CYBERPUNK: A SHIRT TOO FAR ========================== from a parable by Sukh. Starring (in alphabetical order) DaveG as Rodrigez Gonzalez, a Cop Gray as Guy De Fauteuil, a Netrunner Kell as Mr Rocksov, a Fixer PJ as Mr Zee, a Solo Rich as Jimmy 'The Tech' Nagasaki, a Techie Rob as Orbal Tanglemangle, another Cop Rod as Remington Buttingdon, a Coporate Sukh as Ruud Kraak, a Nomad Directed by PhilM Reel 1: A New Beginning ----------------------- Ok, the basic premise for this weekend's cyberpunk adventure was thus. 1) EBM, the company Rod's Corporate Dude (Mr Remington Buttingdon) works for buys out our contracts. 2) Unbeknownst to EBM, our contracts come with the small overhead that Arasaka have got it in for us because we've pissed in their pint for a few adventures now. Therefore they decide to get even by... 3) Rod's girlfriend/lover/woman (a certain Ms Cleopatra Fagina), provide by the company from the 'Tall Women with Big Teeth & Wide Cheekbones' Escort agency is kidnapped by a Arasaka black ops team. From the apartment security camera's it looks like a member of the Ace of Spades Booster gang did it. (This is a red herring). 4) So Rod is desperate to get her back (he has a mountain of unwashed clothes and more importantly, his number of clean, ironed shirts is running dangerously low), so he decides to use his recently bought team of drug addicts, killers, & sexual deviants... erm sorry, his team of cyber mercenaries to try and get her back. 5) Kell's Fixer get word on the street that the Ace of Spades Booster gang has been terminated and their patch in the Combat Zone, taken over by corporate black ops team. This is gotta be where their keeping her. 6) Mr Zee goes to see Slash of the Wolver'R'Us Booster Gang to arrange for his gang to scout out the place. Rob, Rich & Me also go with you. You are willing to pay them 2 grand (all you money 8-)) for this activity. Slash isn't there but his brother 'Slice'N'Dice' is. You get talking. 7) Slice wants 1000 now and 1000 on completion. Mr Zee offers 500 now and the rest on delivery. Slice say no. Other Wolvers edge menacingly forward. Mr Zee tells Slice that he wants to see Slash personally and not talk to a boy. Slice say no. Mr Zee then, as a last gesture of peace, offers 750 now, the rest later. Slice say no. Mr Zee informs Slice that he's a bitch and ain't worth wasting his time with. He also states that the "Wolvers have pussied out since the last time Mr Zee was here". Slice attacks, the other Wolvers attack. Mr Zee, wins initiative and sticks his wolvers into Slice's right leg, then Slice attacks, by sticking his wolvers into his left leg. 8-) The other Wolvers attack the rest of the party. Since their all solos and were all not, they have a massive initiative bonus. Mr Kraak is attacked by two guys, I roll open ended and incredibly win initiative, I let one Wolver dude suck on 10 autoshotgun rounds. He expires messily, the other guy swings and bounces off my Kevlar trenchcoat. Two dudes miss Rich, or cause minor bruise damage, Rich in return flames the pair of them. Both burn nicely, with one going down. The Wolver on Rob, gets the jump and slices Rod in the head for wicked damage, Rob's Cyber Cowl saves him from instant death. Rob I think barely makes his saves and shoots back, with a Dia Lung Cyber 15 (the cheapest gun in Cyperpunk) for no damage. Next round, Mr Zee cuts up Slice's right arm, Slice fumbles again and embeds his wolvers into his left arm and goes down. Mr Zee holds his wolvers to Slice's face and tells him to "tell your friends to back off bitch! or I'll finish you". Slice complies. This is not before I shoot again and hit another dude and Rich kicks a prone, burning Wolver with his cyberleg, at full hydraulic pressure, in the dude's nads. Rob goes down. The fight end. You tell your bitch to get Slash to call him and never cross Mr Zee's path again. We then leave. Reel Two: When a Bastard Loves a Woman... ----------------------------------------- So Mr Zee and others return to 'The Forlorn Hope' bar to wait for Slash's phone call. I tell DaveG whats happened and to expect a call from Slash on his mobile. 8-) DaveG has been hired my Mr Buttingdon to be his No.2 for 1000 creds a month. I also tell DaveG that it'll cost Rod 2000 credits to pay off the Wolvers'R'Us for the scout info. Rod agrees. Slash calls, and DaveG passes Mr Zee the phone. Mr Zee lays into Slash about who the feck is in charge of the Wolvers?, him or his bitch brother, Slash assures Mr Zee that its him. Slash agrees to scout the former Ace of Spades patch for free but considers the "favour" returned. Mr Zee agrees and tells Slash to 'send the bitch 'round when you have the info'. Rod however doesn't hear the 'for free' bit, as he trying to haggle with Kell's Fixer, a Mr Rocksov, about the cost of Silencers and Snooping/Serveillance equipment. So Rod pays Mr Zee, 2 grand for the scout info. Mr Zee cash reserves are up to 3700, with another 300 owed by Rob for his Kevlar Trenchcoat & Helmet. DaveG has overheard the original deal, because its his mobile and he has a phone splice, but as he's also robbing Rod blind, he keeps this to himself. The Bitch (Slice) arrives, and gives us a map of the Ace of Spades patch marked with numbers of Black Ops dudes in various buildings. The Ace of Spades headquarters has 6 dudes, and we agreed that this is where their probably keeping Ms Fagina. The remaining area also has another 10 or so Arasaka dudes sprinkled at all incoming points. Guy De Fauteuil suggest a recon is in order, to see if we can listen in to some of their communication. Gonzalez agrees so he, Mr Zee & Ruud are the team selected for this difficult endevour. I demand some transport, so we use the Internet to find a used van outlet and buy a clapped out, but reliable van (Jimmy checks it out). So off the trio go deep into Night City's combat zone. I park up a block away and Mr Zee and Gonzo travel the rest of the way on foot. They make a mad dash across the road (with Mr Zee tripping up like a girlie) and enter a building adjacent to one of the Arasaka lookouts. Gonzo sets up the snoop equipment and begins to listen. A little while later, Mr Zee senses movement in the building we're in, a few mins pass before a SWAT dressed dude appears down the corridor checking each room. Mr Zee shoots him with his Hvy Auto Pistol, the dudes takes it and shoots back. A firefight begins, Mr Zee keeps shooting but to no avail, he just can't get thru the armour, so feck it, Mr Zee decides to run down the corridor and skewer the bastard with his wolvers (which are AP). The Arasaka dude uploads his machine pistol into Mr Zee, Mr Zee goes down from 20 Bruise Damage. Gonzo now has a clear line of sight and shoots the Black Ops Dude with a burst of AP bullets from his Assault Rifle. The SWAT dude drops. Both Gonzo & Mr Zee make a mental note to buy copious amounts of AP ammo. After a quick first aid, the duo decide to bug out, as the SWAT dude's communicator is crackling with radio traffic. They call in Mr Kraak, and I bring the van around. We then high tail it outta there. Getting back to The Forlorn Hope, we inform Rem of the recon and suggest he equip the team with AP ammo. Mr Rocksov receives another order, this time for a shitload of AP ammo to be charged to Mr Buttingdon's account. Reel 3: Your in the Sewer Now... -------------------------------- While waiting for Mr Rocksov to deliver the AP ammo, Rem notices that there is a old derelict sewer plant in the Ace of Spades neighborhood. The resulting discussion concludes that *maybe* we ought to check this opportunity to determine if we can use the sewers to gain covert entrance to the Ace of Spades Headquarters. So, as no one really wants to go crawling around in shit, piss, used needles, used condoms, menstruation fluid, etc it is agreed to send Rich in to investigate. He being the smallest and the most able to circumvent any security devices. (Sorry PJ, but you were just to large to do the sewer recon quickly). So Jimmy the Tech is dispatched to retrieve the required smelly info. While Mr Nagasaki is away in Excrement City, the AP ammo arrives and also an email from the kidnappers asking for a meeting on the Sunday at the Ace of Spades area. Sunday is 4 days away, so we fully intend to attack before then. As they haven't mentioned the aborted recon by Gonzo & Mr Zee, we assume they think a local booster gang got their man. I forgot to mention yesterday that we also took the body of the Swat dude, after Gonzo 'terminated him', fine words for a cop, and sold it to Dr Hatchets Organ Shop for 100 creds. It was only after getting back to The Forlorn Hope it occurred to us that we maybe we should have kept him alive for questioning. *shrug*. After a few hours (and several baths & 3 showers) Jimmy returns with the info on the sewer recon, after literally crawling for kilometers in unimaginable filth, he's brought us a map of the sewer system in the AoS area. There is a underground access manhole into the basement of the AoS HQ. Cool. So what to do? If we all go thru the sewer access then 'if' we arse up, we'd all be trapped in the AoS HQ and the black ops dudes would converge on us from all sides. There was 6 BO dudes already in the HQ with another 6 a short walking distance away. So I have a plan, it called 'Ruud Kraak's Diversion Gambit', I say we split the group up, 1 team would go via the sewer to attempt to rescue Ms Fagina, while the other team would attack a Arasaka Lookout and then hold the building from the reinforcements that would surely arrive. Like during the recon debacle. The clever part of the plan was that because the HQ wasn't under attack the dudes there would be less on guard and hopefully a quick, decisive & silent attack from the sewer team would secure the building and rescue Rod's woman. This way the bad dudes would have to split their forces and we wouldn't be attacking entrenched positions. Remarkable, the rest agree. So the tough bit who will be in what team, Team Hold Until Relieved & Team Sewer. Mr Kraak (the driver, obviously needs to be in Team Hold, as to bring the van around when Team Sewer has freed the hostage). Mr Zee (Evil Bad Ass Solo, Team Sewer, they need his reflexes and firepower. Independent Air Supply so no vomit problems) Rodrigez Gonzalez (Body Type 12 Cop, with AP Rifle, Team Sewer) Rem Buttingdon (Corp Dude, Team Hold, got a note from his mommy about allergy to sewers) Jimmy 'The Tech' Nagasaki (Volunteer's to lead Team Sewer, says he likes it down there) Guy De Fauteuil ?? (Is there Net Access in the Sewer? No, then I'm in Team Hold) Orbal Tanglemangle 'Bent Copper' (Team Hold, we'd thought we'd spare Rob another multilation) Mr Rocksov (wants to come along because Rem owes him a favour, so he wants to protect his investment and he's also got a Grenade Launcher he's been itching to try out!. Grenade Launcher = Team Hold) Dr Lisa Knight (the medic, where's the most urgent medical relief needed? It's gotta be Team Sewer, so she's going with them and don't wear your best high heels luv). The respective teams prepare weapons and screw on Silencers. Team Hold's plan is to drive up and park a block away from the Black Ops lookout and then attack. Team Sewer will enter the chocolate underground about 20 mins before Team Hold's attack and lie (literally) in wait, for the signal. The signal of course being ground vibrations from multiple grenade detonations. The teams are ready and the rescue plan initiated. Reel 4: I'll Be Back! --------------------- So the 2 teams split up and go to their designated starting positions. Team Sewer enter 'the sewer' and crawl (thru imaginable filth, and the stink Jesus!) to just outside the manhole cover under the Ace of Spades HQ. There is only room for 1 person to stand (crouch) under the manhole cover, so Jimmy is here, ready with his tool to prise open the cover when the attack signal is received. The other 3 team members all lie in wait in the adjacent tube. Independent Air Supply on Max Mr Zee. 8-) Meanwhile Team Hold drive around to a small road between 2 buildings close to an Arasaka lookout. The team begins to disembark ready for the stealthy stealthy sneaky sneaky approach to the lookout's building. As we're doing this, Guy or Orbal (or someone) spot's a SWAT dressed dude's head disappearing from a 1st floor window in a building in *this* street. Shit! The black ops dudes have changed positions! Who would have thought it! The situation is, Rem & Rocksov are out of the van (at the back), Orbal, Guy and Ruud are still in the van. PhilM asks me what I want to do. The red rag is waved in front of Sukh. The red mist descends..... I reply that what I'm gonna attempt is to put the van's accelerator to the floor, drive pass the building with the BO dude and as I pass I'm gonna lob a grenade thru the window (on the 1st floor). I ask PhilM for difficulty numbers. The rest of the boys are shocked. Several sphincters start spasming. Rem & Rocksov dash for cover down an alley. Orbal and Guy blub like good uns in the back of the van. PhilM, being the xxbastarxx nice DM he is, states that as this is the USA, my driving position is on the left so how am I gonna throw the grenade up to a 1st floor window on my right. Sukh has a split second to decide whether to a) follow plan A (above) and then lean out and up of the van's driver-side window and then lob the grenade or.... Ruud Kraak's foot slams down on the van's gas pedal. The van lurches violently forward, Guy & Orbal fall like tenpins in a bowling alley in the back. As I approach the building, I skid and spin the van 180 degrees and slam it into reverse. I then drive backwards and throw a grenade, with my left hand, out the van window and into the building. The rest of the boys are stunned, gobsmacked even. Rem is already mourning the loss of his much loved shirt ironer.... Un-Fecking-Believably, both maneuvers work! (20 for the driving & 20 for the thrown grenade. 9 LUCK is a *GREAT* thing) Guppy fish at feeding time, the boys cannot believe it! PhilM, the DM we loves so much, then decides that he can't let Sukh get away with this stupendous piece of manuvering and therefore decides to roll to see if the thrown grenade will go thru the window or just bounce off and land back in the street. 1 to 5 in bounces off 6-10 it smashes thru. So 50-50. PhilM rolls a 8!. The grenade goes thru and explodes. If this was a Michael Bay picture, then the van would be driving backward pass the camera, in slow mo, as gouts of explosive oily flame shoot over the top of it. Cross off one bad guy. Rem & Rocksov then run into the burning building to check if the dude's really dead. I continue out into the main road and spin and stop the van. The van takes incoming fire from the back and front. The windscreen and rear windows shatter under machine gun fire. The black ops dudes are turning the van into swiss cheese! Reel 5: "Mr Damage To You Copper!" ---------------------------------- The dudes in the van are currently being shot at by 2 or more assailants from 2 different directions. I get the van into forward gear and accelerate into a alley between 2 buildings and out of harms way. 1 of the buildings contains a Blacks Ops dude who's been shooting at us. Meanwhile Rem & Rocksov discover the dead shrapnel-ridden body of a BO dude. From their vantage point on the 1st floor they can see where the other Arasaka dudes have been shooting from. Rem opens up on one and Rocksov unloads a grenade from his launcher at the BO dude who's in the building adjacent to the van. Meanwhile, in shit centre, the noise of my grenade and resulting machine gun fire has not penetrated the tight, smelly confines of the sewer. Tried of waiting (and who can blame them), Gonzo tells Dr Knight to go down to a nearby manhole cover and have a looksie. The medic reaches this position and looks out to see our van coming around & skidding to a halt in an alleyway. The sound of combat fills her ears. She quickly drops back down and gives the signal to begin entry. Mr Nagasaki puts his tool to good use on the manhole cover and pushes it aside. After quickly parking the van in the alley, Ruud, Guy & Orbal pile out and try to enter the building contain the Arasaka lookout. First Guy tries his lockpicking skills but to no avail. Then Orbal karate kicks the door using his 'Talon' foot. Still the door refuses to open. I then tell the boys to step aside and watch a true open lock specialist in action. I unload a 20 round clip from my Milatech "VIPER" submachine gun into the door. The door quickly perforates and splinters and we affect entry. I change clip (and look cool doing it). Rocksov launches another grenade into the building we've just entered and this time the projectile impacts in the area of the Black Ops dude. Cue another slow motion shot of body of SWAT dude being propelled thru the air, silhouetted against the backdrop of oily, amber flame. Rem is meeting stiffer opposition from his "end" and is pinned down and can't (ok won't) raise his head to fire back. Rocksov joins him and after a quick discussion, the pair decide to bug out. Meanwhile, GO! GO! GO! GO! Jimmy The Tech has deftly brushed aside the manhole cover and entered a darkened room in the AoS HQ. He flips his Cyber eye thru all relevant darkness abilities, infra red, lowlight, spectal analyzer. Jimmy detects a body lying on the floor next to him. Gray says Jimmy will flame the body, everyone else yells NOOOOO! Gray then informs us that this is what Rich would do. We don't have a come back for this and have to agree. Another gout of oily amber flame shoots inside a dark room. Its hits the prone body square in the torso. The body begins to burn. No movement. Jimmy then flicks on a torch and moves astride to check the figure. It's a stiff. From the remains of the clothing it looks like a Ace of Spades gang member. The other members of Sewer Team have now all moved into the room and after a quick check, the team determine their in a basement where the air conditioning apparatus is located. There is one exit. Mr Zee moves to the door and after a quick spectral scan, opens it carefully. Outside is a corridor leading to another door, the floor is littered with prone bodies. *The sound of a silenced gun* A Hvy Auto Pistol bullet strikes one of the prone figures, it doesn't move. Team Sewer have found the Ace of Spades Booster Gang Graveyard. The quartet stealthy move down the corridor and listen at the next door. Back with the van trio, after another successful lock pick using his VIPER, Mr Kraak has entered the ground floor of a shopping mall. To get to the floor with the BO dude, we need to get out the other side and then up some stairs. I tank it across, followed by Guy & Scarface. Another empty 20 mag magazine clatters to the floor. Moving out into the street beyond I see an injured BO dude running away and more importantly, a fit and fully armed BO dude heading towards me. Arse! I decide to leap back into the mall as I fire my submachine at the oncoming dude...in slow motion. All goes nearly to plan, I make the leap, in slow motion, but the BO dudes fires first and drills my body for 20 bruise damage. I land unconscious, next to Guy and Scarface. Scarface can see the BO dude through the mall's windows and locks a micro missile onto him. The missile fires, neatly making a 90 degree turn and hits the Arasaka dude in another spectacular explosion. Guy administers extreme unction on Ruud Kraak, bringing the stalwart nomad back to his senses. Back at Strafe central, courage has been called for but found wanting. Rem & Rocksov run out the 1st room and head to the stairs. As they exit the room, a pineapple shaped object lands in the room behind them and detonates. Corporate sphincters start to spasm. Trapped up on the 1st floor, Rem decides it may be safer to go up onto the roof, he goes to investigate while Rocksov launches a grenade down the stairs, well he would have if he hadn't fumbled. The grenade launcher refuses to fire. Rem calls to Rocksov that the roof is all clear and to get a move on. Rocksov clears the problem with his GL and leaves his post with a trademark grenade calling card. The Corporate & the Fixer then move from rooftop to rooftop, away from the burning building. Reel 6: "Come Quietly or there will be........Trouble" ------------------------------------------------------ While Rem & Rocksov are playing kiss chase over the rooftops, the van trio discuss who will stick his head around the corner to see what remains of the BO dudes. Ruud is obviously the only one 'man' enough to take on this difficult task. Guy and Orbal (was Scarface) look at the nomad with awe and wish they had half his style and courage.....anyway Ruud has a quick glimpse outside the mall and espies a prone SWAT dressed body lying on the sidewalk. No sign of the other BO dude. The nomad unhooks another grenade and lobs it towards the prone body and ducks inside. The grenade explodes and after the smoke clears, Mr Kraak concludes that the prone BO dude *is* really dead. Meanwhile, Sewer Team open the door in the graveyard corridor and move out into a underground garage. There are stairs and lifts available, but the team decide that the stairs are a safer bet. The team move in a patented PhilM 'Reverse Wedge' formation, with Mr Zee and Gonso up front, then Jimmy and finally Dr Knight following a safe 'out of grenade blast radius' distance behind. The stairwell comes up to the ground floor and Mr Zee and Gonzo, moving with the stealth and grace of panthers, peer over the top. They sight 3 BO dudes gathered by a window, they have their backs to the Sewer duo and appear to be watching the road outside. On the count of three, Mr Zee, Gonso & Jimmy rise up and open fire. The staccato drone of a silenced heavy automatic fire fills the air. Gonzo unloads a 10 round burst from his assault rifle into 1 BO dude. Mr SWAT expires and the force of the attack propels his body thru the glass window and out into the street. Mr Zee takes aim and squeezes the trigger of his Hvy Auto Pistol. He hits another dude with an armour piercing bullet. His target grunts as if stung but remains standing. Jimmy some also causes some minor damage to his target. Next round, initiatives are rolled. Sewer team wins and Gonzo empties his rifle into another BO dude. The perforated body is again propelled into the street. Mr Zee looks at his pistol and then at Gonzo's Rifle and makes a mental note to buy a bigger gun. He's being out-gunned by a Cop! Unfortunately, this mental note-taking means he has trouble locating the trigger for his pistol and therefore doesn't shoot this round (in game terms he fumbled). The remaining BO dude strafes Mr Zee with bullets. The Solo takes some minor damage, but fails his stun roll and therefore falls unconscious and tumbles back down the stairs. Jimmy moves forward to plug the breech in the front line. Next round BO dude fires first and plugs Gonso for some minor damage. The Ex-copper grunts as numerous bullets strike his body, but from his expression, these are more of an annoyance as he concentrates on changing the ammo clip on his assault rifle. Jimmy returns fire with his pop up Uzi and causes some minor damage. Dr Knight brings Mr Zee around. Meanwhile outside, Team Van decide that maybe they should be heading for the AoS HQ, as from the sound of gunfire from that direction, it must mean the sneaky silent assault of Team Sewer has gone awry. The trio head back to the van at a sprint with Ruud taking the lead (naturally). As the nomad goes out the door that was recently opened with his own personal lock pick, he spots another BO dudes heading right at him. He brings his VIPER up in a clean movement and empties it (again) into the onrushing SWAT dude. Mr Black Ops dude takes 20 bruise damage and tumbles to the floor. Another empty 20 mag clip hits the floor. The trio bundle into the van and Mr Kraak starts it up. On high above, Rem & Rocksov run hither and thither, trying to find an alternative way down. This bit of the story is not nearly as interesting as the other 2 action scenes and so is only mentioned so the reader doesn't start wondering what happened to Rem & Rocksov. Back at AoS HQ, Gonso has reloaded and in an efficient & mechanical way, brings his rifle down and 'terminates' another SWAT team member. Sewer Team perform a quick check of the ground floor before moving up to the next floor by way of another stairwell. Reverse Wedge formation as before. Ruud revvs the van and then sees that the SWAT dude he shot was only stunned and is not dead. The squealing of tires informs everybody that this situation will soon be rectified. The van thunders up on the kneeling BO dude, then at the last possible moment, Mr SWAT leaps and tumbles out of harms way. WHAT A GUY! Guy and Orbal move to the rear of the van and take aim. The hero Arasaka dude is back on his feet and turning to face the receding van. Guy & Orbal fire, Orbal's micromissile strikes the BO dude on the torso, but Mr Hero takes it. Then a bullet-cum-rocket strikes his right leg and he watches it separate from his body. Mr Hero Arasaka dude then passes out. In the van, Ruud & Orbal look at Guy. Guy slowly puts the safety back on his Rocket pistol and then notices the stares of the other van occupants. Guy shrugs. Ruud returns to his driving duties and bring the van around onto the main road where the AoS HQ is located. Reel 7: "I Need a Vacation" --------------------------- Team Sewer are now tanking up another set of stairs, undoubtedly the remaining 3 Arasaka dudes in the AoS HQ must have heard the gunfight from below. So time is of the essence, God only knows what the SWAT dudes will do to Ms Fagina, (although I'm sure Rich could proffer a few ideas, Wee *thrust* Wee *thrust*.....). Anyway up the stairs, Mr Zee leads, followed by the Gonzoinator, Jimmy the Tech & with Ms Knight bringing up the rear. The black solo hears footsteps coming down the stairwell above him. Mr Zee continues running up and turns the corner to get onto the 1st floor. He sees a Black Ops dude. Another firefight ensues, with Mr Zee and BO dude sniping at each other. A few rounds go by, and the Team Sewer assault is stalled on the 1st floor. Feck it, Mr Zee holsters his pistol and runs at the SWAT dude ready to make him into a kebab on his wolvers. Mr SWAT pumps 10+ rounds into Mr Zee, who shrugs off the damage, closes the distance and enters melee combat. Initiatives are rolled, with Mr Zee coming out on top. The wolvers go in, well no, the fist goes in as the wolvers malfunction and don't extend. A Punch is 2D6 damage, Mr Zee's gun is 4D6 and that isn't up to the job so we're not expecting big things from the punch. I roll 11 damage!...on his head!...the SWAT dude falls backward and is stunned. Mr Zee leaps on him to finish the job. During this bit of hand-to-hand combat, the rest of Team Sewer have belted pass the brawling duo and go for the stairs up to the 2nd floor. Gonzoinator takes the lead. As the copper turns a corner, a pineapple shaped object rolls down the stairs toward him. Shit! Grenade!. Jimmy the Tech & Dr Knight throw themselves down the stairs and back onto the 1st floor. The Gonzoinator doesn't have (or doesn't want to) this option so, DaveG states he going to scoop up the grenade and throw it back up! You must be insane Sir only a complete fool or hero would attempt such a feat!...and Mr Kraak isn't here! DaveG goes for it anyway. The Gonzoinator scoops up the downward bound grenade and then rolls to throw it back. DaveG rolls a 1! Arse. KABOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!! The stairwell fills with smoke, Jimmy the Tech switches to Infra-Red and looks up the stairwell to see what's left of Gonzo. He can't see a body. Mr Zee has finally dispatched his melee opponent and also rushes up the stairs to discover the copper's fate. Meanwhile on the 2nd floor, 2 Blacks Ops dudes stare at the smoke rising from the stairwell. They seem pleased with themselves. Suddenly a figure appears out of the smoke and fires a burst of AP bullets at one BO dude. The soon-to-expire SWAT dude is shocked as he gazes on a charred figure with a mangled left arm before being hit numerous times and then crashing out the 2nd floor window. Note: PhilM had said that it was DaveG right arm that would be knackered, but as we guys were on the muther that weekend, DaveG skillfully explains that he carries the Assault Rifle with his right arm so he would have used his left to grab the grenade. PhilM has to agree. 8-) The other BO dude is only momentarily shocked before opening up on Gonzo with a 20mm AUTOCANNON! (they had this for anti-aircraft duties, just in case we tried coming by VTOL car!). Gonzoinator takes a 20mm shell to his right arm. The arm is parted from the copper body and the impact sends him flying back down the stairway. DaveG has to make several saves (with massive minuses -7!) or die. DaveG needs low rolls...so no problem, DaveG rolls a 1 and 3. Not only has he not died from shock but he's stayed conscious. Un-Smegging-Beliveable! Dr Knight rushes to stablise Gonzo before he has to save again next round. Mr Zee looks down on the copper's ravaged body and say "Feck This!". He then unhooks 2 grenades and throws the pair up to the 2nd floor. BOOM! BOOM! Mr Zee & Jimmy appear on the 2nd floor a moment later. No resistance. The other BO dude is dead and all the windows in this room are blown out. After a rapid check of surrounding 2nd floor rooms, Mr Zee finds Ms Cleopatra Fagina tied up in a small back room. She is overcome with emotion, and thanks Mr Zee several times and then gives him a hug when untied. Naturally Mr Zee then moves in for a full hard snog with lashings of tommy tongue. Ms Fagina responds. Unfortunately before the 'Tower of Power' can make an appearance, Ms Fagina comes to her senses and disentangles herself from Mr Zee. Mr Zee feels this has future possibilities as Ms Fagaina is also of Afro descent. She must really be pining for a real 'man' after being with limp dick Buttingdon for so long. Meanwhile back in the van, the cavalry motor around to the front of the AoS HQ. As we approach the HQ, an avalanche of machine gun fire hits the front of the van from several locations. The front of the van disintegrates and the douty vehicle sputters to a halt. We get the hell out of there via the backdoor. Team Van then 'run like bastards' towards any kind of cover. Jimmy on the 2nd floor notices that 1 barrage of gunfire came from the ground floor of the HQ, he calmly unhooks a grenade, flicks the pin and drops it down. BOOM! (the grenades explodes) KABBOOOOOOOOOOM!!!! (the van's petrol tank goes up) Cue: Ruud, Guy and Orbal running in slow mo with gouts of oily, amber flame shooting upwards and outwards, behind them. The rest of the BO dudes (ok the remaining BO dudes) decide to bug out while they can. We let them go (I think) or did Jimmy keep shooting until they were out of weapon range? So a tangible success. ..and thats where we left it.