Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Shadowdancer" data-source="post: 1597928" data-attributes="member: 515">Chapter XXXVIIIDate: 126-993Place: A dirt farm road along the KGL-Bromley border Ian and Swann squeeze off another pair of bursts as the hover car veers off. Unfortunately for the driver of the hover car, he didn’t veer off quickly enough as Swann’s burst punches through the windshield and there is a briefly visible explosion of red. Ian’s burst at the hover car passenger only strikes the front side of the hover car. On the bright side, Ian didn’t graze Swann’s big head. Saro yells, "Turning up ahead," slows down a bit, and then whips a wild turn to the left onto a dirt farm road. This getaway driving really has Saro’s pulse up, and there are times when it seems like he barely has the Amadel under control. Luckily, Ian has a pretty good grip, and Swann ducks back inside the car in anticipation of the turn. He engages the SMG’s safety as well. -----As he calls the Bray Keaven, Vasilii notices that the previously oncoming constabulary patrol car seems to have slowed a bit and has turned on its flashing lights. After the Amadel gets about 400m down the dirt road, the original ground car reaches the turn off and continues in pursuit. Saro keeps the Amadel at a speedy pace but one that he can control. He screams over the din of the engine and the car on the dirt road. "This road is bumpy. I’ll try to keep the Amadel steady but it won’t be easy. I certainly hope The Bray gets here soon. "Vasilii, while you contact the Bray Keaven also keep an eye out on the road far ahead. Let me know if you see something out of the ordinary. All of my attention is on the immediate path. Wouldn’t want our ride to end prematurely in a ditch." -----Vasilii turns his attention to the road ahead, trying to see how far the road goes and what the conditions are. Bringing the microphone to his mouth, Vasilii speaks to the Bray Keaven. "Be advised we've turned off the main road and are now headed east. We are still under pursuit and require assistance. One of the pursuing vehicles is a local constabulary with flashing lights. That might make it easier to locate us." -----Saro pushes the Amadel as much as his skills and judgement allow, and the ground car follows the dirt roads past fields as the pursuing vehicles close steadily. -----In the back of the Amadel, Swann and Vasilii switch sides, and Swann keeps an eye on the pursuing vehicles. The ground car closes the distance quickly, and the constabulary patrol car has turned onto the dirt road in pursuit. The hover car has also rejoined the pursuit. -----"Oh dear," Saro mutters as he sees an aluminum metal gate across the road ahead. A barbed–wire fence stretches out from the gate from either side. To either side of the road are shallow ditches and fields of wheat about two feet high. The ground car is now 100m away. The constabulary patrol car is 300m back. The hover car is 500m back. "Vasilii, I need a consultation when you get a chance." Saro’s knuckles turn white from gripping the wheel too hard. "Does that gate look like we could drive through it to you? I hope so because if it isn’t then our little joyride is over and we have to face our friends back there." After hearing Saro’s question, Swann turns to face forward. "It’s either the gate or make some crop circles in that wheat field. I say the gate." "Good idea about the circles, Swann, but I think the gate is the better choice at the moment," Ian says. "We could do donuts in the dirt to create a ‘smokescreen’ if needed. Maybe once the ship gets closer?" Saro floors the accelerator after the Amadel gets closer to the gate with the intention of ramming through it. Vasilii looks at the gate that is growing rapidly with disbelief in his eyes. "Surely you don’t mean to . . . ?" "Gentlemen, brace for impact," Saro says. When Saro accelerates the Amadel, Vasilii braces for impact, his knuckles and face whitening. Ian and Swann also brace themselves. Gunning the engine, Saro sends the Amadel barreling towards the aluminum gate. The Amadel smashes through the gate, sending pieces of the light aluminum flying. The gate damages the front end of the car significantly, and even from the driver’s seat, Saro can tell that they really should have purchased that umbrella damage waiver policy. Fortunately, Saro’s luck holds, and he manages to keep the Amadel on the dirt road in spite of the reduced handling. -----The pursuing ground car closes to 80m just after the gate, and the current driver fires his pistol at the fleeing Amadel. The shot hits Swann in the shoulder. Swann grunts as pain burns throughout his left shoulder. "Frell!" he curses through clenched teeth. "That son of a belter whore will pay." Swann leans out the window and thumbs off the SMG’s safety. He and Ian return fire. Swann’s burst peppers the windshield of the ground car, and the new driver of the ground car. Unfortunately, the burst only grazes the driver. On the other hand, Ian’s shot strikes true and catches the driver full in the face. There is a brief explosion of red gore, and the ground car careens off the road into the fields. -----Swann ducks back inside the car and puts the safety back on. He then reaches into his pocket to retrieve a handkerchief to shove between the wound and his shirt. "Swann! Vasilii! You OK back there?" Ian shouts. Over the roar of the engine and gunfire Saro speaks. "Are you hit Swann? Put some pressure on it and I’ll patch you good as new once we are in the Bray Keaven." Swann grits his teeth and says, "It only hurts when you hit a bump, Doc. Try to dodge a few, OK?" His laugh turns to a hiss as pain shoots through his shoulder again. -----Saro keeps the Amadel on the dirt road, and the constabulary patrol car and the hover car remain in pursuit. After a minute of driving on the road, the constabulary patrol car closes the distance to 120m, and the hover car is now 220m back. At this point, Saro mutters, "Not again," as he sees another gate across the road 300m up ahead. Glancing ahead, Ian remarks, "Doc, we may not make it through this one as well as before. What are our options?" as he glances out the windows at the layout of the countryside. This particular field has a wheat subspecies growing in it. The plants are around a meter tall or so. It's hard to tell since things are flashing by, but the wheat may be planted in rows of a slight height (less than 10 cm) above the spaces between rows. "Well, we could stop but I don’t like that option much since the hover car can just turn around our cover. It’s gate or field. I’m inclined to ramming the gate as we have no clue as to how the car will handle the field. In any case, we can’t go much longer." "Well, Doc, if this gate looks to be stronger than the last one, we may be better off going through the barbed–wire fence instead of the gate, assuming of course there are no ditches." "The road is flanked by shallow ditches but I fear they may be enough to wreck the car at the speed we are going. I’m trying to decide which is the lesser of the three evils." -----In the distance, Vasilii spies the welcome sight of a far trader skimming northeastwardly towards them. Vasilii looks at the far trader in sheer relief, since this expedition has gotten way more violent than he supposed. Looking at Swann he calls out, "It’s the ship!," pointing off to the southwest. He then catches sight of Swann’s injury and the joy in his face dies away. Bringing the microphone to his face, he speaks to the Bray Keaven. "Thank God. Vasilii, how long until they can pick us up?" Saro asks. "Captain, I have you in sight southwest of us. Be advised we are still in a combat situation and one of our number is slightly injured. Also the vehicle has sustained damage but is currently still operating."Through the pain, Swann has a moment of clarity. "Ask the Captain if they can target our pursuers with the ship’s lasers." -----Seeing the new gate approaching, Vasilii looks with alarm at the damage to the front of the Amadel. "Maybe you don't want to try that again. Will the car take another gate?" As the Amadel flies down the dirt road towards the second gate, Ian fires off a burst with his gauss pistol at the constabulary patrol car. The gauss pistol rounds strike the windshield near the constable, but otherwise have no significant effect. Swann grits his teeth, applies pressure to the wound for a second, and then leans back out of the window to fire a burst at the constabulary patrol car’s right front tire. Just before he fires, he sees two small explosions as something vaporizes areas of dirt and wheat near the patrol car. At that point, Swann fires. The burst hits the patrol car’s tire, and the constable is unable to keep his car under control as the tire pops and the car veers to the right in a cloud of dust and slows down dramatically. -----Swann barely manages to get back into the car as Saro guns the Amadel at the gate. The gate is identical to the last one, and Saro hopes that his luck holds. The Amadel smashes into the gate with a scream of abused metal, and the gate goes flying. Saro manages to keep the Amadel on the road for a while, but the second crash has obviously damaged the car’s handling yet again. About 50m from the second gate, Saro loses control. The Amadel veers off the road into the fields and completely spins around a couple of times before Saro is able to bring the car to a stop. Inside the battered Amadel, there is a brief whirlwind of flying limbs and possessions. Saro, being strapped in, weathers the chaos well. Vasilii also avoids getting banged up. Ian goes flying out the window and lands with a heavy thud outside of the Amadel. On the bright side, his combat environment suit absorbs much of the damage. As Ian is staring up at the sky through stalks of wheat, he marvels that he was able to keep a hold of his gauss pistol and it didn't go off. "Damn, gotta remember the safety next time!" Ian mutters to himself as he rises up just high enough to see over the wheat and assess the situation. Swann has better luck in the spin out: he ends up in Vasilii’s lap, but his reflexes keep him inside the car without damage. On the down side, he loses hold of the SMG and it goes flying out the window during one of the spins. Swann pauses to thank the gods that he was disciplined in toggling the safety since he is convinced that was the only thing that kept SMG rounds from spraying the inside of the car. The Amadel is now at a rest. The hover car is 60m away and closing fast. The Bray Keaven is now about 100m away. Saro shakes his head, surprised that it is still there. "Damn!" -----Vasilii desperately hangs on as the Amadel spins through the field. With a thud Swann lands on Vasilii, pressing him against the window of the car. The sedan finally stops spinning and Vasilii pushes Swann back over to the other side of the Amadel, then unbuckles himself and opens the door. Standing unsteadily, he sees the hover car closing rapidly. Since no one else seems able to do anything, Vasilii raises his body pistol and bravely fires at the oncoming hover car’s driver when the hover car is 35m away. The shot strikes the hood of the car, but misses the driver. Swann grabs his auto pistol, slips in a fresh clip, chambers a round and prepares to fire at the hover car when it gets a little closer. Ian shakes himself, pokes his head up to assess the situation, and fires a burst at the hover car driver. The burst strikes the already abused windshield near the driver, and a round catches him in the shoulder. -----Just as the gauss pistol rounds are striking the driver, the Bray Keaven descends like the black hand of an angry god over the hover car. Incredibly, the ungainly far trader actually raps the hover car’s roof with its belly while Marcus’ voice booms out: "Attention: pursuit car," he intones over the external loudspeakers, "I will bring the full force of my weapons to bear on you if you don’t immediately break off pursuit. I don’t think I’d miss you at this range. Also, I suggest you order your interceptors to break off, as well." Ian grins, "The cavalry has arrived!" he says to no one in particular. Swann laughs and says, "You tell ’em, Captain." The far trader then rises about 50m and quickly sets down about 30m from the Amadel with its nose pointed towards the northwest. Darishun descends the rear cargo ramp, and is waving and pointing towards the cargo ramp. -----As the far trader sets down, Ian and Vasilii chuckle when they see that the hover car has spun around 180 degrees and is now departing at maximum speed. Vasilii yells at Saro, "Drive the Amadel up in the cargo hold. We won’t have time to unload!" Saro manages to get the Amadel running again, and starts driving the car towards the ramp as Ian and Vasilii start sprinting towards the ramp themselves. -----Swann puts the safety of his auto pistol on, puts it back in its holster, and puts pressure on his wound. He smiles as he watches Ian and Vasilii sprinting after the Amadel, then turns to face forward and slumps in the back seat in relief. "And I thought I was giving up this dangerous lifestyle," he says to himself. "Well, I guess I should count myself luck to have only lost a submachinegun on this trip." As the Amadel approaches the cargo ramp, Swann waves at Darishun. Then he remembers the Captain’s words to the hover car driver. He sits up straight. "Interceptors. Doc, hurry up and get this car parked so I can man a turret. We’re not out of the woods yet."</blockquote>

Verification