[Jack_Spade]

Kynos wasn't sure who was responsible for the explosion but it sure was a tad stronger than he had expected it to be. Now the whole club with whatever victims had still been inside had become a giant pyre and likely incinerated both Steel and his rifle. He wasn't happy about that.
But there were two upsides to this whole unfortunate business:
1) He had been crawling away from the explosion and into the direction of the MG fire so the incandescent flame had not blinded him but instead revealed the dwarf manning the gun atop an SUV.
2) From somewhere another Ares Alpha - likely Steels or one of the other Firewatch members had just dropped in front of him. It took him a moment to realize that it was connected to a sling that let to his back. Only than did he realize that it was the weapon that Steel had in fact handed to him in the cellar and secured to his back. He just had forgotten that it was there.
The thing had a trigger large enough for a troll finger, which meant he could easily wrap index and middle finger around it - which he probably needed if he wanted to use the weapon, due to the likely higher trigger pressure.
For whatever reason that gun had dropped in front of him, he knew an opportunity when he saw it.
So as the dwarf on the op-force began to take up again his assault, Kynos quickly grabbed the gun, steadied his breathing and squeezed the trigger two times.

[spoiler]
Shoot: 16d6t5 5
Defense: 8d6t5 4

(I'm using the Soldier from p.137 as base from the Anarchy Rulebook)

Armor 12 is reduced to 5 (Bone lacing 2)

Second Shot:
Shoot: 16d6t5 6
Defense: 8d6t5 3
Armor is depleted
11 DV -2 (Bonelacing) -3 Armor: 6 DV to condition Monitor 4/10 P left

Enemy soldier focuses on Kynos:
Attack Kynos: 8d6t5 2
Defense: 12d6t5 4
Evaded
[/spoiler]

Both shots hit true, but that didn't stop the dwarf from refocusing his fire towards him. Training took over: Kynos virtually snapped upwards as he forced his body to do the mother of all crunches and rolled behind a singularly fortunately placed car. The motor block ate the lead intended for Kynos and he saw with morbid curiosity as the stream of constant fire began to eat through the steel block, dropping molten lead to the ground.
His position wasn't particularly great, but at least now the other Firewatch members had a chance to act - i.e. those who were still alive and conscious after that hellish explosion...

[Mercy Merchant]

Captain Dern takes good advantage of the opportunity given to him by Kynos and and rises from his cover to fire at the gunner.

[spoiler]Shoot: Shoot: 14d6t5 4
Defense:  Defense: 8d6t5 3
DV is 9 - 2 for bone lacing =7 and the gunner goes down[/spoiler]

The Ares team boss' shot takes goes through the halfer's left eye and explodes out the back, taking anything the guy had for brains with it.  The nearly headless Dwarf wavers for a second then falls from his seat on the top of the vehicle.  Dern looks over to Kynos and gives a salute as Gardner races out to where Lowe and Brown had fallen when hit by the HMG fire.  A quick look is all it take to tell her that Lowe is beyond help, but she calls out that Brown is still alive.  She flips open the medkit and begins hooking the badly wounded man to various leads.  A man runs up to where she is bent over Brown, a pistol in his hand and rage on his face.  Gardner coolly picks up the pistol at her side at the same time that her remaining teammates unload on the the thug.

[spoiler]Lightning Bolt:  Cast Lightning: 14d6t5 6
Defense:  Defense: 9d6t5 3
DV is 6 damage to the armor = 6 armor left and 3P -2 for Bone Lacing = 1 directly to the soldier

Gardner Shoot:  Shoot: 13d6t5 4
Defense:  Defense: 8d6t5 2
DV is 8 -2 for Bone Lacing so finishes his armor

Grace Shoot:  Shoot: 16d6t5 8
Defense:  Defense: 8d6t5 3
DV is 13 - 2 for Bone Lacing = 11 to damage track, dropping the soldier[/spoiler]

The air sizzles near Kynos sizzles as Coates manipulates some mana and casts a lightning bolt at the thug, who arcs backwards a bit as some of the bolt penetrates his armor.  His armor successfully deflects Gardner's hurried shot, but Grace puts the finishing touch on him with a carefully aimed shot to his center mass.  The thug drops with a gurgle as the team takes stock of the situation.

[spoiler]I hope that I did the combat correctly.[/spoiler]

[Beta]

As Vish focuses his will on the illusion, he really hopes that he can make this half  as impressive and terrifying in illusion as it was in real life.  He'll show the opposition a dwarf rapidly turning into a roaring dragon, and ....

Then a maelstrom of fire exploded out of the club, blasting out windows and doors and roaring in a way that suggested that the rest of the building would not last for long.  Vish was fortunate to be at a fair distance from the club, and not to present too much cross-section to the blast, so he held his feet -- but the pressure front passed through him, flipping around his stomach and assaulting his hearing for the second time that night.

Thinking quickly he changed plans, and crafted the illusion over the roof of the club -- everyone was going to be looking there anyway. 

The dragon that reared up on the roof of the club was crafted in crimson and flame, its roar a slightly higher counter-point to the roar of the conflagration below, its head trailing dark smoke as the raven-like air-spirit manifested in the illusion.  .

So distracted was he by the required artistry that Vish was a couple of seconds confirming over the com "Al, that is your signal."

[Mercy Merchant]

The lift had not been coated with the hive material, which would have made the fire so much more effective there, as it had in the lower depths.  As it is, the wide opening at the top of the life acted as a conduit for the flames but nothing provided the flames with anything to continue burning once that had shot out.  On the floor of the lift, a large mass moves carefully.  Steel opes one eye, half expecting to find that he is in some sort of Zen paradise.  Instead he looks into the face of a pretty girl looking back at him, open eyes clearly visible against the ash covering her face.  She gives him a crooked sort of grin as she says, "Wow.  I felt the earth move with that one.  If you are that good every time I may have to keep you around."  She coughs and grimaces. "But you do weigh a fragging ton."

Steel grins back at Rose as he rolls over onto his back.  "Sorry about that ma'am.  Not sure if I can perform that well every time.  Frag, that was close."  He looks over at the woman next to him and remembers that she had cried out in pain as the fire swept over them.  "The fire got part of you.  Where?"

She points a hand at her side and Steel can see where her clothes had burned away and her skin was marked from the fire where it had kissed her.  He moves to a sitting position and frowns. "Sorry about that.  I guess we should be thinking of getting back with the others.  I think my 'link got fried along with my coat.  Yours?"

Rose shakes her head then groans softly and it is apparent that she is holding back tears. "Bastards!  Someone up there got to the team as they came up.  Lowe is dead and Brown down.  At least two gunmen are dead, but they do not know how many more there are."  She to rise to move but almost passes out.  "I have told them that we are alive and trying to get out there."

Steel nods and stands in the ruin of his greatcoat.  He ruefully picks at it. "Damn shame.  I liked this one.  Just got all the kinks worked out.  Say, what are you laughing about?"

Rose points to Steel's head then puts a hand on her own.  "I guess I got nothing to laugh at.  Our hair seems to have been a casualty of the fire, too."

As steel bends over to pick Rose up he remembers something.  "Hey, Kynos' rifle.  It should be around here somewhere.  Now where could........there."

The Alpha had been tossed onto the pile of dead bugs where it had slipped under a couple of the hard carapaces and been spared the greater effect of the fire, although the sling would need to be replaced.  Steel picks it up and asks Rose to pass on the information to Kynos that he has the rifle.

>>Kynos, Steel says to tell you that he has your Alpha, but you will need a new sling for it.  We're coming out by the elevator.  Rather, he is pushing me out and then he is crawling out.<<

[adamu]

Even from a block away, the explosion was such athat it was all Al could do to keep his feet under him and his hands up. The troll, a little farther away and a lot sturdier, barely blinked as he drew his bead on Al. For his part,  the little man knew dodging the stream of fire from that beast of a weapon would be a long shot.  The voodoo gods told him to trust his co-worker and he watched in slow motion as heat caressed his back, wind blew the troll's hair, and the gun's barrels started to spin. Then even as the troll's finger applied pressure to the trigger,  something behind Al pulled his attention and he swung the weapon abruptly up, the first rounds searing the air millimeters above Al's head, the bright stream of tracers pouring into the sky.

Al hadn't needed any more signal than that. The safety of cover was behind him, but sometimes he wasn't very smart.  He dove forward for the flatbed truck that stood directly between him and the troll and unslung his shotgun as he rolled  under it. He ended up exactly where he wanted to be,  with the business end of his Remington flush against the troll's ankle.  Trog was quick though, and must have felt the tickle on his boot. He jerked his foot even as Al fired.  The result was a satisfying spray of blood that nonetheless apparently did not incapacitate the brute, because he put his hands under the edge of the flatbed, squatted low, then surged upwards, tossing the truck onto its side.

"Holy fuckin' frijoles, " Al exclaimed as he found nothing but hot night air between his prone self and the wounded troll. He fired up,  hitting the guy dead center mass,  but might as well have tossed a wet rag at the thing. Then three or four of his ribs shattered as the troll kicked him hard.  Al grunted but the troll screamed - a surprising, ugly sound - as the move had left all his weight on his injured ankle.  He dropped straight down.  Al rolled aside and avoided being crushed, but the troll shot out a hand and grabbed his throat. ...

[Jack_Spade]

Kynos gave a thumbs up back to Dern but didn't say anything - to amazing was the dragon that had just appeared, swooping down on the building opposite the burning nightclub.

When he received the call from Steel he replied: <<How the frag are you still alive? You know what that means? If you can survive in there some bugs did as well. We'll have to come back and pump even nastier stuff down there.
But good for you that my rifle's still intact. That brick Steel calls a trigger on his gun is a pain in the ass - or rather fingers - to operate.
Time to get lost by the way: Opposition is using miniguns and white phosphor, so I'll expect a strategic bombing any second.>>

Kynos held his position for a second or two to get his breath back, then he sprinted towards the roaring flames and the still open lift. Despite his armor he felt the heat uncomfortably on his skin. He had no idea how the ork and troll could stand it, but he didn't intend to stay around:
Instead he got on the ground and reached down the shaft to give the two tuskers a lift... and to get his rifle back.
"What I do to avoid rearmament costs..."

[Mercy Merchant]

Steel hands the Alpha up first as it does not have a sling and he will need both hands to get Rose up.  "Hey, bossman, good to see you, too.  Rose is coming next.  Try not to hurt her left side, will you?" With a grunt he lifts the large Ork up for Kynos to grab then follows on his own.  He stands outside the elevator and surveys the burning building before turning to Kynos.  "Nah.  I doubt you have much to worry about.  You remember that gooey stuff the bugs had all over the place down there?  Well, the cellar was covered in it and that stuff is still burning.  I imagine that it is still burning all the way down to their queen." He picks at the rags of the coat and clothes he is wearing. "Got to say I feel a bit crispy on the outside."

As Al's face mottles and his vision starts to blur, he sees all three faces of the Troll split open in a horrible vision of some sort of grin.  The guy's bad breath would be enough to knock out a lesser man, but Al knows for sure that he is no lesser man.  Gasping for breath, he has the Troll exactly where he wants him.  He flicks a wrist and the shotgun barrel slides into all three mouths simultaneously.  The Troll, realizing what is coming next, tries to squeeze the life from the tattered man in his grip...............and almost succeeds.  Almost.  No amount of armor or dermal plating or even damage resistance could possibly make a difference as the slug from the shotgun pierces the brain from the inside, blowing a large caliber hole in the top of the Troll's head.

[adamu]

Al sucked in air convulsively,  then curled up in agony as the sharp movement of his diaphragm sent shards of shattered rib in all sorts of bad directions. Easing the desperately needed oxygen into his lungs a tad more carefully,  he scrambled back to his feet and kicked the troll's corpse three times. "That's one boo-rah fer Parker, one fer Fraser, an' one fer Fitz." A layer of hoarse wheeze overlaid the little man's usual sandpaper rasp as he struggled to spit out human speech past a nearly crushed larynx.

Brushing himself off he strode back towards the rest of the group by the light of the burning club. He supposed he should be on the lookout for further threats, but that'd be way too anticlimactic - definitely interfere with his cool factor. So he simply walked up to the others,  waved a thumb vaguely over his shoulder,  and with as much nonchalance as his bruised throat could muster, said, "There's a truck over there we can use, but Mister Crispy hère'll have ta flip 'er back over."

[Mercy Merchant]

Captain Dern walks over to inspect the SUV the halfer gunner had been firing from and calls back.  >>The OPFOR vehicle looks usable.  Not sure we would be able to get everyone in it, though.  Anyone picking any hostiles?  I got nothing on my scanner.  Gardner, what is the status of Brown, and check on Rose and our auxiliaries, too, please.<<

Steel looks at Al as he saunters over.  "Nice to see you, too, Al.  That was a good idea with the gasoline.  I think we cook most of them.  Say, you look a tad beat up. Why not have Gardener check you out as well? " He looks over to where Al had pointed and moves in that direction. "I will get the truck back on its wheels.  Guess I gotta be good for something, right?"

Gardner stands and walks over to Rose and the others.  >>Brown will live, Jefe, but he will need an new lower arm.  Checking on the others, now.<<

Steel walks over to look at the vehicle laying on its side and mutters something that is pretty much unprintable in polite society before squatting down to get a grip on the side of the large truck.  A lot of groaning and grunting later, the thing rights itself with a large crash. 

[Jack_Spade]

Kynos was busy improvising a new sling and scratching blobs of melted and burned plastic from the finish of his gun. His whole body ached from the exertion - not that he minded. He actually liked that kind of pain. It was his reminder that he was still alive and - even more important - still somewhat human.
Looking around for more hostiles he took in the burning building, the wrecked Roadmaster, the destroyed mini-gunner with his minigun and the blood spattered remains of the Ares Firewatch team.
"Yepp, I think we are done here. Good work everyone - Objective complete, about half of us still alive and I'm one of them. From my perspective that's an A+."
He sniffed. "Hm. I don't know why but I really could go for a slightly seared but still bloody steak right now."

[adamu]

Having waved the Firewatch sawbones off, Al hobbled back over the truck. When it flipped back onto its tires Al got a good look at Steel. Troll was in worse shape than he was. They both needed a proper hospital. But they weren't exactly in the clear yet. He could already hear sirens.

When Steel gave him a 'thanks for helping' look, Al croaked, "I was cheerin' ya on mentally."  Then he went to the driver's side of the cab, did something quick with his hands, and it popped open. A moment later he was on his back next to the pedals, reaching up into the steering column. Thirty seconds later the engine roared to life.

"All aboard 'at's goin' aboard. Din't have time ta disable the anti-theft tags on the PAN, so we's a damned Christmas tree inna virtual. Did cut out the wifi booster, so the signal's only local - she'll git us as far as somewhere ol' Al can boost somethin' more properly."

[Beta]

When his spirit started complaining about being bored due to nobody shooting at it anymore -- and so not being allowed to throw lightning or choking gas back -- Vish sent it on its way.  A bored Raven is not a safe thing.  Then he had the dragon dive down into the conflagration -- probably by now any viewers had figured out that it was an illusion, but that was no excuse to get sloppy.

It was only then that he returned to paying more than cursory attention to the rest of the world.  He'd had a vague sense that his team had been chatting on the coms, which was good, but what they'd been saying had mostly escaped him.  He'd have to be careful in the future not to get so wrapped up in the artistry of an illusion, that was a form of vanity which could imperil his earthly body just as much as it supposedly did his eternal spirit.  He was just in time to hear that Steel and Al had arranged transportation of some kind, and after a few moments of frantic scurrying he found where they were.

Seeing the state of Al and Steel he felt a little bad that he'd not been of more help in keeping them safe -- and a lot of relief that he hadn't been in their places.  (He didn't bother noting that streak of cowardice, he was long acquainted with it.)  He hurried up to them, and still talking too loud after the various explosions let them know "Once we get a minute or two to sit still, I'll do what I can to heal you both up.  And thanks both of you for making the explosion happen and finding us a ride away from here."

[adamu]

"No thanks required, mini-amigo. All inna day's work. Anyhoo, reckon the appreciation runs both ways tonight. Damned troll caught me onna back foot - voodoo gods was apparently nappin' onna job, so whatever y'all did, like ta saved ol' Al's bacon."

[Mercy Merchant]

Captain Dern got the members of his team into the SUV then turned to the other four, seeming to war with himself for a few seconds before saying.  "Listen, not supposed to do this, but you guys saved our bacon today or there would not be any of us going home.  I hate writing letters to families of dead officers, but I would hate having to write more letters even more..............or being dead, for that matter.  Ares has a top notch med facility off the civilian grid.  I can get you in there and treated so you don't have to answer inconvenient questions or settle for street care.  What do you say?  Some meds on the KE?"

Steel had just placed the again unconscious form of Rose in the SUV.  Gardner had lied to her when she told him that the Ork was out of danger and both of them knew it.  Here was a chance......................a chance at what, really?  She is a KE officer and a good one.  No space in their duffle for any sort of emotional attachments, right?  Sort of like the old trideo line "If the Army wanted you to have a wife they would issue you one", yeah?  Well, here is his best chance to just fade away before being booted away.  He shakes his head and opens his mouth to say thanks but no thanks but what comes out is, "Al, can you drive me to where they say and drop me off.  I think I'll take the good Captain up on his offer.  Maybe they'll even replace my clothes and coat for a job well done.  What do you say?  Will you do that?  You ought to come along."

[Jack_Spade]

"Yeah about that: You realize that your attackers were probably from within your own mother corp? Using your facilities has a high chance of some of you receiving 20ccm of air intravenous. I know a nice doctor with a battleaxe that can take good care of you.

But do whatever you think is best. I'll convoy you with my bike just in case."
Kynos replied. "Bad practice to let your employer die after a gig - all the hard work and you won't even get good street cred from it."