A Magical Anomaly
Chapter 9 Combat Turn 2
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Choice Made:
[x] Use it, you’ll hopefully knock out the group in one shot, and they shouldn’t die… though the ones closest to you may never hear again or worse. Should also give you time to take down a second group... maybe a third too (80% success chance) (20% Chance of suffering a Minor wound) (- 10% Curtana Charge) (Neutral action) (No rep gain) (-1 d3 Minon Groups )
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Rolls:
* To succeed = 29 = SUCCESS!
* To avoid injury = 65 = SUCCESS!
* Groups taken down = 3
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Effects:
* - 10% Curtana charge
* - 3 Groups taken down
* - Neutral action taken
* - 0 Rep gained.
* -Gained Shotgun disposable weapon (2 Rounds Left)
* -Gained Sword disposable weapon (100% Durability)
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Again, you wish you could pump [Curtana]... it just doesn’t feel right to not be able to with what is basically a shotgun.
You slip from cover, coming face to face with two suited grunts as you bring your weapon to bear.
One shouts out something, a hand flying forward in a gesture to stop as their face pales.
But you’ve already pulled the trigger by then.
The blast flies forward, hard enough that it picks the two rushing you up and sends them tumbling end over end.
The shockwave shatters the crate the three gunmen were behind, and all five cry out as their hands cover their ears in raw pain.
Idly, you decide that you need to buy some hearing protection or something… being this close to what is basically a massive speaker cannot be healthy for your ears.
You slip past the thoroughly disabled grunts, continuing forward at top speed as a group of four attempt to ambush you with melee weapons.
[Grendel’s Arm] melts into view after you throw [Curtana] at the closest one, mentally muttering an apology to the mythical weapon being used as a crude bludgeon.
The gun slams into the first opponent with enough force to bowl him over… then again, you doubt he expected to be catching a shotgun to the face.
A… is that a pipe?
A pipe slams into one of your gauntlets, but you deflect it away, kicking out towards one of the grunts and catching them in the knee. You use that to push up and plant a foot in their chest, avoiding a low blow from the other grunt with a sword.
You push off the grunts chest, a flair of purple and a chilling sensation amplifying the force as they’re launched off their feet and into the ground, and you go flying towards the sword grunt.
You tackle them down, planting a punch to their face before rolling to the side and avoiding the pipe grunt.
Who misses you and smacks his friend in the chest with a metal pipe.
You hear someone hiss but kick out towards the pipe welder either way. Foot meeting shin with enough force to trip him.
By now, the last two grunts have gotten up again, and you’re slamming a fist into the back of the tripped one’s head.
That leaves two more, who look at each other before getting closer.
One has a knife in their grip, while another has… a staff? It looks like a long metal rod, but you can see bits where the metal splits away… maybe it’s collapsible? Probably weaker then.
You consider loading a charge and just blasting the staff to pieces, but discard the thought. Probably should save the charge.
The knife wielder runs forward, the staff wielding stabbing at you at the same time.
Considering that you managed to dodge a bullet from a scout. The staff isn’t untrackable.
You catch the weapon, yanking forward and ripping it from the grunts grasp as you twirl to the side to avoid the knife wielders lunge which skids off [Babr-e Bayan]… apparently they committed to that, being out of position as your finish your spin and bring the full force of the staff to bear, crashing it into their stomach.
It downs them, but you finish him off with a good tap to the back of the head as well.
He’s still breathing, so he’s not dead at least.
You slowly turn to the last grunt… who looks at you and runs.
You consider blasting him with [Curtana] but shrug as you pick the weapon up. Muttering an apology in your head as the weapon seems to buzz like a swarm of angry bees in your hand.
A brief look around, and you keep your forward momentum going. Snatching up the sword along the way and letting it melt into the icy shadows of your inventory thing.
Never know when you’ll need a sword.
Should probably have picked up one of the guns from the previous group too actually.
You shrug mentally, dodging past a man with a sword as the surprise strike flashes before your eyes a moment before it actually happens. You slide under the blow, using your hands to flip you over a crate in your path as purple energy and freezing cold help to give you just that little extra burst of speed to complete the action.
You’re feeling pretty cold now. Probably shouldn’t try anything too showy for a bit. That seems to be what triggers your Core… you assume.
A group of two more men block your path through the maze of crates. One with a rifle and the other a shotgun.
You heed Elly’s warning, shifting to cover as you toss the staff in your hands with everything you have.
It flies true, smacking into the rifle and shifting its aim into some crates to the man's side as he curses.
A spray of buckshot makes you duck, but you don’t stop moving, flanking around before grabbing one of the men from behind a crate. A hit to the head takes down the rifle wielder and you take said rifle from them.
Sadly you don’t have an instinctive understanding on how to use this. But it seems easy enough.
You aim at the knees of the shotgun wielder as he turns, and spray.
The rounds fly forward and punch through his caps. A spray of blood and his screams cut off by his shotgun going off into a container as he crumples.
You step forward, putting a foot on said weapon as you point the gun down at him.
He folds easily.
And you punch him in the face to make sure he’s down.
Rifles empty, so you toss it to the side, absorbing the shotgun for later use after quickly checking that it has ammo.
And so you return to hunting more grunts… well, saving the girl is your priority. But the grunts seem rather focused on not letting you do that…
You sigh mentally.
You might actually have to take all of them down before you can get closer to her… perfect.
You spot three more groups setting up. A pair with rifles, a trio of melee attackers, two with swords and one with a club of sorts, and another group of two, this time both with pistols.
You…
[x] Go after the rifles first, they’re the biggest threat to you, pistols next, and then disable the melee group. [Curtana] should be able to take down the rifles from a distance, and you can just melee the rest down with [Grendel’s Arm]. ( 80% Chance of success x 3 (1 per group)) (20% Chance of Minor Injury (+1 Minor Bruises, -1 Success chance per stack up to 5 where it becomes Major bruises) x 3 (Rolls reduce per group defeated)) (Merciful action) (+1 Merciful rep)
[x] Take the melee group first, getting mixed up with them should make it harder to be shot at, and you can yeet some of their weapons at the shooters to distract them… it might lead to some friendly fire, but that only works in your favour. (80% Chance of success x 3 (1 per group)) (10% Chance of Minor Injury (+1 Minor Bruises, -1 Success chance per stack up to 5 where it becomes Major Bruises) x 2, (10% Chance of Minor health drain from Rifle group, - 2 to success chances while active) (Rolls reduce per group defeated)) (Lethal action) (+1 Lethal rep)
[x] Pistols can’t really hurt you, so you can probably just rush them. Maybe steal one of their guns and blast a few grunts in the knees till they surrender. If you just kneecap everyone, it’ll have to unnerve the enemy at some point. (75% Chance of success, Increases to 85% if the first roll is a success)(10% Chance of Minor Injury (+1 Minor Bruises, -1 Success chance per stack up to 5 where it becomes Major Bruises) x 2, (10% Chance of Minor health drain from Rifle group, - 2 to success chances while active) (Rolls reduce per group defeated)) (Neutral action) (no rep gain)
[x] Something else? (Write in)
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