Hot town, summer in the city
Back of my neck gettin' dirty and gritty
Been down, isn't it a pity?
Doesn't seem to be a shadow in the city
All around, people lookin' half dead
Walkin' on the sidewalk, hotter than a match head...
"Will you turn that crap off? I hated that song in '66, and I hate it now. And given what we're up against, I don't think it's very funny, either!" The Lieutenant reached forward between the front seats and snapped the car radio off.
"Bullshit," Becky rebutted. "What were you in '66, like two years old? No way you were old enough to complain about the music. Besides, it's my car, I'm driving, I call dibs on music." She went to switch the radio back on. The Lieutenant swatted at her hand.
"Sidewalk's not gonna be the only thing hotter than a match head if we don't take this Helion Beam-Chaser down and fast. This thing carries heat around it like Maria here carries Chanel No. 5!"
Maria glared at the older man. "Listen here, old man, you got me killed last time, you can sit and breathe my Chanel. And it's No. 18, puto!"
As the argument grew heated, Hank thumped his fist against the headrest in front of him. "Eyes on the road, people!" He barked. Becky's eyes snapped forward and she spun the wheel hard. The car jumped the curb and slammed into the side of a pawn shop.
"Roll out, Last Liners!" The Lieutenant snapped. Sarah-Jane struggled against the airbag, grateful for her medical kit.
***
In under the wire with my second game for February! The Last Liners are back, with the first mission post-run in with the soldiers of FORCE. We're back to a standard mission this time around, facing off against a Helion Beam-Chaser; a physically frail (by M13 monster standards) creature that can fire blasts of superheated energy that potentially blind its targets, and radiates enough heat that anyone ending their turn too close to it takes damage. For their secondary mission, there's a pair of alien tech tokens on the table; I needed to move figures into contact with both of them. And complicating matters, the Last Liners had a "Rough Landing" - everyone started the game already injured.
The batlike creature screeched and flapped from its perch atop the Chinese restaurant, coming to rest atop the pawn shop; it had spotted the Lieutenant, and spat two quick bursts of plasma at him. The Lieutenant cursed, ducking and rolling behind the ramen shop's sign to avoid the fiery blast. Chambering a round, he sighted down the barrel and squeezed the trigger; ichor spurted as bullets raked the creature's thin frame.
With the creature distracted and out of cover, Hank II darted forward, not bothering with his folding tripod and giving the beast a burst of machine-gun fire. As he did so, Becky and Maria II made contact with the alien tech remnants left behind by the creature's delivery.
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| the blood splatter marks potentially dangerous terrain; Maria was fine! |
Screeching, the Beam-Chaser caught sight of Maria II and belched forth more boiling energy, fusing bricks into glass where the bolts impacted.
Flapping awkwardly away from the pawn shop, the Beam-Chaser landed on the pizza parlor and bathed Hank II in great gouts of alien fire; the firefighter's coat he habitually wore shielded him from some of the blast, his eyes tightly shut against the dazzling white energy.
Hank II stopped, dropped and rolled towards cover before springing to his feet. "I shoot back, motherfucker!" He yelled, blazing away at the monster. Round after round buried itself in the beast's flesh.
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| Now that's a nice damage roll! |
The Lieutenant, Becky, Maria II and Sarah-Jane kept up the fire on the beast, moving across the table and even jumping rooftop to rooftop to get a better bead on the Beam-Chaser. Its glittering yellow eyes narrowed and an indescribably cruel smile writhed across its fang-lined muzzle. Launching itself into the air, it landed next to Maria II on the roof of the pawn shop. The reddish fur on its body bristled as the air around it began to shimmer. An intense wave of heat rippled outwards from its body, catching four of the Last-Liners within it; only Hank II was effected, stunned by the suffocatingly hot air.
"I got ya, kid!" The Lieutenant yelled, jumping down off the electronics store and darting towards the dazed firefighter, medical kit at the ready. While unable to assist in shaking off the Stun, the Lieutenant patched up Hank II enough for him to recover his senses on his own and move out to line up another shot.
Becky called in a drone strike on the creature, while Maria dove for safety, eager to get away from the monster's incredible body temperature.
Scrambling to the top of the gas station, Sarah-Jane lined up a tricky shot; the creature was in cover (meaning she'd be rolling twice and taking the worse result), and she held her breath as she pulled the trigger...
The creature wailed, its blood steaming and evaporating as fast as it could ooze from its wounds. "It's entering Extremis! Come on, we can finish it off!" The Lieutenant called out.
Precisely as he said this, the skies opened up, a torrential rainstorm beginning.
Rain steamed and sizzled around the creature as it flapped off, landing awkwardly and crouching behind the sign on the fireworks stand. It yelped, unexploded fireworks on the roof bursting from the heat of its body, peppering it with explosive material. It opened its mouth wide, and sprayed Becky with superheated plasma, the actinic glare blinding her.
The Lieutenant moved forward, throwing his rifle to his shoulder. Between the pouring rain and the sign blocking the shot, he missed; the Beam-Chaser hissed and attempted to crawl over the sign - only to suddenly screech, back arching in agony as it vomited boiling blood. The Extremis damage finished the creature off, and it crashed heavily to the wet pavement.
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| An INCREDIBLY good roll for Extremis damage! |
As Becky blinked her vision back, the Last Liners converged, watching the Beam-Chaser self-immolate. The Lieutenant clapped her on the shoulder. "Listen, soldier...Becky...I'm sorry about what I said earlier. You were right, driver chooses the music. Play whatever you want on the ride to debriefing."
Becky glared at him, spots still dancing in her vision. "Ride? Old man, in case you missed it, my car's totaled! You're paying for the Uber! And beer!"
***
I think this is the smoothest game the Last Liners have had yet; nobody put out of action, so no rolls on the injury and survival charts, and we killed the monster at the start of turn 4!
Rolling into the post-game, everyone got a boost; the Lieutenant, Becky and Sarah-Jane all raised their Fortitude, while Maria boosted her Dexterity and Hank II had some XP banked from the previous game, meaning he was able to boost his Combat ability twice.
Attempts to requisition stimulant shots and flashbang grenades failed, but I did get my base upgraded with a Spy Satellite Link; now, when I roll Bureaucracy as part of mission generation, I can reroll after I get my first result if I don't like it.
The team's rating has risen to 5.
What's next for the Last Liners? We'll find out in March.
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