Shadowgandor, Xeron, Darker, Burntpies, Gumpy, and Dimitri spent the morning of Day 34 digging in. The queen had been quick to send counter attacks to occupied towns and Balime was like to be no different.
Shadowgandor and Booyah were both beginning to realize that this was one of the queen’s weaknesses. Logically a sniper heavy team would be more vulnerable at night, but attacking after sundown would require patience which the queen seemed sorely lacking on.
Even with the Queen’s predictable behavior, Shadowgandor knew defending the town was risky. Western Balime was full of beatuful homes; buildings great for living, but terrible for combat.
Instead of digging into one of these as she had originally intended, she opted to camp out the team to the southeast; backs to the water and flanks to eastern Balime. Overall the town was unhelpful, but she convinced the guard at the museum to alert her if the army showed up in exchange for the team promising to look for the Chalice of Chance. This made her feel guilty.
But it turned out that she did not need the guard’s warning anyway. The enemy came in from the north and reinforcements appeared ready to join the battle from the west.
And sure enough, before Xeron had even spotted the first red, the western group had moved in to support. 24 enemies now flooded the sector.
Ehh, make that 23.
As predicable as their queen, the reds swarmed the location of their fallen comrade and Xeron set to work shooting them dead at max range. At one point there were several enemies nearby and he was forced to prioritize, sighting in the close enemy… only to have Shadowgandor land her shot instead.
Instinctively Xeron began taking Shadowgandor’s field of view into account. When enemies got close to it he would switch targets. The two of them worked in this way and, in short order, cleared the zone of 11 of the 24 hostilies.
The last 13 were more difficult to track down. They had dug in on the far side of the western most house but a slow advance ordered by Shadowgandor had the sector cleared within the hour.
Do you think that was it? The queen’s whole counter attack?
Ha! 22 reds and 2 elites? I don’t think that was the last of them man.
Either way we performed well enough to get a little of the town’s respect. Looks like we have our first batch of recruits.
Shadowgandor and Xeron had just finished training the militia when the queen launched another attack. Unfortunately, the enemy came in the middle of the night and our team was forced to fall back.
The militia didn’t stand a chance
So much for our popularity in this town.
The team waited out the night in eastern Balime and by the morning the western side of the city was defended by only 8 reds so Shadowgandor woke up the team and headed west.
Ahh were back, my home away from home.
As always Shadowgandor ordered the team to advance slowly but after a short time Dimitri forgot the order and fired at a bird pecking away at a dead enemy. Shadowgandor startled at the shot, unable to believe anyone would be stupid enough to give away their position.
Before she had a chance to chastise him, however, another, more familiar shot rang out. Xeron had spotted an enemy.
She’s dead, man. Bad news though, she was an elite.
Bad news indeed. If the entire force remaining in the zone were elites the team was in for a difficult struggle. The outlook worsened when the second enemy brought down was also an elite.
Shadowgandor struggled to advance even more slowly. She knew the elites were far more likely to take up defensive positions and far less likely to respond foolishly to gun fire. Her fears proved well founded.
Of the 12 elite in the zone, 4 were found inside, hiding against walls and watching entrances. The buildings had to be check carefully from a distance, surrounded, and then stormed. One time the team failed to cover her flank and Shadowgandor was hit hard in the side by rifle fire. Just in time Xeron responded with sniper fire and bought the enemy down.
Shadowgandor retreated to Xeron for some first aid and injected herself with a Regen Booster. The combination of pain killers and stimulants put her back into the fight.
When the last enemy was found in a small home on the south end of the zone, Dimitri, Gumpy, and Burntpies moved in to clear it while Shadowgandor took up position outside, covering as much of the room as she could. As Burntpies exited the kitchen and headed for the dining area he spotted the last enemy and opened fire. The shots missed.
From outside Shadowgandor heard the whole thing. The quiet pops of Burntpies’s P90 followed by three large thuds. Inside Burntpies saw his shots miss and the enemy elite respond with a grenade launcher. The first grenade landed between him and Dimitri, the second destroyed a chair halfway between him and the elite. The third managed to impact the table directly in front of the elite and sent him flying as well.
Everyone inside was dazed but already Shadowgandor was moving in position to, if nothing else, provide covering fire.
As she did so, Burntpies’s head cleared and he moved to open fire once again on the elite who seemed to be struggling to find his senses again.
This time his shots found their mark and the elite died. The zone was clear.
There is one, and only one, good thing about fighting elites. They are well equipped.
Gumpy, Dimitri, and Darker sorted through the loot while Burntpies, Xeron, and Shadowgandor relived the battle by telling stories. Gumpy listened to them for a bit before being overcome by a wave of depression and jealousy. He had been on the team 13 days and only managed 3 kills!
Gumpy decided then and there that it was time to change. He was tired of hiding outside of the battles and acting only as a sniper spotter and flank protector. It was time he did something.
He looked over the gear dropped by the elites and picked out a set of equipment including armor and a longer range rifle. Having seen the damage a grenade launcher can cause at close range he picked up one of those as well.
When Gumpy explained his desire to the rest of the group, Xeron seemed to ignore him while Shadowgandor and Burntpies took a mild interest.
Our people have died in buildings. No place for second chances.
Shadowgandor nodded along.
Not only that, but storming buildings doesn’t exactly mean you will see a lot of extra action. Booyah is still operating in our safe zone to avoid any more casualties. Burntpies has only had the opportunity a few times since our attack on Alma.
Well I am ready for that to change.
You won’t hear me try to stop you. Have fun in there kid.
Xeron turned and walked away while Shadowgandor tried halfheartedly to convince Gumpy to change his mind but it wasn’t going to happen. Burntpies seemed to like the idea, but no one could tell if it was because he was lonely or wanted someone else to put their lives at risk for a change. He simply frowned when Shadowgandor made an argument against and smiled and nodded when Gumpy made an argument for. In the end it was done; Gumpy would have first crack at the next building.
By the time the team was ready to desert Balime almost everyone had a new piece of equipment. Dimitri had taken up mortar duties (even though the team lacked mortar shells right now) while Biff upgraded his rifle to a more accurate and longer range model. Everyone benifited from the attachments the elites left behind expect for Xeron who, as he put it, preferred his rifle “exactly how god made it”.
Regardless of the loot and the victories, Balime was a lost cause. The town had no desire to support the rebels and form a militia. On top of that it provided no income. The rebels had raised their flag, but it would be taken down in no time.
In light of that, the team headed out. They decided to head back to Drassen for some resupply before heading west to Chitenza to return the Chalice. On the way back they would explore a bit of the country side by heading west out of Balime before turning north.
Just outside of town they came across some buildings and moved in for a closer look.
The service station was run down but the owner, Dave, was friendly enough. He offered to sale Shadowgandor a vehicale for $10,000 but the team lacked the funds and she passed.
The team moved on to the North. Xeron had spotted 8 enemies in the area, but just before the team arrived, that group was reinforced.
But the enemy was taken unawares and the sparse forests offered little cover. It took the team very little time to mop up the enemies. Xeron and Shadowgandor shouldered the load but in a twist, Gumpy managed two kills as well.
The team continued to wind their way around the country side. They had taken on extra gear for delivery to Booyah in Drassen and were forced to stop regularly for breaks. North west of Alma they came on an enemy patrol of 8 and dispatched them as well.
On day 38, just as they were approaching Drassen, word came that the Queen had taken back Balime.
Once the team arrived in Drassen, they spent the day resting and repairing while waiting for bits and pieces of equipment to come in. Dimitri was given two mortar shells and Gumpy and Burntpies got their hands on some extra grenades.
Booyah needed to head over to Chitzena to train the militia so the team decided to move as a group. They arrived on Day 40. Yanni was happy to see the relic.
The team settled in for the night. Shadowgandor had been teaching Gumpy the finer points of using a rifle while Burntpies repaired the team’s equipment. Xeron and Booyah trained the militia.
Just before dusk the enemy army invaded Chitzena yet again, getting the jump on the team and wounding Dimitri. The militia moved in and helped the team to clear out another 11 enemies.
They spend the night resting while Booyah trained up a few troops and early the next day headed to the west SAM once again.
After the team took it the first time, Diedranna reinforced the buildings with advanced foot soldiers but even they were no match for us. Gumpy continued to get in on the action and got himself a kill.
Once the SAM was clear Booyah moved in to train up a militia. It was time to start using Skyrider again and he didn’t want the SAM taken at an inopportune time.
As Shadowgandor prepared to move out, the team discussed their options. With AIMs continued reluctance to hire out any mercenaries Booyah had given up playing it safe. He decided it was time up the ante and send the team after San Mona.
Kingpin’s men shouldn’t be as well trained or equipped as the army. Hopefully the mission would prove a safe way to get the team back into urban ops.
Halfway there, however, a patrol of 16 reds showed up.
The terrain was favorable, an open road, so Shadowgandor decided to engage. Xeron was the first to open fire and, true to form, the enemies began swarming a group of which bunkered down behind a tree.
Dimitri was ordered to try out our new toy, the Mortar
It didn’t cause as much damage as hoped, but it did knock the enemies out of position.
Gumpy thought it looked like fun so he took a shot from his grenade launcher.
The two explosions panicked the enemies. They cowered together while Shadowgandor and Xeron killed them off, one by one and clearing the zone.
They took a little time to sell the gear and clean up a bit before moving on to San Mona.
“This is going to be a different type of fight. Kingpins men won’t be wearing uniforms. A lot of them will be a sort of local milita just hiding out in their homes.”
“Oh great. It will be like fighting ghosts.”
“It will be like fighting us.”
Shadowgandor was, of course, not wrong. Kingpin’s men had dug in and knew enough about the team of mercenaries to open fire without confirming our identities. Shadowgandor waited for the enemy to fire first, while Xeron leveled his weapon at anyone he didn’t recognize.
“You need to be careful, we don’t want to harm any innoncets.”
“I am only shooting the ones with guns, man.”
While the battle was mostly successful, there were a few times the enemy got the drop on us, lightly wounding both Dimitri and Xeron.
Finally the streets were clear and the enemies retreated to a building on the southern side of town.
Gumpy was going to get his chance, once again, to get into some combat. After a round of fire from long range, all enemies decided it was best to avoid the front windows. Burntpies went around the back while Dimitri and Gumpy moved up to the front door.
As Dimitri moved in he crossed the line of fire of an enemy hidden in a side room.
“You are missing with the wrong man!” Kingpin shouted from his hiding position.
Burntpies, realizing Kingpin was distracted, burst in.
“You are wrong man to try messing with us!”
Kingpin didn’t say another word.
After that the team moved cautiously door to door, making sure none of Kingpins militia remained. Once the zone was secure they went back over to check the spoils of war. Kingpin was wealthy and his goons numerous, but their gear left a bit to be desired.
Kingpin’s dresser on the other hand…
Later, when they met up again, Shadowgandor would hand over the money and tell Booyah about the find.
“I don’t think you pay me enough.”
“I’d like to remind you that that is less than a week’s pay at your rate.”
“Good point. I should probably get back to work.”
The team hoped the next zone would be different but Kingpin’s men apparently didn’t get the memo and once again the team was shot at from windows and doorways.
They moved in from the south side, entering the zone near a café and were immediately set upon by enemies. Once the initial street fight was complete, Shadowgandor and Xeron covered the road while Burntpies and Gumpy lead Darker and Dimitri in a building to building search, starting with the brothel that dominated the southern edge of town.
After clearing the café and brothel the team moved to the rear entrance of what appeared to be a bar. Dimitri took the lead and burst in the door.
Before he could react, gunfire opened in his direction and as Dimitri instictivly dodged a man lunged at him holding a knife. The shots missed but the man with the knife managed to pin him to the floor.
Burntpies wasted no time. In a fluid motion he moved through the door way, killed the knife man with a burst and put a single round between the eyes of the gunman behind the counter.
“The evil has been lifted and separated!”
Dimitri was still on the ground, alive but exhausted. Darker handed over his canteen and the team sat catching their breath.
With the south side of town clear, Xeron and Shadowgandor began to change positions to cover the centeral buildings. As they moved across the open terrain, an enemy caught sight of the duo and fired a burst which grazed Shadowgandor.
“Son of a…”
She returned fire before ducking behind a building.
The 4 members of the close range team hurried back to provide support but only Gumpy had the range to engage. His first shot knocked the red down and caused the second red to flee. It took a few more shots but eventually the man stopped moving, marking Gumpy’s 10th kill on the team.
Xeron took the break to bandage Shadowgandor before the long range team moved out to search for the escapee. It didn’t take long to find him hiding in a convience store and dispatch him as well.
With those enemies down Burntpies and Gumpy continued the process of clearing buildings. In the end two more enemies were found, one defending a liquor store while the other was holed up in a random office on the other side of town.
Once the zone was clear, the team started in on the standard cleanup process. They took stock of the enemies weapons and moved around getting a feel for the town.
San Mona was… different, and not to the liking of Shadowgandor. As soon as she caught sight of the brothel and the big XXX store dominating the main street she decided it was best to wait on the edge of town.
Xeron took more time to formulate an opinion (if he did at all, it was difficult to tell with him) while Burntpies immediately loved the place (More pretty ladies!). Gumpy mostly considered the tattoo parlor, wanting to commemorate his tenth kill (Shadowgandor reminded him there was no time for that) while Darker couldn’t shake the feeling some unseen enemy was watching them.
In the end they moved on to the eastern edge of San Mona which, by comparison, was calm. Here they rested and tended to first aid.
The next day, the 43rd on the island, the team decided their next target would be Cambria. Cambria was strategic for two very important reasons. First, it held a mine. Second, it held the central SAM site.
If the town and SAM could be taken the team could drop almost anywhere in Arulco. Extra cash is nice too.
But the attack would have to wait a couple of days at least, since ammunition would have to be ordered for both Xeron and Burntpies.
It was the morning of day 46 when the team finally found themselves back in the zones near Cambria but even then they were delayed a few hours due to a storm.
This rain totally takes away our range advantage, man. Let’s see if it clears up.
Instead of moving in they waited and did their best to keep dry. By noon the storm had passed and the team moved in.
Cambria, or at least the north eastern section of it, was a mess.
It appears to just be a bombed out ruin…
Even this ruin is going to be guarded.
As the team assembled on the north edge of the zone they quickly realized Xeron was correct. 3 reds were just inside the sector bounds and well within range of the team. The reds never saw him.
Once the initial guards were down, Shadowgandor started planning out their assault. She figured the best spot to get a look at enemy positions was from the large flat roofed building that took up most of the southern portion of the town. She and Burntpies scaled the wall and quickly spotted 4 of the remaining 7 enemies.
This time the reds managed to fire back but the superior position on the roof made their shots almost impossible and one by one Shadowgandor sent them to their graves.
It wasn’t until the end of the fight that she realized Burntpies had killed the other three enemies in the sector, each of which attempted to sneak up on her position.
I wish you were always watching my back.
Silly woman, I watch you all of times!
In the end the north easter sector of Cambria didn’t have much to offer. The locals were not exactly welcoming but did divuldge that this area was once Arulco’s university and with that tibit of depression, the team moved west.
I am going to go ahead and say it. That building looks like a death trap!
What is a matter small man? Lose your will to fight?
Not me, hombray. I bet I can beat you to the center!
How about we focus on getting into the building before we focus on getting to the center.
How about we focus on getting out of this warzone alive?
The building turned out to be a hospital. A heavily defended hospital. Shadowgandor didn’t like the idea of leaving enemies inside while they cleared the outside so she reversed protocol this time. Instead of gunning down every enemy before moving door to door, they would clear the entrance and work from the inside out.
Gumpy’s “race you to the middle” bet turned out to be completely uneventful. Every enemy who could have impeded the storm team was gunned down at the entrance.
By the time they reached the last hallways both Gumpy and Burntpies were growing complacent. Not a single enemy had been sited and they were tired of crouching and sneaking.
The red surprised them.
The stun grenade knocked them both to the ground.
Burntpies had opened the door too quickly. He was supposed to wait for Gumpy to stack up behind him. But in this case Gumpy’s position was a lucky accident. While the shock wave knocked him off of his feet, it wasn’t close enough to knock him unconscious.
He scrambled back into a firing position and moved to cover Burntpies. The red who had fired at them ducked behind a corner after firing his shot, but Gumpy knew he would return to finish work.
When the Red came back, Gumpy was ready. As Burntpies came to the Red lay dying before him.
After that Burntpies and Gumpy agreed to increase their spacing a bit, but it wasn’t required for the hospital. In all only two more enemies were hiding inside, and they died before they could return fire.
Once the hospital proper was cleared, the team moved out to the exterior. The final enemies were found in a storage building to the northwest and when they fell the zone was clear.
Burntpies started the standard process of looting the building but Shadowgandor stopped him.
This is a hospital. They need it worse than we do.
So the team continued south and found themselves in a small wooded neighborhood. The 12 reds patrolling the area were found in the streets, apparently unwilling or unable to occupy the citizen’s houses.
The last few encounters had really increased Shadowgandor’s trust in Gumpy and Burntpies and to an even larger extent, their trust in eachother. So when Gumpy suggested the storm team take the lead through the town, everyone was quick to agree.
The decision turned out to be a solid one. With sniper cover from Shadowgandor and Xeron, Burntpies and Gumpy were able to clear alleyways and corners with impunity. The sector was quickly cleared.
With the success of their assaults the town was becoming more and more friendly and even before the city was completely clear of enemies the people were willing to form a militia. Booyah set out that same afternoon.
Cambria’s increasing loyalty to the revolution also had the benefit that the mine could be used if it were taken so instead of heading east to the final sector of Cambria proper, Shadowgandor lead the team south to the mine.
Much like the other sectors of town, the Cambria mine was guarded by 12 enemies. In this case one was an elite but he died with his comrades.
All twelve enemies were huddled around the two tiny buildings at the northern edge of the zone, so dispatching them was as simple as digging in and waiting for them to move. The process didn’t take long.
The mine owner was happy to see us, but reminded us that the citizens were scared and many would not work. The mine was only going to pull in about $2,300 a day. Shadowgandor thanked him, promised more progress, and set off for the final sector.
South eastern Cambria was more of a mixed zone; this time there were shops intermixed with the homes. Shadowgandor quickly took up position on a building near the western edge of town while Gumpy and Xeron hid on either side to provide more support.
As with the other areas of town, the enemy preferred to defend the road.
I am glad these guys choose not to learn!
The swarming enemies did manage to land a couple of shots before being gunned down, but in the end their dead were piled in the street.
With the last of Cambria liberated, Shadowgandor set out to talk to the towns people and start the process of moving the town over to a fully functional rebel city.
The people were scared, as always, and most of her conversations didn’t lead to much good but she did find out that the Daryl and his family (the hillbillies she had previously met) caused problems for the town. She’d like to teach them a lesson… But that was a decision for Booyah to make.
She headed back to the team camp to see how militia training and marksman practice was coming along.
Before the sun had even set, the forces of Diedranna had taken the Cambria mine back over without a fight. The militia training hadn’t finished in time. Booyah and Shadowgandor decided it was best to continue with the militia training and take the zone back later.
Once Booyah arrived in Cambria he followed his daily routine of contacting AIM for a medic. Everyone still rejected him. He had lost count of both the number of days since the deaths (26 was it?) and how many times he had begged AIM to put him back in good standing.
He had lost hope more than a week ago, but it didn’t make sense to give up on contacting them.
Checking his email he found Speck had contacted him. MERC had a new person to offer and both Darker and Gumpy had increased their rate. He understood Gumpy, that guy had made a complete 180… but Darker? Booyah was desperate when Darker had been hired, now he was less so.
MERCs newest offering seemed to be more promising.
Larry was a drug addict but had needed skills. Both his explosive abilitiy and medical talents would prove useful. Booyah could afford to get rid of Dimitri or Darker and replace either of them with Larry, but he wasn’t ready to make the call just yet.
Instead he closed his laptop and went to meet with the militia leaders.
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Topic: Let's Play Jagged Alliance 2-1.13: Part 6: Storm Team (Read 58675 times)