Inquisitor al-Nasr has made a new friend, Dietmar Schneider. Well, he's at least found someone who shares his interests. But before they can swap stories, al-Nasr's got to do a little job first.
"Whew, that is a completely new smell!" Trin Flintfinger yelled as the crew stepped out of The Ulysses. They had touched down a few hundred meters from a series of small buildings on the outskirts of a large shipping yard.
"Trin, you will keep your comments to yourself." al-Nasr said. "The third building is our destination." he continued, pointing. "Schneider has paid for an item locked in the safe there, and we are to retrieve it."
"He gave your the code for the safe, right?" Trin asked as the crew started towards the buildings.
"Of course. What do you take me for?"
"No comment from me, cap. Just making sure."
Wisps of green fog trailed in from the west; they were close to the shore of the Sump Sea and the prevailing winds were pushing clouds of expelled gasses their direction as they bubbled off the surface. They weren't toxic at this range, so long as they didn't loiter too long without breathing protection. Though as Trin had discovered, they had a rather unpleasant odor.
They reached the building and retrieved the item without any trouble (the codes for the safe were indeed correct, much to Trin's relief). By now the fog was rolling in quite thickly. Trin had wrapped a cloth around his nose and mouth, citing his exceptional sense of smell. The others didn't seem to be too bothered by it, but it was getting difficult to see much further than a dozen meters or so.
As the crew exited the building and turned to head back towards The Ulysses, Ysuranel, who had taken the lead, reached his arm out, halting the other members of the crew. "Stop." he said, a forceful command despite being barely above a whisper.
"What is it?" Gill whispered back as he sniffed the air. Acetl and Trin scanned the surrounding area, but could see nothing through the thick fog.
Ysuranel put his finger to his lips, then touched his ear. Everyone strained to hear what he had already picked up. Laughing, far off in the distance, but closing on their position. They heard a loud crash of breaking glass, followed by a chorus of celebratory cheers. Ysuranel made a couple quick gestures and the crew darted to cover, one group keeping to the edge of the building, the other threading their way through a series of shipping containers.
They stood or crouched, hearing the voices grow louder, seemingly just out of sight in the fog. The voices stopped, pausing for just a second as a loud shot rang out, followed by another crash of broken glass. Laughter followed, and the voices started moving again.
Trin hadn't noticed initially, but as he, Ysuranel, and Gill had rushed to the containers, Trin's cloth had slipped off his mouth. Despite his best efforts, he let out a series of loud, hacking coughs before putting it back in place as discretely as he could. "Oops," he mouthed.
The voices stopped, along with their accompanying footsteps. "What was that?" one voice said, a second answering "what the frag do you think I know for?" A third, louder voice, with a heavy low-gothic accent commanded "We heard you over there. Whoever you are, this is Onyx Arrow territory. Listen, you just come out, and we'll just take everything you've got. We'll probably even let you live."
Al-Nasr motioned to Ysuranel before he disappeared into the fog around the building. Split and move past, keeping out of engagement range if possible.
Forces
- Inquisitor al-Nasr: Hand Laser, Blade, Frag Vest
- Ysuranel: Handgun, Glare Sword, Distraction Bot
- Gill-on'Tou: Colony Rifle, Glare Sword
- Acetl: Colony Rifle, Blade
- Trin Flintfinger: Shotgun, Blade, Insta-wall
- Lieutenant: Colony Rifle, Blade
- Specialist: Hunting Rifle
- Merc: Colony Rifle
- Merc: Colony Rifle
Deployment
The small group of gangers deployed in a tight knot in the middle of the board, protecting the ganger with the heavy rifle. Would it even do them any good with the heavy fog in the area?
The crew split into two groups, with al-Nasr and Acetl keeping to the buildings on the left, while Ysuranel, Trin, and Gill hugged the shipping containers on the right. With any luck, they would be able to slip past the gangers unseen.
Turn 1
Thanking the fog for keeping them out of sight of the gangers, both teams quickly raced forward, avoiding the main pathway the gangers were taking. Acetl dashed across a small alleyway, but al-Nasr wasn't able to keep up and didn't want to expose himself to gunfire.
"Boss, boss, I saw one!" one of the gangers said jovially as Acetl ran between buildings, and let a few rounds fly in that direction.
The leader swatted the ganger on the head with his rifle butt. "Shaddup. It was a cloud, you slagheap. And don't waste ammo."
A third ganger piped up. "I think I heard something over there too, boss."
The leader gave this ganger an angry scowl, but ordered them to move towards the building, eyes on the lookout for targets.
Ysuranel, Trin, and Gill kept near the shipping containers that gave them excellent cover, even though their path would bring them within striking distance of the gangers.
Turn 2
The Inquisitor sprinted his way across the gap between the two buildings, with the fog still keeping him pretty well obscured. The lead ganger pushed his two trigger-happy compatriots forward through the collection of barricades. "You two are so sure you saw something, you get your fat heads over there and take care of it." The two nodded with a quick "yeah, boss" before they took up cover behind one of the barricades.
"Come out and play!" one sang in a loping voice, while the other laughed a hearty guffaw.
Ysuranel's group continued to slink their way forward, making sure to keeping the shipping containers between them and their foes.
Turn 3
Despite Acetl's protestations, al-Nasr scaled the ladder on the side of the building and crept along the top of the roof. Acetl slowly rounded the corner of the building, intent on laying down covering fire for the Inquisitor should the fog lift. Through a small gap, both were able to train their weapons on the ganger with the large hunting rifle, but due to the weather conditions, both missed.
This unfortunately drew the attention of the ganger hiding behind the small barricade just in front of the building. As a cloud passed, the ganger was only able to draw a bead on al-Nasr on the roof. Luckily for the Inquisitor, he missed, as al-Nasr quickly ducked behind the small lip on the roof. "He's up there!" the ganger yelled, as his partner with the large rifle took aim and fired. Despite his apparent age, al-Nasr was able to dodge out of the way as the rifle fired. However, his momentum took him over the edge of the roof and he fell to the ground, landing in a heap at the base of the building and in full view of half the gang members.
Hearing gunfire, Ysuranel pushed his team forward, hoping to engage the gangers before they could bring their full weight to bear. The Lieutenant must have heard them coming, as he pulled one ganger to the side and opened up on the approaching crew. his shot clipped Trin in the foot, who stumbled as he ran. Ysuranel stopped to pick his crewmate up, leaving him vulnerable to the ganger, who unloaded a few shots into Ysuranel's back, dropping him to the ground.
Rightfully angry, Trin regained his footing and slung his shotgun around and fired, leaving a gaping hole where the ganger's chest once was. Gill followed up behind him, firing on the Lieutenant and bringing him down as well.
Turn 4
Realizing he was out in the open, with at least 1 gun trained on him, al-Nasr threw himself to his feet and sprinted as fast as he could down the street, reaching for the cover of a nearby building. Acetl peppered the area around the ganger with gunfire, hoping only to provide cover for the Inquisitor. The ganger, however, took a slug in the foot, which made him fall to the ground as he grabbed for his mangled appendage. Acetl was able to finish him off swiftly. He took the chance to search the ganger while the other's attention was elsewhere.
Realizing he was alone, the ganger with the large gun was nevertheless still strapping for a fight, and he stalked through the fog as a heavy cloud blanketed the battlefield. He saw a greenish-brown shape whiz past him, but wasn't able to turn his gun around fast enough. A waft of breeze stirred the air just enough for him to see a gray figure pulling on the unconscious body of another as it made its way through an outcropping of razor rock. He raised his gun to fire, but the shot went high as the figure dropped himself flat to the ground. The ganger cursed and started to reload his rifle.
Gill took no time to look as he raced past the ganger, knowing the dense cloud would only be present for a few moments. As he ran through the open ground, he caught the glint of a metal barrel, but pushed himself to go faster and made it to the cover of a building before the rifle's owner could fire on him. He slowed as he reached the building and dared to take a glance behind him. There was fog, but nothing more. He took a couple steps backwards alongside the building, and, with a large metallic crack, he was suddenly plunged into darkness and confusion. For an instant, he though he had finally reached his end, but with a splash he hit the surface of water and was violently pushed along with the stream of water. Gasping as he surfaced, Gill looked up and saw the quickly receding light of a manhole and the broken grating he had been standing on. He could do nothing but see where the water would take him. He at least hoped it was water.
Turn 5
The clouds of fog impossibly thickened, bringing the look of twilight to the battlefield, all tinged in a sickly green color. Acetl lost view of both the Inquisitor and the remaining ganger, though he could hear him cursing somewhere in the fog. He quickly grabbed the ganger's rifle before he slipped back behind the building, deciding to take a more roundabout route back to The Ulysses.
The Inquisitor was not concerned with stealth, and so forced his old bones to shuffle him away from the battlefield as quickly as they could. He sprinted around a building and through a courtyard before pausing amidst a group of ruins to catch his breath. He pinged The Ulysses on his mobile data slate and found it was only a couple hundred meters away. Breath caught and package for Schneider still secure, he started for his ship, hoping the rest of the crew was not far behind.
Trin cursed again as he lugged Ysuranel's body over the last of the rocky ground. "Would it kill you to help a little?" he asked, only half under his breath. The duo made it past a shipping container and Trin flopped himself against it, turning Ysuranel on his front to inspect the wound. It did not look good. "You'd better be grateful I grabbed your scrawny carcass. I thought you people were supposed to be light!" When he heard a loud metallic crack, he jumped up, all thought of rest abandoned, and started dragging Ysuranel out of range of the ganger and back to the ship.
Another victory for the Inquisitor and his crew. What wonders will their new patron bestow upon them?
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