With Rill apparently safe inside the ranch and tensions eased for the moment, Orrin, Jasco and Blurre set off east toward the ley line to keep watch there. Silver, meanwhile, wades into a herd of cattle and starts moving them northeast, using the beasts as a screen that might prove useful should Marl and his goons come calling.
Jack continues buttering up the hostage-takers while Sev begins flying lazy circles around the ranch, keeping an out for movement on the horizon. Kim, meanwhile, begins taking apart the closest turret -- and quickly sighs in frustration. Whoever designed the system was either devilishly clever or incredibly paranoid. Redundant power lines and control cables have been laid to each turret, which each have at least one backup battery. That means she'll have to disable each one manually; on the upside, the backups mean she should be able to cut all contact to the main house, then reprogram the turrets and use them against Marl on backup power. With another sigh, she gets to work, thankful that her armor, when charged, has a cooling feature to ward off the worst of the sun.
Inside, Rill sweats as he gets to work on Old Man Killian. His faith-healing doesn't require the precision of a surgeon, but the sheer number of tumors riddling the patriarch's body will require considerable effort and resolve to overcome. The chance to avoid a showdown with the rebellious ranch hands and not risk harm to the innocent hostages makes it well worth it, however, so the priest rolls up his sleeves and gets to work.
Hours later, the last of the cancer has been eradicated, and the cumulative damage done by the invading cells has been reversed. Rondo looks 20 years younger, his flesh pink and vital, his muscled body restored. He opens his eyes, which are clear and alert, and smiles.
"Well, I'll be damned," he says, sitting up in his bed and flexing a hand that not long before had been curled into an arthritic claw.
"If I'da known you preachin' types could manage something like this, I'da paid more attention when they was passing 'round the off'rin plate."
Still marveling at his newfound health, he takes in the armed and nervous ranch hands standing guard, and the children and women corralled in the corner of the room.
"Now, what exactly is goin' on here? Where's Marl? And can someone explain why exactly it looks like my kin and I are prisoners in our own home?" he says.
One of the younger boys pipes up before anyone has a chance to speak.
"They wanted daddy to sell the farm and he said 'no,' grandpa. They said you owed a bunch of money to someone named Black Markus, and if we didn't sell they'd use their guns and make us."
Rondo's eyes narrow, anger flashing across his brow, but he calms himself and sighs.
"So, the Market's come to collect. Well, I suppose it was only a matter of time. And me being laid up, I don't reckon Marl was inclined to pay up. He's a stubborn one."
He rises, unsteady at first but smiling as his restored legs take his weight easily.
"I reckon there's only one thing to do. If you'll let me into my office, I've got some papers in my desk that ought to set things right."
Waving off any assistance, Rondo walks confidently from the room, daring the rebellious ranch hands to stop him. Most won't even meet his gaze as he makes his way to an adjoining office, with Rill and one reluctant guard following along.
"Now then, where did I put those papers," he says, as he slaps his palm onto the biometric sensor on a large metal desk. With a hiss, the upper half slides open, revealing several computer terminals and stacks of documents within.
"Ah, here it is."
There's a flash of pulsating light and the stink of ozone as the guard collapses backwards, the left side of his head vaporized by an ion blast. As Rill's vision clears, he sees Rondo Killian with a heavy ion pistol in one fist, which swings slowly toward the priest. Rondo's other hand taps a command into the closest computer terminal, and immediately a low, electronic klaxon begins to sound.
The mask of friendliness melts from his face in a flash, and his lips twist into a snarl of rage.
"YOU THINK YOU CAN TAKE MY GODDAMN LAND? I'M RONDO GODDAMN KILLIAN! I BUILT THIS PLACE! I FOUND THE GHOSTS, COLLECTED THEIR WISDOM! I'M SURE MY SON IS WITH THEM NOW, HARNESSING THE HELLFIRE TO BURN YOU TO THE GROUND!"
Those listening in to Rill's transmission miss the visual expression of Rondo's rage, but witness an equally terrible sight, as the remaining perimeter defenses activate and begin firing!
******
Time for another Quick Combat/Dramatic Task!
There are a few complications this time, depending on where each character is when the shooting starts, so read carefully:
- Rill: Rondo's got the drop on you, so your roll is at -4.
- Kim: Can make two rolls, without penalty. The first should be a Techno-Wizardry roll, which will determine what proportion of the defense system was disabled (or better yet, repurposed) before Rondo activates it. The second roll will represent Kim's efforts once the shooting starts.
- Jack and Severianna: Both roll once without penalty, since the rebel ranchers are friendly enough at this point to shoot at turrets first.
- Silver, Orrin, Blurre: You're far enough away that any roll you make to help at the ranch is at a -4 penalty. (If you want to go that route, feel free to narrate that you had wandered back closer, etc., to help it make sense). Alternatively, you can forego making a roll to help at the ranch and instead give me a Notice roll to see if you spot something interesting while on sentry duty ... If you do, post your roll here or on Hangouts and I'll PM you some details. Also, no risk of wounds/ammo or PP expenditure if you opt to make the Notice roll.
- As before, each character makes one roll, using a Skill or Trait of your choice, to represent your efforts in the combat. This is probably a combat-related or spellcasting skill, but feel free to be creative. Roll your Wild Die, as well, and apply any applicable modifiers that make sense, for darkness, distance, Fatigue you've taken, etc.
- There is no initiative order, just make your post and use your roll to narrate how well you do. Try to leave something for everyone to do.
- Every raise you get on your roll counts as an additional success.
- A critical failure means you have received 1d3 wounds, and were not able to help the group succeed. Perhaps though, your defeat was epic.
- On a failure, you received 1 wound. You might have had some impact but you also were wounded in the process. You use up 3d6 power points spent or charges from your weapon, as appropriate.
- Success, you did a good job, maybe not a legendary victory, but you did what was required to save the day. You spent 2d6 ammo or power points.
- Success with raise, your contribution is legendary. You spent 1d6 ammo or power points.
- As a group, you need eight (8) successes to neutralize Marl and the defense system (Kim's successes/raises from her initial TW roll count toward this total).