[Taocow PBEM] Book 3 - Chapter IV - Who's This Then?

[Aaron Clausen]

>> [GM]
>> The net brushes along the submerging sub, almost half-alive,
>> seeking out like clutching fingers. Koba is protected inside the
>> sub, and Owen, Justin, Carlos, Alex and Ted manage to get out of
>> its way.
>>
>> Osiris [Dodge: 5] and Louissa [Dodge: 14] are not so lucky. As
>> soon as the net touches them, they go limp and the net closes
>> around them and the warrior women immediately lift the net up.
>> They're faces are impassive, but the Slaver is laughing horribly.
>>
>> The sub is now almost totally submerged, and while the Kittani
>> boats are now close by, the sub itself may be safe from the
>> Slaver's net. Of the company, only Koba, along with those that were
>> saved, is inside the sub. The hatch will soon have to be closed,
>> or Koba will have to cancel the dive.
>> [/GM]

> [Ted]
> The lizard man quickly makes his way to the hatch. "Last one in is a
> rotten egg," he calls out to the others.
> [/Ted]

> [Justin]
> Justin slings his rifle, leaving him with just his katana, in the
> water next to the sub. He points at the barge, and commands his dogs
> "Poby, Deem! Follow!". He then gathers himself, and leaps upwards,
> using the sub as a spring board.
> [/Justin]

[GM]
As Justin leaps, one of the slave women opens fire on him [Strike: 
Natural 1], but misses hopelessly.
[/GM]

> [Justin]
> As he goes past the slaver platform, he'll try to grab the side of
> it, and turn the momentum of his leap into a twisting, curving
> motion, essentially a sideways power kick, both feet straight into
> the main body of the nearest warrior woman. Ideally one of the ones
> holding the net, but any will do.
> [/Justin]

[GM]
The slaver platform dips noticably as Justin grabs on to it.  The 
slaver, seeing Justin coming begins lowering down into the interior of 
the barge.

The warrior woman holding the rope manages to dodge Justin's power kick 
[Dodge: Natural 20].

At the same time Poby and Deem land on the deck of the barge.
[/GM]

> [Alex]
> As fast as she can, Alex switchs to her JA-12 and fire a concussion
> grenade at the cluster of them, trying to catch the Blind Warrior
> Women and the Slaver [Strike: 6]
> [/Alex]

[GM]
The grenade does not land in the center, but rather off to the side 
[Damage: 3MD].  One of the he warrior women (not the one holding the 
net) is knocked off [Dodge: 5], as well as Poby [Dodge: 5].  Everyone 
else manages to hold on.  The warrior woman falls to the water below 
without making a sound, but Poby yelps out as he is hurtled off the 
barge by the force of the blast.
[/GM]

> [Owen]
> Owen will throw a fireball at the closest warrior woman, hoping to
> disrupt her hold on net [Strike: Natural 20!].
> [/Owen]

[GM]
Owen's fireball, burning much brighter than usual, strikes the warrior 
woman holding the net dead on [Damage: 84MD!].  The woman attempts to 
leap out of the way, releasing the net in the process.  She appears 
unscathed, though it's now obvious some sort of force field surrounds her.

The net falls from the barge, its captives freed from the clutches of 
the Slaver.
[/GM]

[Carlos]
Carlos fires a short burst at the warrior woman that Owen had just hit 
[Strike: 18].
[/Carlos]

[GM]
Carlos's blast hits the warrior woman [Damage: 38MD], killing her and 
literally tearing her body into pieces.
[/GM]

> [Alex]
> Provided the others are no longer under control of the slavers, she
> will yell to the others "Grab them and lets get out of here."
>
> She will fire a second concussion grenade at the creatures and begin
> swimming for the submarine [Strike: Natural 20!]
> [/Alex]

[GM]
Alex's second concussion grenade lands right in the middle of the barge 
[Damage: 1MD].  While it's damage isn't great, its effect is pretty 
profound.  Everyone, except the Slaver (who is tied into the barge), is 
knocked off their feet.  Justin, the remaining warrior woman and 
Justin's other hound, Deem, are flung into the water.
[/GM]

OOC: Apologies to Justin's player, who set up a very nice piece of 
hand-to-hand combat, but the dice rule.  A concussion grenade with a 
natural 20 behind it is going to knock people who aren't tided down off 
of something like a hover barge.  I'm going to move things along again.

[GM]
In short order Louissa and Osiris are hauled up, and Justin and his dogs 
swim back to the minisub.  Koba, as he originally planned, makes the 
dive.  There appears to be no more pursuit, which is just as well, 
because Koba finds the minisub incredibly difficult to navigate, in part 
because of damage received during the escape from the sinking sub, and 
in part because he's basically steering the thing electronically.

Koba does his best to steer the sub towards land, as a good portion of 
the company clings as best they can to the side.  After perhaps twenty 
minutes the seafloor begins to rise quickly until the minisub is now in 
water no more than ten feet deep, and it finally surfaces.

The scene before it is terrible.  About three hundred feet to the south 
(the coast runs roughly north-south) the beach, a village is burning to 
the ground.  Bodies can be seen here and there, some close enough for 
the company to see small children.  There are also other bodies of what 
appear to be the fishmen the company had battled earlier.  There are a 
number of smoking craters, suggesting some sort of rockets or mortars 
were used.  The smoke is thick and acrid, smelling of burning flesh.

There's no sign of an enemy nearby, but perhaps a mile away, up a steep 
hillside can be seen gunfire, enough to suggest a pitched battle.

Behind the company, in the sea, can be seen what must be the Kittani 
boats.  They're racing towards the coast, not directly at the company, 
but close enough that within about five or six minutes they'll be close 
enough to spot the company directly.

The geography of the area is a narrow beach and shelf of grassy land, 
with steep hills leading inland.  The hilltop itself has a few small 
stands of trees, but other than that looks to be grassy with rock 
outcroppings.  As far as the eye can see to the north and the south the 
land appears in this trend.  At the very edge of sight for optics, 
perhaps some seven or eight miles away to the norht, is another village, 
also, it seems on fire.  The Splugorth and their allies are hitting 
villages in this area, it seems.

The company seems to have a few choices; stay in the minisub and try to 
move with stealth up or down the coast (north or south), check out one 
or the other of the burning villages, or head inland.
[/GM]

-- 
Aaron Clausen