Ch. 6 Dark Heart of the Swamp

[lwcoyote]

Nike takes up the final position in their impromptu formation, moving along as quietly as she can; keeping alert, but on pace with the rest, the yote-girl draws her CP-40 and silently adjusts it to the single-fire setting for the moment, for better control.

Keeping close to the ground, ears rotating, Nike continues forward, but then abruptly stops, nostrils flaring as she draws in an odd scent. Hot sauce? What the hell? she thinks to herself. Not entirely certain that her senses are telling her the right thing, she signals to Janxi to hold, assuming she'll pass it on to Tori, then slowly straightens by about a half-meter, lifting her muzzle to the air to sniff again. Ears rotate once more, like little radar units, seeking out sounds of the swamp that are... different from the usual background.

[dice=100] / 66 Prowl
[dice=100] / 29 Detect Concealment
[dice=100] / 40 Detect Ambush
[dice=100] /49 Track by Smell
[dice=20] Perception (Keen hearing?)
Sense Evil (Free)
Empathy (4ISP) (Nearby hostile intentions?)[rand=34929201939869380499321679991277265044563941324604437092584218105]

[Tori]

Tori saw Janxi cut low and listen, then did the same. She cut down and did the same, then cut back to Nike who had her nose in the air, sniffing. She heard the inhalations and looked back at the coyote. The canine had a scent. This was good. She tried sniffing herself, but did not have the same quality of nose. Tori narrowed her eyes in an interrogatory fashion, and gestured for Nike to pull up and provide an answer.

Detect Ambush [dice=100]needs 55
Detect Concealment [dice=100]needs 45
Trap and mine detection [dice=100]needs 45
Prowl [dice=100] needs 85
Camouflaged

Sense psychic and magic energy [dice=100]needs 40
Sense supernatural beings [dice=100]needs 58
Locate sound [dice=100] needs 84
Recognize sound [dice=100] needs 76
Perception: [dice=20]
[rand=07476952203432707347675446596683040293764101947112677085230851583321]

[lwcoyote]

Seeing Tori approach, Nike drops back down to a crouch then eases forward alongside the feline. Ears tipping back, she nods, then turns his head a little and leans up so that she can murmur her response close to the cats ear.

"It smells like.. sauce. Hot sauce." Nike explains in a low tone. "Either they stopped to cook something, or they eat a lot of peppers and I'm smelling their sweat. Or maybe none of the above. But it can't be far away."

[Tori]

"It's Shep, I'll wager" mumbled Tori. "I reckon hot sauce is the official smell of the team, and especially we shagcats. Better lead on, but with lotsa caution."

[Mierin]

Sam nods at Corrine and says, "Be careful and stay safe." She rolls her eyes at her brother's smirk and comment and says, knowing her brother hates it when she calls him by his childhood nickname. "Don't be a brat, Timmy." Sam then heads out, keeping an eye out for signs of trouble.

perception: [dice=20]
detect concealment [dice=100], pass
detect ambush [dice=100], pass[rand=911665453128812500784752619229833733084731109447234467379961580815]

[dakota]

Corinne looked at Tim, then nodded to Sam," don't let him get himself killed please."

Tim gave both a kiss before following Sam. " Brat? Sam, you're just lucky you don't have pigtails for me to tie in knots anymore." Recounting one of his childhood threats. He pulled out a comm from a belt pouch and keyed it four times, two long, then two short bursts. It came alive with clicks as he slipped it back in his belt and flicked off the safety on his CP-50. " The others will keep an eye out for any more while the families start to move out. I'd hoped for more time ."


As Nike led the cats farther away from the village, a twig snapped somewheres nearby. Tori could feel the rats waiting on them asthey slipped closer as all three heard Shep's voice," You foxers looking for me?"

Not ten feet ahead, six rats stood and weapons spun to face the speaker while Shep ducked for cover under a hail of Splugorth weaponry fire. that lit up the swamp.

[Tori]

Tori used her telepathy to project locations of the six rats into the minds of Janxi and Nike. She crouched low and raised her rifle as soon as they opened up on Shep. That was the nice thing about being a cat. Make a noise, and one could figure out what you were and where with little difficulty.

"And I heard, as it were, the noise of thunder: One of the four beasts saying: 'Come and see...' And I saw. And behold, a white horse." she mumbled to herself loud enough for Janxi and Nike only to hear just before she unleashed hell on the rodents.

Working from left to right, she began laying bursts into the rats. If one went down, she'd move on to the next.

Actions 1-3:
Fire on the dirty rats with TX-42 Commando Carbine!
[dice=20]+10=16
[dice=20]+10=22
[dice=20]+10=29

Damages
[dice=4]x10=30
[dice=4]x10=30
[dice=4]x10=40

Actions 4&5 reserve for dodging
[dice=20]+12=21
[dice=20]+12=20

Camouflaged
Detect Ambush [dice=100]needs 55
Detect Concealment [dice=100]needs 45
Trap and mine detection [dice=100]needs 45
Prowl [dice=100] needs 85

Sense psychic and magic energy [dice=100]needs 40
Sense supernatural beings [dice=100]needs 58
Locate sound [dice=100] needs 84
Recognize sound [dice=100] needs 76
Perception: [dice=20][rand=2596784360222447957383695402707862615662345424066685627666110456]

[Tori]

Oh and init:[dice=20]+7=23[rand=790297135766078379700829742308111472217325674273204109107040341431]

[Janxi]

Using her own senses and the locations projected by Tori, Janxi hoisted her rifle to her left shoulder (being a southpaw) and opened fire on targets from right to left. She admired Shep's boldness, and realize he trusted the team to spring the trap he baited with himself. As one rat fell, she would move on to the next.

Strikes (Burst fire JA-13):
[dice=20]+8=20
[dice=20]+8=28 (critical)

Damage:
[dice=6]x10 +10=60
[dice=6]x10 +10 (x2)=80 (crit)

Dodges (last two attacks reserved for dodging)
[dice=20] +10=20
[dice=20] +10=26

Sense psychic and magic energy [dice=100]/ 40
Sense supernatural beings [dice=100]/58
Locate sound [dice=100] / 84
Recognize sound [dice=100] / 76

Tracking [dice=100]/60
Prowl [dice=100]/75
Camouflaged
Perception [dice=20]

[rand=59844763861345220953935178127889373626035421828564624938778972876]

[Janxi]

init [dice=20]+6=15[rand=40302903287485614222457852198421732480907048689954326578538513220784]

[Mierin]

Sam rolls her eyes at her brother's words and heads out cautiously, looking for signs of trouble, her rifle at the ready.

Perception [dice=20]
detect ambush [dice=100], pass
detect concealment [dice=100], pass[rand=32501081142533565501272582507691720510432726265954154840697513]

[lwcoyote]

As the cats spring into action, Nike moves to try and circle around the Rat formation a little, partly scouting the area to make sure the ambushers don't get flanked, but also in an attempt to flank the enemy.

Using whatever brush she can for cover, the coyote eases into position, taking one more quick glance around; assuming no other enemies are noticed, she brings her CP-40 to shoulder; as the cats work their way inwards from the outside, Nike will focus on the two rats in the 'center', placing pulse bursts on each.

Perception [dice=20]
Detect Ambush [dice=100] / Needs 40%
Detect Concealment [dice=100] / Needs 29

Initiative [dice=20] +4 = 13

Strikes (Burst Fire from CP-40)
(Middle Rat 1)
[dice=20] +6 = 8
[dice=20] +6 = 17

(Middle Rat 2)
[dice=20] +6 = 11
[dice=20] +6 = 25

Damage Rolls
(Middle Rat 1)
[dice=6][dice=6][dice=6][dice=6][dice=6][dice=6] = 17
[dice=6][dice=6][dice=6][dice=6][dice=6][dice=6] = 25

(Middle Rat 2)
[dice=6][dice=6][dice=6][dice=6][dice=6][dice=6] = 19
[dice=6][dice=6][dice=6][dice=6][dice=6][dice=6] = 17

(No actions saved for defense)[rand=4634051947324019475761329105406653371659678690318614709256691064698]

[dakota]

Their own ambush countered, the barely armored rats were no match for the barrage they faced and were cut down in a hail of energy blasts. They attempted to counterattack, but none of their shots were even close as the skirmish was finished off with the plop and susequent explosion of an anti armor grenade decimating the rat's tight grouping.

Shep stood up from his position on the other side, lowering his rifle," What the hell kept you? did you you stop for chow without me?" He acussed, trying to lighten up what could have been a bad situation as he flipped off his helmet," And you can tell the captain I had it it on."


At the sounds of the close firefight, the village around Sam and Tim burst into chaos, with people trying to get away from danger they had no idea where it was coming from while others were ready for an oncoming fight that wasn't coming. Yet.

Tim scowled," a grenade launcher to finish off a scrap, guess that means your team found Trassk and he hasn't changed much."

tim had missed it, but Sam had seen the laser flashes through the dense undergrowth

[Tori]

"Hell, Shep. We didn't think you needed no help and were jus gon' watch yew show us how!" Tori had a giggle, sounding quite like a female Muttley as she did. "'It was only yer panicked call that made us think you might need a lil help from the Cat-Coyote Council..."

Tori gestured to Janxi and Nike to relieve their kills of weapons and supplies, while she did the same with the rats she killed. She rifled their pockets, packs, and persons for salvageable armour, weapons, ammo, edible food and supplies. Ironically, this process was referred to by most servicemen as "rat-foxing." She wondered if she was the first to rat fox a rat. Once she cleaned her kills, she searched her collected material for maps, documents or any type of usable information, before she examined weapons and supplies for condition and origin. Anything she could learn about the enemy could be useful. Weapons and supplies themselves could be used by the team or Tim's people.

"We ain't got long. When those dildoes don't report in, they're gonna send more. And by more, I mean more than that clown-school."

Detect Ambush [dice=100]needs 55
Detect Concealment [dice=100]needs 45
Trap and mine detection [dice=100]needs 45
Prowl [dice=100] needs 85
Intel [dice=100] needs 50
Camouflaged

Sense psychic and magic energy [dice=100]needs 40
Sense supernatural beings [dice=100]needs 58
Locate sound [dice=100] needs 84
Recognize sound [dice=100] needs 76
Perception: [dice=20]
[rand=8776350527423533620949777716502477257008401788754736721559195134]

[Janxi]

"We bad..." Janxi grinned and went to pick the corpses she shot down. "Didn't recognize you with tha brain-can on, Shep, and thought you was needin' tha help. I mean ya coulda told us to didi mow, ya know... Really, if that's tha enemy, I ain't skeerd." But she knew Tori was right, and more would be coming. Any rats still alive after facing the Shagcats and Sneaker would get their necks broken.

Sense psychic and magic energy [dice=100]/ 40
Sense supernatural beings [dice=100]/58
Locate sound [dice=100] / 84
Recognize sound [dice=100] / 76

Tracking [dice=100]/60
Prowl [dice=100]/75
Camouflaged
Perception [dice=20]

[rand=6311897140505508329948237434642398096038860559239546992967295173]