Jack hits the deck, reaching an arm out to hook Severianna, but the midnight-hued mutant is already rolling the other direction, following after Silver and Duncan, Rill and Kim as they duck flying glass and debris and charge out onto the Sidewinder's front porch. Orrin and Blurre head the other direction, upstairs to get a better view of who might have done the explodin'. Keegan, meanwhile, rolls his chair backward, pulling the table over top of him like one who has witnessed many a bar fight devolve into shooting. Stella crouches with him, motioning to the other patrons to get down and out of sight.
Those of you with a better view soon wish you could do without. Silver in the street, and Orrin and Blurre at their upper windows, spot a pair of SAMAS power suits, coming in hot straight for the Sidewinder -- but that's the least of the doom that has come to Black Mesa. Back east, toward the edge of town and the Black Market's fortified warehouse, more SAMAS swarm through the darkened sky. Beyond them, the forbidding black bulk of a Death's Head Transport vomits Coalition troopers and Dog Boys onto the streets. A Mark V APC rolls out as you watch, then you see that some of the transport's standard complement must have disembarked earlier and walked into town: The stark silhouette of a Spider-Skull Walker rises up over the skyline, accompanied by a pair of UAR-1 Enforcers, approaching from the south and east. Seems like someone down at Lone Star decided Black Mesa's run must come to an end.
Already, the town's defenders are starting to fight back, powering up the floor models at the Titan emporium and taking potshots with sidearms. Whether they can slow things down until a real resistance gets organized is anybody's bet. The more immediate concern for the folks at the Sidewinder is the platoon of Dog Boys who, just like those two SAMAS, are heading this way, barking and howling like the old world canines that birthed 'em.
Silver manages to hit one of the approaching SAMs with his JA-9, but the shot just glances off the Mega Damage armor plates. As the others say prayers, activate mystical gadgets or draw weapons, the Coalition flyers move into an attack pattern, preparing covering fire for the Dog Boys that follow.
Duncan, Kim and Rill all manage to dive out of the way of the remaining blasts, but Severianna is caught right in the field of fire. Magnetically-accelerated tungsten rounds tear through her implant-generated shields and armor, punching through flesh and continuing on the other side. (27 Damage, AP 10 = Shaken and 3 Wounds - Yikes!)
The Dog Boys use the distraction as cover for their advance, dashing forward through the darkness to surround the Sidewinder, two groups of four and the Psi-Stalker leader to the north, another group of four to the south and the last foursome advancing toward the back door as others provide covering fire.
Upstairs, Orrin starts to think about what sort of magickal nastiness he might drop on them when a flash from the east catches his eye -- and resolves into the fiery tail of a medium-range missile, fired by one of the Enforcers, heading straight toward the Sidewinder!
There's time for a prayer (at least, a really short one) as the missile streaks toward the wizard's second-floor perch. At the last instance, there's a golden flash -- and blinking, Orrin finds himself staring at a wall of light (a very powerful, and somewhat strange barrier, if he only had the time to examine it more closely ...) that pushes out and around the Sidewinder as the missile's payload detonates, wrapping fire around the suddenly-protected saloon.
Downstairs, Jack and Keegan get a front-row view of the barrier's source: Stella, arms outstretched, floats a couple of feet off the floor, strands of golden light streaming from her body to power the field. Sweat beads on her forehead, but her smile is only a little strained.
"I think I can keep them from putting any holes in the joint, Jack, but why don't you see if you can go convince them to take this disagreement somewhere else?" she says. "This little barrier of mine is proof against bullets and laser blasts -- yours, too, I'm sorry to say -- but it won't stop them from coming inside, and I'd hate for them to track all that dirt in here after I just swept and mopped this morning."
Despite the circumstances, her tone seems so reasonable Jack finds himself nodding in agreement -- and finds himself not at all put off by the pair of ghostly horns that seem to protrude from her brow, almost like a crown.
Taking a position by the bar, spying out the back door, the Cyber-Knight Keegan takes off his hat and nods in her direction.
"Pleasure to see you again, Lady. And a pure pleasure to feel that Light once more warming my back."
And ... You're Up! The Coalition pulled the Ace of Diamonds, which beat out everyone, so feel free to post in whatever order you like. See the map below for relative positions -- and let me know if anything is unclear. There's a lot going on with the map, so I hope it shows up at a legible size for everyone. In addition to that map, there's a town map that shows a wider view (and note the difference in scale if, for example, you want to relocate to another building or try to get closer to the ley line).
I've also included a spoiler with Combat Stats for the foes within reach ... if you really want to engage the bigger guns (Skull Walker, Enforcers, etc.) that are still a ways out, you can, but other than the stray missile, their attention seems to be focused elsewhere for the moment.
And a note on the barrier protecting the Sidewinder: No ranged attacks, AOE or magic comes in, but none goes out, either. So if you want to engage with the enemy, you'll need to head outside, or wait for them to come to you ...
Combat Map Town Map Combat Stats
In general, lighting is "Dark," inflicting a -2 penalty to hit that can be offset by most armor.
- Dog Boys: Parry 6; Toughness 12 (5); Most will have medium (-2) or better cover, depending on attacker's position
- Psi-Stalker (Wild Card): Parry 8; Toughness 13 (6); Medium (-2) or better cover, depending on attacker's position
- SAMAS: Parry 6; Toughness 17 (10) MDC; +2 to hit for Size for everyone but Silver