Hank scrolled through the information on the tablet. With the Lieutenant being held for continued observation following the last mission, it fell to him to lead the Last Liners on this mission. He ran a hand affectionately over the M249 SAW that the Lieutenant had set him up with upon recruitment. "Well, girl," he said to the gun, "looks like we're not done yet." Pulling out the burner phone, he thumbed a message into the group chat.
"New job. Higher-ups call it a Benzith Night Bringer - fast and sneaky fucker. Neurotoxin in its claws disrupt optical processing, blinding anyone even scratched by it. It's also psionic - inducing psychosomatic blindness. We're running short-handed today, so please stay alert and use as much cover as you can. Meet me at the following coordinates..."
***
Gina said "Do you want to get another game in today?" and since I had nothing else pressing to do today, and my next mission for Majestic 13 was already rolled up, I decided that yes, yes I did. With the Lieutenant forced to sit out this mission, and Maria taking a -2 to all rolls this game due to emotional trauma, I knew I was in for an uphill battle. But there was cause for hope: the Benzith Night Bringer isn't a physically robust monster to begin with, relying on stealth and attacking from ambush. Additionally, the Bureaucracy roll for this mission came up "Enemy Intel Overstated" - while the Jel Brute earlier this week had all of its stats increased by 3, the Benzith Night Bringer would have all of its stats reduced by 3. Finally, the secondary mission came up "Medical Recovery" - there would be three objectives around the table that would heal figures that came into contact with them for 1D6+2 hit points.
It crossed my mind while playing the last game that I don't utilize the interiors of my model buildings that much, despite the amount of work I put into detailing said interiors, so with that in mind I decided that this game, with it being an urban mission, I'd spend as much time inside buildings as possible.
The available Last Liners - Hank II, Becky, Sarah-Jane and Maria II - deployed inside several buildings, while the Benzith Night Bringer appeared lurking in the shadow of the container office, just visible beyond the chainlink fence in the above photo. Hank rested his SAW on the counter of the fireworks stand, waiting for the creature to show itself. Unfortunately, the Night Bringer spotted him before he spotted it and it pounced, slithering through the open window of the fireworks stand.
Long, stiletto claws flicked out, easily slipping past Hank's protective gear. His vision dimming from the neurotoxin, Hank squeezed the trigger, blazing away in hopes of hitting the monster. (Rules as written, while Blinded, Hank shouldn't be able to target the monster, but with it being within arm's reach of him and him having a machine gun, I decided he could shoot with disadvantage. He failed to hit.)
Meanwhile, the three women on the team sprinted through buildings and across alleyways, seeking vantage points to shoot at the creature and to put themselves in position to seize medical objectives.
The Night Bringer lashed out with its claws again, but failed to slice through Hank's coat; rather than linger longer and allow itself to be targeted, it skittered away, seeking the shadows beneath another building, becoming Hidden.
Blinking to clear his vision, Hank leapt out of the fireworks stand and gave chase, spotting and spraying the creature with hot lead. Screeching, the Night Bringer tackled him, clawing and biting. His vision again went black.
Maria and Becky moved into position and took pot shots at the creature as Hank, blinded, tried to shield himself as best he could from the monster's lacerating attacks. The creature's claws found his throat, however; a critical hit! And...uh oh.
The Night Bringer successfully critically hit an enemy that is Blinded, for an extra 6D6 damage. And with the damage Hank had already taken, even if I rolled nothing but 1s, it would have been more than enough damage to put him Out of Action.
"Shit!" Maria swore as she watched Hank slump to the ground. "Becky! Sarah-Jane! We gotta focus!" She called out. The creature lurched back into hiding.
Maria and Becky seized the first two objectives, while Sarah-Jane closed in on the third.
Unfortunately, the Night Bringer appeared from around the corner, lashing out with a spray of claws. Bleeding, Sarah-Jane managed to resist blindness, and the creature quickly darted away again.
From her vantage point above the dispensary, Maria was able to spot the creature lurking. "Got you, puto," she whispered, keying in a request for an air strike. In a moment, the Night Bringer was engulfed in chemical fire.
Sarah-Jane seized the last objective, ripping open antiseptic packs and applying the stinging solution to the wounds as Becky squeezed off a few rounds at the monster.
Hissing, the Night Bringer compressed its rubbery body and forced its way into the gas station through a broken window, waves of psychic energy reaching out to Sarah-Jane and Becky, attempting to psionically disable their vision and failing. Maria and Becky closed in, shooting at the monster through the gas station windows, while Sarah-Jane fired repeatedly from the hip, but to no avail; the need to preserve OPSEC forced the Last Liners into retreat, despite Sarah-Jane's last shot sending the monster into Extremis. The mission ended with the Benzith Night Bringer still alive, if badly injured.
So that didn't go as bad as it could have! Other than Hank being put out of action, everyone else was either entirely unharmed, or had regained any lost hit points. Every time the Night Bringer used its psychic powers to try and spread blindness over an area, the Last Liners made their saves, avoiding blindness and physical harm, so it was really only its basic claw attacks that were dealing most of its damage (and blindness). All in all, I'm happy with how this game went. I'm also pleased to say that figures entered or at least passed through every single building except the ramen restaurant. And every building on this table had a detailed interior.
Rolling into the post-game phase...
Hank II recovered completely from his injuries and will be fine for the next mission. Maria II loses the trauma condition she had giving her penalties for this game.
The team gained enough XP for Sarah-Jane and Becky to boost their Fortitude stat, and Hank II and Maria II both boosted Combat. They also successfully requisitioned an extra set of body armor, which will be given to either Becky or Maria (not sure which yet). I also got another base upgrade.
The Lieutenant still looked pale, but stood tall and strong, a cocky grin on his face.
"You're going to like this," he said, with a slight cough and a wince. "Drumroll, please."
Awkwardly, Becky and Sarah-Jane started making a drumroll sound, with Maria and Hank slowly joining in. They stood in front of a storage unit as the Lieutenant pulled out the key with a flourish. Unlocking the door, he ushered the other four members of his cell inside before turning on the light.
"Holy shit," Hank said softly.
"Hell yeah, now this is what I'm talking about!" Maria added excitedly.
The storage unit was lined with racks of weapons - pistols, rifles, machine guns, and more. In the back, a workbench and machines most of the Last Liners couldn't identify, but quickly understood to be useful for gunsmithing.
"I called in a favor while I was convalescing," the Lieutenant said, his voice unusually cheerful. "This little candy shop is ours for the foreseeable future. Now, who wants a beer and some dum-dum rounds?"
No comments:
Post a Comment