IC-SWORD-Terror By Night(Sally/Zoe/Raquel/Katarina/rangers)

[Mr. Handy]

In the ranger station-
"Don't stay down here too long, and be careful," said Doc. "Retreat to the roof if they get close." He climbed back up the ladder.

On the roof-
Deadeye swiveled his scope around some more. "I see 'em!" he shouted. Taking careful aim, he began firing on the zombies to the south, scoring only a single hit. That zombie fell, destroyed for good. "Got one!"

NItro looked around desperately. "Where, where?" he said. "I still can't see them. It's too damn dark!" He called down to Dan. "My rifle will do a lot more good from up here on the roof!"

Julie drew her bow and took an arrow from her quiver, but she still couldn't find any targets to shoot.

Katarina hugged Sally as Doc emerged onto the roof.

Sally,[b]Sally[/b], now you must roll Sanity for seeing the zombies. Sanity loss is 0/1d10. Remember that you get a +10 bonus to your effective Sanity. If you do not go temporarily insane, you may fire. The zombies are somewhat closer now, and you can see that there are eight left. In the first two combat rounds, you would only hit on a 01. In the three remaining rounds before the next update, you have a somewhat better chance, though still not a good one. Your normal base Handgun skill gets a +20 due to your secret, but it is at 1/3 due to the darkness, which makes your effective skill 24. The range during the last three combat rounds is still long, even using precision aim, so your skil is halved again to 12. Shooting at the head is a further -5, meaning you only have a 7% chance to hit during those three rounds if you choose to fire.

Outside the ranger station, balcony level-
Dan still couldn't see anything, even with the flashlight.

OOC,[b]Dan[/b], roll Spot Hidden at 2/3 skill. If you succeed, roll Sanity. Sanity loss for seeing the zombies is 0/1d10. If you see the zombies and do not go temporarily insane, you will then have four combat rounds to shoot at the zombies, though your chances of hitting are poor. Your Handgun skill is cut by 2/3 due to the darkness (it would be 1/3 without the flashlight), which makes it 30%. This is further reduced by the long range, which cuts it in half to 15. Then there is a -5 penalty to shoot at the head, which gives you a 10% chance for the first three of these four rounds. During the fourth round, they are close enough that you no longer have the range penalty, which means you'd have a 25% chance. You could instead use the rest of your actions to climb up to the roof if you wish, or you could draw your rifle and use that. However, you cannot hold both the rifle and the flashlight, so you'll have the full darkness penalty, but no range penalty.

[Voodoo]

Handy,How long would it take to run down to Dans truck and use its lights to illuminate the area?

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,You can get to the truck this turn. To start it and turn it around so that the lights face the zombies will take another turn.

[Voodoo]

"Cover me, Im gonna try and light them up with the trucks headlights." Dan races down the stairs and towards his truck

[ryansommer]

After all she had been through. After all she had lost, the sight of the zombies did little to unnerve Sally. The girls in the van were free and this may be the only chance she had to free herself from these monsters.
Hugging Katarina back he whispered to her: "The girls got free. This may be our chance. Are you armed?"

[OOC: Is there is a chance of Deadeye or other hearing her, Sally will not whisper to Katarina.]

[Mr. Handy]

On the roof-
Deadeye reeled in shock when he saw the zombies up close through his scope, overwhelmed by terror. He was certain that he would die here. Screaming in horror, he grabbed up his rifle and ran to the zipline, sliding down to the ground where the growing darkness concealed him.

Nitro still couldn't see the oncoming threat. "Hey, Mutt!" he said into his radio. "We've got unfriendly company here! Could use some backup!"

"Okay, we'll head back," replied Mutt.

Katarina managed to keep her wits about her. She shook her head no in response to Sally's whisper. "Sally, I afraid," she said.

Julie kept looking around to the south. "I see them!" she shouted at last, raising her bow. She supressed a shiver and nocked her first arrow, taking aim at one of the zombies' heads. She fired one arrow after another, but they all missed due to the poor lighting.

Doc moved over to Sally's side with his pistol out, but it was too dark for him to see the zombies.

Sally,No, there's no danger of [b]Deadeye[/b] or anyone else overhearing if you whisper directly into her ear, especially since he was firing his rifle at the time. You now have five combat rounds to shoot at the zombies before they reach the bottom of the steps, as they're getting dangerously close now. All shots are at normal range. The darkness penalty still applies for now, as the headlights won't be on them until the end of the five rounds, and the range penalty applies during the first shot, so you have a 7% chance to hit in the first round and a 19% chance of hitting in the other four. If you want to fire at [b]Nitro[/b], only fire once for now. He will get to react after that. He is at normal range, and there is no darkness penalty. You will not be able to aim at a particular part of his body, though. Your chance to hit him would be 72%, and you'd do 1d10+2 damage with a .45 or 1d10 with the Sig Sauer. He does have a chance to Dodge the first bullet fired at him in a given round. You'd need to roll Spot Hidden at 1/3 skill in order to look for [b]Deadeye[/b]. If you do this, whether you succeed or fail, you cannot also shoot at anyone except [b]Deadeye[/b]. Range is normal, but the darkness penalty applies, so your chance to hit is 24%.

Outside the ranger station, ground level-
Dan hurried down the steps and soon reached the ground. He rushed over to the green pickup truck, which was parked underneath the ranger station. However, it was facing north. He would need to turn it around in order to shine the headlights on the zombies, and he couldn't tell how close they were since he hadn't seen them.

OOC,[b]Dan[/b], you may now start up the truck and turn it around, which will be your action for this turn. If you do this, roll Sanity, as you will definitely see the zombies. Sanity loss is 0/1d10.

[Voodoo]

Dan starts up the truck and gets it turned around. With the lights illuminating the zombies Dan feels a shiver of fear but manages to remain in control.

Handy,Whats the quality of Dans truck? Would it be able to handle running Zombies over?

[ryansommer]

"I know, Katarina, I am too. We all are. Think of how scared those girls are, though: Sally whispered into Karainas ear before drawing one of her .45's.

Sally steadied herself and took aim. She fired off 5 shots, with only one of them hitting. The unnatrual beast was wounded,but it relentlessly continued onward.

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,[b]Sally[/b] had never actually said she was reloading her .45s, and both had had one bullet each left in the chamber. I'll be generous and say you reloaded one of them during the time you were waiting for the zombies to get closer so that you don't have to waste a round reloading. That pistol now has 3 bullets left, but the other still only has the one. It has now gotten darker. All Spot Hidden rolls looking in areas not illuminated by a light source (the station's lights, headlights, etc.) are now at 1/4 skill.

On the roof-
Katarina nodded and helped support Sally, not able to do much else. Julie fired five more arrows into the night, again without any luck. Two rifle shots from the north rang out, and the zombie Sally had wounded was hit in the head and finished off.

Nitro couldn't see the zombies until they reached the ranger station, at the same moment that the headlights illuminated them. Neither could Doc. Seven of them remained, and four reached the area at the bottom of the stairs. The other three were not far behind. They stumbled out of the dark and were now visible in all their gory undead glory.

Nitro had seen many of these things before and was getting used to them. Doc, however, was deeply disturbed by the unnatural ghouls, though he managed to keep most of his fears at bay.

OOC,We're in individual combat rounds now. The zombies are at normal range with no darkness penalty. [b]Sally[/b], you can go ahead and fire for one combat round (or take some other action). Also, give me a Listen roll.

Outside the ranger station, ground level-
Dan unlocked the driver's side door of his pickup truck, slipped behind the wheel, and started up the engine. Once it roared to life, he pulled out and performed a three-point turn so that it was facing south. The arriving zombies were caught in his headlights and rendered fully visible. The sight almost startled him, but he was made of stern stuff. The fact that they were only a few yards away was still alarming.

OOC,[b]Dan[/b], I'll need a Listen roll from you too. The pickup truck is moderately sturdy, and while you might be able to run over a zombie in a pinch, running over several of them may cause problems. The zombies are fairly spread out, so you can only try to ram one at a time. You will also only cause general damage, as you cannot target a specific part of the zombie's body with a weapon the size of a truck. If you want to ram a zombie, roll Drive Auto. The base skill is 20%. If you succeed, the truck takes no damage from hitting the zombie. If you fail, you'll still hit, as zombies do not try to get out of the way. However, the truck will also take damage. Before you make any rolls, choose your initial Speed, which can be anywhere from 1 to 7. 1 is the same Speed as a normal human. You will cause Xd6 damage, where X is the Speed you have chosen. If you fail the roll, your truck will also take damage (the faster you're going, the more damage it takes). If you critically fail, you will also have a mishap, but the zombie will still be hit. You may have one on a normal failure if the truck takes enough damage. The truck can take a decent amount of punishment, but after it takes enough damage it will no longer be able to go as fast. If it takes a lot of damage, it will no longer be able to be drive at all. Any damage the truck takes will take hours to repair, if not days. Note that the other zombies that you don't ram may get a chance to attack the truck as it goes by if you're going too slowly. The first wave zombies that you don't hit will only get to attack if your Speed is 1, but the three coming up behind them may get their chance if you don't go fast enough to blow past them as well. Alternatively, you can simply back up without rolling anything. This will allow you to keep enough distance from the zombies that they won't attack you this round while still shining the headlights on them.

[Voodoo]

Listen Roll,[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2351853/]1[/url]

[Mr. Handy]

Dan Aldrich,[b]Dan[/b] could hear a vehicle approaching from the northwest. He recognized the sound instantly: it was [b]Mutt[/b]'s pickup truck, and it would arrive soon.

[Voodoo]

Dan puts his truck in reverse and backs up while still keeping the light on the zombies.

Handy,Will Dan be able to fire out of the window this round?

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,If you want to fire and drive at the same time, you can't use the rifle, only the pistol - you need to keep one hand on the wheel. Also, your Handgun skill will be halved for firing from a moving vehicle. This is before subtracting the -5 penalty for aiming at the head. This means you need a 17 or less to hit, but you can go ahead and shoot. It also means the driver's side window is at least partially open.

[Voodoo]

ooc,I'll skip it for this round and just wait. Im assuming they shouldn't have a real problem with them right now and it gives me time to figure out what to do about Mutt and Ghost.

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,Okay. In that case, roll Idea.

[ryansommer]

Sally raised her pistol again, took aim and fired. The round pierced the zombies skull, blowing it's eye socket apart but not doing enough damage to drop it.

[Voodoo]

Idea,[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2351876/]43[/url]

[Mr. Handy]

On the roof-
Sally heard a vehicle approaching from the west and slightly to the north over the noise of the gunfire.

Another distant shot rang out, and one of the zombies fell, its head blown to bits. Nitro pointed his AK-47 at one of the zombies at the bottom of the stairs and put a bullet in its brain, wounding it but failing to stop it. Julie cut loose with an arrow, shooting the zombie Sally had hit through the eye and finishing it. Nitro fired again, but the recoil knocked his bullet way off the mark.

"Good shooting!" cheered Katarina. The two remaining zombies at the base of the stairs continued walking underneath it, apparently in pursuit of the truck that was backing away from them. No new zombies emerged from the darkness, but the other three were still visible and getting closer.

OOC,The two zombies beneath the station are not visible from the roof. [b]Sally[/b], if you want to shoot at one of the three zombies in the dark, your skill is at 1/4 of its usual level, with an additional -5 penalty for aiming at the head. You may instead use this round for something else, such as reloading one weapon.

Outside the ranger station, ground level-
Dan backed up the truck until he was behind the station. He could now see headlights approaching from the west, and soon Mutt's pickup truck reached an intersection with a dirt track heading east and west some forty to fifty yards north of the station. Deadeye could also be seen in the light of the headlights, crouching by the road and sniping at the zombies. The two surviving zombies that had reached the station continued to walk under it, but they couldn't reach him yet. He could safely halt here long enough to fire a shot.

Dan Aldrich,You may stop here and fire a shot at one of the two zombies near the truck with your pistol at normal range, or at any of the zombies with your rifle at normal range. [b]Dan[/b] realized that now would not be a good time to try anything against the skinheads, especially without coordinating with the others, but he was sure that more opportunities would arise later. Once the zombies were dealt with, [b]Mutt[/b] and [b]Ghost[/b] were likely to go hunting for the escaped women again. At that time there might be chance to deal with them while they were split up, but the risks [b]Doc[/b] had pointed out still applied. There was also the possibility of following [b]Mutt[/b] and [b]Ghost[/b] and taking them out first, then going back and finishing off the other two. However, that was an extremely dangerous course of action. Even if he brought [b]Julie[/b] or someone else with him, the skinheads had much better firepower than they did. Of course, if he (and possibly someone else) found the women first, they could arm them with their extra weapons and maybe have a fighting chance if they all worked together - if the girls knew how to shoot. Another possibility would be to simply wait until at least some of them went to sleep. They could either strike then, or they could take the opportunity to try to spring [b]Katarina[/b] and make a run for it, sabotaging the other vehicles to prevent the skinheads from following them. If they were stranded, they'd be as good as dead, without the risk of engaging in a firefight. If the other women were recaptured, escape would be dicier, but still possible.

[Voodoo]

Dan Halts the truck and rolls down his window. Once it was down he aimed his rifle at the nearest zombies head and fired hitting it dead on and blowing a massive hole in it.

ooc- I wasn't certain if zombies are subject to impales so I just rolled as if it wasn't

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,Zombies are affected by impales, but you did more than enough damage without the bonus damage on top of it, so there's no need to roll the addtional 2d6+4.