Shadow of the Waxwing Slain, Ch 12
Retirement
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Chapter 12: Retirement
Shift 6: Afternoon
Location: Sector 9 “Commercial District” → Retirement Row
“Do you have a name?” Dee asked, flying the spinner where the woman designated.
“Nieth,” she replied, looking out the window, handgun still in hand, collapsed umbrella in the other. She pointed with the gun. “Land down there.”
Dee spotted a downed spinner in bad shape on top of a building. She dropped down on bare patch of pavement, one of the few barren areas between junk and piles of scrap. She got out, grabbing the briefcase and following Nieth into the back of the building.
Down a dim hallway, the only light coming from holes and edges of boarded up windows, into a room with a scrabbled-together table with a couple guns on it and a few chairs around it. Quela and another woman sat, talking. Through another doorway, Dee saw dirty mattresses and bedding.
This was it, where the Iron Court was holding up.
It was less than she expected.
Quela stood as Dee entered. She looked at Nieth. “Any trouble?”
Nieth shook her head.
“Here’s your briefcase full of nothing,” Dee said, putting it on the table.
Quela shrugged. “We had to be sure.”
“Did I pass your test?”
Quela looked at the unknown woman. “Delphine?”
Delphine took the briefcase, opened it, revealing it to be empty and closed it, nodding.
Quela looked at Dee. “One of them.”
Dee crossed her arms, feeling irritated, but also nervous. What else were they going to ask of her? “I’m sick of jumping through hoops.”
“Just one more, I promise,” Quela said. She grabbed one of the handguns, a PK-D that looked oddly familiar.
How’d they get a Blade Runner’s gun?
“Come on.” Quela walked down the hallway opposite the sleeping quarters.
Dee followed, Nieth and Delphine behind her, a pit growing in her gut. She walked into a small bare room, with two men inside.
One stood, fists clenched, shoulder bandaged. He had small, intense eyes, and looked sweaty.
The other was tied to a chair, ragged and beaten, face bruised and bloodied. He had a rag tied around his eyes as a blindfold.
Dee tensed, her body coiled, ready to spring. She held onto herself and her emotions with an iron grip.
It was Fletcher.
Quela offered her the handgun and waited, the test clear.
Fletcher’s head swung up, hearing that there were more in the room with him. “Are you going to kill me? You kill a blade runner, you’re gonna doom every replicant in the Row. They’ll bring SWAT. They’ll bring military. They’ll burn the Row to the ground and everyone in it. They’ve done it before,” he said. He shook his head, chuckling, spitting blood on the ground. “I thought replicants were supposed to be smart.”
The other man punched Fletcher across the face. “Shut up,” he said.
Fletcher coughed, spitting more blood.
Quela looked at Dee.
The replicants were all armed. A shoot-out would not end well.
Four vs one. Even if she got Fletcher free somehow, he was in bad shape and wouldn’t be much help.
Dee looked at Quela and nodded her head back to the hallway. She mouthed the word “talk”.
Quela waited a moment, staring at Dee. Then she shrugged and nodded.
Back in the other room, the four Iron Court replicants faced Dee.
Delphine spoke up. “I knew we shouldn’t have trusted her. I told you the new ones don’t turn. All they do is obey.”
“Are you stupid?” Dee snapped, looking at the one who’d spoken, doing her best to sound cold, calculated and pissed off. She turned back at Quela. “I thought you all wanted to change things. That’s why I came to you. My partner ends up dead or missing, what do you think happens to me? You think the LAPD will accept any explanation I give? Wallace? I’ll be suspect #1 and it won’t matter what I say or what I do, I’ll be toast. They’ll toss me out and replace me with another one, just to be sure.”
“So?” Nieth asked. “You’re with us now. You don’t need to go back.”
Dee shook her head, putting her fists on the table. “And then you’ve lost someone on the inside. In the RDU. A Blade Runner. Think of the intel and the resources I can bring to the table. But if it comes out that I’ve turned? A nexus 9? Wallace’s new model? You think Wallace will allow that?” She looked around at all of them. “There’s nowhere I could go that he wouldn’t be able to find me. And he would torch all of Retirement Row to do it. This only works if I’m still on the inside and that can only happen if my partner is alive and well.”
Manipulation: 2d8 = 5,1 → No Successes
Push → Reroll 1d8 = 3 → No Successes
Push → Reroll 1d8 = 3 → No Successes
Dee takes 2 stress from pushing twice with a 1 on their initial dice roll.
Quela offered the handgun once again. “This is the test, Dee. Show us you can go against your programming. We’ll dispose of the body. You don’t need to worry about that. But you do need to prove yourself. So what’s it going to be?”
Fletcher shook his head to clear it.
He could tell they’d all left for the moment, but he felt they’d be back soon, and with ill intent.
He tried to slip out of the ropes tying his hands behind the chair.
Mobility: d10 + d6 = 5,4 → No Successes
Push: d10 + d6 = 2,10 → Two Successes*
*Critical: Act Quietly
He managed to twist and turn his arms and hands in such a way to loosen the ropes, gritting his teeth against the pain his broken fingers caused him, slipping first one arm, then the other out. He pulled the blindfold off, blinking in the dim light. He was in a small bare room, boarded up windows and the chair he’d just escaped from. Not much in here to use for a weapon and he wouldn’t be much good with one right now anyways.
Time to get out.
He went to the boarded up windows and started working on them, pushing and pulling to see how strong they were, trying not to make too much noise.
Observation w/disadvantage from cracked skull: 1d10
1d10 = 10 → Two Successes*
*Act quickly
He spotted one of the plywood panels was hanging fairly loose, only a couple old screws holding it to the window. It wouldn’t take much to take it out. He got a good grip on it. It likely wouldn’t come out quietly, so once it was out, it’d be time to run.
Going to give advantage for the successful observation
Force w/Advantage: 3d6 = 1,2,2 → No Successes
Push → 2d6 = 2,1 → No Successes
He fails and takes 2 Health from the 1s. Humans take damage instead of stress if they are making a strength or agility roll. Replicants always take stress.
Fletcher’s pulled and yanked but the plywood held on. His hands slid across the wood, catching splinters and cuts. He fell to his knees, bloody hands on his lap, pain pulsing through them,
He wasn’t getting out.
Dee took the gun. “If this is what it takes,” She said, walking down the hallway quickly, her mind racing.
The other replicants followed.
“Shit, shit, shit, I knew this was a bad idea,” Rem swore in her mind.
“Shut up and let me think!”
Coming to the end of the hall, she dashed forward into the room, slamming the door behind her and locking it.
Fletcher had the chair in his hands, ready to swing when he saw Dee. He stopped, eyes wide.
Dee held her hand out. “Chair now!”
He handed it over and she jammed it under the doorknob.
A heavy force slammed into the door, making it shudder.
There was arguing and shouting from the hallway.
Dee looked around the room. “Shit, shit, shit,” she muttered.
Fletcher pointed at the plywood-covered window. “It’s weak, I couldn’t get it but maybe you could.”
Bullet holes ripped through the door, causing both detectives to duck away.
Dee looked at Fletcher, and then at the boarded-up window. “Follow me,” she said. She ran and jumped, throwing her arms in front of her face as she slammed into the wood.
Force: d12 + d10 = 12,6 → *Three Successes!
*Act Quickly, Unharmed
She crashed through the plywood, breaking it into pieces and hitting the ground on her feet, free hand down to steady her, her other hand still holding the PK-D.
Fletcher used his good hand to pull himself through the window and outside.
They stood on the sidewalk of a street filled with abandoned buildings, piles of trash and scrap scattered all over.
Dee stood. She grabbed Fletcher by the arm. Her Spinner was on the other side of the building, no easy way to get to it without likely running into replicants. She gave him her KIA. “Run,” she said. “And call Dispatch.”
“What are you going to do?” he asked.
“I’ll be right behind you,” she said, pushing him. “Now go!”
He didn’t need to be told twice, running away from the building as fast as he could manage, calling Dispatch on the KIA and requesting back up.
Dee stayed back, firing back into the room, trying to delay the replicants as much as possible. She saw the male replicant come around the corner of the building and aimed the gun towards him.
He closed the distance quickly and got a shot off first, grazing Dee’s arm.
She didn’t react to the pain and waited. She fired, once, catching the man in the chest.
He stumbled, one hand going to his wound, before collapsing onto the ground.
Dee glanced back into the room, the door inside splintering into pieces from the force of the replicants. She ran after Fletcher.
The male replicant came around the corner and was at Medium Range.
Draw for Initiative: Dee → 2, Male replicant → 1
Male replicant went first. He moved from Medium into Short Range and fired his pistol.
Firearms: 2d8 = 7,5 → One Success
He dealt 1 damage to Dee.
Dee fired back.
Firearms: d12 + d8 = 6,7 → Two Successes*
She did 3 Damage and dealt a Crit. This dropped him to 0 Health, Broken, after getting shot by Fletcher previously.
Crit = 7 → Punctured Lung
With him out of the picture, Dee turns and runs.
Dee heard a crash behind her and, turning, she saw the female replicants rushing the window to get through and give chase.
Down the street, the ground was covered in garbage and debris.
Fletcher managed to put more distance from the replicants, but they were catching up to Dee.
Dee stopped, turned, raising the PK-D and firing at Quela. She missed.
Quela and Delphine returned fire, a bullet grazing Dee’s arm.
With all the commotion behind him, Fletcher managed to duck behind a pile of scrap metal, hiding.
Dee kept running, the replicants continuing to fire, but missing. Up ahead, the street ended, a huge pile of debris from a collapsed building blocking the way with no easy way over or around.
A dead end.
Dee turned and fired at the replicants, missing again, but keeping two of them at a distance.
The third, Delphine, closed in.
Dee ducked behind a rusted out car and fired at Delphine.
Two shots caught the female replicant, one in the shoulder and one taking her ear off. She went spinning to the ground.
“Delphine!” Quela yelled. “You N-9 motherfucker!”
Nieth and Quela took cover behind scrap, firing back at Dee.
“I never should have trusted you!”
Bullets plinked off the metal as Dee shied away.
Peeking back out, Dee saw Fletcher approaching Quela from behind. “Goddamnit, no,” she whispered. “You were supposed to run.”
“He’ll be a good distraction,” Rem said.
Quela must have heard Fletcher and moved just as he swung a lead pipe at her from behind, missing.
“Don’t-” Rem said, but Dee was already moving. She dropped the gun, rushing at Quela who was turning her gun onto Fletcher.
Quela heard her coming but was too slow.
Dee slammed into her, gripping her around the shoulders and sweeping her legs out from under her, bringing her down to the pavement, hard. Dee heard something break.
Quela cried out in pain.
The snap. The crying out. It reminded her of…
“Not now,” Rem said.
Nieth took off running, scrambling away from a scene that had turned against her.
Dee didn’t think. She went after the N-8. She tackled Nieth, pinning her to the ground.
Nieth struggled.
Dee was about to pick her up and slam her against the ground when Fletcher spoke.
“Dee, wait,” he said, walking closer. He was looking at Nieth and Nieth was looking at him, her teeth gritted, her eyes wide.
Terrified, like a frightened animal.
“It’s over,” Fletcher said. “It’s over,” he said again, softly.
Dee could feel the tightness leave Nieth’s body as she stopped struggling. Dee slowly let go, standing up, looking down at the replicant.
Nieth huddled into a fetal position, closing her eyes and sobbing.
It started to rain.
Dee felt…cold. She looked at the rain falling on the back of her hands.
“You got all of them,” Rem said. “Good job.”
It didn’t feel good.
“Dee, are you okay?” Fletcher asked, his voice concerned.
She shook her head. “No,” she said, her voice cold. “I’m not.”
Mechanics:
Fletcher starts at Long and Dee at Medium Range from the replicants.
Draw initiative: Dee → 1, Replicants → 2, Fletcher → 3
Dee Flees. The Replicants Pursue. Fletcher Flees.
Chase Obstacle: 1d12 = 9 → There is garbage and debris all over the street. All Pursue/Flee maneuvers take disadvantage.
Dee: d12 = 4 → No Successes
Nieth: d8 = 1 → No Successes
Delphine: d8 = 6 → One Success
Quela: d10 = 6 → One Success
Fletcher: d10 = 8 → One Success
Fletcher moves to Extreme Range from Nieth. Dee stays at Medium Range from Nieth. Delphine and Quela move to Short Range from Dee, Long range from Fletcher.
Next round
Dee Stands and Shoots at Quela.
Nieth Pursues. Delphine Stands and Shoots. Quela Stands and Shoots. Fletcher Hides.
Chase Obstacle: 1d12 = Chasers find themselves in an open space, free off traffic and other people. Advantage to Stand And Shoot, Disadvantage to Hide
Dee → Firearms: d12 + 2d8 = 2, 1, 2 → No Successes
Delphine: 2d8 = 6,1 → One Success
Quela: 2d10 = 1,5 → No Successes
Nieth → Mobility: 2d8 = 4,8 → One Success
Fletcher → Stealth: 1d10 = 7 → One Success
Because the replicants are quite distracted by Dee, I’m not going to have them roll Observation. Fletcher successfully Hides.
Delphine and Quela are carrying .357 subcompact pistols.
Delphine does 1 damage to Dee.
Nieth moves into Short range from Dee.
Next Round
Dee Flees. The replicants Stand and Shoot. Fletcher stays in hiding.
Chase Obstacle: 1d12 = 7 → A pair of LAPD cops intervene. (I’m going to rule this doesn’t happen as it doesn’t make sense in this part of the city)
Dee’s Mobility: d12 + d8 = 7,5 → One Success. Dee moves from Short to Medium Range from the replicants. This puts them over the maximum range for their .357s, giving them disadvantage.
Delphine: 1d8 = 4 → No Successes
Nieth: 1d8 = 2 → No Successes
Quela: 1d10 = 1 → No Successes
They all miss as Dee puts more distance between her and the replicants.
Next round
Dee Stands and Shoots. The replicants Pursue. Fletcher stays hidden.
Obstacle: 1d12 = 1 → “Dead end ahead. If the Prey has decided to Flee, Hide or Block, their maneuver fails automatically”
Dee → Firearms: d12 + d8 = 4,1 → No Successes
Delphine → Mobility: 2d8 = 7,1 → One Success
Nieth → Mobility: 2d8 = 2,2 → No Successes
Quela → Mobility: 1d10 = 1 → No Successes
Delphine moves up to Short Range. The other two hesitate as Dee fires at them, staying at Medium.
With the dead end, this has turned from a Chase into Combat.
Next round
Dee takes cover behind a rusted out hulk of a car and fires at Delphine with the PK-D.
Firearms: d12 + d8 = 10, 7 → Three Successes*
*Crit and does +2 damage, for a total of 4. This drops Delphine to 0, so she’s Broken.
Crit. Roll: 1d12 = “Ear torn off”
Delphine goes down.
Nieth and Quela move up into Short Range, taking cover and firing back.
Quela: d10 = 4 → No Successes
Nieth: d8 = 3 → No Successes
They both miss.
Next round
Fletcher ambushes Quela, coming out of hiding with an improvised weapon, some piece of pipe he found. He has a disadvantage with his broken fingers, but an advantage because of the ambush, making it a straight roll.
Fletcher HtH: 2d6 = 5,5 → No Successes
Push: 2d6 = 5,1 → No Successes
Fletcher takes 1 damage from the 1, dropping him to 1 Health.
Dee moves from Short into Engaged Range, attacking Quela.
Dee HtH: d12 + d10 = 11, 4 → Two Successes
vs Quela HtH: d8 = 1 → No Successes
Dee does 2 damage, dropping Quela to 3 Health and Crits.
Crit. roll: 1d12 = 11 → “Shattered Pelvis”
Quela collapses.
Nieth Sprints.
Mobility: d8 = 5 → No Successes
She can only move to Short Range from Dee.
Dee moves into Engaged range with Nieth, making an opposed HtH roll, attempting to grapple.
Dee HtH: d12 + d10 = 8,4 → One Success
Nieth: d8 = 7 → One Success
Dee can Push after the defender rolls, and does so.
d12 + d10 = 8,8 → Two Successes.
She succeeds in grappling Nieth, who drops the gun.
On Fletcher’s turn, he attempts to talk her into surrendering.
Manipulation: 2d10 = 4,7 → One Success
Nieth stops struggling and surrenders.
It’s over.
Post-Chapter log
I didn’t know it was going to end that way, truly. I did think Fletcher getting captured would be a cool moment, but I really expected Dee to convince them not to force her to shoot him, I really didn’t expect the dice to do me like that! But that’s why I’m playing a game and not just writing a story.
I also really expected to just have Dee and Fletcher run away, but after she took out the male replicant so easily, I started to think, “maybe she can do this, maybe she could take them all out.” Getting a dead end also made running away no longer an option.
This chapter took a lot of time and energy but I’m really happy with how it turned out.
Reflecting on this substack, I’ve published 64 posts and have been publishing for over a year. I’m up to 116 subscribers! Which is great. I’m ready to take the plunge and go Paid. What does this mean? Only that if you feel you get value from reading this substack, you have the option to pay for it. I knew I was going to do this eventually and now seems like the right time for it. Originally, I wasn’t going to make any difference between paid and free subscribers, all content would be freely available, but I am considering something else.
All solo-gaming related posts and actual-plays would remain free, of course. But I was thinking I could share more personal thoughts and feelings, about random things, or whatever I felt like. These posts would be for Paid Subscribers. It could be thoughts and feelings about my job, the world, current events, movies and tv shows I watched, etc. It would be unrelated to the solo-gaming and more personal, which is why it would be for paid subscribers.
Also, perhaps paid subscribers would get to decide what solo game or system I venture into next, that type of thing.
These are things I’m considering but no final decisions yet.
What a great sales pitch, right? Here, upgrade to a Paid Subscription and you might get more posts and maybe you get to help decide what games I play! Fun! Please let me know what you think in the comments. Maybe you hate my ideas! That’s fine! Tell me! Maybe you don’t care! Cool! Let me know! I’d appreciate anyone who takes the time and energy to read all this and chime in.
Next week-ish, expect a case review and write-up. This case certainly ended sooner than expected!
Thanks for reading.
I really thought this was it for ol' Fletcher. Congrats on the growth!