[HoE] Poe wanted to know about the Combine... (Apocalypse Now! Spoilers)

[OUR0B0ROS@aol.com]

  They've been used once in our campaign, and that was back when I was a 
player.
  But they're gonna be in this Saturday's session...

  When we last left our wayward heroes...

  The posse (I call 'em Los Bastardos) had been in a running battle with some 
of Kirkland's mutie goons.  The posse, realizing that HoE chases suck, 
stopped their vehicles, so that some bikers were going past, guns blazing, 
and some hand to hand fighters dove out and engaged them on foot.
  One of the enemies, a Junker/Technomancer named Driver 8 ...

 (A new creation from Scott Hacker's Dead Man Walkin' webpage:    
  http://members.tripod.com/scotthacker/tech/tech.html ) 

  ... who is a mutant, born without legs who has thus created the equipment 
to make himself a "motorcycle centaur", succeded in pissing off everyone by 
being able to drive incredibly fast and easily (having spent a red and blue 
chip on his Car Browser so that he could let it do the driving while he 
lobbed off spells), and because he tossed off a  Fatal Error spell (much like 
a Nuke, but with EMP in addition) which killed the party Junker, destroyed 
the electrical system for the posse's truck (and also destroyed a few walkie 
talkies and the scopes and laser sights on the two SA M-42's - the sniper is 
gonna be PISSED! - although he'll be able to use EMP every time he want's to 
use it, Strain... Strain...).
  After Fatally Erroring the group, he took off at high (100mph on a shitty 
road) speeds, rotating at the waist to gesture at the Doombringer and cast 
Beacon on him before scooting away, leaving the Doombringer to have to toss a 
nuke into the center of the fight, killing off several of the enemy, but also 
demolishing several of the posse's cycles, and doing major damage to the 
posse itself.

  One of the posse members was Vin, a guy they'd met only the previous day, 
who, it turns out, is an infiltrator cyborg.  Two of the Rules of Engagement 
Preston (our former GM) had rolled up were the one that prevents him from 
attacking the Combine, and one that requires for him to kill anyone who 
realizes he's a cyborg.
  The backstory on this is that the cyborg had the "Combine gunshy" order 
added when he had been with the Combine years ago.
  So, he was REALLY put down, due to being shot twice with gyrojet rockets 
from an IW-40 rifle, having his throat slit by a clawed spidery mutant, and 
then, after having fallen to the ground, being almost at ground zero when the 
nuke hit the highway.
  So, the posse thinks he's dead.  
  What is going to happen is that now that his AI is offline, a tracking 
signal in his brain is activated, and a local unit of Combine fellas are 
gonna come a'runnin' to capture his "corpse."
  The posse is gonna have a few hours to try to get their truck working (not 
gonna happen, with fried electronics in the truck and a thoroughly 
nuke-demolished Mutie Jeep the only source of spare parts), the Combine is 
gonna come over the hill in ATV's and motorcycles, gunnin' for the posse.  I 
plan for them to just be nubs who will try to distract things while the 
captain calls in  a Combine fella on a hoverbike (with two "sidecar 
stretchers" on the sides).  He'll try to get to Vin's "corpse", they'll strap 
him to one of the stretchers, one guy will hop onto the other stretcher and 
strap his legs to it (to provide balance), and they'll take off, the pilot 
using his undermounted autogun, the passenger firing his SMG as they take off 
into the sunset.  After this, the rest will get killed or take off.
  Later in the campaign, a Combine-turned Vin will come back to attack the 
party, because he just knows they figured out that he's a Cyborg...

  Another Combine story that I plan on telling...

  Back when we played "Apocalypse Now!",  was playing a Veteran 'o The Weird 
West Shaman Apache Sniper named Samson Sixkiller, known to the posse as 
"Six."  He was armed with an XM-60 railgun.
  When I pulled to see what his VoTWW badness was, I found out that he's a 
Nosferatu.
  So the party had this badass sniper in the group who could use multiple 
Shaman powers to aid his sniping and sneaking around, who had a Shootin' 
Rifles & Pistols at a 8d12.  I think he had a Faith of 8d12 or 8d10, as well.
  What ended up happening was that when the group invaded Trinity Springs, he 
took the churchtower, killed the sniper that was already posted there (I 
didn't realize what an asskicker she was until I read the adventure a few 
days ago.  Jeez, she was stabbing at me, I was shooting her with my 
Peacemaker Sheriff at point blank range, and I finally finished her off by 
biting her in the neck.  She pulled the pin on her grenade, I dove down 
below, it went off, and blew off the church belltower.  
  Six climbed back up and started sniping everything in sight, but the 
Combine kept coming and coming in waves, until some Combine grenades went off 
before Six could activate his Turtle Shell favor.
  He went unconscious.
  When he awoke, he was handcuffed with the rest of the party who had pretty 
much given up, but Six would not.  When one of the Combine guards cam near 
enough with his XM-60, he leapt into the air, whipped his handcuffs from 
behind his back to in front of him, shouldered the guard to the ground, and 
began firing into the Combine guards.
  See, he was a Wolf shaman, so he couldn't surrender, and he wouldn't give 
up.
  He was taken down from behind by that Doomsayer bastard Jeb, who didn't 
want Six to cause the Combine to begin killing hostages.
  The rest of the posse was taken into the school and handcuffed to the 
tables with the hostages and bombs, while Six was taken back to Denver along 
with his XM-60, because Piatek could see real promise in this angry Apache.

  So Six is going to show up soon, a red hat, leading a group of Black Hats 
who he will use as cannon fodder while he snipes at the three posse members 
who he had worked with, who had not come to rescue him when he had been 
captured.
  Six has a sense of honor.  He would have followed them all the way into the 
heart of Denver if need be, so he could free them.
  But obviously, the same loyalty didn't go both ways.
  So he will show up, attempt to kill the tree posse members he knows, then 
call off the remaining Black hats and leave.
  As good as he is with his favors, he'll probably never be seen, but will 
communicate with them via their headsets (he knows the frequencies they use).

  I plan on posting his stats to the list so anyone can use him, if they 
want, and I think this would make a good addition to your games, if you want 
him...

                                                        *   *   *

  A heavily masked and completely covered Sniper joins the group, he's quiet 
and very efficient at what he does, aids the group quite a bit in combat, but 
will not back down, no matter what the odds.  He gets the party into really 
dangerous fights, because he will not retreat.  He is incredibly loyal, but 
also incredibly vengeful if betrayed.
  He always reports to the party members when he is about to fire on whatever 
channel they use, so they know that these are his shots that are being fired, 
not the enemy's.
  "Six.  Firing one."
  "Six.  Opposition commander spotted.  Firing many."
  In a fight with overwhelming Combine odds, he doe not back down, and is 
captured.
  If the party comes after them to rescue him, good for them!  They're better 
men than by pals...
  If not, he'll be back someday...
  They'll get taunting messages one night on their radios one night...
  "Six.  Former "friend" spotted.  Firing one."  
  -  one bullet plunges into a kneecap...

  "Six.  Asshole sighted.  Firing many." 
  -  three rounds rip through someone's chest...

  He'll try to kill off his old pals, apologize to the remaining live posse 
members over their radios.
  "Six.  Mission accomplished."


  And he dissappears off into the night.

  The party finds the bullet riddled corpses of his Black Hat team the next 
morning a few miles away, and Six will never be seen again.


  I'll try to post his stats tomorrow, Poe.


  - The Worm Ouroboros