The morning was silent save for the lapping of water against the bow of the boat and the creak of the wooden oars as Hank guided them across the river. Even the insects were still and quiet. A family of campers had gone missing on this isolated spit of land, and Majestic suspected the machinations of FORCE behind it.
The Lieutenant reviewed the mission briefing on the tablet.
"Initial satellite imagery suggests we're up against a 'Poisoned Lasher' today," he said quietly. "Big toad-looking thing that'll grab you with its tongue and retreat someplace quiet to eat you. We're short Maria today, so we need to really be on our A-game if we want to gig this frog."
The tiny drone in Becky's hands whirred to life, lifting off gently and bobbing as if politely acknowledging the Lieutenant's statement.
"I think with this little baby we'll be just fine," Becky said, allowing herself a smile. "A little extra firepower never hurt."
"We're here," Hank said, even as the Lieutenant and Sarah-Jane stood to drag the boat on to shore.
***
The Lieutenant prodded the tattered remains of the campsite with the barrel of his rifle.
"Something's not right here," he muttered. "There's no mucus. Dossier says the Poisoned Lasher's handiwork is immediately recognizable by the quantity of mucus it produces."
"Boss...?" Becky hazarded as a hissing chitter echoed from the nearby woods.
"Shit!" The Lieutenant barked. "That's not a Lasher! We were given bad intel! Spread out!"
With a shriek, the Warping Crawler shimmered out of existence, rematerializing right on top of the Lieutenant. He fired blindly into its abdomen and took off running.
"I'm on it," Hank barked, moving into position and squeezing the trigger on his M249 SAW, not worrying about trying to stabilize the heavy gun. Ichor spurted as round after round punctured the creature's exoskeleton.
"Alright little fella," Becky cooed to the drone even as she made a mad dash north towards the woods. "Show us what you've got."
The remote in her hands chirped as the drone locked on to the monster. With a smile she pressed the "fire" button. The targeting drone swooped out of the way as its larger cousin arrived, dropping an incendiary munitions bundle down the Crawler's back before returning to its launch pad.
Snarling in pain and fury, the Crawler dematerialized, reappearing between the Lieutenant and Hank - close enough to drive a pointed claw at each of them. Hank rolled out of the way but the razor-edged limb sank into the Lieutenant's shoulder.
Sitting calmly, almost meditatively atop the riverside billboard, Sarah-Jane lined up her shot; the sniper bullet tore a hole through the creature's elongated, flanged skull, causing it to squeal and flail. The monster teleported away, carrying the Lieutenant with it; rematerializing atop a nearby ridge, it began to gnaw on him. As he tried to wriggle out of its grip, it speared him with another spiky limb, keeping him pinned. He managed to fire into the creature's belly, but couldn't escape.
Hank fired a burst into the creature's back and took off running towards the dilapidated cabin. From the woods, Becky smiled and thumbed a request into the burner phone. A second drone streaked across the sky with a fiery payload.
Chemical fire sprayed across the monster's back, its bulk shielding the restrained Lieutenant from burns. The creature squealed and teleported again.
[The first Drone Strike was courtesy the team's new "Drone Control Pod" addition to their base, the second was their usual 1/mission "Call For Aid."]
Reappearing at the river's edge, the monster continued to try and stuff the Lieutenant into its bladed mandibles.
"Oh no you don't," Sarah-Jane said flatly, squeezing the trigger and sending another round deep into the monster's chest cavity. Oozing ichor, the creature teleported again, reappearing in a nearby copse of trees. The variety of bullet-holes in the monster's body were actively spilling steaming fluids as the creature entered Extremis. Enraged and in agony, it finally managed to cram the Lieutenant down its gullet before teleporting again and seizing Becky.
The Crawler tried to teleport away with her to consume, but the exertion was too much for its overtaxed systems. It rematerialized atop the bluff overlooking the river, sank its fangs into Becky and promptly collapsed, tumbling over the cliff into the swirling water below.
***
Wow, this game took me by surprise today. The monster died at the top of turn 3. That has never happened for me before. I know there's extra XP given if you accomplish it, but I didn't know it was really doable. Having the second drone strike made a huge difference, plus Sarah-Jane scored a critical hit both times she activated. Because the Crawler is classed as a "Monstrosity," It activates again whenever it's hit with a critical hit. So both hits caused it to take an extra action and technically resulted in the Lieutenant getting eaten, but the second hit also caused it to take bonus Extremis damage.
Rolling into the post-game...
The Lieutenant died of his injuries. After 13 missions, the old sunovagun bit the big one. Fortunately, Majestic was able to decant a fresh clone of him, so he'll be back for the next game, all shiny and scrubbed-pink looking.
Hank had enough XP banked to raise both Acuity and Fortitude, while Sarah-Jane and Becky each raised their Combat ability. The Lieutenant, being a fresh clone, did not garner any XP.
The team's requisition for a prosthetic arm for Maria has finally gone through and been approved! And additionally...
***
The Lieutenant - the new Lieutenant, he supposed - walked towards the Last Liner's hideout, his stride a little firmer than it had been in the past few months. Clonal vigor; it would wear off in a day or two, the scientists said, but for now he'd enjoy it. He pushed open the door.
"Hey, it's the Lieutenant!" Maria cheered, a beer in each hand. "Or is your rank now '2nd Lieutenant'?"
Hank groaned, and Maria shook her head. "Hey, it's okay, it's okay! I'm allowed to make clone jokes!"
"Yeah, but can you make good ones?" Hank replied as he tossed a beer to the Lieutenant. "How's it feel to have a first beer all over again, boss?"
Even Sarah-Jane, normally so taciturn, had to laugh. The Lieutenant bit the cap off the bottle and raised it in toast. Everyone raised theirs as well.
"The higher-ups are real happy with us right now," he said. "Let's keep that momentum going, and keep kicking alien ass, all right?"
The team cheered.
"In fact," the Lieutenant continued, "I sweet-talked them into a little present for the team. Hank, son, your arms getting tired lugging that SAW around?"
"What you got, some ultralight Retech'd version?" Hank asked, leaning forward excitedly.
"Step outside and see," the Lieutenant said, gesturing out the door. An unmarked truck was backing up towards the hideout. The Lieutenant stepped up and pulled open the loading doors.
"Wow," Becky said, staring into the dimly-lit interior.
"What is that?" Maria asked, eyes gleaming in excitement.
"It's beautiful," Hank added.
"Brand new, top of the line powered hardsuit," The Lieutenant said. "Complete with attachment point for anything up to and including light artillery. Slip this bad boy on like a set of long johns and it'll carry your gun for you, son."
"I GET A MECH SUIT!?!" Hank exclaimed.
No comments:
Post a Comment