D
Dumont
Since Dumont has a villain NPC, Aries gets to have some fun:
Aries found that this was not a good situation, as she found herself propped into the back of a wagon. Outside there was nothing but a brown haze as the sandstorm ripped at the city. There was nothing to connect to, no way to reach out to Ace or move to any other device. The first thing the Ragnarok techs had removed from the power armor had been the communications suite, every part of the suit which could connect to something wirelessly had been torn out. The only way to connect to it at all was with a direct cable connection.
Yet she was still able to see, and hear, and even try and shout over the roar of the wind: But not much else.
The bounty hunters had expected they would have had to scale the walls of the palace to try and bypass the aliens' defenses. They didn't expect this would have gone so well that there was a convenient breach. What few of Lewis' men they had found shouted that they had even scored a direct hit on the enemy leader, triumphant as the thunder across the sky... That wasn't good for McLewski. She had the biggest price. Stepping in through the breach, they had found signs of a fight. Some of Lewis' men dead on the ground. In one cell with a broken wall there was crumpled portions of armor... And then McLewski spied the two alien guards crushed under rubble from the cannon fire.
And then Aries had spied McLewski spying her. Hanging there in the cell across from Ace's. Trapped in the disembodied torso of a semi-dismantled suit of power armor. The holy grail of alien technology on this planet. Two of McLewski's gang grabbed the weapons from the dead Ragnarok guards, while their apparent leader unlocked the cell door using their keys, and Aries had found herself dragged outside and dumped into a commandeered covered wagon. Two of these attacking locals loading her in the back.
"General's going to want to see this thing." One shouted between blasts of lightning, as the blindered horses started to pick their way through the storm.
Back in the Palace:
McLewski's gang was down to three men now. Two had left to escort their new sack of gold coins that was still in armor form. Two had gathered alien weapons, leaving the leader with his own shooting irons... And they were inside the palace now, without even having to fight or climb their way in. Making sure they were alone, McLewski directed his men.
"You two, go back out and start plan two." He said. Grabbing a sandy bag from under his coat and sticking his hand inside. "Their leader isn't dead, that's two big hauls in this shithole left..."
His two men left to head back to the cells and out of the breach in the walls. A handful of buttons clattered onto the floor of the palace hallway. McLewski pulling out a long strip of cloth from his bag: Corgan, Rubi and Arccos had been out of the city to investigate the death of a Brigadier when this all began. McLewski had cleaned up the dead man's uniform very well, the roughspun poncho stained only with Arccos' six pointed star in a half circle was slung neatly over the bounty hunter's shoulders.
A loyal deputy made his way through the palace. It was the duty of a royal subject to make sure their liege was escorted to safety.
Over at the old Courthouse:
It was hard to move through the city for Arccos. Dirtdwellers never seemed to talk about when the dirt would come up to attack you. It had taken some finagling, but by loading memory of the city's layout to her mindware she could overlay an AR image of how the streets were laid out into her cybernetic eyes. The end result was that she didn't run into walls. She just ran into everything else on the way here.
When pounding on the courthouse doors didn't work, Arccos put a composite fist through the damn thing before her fist opened to show her badge of office in an open palm. The gathered Brigadiers hadn't wanted to open the door to the storm, but a lot of them snapped to attention when a towering alien encased in sand blasted power armor really knocked. Someone would be sweeping those floorboards later. Or maybe not.
The Brigade's headquarters were sort of a mess of controlled chaos. The courtroom had been converted to something like a feasthall for townspeople to retire to after a public trial, the chambers of judges pillaged for books of Osman law to be used as kindling, the statue of Justice pushed to one side and replaced with a mural of crossed chicken drumsticks. Generally it was what you got when you made a Freespacer the leader of law enforcement.
"We're under attack. Cannons in the city." Arccos boomed to the Brigade. "Storm gear on, we have work to do."
Soon, groups of Buttonless Brigadiers were inching their way through the city. Arccos using her AR overlay to lead them towards rows of houses surrounding the palace, knocking on doors and offering shelter away from cannons. Further incentivised with an offer of non-algae based food and drink for any seeking shelter with them.
Aries found that this was not a good situation, as she found herself propped into the back of a wagon. Outside there was nothing but a brown haze as the sandstorm ripped at the city. There was nothing to connect to, no way to reach out to Ace or move to any other device. The first thing the Ragnarok techs had removed from the power armor had been the communications suite, every part of the suit which could connect to something wirelessly had been torn out. The only way to connect to it at all was with a direct cable connection.
Yet she was still able to see, and hear, and even try and shout over the roar of the wind: But not much else.
The bounty hunters had expected they would have had to scale the walls of the palace to try and bypass the aliens' defenses. They didn't expect this would have gone so well that there was a convenient breach. What few of Lewis' men they had found shouted that they had even scored a direct hit on the enemy leader, triumphant as the thunder across the sky... That wasn't good for McLewski. She had the biggest price. Stepping in through the breach, they had found signs of a fight. Some of Lewis' men dead on the ground. In one cell with a broken wall there was crumpled portions of armor... And then McLewski spied the two alien guards crushed under rubble from the cannon fire.
And then Aries had spied McLewski spying her. Hanging there in the cell across from Ace's. Trapped in the disembodied torso of a semi-dismantled suit of power armor. The holy grail of alien technology on this planet. Two of McLewski's gang grabbed the weapons from the dead Ragnarok guards, while their apparent leader unlocked the cell door using their keys, and Aries had found herself dragged outside and dumped into a commandeered covered wagon. Two of these attacking locals loading her in the back.
"General's going to want to see this thing." One shouted between blasts of lightning, as the blindered horses started to pick their way through the storm.
Back in the Palace:
McLewski's gang was down to three men now. Two had left to escort their new sack of gold coins that was still in armor form. Two had gathered alien weapons, leaving the leader with his own shooting irons... And they were inside the palace now, without even having to fight or climb their way in. Making sure they were alone, McLewski directed his men.
"You two, go back out and start plan two." He said. Grabbing a sandy bag from under his coat and sticking his hand inside. "Their leader isn't dead, that's two big hauls in this shithole left..."
His two men left to head back to the cells and out of the breach in the walls. A handful of buttons clattered onto the floor of the palace hallway. McLewski pulling out a long strip of cloth from his bag: Corgan, Rubi and Arccos had been out of the city to investigate the death of a Brigadier when this all began. McLewski had cleaned up the dead man's uniform very well, the roughspun poncho stained only with Arccos' six pointed star in a half circle was slung neatly over the bounty hunter's shoulders.
A loyal deputy made his way through the palace. It was the duty of a royal subject to make sure their liege was escorted to safety.
Over at the old Courthouse:
It was hard to move through the city for Arccos. Dirtdwellers never seemed to talk about when the dirt would come up to attack you. It had taken some finagling, but by loading memory of the city's layout to her mindware she could overlay an AR image of how the streets were laid out into her cybernetic eyes. The end result was that she didn't run into walls. She just ran into everything else on the way here.
When pounding on the courthouse doors didn't work, Arccos put a composite fist through the damn thing before her fist opened to show her badge of office in an open palm. The gathered Brigadiers hadn't wanted to open the door to the storm, but a lot of them snapped to attention when a towering alien encased in sand blasted power armor really knocked. Someone would be sweeping those floorboards later. Or maybe not.
The Brigade's headquarters were sort of a mess of controlled chaos. The courtroom had been converted to something like a feasthall for townspeople to retire to after a public trial, the chambers of judges pillaged for books of Osman law to be used as kindling, the statue of Justice pushed to one side and replaced with a mural of crossed chicken drumsticks. Generally it was what you got when you made a Freespacer the leader of law enforcement.
"We're under attack. Cannons in the city." Arccos boomed to the Brigade. "Storm gear on, we have work to do."
Soon, groups of Buttonless Brigadiers were inching their way through the city. Arccos using her AR overlay to lead them towards rows of houses surrounding the palace, knocking on doors and offering shelter away from cannons. Further incentivised with an offer of non-algae based food and drink for any seeking shelter with them.
