Chapter 10: Year 300, Days 7 and 8

[joertexas]

Assana notes
Hey, someone is videoing a shooting incident in the crater!
A terrible quality image is brought up of a body on the floor of a shopping concourse and, beyond it, someone firing over the balustrade with a shotgun. Bystanders seem to be cowering behind concession stands and in shops or fleeing for their lives.

"Can we enhance that?" Indrani examines the feed at her station.

[cybersavant]

Reven Stiilpahth "Can you get a closer picture? Is that one of the crew?"

[BackworldTraveller]

Assana: We could try hacking into the station's camera systems.

[ateno]

Continuing to try to hide, Pranit will hang his shotgun from his shoulder and pickup his bag with his left hand and head behind the shotgunner and his assistant.

Nothing to see here:

[joertexas]

Assana: We could try hacking into the station's camera systems.

"Do it," Indrani responds.

[BackworldTraveller]

Assana: We could try hacking into the station's camera systems.

"Do it," Indrani responds.

Assana starts the process of hacking. Reven, I'm trying to hack the stations cameras - can you see if you can set up a high-speed comms link direct to Yaoley Crater? The line we have via the spaceport is rubbish!

[BackworldTraveller]

Assana notes
Hey, someone is videoing a shooting incident in the crater!
A terrible quality image is brought up of a body on the floor of a shopping concourse and, beyond it, someone firing over the balustrade with a shotgun. Bystanders seem to be cowering behind concession stands and in shops or fleeing for their lives.

"Can we enhance that?" Indrani examines the feed at her station.

The picture quality is terrible - the camera isn't designed for the proper dark of a subterranean cavern lit by nearby shop windows. Also is seems to wobble badly and jumped when the gun was fired.

The camera cuts away from the action to the face of a teenage girl. Well my followers, Something serious is going down and I'm stuck in the middle. I don't believe how scary this is.

There is a bang in the background

---

Pranit moves slowly forward. Holding the bag in one hand and the gun in the other makes the bag seem like lead and the gun aim wobbly. He advances half the distance to the two men (range now 6m) when...

The shotgun is fired a second time. A small woman with a haircut like Noors falls to the floor and skids to a halt on the polished rock.

Where is that drone Nisha? the spotter shouts - presumably into a comms unit as the shooter doesn't look like he'd be called Nisha.

---

Thaco tries to makes himself look small and follows Noor, trying to keep his body between her and the shooter.

---

The guy on the opposite side of the stall has magically produced a shotgun and appears to be approaching the two at the head of the stairs, holding a bag as cover...It looks remarkably like Pranit. But Pranit should have been downstairs by now not waiting at the stair head. Hebden taps Nālani on the shoulder and points over towards the costume shop. A gun-toting guy in a grey ship-suit is silhouetted against the lights of the shop, running back towards the concourse...Range 30m

[Monsieur Rose]

Noor

Noor keeps calm and keeps moving down the stairs with the mass. She's trying to stay with the retreating civilians, positioning them between her and the upstairs shooter.

Once she gets to the bottom or the exit door, she will exit with the mass. She'll move to spot a place they could ambush any hostiles exiting the stairs.

[BackworldTraveller]

The bottom of the stairs is a vehicle tunnel. Behind you is the entrance to the service area for the Concourse above. To the right and left the tunnel stretches north and south. Ahead is the entrance to a vehicle park. The shooter on the stairs seems to have been shot by another of the blue flashing rounds.

The main crowd (collapsed bodies excepted) seems to be heading into the car park. A few are fleeing up the tunnels on foot - one is banging on the shutter to the service area. It starts to open.

[ateno]

Being right behind him, Pranit uses martial arts to do a arm sweep and finishing with a short punch to throw him down the stairs.



Pranit will then use a minor action to to move behind shotgun man.

[BackworldTraveller]

Being right behind him, Pranit uses martial arts to do a arm sweep and finishing with a short punch to throw him down the stairs.



Pranit will then use a minor action to to move behind shotgun man.

Unfortunately for Pranit, the plan does not execute as smoothly as he has envisaged it in his head. As he closes with the spotter, the spotter turns to see him approaching and the element of surprise is lost. The sweep is aided by the momentum of the bag, but his opponent appears to have some expertise and instead of a clean sweep and push, he finds his arms entangled by his opponent and his own legs nearly taken from under him - with the effect that he is nearly the one that is headed down the stairs! The spotter has some melee skill - enough to defend, not enough to succeed in an attack. The two are now in an ongoing grapple and both on their feet.

The guy with the shotgun takes another shot onto the lower level...A mother who has stepped behind thaco is hit in the shoulder by the round, saving him but falling to the ground dragging her 10-year-old down with her as she falls.

Noor and Thaco make it across the road another round and they will be under the cover of the parking area

Hebden and Nālani action outstanding

---

The blogger has returned to the action and the 'cast shows some brave soul tackling one of the terrorists, grappling at the top of the stairs. Buzzing over their heads is a small dark drone.

[Monsieur Rose]

Noor

She points to the vehicle park and starts in that direction. The banging at the service door draws her attention and she looks over to ensure no guards are coming that way.

"We make a stand in the park entrance. We can cover our friends as they come down. How good are you at stealing a car?"

[The Bindoner]

Hebden taps Nālani on the shoulder and points over towards the costume shop. A gun-toting guy in a grey ship-suit is silhouetted against the lights of the shop, running back towards the concourse...Range 30m

Keep an eye on him. It’s too long a shot now, and I don’t want to draw attention only to miss.


Let’s go.

Crouching low, Nālani dashes forward to where Pranit is engaging the two men, weapon at the ready. When she gets in good and close to the shooter she fires at point-blank range.

[ateno]

Pranit will do a kick to the forward knee, being higher than my opponent should give me a advantage, unfortunately that's a str attack.



Do we add damage for amount over what we need to hit?

[cybersavant]

Assana starts the process of hacking. Reven, I'm trying to hack the stations cameras - can you see if you can set up a high-speed comms link direct to Yaoley Crater? The line we have via the spaceport is rubbish!

Reven Stiillpahth "Gimme a sec ... ."

[BackworldTraveller]

The action at the stair-head gets more exciting. Nālani draws her weapon and moves past the stall approaching the gunman cautiously. Pranit, who is fighting with the spotter seems to be getting nowhere

---

The brawl continues with Pranit gaining the upper hand - a successful strike and break results in a simple move becoming, for the spotter, disastrous. The crunch to the leg is accompanied by missed footing and he topples, arms flailing, backwards down the stairs. An attempt to grab Pranit as he goes is easily brushed aside.

The shooter is finally successful, sneaking a shot through the crowd at the retreating Noor and Thaco. Thaco is struck peripherally, on his flapping coat, and experiences a mild twitching sensation as the charge dissipates through his clothing. The gunman is less lucky: as he shoots into the crowd below, Nālani shoots him in the back. His nerveless fingers let go of the gun (which vanishes over the balustrade), as he slides to the floor, gracelessly. From the corner of her eye, she notes that Hebden is fleeing, as fast as he can go, down the stairs - as she feels a blow to her right shoulder and hears the flat-"bang" of a shot from the guy that was crossing the floor.

Whoever it is is 12m away, using a gun with real bullets, and Nālani is in need of a new jacket and shirt with a bullet scratch across her shoulder blade.

Damage from shot: [3d6]=6-3=3

---

OMG the video narrator continues They're fighting...and another shopper has got away. Oh no there's more of them
The video itself shows flashes in the dark and loses focus.
and then goes dead - like someone has cut the phone network.

---

Reven is working furiously trying to get a direct comms link up. It's nearly there but it just takes time ([1d6]=5+1 rounds)
Assana is doing her best on the old comms line but Aargh this is so slow
She types something and reports Something is scrambling the cameras...like earlier when we were at dinner. And I can't do anything with this slow line!

[BackworldTraveller]

Incoming message from Chief Investigator Zid Umale to the Queen

Major incident at Yaoley Crater. Link to my investigation likely given earlier false information. Team Dispatched. Can't contact anyone there. If you have comms, please tell your crew to hide and wait.

CI Umale
Deputy Director, Jusu Saffa Task Force

[ateno]

Pranit watches the man fall and is surprised when the shotgunner falls, he turns and smiles at Nālani then sees her hit, but not fall. Go get your teamate.

He grabs his shotgun strap with his left hand , shrugs his shoulder and in a practiced move brings his shotgun up to his shoulder, turn, checks downrange and if safe and fire at the pistol weielder.



If not safe he will step down the stairs sideways carefully so there is no line of sight. All the time keeping the shotgun facing towards the stairs head.

[The Bindoner]

Nālani curses as she realises she has been shot: Teme ketsumedo yarou.

Nālani bounds down the stairs, determined to catch up with Hebden, calling over her shoulder: Pranit, gunman behind! I’m chasing Hebden.

[Monsieur Rose]

Noor

Noor is concerned for a moment and calls out: "No!" Then exhales in relief as Thaco brushes off the glancing shot. "They're after me! Why?! Get in position, we're shooting at them when they come out. Hopefully, the others can flank them."

She will call out to anyone she recognizes who exits the stairs. "Hey! Horatio! Over here!"