[Aria]

[Thursday June 18th, 2076, ~13:45, Motorway Services, M40]

With chaos erupting around the parking area, multiple explosions and streams of tracer fire from the incoming drones the general public are slowly beginning to sit up and take notice, those who haven’t been immolated in errant rocket fire at least…

Isaint, ignoring personal safety and the rip of the near hypersonic rounds bearing down on him shouted his defiance to the wind…the rounds spat from his rifle clipping the rota block of one of the Nimrods and sending it circling down to its fate, although not before it unleashes a final missile…

As Al slips his clunking van past the ruined lorry side panels recess and slide away in a hiss of compressed air and he has a moment of recognition as the beetle-like black armoured forms, all too familiar from the flight from London, send a withering hail of fire into the side of the chasis…the armour piercing rounds from the bullpup assault rifle and the high explosive rounds from the gyro’d assault shotgun seriously reduce Al’s chances of reaching the limo…

Jackhammer’s attention is drawn to the scene on the exit slip to the motorway where the follow car has been engulfed in the flames from the limo.  The two Knights have staggered out to be confronted by the car bearing down on them, two gentlemen exiting that vehicle wave handguns towards the stunned security team…and then one of the rear limo doors explodes outwards and eTher lurches from the doomed vehicle…her smouldering clothes are mangled and her right arm hangs at an unnatural angle against her side, but her eyes blaze murder!

***
_#72

[Jack_Spade]

Round 2 Ini round 2: 16+4d6 34 adding Adrenalin Boost for 36

Ini 36
Simple action Aim
Simple action: Short burst at Drone #2
Free action: Adept centering
Shoot drone # 2: 18d6t5 7 [18d6t5=1, 5, 3, 5, 2, 4, 5, 4, 6, 2, 5, 3, 3, 6, 2, 5, 4, 2]


Isaint didn't stop after one drone. Immediately he refocused towards the second drone and gave a short burst, hoping to destroy the thing like its sibling.
The reappearance of the milspec types was a nasty shock.
"It seems, APDS will have to stay on the menu." With grim determination Isaint changed his position so he could give fire support to Al and Frenchy
 
#204

[obidancer]

Looks like our friends are back! said The Frenchman to no one really, but loud enough for Al to hear over the music playing inside the Van and the rain of bullets flying at them on the outside. Just putting his arm outside through the window, he fired a burst of bullet at the new opponents, counting on the Vans armor to protect him from the hail of bullets.


Initiative 14+2d6: 2d6+14 22
First Pass: Setting up the Mood
Second Pass: Called Shot Vitals with a Burst of Fire (APDS ammo) on beetle 1 with Assault Rifle
Called Shot: Vitals: 19d6t5 4  DV10+net /AP -5 -2 defense
Third Pass: Called Shot Vitals with Burst of Fire (APDS ammo) on beetle 2 with Shotgun.
Called Shot: Vitals: 19d6t5 5 Same

[Aria]

[Thursday June 18th, 2076, ~13:45, Motorway Services, M40]
 
While Isaint concentrated on downing the last Nimrod, sending it spiralling down into the treeline, the last missile flew past, low and fast, to impact with the follow car sending it bounding into the air on a column of fire.  eTher and the unidentified gunmen are thrown to the ground in the wash of heat and spray of armoured glass…
 
The Frenchman valiantly plugged away at the milspec troopers, the armour penetrators finding chinks in their armour but not doing significant harm as far as he can tell whilst Al desperately piloted his limping van towards the fireball on the exit road only to be covered in his own shower of armour glass as the trooper attempted to add to the cab’s ventilation…
 
***
_#73
 
 
 
 

[pistolgrip]

[Jackhammer - Bad Handoff - Revenge {2/1} - Current condition 0 damage - full body armor]
Jackhammer was about halfway to the wreck that Al made when the military guys started climbing out and shooting. It looked like Frenchman was giving them a reason to dance, but it was going to take more than a few rounds from a pistol to take down that kind of killer. Jackhammer strung up another explosive arrow and launched it at one of the armored thugs, muttering under his breath. "Won't see this coming..."

moving towards crash
archery [15d6t5=3, 4, 3, 6, 6, 6, 4, 3, 6, 4, 2, 5, 1, 1, 1] 5
Explosive arrow: DV 14 AP -4

[Jack_Spade]

With the last drone removed from the equation, Isaint refocused again.
'Didn't I bring down a helicopter on you last time? What does it take for you guys to take a hint?'

Without moving from his position up on the hill, Isaint sighted in on the second mil spec armor wearer. Good gear, Isaint had to concede, but there was a reason why he'd found Goodnight's comment about his relationship to APDS so hilarious. Namely, it got results:
Again he pulled the trigger, sending three expensive bullets in a tight grouping towards the armor carrier. 50m were no distance at all for his weapon...


Ini 26:
Simple action: Aim
Free action: Called shot
Simple action: 3 round Bulls-Eye Burst vs. mil spec armor guy #2
AGI 8 + Skill 8 + Aim 1 + Smartlink 1 - Called Shot 4 = Bulls Eye Burst: 14d6t5 4 [14d6t5=5, 1, 6, 6, 3, 3, 1, 4, 3, 2, 3, 6, 2, 3]

12 P AP-13 + Successes

[adamu]

No sooner had Al thoroughly congratulated himself for taking out the truck than he saw the two armored assholes stagger out of it and start spouting some serious lead his way. In a matter of seconds there were a dozen beams of sunlight criss-crossing the back of the van like some sort of laser alarm field in a bank heist movie, his vehicle's sturdy hide Swiss cheesed by their armor-piercing rounds. He floored it, not to get away from them - hell, half of him wanted to throw the Bulldog into reverse and squash them into their own truck - but to get to the burning limo, where eTher's security was folding like a toilet paper house in a piss storm.

The family was still in that limo, and all that mattered was getting them out. 

Well, staying alive was also a consideration - he was seeing double from the crash, and even as he tore the backing off of a stim patch and slapped it onto the back of his driving hand, his windshield exploded outward as one of the soldier boys shot at him through the open back doors. He ducked deeper into the seat, but not before a white hot round tore through his left ear.

He poured on the gas as the synthetic adrenals through his exhausted brain and Frenchie shot back at the child-slaughtering scum.

[obidancer]

As blood splattered on the dashboard, The Frenchman yield at Al. You're alright, l'ami?
As soon as the van was close to the limo, he jumped out of the vehicle to check inside the damaged car where the family was. His heart was pulsing, he hoped they were still alive.
He could feel the heat of the fires around him and the explosion of the car behind the limo. Hell was breaking loose, but his fear was to see the doc and his family dead.

[Aria]

[Thursday June 18th, 2076, ~13:45, Motorway Services, M40]

Leaping from Al’s dilapidated van, the Frenchman, arm slightly raised against the heat of the blaze, rushed forwards with the vain hope of assisting the family…it was hard to believe that anyone could be alive in there!  He rushed past the unidentified gunmen who were slowly picking themselves up, blood dripping from the multitude of minor shrapnel wounds generated when an anti-vehicle missile spalls off armour plate… eTher was clearly dazed by the renewed assault and was struggling to stand with her mauled arm…

***
Fragger indeed didn’t see the arrow coming…caught it straight on the chest and disappeared in the resulting flash…

The other trooper moved with preternatural quickness in response to Isaint’s fire, ducking back into cover, almost as if he’d known about the re-targetting beforehand… they must still have eyes in the sky!

***
_#74

[Jack_Spade]

'You think you are clever, don't you? But maybe I have to reread the manual of that ruthenium polymer poncho  if they can spot me that easy.'

Isaint had learned early in  his carreer that cover and concealment were quite different things on a battlefield - most important was one thing: With a high powered rifle and armor piercing rounds almost everything counted merely as conceilment...



Ini 16
I assume the mil spec type hides behind reinforced material with 8 structure and 12 armor (p.197f core)
AP 7 and base damage 12 can penetrate easily:
AGI 8 + Skill 8 + Aim 1 + Smartlink 1 - Blind Fire 6 + 3 Adept Centering= 15
Penetrating Shot: 15d6t5 7

19 P AP 7
Barrier Resist: 13d6t5 5
Nope. The barrier takes 1 box of damage.

The guy behind gets 18 P AP 7 - and is considered surprised, so no dodging 



"Vade, Satana!" He fired.

#206

[adamu]

With Frenchie already out, Al skidded the van to a stop at an angle, making sure its bullet-riddled bulk came to a rest between the armored shooters and the limo.

He made sure his medkit was where he needed it behind the seat, and absentmindedly patted the cargo pocket containing his trauma patches as he jumped down and threw himself at the limo on the opposite side as Frenchman.

Those geniuses at Victor's back in Seattle had lined his pa's coat with the vest fire retardants money could buy, and now for the first time in his life he was glad he was smaller than his father as he pulled his hands up into the overlarge jacket's sleeves and pulled at the limo's hot door handle, switching to internal air.

As if it mattered - he was already holding his breath in anticipation of what might await inside the limo.

[pistolgrip]

Before Jackhammer could make it to the wreck, Al had moved the van out and he and the Frenchman were rooting around in the limo. Clearly they were trying to rescue the family--Jackhammer had just presumed them dead. He turned back around and moved to help them, at very least to settle the alive/dead question and get everyone on the same page. He threw a hammer blow at the car's siding to try and peel a side off wholesale.
Unarmed vs Stationary 4 [18d6t5=2, 5, 2, 2, 3, 1, 1, 2, 2, 1, 6, 4, 4, 1, 5, 2, 4, 6]
19P damage, or 34P vs barrier; destroy 1 sq meter per barrier increment

[Aria]

[Thursday June 18th, 2076, ~13:45, Motorway Services, M40]

Isaint’s rounds tear through the car that his target is sheltering behind like it was made of wet paper and from Jackhammer’s perspective the view is an impressive spray of blood as the rounds subsequently exit their target… despite that the tough fragger is able to pull himself around and with a pumping action of his left arm send a mini grenade from his forearm mount back along Isaint’s trajectory to airburst above his head…

***

Al’s and the Frenchman’s fears are confirmed…there can’t possibly be anyone alive in the back of the limo, and yet, eTher managed to survive somehow… through the shattered back windows and the pouring smoke the grisly sight can barely be made out of twisted forms, and yet there is something… a vortex of air keeping the flames at bay around one of the occupants, it’s difficult to see properly but they think it might be William in there, and just possibly he is alive…?

As they assess the situation in the split seconds of combat time they are aware of the two gunmen trying to regain their feet, one of them shouting at eTher to “Security Service, stay down!” whilst the other waves his sidearm at Al and the Frenchman “drop your fragging weapons and get away from the vehicle now!”

***

With flames licking over the site entrance the traffic is rapidly backing up back onto the motorway as people are understandably reluctant to drive past the conflagration that has spilled over to the other side of the road with bits of flaming debris from the follow car.  From Jackhammer’s vantage point however he can see that a Roadmaster has pushed its way through the jam and is now barrelling up the hard shoulder towards the engagement…as he watches the empty drone racks on the roof retract, ones big enough to launch Nimrod drones, and side mounted panels open and spit out two armed Bumblebee drones…seems they haven’t learnt what happens to drones around the group…!?

***
_#75

[Jack_Spade]

'GRENADE, Saints protect me!'
This thought and getting his head down was almost all Isaint could do before the projectile exploded about a meter away from his head. The noise was incredible and only the earbuds inside the helmet prevented his eardrums from popping. There was very little shrapnell and a lot of high explosive material. The pressure wave forced him to his knee as if the weight of the world itself pressed suddenly down on him.
But for a strange moment he felt a presence at his side, giving him just enough strength to endure.

The smoke blew away and Isaint rose again, unscathed and laughing while small fires burned in the grass around him.

"GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO!" 'And' he thought 'to the guy who sold me that priceless armor.'

The Ares Roadmaster caught his eye. Time to return the favor. Two well armored drones, but probably not two riggers. Time to waste some ammo...
On cue his Theme Music App activated: "Lindwurm Massaker"



Ini 6
Ok,
Free action: Multiple Attack
Complex Action: Medium Burst (6 Bullets) split at the two drones. I'll spend Edge on this one
(AGI 8 + Skill 8 + Smartlink 1 + Edge 5)/2 = 11
Shoot Drone 1 (Edge): 11d6t5 5 [11d6t5=3, 3, 5, 5, 5, 6, 1, 5, 2, 1, 2]
Edge Reroll: 1d6t5 0
12P AP 7 Dodge -2 + 5 Successes

Drone 2 (Edge): 11d6t5 3 [11d6t5=2, 2, 6, 3, 1, 3, 6, 3, 4, 6, 1]
Edge Reroll: 3d6t5 2 [3d6t5=5, 6, 4]
Edge Reroll: 1d6t5 1 [1d6t5=6]
Edge Reroll: 1d6t5 0
12P AP 7 Dodge -2 + 6 Successes

Edge 2/5

Round 3 Ini Ini Round 3: 16+4d6 31 [4d6=3, 3, 3, 6]
The saints are clearly watching over Isaint

[adamu]

Al had swung the door open only to have Jackhammer appear at his side and take the door, along with a further chunk of paneling off the armored limo like pulling the top off a beer can.

The little man almost froze at the vision of hell that greeted him.

He didn't know how many milliseconds passed as he stood, oblivious to the heat, and tried to make sense of it. Of all of it.

The fire must have reached something flammable. There was a secondary explosion and Al was hanging by his fingertips from a tree branch that jutted alone from the side of a sheer wall of rock. Above him, stretching across his field of vision in every direction, was a web, and at its center was a great, hairy spider. With a gorilla's head.

Below him was a limitless drop into nothing. And hovering in its midst was a snow white Akita.

GORILLASPIDER: Hey, I trusted her too. Webs and strands and weaving and all that jive. Just my type.

AKITA: I still trust her.

GORILLASPIDER: Thanks for that, Little Miss Loyal. But open those color blind eyes of yours. Hit like this takes time to put together. If we'd gone ahead in London, they'd never have had that time. Hell, if Lady Twinkle Dragon was stupid enough to tell give her this location...the two pretty girls are tight, you know.

AKITA: She's no turncoat, and you know it. Have you forgotten Sound Mental Health? It would have been so easy for her. So neat. She put all of her strands in jeopardy to do the honorable thing.

Al's fingers were slipping.

GORILLASPIDER: Everyone has a price. We just had to do it outside the city. We had it all set up, sandwiched there between a power station and an airport. So they couldn't use air assets. Or missiles. And lookee here if that's not exactly what just killed this family.

AKITA: If they're dead.

Shit, he had to hear this bit. He dug his nails into the branch, willed himself to be weightless.

GORILLASPIDER: Their charred corpses lie before our eyes. The happy ending within our grasp now tragic ashes because we fell for that charlatan's tale of Fate. And the flattery, oh, the way we fell for the flattery.

AKITA: Twinkle Dragon's not stupid. She knew the threat level, but showed up with woefully inadequate security. Security so weak they they got caught on the back foot and never managed to fire a shot.

GORILLASPIDER: Probably their precious Fate Web gave them the all clear.

Fingernails pulled away woodchips. Al fell, just able to hear the white dog's words as he dropped past her.

AKITA: And now, bodies burnt beyond recognition. Quite convenient.

The gorillaspider had a quick reply, but Al couldn't hear it.

His eyes opened and there were still explosions going off all over the place, some idiots with toy guns were still acting like they mattered, and Jackhammer was still holding a piece of limousine in his huge hands.

He sure as hell didn't have time for hippy dreams.

He got up. Shouted. "Get yer skinny ass outta there, boy. The spirit'll follow if'n ya move."

He stretched a hand toward the form in the fire, ignoring the heat.

Still, it would have been nice to hear the rest of the conversation.

Se he'd know whether he needed to first kill Silk before hunting down whoever else was behind this atrocity.