CapnJim's Post-Apoc Stuff: Zone Run #10 AAR Epilogue...Pg 13...08 Sep 24

[CapnJim]

Thanks, fellas...meanwhile back in Jupiter 2...

"What now?" asked McGuyver, the driver. 



Carter:  "Go around it to the left.  But not too close to either the house or that pick-up."  "Yeah" chimed in Newkirk.  "My detector is pinging big-time off that truck.  I'm getting some readings on the farmhouse and barn, too."  "Okay" came back Carter.  And McGuyver pulled around the downed tree, pulled forward several yards, and stopped.



Carter continued.  "McGuyver, you and Newkirk go left and check out that truck.  O'Rourke, take Malloy and see about the house.  DeSoto, post up so you can respond as you need to.  Pyle and I will keep an eye on things from back here.  Robinson, get Robot up.  I don't want any surprises."  And out of Jupiter 2 SAE30 deployed, just as Carter had ordered.  Just like a thousand times before....



As the crew moved out as ordered, Robinson barely had Robot up when he came in on comms.  "Heads up, fellas.  We got company.  A green SUV is pulling into the drive."  Roger", said Carter.  "Pyle, you and I will watch our 6.  Everybody else keep doin' what yer doin'."  With that, Newkirk threw a rock at the pick-up, and missed.  The rock sailed into the trees behind it.  His second rock bounced off the roof of the truck's cab, and a BFS (Big F***kin" Snake) rustled in the brush at the base of the trees next to the truck.  And, as Carter and Pyle turned around to watch the team's rear, a green SUV did indeed pull up and stop at the downed tree.  2 guys and a gal got out, and one guy and the gal started taking photos of the team...





Carter challenged them - "What the f**k are you doing here?  Get back in your truck and get the hell out of here!"   They ignored Carter, continuing to snap photos.

Meanwhile, while Newkirk and McGuyver were shooting their snake up, O'Rourke threw his rock right threw a window opening in the burned out house, while Malloy watched.  4 feral dogs came out of the ruins,  It didn't look like they appreciated being disturbed,.  They didn't like being shot at, either, as 2 of them froze in their tracks as O'Rourke and Malloy opened up on them.

   

The other 2 dogs though, the big ones, charged right at O'Rourke.  O'Rouke shouted a Heckawe war whoop, and killed one of the big dogs and wounded another as they closed on him.  The team would find out later that dogs are NOT O'Rourke's spirit animal.  Cats are...

 

Over at the truck, Newkirk and McGuyver were dealing with that snake.



Now that they knew what was at the Objective and the Hot Spot in the house, Robinson moved Robot over to the barn ruins, to keep an eye on the Hot Spot there.



Newkirk killed the snake at the truck, and went over to search it.  He would find $1,000 in cash, and a Red-dot Sight.  He would also find an anomaly, which he deftly worked through to find a nice artifact.



But trouble was brewing with the photographers.  Pyle and Carter were herding them back to their SUV.  Or trying to.  The female was not being exactly cooperative, and their driver/escort was getting downright snotty.  There was some pushing and shoving between the female, the driver/escort, and Pyle.



At the house, O'Rourke's dislike of dogs continued to play out.  He managed to put them all down, and Mallow moved up to enter the house's ruins to search it.  He would find another $350 in cash.





As Newkirk and Malloy were searching their areas, O'Rourke and McGuyver moved toward the barn ruins.  They threw a rock into the ruins.  Robinson warned them over comms "Steady fellas, there is another BFS on the back side of those ruins.



Then it happened.  Pyle tried to grab the female photographer to get her back in the SUV, and the driver/escort took offense and moved to intervene.  A mighty sucker punch came flying in, and leveled Pyle, now out cold...the driver/escort amazed.... 



By now, Newkirk, Malloy, O'Rourke, and McGuyver were carefully approaching the barn, taking shots at the snake as they could, and driving it back away from the barn.

 

But Carter was getting annoyed with the photographers.  He called DeSoto over to deal with Pyle.  A couple MedKits and a good jaw-rubbing later, and Pyle was back on his feet.  And Pyle wasn't just annoyed.  He was pissed.  He turned and stepped toward the driver/escort with that "I'm gonna kick your ass now, boy" look on his face.  The driver/escort took a step or 2 back, scared shitless.  And then, as Pyle started to raise his SAW, the guy turned white, turned around, bolted through the gate opening in the stone wall, and disappeared south into some woods.  And Carter took his frustration out on the male photographer, popping him in the face and knocking him on his ass.  "Dammit.  DeSoto, come look at this guy" Carter barked on comms.  And Carter came over as the photographer got to his feet and shook it off.





With their driver gone, the photographers became much more cooperative, and duly got into their SUV, under Carter's and DeSoto's watchful eyes.  Not that it did them any good.  That driver had the keys to the SUV in his pocket.....



Back at the barn, the boys had killed the other BFS.  Newkirk searched the place while the others backed away.  He found another $350, and a gas mask.



Robinson started to bring Robot back to the van, and everyone began to collapse back on Jupiter 2.





And that was it.  They had a pretty good haul, and didn't have to deal with any of those Cold Bloods jack-wagons.  But now they had 2 photographers in the PEZ (who weren't supposed to be there, and who now had no way to get around...).  Carter had to figure out what to do with them.  And, while it was still overcast, it was still damn hot....




 

[Too Bo Coo]

What a FANTASTIC table! Zona Alpha? I'm using Last Days for my games, but I've had my eye on Zona as well.

[Bullshott]

Another excellent game. Your team is getting into the swing of this.

I like the easy you are incorporating other interested parties into your games, like the photographers and the police/ambulance crew in previous games.

[mikedemana]

Fun read, Jim! I also like the threads that keep appearing. It'll be interesting hearing the story behind the reporters...

Mike Demana

[CapnJim]

@Too Bo Coo:  Thanks.  And I'm using a mix-mash of Fistful of Lead and Zona Alfa.  With a touch of Black Ops thrown in...

@Bullshott:  Thanks!  I'm enjoying adding the various extra elements into the games.  The military is focused on securing the Medium and Hard areas of the PEZ, and leave securing the Soft area up to local law enforcement.  Unfortunately, there just ain't enough local LEOs to go around, so the PEZ's outer perimeter is a bit porous.  We'll see who else might show up...

@mikedemana:  Thanks, Mike.  And see my comment above...

As we left our crew, they had 2 photographers and an SUV with no keys to deal with.  And a driver/escort who had fled to who knows where.  I think perhaps we'll find out in SEA30s Encounter #4...and maybe what happens with the photographers...
 

[Dr Mathias]

Excellent

[CapnJim]

@Dr Mathias:  Thanks!  Appreciate that!

At this point, it appears that I will be able to get in Encounter #4 next week.  I will post the Lead-in to that encounter here in the next few days...

[CapnJim]

"McGuyver, get over here.  See if you can start this thing", barked Carter.  McGuyver duly did as he was asked, and, in no time, hot-wired the photographers' SUV and had it running.

"Okay, here's the plan.  McGuyver and I will, um, escort - yeah that's it, the photographers with Jupiter 2 to that police checkpoint up the road and leave them there.  Pyle, you and Malloy stay here and keep an eye on this disaster of a farm.  Newkirk, you take Robinson, DeSoto, and O'Rourke and go find that driver chump.  Use Robot to help you with that.   Hopefully, we can all stay in comms.  And we'll all rally back here.  Clear?"

Seven heads nodded in agreement.  As Pyle and Malloy posted up to keep an eye on the burned out farm, and Carter, McGuyver, and the photographers headed out the farm's driveway, SEA30's ad hoc search party set out to the southwest to try to find the photographers' AWOL driver/escort.

By now, it was about noon, and it was still overcast and still damn hot.  But between Robinson and Robot, and the basic tracking skills O'Rourke learned from his Heckawe grandfather when he was a kid, they were able to track down that driver.  After about a mile going cross-country to the southwest, Robinson piped up "Hold Up!  Come look at this."  They were approaching an small country cemetery just east of a north-south road, and across that road from yet another farmstead.  DeSoto, Newkirk, and O'Rourke gathered around Robot's control screen on Robinson's laptop.  Robinson had Robot up in the air a couple hundred feet.  What they saw concerned them...   



It looked like that driver had wandered into a band of looters at another abandoned farm.  Newkirk:  "Zoom in on 'em.  Let's see what we're dealing with."  Robinson indeed zoomed in.



"Okay.  4 schmucks, 2 with what look like long guns, and 2 with pistols.  And it looks like they're roughing our quarry up some.  And it looks they got a pick-up truck by the house"  Reported Robinson.  Newkirk gave Carter a SitRep (their comms still worked), and Carter told them to rescue the driver and bring him back to the burned out farm.  And, importantly, to use whatever force was necessary to do so.  Newkirk acknowledged Carter, and turned to the rest of the guys.  "How do we want to do this?" he asked to no one in particular.

Find out in the AAR I'm sure to post after I play Encounter #4 out, probably this Sunday coming.  We'll see how the 4 members of SAE30 pull this one off, if they do indeed pull it off.

Here's the cheat sheet for this encounter...



Stay tuned for news of SAE30's next exciting encounter in the Plumbrook Exclusion Zone!

[mikedemana]

Wait a minute...let's get to where it is REAL dangerous and (wait for it) split up!  I expect some Hollywood-style action to ensue. But hey, they have a good scouting report, which is better than most hapless horror movie heroes have going for them... 

Looking forward to it, Jim!

Mike Demana

[Doug ex-em4]

tapping fingers impatiently

Doug

[CapnJim]

Wait a minute...let's get to where it is REAL dangerous and (wait for it) split up!  I expect some Hollywood-style action to ensue. But hey, they have a good scouting report, which is better than most hapless horror movie heroes have going for them... 

Looking forward to it, Jim!

Mike Demana

Yes, at least they do have a good idea of what they're facing....and Carter had to make that difficult decision - they had to do something with the photographers, and they couldn't have that driver/escort wandering around the zone...so split up it was.

tapping fingers impatiently

Doug

We, we can't have that, can we?   

PEZ Encounter #4:  Go Git 'im, Boys!

Our 4 men (Newkirk, O'Rourke, DeSoto, and Robinson) had stopped short of a north-south road, at the edge of some woods, to have a look at Robot's control screen.  They saw yet another abandoned farm across the road.  And a small rural cemetery to their left.  They also saw their quarry (the photographers' AWOL driver/escort) being roughed up by 4 looter scum.  2 with long guns and 2 with pistols.  They also saw a late model pick-up truck parked next to the farmhouse.  Newkirk had checked in with Carter, and got the go-ahead (both for the rescue, and the use of force).





After (quietly) discussing their options, they decided to they would move forward through the woods directly to their front (nobody wanted to go near that cemetery...), and (hopefully) surprise their prey.  O'Rourke would lead, several yards ahead of the rest of them.  And O'Rourke was off across the road....

 

....followed by the rest.  And Robinson kept an eye on what Robot could see from its vantage point a couple hundred feet up.



O'Rourke led the way, moving as quietly through the woods as he could.  He was getting close, and now could hear the looter scum taunting and pushing the driver/escort around.  And it didn't sound like the the driver/escort was enjoying it.  It also didn't sound like the looters had any idea they weren't the only ones there...





But the boys from SAE30 weren't completely aware of what all was going on, either.  Robinson had moved Robot over the house looking south, to keep an eye our looter friends.  That meant that robot couldn't see that a fifth looter had just exited the house...



O-Rourke crept closer, careful not to be seen in those trees.  It sounded like those looter scumbags were doing a real number on that driver/escort...





It was a good thing Newkirk, DeSoto, and Robinson were coming up behind him.



"Oh shit!" Robinson said over comms, hopefully not too loud.  "There's a fifth guy,  Looks like another long gun. He musta come from the house, and it looks like he's gonna get into that truck."  The dude had just walked into Robot's field of view...



By now, Newkirk and DeSoto had caught up with O'Rourke.  Robinson had hung back just a bit to control Robot and provide updates to the team.  They heard the dude by the truck, who was wearing a baseball jersey, yell to his fellow looter scum, "F**k it.  Let's go.  Grab that chump, and let's get outta here!"  So, the other four, 2 with biker colors, one with a basketball jersey, and another surfer-looking guy, started heading for the truck.  Surfer dude had the driver-escort in tow.

Newkirk:  "Now!"  DeSoto and O'Rourke had 2 of them in their sights and fired.  And missed. 



They didn't miss the second time they fired.  And Newkirk got in on act this time.  Baseball shirt-boy and Basketball-shirt-boy went down wounded.  Biker dude with a pistol went down.  And stayed down.  Dead, presumably...



Surfer dude raised his pistol to shoot the driver/escort, who at the same time sank to his knees, scared shitless.  Surfer dude missed.  O'Rourke had sidled a bit behind a pile of trash in the driveway, and dropped surfer dude (just wounded, though).  At the same time, the other biker guy had gone over to the driver door of the truck, where he was met by Newkirk (who is good with a knife, by the way).



The biker guy found out the hard way how good Newkirk was with his knife.  The looter hit the ground, with a nasty gash across his chest, and frankly a bit freaked out by it all...and Newkirk shoved him away from the truck's door.



With his captor down, the driver/escort ducked into the nearby trees.  But basketball-shirt guy had collected his wits and stood up, ready to get back in the fight, such as it was...and Robinson had moved up in the tree-line by the house.



DeSoto move around the back of the truck, and dispatched baseball-shirt boy.  And Newkirk and Robinson went to finish off the biker guy at the side of the truck, only to see he had already died of that knife wound.  O'Rourke moved up to finish off surfer dude (or at least try too...).



The looter scumbag in the basketball shirt, now having his wits about him, fired twice at O'Rourke.  Hitting him both times.  Luckily, the .30 Carbine rounds were no match for O'Rourke's ballistic vest (although O'Rourke was just a bit concerned about it at first.  And his ribs will likely be a bit sore for a few days...).  O'Rourke turned his SCAR toward basketball-shirt boy, who, seeing the writing on the wall, promptly dropped his carbine and ran off to the west (leaping over the fence like it wasn't even there...)  O'Rourke then turned his attention back to surfer-dude, and he and DeSoto (who had come over to check on O'Rourke) finally saw to surfer dude's imminent demise.



With the bad guys all dead and/or gone.  Robinson began to bring Robot down to stow, and Newkirk searched the truck (his detector was pinging off it big-time).   He found $850 in cash and a Med-kit.  He also found an anomaly, which he had no problem working around.  For his efforts, he fund a $4,500 artifact...



It was quiet again.  And still overcast, and still dang hot.  Newkirk stashed the loot, Med-kit and artifact, while Robinson stowed Robot.  They, um, borrowed the pick-up, picked up the driver/escort as they headed down the driveway back to the road, and headed back to the rest of the team at the burned out farm.

[Doug ex-em4]

Neat, nifty and no-holds barred. I’m not going to say great work by the team or go overboard on their success. Just a good, professional job done without unnecessary drama. And hopefully the driver is grateful. Oh, and let’s not forget some tasty salvage.

Another enjoyable AAR, Jim and good photos of another pleasing layout. I can stop tapping my fingers now

Doug

[Bullshott]

Another successful job for the team. However, it seems to me that they haven't really been stretched yet. Even this half-size team didn't have much trouble. I suspect that the full team is going to waltz through low/soft threat level scenarios. I'd be interested to see what happens when they encounter nastier hostiles in situations where they can't use their guns to full advantage.

[CapnJim]

Neat, nifty and no-holds barred. I’m not going to say great work by the team or go overboard on their success. Just a good, professional job done without unnecessary drama. And hopefully the driver is grateful. Oh, and let’s not forget some tasty salvage.

Another enjoyable AAR, Jim and good photos of another pleasing layout. I can stop tapping my fingers now

Doug

It was quick and fairly clean, wasn't it?  And thanks!

Another successful job for the team. However, it seems to me that they haven't really been stretched yet. Even this half-size team didn't have much trouble. I suspect that the full team is going to waltz through low/soft threat level scenarios. I'd be interested to see what happens when they encounter nastier hostiles in situations where they can't use their guns to full advantage.

Yeah, the fight at the first farmhouse could have gone sideways, but SAE30 got a bit lucky.  And the rescue op was a sideshow, really.

And I thought they'd be further into the PEZ by now.  The Encounter at the burned out farm and the Encounter rescuing that driver weren't expected.  Once they re-assemble at the burned-out farm, perhaps they'll push deeper into the PEZ.  I have some surprises in store for them...there may be some bigger badder mutant critters there, and some of those Cold Bloods might better know their business, too....

Unfortunately, with my brother's annual visit and a vacation coming up this month, it probably won't be until early October before I get back to this...but I will, I promise...  

[CapnJim]

After the fights at the farms, SAE30 pulled back out of the PEZ.  They had to figure out what to do with the photographers and their driver.  They also has a couple artifacts to cash in with Dr. Smith.  So, they "escorted" their new guests back to the old factory they were using as a base, and Dr. Smith met them there.  That evening, they all discussed their next move.  Dr. Smith decided it might be a good idea to have someone record SAE30's activities, so he offered jobs to the photographers (but not the driver - he had shown his true value...).  The male declined, but the female, who went by Richards, took Dr. Smith up on his offer.  She was now on the Society's payroll, and she owned that SUV (which came with her as part of the package).

Carter wasn't sure about the whole thing.  He took Dr. Smith aside, and voiced his concerns.  Dr. Smith took them into consideration, and decided to send Richards to the Society's "Orientation Course".  Then, they would have a better idea about what use she could be.  In the meantime, SAE30 could have some downtime, clean things up, and re-stock (ammo, med-kits, etc.).  And, he cut them a check for their half of the artifacts.  As Dr. Smith departed, along with their new team-member, he mentioned that he would be in touch if something came up...

Of course, something would come up.  It always does.  I hope to get in Encounter #5 next week, as things have settled down here, busy-wise.  I'll post the encounter lead-in here, right after I figure out what that is...