children can use them to shoot extremely malnourished Communist African Children. But it was impressive how she managed to learn on the fly like that – especially with a certifiable blockhead like you to teach her. Maybe it was because neither of you had any choice in the matter – it was sink or swim. Or rather, sink or shoot.

The fact that your Farm Truck is still moving tells you that Gunther has decided to move to the front of the line, and as you approach and your ears finally start to stop ringing, you start to hear the sound of fire being traded back and forth … and one of the guns is unmistakably your Firecracker. And as strange as it might come across to some, the sound actually fills you with no small amount of relief – if that gun is firing, then it means Fleckkers, who has been radio silent since telling you about the blockade, is still –

“Shit! Mantle, Fleckkers is in trouble!”

Well, you were going to say okay, but you suppose you can settle for ‘alive’.

“What’s happening?”

“Those guys are throwing those burning cocktail things; the front of the Short Bus is on fire!”

Jesus Christ, just what you needed, Molotov’s. Thank God Fleckkers has the other walkie-talkie, otherwise coordinating your next move might would be dangerous at best and next to impossible at worst. Of course, the question is, what do you tell Fleckkers to do? For that matter, what do you tell Gunther to do.

>>4689172
>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Instruct Fleckkers to continue as he was, fighting it out from inside the Short Bus.
>Instruct Fleckkers to pull away from the blockade, drive to a safe sport alongside the line, and then attempt to put out the fire, or if that is not possible, then to save what he can from the Short Bus.
>Instruct Fleckkers to make use of the emergency back door, and abandon the Short Bus while Gunther or Petra (or both of them) cover him. He will be needed elsewhere.

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Tell Gunther to move your Farm Truck into position near the Short Bus, cab forward and engage the highwaymen at the blockade with his rifle. (if Fleckkers stays in position, he will be on his own for another 1 or 2 rounds of combat)
>Tell Gunther to move your Farm Truck into position near the Short Bus, bed forward and have him engage the highwaymen at the blockade with the M85, leaving you in the bed. (Fleckkers will be on his own for another 2 or 3 rounds of combat)
>Tell Gunther to move your Farm Truck into position near the Short Bus, Bed forward and have Petra engage the highwaymen at the blockade with the M85, leaving you in the bed. (Fleckkers will be on his own for another 2 or 3 rounds of combat)
>Tell Gunther to get you out of the bed of the Farm Truck, then move it into position near the Short Bus, bed forward, and have him engage the highwaymen at the blockade with the M85 (Fleckkers will be on his own for another 4 to 8 rounds of combat)
>Tell Gunther to get you out of the bed of the Farm Truck, then move it into position near the Short Bus, bed forward, and have Petra engage the highwaymen at the blockade with the M85 (Fleckkers will be on his own for another 4 to 8 rounds of combat)
>Tell Gunther to attempt a flank, by driving around the blockade (Fleckkers will be on his own for ? rounds of combat)

When I said I would get this one out after dinner, this was not what I had in mind.

>Instruct Fleckkers to make use of the emergency back door, and abandon the Short Bus while Gunther or Petra (or both of them) cover him. He will be needed elsewhere.
Win the fight, then salvage the bus if possible.

>Tell Gunther to move your Farm Truck into position near the Short Bus, cab forward and engage the highwaymen at the blockade with his rifle. (if Fleckkers stays in position, he will be on his own for another 1 or 2 rounds of combat)
Fastest counter-attack for maximum suppression.

Don't sweat the wait QM, its worth it.

>>4689175
>Instruct Fleckkers to make use of the emergency back door, and abandon the Short Bus while Gunther or Petra (or both of them) cover him. He will be needed elsewhere.

>Tell Gunther to move your Farm Truck into position near the Short Bus, bed forward and have him engage the highwaymen at the blockade with the M85, leaving you in the bed. (Fleckkers will be on his own for another 2 or 3 rounds of combat)
The higher firepower is worth the extra round in my book.

>>4689175
>>4689231
This is fine. Sorry I try and participate in these, I am usually the guy paranoid posting but Ive been in the hospital. Not for work like normal either. Flipping a car at highway speeds is not fun my guys.

Keep up the great work QM!

>>4689336
Wait, Cokeanon flipped his car? Don't go Ryan Dunn on us bro, get well and take care!

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>4689231
>>4689329
>>4689336
>>4689379
Alright - consider the vote closed. I will get to writing as soon as I can. But before that, here is a 'snap' vote. As per >>4687250, you can now take direct control of one NPC in combat. Who would you like to roll for?

>Petra, who at Oblivious in Ranged-Targeted rolls two sets of 5d20 and takes the worse one, but she already has a 1.25x modifier from your Teaching.
>Gunther, who at Rank Amateur in Ranged-Targeted rolls one set of 5d20 and takes -1, but he would need to roll on the Tier I Modifier Table.

>>4689607
>>Petra, who at Oblivious in Ranged-Targeted rolls two sets of 5d20 and takes the worse one, but she already has a 1.25x modifier from your Teaching.
the M85 goes brrrr

>>4689614
It certainly does, but remember -
>Tell Gunther to move your Farm Truck into position near the Short Bus, cab forward and engage the highwaymen at the blockade with his rifle. (if Fleckkers stays in position, he will be on his own for another 1 or 2 rounds of combat)
The M85 is mounted on the bed of the Farm Truck. As Gunther is going to park 'cab forward', the M85 is going to be sitting out of this round of the fight.

>>4689379
>Cokeanon flipped his car?
Cokeanon reporting in. Got a job last week and have been busy. Bought some coke last Friday though.
>>4689607
>Gunther, who at Rank Amateur in Ranged-Targeted rolls one set of 5d20 and takes -1, but he would need to roll on the Tier I Modifier Table.
Petra's modifier is nice, but she's clearly still worried about killing someone. Gunther is a better shot overall, was reading that 10/22 manual and probably less anxious. Lets get him going here. Cab forward is probably the best bet here, they likely have more molotovs and one of those landing in the bed would leave us capital F Fucked.
Respect for Fleckkers too. Man really exceeded my expectations, lighting them up with the Firecracker.

>Gunther, who at Rank Amateur in Ranged-Targeted rolls one set of 5d20 and takes -1, but he would need to roll on the Tier I Modifier Table.

Petra and Gunther are both essential. Gunther for dialysis and Petra for keeping Gunther from leaving in disgust.

Rolled 1, 2, 1 = 4 (3d2)

>>4689614
>>4689750
>>4689970

Alright - well, considering that >>4689614 has not changed their vote in 14+ hours, have to assume that it is legitimate. So that means I have the three votes required to close this.

Fleckkers:
He is in a really strong position, hunkering down in the entryway stair of the short bus. While the awkwardness of his Crudely Improvised Flak Vest does impose a -1 malus to his ranged modifier, it also confers +2 pips of health, and has a decent (75% chance) to nullify 3 attacks worth less than 10% of his health or an alright (66% chance) to mitigate (% of health loss - 10% of health) attacks worth more than 10% of his health. The Firecracker gives a +2 to the modifier roll (+1 from Quality Glass, +1 from Quality Construction), but he is firing with a heavy finger, gaining an extra shot in each of the bursts (going from two to three shots) at the cost of -1 to the modifier roll. With the other -1 from the Crudely Improvised Flak Vest, for this round, he will be shooting at whatever the gross roll is for the modifier. He gets (1+ 1d2) bursts per round of combat, taking the first of the 3d2 on this roll.

Highwayman 1:
He is also in a strong position, having hunkered down in the back of trash truck. He is shooting at Fleckkers.

Highwayman 2:
He is in a very strong position, hunkering down on the other side of the parked pickup truck. He is throwing Molotovs at the Short Bus.

Highwayman 3:
He is in a strong position, hunkering down in the tree line at the side of the road. He is shooting at Fleckkers.

CR to engage Fleckkers is 14, with RM 2.5x
CR to engage Highwayman 1 is 14 with RM 2.5x
CR to engage Highwayman 2 is 16 with RM 3.5x
CR to engage Highwayman 3 is 16 with RM 2.5x

Rolled 4, 6, 3 = 13 (3d6)

>>4690391
Alright, here are the modifier rolls for Fleckkers, HWM 1 and 3. HWM 2 makes a nominally easy Athletics test to throw another Molotov every three rounds. He will throw next round, not this one.

Rolled 20, 12, 3, 9, 7, 2, 17, 14, 14, 12, 19, 1, 8 = 138 (13d20)

>>4690394
Okay. First 10 of these rolls are Fleckkers, the 11th is HWM1 and the 12th and 13th are HWM 2.

Rolled 2, 1, 8, 18, 11, 10, 7, 6, 2 = 65 (9d20)

>>4690403
Whoops! Made a mistake - it should be 9d20, with the first six belonging to Fleckkers, the seventh belonging HWM1, and the eighth and ninth belonging to HWM2. Let's try that again.

Rolled 1 (1d4)

>>4690433

Grosses:

Fleckkers 1-1: Gross roll of 2, with AM 1.00x remains 2.000, with +0.5 from skill becomes 2.500.
Fleckkers 1-2: Gross roll of 1, with AM 1.00x remains 1.000, with +0.5 from skill becomes 1.500.
Fleckkers 1-3: Gross roll of 8, with AM 1.00x remains 8.000, with +0.5 from skill becomes 8.500.
Fleckkers 1-4: Gross roll of 18, with AM 1.00x remains 18.000, with +0.5 from skill becomes 18.500.
Fleckkers 1-5: Gross roll of 11, with AM 1.00x remains 11.000, with +0.5 from skill becomes 11.500.
Fleckkers 1-6: Gross roll of 10, with AM 1.00x remains 10.000, with +0.5 from skill becomes 10.500.

HWM 1-1: Gross roll of 7, with AM 1.500x becomes 10.500, with +0.5 from skill becomes 11.000.

HWM 3-1: Gross roll of 6, with AM 1.125x becomes 6.750, with - 1 from skill becomes 5.750.
HWM 3-2: Gross roll of 2, with AM 1.125x becomes 2.250, with -1 from skill becomes 1.250.

Results:

Fleckkers 1-1 < 14.000, and does no damage
Fleckkers 1-2 < 14.000, and does no damage
Fleckkers 1-3 < 14.000, and does no damage
Fleckkers 1-4 > 14.000, and does do damage
Fleckkers 1-5 < 14.000, and does no damage
Fleckkers 1-5 < 14.000, and does no damage

HWM 1-1 < 14.000, and does no damage

HWM 3-1 < 14.000, and does no damage
HWM 3-2 < 14.000, and does no damage

Damage Calculation:

HWM 1 is a typical, unarmored combat aged man, and as such, has 4 pips of health. His position is modeled as Full Cover, and provides a +2 before the resistance save, modified by the 2.5x RM, as well as a +6 bonus after. (For future reference, Half Cover provides +1 before the resistance save, as well as a +3 bonus after. Concealment provides nothing before, but can provide bonuses after. It is possible to both be in Cover and Concealment simultaneously, but that is not common).

Rolled 2 (1d4)

>>4690469
Had to step out for a minute - also, boy did I mess up the 'bold' on that post ... well, it doesn't look that bad.

Damage Calculation Continued:
HWM 1: Gross roll of 1, with Full Cover +2 (BM) becomes 3, with RM 2.5x becomes 7.500, with Full Cover +6 (AM) becomes 13.500

Fleckkers 1 - 4 v HWM 1 is (18.500 - 13.500)*2 = (5.000)*2 = 10.000, or 1 pip of health [The damage output is doubled, as 18 - 20 is considered Near Critical]

Results:
Fleckkers expends 6 rounds and takes no damage.
HWM 1 expends 1 round and takes 1 pip of damage. If this post rolls 4, he is retired from the fight.
HWM 2 prepares to throw and takes no damage.
HWM 3 expends 2 round and takes no damage.

>>4690552
Alright, he is still in the fight, but regardless, things are going alright for you so far.
Now I will need 1d2 and 1d6 - to determine how many bursts Gunther gets and what is modifier is. Remember, the M-16 variant that Gunther is using has 30 round magazines, and you have three of them.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>4690391
>have to assume that it is legitimate
don't see why it wouldn't be, I was just voting for who to roll for during the encounter as a whole
anyways, dice

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>4690558

Rolled 5 (1d6)

File: 1296671099_red-bruce-will(...).webm (360 KB, 340x141)

360 KB WEBM

Gunther joins the fight

>>4690563
Saying the vote was not legitimate was a poor choice of words on my part - 'possibly misinformed' would probably be a better way to have put it, as it sounded like your reasoning for picking Petra was dependent on using the M85, which will not see any use as the gun is pointed away from the blockade.

Anyway, Gunther gets three bursts of three, but he can get an additional shot for a -1 malus to the Modifier Roll, or a +1 bonus to the Modifier roll for dropping a shot.

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Fat Finger (4 shots to a burst, -1 to Modifier)
>Standard Pull (3 shots to a burst)
>Hair Triggered (2 shots to a burst, +1 to Modifier)

>>4690741
>Standard Pull (3 shots to a burst)

>>4690741
>Standard Pull (3 shots to a burst)

>>4690882
>>4690783
Alright, then I need someone to roll 9d20 - this is Gunther's attack, the one you are rolling on his behalf. As (almost) always, higher is better.

Rolled 2, 1, 12, 11, 5, 2, 8, 14, 18 = 73 (9d20)

Rolled 4, 8, 14 = 26 (3d20)

>>4691014
>>4690956
Okay, so these are the three incoming shots from HWM 1 and HWM 3. For future reference, do you guys prefer doing all of the rolling and then me doing the narrative accounting, or would you prefer narrative stuff interspersed with the all of the rolling?

Oh jeez, I just realized. Who do you guys want Gunther to be shooting at?

Highwayman 1 has CR of 14, with RM 2.5x in Full Cover (2 & 6). He is at 3/4 pips of health.
Highwayman 2 has CR of 16, with RM 3.5x in Full Cover (2 & 6). He is at 4/4 pips of health.
Highwayman 3 has CR of 16, with RM 3.5x in Full Cover (2 & 6). He is at 4/4 pips of health.

I just sort of assumed that it would be continuing to target down the already injured one, but I figure that I should actually ask first. Sorry about that.

>Please pick ONE target (for Gunther)
>Highwayman 1
>Highwayman 2
>Highwayman 3

Also, another question - do you want to send Petra out there to take some pot shots, or have her come over to the relative safety of the bed of your Farm Truck?

>>4691049
>Highwayman 1
I assume you mean Fleckkers? I'd say get him into the bed of the truck. He could lay down for cover or set up the bipod of the Firecracker on the roof.

>>4691075
Actually, no - Fleckkers needs to take a round to get out of the bus before he can be ordered any further.

>>4691096
Oh, sorry for the misunderstanding. In that case, my vote is for Petra to stay put in the cab of the pickup, buckled in and slouching down to present a smaller target.

>>4691049
>>Highwayman 3
Fleckkers hit the other guy. Firebombs will be unwieldy and will likely not be able to come near Fleckkers. HWM3 could potentially hit Fleckkers in retreat, I'd say Gunther should provide some cover fire.

>>4691196
Changing my vote to this.

>>4691196
+1. Petra should stay put, her going out there would only distract Gunther

>>4691196
Going with this.

>>4689379
Yeah, different guy than coke-bro lol.

>>4691049
>>4691196
This is fine.

Okay, consider this locked in. Petra will hold up tight, in the cab, and Gunther will be shooting at HWM 3. Thread will resume around 1:00 pm Eastern Standard time today.

Rolled 1 (1d6)

Grosses:

Gunther 2-1: Gross roll of 2, with AM 1.375x becomes 2.750, with -1 from skill becomes 1.750
Gunther 2-2: Gross roll of 1, with AM 1.375x becomes 1.375, with -1 from skill becomes 0.375
Gunther 2-3: Gross roll of 12, with AM 1.375x becomes 16.500, with -1 from skill becomes 15.500
Gunther 2-4: Gross roll of 11, with AM 1.375x becomes 15.125, with - 1 from skill becomes 14.125
Gunther 2-5: Gross roll of 5, with AM 1.375x becomes 6.875, with -1 from skill becomes 5.875
Gunther 2-6: Gross roll of 2, with AM 1.375x becomes 2.750, with -1 from skill becomes 1.750
Gunther 2-7: Gross roll of 8, with AM 1.375x becomes 11.000, with -1 from skill becomes 10.000
Gunther 2-8: Gross roll of 14, with AM 1.375x becomes 19.250, with -1 from skill becomes 18.250
Gunther 2-9: Gross roll of 18, with AM 1.375x becomes 24.750, with - 1 from skill becomes 23.750

HWM 1-2-1: Gross roll of 4, with AM 1.500x becomes 6.000, with -1 from skill becomes 5.000

HWM 3-2-1: Gross roll of 8, with AM 1.125x becomes 9.000, with +0.5 from skill becomes 9.500
HWM 3-2-2: Gross roll of 14, with AM 1.125x becomes 15.750, with +0.5 from skill becomes 16.250

Results:

Gunther 2-1 < 16.000 does no damage
Gunther 2-2 < 16.000 does no damage
Gunther 2-3 < 16.000 does no damage
Gunther 2-4 < 16.000 does no damage
Gunther 2-5 < 16.000 does no damage
Gunther 2-6 < 16.000 does no damage
Gunther 2-7 < 16.000 does no damage
Gunther 2-8 > 16.000 does do damage
Gunther 2-9 > 16.000 does do damage

HWM 1-2-1 < 16.000 does no damage

HWM 3-2-1 < 16.000 does no damage
HWM 3-2-2 > 16.000 does do damage

Damage Calculation, Part 1:

Fleckkers is a typical combat aged man, with a Crudely Improvised Flak Jacket, and in Full Cover. He has an RM of 2.5x. .

HWM 3 is a typical combat aged man, unarmored, and in Full Cover. He has an RM of 2.5x.

Rolled 4 (1d4)

>>4692047
Uh oh. That's not good for Fleckkers - but hopefully that dorky vest should prevent this from getting too serious.

Anyway, this is the Resistance Roll for HWM3.

Rolled 4 (1d4)

>>4692049
Damage Calculation, Part 2:

Fleckkers, Full Cover: Gross roll of 1, with FC becomes 3, with RM 2.5x becomes 7.5, with FC becomes 13.500
HWM 3-2-2 v Fleckkers results in 16.250 - 13.500 = 2.75 damage, or 0.275 pips of health.
0.275/6 = 4.58%, which means that the Crudely Improvise Flak Jacket has a 75% chance to negate this attack. (Roll of 2,3 or 4 on this post)

HWM 3, Full Cover: Gross roll of 4, with FC becomes 6, with RM 2.5x becomes 16, with FC becomes 22.000
Gunther 2-8 v HWM 3 results in 2 * (18.250 - 22.000) = 0 damage, or 0 pips of health.
Gunther 2-9 v HWM 3 results in 3 * (23.750 - 22.000) = 5.25 damage, or 0.525 pips of health.
0.525/4 = 13.125%, which means HWM 3 does not need to make a resistance save or retire from this round.

>>4692069
End of Round 2:

Allies:

Fleckkers: Currently in Half Cover. 6/6 pips of Health. 2/3 pips of Armor. AM x1.00. RM x1.5. Walkie-Talkie. M240b with roughly 580 rounds remaining on the belt.

Gunther: Currently in Half Cover. 4/4 pips of Health. No Armor. AM x1.375. RM x2.00. M-16 variant with 21 rounds remaining in magazine. 3 spare magazines.

Petra: Currently in Full Cover. 3/3 pips of Health. No Armor. AM x1.25. RM x4.50. Unarmed.

Midge: Currently in Full Cover, Concealment. 3/3 pips of Health. No Armor. No AM. RM x4.50. Hunting Rifle, with 15 loose rounds.

(You): Currently in No Cover. Deep Concealment. 2/6 pips of Health. No Armor. No AM. RM x2.00. Gunther's (Formerly yours) Beater 10/22, with 15 loose rounds.


Enemies:

HWM 1: Currently in Full Cover. 3/4 pips of Health. No Armor. AM x1.50. RM x2.5. Hunting Rifle?

HWM 2: Currently in Full Cover. 4/4 pips of Health. No Armor? No AM. RM x3.5. Molotov's. Other guns?

HWM 3: Currently in Full Cover. 3.475/4 pips of Health. No Armor. AM x1.125. RM x2.5. Hunting Rifle?


Okay, I am going to start writing up the narrative of this round. In the meantime, who would you order Gunther and Fleckkers to focus on now?

>Try to finish off HWM 1
>Try to get a bead on HWM 2
>Try to finish off HWM 3
>With Fleckkers clear, try to disengage a bit - they might take the opportunity to back off.

>>4692118
>>Try to finish off HWM 3
No sense in trying to start whittling away at someone else when we already started on the other two. Even if he could wind up being the most dangerous one by far.

>Try to finish off HWM 1
They have less health.
QM, what are AM and RM?

>>4692440
Attack Modifier and Resistance Modifier - the combat equivalent of the Modifier rolls, the 1d6, that is paired with the Skill roll, the 5d20. One of these days, I should really sit down and actually explain the cockamamie system this Quest uses.

Anyway, I lost track of time - I'm going to get something to eat, finish writing up the narrative of round two, and then hopefully move into the mechanics of round three, which assuming you guys get lucky, could easily be the last round of combat at the barricade.

>>4692440
>They have less health.
Good point. Swapping to this.

Rolled 73 (1d100)

You decide that the best way to do this would be to address Gunther and Fleckkers simultaneously, so you shout your orders into the walkie-talkie, hoping that Fleckkers still has it on hand.

“That bus could go up at any moment. Fleckkers needs to bail out of that thing, and you need to cover him. Get up as close as you can to the emergency door on the back of that thing. Just shoot through the window. Fleckkers, did you hear me? We’re going to put the truck between them and the back door. Fleckkers?”

There is an affirmative response from Gunther, but there is nothing forthcoming from the walkie-talkie. At the very least, you can still hear your Firecracker firing away, so you know that he is still alive, but if he didn’t hear you, then …

“FLECKKERS, YOU NEED TO GET OUT OF THERE. WE’RE GOING TO COVER THE EMERGENCY DOOR – THE BACK EMERGENCY DOOR. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, GET OUTTA THAT FUCKING BUS.’

There is still no response on the other end of line – but you Firecracker abruptly stops firing, which either means that he is about to make a run for it, or … no, you are not going to allow yourself to think like that. Fleckkers is going to get out of that bus, and that … that is all there is to it. No one is going to … get hurt, not under your command. You will not stand for it. Or, rather, you will not lie in a stolen hospital gurney for it.

While you try to keep it together, the Farm Truck swerves fiercely enough that you are shifted in the bed. Had the railings of the bed not been up, and had you not been strapped in, you might have actually been slid off. Still, it was a painful affair – enough to knock the wind out of you. You are brought of the pain induced daze by the deafening sound of Gunther up front, blasting away. Thinking about the position that he is in, you start to worry about him as well. There is no way that he is adequately covered, shooting from a sitting position from behind a steering wheel, especially with a full-sized rifle. It is enough to drown out the other, intermittent shooting from the highwaymen.

As bad as sitting there … er, well, sitting here, actually, strapped to a bed – not able to do anything but watch – while that asshole with the dump truck tried to run you off the road … as bad as that was? This is worse. Everything is going on behind you, and with your neck still in the brace there is no way that you can see anything up there. All you can do is listen. Listen and imagine. You wonder if the windshield caused Gunther any issues. Supposedly, if you shot through one, the bullet would get slightly deflected by the curvature of the glass or whatever … but you do not know if that applies to rifle rounds. Anyway, the truck is so old that –

The walkie-talkie squawks. It is Fleckkers … obviously. And he is shouting loud enough that you would not be surprised if you could hear him without the walkie-talkie.

HWM 2 CR 20 for Molotov

>>4692677
“MAAANTLEEE! THE DOOR ISN’T FUCKING OPENINGGG!”

Oh fuck. FUCK. You can sort of even hear something over the radio that could be Fleckkers trying to wrench the bar open.

>Please pick ONE of the following:
>Tell Gunther to start shooting again (Half Cover, RM x1.5)
>Tell Gunther to find somewhere to hunker down. He will not be able to shoot. (Full Cover, RM x3.5)
>Tell Gunther to find another way out of the bus. He will not be able to shoot. (No Cover, RM x1.5)

>>4692679
Also, someone needs to roll 9d20 for Gunther, regardless of whatever the vote is on this.

Rolled 7, 2, 19, 14, 13, 11, 13, 13, 15 = 107 (9d20)

Jesus. Maybe we can force them into retreat and then have Fleckkers bail out through the windows or whatever? My school bus windows were pretty big and there were a few emergency exits, but I'm not sure what's standard.

oh, I forgot to include the vote
>Tell Gunther to start shooting again (Half Cover, RM x1.5)

>Tell Gunther to position the truck perpendicular to the bus about 10 feet behind the bus and then they both should get out of the driver side door and use the engine block of the truck for cover.
x1.5 RM is a death wish for the guy keeping us alive. This should grant decent cover against the attackers and set us up to rescue Fleckkers. The big disadvantage is that it leaves us vulnerable to as yet undetected enemy overwatch and counterattacks from the rear.

The bus should have a roof exit which may or may not be on fire, these exist in case of a bus rolling.
Sucec might start firing any turn now too.
All else fails next turn, we get Petra back on the gun and tell Fleckkers to take cover at the middle of the bus and have Petra shoot the door off the back of the bus with the 50 cal.

Its a risk.

>>4692753
Supporting the write in. This firefight has been tense so far. Memorable. Nice writing, QM.

>>4692753
Also, I'm assuming we're doing this to the left of Fleckker's bus.

>>4692753
Supporting this write in as well.

>>4691531
>Yeah, different guy than coke-bro lol.
Meant to respond earlier mate, but I hope you're doing fine after the hospital visit. Hope your car doesn't cost much to repair either. Hope you have insurance too, medical bills are so fucked. I drank 2/3rds of a bottle of moonshine a couple years ago and woke up in the hospital. 3000$ ambulance bill. Fucking glorified taxi, but I did puke on a paramedic so I guess it evens out.

>>4692870
>I drank 2/3rds of a bottle of moonshine a couple years ago
To clarify further 2/3rds were all that was left. I would've drank the whole thing if there was any more. That shit was so smooth. Vanilla. Best drink I've ever had.

File: Scene at the Barricade 1.png (31 KB, 480x515)

31 KB PNG

>>4692753
Well, we can certainly do something like that, but I think that I haven't communicated the layout at the barricade very well - though some of that is because Mantle is getting everything second hand. Here is some OOC intelligence, fresh from Microsoft Paint, on how the scene looks right now. The black boxes are the dump truck and the pick up, the yellow box that is on fire is obviously the Short Bus, and the light gray box alongside it is the Farm Truck. From your instructions, based off of the vote in >>4689175, he pulled right up as close as he could, so Fleckkers could pop out the emergency door, and then get right on the back of the Farm Truck.

The big issue here is that when I was envisioning the short bus, I was thinking of a one that does not have a separate driver door to the right. But I looked around online, and it seems that most newer models of short buses seem to have the driver doors - they are basically vans with a school bus grafted on the back. And because I made a point of describing this as a newer bus, then I suppose that it should have the driver side door. Basically, what I am getting at is that I will accept the write-in. I will try to get something up in the morning, but as I have an assignment due at noon, I probably will not get the narrative write up of round 3 until lunchtime - just a heads up.

>>4692764
I'm glad you like it!

>>4692753
Let's do this

HOSING OUT THE CAB OF HIS PICK-UP TRUCK
HE'S GOT HIS 8-TRACK PLAYING REALLY FUCKIN' LOUD
THE ONE WHO WOULDN'T GO DOWN ON HIS BROTHER'S DEAD
SHE'S WEARIN HIS BOOTPRINT ON HER FOREHEAD

Rolled 4, 5, 14 = 23 (3d20)

Here are the rolls for HWM 1 and HWM 3.

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>4693225
And for their target:

Roll of 1: continue to target Fleckkers
Roll of 2: continue to target Fleckkers.
Roll of 3: HWM 1 shifts to Gunther, HWM 3 remains on Fleckkers
Roll of 4: HWM 3 shifts to Gunther, HWM 1 remains on Fleckkers
Roll of 5: shift to target Gunther
Roll of 6: shift to target Gunther

I'm going to grab some lunch, but the run will be starting soon.

Rolled 2 (1d3)

Grosses:

Gunther 3-1: Gross roll of 7, with AM x1.375 becomes 9.625, with -1 from skill becomes 8.625
Gunther 3-2: Gross roll of 2, with AM x1.375 becomes 2.750, with -1 from skill becomes 1.750
Gunther 3-3: Gross roll of 19, with AM x1.375 becomes 26.125, with -1 from skill becomes 25.125
Gunther 3-4: Gross roll of 14, with AM x1.375 becomes 19.250, with -1 from skill becomes 18.250
Gunther 3-5: Gross roll of 13, with AM x1.375 becomes 17.875, with -1 from skill becomes 16.875
Gunther 3-6: Gross roll of 11, with AM x1.375 becomes 15.125, with -1 from skill becomes 14.125
Gunther 3-7: Gross roll of 13, with AM x1.375 becomes 17.875, with -1 from skill becomes 16.875
Gunther 3-8: Gross roll of 13, with AM x1.375 becomes 17.875, with -1 from skill becomes 16.875
Gunther 3-9: Gross roll of 15, with AM x1.375 becomes 20.825, with -1 from skill becomes 19.825

HWM 1-3-1: Gross roll of 4, with AM 1.500x becomes 6.000, with -1 from skill becomes 5.000

HWM 3-2-1: Gross roll of 5, with AM 1.125x becomes 5.625, with +0.5 from skill becomes 6.125
HWM 3-2-2: Gross roll of 14, with AM 1.125x becomes 15.750, with +0.5 from skill becomes 16.250

Results:

Gunther 3-1 < 16 does no damage
Gunther 3-2 < 16 does no damage
Gunther 3-3 > 16 does do damage (x3)
Gunther 3-4 > 16 does do damage (x2)
Gunther 3-5 > 16 does do damage
Gunther 3-6 < 16 does no damage
Gunther 3-7 > 16 does do damage
Gunther 3-8 > 16 does do damage
Gunther 3-9 > 16 does do damage (x2)

HWM 1-3-1 < 16 does no damage

HWM 3-3-1 < 16 does no damage
HWM 3-3-2 > 16 does do damage

Damage Calculation, Part 1:

Gunther is a typical combat aged man, unarmored, and in Half Cover. He has an RM of x2.00. He rolls 1d4 for his resistance roll.

HWM 1 is an injured typical combat aged man, unarmored, and in Full Cover. He has an RM of x2.50. He rolls 1d(4-# of pips of health loss, rounded down to the integer). In this case, 1d3.

Okay, I need someone to roll the 1d4 for Gunther's resistance roll - he is the one being targeted here. The roll of this post is the 1d3 is HWM 1. Even with the RM of x2.50 and the Full Cover, I'm pretty sure you are going knock him out of the fight this round, one way or the other.

Rolled 4 (1d4)

>>4693565

Rolled 2, 4, 1 = 7 (3d4)

Damage Calculation, Part 2:

Gunther, Half Cover: Gross roll of 4, with HC becomes 5, with RM 2.0x becomes 10, with HC becomes 13.000
HWM 3-2-2 v Gunther results in 1* (16.250 - 13.000) = 3.25 damage, or 0.325 pips of health.
0.325/4 = 8.125%, which means that Gunther does not need to make a resistance save or retire from this round.

HWM 1, Full Cover: Gross roll of 2, with FC becomes 5, with RM 2.5x becomes 12.5, with FC becomes 18.500
Gunther 3-3 v HWM 1 results in 3 * (25.125 - 18.500) = 19.875 damage, or 1.987 pips of health.
Gunther 3-4 v HWM 1 results in 2 * (18.250 - 18.500) = 0 damage, or 0 pips of health
Gunther 3-5 v HWM 1 results in 1 * (18.250 - 18.500) = 0 damage, or 0 pips of health
Gunther 3-7 v HWM 1 results in 1 * (16.875 - 18.500) = 0 damage, or 0 pips of health
Gunther 3-8 v HWM 1 results in 1 * (16.875 - 18.500) = 0 damage, or 0 pips of health
Gunther 3-9 v HWM 1 results in 2 * (19.625 - 18.500) = 2.250 damage, or 0.225 pips of health.
2.209/4 = 55.225%, which means HWM 3 needs to make three resistance saves. The first for losing 20% of his health in one turn. The second for losing 40% of his health in one turn. The third for losing >75% of his health. Even if he manages to stay in the fight, he is running on adrenaline. Without first aid, followed quickly by proper surgical intervention by a professional, he is going to die.

>>4693613
End of Round 3:

Allies:

Fleckkers: Currently in Half Cover. 6/6 pips of Health. 2/3 pips of Armor. AM x1.00. RM x1.5. Walkie-Talkie. M240b with roughly 580 rounds remaining on the belt.

Gunther: Currently in Half Cover. 3.675/4 pips of Health. No Armor. AM x1.375. RM x2.00. M-16 variant with 12 rounds remaining in magazine. 3 spare magazines.

Petra: Currently in Full Cover. 3/3 pips of Health. No Armor. AM x1.25. RM x4.50. Unarmed.

Midge: Currently in Full Cover, Concealment. 3/3 pips of Health. No Armor. No AM. RM x4.50. Hunting Rifle, with 15 loose rounds.

(You): Currently in No Cover. Deep Concealment. 2/6 pips of Health. No Armor. No AM. RM x2.00. Gunther's (Formerly yours) Beater 10/22, with 15 loose rounds.


Enemies:

HWM 1: RETIRED and DYING. 0.791/4 pips of Health. No Armor. AM x1.50. RM x2.5. Hunting Rifle?

HWM 2: Currently in Full Cover. 4/4 pips of Health. No Armor? No AM. RM x3.5. Molotov's. Other guns?

HWM 3: Currently in Full Cover. 3.475/4 pips of Health. No Armor. AM x1.125. RM x2.5. Hunting Rifle?


I think this fight is pretty much over. They are down one guy, and were unable to stop Fleckkers from getting to the relative safety of your Farm Truck - which begs an important question ... do you let them disengage and run off into the woods, or are you going to ask your men to kill these guys?

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Tell Fleckkers and Gunther to allow the Highwaymen to disengage
>Tell Fleckkers and Gunther to not let them get away unscathed
>Do not tell Fleckkers and Gunther what to do - let them make their own decisions, their own calls.

I will get the narrative write up out after dinner.

>>4693635
>>Do not tell Fleckkers and Gunther what to do - let them make their own decisions, their own calls.

>>4693635
>Do not tell Fleckkers and Gunther what to do - let them make their own decisions, their own calls.
I guess Fleckkers wants to shoot and Gunther doesn't, and both have their justifications. No chasing these guys in the woods though!

>Do not tell Fleckkers and Gunther what to do - let them make their own decisions, their own calls.
Let them use their common sense.

>>4693911
>>4693745
>>4693657
Alright - consider this vote closed. Writing.

>>4692870
Thanks for the concern anon. I have pretty good insurance, work for the hospital. Had to have minor surgery to fix a spleen bleed but not dead. Car, car is fucked. Little 2 seat sports car rolling at near highway speeds. But the totaled it out and I got a nice chunk of change for a new one. Maybe one a little less stupid lol. Glad you survived your thing too man!

Out of everything that could have possibly gone wrong, having the emergency door jam during an actual fucking emergency has to be one of the worse – though, thankfully, the Short Bus does have other door, though none of them are as safe as the one out the back. Keeping the walkie-talkie on, you wait for Gunther to finish squeezing off a burst, and then shout at him.

“Gunther, the back door on the bus is all fucked! Pull the Farm Truck in so it covers the driver’s door, alright?”

“We’re already fucking covering it! Any closer, and we’d be bumper to bumper … and we’d have to worry about catching.”

Catching? Oh, right. The Molotov’s, the fucking fire. Fuck, you had somehow managed to forget about that. Jesus Christ – trying to call the shots here on nothing but secondhand information is not just hard, it is dangerous. In the future, you will have to be more careful, otherwise you might forget something important, make a bad call, something like that. Realizing that you have gotten lost in your head again, you return your attention to Gunther, only to realize that he has started shooting again … which means he will not be available for any more questions at the moment. As you are unable to do anything but take Gunther’s word for it, that the drivers door to the Short Bus is as covered as it possibly can be, you turn your attention back to the walkie-talkie and Fleckkers.

”Fleckkers – the drivers door on the bus should be safe enough. If that does not work, I dunno, shoot out a fucking window, improvise, whatever. Just get the fuck off of the bus, now!

This time, you actually get a confirmation from him. Perhaps, as he is now out of the direct line of sight of these highwaymen, he might have managed to recover what little nerve he has. Further thought on your former safecracker is postponed, however, by the unpleasant realization that with Fleckkers no longer shooting, Gunther … and by extension, your Farm Truck has become the target. At least one of the shots manages to punch the back of the cab and wizzes over your head as you lie, strapped down in the bed. Suddenly there is loud, angry and almost incomprehensible swearing from the from the cab, followed by a particularly quick and sloppy sounding burst. Worried that the former night nurse, your parties de facto medic, has been hurt, you are about to shout out to him, to ask if everything is alright, when there is an unexpected, metallic clatter at the edge of the Farm Truck’s bed. You instinctively tense up, like a leaf spring – but before you can even truly start to panic, you see Fleckkers rounding the right corner of the bed. Thank God – for a second there, you thought you were being boarded. And for that matter – thank God for Fleckkers getting himself out of that death trap.

>>4695253
For the moment, he is staying put at the far corner of the truck, hunched down, his head level with the floor, and the bumper, tires and the entire length of the Farm Truck between him and the highwaymen. He is noticeably shaking – probably a combination of fear and adrenaline. But even though he is a twitchy bundle of nerves, he is keeping the Firecracker in position, at the ready. You still do not know what to make of him, or more importantly what exactly to do with a guy who is this confused mix of ‘quite capable’ and ‘about to have a breakdown’ whenever there is a fight … or even just some sort of conflict, considering how he behaved when you ran into him at the Prague Farmer’s Union, immediately before the Strike started, or when you caught him those times, hunting deer out a season, with a rifle … as a convicted felon, no less.

Suddenly, you realize that several seconds have gone by without any further shots – either from the cab, or into the cab. You are about to ask what is going on when in a clearly pained voice, Gunther cries out that the highwaymen are breaking – making a dash for the timber. Considering that he is not shooting at them, Gunther is presumably content to just watch them go … or whatever injury he has apparently got is enough to prevent him from continuing to fire at these bastards. Meanwhile, in the back – judging by the way that Fleckkers is gripping his gun, and is craning his head to try to get a look at the tree line on the side of the road, he is probably seriously considering continuing the fight … or retreating to a safer position. His decision is ultimately made by Gunther, when without warning, he starts to back the truck away from the burning Short Bus, and he is damn near knocked down and run over by his hiding spot. Thankfully, between you and Fleckkers shouting at him, Gunther stops before any damage is done.

As Gunther apologizes profusely while Fleckkers clambers up on to the relative safety of the bed of the truck, swearing profusely, you take a moment to think about the character of these two men. While based off of what you know and have seen of the man, you doubt that Gunther would have shot at fleeing enemies, even if you had explicitly ordered him to do so. On the other hand, Fleckkers has no such scruples – as evidenced by him taking potshots at the fleeing prowlers on the first night of the Strike, after he had killed one of them. No, his hang up was personal safety. To get into a position to shoot those guys as they fled the barricade, he would have to get out of his safe little spot, and go somewhere where he could potentially be hit with return fire; hence, the indecision. In his case, you probably could have ordered him to get after those bastards, and he would have grudgingly done it – but it does not seem likely that when it comes to fights that he is going to put himself in greater danger on his own initiative.

>>4695437
Once Fleckkers is sitting pretty on the bed of the Farm Truck, you tell Gunther that now he can back away from the Short Bus. As he does, you find yourself wondering what exactly you should do about the damned thing. The Armorer at Mt Kineo who agreed to let you borrow it, did so on the condition that it would be returned in the condition that it was lent in. That ship has sailed, clearly. The question is now is if the bus can be returned at all. But as long as the emergency fire extinguishers on that all school buses carry are all still there … and assuming they work better than the emergency doors have, then you should have the option to try to save the bus, if you were willing to linger here.

>Please Choose ONE of the following:
>Consider the Short Bus a complete loss, along with all of its cargo. You are not going to mess around here, especially considering there are hostiles in the area.
>Consider the Short Bus a complete loss, but send some in to try to save the cargo, and to pry the generator off of the side. Any hostiles left around here have had the fear of God put in them – and even if they were to come around again, you will screen the Short Bus with some of your other vehicles, so they could not hit you from the tree line.
>Try to save the Short Bus by using the emergency fire extinguishers to put out the fire. At the very least, you will be able to recover everything on board safely, as well as pull any intact parts. If you are lucky, you will save the bus. As with the previous option, you will screen the Short Bus with other vehicles for protection.

Sorry guys, I thought I posted all of this with >>4695253 two and a half hours ago.

>>4695441
>>Try to save the Short Bus by using the emergency fire extinguishers to put out the fire. At the very least, you will be able to recover everything on board safely, as well as pull any intact parts. If you are lucky, you will save the bus. As with the previous option, you will screen the Short Bus with other vehicles for protection.
Given that we just sent them running this should hopefully be safe.
I'm not sure if we can take the 'financial' hit of losing the thing completely after the tax hike for our own gasifier.

>>4695496
This. +1.

>Try to save the Short Bus by using the emergency fire extinguishers to put out the fire. At the very least, you will be able to recover everything on board safely, as well as pull any intact parts. If you are lucky, you will save the bus. As with the previous option, you will screen the Short Bus with other vehicles for protection.

Taking too long sounds like a bad idea but saving the bus or taking the pickup or dump truck sounds like a solid idea.

>>4695602
>>4695526
>>4695496
Okay. Consider this closed. Look for the next post before 12pm EST tomorrow.

is there a wounded/dying hostile lying in the bushes still? If so, interrogation time.

Just an idea. I wonder if the guy from the motor pool fucked with the back door out of spite, perhaps to make loading our cargo in more difficult. If there are spot welds or something on that door, he is a dead man.

>>4696105
Good thinking anon, worth checking out if we can get the bus out of here, I think.

While you have some reservations, the fact remains is that you have assumed responsibility for that Short Bus. Even if you cannot bring it back in the condition in left in anymore, you should at least make a good faith effort to save the vehicle and bring it back to Mt. Kineo. Of course, that would be easier if you had more Fire Extinguishers; there was one in the older ¾’s bus that Sucec was driving, and there was one in the Short Bus – the others had been removed. You had not thought to look for them before you left – an oversight that you will not make again. Of course, with a limited supply of the things, and a gang of arsonists, the Firebugs, targeting your people, no doubt that outfitting a future expedition with extinguishers would be an extremely expensive proposition.

As per your instructions, Gunther and Fleckkers confirm that those bastards have run off before anyone does anything else. They play it safe as houses, with Gunther putting the Farm Truck into first gear, and rolling it forward, to provide moving cover as the pair check the blockade over. Fleckkers has given Gunther the walkie-talkie, as the Firecracker does not have carry sling that the M-16 variants do … which is why Fleckkers was having such a hard time talking with you, as he had to choose between keeping the M240b at the ready, or chatting with you. After a tense moment, Gunther comes on and gives the ‘all clear’. He reports – with a noticeable tremor in his voice – that there is downed enemy, hit in the lung, curled up and bleeding out in the back of the trash truck. He is still conscious and somewhat lucid, as when he saw Gunther and Fleckkers, his immediate reaction was to try to turn away. It is unclear if he is able to speak at this point – but it is clear that he is going to die without medical intervention.

Gunther seems to be taking this hard … of course, that is understandable, considering that he is almost certainly the one who mortally wounded this guy. Fleckkers, on the other hand, now that most of the danger has passed, is once again acting like a consummate professional. He informs you over the radio- presumably still being held by Gunther - that he has disarmed the guy. He also notices that the passenger side door of the trash truck is hanging open, and asks Gunther if he had seen anything on that end of the barricade. The former safecracker actually needs to ask the former night nurse again before he gets a response – no, but he was looking at the ass end of the trash truck, where all the shooting was. The question behind Fleckkers’ line of inquiry is obvious – is it possible that there was a fourth guy on the barricade? It does not seem likely to you, and you tell Fleckkers as much as you order the pair of them to hustle back to the Short Bus.

>>4696245
But when there is moment of downtime, as Fleckkers and Gunther return while Sucec heads over with his buses’ extinguisher, you think about it a little more. It is possible that someone in the cab could have bailed before the rest did, while Gunther was too busy shooting to notice. It is certainly possible – and you find your thoughts turning to Petra, who spent the entire second stage of this ambuscade hiding under the passenger dash. Oh, Jesus – did they have a kid hiding in there? You will keep this one to yourself; obviously, you do not want to further upset Gunther. Turning your thoughts away from this latest … unpleasantness, you focus instead on saving the Short Bus from the flames. As a precaution, the bus is screened on both sides of the road by the two larger buses, while Fleckkers with the help of Sucec, the Laker’s Chief Engineer, the fire is put out in short order – though it takes both of the extinguishers, and Fleckkers having to take off his Improvised Outwear and beat out some of the smaller flames. After a while, Sucec – who at some point must have been given the walkie-talkie – comes on and informs you that the fire is out now, and he will try to get the bus running again. He cautions you, however, that with most small car (or bus) fires, the damage is primarily electrical – which none of you have the proper tools to fix. Something to consider.

But you have other things to consider; namely, the downed highwayman. What on Earth should you do with him? The picked over emergency First Aid kits that the buses have are obviously not adequate for a gunshot to the lungs. And even if it somehow was enough to patch him up, he would still need blood transfusions to last long enough if you were to get serious about saving that poor fuck. No, there is only one way this is going to end for him here, the question is ... how does he get there, exactly?

>Please pick ONE of the following:
>Send some over there to keep trying to talk with him. Maybe we can get something out of him. While using your limited medical supplies on him would be a waste, at least make sure that he is comfortable, and not alone.
>You do not have enough men or time to spend on this, unfortunately. Also, anyone with him would be somewhat separated from the rest of the convoy. It is not a risk worth taking. Just … move him out into the sunlight, and let him pass on his own time.
>There is no need to prolong his suffering here. There is nothing that you, or anyone else here can do for him, except to ease him along. Have someone give him the kindness, and focus on getting the convoy moving again.

>>4696247
>Send some over there to keep trying to talk with him. Maybe we can get something out of him. While using your limited medical supplies on him would be a waste, at least make sure that he is comfortable, and not alone.
Don't waste too much time on him, but try to get information.
If it's clear he can't speak, abandon him.

tell him that he will die. Ask a few simple questions like "who are you" and "who sent you", with the promise of a quick death. If he doesn't comply just leave him, if he can only gargle pink foam give him the bullet. We should best do all of this ourselves.

>>4696306
That might be a bit difficult, in our condition, but not impossible. If there is enough support for having Mantle brought over to personally deal with this guy, then I'll run that.

>There is no need to prolong his suffering here. There is nothing that you, or anyone else here can do for him, except to ease him along. Have someone give him the kindness, and focus on getting the convoy moving again. Be sure to grab his stuff like weapons, wallet, and keys.

>>4696306
Counting the write-in, there is a three way tie right now, so I will try to get an early dinner in. With some luck, I could get a second post out tonight.

>>4696306
This.

Sorry for the delay guys - something unexpected came up last night. I should be able to get to writing after my classes finish for the day, around 12:00pm.

As per the votes, Mantle will try to be an active participant in dealing with this guy -even as tricky as they may be for him right now.

Obviously, the last thing you want for anyone is needless suffering – and considering the circumstances here, that can only mean one thing. You are not unfamiliar with ballistic authorization, after all you are – or you were – an Animal Control Officer. Of all the calls that you got that involved living animals, most of the time, those animals were injured. And while there were times that you brought the animals to one of the nearby wildlife rescues, most of the time you had to put them down. You are not a trained veterinarian, but considering the circumstances, considering that you were just dealing with animals – you were alright with making those life and death calls.

But this? Obviously, this one is different. You will … take care of it, of course. But you want to do your due diligence on this one – you want to make absolutely sure that this bastard’s needless suffering is in fact needless, and that the only reasonable course of action is a mercy killing. Because, if it isn’t, well … it is a reasonable assumption that this is the right call here, everything considering – but so long as you have a medical professional on hand, you do not need to make assumptions. And as this is a human life, you are not going to commit to a course of action based only on assumptions, if you do not need to – it just would not be right. No two ways about it – it would not be right to … kill someone, if there was a viable alternative. And even though it is reasonable to assume that there is no viable alternative, or, for that matter, any alternative, you are not going to do this on assumptions.

Damn it, you are just going in circles with yourself. Before you lose your nerve – or anything else happens to prolong the (presumably) unnecessary suffering of the highwayman, you call over the former night nurse, so that you may do your due diligence. But he does not show up immediately, and as you are not sure where he is exactly, you call out again, louder this time. It takes a bit, but before you decide to really start bellowing, he comes around the plywood wall to your left – and judging by his body language, he is clearly agitated.

“What is it now, Mantle?”

Great, just great. Your de facto medical officer sounds like he is about to make scene. Biting your tongue on your instinctive reaction, to tell him to watch his tone, you force yourself to take a much more diplomatic tact with him.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know where you were, and I was getting fucking worried. We aren’t necessarily alone out here, remember?”

Thankfully enough, that gets through to him. His body language softens considerably at that. He does this odd, wincing sigh.

“Well, I’m sorry too. I should have said something – I was patching myself up. Got grazed.”

“Jesus Christ! What the Hell are you thinking, keeping something like that to yourself! Are you alright?”

File: 4a7899dbd4fd4965919bedd9c(...).jpg (15 KB, 570x428)

15 KB JPG

>>4697764

“I said I was just grazed, didn’t I?”

“Was that what all that swearing was, that you just started doing all of a sudden, in the middle of the shooting?”

He just nods to that, and you again bite your tongue – this time physically as well as metaphorically – to prevent yourself from saying anything that you would regret later. Obviously, you are going to have to have a serious talk about Gunther playing Rambo like this, but not now. This is not the time – especially considering that the situation with that downed highwayman is time-sensitive, in the worst possible way.

“Well, whatever …Anyway, I called you over here, because we need to talk about that poor fuck in the back of the trash truck. I’m going to go over there, and try to talk to him, but … listen, I can’t think of a delicate way to put this. If he isn’t going to make it, then there is no reason for him to linger in pain.”

After a particularly long moment or two, Gunther gives you a nod. The nod was small enough that it might have been a tremor, a chill passing through his body, if his head was not the only thing that moved. The rest of him remained stock still. You try to look the man in the eye, but the mask he is wearing today, a diving mask, long gone cloudy with age, gets in the way.

“Gunther – you are medical guy here. I know this is an imposition, that it is a lot to ask of someone, and I’m sorry for it, but it would not be right to … ease someone out, without consulting a professional, to make sure that … it is right call. I’m going to go over there, and try to talk to him, ask him some questions. While I am doing that, I’d like for you to look him over. I – I hate to involve you like this but –”

“Involve me? Mantle, I’m the one who shot him! This is on my head, not yours.”

That outburst takes you by surprise. And while you are glad that Gunther is going to do this for you, which will make accepting this whole sorry affair easier for you and everyone else, and that you are really glad that he does not resent you for asking to take up some, if not most of the responsibility for this mercy killing, the way that he is talking about his roll in the shooting – as if he had done something wrong by defending himself, protecting Fleckkers and the rest of the convoy, that is cause for concern. You know there are people out there, who just seem to be wired different – people who cannot accept certain realities about defending oneself. Even in crisis situations like this. You did not expect Gunther to have these sort of hang ups, but there is no questioning that he seems to have internalized that defending himself by returning fire at the highwayman was somehow -

“I should do it.”

Wait, what?

“Mantle, this is my … responsibility. I should be the one to do it.”

>>4697766
>Please choose ONE of the following:
>While this is certainly not what you were expecting, if Gunther’s examination determines that this course of action is definitively the right call, then in the end, it does not matter who pulls the trigger, right? And who knows? Perhaps, by doing it, Gunther will get some closure he otherwise would not – and it might change his attitude towards killing, which seems like it could be an issue.
>No, this does not sit right with you. Gunther wants this now, but who knows if he will still want this tonight, as he tries to fall asleep, or tomorrow, or for the rest of his life? Yes, things have changed, and people are going to have to take up burdens that they would otherwise never have had to bear – but not everyone needs to take those burdens equally. You are not Communists, after all.

>>4697768
Tough choice, Anons.
We gave the order to fire and dragged him into this in the first place. Its on us as much as him. If we can help carry this burden for him, its the least we can do.
On the other hand, Gunther is taking extreme ownership for his actions which is highly respectable but could be a cope, which I think it is here.
>No, this does not sit right with you. Gunther wants this now, but who knows if he will still want this tonight, as he tries to fall asleep, or tomorrow, or for the rest of his life? Yes, things have changed, and people are going to have to take up burdens that they would otherwise never have had to bear – but not everyone needs to take those burdens equally. You are not Communists, after all.

Oh god. Am I choosing right or am I unmanning Gunther or otherwise being a micromanaging, condescending prick?

>>4697768
>While this is certainly not what you were expecting, if Gunther's examination determines that this course of action is definitely the right call, then in the end, it does not matter who pulls the trigger, right? And who knows? Perhaps, by doing it, Gunther will get some closure he otherwise would not - and it might change his attitude towards killing, which seems like it could be an issue.

>>4698108
I change my choice to this.

>>4698108
Tough choice indeed. Let's just try to treat the man like an adult, that way he can only blame himself and not us.

Starting thread 3 in the archive, I'm definitely hooked and will be joining shortly.

>>4697768
>>While this is certainly not what you were expecting, if Gunther’s examination determines that this course of action is definitively the right call, then in the end, it does not matter who pulls the trigger, right? And who knows? Perhaps, by doing it, Gunther will get some closure he otherwise would not – and it might change his attitude towards killing, which seems like it could be an issue.
It's his choice to make, we can't baby him.

>>4697768
>While this is certainly not what you were expecting, if Gunther’s examination determines that this course of action is definitively the right call, then in the end, it does not matter who pulls the trigger, right? And who knows? Perhaps, by doing it, Gunther will get some closure he otherwise would not – and it might change his attitude towards killing, which seems like it could be an issue.

But make it clear that this is his choice - he shouldn't have to do this.

Also lovely to see that you are still running this - exam season over for me, gonna love seeing this again.

Alright - it seems pretty obvious which one has won out here. I will get to writing. Expect the update tomorrow - tentatively before noon.

For several seconds, you are at a complete loss. Gunther’s request, to take ‘responsibility’ here, has taken you completely off guard – and not only were you not expecting this, you have no idea if you should agree to this or not. On one hand, this might provide Gunther some sort of … closure, maybe? That does not seem to be the right word, but for the life of you, you cannot think of a better way to put it. And it is possible that doing this, extreme as it may be, might actually be a way to deal with some of the hang ups that Gunther has. It is quite clear from the way that he is talking about his role in the shooting, he feels that he has done something wrong, even though he has done nothing questionable, let alone wrong. Hell, now that you think about it, what he did here probably would not even be considered illegal, pre-collapse … excluding possession of a non-transferable M-16 variant, but those laws were unconstitutional dogshit anyway. But on the other hand – even if it is his ‘responsibility’, and you do not necessarily believe that it is … if he cannot accept taking a life in defense of his own, how can he possibly accept taking a life in a mercy killing? That would be the harder thing to do, right?

Well … maybe not. He does have a medical background – is it possible that he finds the idea of preventing suffering, even if it requires … extreme measures, to be more palatable than causing suffering? Is that it? Or are you just grasping at straws? Either way, before anything else, you should establish that he does not need to do this.

“Gunther, I … are you sure you want this? I can do this, I just wanted a medical opinion before I did anything –”

“No, I know. You could. But I should be the one to do this.”

You sigh, stifling a twitch of discomfort in your chest – seems that bellowing you did hurt a bit more than you realized at the time. It is fact, plain and simple, if you keep pussyfooting and filibustering around this decision, then that poor fuck is going to expire on his own, making all of this a pointless exercise, not to mention completely failing at saving the guy from unnecessary suffering. As for Gunther … he has been told, explicitly, that he does not need to be the one to do this. And he insisted, emphatically, that he does. Denying him this would just be babying the man, and with the way the world is right now, you cannot afford to keep babies on your payroll. Gunther says he needs to do it, you will just have to trust that he can – in the short term and in the long term. Just … if only he was not wearing that clouded diving mask, and you could see his eyes, his expression right now, you would feel a lot better about this decision.

File: Trash Truck.jpg (40 KB, 900x241)

40 KB JPG

>>4700410
“If this is what you … need, then get Petra out of the cab, and pull the Farm Truck over there.”

It is awkward business, getting the back end of the Farm Truck in a position where you can see into the back end of the trash truck. Obviously, with the way the latter is parked, there is no way that you could just line up ‘ass to ass’ – it would put your truck into the ditch, if not the into tree line itself. But the angle that Gunther eventually settles on is serviceable enough. At the very least, you can see the downed highwayman – though it is quite obvious that in his position, pressed chest first into the walls of the hopper, he cannot see you. He is still alive though, shuddering in time to his shallow breaths. There is … not as much blood as you expected, but most of it would probably be between him and the wall. For that matter, the truck looks much cleaner than it did in your imagination – there are obvious signs of wear, but you do not see so much as a speck of trash. Of course, with the rear end down, and the blade or the scoop, or whatever it is called* in the way, all you can see is small the small hopper, and not into the compactor itself, which is where the trash would be, if there were any.

Once Gunther makes his way from the driver’s seat to your bedside, by way of the removed rear cab window, he looks down at you. His look lingers long enough that you think that he is going say something, perhaps to ask you to do instead, after all … and you give serious thought to ask him if he has second thoughts, knowing that if you do, that might be enough to get him to give this up. But you have made a decision – to trust his judgement. So you say nothing. And he has made a decision – to take this responsibility on himself. So he too, says nothing. Wordlessly, he clambers off of the bed of your Farm Truck, his M-16 variant slung over his shoulder, and you realize that you should probably start talking to the guy.

“Hey? Um … sir? Can you hear me?”

There is a response – he shifts a bit, and then tries to push himself, with his feet finding purchase on the lip of the hopper, harder into the walls. Well – it is a start. There are really only three questions you have for the guy – what his name is, what exactly was he doing out here, and who exactly was he doing it for. After that ...

“What’s you name, sir?”

*This part is called the packer plate

>>4700417
You get some painfully raspy sounding moans as a reply, and maybe something that might have been an attempt at intelligible speech. While you are doing this, Gunther climbs into the hopper, reaches the highwayman and delicately flips him to look him over. And as you expected, there was more blood. There was a lot more blood. Blood on the walls and floor of the hopper and on his chest, obviously. But then there was blood in his mouth and on his face, blood on his legs from a second wound, and when he started to violently cough after being moved, then there was even blood in the air. Thick and with that unmistakable dark shine to it. You have hunted and slaughtered enough animals to know what blood from a grievous, a mortal wound look like. His lips, slicked with blood and spit have curled back to reveal a mouth with bloodstains creeping through the gaps between teeth. His neck muscles strain like cables as he works his jaw, but the only noise forthcoming is a wet, shuddering rattle. As his hands tremor and shake while he reflexively claws and squeezes his chest, you can see, even from your distance, that his eyes have become unfocused. You look from his face to Gunther’s, who is already looking at you. Without actually saying anything, the two of you understand one another perfectly. This man is no longer in a state where he can be questioned.

In a strange turnabout from earlier, now you are glad for the clouded scuba mask that Gunther is wearing, relieved that you cannot see his eyes. If you could, you doubt that you could meet them. Involving Gunther, or any other medical professional in this was completely and utterly unnecessary. Anyone with eyes could see that this man is about to die. And another unpleasant realization comes to you – that you, not Gunther, are the weak one here. If this bastard had anything worse than a hangnail, he would have had to be put down. You knew that – and yet you involved Gunther. ‘Due diligence’ your ass – you wanted to pass the buck! And Gunther – Gunther accepted unquestioningly and unhesitatingly what you did not. Talk about needless suffering – Gunther does not need to be here, he does not need to see this again, and he certainly does not need to do this. You do.

If you had just been a man about this, and fully accepted your responsibility, instead of being some sort of shriveling, shrinking impotent crippled worm, yapping into your radio –

Gunther looks away from you, and wordlessly flips the man back over. Part of you wants nothing more than to stop this, but just as that man is already dead, Gunther has already committed himself to killing him. If there is any damage from this, then it has already been done. So instead – you stand by your decision, and pray that RN Gunther Peake is a stronger man than you. There is one final consideration, however. Something that you can still do. You get on the radio. Fleckkers is on the other side.

>>4700419
“There is going to be shot – a gun shot, in second. It … we aren’t in any danger, alright?”

“What … oh. Okay, I’ll pass it along.”

Gunther shoulders the rifle - awkwardly, given the dimensions and sloped floor of the hopper - and gets in close, pointing the muzzle right at the man's brain pan. You can hear Fleckkers shouting – not on the walkie-talkie, just loud enough for you to hear on the other side of the trash truck, telling the rest of the convoy to not worry. Then, he gets back on, and in a clear and steady voice that carries well enough that Gunther pauses to listen, he recites:

Vater unser im Himmel,
geheiligt werde dein Name;
dein Reich komme;
dein Wille geschehe,
wie im Himmel so auf Erden.

It is at this point that you recognize it as the Lord’s Prayer. It is also at this point that after taking one deep breath and drawing himself up, Gunther shoots the highwayman. As one might expect, the sound is deafening – with the rifle fired from inside the hopper, the full roar bounces right back at the two of you - as well as some blood and brains and bone at Gunther. A bit shaky and sticky, Gunther steps out of the hopper, slings the rifle back over his shoulder and comes back to the Farm Truck. He climbs up, then sits down on the truck’s bed – and at the foot of yours, and then stares at the guy he just killed. After a moment or two, Fleckkers continues reciting the prayer.

Unser tägliches Brot gib uns heute.
Und vergib uns unsere Schuld,
wie auch wir vergeben unsern Schuldigern;
und führe uns nicht in Versuchung,
sondern erlöse uns von dem Bösen.

Denn dein ist das Reich und die Kraft
und die Herrlichkeit in Ewigkeit.

Amen.

>>4700423
>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Try to talk with Gunther, help him through this the best he can.
>Give Gunther something to do, to keep his mind off of this for now.
>Let Gunther take his time, instead, ask Fleckkers about the Short Bus.

I need to stop giving myself deadlines, tentative or otherwise, because I can never seem to keep them.

>Let Gunther take his time, instead, ask Fleckkers about the Short Bus.

>Let Gunther take his time, instead, ask Fleckkers about the Short Bus.

Also, just, wow.

>>4700442
>Let Gunther take his time, instead, ask Fleckkers about the Short Bus.

Fader vår

>>4700458
Yeah, I wanted this one to be difficult. Considering that this quest has been running since, what, August?, it is sometimes hard to remember that less than a week ago (in their time) these guys were all living normal lives. While they are all on their way to becoming hardened survivors, none of them are quite there yet, so stuff like this is still going to be difficult for them.

>>4700450
>>4700458
>>4700579
Alright - I will get to writing.

File: Spoiler Image (9 KB, 236x213)

9 KB JPG

A moment or two passes, where the only sound is Gunther brushing absently at his legs, where he got some splatter on him from the ballistic euthanasia. He either finishes or gives up, then just sort of leans against the struts at the foot of your hospital bed. You are trying to think of something to say to the man, but unfortunately, all you can come up with are clichés, and after all he has done, after all he went through – all he put himself through – he deserves something a bit more personal and sincere. But as time starts to slip away, and nothing profound come to you, you realize that a cliché is better than nothing.

“Gunther, what you did … it saved that man from a lot of pain. That’s the takeaway here.”

As you might have expected, there is no response to that.

“You need anything – just ask, alright?”

He nods to that – slowly, and without turning around. Under normal circumstances, this is when you would walk away quietly, to give the guy a moment. Of course, with you on bedrest, not to mention being strapped down to the damned bed too, that is not an option. You hem and haw a bit over it, but ultimately you figure that if Gunther wanted to be alone, he would have left, so you decide that it would be okay to talk to Fleckkers over the walkie-talkie. You raise him shortly.

“Hey Fleckkers – I just wanted to thank you for passing it along to the rest of the convoy … and also for the prayer – that was ‘Our Father’, right? I didn’t know you spoke German.”

“Actually, it was my first language, believe it or not.”

“What? I thought you were from New York – upstate, right?”
“Yeah, but – uh, well I am … I was … er, ‘was raised’ … Amish.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah.”

Well, you suppose with a name like ‘Jedediah Fleckkers’ you should not be that surprised. You imagine the former safecracker with the typical, Amish beard, and yeah, now that you have that image in your head – you can definitely see it. In spite of the serious, if not outright dangerous circumstances you are in right now, stopped in the middle of the road, outside of the Lakers’ territory, you almost want to ask him about it – but that can wait, until you and the crabs are back at Mt. Kineo.

“Uh – the Short Bus. How is it doing?”

“Well, it can run … hold on, I should probably pass you off to Sucec for this – justa second.”

There is a moment of dead air, then you can hear the Chief Engineer cough as he comes on.

“How’s it looking, sir?”

>>4701505
“It would be more accurate to say that ‘she limps’ instead of ‘she runs’, but she has been sitting at idle for a minute or so now, and I’m not seeing anything that would obviously be dangerous if someone attempted to drive this thing – not yet, anyway. That said, there is only so much that I can actually diagnose here – the worst of the damage was to the wiring, and without the tools for it, I can only tell what’s wrong by going off what doesn’t work anymore – lights, both external and internal, the AM FM radio, the floor heaters, the AC … nothing that we would actually need for the trip, but it illustrates how serious the damage to the electrical system was. Comparatively, the damage done to the mechanical systems seem to be barely more than cosmetic – though that does not mean that I wouldn’t consider them cause for alarm. In fact, the biggest red flags under the hood right now are the water pump and the air filter. While neither of them is a complete loss, both of them got toasted pretty thoroughly.”

“Bottom line – the bus should be able to make the trip there and back, carrying a reasonable load. But if we stumble into something like this again … I doubt that in her current condition, this bus would make it through another fight. In fact, a good bump could potentially be enough damage to do her in …”

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Abandon the bus – at this point, it is less of a vehicle and more a liability. Of course, this bus does not belong to you, it belongs to the Armory. Fleckkers would be freed up to man the M85, or ride shotgun in another bus or truck.
>Abandon the bus – at this point, it is less of a vehicle and more a liability. Of course, this bus does not belong to you, it belongs to the Armory. Instead, you would put Fleckkers in either the Trash Truck or the light Pickup Truck.
>Keep the bus – it belongs to the Armory, and you have already managed to possibly alienate the Motor Pool. Even if it is a handicap, with good planning and good luck, you should be able to get it back to Mt. Kineo in one piece. Half-broken and half-burnt, but still in one piece.

>>4700586
Well i finally got caught up last night, great quest I gotta say. Reg has sure had a rough time of it hasn't he?

I really hope we plan on setting up a safe spot for our livestock as a priority, but with the loss of our tank and our current little run in I think it would be worth making an up armored technical with the m240 mounted on it as a dedicates security vehicle.

>>4701512
>>Keep the bus – it belongs to the Armory, and you have already managed to possibly alienate the Motor Pool. Even if it is a handicap, with good planning and good luck, you should be able to get it back to Mt. Kineo in one piece. Half-broken and half-burnt, but still in one piece.

We should at least try, if only we had a way to tow it, perhaps having tow straps/chains should be standard kit from here on out. Don't forget to police your brass people!

>>4701512
>Keep the bus – it belongs to the Armory, and you have already managed to possibly alienate the Motor Pool. Even if it is a handicap, with good planning and good luck, you should be able to get it back to Mt. Kineo in one piece. Half-broken and half-burnt, but still in one piece.
We can't just let this thing go, it's too big a cost.

>>4701512
>Keep the bus – it belongs to the Armory, and you have already managed to possibly alienate the Motor Pool. Even if it is a handicap, with good planning and good luck, you should be able to get it back to Mt. Kineo in one piece. Half-broken and half-burnt, but still in one piece.

We need the storage space and we have already used resources to keep it running. we'll ride it until it breaks down completely. Unless... can Fleckkers hotwire the garbage truck?

>>4701512
>Keep the bus – it belongs to the Armory, and you have already managed to possibly alienate the Motor Pool. Even if it is a handicap, with good planning and good luck, you should be able to get it back to Mt. Kineo in one piece. Half-broken and half-burnt, but still in one piece

I like the tow strap idea.
There might be keys in one of the trucks or on the corpse(Why run away then instead of drive unless there is a road obstacle ahead?)
I think we should head back to Mt. Kineo and drop it off and have Fleckkers on thhe mounted gun and give the Firecracker to Sucec who will bring up the rear. Gunther should then take point and we run a different route.

Even though everyone voted for the same thing, it seems like everyone has different thoughts on what exactly to do next. So here is a bit more information, and another, more specific vote.

As far as hot-wiring either of the abandoned vehicles, Sucec (not Fleckkers) would be able to get either the Trash Truck or the Light Pickup Truck running easily enough, even if there were no keys. And there might be.

As far as the bus is concerned - remember that the Armorer you got the bus from expected the buses back in the condition that they were lent to you in. Obviously, bringing back a damaged bus is better than not bringing back a bus - but you should still expect some flak, some push back on this. Consider yourselves warned.

Currently, it is about 8:35 am. You are roughly 1/3 of the way to Greenly's farm, on the most direct route, through the most built up (and therefore dangerous) area. Returning from where you are to Mt. Kineo, you would not have to roll encounters, considering that you had been through so recently. If you were to turn around and drive to Mt. Kineo right now, you would get there at ~8:50 am. If you were to continue on to Greenly's farm, you would get there between 9:10 ~ 9:20, depending that there were no other major delays, like this one. For reference, Greenly needs to get fuel for his generators by 2:00pm, or the crabs, their food and the food's food will begin to die. You are making good time, the decision to leave as soon as possible after first light was clearly a good call.

Looting and Stripping the trucks will provide loot and parts, but the vehicles would still have some parts left behind, and they could be rebuilt (and used)
Scuttling - in this case, burning - the trucks would ensure that the vehicles had no usable parts left behind, and that they would not be able to be rebuilt (and used)

>With this clarification given; please choose ONE of the following of the NEW choices:
>Abandon the Short Bus (pulling cargo, fuel and where possible parts off of it) and hot wire the Light Pickup Truck. Continue to Greenly's Farm.
>Abandon the Short Bus (pulling cargo, fuel and where possible parts off of it) and hot wire the Trash Truck. Continue to Greenly's Farm.
>Keep the Short Bus and head immediately to Greenly's Farm.
>Keep the Short Bus and return immediately to Mt. Kineo.
>Keep the Short Bus, loot and strip the Trash Truck and the Light Pickup Truck, then head to Greenly's Farm.
>Keep the Short Bus, loot and strip the Trash Truck and the Light Pickup Truck, then return to Mt. Kineo.
>Keep the Short Bus, scuttle the Trash Truck and the Light Pickup Truck, then head to Greenly's Farm.
>Keep the Short Bus, scuttle the Trash Truck and the Light Pickup Truck, then return to Mt. Kineo.
>Keep the Short Bus, loot, strip and scuttle the Trash Truck and the Light Pickup Truck, then head to Greenly's Farm.
>Keep the Short Bus, loot, strip and scuttle the Trash Truck and the Light Pickup Truck, then return to Mt. Kineo.

>>4701814
>>Keep the Short Bus, loot and strip the Trash Truck and the Light Pickup Truck, then head to Greenly's Farm.

Could we take parts that disable them from being put back on the road easily so that we might grab one on the way back or all at another time?

>>4701894
I mean, as opposed to stripping all the parts that we can

>Keep the Short Bus, loot and strip the Trash Truck and the Light Pickup Truck, then head to Greenly's Farm.
I don't think we want to come back through here again, just get what we can off of the things and get the fuck out of dodge.

>>4701814
>Abandon the Short Bus (pulling cargo, fuel and where possible parts off of it) and hot wire the Trash Truck. Continue to Greenly's Farm.

We lost a bus, but look what we found!

>>4701896
>>4701894
Yes - if you strip the trucks, then hold on to the parts, then assuming that the trucks are still as you left them when you get back to them, you could get them running. That is an option, definitely.

>Keep the bus. Hotwire or find keys for the truck and put Petra behind the wheel. Head back to Mt Kineo where the damaged bus and the Bandit Truck will be left. Put Fleckkers on the mounted gun and take point with Sucec now given the Firecracker taking up the rear.

>>4702084
Also, remove the quickest/easiest to remove vital component from the dump truck to "ground" it in case you want to come back later to take it or send someone to do the job.

>>4701923
>>Abandon the Short Bus (pulling cargo, fuel and where possible parts off of it) and hot wire the Trash Truck. Continue to Greenly's Farm.
I like this option. Those guys are running off to lick their wounds, and potentially gather up everyone else in their community to set up another ambush. We can blast through to the farm, load up, and take another route back. Huge loot yes but we're asking for trouble if we stick around too long. We could maybe try and scout out the scene of the fight here later, but for now we should stick to the task at hand. They'll probably be coming back as well, might not even be any loot to speak of. Remember, 3 (possibly 4) people ran off, and the one I'm worried about is the possible kid that was hiding out in the garbage truck. Makes sense to me that the kid's father would post up in or near the trash truck, and if that's the case they'll probably come back to bury him. Take the guy's gun, though. We need more guns at the house due to the locker in Bangor thing
>We lost a bus, but look what we found!
Supporting this being our explanation to the motorpool later, lol

Another thing to consider is the molotov angle. We're only 15 minutes away from Kineo apparently, and these guys had a guy dedicated to firebombs. These are a lot more likely to be Firebugs than the hacks who stabbed Dander. Going full paranoia here and tossing out the idea that this was a premeditated ambush. We brought up the expedition at the meeting, yeah? Then there's the motorpool guys, the inner circle and them would know about the expedition, we might have someone working with the Firebugs from within Kineo. And if you're ambushing a convoy, hoping to score whatever they were hauling, I'm not sure why you would throw molotovs at it.
Or maybe I'm totally overblowing things. Molotovs are piss easy to make, and people who don't have any association with the firebugs would probably be making their own in a apocalyptic scenario like this.

>>4701814
>Abandon the Short Bus (pulling cargo, fuel and where possible parts off of it) and hot wire the Trash Truck. Continue to Greenly's Farm.

>>4701894
>>4702084

>>4701923
>>4702466
>>4702577

Alright - closing this for dumping the Short Bus and hotwiring the Trash Truck. I will get to writing.

Sorry about the delays everyone - I sat down intending to write, and then I just fell asleep. I also realized I need some rolls; a 1d3 and 3d20 to determine available loot.

Rolled 1 (1d3)

>>4704137

Rolled 13, 15, 12 = 40 (3d20)

>>4704137
No worries, man. Thanks for running.

>>4704178
>>4704176
Good stuff. While I am at it, so I can get caught up, could I please have one 1d100 for the next encounter on the road after everything is finished up here?

Rolled 35 (1d100)

>>4704193
no whammies, no whammies

>>4704199
Cursed

>>4704600
Better than my last encounter roll of 2.

“That’s a pretty fucking grim prognosis, Mr. Sucec. In fact, its grim enough that I’m thinking that we should just cut it loose. If something does end up happening later, and the Short Bus dies on us, we aren’t going to have options. But, right now, we got other options – namely this Trash Truck, which would be a lot more resilient than that half-broken and half-burnt-out pygmy of a bus, right?”

After a moment of thought, Sucec agrees – though he does not sound to happy about it, probably because all of his work on the Short Bus is now for naught. It is unfortunate, sure – but you cannot consider it ‘wasted effort’ on his, or anyone’s part, considering that you had a standing agreement to bring that thing back to the Armorer that you borrowed it from – in the condition that it left in, no less. While you are certain that given the choice between being down a bus or being down a bus but up a heavy truck, the Armory will pick the latter, you are decidedly not sure if they are going to be happy about it. They could make a real stink about this, and to be entirely honest, they would have a right to.

As you are dealing with your latest worry, Fleckkers comes around the back. When he sees the remains of the highwayman, he gets a bit of a hitch in his step and stumbles a bit, but he recovers quickly, and does not say anything about it. Instead, he passes the two of you, without a word, heading towards the abandoned Light Pickup Truck, presumably to look it over properly, then loot and disable it. After a minute or so, he calls Gunther over to “help him under the hood”. You are wondering if you should tell Fleckkers to lay off, or to countermand that with an order or something, but Gunther quietly gets up and heads over to help, and the moment slips away. With everyone given their marching orders, things move along quickly – and soon, the convoy is ready to depart. Fleckkers comes back over to give you the full report, in person.

>Salvaged from Short Bus
>One Generator, consumer grade.
>Carried Armament (1xM240b w/b, 1xM16v 12s w/3xM, 1x Revolver (.38) w/20xLoR
>8 Spare Bus Wheels.
>2 H-V Engine Parts, Very Nice.
>3 H-V Engine Parts, Normal.
>7 H-V Engine Parts, Poor.
>Tarpaulins and Tiedowns.
>Diesel Siphon.
>52.5 gallons of Diesel. Poured into Trash Truck.

>Salvaged from Light Pickup Truck
>4 Spare Wheels.
>10 V Engine Parts, Normal.
>8 V Engine Parts, Nice.
>3 V Engine Parts, Very Nice.
>5 V Engine Parts, Excellent.
>10 gallons of gasoline. Poured into a Generator.
>Winter Jacket, as well as assorted spare clothes.
>Box of disposable hospital masks.
>Vehicle Registration and Insurance Papers (Evidence?).
>5 Glass Bottles and Rags, cut into strips (Evidence?).
>16 rounds of .45 ACP, HP and a carrying box with cleaning kit for M1911. (Gun was not recovered).

>>4704657
Updated Cargo Manifest of the Greenly Expedition

140 square feet in the Automatic Trash Truck, driven by Fleckkers. (Not Suitable for Live Transport of Crabs)
0 square feet taken up by the Generator, as there is none.
0 square feet taken up by Mounted Armament, as there is none.
1 square foot taken up by Carried Armament (1x M240b w/b, 1x M16v w/3xM, 1x Revolver w/20xLoR, etc.)
1 square foot taken up by Miscellanea (evidence, spare clothes, etc.)
138 square feet remain available.

192 square feet in the Automatic ¾‘s Bus, driven by Midge.
6 square feet taken up by the Reclaimed Gasifier.
0 square feet taken up by Mounted Armament, as there is none.
1 square foot taken up by Carried Armament (1x BA Hunting Rifle w/15xLoR)
6 square feet taken up by 10 Spare Bus Wheels.
3 square feet taken up by 4 Spare Truck Wheels.
3 square feet taken up by Tarpaulins and Tie-downs
2 square feet taken up by Clearing Equipment.
4 square feet taken up by Gasifier Fuel.
17 square feet taken up by Loose H-V (12) and V (26) Engine Parts
148 square feet remain available.

48 square feet in the Older Commuter Truck, driven by Dawn.
0 square feet taken up by the Generator, as it has been externally mounted.
0 square feet taken up by Mounted Armament, as there is none.
0 square foot taken up by Carried Armament (Rape Whistle, and Brace of Mace)
3 square feet taken up by 4 Spare Truck Wheels.
2 square feet taken up by Tarpaulins and Tie-downs.
42 square feet remain available.

400 gallons in the Diesel Fuel Trailer, pulled by the Older Commuter Truck.
400 gallons taken up by Diesel Fuel.
0 gallons remain available.

224 square feet in the Manual ¾‘s Bus, driven by Sucec.
0 square feet taken up by the Generator, as it has been externally mounted.
0 square feet taken up by Mounted Armament, as there is none.
1 square foot taken up by Carried Armament (1x BA Hunting Rifle w/15xLoR)
3 square feet taken up by 2 Spare Bus Wheels
2 square feet taken up by Tarpaulins and Tie-downs
10 square feet taken up by 20 5 gallon jersey cans of gasoline + gasoline siphon.
208 square feet remain available.

120 square feet in the Manual Farm Truck, driven by Gunther
0 square feet taken up by the Generator, as it has been externally mounted.
3 square feet taken up by Mounted Armament, (1x M85 w/b).
1 square foot taken up by Carried Armament (2x BA Hunting Rifle w/15xLoR, 1xM16v (12s) w/3xM)
3 square feet taken up by 4 Spare Truck Wheels
2 square feet taken up by Tarpaulins and Tie-downs
10 square feet taken up by Stolen Hospital Gurney.
104 square feet remain available.

While you doubt that anyone from Mt. Kineo would actually commit to properly investigating these assailants, at the very least, you are pleased that you were able to recover a potential lead; the registration and insurance information from the glovebox of the Light Pickup Truck. Of course, as potential leads go, it leaves a lot to be desired – considering that the truck could have belonged to someone else, and been taken by these highwaymen. Or, that it did belong to one of the highwaymen, but they have since abandoned the address listed on the information. And on top of that, following up on that requires you, or someone else from Mt. Kineo to pull together another expedition. It would be a costly endeavor, to go tilting at moonbeams. Or is the expression ‘tilting at daydreams’?* Whatever the expression is, someone might just consider an expedition worth it anyway, considering that these highwaymen did use Molotov’s. Obviously, that does not definitely prove that they are Firebugs – but it might be the best lead anyone has so far on those bastards – you are only fifteen minutes away from the lake, after all. These guys were armed, hostile … and most of all, they ambushed you, just like the Firebugs ambushed those Firefighters.

In what would be a hilarious bit of irony, if not for the stressful and grim circumstances, Fleckkers, when you explain your concerns about these guys being Firebugs to him, disagrees, saying that simply lying in ambush and having Molotov’s is hardly enough proof to claim someone is a Firebug … which is less than he had to go off of when he claim that random prowler he shot on the first night of the Strike was a Firebug. These guys actually used firebombs – all the dead prowler had was a backpack with string and paper in it, that could possibly have been used to start a fire. For a felon and former thief, Fleckkers is reliable, but at this point, you are wondering if the man is actually borderline delusional – the glaring disconnects, with the question of Firebug affiliation for the prowler and this highwayman, the way he behaves in the presence of danger, compared to how he talks about it afterward … something is going on with this man. At some point, you might to sit down, and try to talk about these things with him, figure out what exactly is going on in his head – or maybe you should not. It is something to consider for the future.

*It is ‘tilting at windmills’, from Don Quixote. Or it is ‘chasing moonbeams’. Both of the expressions have roughly similar meanings, so Mantle went and got them mixed up.

>>4704730
However, this discussion with Fleckkers about the evidence and the Firebugs does bring up one final point – there is a third piece of evidence here; the remains of the highwayman himself. Before the body of the prowler at your Homestead was taken care of, the responding deputies took pictures of the corpse, in hopes that someone would recognize him. And although the face of the highwayman was slightly distorted when Gunther blew the back of his head off at point blank range, it still could be recognizable to someone. Carrying a body would be awkward and uncomfortable for everyone, especially so for Gunther, and it might not even turn anything up when you got back to the lake … but, just the same with the vehicle registration and insurance from the Light Pickup Truck, there is a chance.

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Take the remains along for the ride, in hopes that someone could identify the body, or if not, the remains could be properly and respectfully buried.
>Leave the remains here, presumably his people will take care of him – and everyone, especially Gunther will be able to put this behind themselves easier.

>Leave the remains but grab the guys wallet and keys.

>>4704732
>>Leave the remains here, presumably his people will take care of him – and everyone, especially Gunther will be able to put this behind themselves easier.

>>4704732
>Leave the remains here, presumably his people will take care of him – and everyone, especially Gunther will be able to put this behind themselves easier.
>>4704739
Do check their pockets for anything like a wallet or keys though, yeah.

>>4704739
>>4704740
>>4704751
Alright - can do. Will get to writing.

“I’m thinking … we should leave him. Pat him down, of course, and take a good long hard look at his face … but the best thing for us here is to put all of this unpleasantness behind us, don’t you think?”

Fleckkers agrees, and after taking the time to pat him down, gingerly grabs the body by one of his arms and half-pulling and half-hauling moves the remains to the side of the road – all the while trying, and mostly succeeding to not get anything on his Improvised Outerwear or his Crudely Improvised Flak Vest. While he does this, Gunther comes by, and to your knowledge, speaks for the first time since he blasted the bastard, asking if you want the Farm Truck to return to the back of the line as the rear guard, or you want it to remain where it is as the new vanguard. You have half a mind to try to make a joke about the first position being less of a vanguard and more of a ‘busguard’, but even though you are desperate to improve the mood around here – especially Gunther’s, you are socially aware enough that you know seeming glib, in any way, right now, immediately after moving the body, would not be appropriate. No, this is not the time for dad jokes.

Instead, you tell Gunther that the Farm Truck should return to the ass end of the convoy – the Trash Truck is an appropriate substitution as far as point vehicles go – in fact, in several regards, specifically size, weight and it’s higher, more defensible cab, it is a superior choice. Fleckkers, returns, with a rag he got from somewhere, cleaning himself off after handling the remains. Noticing a few spots left on Gunther from where he got hit with the spray when he took care of the highwayman, without asking, Fleckkers simply starts cleaning those as well. Gunther instantly tenses as Fleckkers starts … but he does not say anything, and eventually he uncoils. When the former safecracker has finished up, the former night nurse tersely thanks him – in a choky voice the sounds like he is on the verge of tears. Before you can say anything – or decide if you should say anything, the two of them return to their vehicles – with Fleckkers shouting to you that he has walkie-talkie already in the cab of the Trash Truck.

As Gunther drives to the back of the line – stopping along the way to pick up Petra, who had been staying with your mother in your ‘Commuter’ Pickup Truck, you wonder if you should ask Petra to get back onto the gun. On one hand – as far as practical protection is concerned, it makes the most sense to have a dedicated gunner in position. If she, or anyone, had been manning that M85 when that Dump Truck tried to T-bone you from that blind drive, then that would have gone a lot different. On the other hand – after just having killed someone, you doubt that Gunther would be particularly receptive to the idea. Against what some might consider your best judgement, you decide to let it go, for now.

>>4705319
Once the Farm Truck and the Trash Truck are in position at the bottom and top of the line, respectively, Fleckkers honks the horn once, presumably as a signal to start moving, and not as a signal for caution. Noticeably, the horn on the truck is much louder – in fact, you are fairly certain that it has an airhorn, instead of … whatever the Short Bus had. Another reason to have chosen the truck instead … ah, alright, at this point, you are starting to grasp at straws. You are seriously worried that when you do not return with the Short Bus you are going to find yourself on the outs with members of the Armory like you are on the outs with Beety at the Motor Pool. And while Beety is just one of a dozen mechanics, there are just three Armorers. And if it turns out that the buses were a pet project of Peckinpaugh, then you and the entirety of your Homestead just might find yourselves persona-not-grated from all of the Lakers’ armories. These lingering concerns only get worse when the convoy drives the stripped down and burnt remains of the Short Bus, and you have no choice but to watch it as it slips into the distance.

Time passes. Not too much, but just enough that you start to entertain the seductive thought that you are going to make good time on the rest of the trip. That goes out the window, when Fleckkers hits his new airhorn twice – the signal for a stop. He comes on the radio immediately.

“Mantle – we got ourselves another barricade. Not seeing anyone here, or any vehicles, but we are approaching a more built up area – I can see what appears to be a town, I’m not sure which, in the distance, beyond the blockade. The blockade itself is pretty sloppy – just a bunch of felled trees in the middle of the road, like, maybe one of them fell, and then someone decided that instead of clearing it, this would be a good spot for a roadblock. It does not look that substantial at all, if we wanted, if we were willing, I’m sure we could clear this in a matter of minutes with the stuff we have in the buses. Or maybe even just drive through it – clear it that way. Worst comes to worse, we have spare tires for everything except my … uh, this truck. Alternatively, there is another road, one between us and the barricade, a smaller one – but it is probably a through road. We could detour around this place, and bypass the block … and the town, for that matter. Or, as an alternative to the alternative, we could simply turn around, and find a main road that routes around this town here.”

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Get to work clearing the Felled Blockade
>Get going driving over the Felled Blockade
>Take the nearby alternate route (5% chance for +0 encounters, 90% chance for +1 encounters, 5% for +3 encounters)
>Retrace steps, take longer alternate route (100% for +2 encounters)

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Order Petra to get on the M85
>Let Petra remain in the safety of the cab

>>4705321
>>Get to work clearing the Felled Blockade

I feel like the alt route is going to be a trap, though we are definitely going to be exposed here.

>>Order Petra to get on the M85

Really wish we'd have tried to bring along a few deputies or something.

>>4705321
>Get to work clearing the Felled Blockade
>Let Petra remain in the safety of the cab

So bypassing the town means a gauranteed 2 enounters?
Holy crap, did we ever screw up and understaff. We should have at least one deputy, not a housewife, a child, two elderly folks one of whom doesn't touch guns, and an invalid with our combat MVPs being the party Medic and Rogue.

We... we could still turn around and go back to Mt. Kineo.

>Get to work clearing the Felled Blockade
>Let Petra remain in the safety of the cab

>>4705321
>Get to work clearing the Felled Blockade
>Order Petra to get on the M85

>>4705522
No kidding, I feel as though we are comically unprepared for this. Supposing we survive this, I would say that we need to be more cautious and better prepared in the future in general.

And anons, while we can all appreciate the want to keep a teenage girl safe, we really need someone on overwatch with our best weapon.

>>4705522
>>4705596
A point of clarification: an encounter does not necessarily mean a fight - it could just be a complete nothing burger, something that you see on the road. It all depends on that 1d100 roll. Which I should point out would be at -15, if it was not for that 99 you rolled right out of the gate.

As for being unprepared and undermanned ... I hemmed and hawed on my end, thinking if I should say something when you decided to forgo picking up a deputy or two, or at least some able bodied randoms in favor for a housewife and the irreplaceable Chief Engineer, who is both physically puny and one of the oldest group members. But so far, you have been doing alright.

>>4705522
>two elderly folks one of whom doesn't touch guns
Not that you could have known this, as I haven't posted her character sheet yet, but Dawn is only 41 years old. So be careful! She hears you talking like that, she'll smack you with a wooden spoon!

>>4705321
>Take the nearby alternate route (5% chance for +0 encounters, 90% chance for +1 encounters, 5% for +3 encounters)

>Order Petra to get on the M85

it is a very reasonable assumption that these assholes are hauled up somewhere in the city. In the open road we are less of a target and can try to just outrun danger.

>>4705321
things I loved about that update
>Mantle can barely stop himself from cracking dad jokes as his comrades just hauled a dead body
>a trash truck is much better than a bus, because it even has a proper air horn!

let's try that last line again in the armory, lol

>>4705415 Clearing Felled Blockade, Petra on M85
>>4705522 Clearing Felled Blockade, Petra in cab
>>4705592 Clearing Felled Blockade, Petra in cab
>>4705594 Clearing Felled Blockade, Petra on M85
>>4705902 Take the nearby route around, Petra on M85

Alright - you will have you guys get to work, clearing the Felled Blockade.

>>4705917
Yeah - Mantle is kind of dense like that, which is a large part of what makes him fun to write.

“Unless there is an obvious, imminent threat forcing our hand, here or anywhere else on this fucking road, we shouldn’t mess around with detours – especially blatantly suspicious ones like this. Get that thing cleared – not completely, just enough for us to slip through. Gunther and the women will help you work, Sucec can set with a rifle to watch the front, and Petra will get back on the M85 to watch our ass.”

“And while I doubt it needs to be said – just to be clear, everyone is to keep their guns with them when they are working. Or, in the case of my mother, her rape whistle and mace, for all the good that it would do her. Actually, now that I think about it, tell her to give the rape whistle to Sucec – and you give him the walkie-talkie. Yeah, yeah – that way, he can relay to you and to me, whatever the fuck is going on up there.”

You repeat the instructions again to Gunther, and ask him to inform the rest of the convoy of their roles in this. All you get in response is ‘alright then’, and after grabbing the M-16 variant that he has been carrying, he gets out of the Farm Truck and starts to walk up the line, without another word to you – or any words at all for his cousin. Moments later, Petra is clambering through the removed rear window of the cab. And without a word to you she gets on the M85 – with what is quite plainly some very upset and angry body language - obvious even through the mask and bulky Improvised Outerwear. You are not a ‘woman-whisperer’ by any stretch of the imagination, but you would serious money – or valuable property, now that money is effectively worthless – that she is upset and mad that her cousin mercy-killed the highwayman, and by extension she is possibly … probably upset and mad at you for allowing it. Up to this point, Petra has had two ‘speeds’ – bubbly and mortal terror. Seeing her like this … it is unfortunate. She really is just a kid, and in spite of her surprising aptitude on the machine gun, if you had so much as an inkling of an idea that this expedition was going to be half as dangerous as it has been, you almost certainly never would have allowed her to come along. For that matter, you probably would not have taken Gunther, either.

With you and Petra alone back here, you could conceivably try to have a conversation about this – try to smooth things over, or at least explain things, RE: her cousin blasting that guy and RE: you letting her cousin blast that guy (if she is in fact mad at you as well, which you are not sure about). There is a concern, that if you do not address it now, nip it in the bud that this is going to become a whole big thing … but on the other hand, you are not entirely sure what to say – there is a big risk that you trying to ease things over will just make her more upset … and angry at you and Gunther. Not to mention, that if she is manning the gun, distractions should be kept to a minimum.

>>4706801
>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Try to have a conversation with Petra about Gunther and the Highwayman
>Do not try to have that, or any conversation with Petra right now

>Do not try to have that, or any conversation with Petra right now
our retardation is too powerful to make this a good idea, hopefully as things escalate it becomes clear that killing a single person, unfortunately, is not a major problem

>>4706804
>Do not try to have that, or any conversation with Petra right now

Stay focused

>>4706801
>Do not try to have that, or any conversation with Petra right now
She needs to stay focused on scanning for enemies. Nothing we say is going to make this better.

>>4705321
>And if it turns out that the buses were a pet project of Peckinpaugh, then you and the entirety of your Homestead just might find yourselves persona-not-grated from all of the Lakers’ armories
They had plans for the buses, yeah? iirc, troop transports right? We could be in some deep shit now. Hopefully they're happy with the trash truck.
>Do not try to have that, or any conversation with Petra right now
Those guys cut and ran after we downed their buddy. They could try to flank us out here, now that we've stopped. I doubt they could've freshly made this 2nd roadblock, but chances are that trash truck and those dump trucks came from the town up ahead, so they would probably have knowledge of the roadblock here. I'd like to get that talk out of the way with her at some point, but now isn't really a good time, besides Gunther being gone.
Also, we have that Matthew kid who saved our life in that first shootout house sitting right now. We're probably going to have to deal with talking to him about how he's doing after killing a man after we get back Greenly as set up his crabs. The idea of a group therapy session headed by Mantle is hilarious, but would absolutely get us into deeper shit. "You guys need to be more like Paul Atreides from Frank Herbert's DUNE. We even look kind of like Fremen in this improvised outwear!"

>>4706985
>"You guys need to be more like Paul Atreides from Frank Herbert's DUNE. We even look kind of like Fremen in this improvised outwear!"
MY FUCKING SIDES.

>>4706985
I can't wait for us to have the choice to trade a dead crab for 10 copies of Frank Herbert's DUNE so that we can become the Chief Mortis-Therapy Officer.

>>4706985
>You guys need to be more like Paul Atreides from Frank Herbert's DUNE. We even look kind of like Fremen in this improvised outwear!"

Kek

In regards to the bus though, hopefully we can try and soften the blow somehow, try and do a job for them or something.

We need to fortify the homestead really, how long before the group tries to force us to sell our livestock to them?

>>4706997
>I can't wait for us to have the choice to trade a dead crab for 10 copies of Frank Herbert's DUNE so that we can become the Chief Mortis-Therapy Officer.
Not a bad idea. Not like we can do much salvaging confined to a stretcher. Just ask Parasol to make us the Crab Meister, and Chief Mortis-Therapy Officer. There wasn't any regulation on the number of titles one person could have, but there will be by the time we're done with 'em.
>>4707012
>We need to fortify the homestead really, how long before the group tries to force us to sell our livestock to them?
I doubt they'll try to take our livestock, we already owe them massive taxes and will eventually have a fallout/ash safeguard built up around their enclosures. Increasing our taxes more though? Likely. As for taking a job from the armory, that seems like a good idea for making things right with them, but we really have a lot on our plate as it stands already, and optional stuff like checking out more of those farms before anyone else gets to them. Or salvage opportunities. We might be able to smooth things over with them if we manage to recover some of the arsenal Carter took with him.

>>4707033
>I doubt they'll try to take our livestock

They're not starving yet, you never know.

Okay, that is pretty unanimous.

And going forward, consider it canon that the DUNE series is Mantle's absolute favorite.

>"You guys need to be more like Paul Atreides from Frank Herbert's DUNE. We even look kind of like Fremen in this improvised outwear!"

Kek

Rolled 5, 5, 1 = 11 (3d6)

You grasp at straws for a little for a bit, trying to think of what, if anything, you should say to her – but when all you come up with is telling her that she needs to act more like Chani, who was the first in the Freman band to comfort Paul after he killed Jarvis in the duel, you realize that you probably need some different material to work with – especially, if she, like her older cousin, has not read the books. So you let that issue sit for now. Instead, you raise Sucec on the walkie-talkie, and ask how the work is progressing on the Felled Barricade. You get a bit of static, then a bit of dead air, then the sound of him adjusting his mask, and then, finally, the report …

Encounter Dice:
>Gunther (@RA) gets 1d100 - 10, with the Cant Dog, providing 2x bonus to Athletics – Clearing – Lumber tests.
>Fleckkers (@RgA) gets 1d100 + 5, with the Chain Saw, providing a 3x bonus to Athletics – Clearing – Lumber tests.
>Midge (@NU) gets (worst of) 2d100 – 40, with the Chain Saw, providing a 3x bonus to Athletics – Clearing – Lumber tests.
>Dawn (@NU) gets (worst of) 2d100 – 40, with the Kaiser Axe, providing a 2x bonus to Athletics – Clearing – Lumber tests.

Encounter Rules:
>Clearing through the Felled Barricade will require 600 points of work – for reference, assuming all NPCs get 1x modifiers, and the maximum possible roll on the Athletics Test itself (ignoring the bonuses and maluses), then the amount of work that could be done is 800 points. Considering the speed and relatively inexperience of the party members in question here, if any of the four get a roll <5 BEFORE the equipment modifier (…with the Cant Dog, providing 2x bonus to …) then they have suffered a slight injury, worth 5% of their TOTAL (not current) health. This damage will ignore armor. If they manage to Clear through the Felled Barricade in one turn, then the Convoy proceeds as planned. If they do not Clear through the Felled Barricade in one turn, then a player will need to roll 1d100 (with a -15 for Nearby Hostiles). If the end result of that roll WITH the modifier is equal to or < 20, then that means that the convoy is hit with a probing attack by the Highwaymen in this area. If it is higher, then the next turn of work commences. If for whatever reason, by that turn, they have not reached the 600 points of work, another player will need to roll 1d100 (with a -35 for Nearby Hostiles). If the end result of that roll is WITH the modifier is equal or < 20, then that means the convoy is hit with a probing attack by the Highwaymen in this area. If it is higher, than the third turn of work commences. If for whatever reason, by that turn, they have not reached the 600 points of work, then the convoy is hit with a probing attack by the Highwaymen in this area. If the probing attack is repulsed and there is at least one NPC that has not been downed and retired, then the Felled Barricade is automatically cleared.

>I need 1 roll of 1d6.

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>4707845

Rolled 4, 1, 3 = 8 (3d6)

>>4707853
And here are the others.

Rolled 39, 77, 34, 84, 74 = 308 (5d100)

>>4707857
I'm an idiot - I already rolled these. The ones on >>4707845 are considering controlling.

But what I need now is one roll of 1d100. These rolls are for your current surrogate, Gunther.

>>4707861
I'm sorry, I am not being clear here. When I say:
>these rolls are for your current surrogate, Gunther
I mean the rolls that you are giving me, not the ones that I am making myself.

Rolled 10 (1d100)

>>4707861

Okay. Calculating.

Gunther:
Roll of 4 on Tier 1 Modifier Table is 0.875x
(((10 - 10) * 0.875) * 2.000) = 0 points of work.
Gunther takes 0.2 pips of damage to his foot, is now at 3.475 pips of health.

Fleckkers:
Roll of 5 on Tier 2 Modifier Table is 1.125x
(((39+5) * 1.000) * 3.000) = 148.5 points of work.

Midge:
Roll of 5 on Tier 1 Modifier Table is 1.000x. Worst of 77 and 34 is 34.
((34 - 40) * 1.000) * 3.000) = -18.0 points of work.
Midge takes 0.2 pips of damage to her leg, is now at 3.8 pips of health.

Dawn:
Roll of 1 on Tier 1 Modifier Table is 0.500x. Worst of 84 and 74 is 74.
((74 - 40)* 0.500) * 2.000) = 34 points of work

Total Work: 164.5 points
Remaining Work: 435.5 points

I need one roll of 1d100, to determine if the probing attack (don't worry, it is basically just a picket force, nothing that serious) arrives this turn.

Rolled 38 (1d100)

>>4707883
Fleckkers cannot believe this shit

This is horseshit

>>4707932
>>4707902
>>4707898
38 - 15 = 23
23 > 20, so there is no probing attack at the end of this turn.

After doing the math again, I realized I made this encounter much, much too hard - so I am going to take the required work down from 600 to 300, which means that with some better rolls, you could be done here next turn. Alternatively, you could throw in the towel, and take one of the alternate routes to avoid the probing attack (which as I pretty much spoiled earlier, is basically two guys in a Pickup Truck)

>Please Choose ONE of the following
>Continue to Clear the Felled Blockade (Athletics - Clearing - Lumber test, round two)
>Attempt to drive through the a weakened portion of the Felled Blockade (One Vechile-Car and Trucks test, risk popping tires or getting something stuck, but if one goes through, you are all through)
>Take the nearby alternate route (5% chance for +0 encounters, 90% chance for +1 encounters, 5% for +3 encounters)
>Retrace steps, take longer alternate route (100% for +2 encounters)