[Taocow PBEM] Book 3 - Chapter III

[Aaron Clausen]

> > [GM]
> > As the grenade flies into the air, Alex is able to get a reasonable
> > picture of their surroundings.  She can see, with IR, the squad that
> > just fired at Koba moving quickly down the road towards the beach.
> > She can see the narrow rocky margin that sits between the bottom
> > of the cliffs and the water, and can see that it will offer no safe
> > escape either, there is another squad moving down it towards the
> > company, as well as some sort of small gun boat moving parallel
> > to the beach.
> >
> > The whole scene seems dismal until she catches a glimpse through
> > the mists of an escape route, one only visible because of a slight
> > shift in the wind.  A very narrow (no wider than a couple of feet) path
> > that leads up the cliffs directly north of them.  There's no sign of the
> > enemy, but the path is clearly damp from sea spray and fog.  The
> > entire path is not visible, but perhaps about 2,000 feet away she
> > can again see what must be the path, now some six hundred feet
> > above the crashing waves, no wider than it was before, but leading
> > down into what looks like a small protected cove, where what look
> > like a couple of fishing boats are moored.
> > [/GM]

> > [Louissa]
> > "We've got to go that way!" she says.  "It's are only chance.  Where's
> > Koba?"
> > [/Louissa]

> > [GM]
> > One of the landing craft has now touched bottom and several ape
> > creatures leap out.  Suddenly, out of nowhere, a friendly aircraft strafes
> > the boat and several of the ape-men fall.  The boat itself is damaged, but
> > still appears to be seaworthy, with only a couple of defenders left on
> > board.
> > [/GM]

> [Ted]
> "We need to take that boat," Ted shouts to his companions. He readies
> his rifle and begins laying down suppressive fire on the remaining ape-men.
> [Strike: 16, Targets Hit: 4, Damage: 14MD].
> [/Ted]

[GM]
The two defenders in the boat duck as Ted opens fire, but not before taking
some damage.  One of them pokes his own gun over the edge and sprays
wildly [Strike: 4], but somehow missing everyone.
[/GM]

> [Alex]
> Alex will look at the others real quick. If it looks like they agree to
> attack the boat, she will begin firing at the boat.  [Strike: 4]
>
> She states, "We need to be careful of the patrol boat."
> [/Alex]

[GM]
Unfortunately Alex's returning fire is equally ineffective, hitting the water.
[/GM]

> [Koba]
> "We need to get out of here. I am not dealing with slavers today."
> With that, Koba will make a move towards the boat in an attempt to
> take control of the boat.
> [/Koba]

> [Owen]
> Owen will follow Ted and Koba towards the boat, rifle in hand.
> [/Owen]

> [Lyle]
> Using the cover fire, Lyle will close in on the boat as fast as he can
>
> "Cover me!"
> [/Lyle]

> [Ted]
> "I got you," the lizard man replied, adjusting fire to avoid his teammate.
> [Strike: 8, Targets Hit: 4, Damage: 18MD]
> [/Ted]

[GM]
Ted manages to hit the ape-man that had returned fire, and he falls back.
The other is staying out of sight, but the sound of the engine roaring can
clearly be heard as the boat slips away from the shore.
[/GM]

> [Carlos]
> After watching everyone run towards the boat Carlos will follow.
> [/Carlos]

[Louissa]
Louissa runs after Carlos.  "He's getting away!" she shouts.
[/Louissa]

OOC: I'm going to assume Koba is going to use his particular
abilities to gain control of the boat.

[GM]
Koba is the first to reach the boat, which is now picking up speed.
He attempts to control, but is unable to access its electronics.

Owen and Alex are next.  From somewhere in the boat someone
chucks out a grenade [Strike: 6].  Owen easily dodges it
[Both got a Dodge: 18], but are forced to back away from the boat
to do so. One of the ape creatures appears again, apparently to start
firing.
[/GM]

> [Lyle]
> Lyle tries to engage apeman with his dual psi sword and shield until
> people can get closer.  [Strike: 16].
> [/Lyle]

[GM]
The ape-man is struck by both Lyle's psi-swords [Dodge: 10,
Damage: 15MD,9MD].  The psi-swords cut into, and through its
armor, making a clean slice that exposes the flesh beneath.
The ape creature gives a look of surprise, grabs at his ruined
chest, and then falls back.

Carlos and Louissa are the last to reach the boat.  The remaining
ape-creature, who was crouched behind the controls, drops an
energy pistol and puts up his hands.

"Surrender!" he shouts in a somewhat guttural language.
"Surrender!"
[/GM]

OOC: I'm assuming Ted picked up Osiris again.  If not, then I hope
someone else did, or our poor old aging Cyberknight is stuck on
the beach.

[Louissa]
Louissa points her rifle at the ape-creature.  "Get away from those
controls... NOW!"  This young girl, practically a princess in her
distant homeland, now seems a very terrifying warrior indeed.
[/Louissa]

[GM]
The ape-creature wastes no time in complying.
[/GM]

[Louissa]
Louissa sits down at the controls, which are actually fairly
complex, but does have a steering wheel and what must be
throttles.

"Don't know which one is reverse or forward, so hang on!"

With that she pushes what she hopes is the throttle full
open.  The ape-creature, who apparently wasn't listening,
or maybe didn't understand enough American to listen, is
pitched forward, hits his head on the panel and slumps over,
knocked out cold.  Everyone else feels there stomachs turn
as the boat races backwards at at least 30 or 40 miles an
hour.
[/Louissa]

[GM]
The rest of the company has a few seconds to look
around the boat.  There are still some riddled corpses,
and also two very impressive-looking mount railguns.
This is mainly a short-range troop transport so there is
no hold as such, though there are a couple of hatches.

The radio begins to squawk, though the language is unknown
to anyone.  The tone of the voice is demanding.  Beyond
two other boats, faster ones than this troop transport, as well
as one of the jet/mecha that looks like a metal dragon are
zeroing in.  Louissa is still frantically trying to figure the
controls out while she steers the boat in reverse.

One of the boats is now no more than fifty feet away
and closing...
[/GM]

-- 
Aaron Clausen
mightymartianca at gmail.com