"Alright kids, we've got an easy one today. We've got to clean out a green box hidden in a trailer park scheduled for demolition, but a big ugly's been spotted in the vicinity. Good- Yeah, Beck, what is it?"
Becky put her hand down. "What's a green box?" She asked.
The Lieutenant stubbed out his cigarette and shook his head. "Guess you don't get a 'welcome to the conspiracy' orientation session. Green boxes are caches of supplies for us to use against FORCE, hidden in plain sight. Storage units, bus depot lockers, even the trunk of a car in long-term storage. Something nobody's gonna think to look at too closely. Anyways, good news is the big ugly's what the boys upstairs calls a 'Jel Brute' - hits like a bus and about as smart. No energy weapons, just fists the size of engine blocks. Keep out of its reach and you'll be just fine."
***
Another standard mission for the Last Liners today - facing a Jel Brute, with "Gear Retrieval" as the secondary mission. Two gear markers are placed in the centers of the two quadrants making up the enemy side of the board, and my agents have to touch both to complete the secondary mission. The "Bureaucracy" complication though, is "Mission Intel Understated" - the Jel Brute's stats are all raised by 3 from the standard profile. It's also a "Wilderness" mission, which means the Last Liners don't get the bonus to initiative that they get in "Urban" missions and get a penalty to calling for aid.
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| Gear cache #1 |
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| Gear cache #2 |
As the Last Liners deployed, the Jel Brute raised its eyeless head, fleshy tendrils waving as it sniffed the air. With a belching bellow, it leapt down off the trailer porch and barreled at Maria at top speed, slamming into her with both fists, leaving her stunned.
The Lieutenant cursed. This thing was even bigger than the mission briefing had suggested; easily two tons of muscle and fangs. He fired a shot into it, but the bullet barely penetrated the Brute's thick hide. Hank darted to a more advantageous firing position and unloaded into the creature, scoring a critical hit.
Sprayed with lead from the LMG, the Brute squealed and screeched - and brought its supersized fists down on Maria again and again, beating the woman into the ground. Bringing her pistol up, Maria put a round in the creature's gut before rolling out of the way and to her feet, and darting away from the monster's grasping hands. She knew she couldn't take another hit like that.
Ignoring the monster for the moment, Becky made a mad dash for the nearest supply cache.
Sarah-Jane snapped off a shot at the monster, and got rewarded by it charging towards her, leaping over a wrecked car and bringing its massive fists down on her.
The second turn began with a FUBAR event - "Errant Drone Strike." Munitions fire rained down on Becky's location. "Ah! Ahh! Motherfu- DO I LOOK LIKE THE MONSTER?" She screamed at the sky. Undeterred by what was happening across the trailer park, the Jel Brute activated again, leaping high into the air and slamming both fists into the ground, producing a rippling shockwave; the Lieutenant managed to brace against it, but Sarah-Jane succumbed to the punishing strikes.
The Lieutenant darted inside the trailer, taking cover behind a window before sniping the monster and rolling a critical hit. The round creased the Brute's skull, sending shards of chitin flying. Screeching, the creature spun, trying to determine where the shot came from, but unable to spot the Lieutenant.
Enraged, the creature spotted Hank and charged him. Hank tried to brace himself, but the beast slammed him into the side of the trailer, almost putting him through the wall. With a gasp, Hank's vision went dark.
Hearing the slamming of monstrous fists against aluminum siding, Maria dashed wildly for the last supply cache. "Air support! For the love of god, air support!" She screamed into the burner phone. A message of acknowledgement crackled, and a drone streaked across the sky, blazing away at the Jel Brute.
Becky rounded the trailer, moving towards cover and squeezing off a shot at the monster - and missing. The shot drew the creature's attention, and the Jel Brute charged, trampling her into the dirt.
For those keeping track at home, it's the end of turn 2 and the monster has put three of my five agents Out of Action.
Sniffing the air, the Jel Brute locked on to the Lieutenant, forcing its enormous bulk into the trailer to attack. The gray-bearded agent stood firm against the creature's slamming fists, then fired a shot from the hip before throwing himself out the window and making a run across the park.
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| I don't use the interiors of my buildings enough in games. |
Unfortunately, the creature followed, squeezing its body out the window and half-running, half-rolling after him. Catching him, the creature rolled over the Lieutenant, crushing him.
"Hey, you fat piece of shit!" Maria barked, rounding the trailer. Leveling her pistol, she fired at the Brute. It turned, snarling, and thundered towards her. The last thought she had before blackness overtook her was, "Fuck it, what's getting cloned again?"
***
MAJ. 13 EXTRACTION NOTICE
At approximately 1430 hours, team code-named "Last Liners" experienced catastrophic failure in dealing with entity code-named "Jel Brute." All agents incapacitated. Clean-up team dispatched. Upon arrival entity was nowhere to be seen. Agents retrieved and taken to [REDACTED] for medical examination. All agents survived encounter with entity, however some cause for concern remains.
Agent known as "The Lieutenant" determined to be suffering from lingering wounds likely related to organ trauma sustained when attacked by entity. Recommended for continued observation and recovery. Agent Rebecca [REDACTED] experienced neurological trauma; further testing suggests minor cognitive and reflex deterioration. Independent examination by Dr. [REDACTED] clears her for continued field-work. Agent Maria [REDACTED], second iteration, shows sign of post-traumatic stress disorder. Psychological testing suggests she may also be experiencing Clone Identity Dysphoria and questioning her sense of self. Cleared for field-work, but continued observation recommended in case condition worsens. Agents Henry "Hank" [REDACTED], second iteration, and Sarah-Jane [REDACTED] are considered to be recovering well and cleared to return to field-work with no reservations.
***
Ouch! I knew I'd been really lucky with the Last Liners in previous games and that that luck couldn't last forever. I also knew, once I'd rolled up this mission, that the odds were slightly stacked against me; a Wilderness mission took away the initiative bonus I got in Urban missions, and the Jel Brute was bigger and tougher than normal.
While the Team Rating did not increase, because my entire team was put Out of Action, I did get some XP and I did get the opportunity to requisition some additional gear.
The Lieutenant had enough XP to boost his Acuity stat for when he returns to play; he has to miss the next mission while under observation for those questionable wounds. Sarah-Jane and Maria both boosted their Dexterity stat by 1. Becky's injury reduced her Combat skill by 1, but she was able to use the XP she'd accumulated to negate the reduction, so her Combat score remains 14.
The Last Liners have successfully requisitioned a case of flashbang grenades and syringes of adrenaline for battlefield use. They've also successfully connected their base to a human resources database; this means, if one of the Last Liners dies and cannot be cloned, any new recruits they bring on start at a higher level than they would normally.
So the Last Liners will have at least one more mission (and I'm anticipating it being a particularly challenging one with the Lieutenant sidelined) before they once again face the soldiers of FORCE in a special mission. What they're fighting next remains to be determined.
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