[Junk XIII] And They All Fall Down (K 9-1)

Rich

Kiddo,

The ride north was long and slow. Franken-truck stayed together, but by day two, your Ma confided that she doubts the hunk-o-junk will not make the trip out of the bomb planting. Svenja mother-henned the bomb, often riding in the back with it, all bundled up in her rad suit. Kitty and Mallow led your little pack, Gob stuck by the truck with you and your Ma, while a Prospect drove Franken-truck and the other rode with Mallow.

Other than bitter cold and occasionally rainy, it was peaceful.

Did you head straight to the Big Rock Clan or hit the Ascendant first?

Either way, you've got your drek settled and Svenja just set up the nuke's timer. How long did you want it for?

Where are you when Svenja does this?

When you plant a nuclear bomb to blow up a lake, roll +Weird. On a hit, it goes off. Also, for a hit, choose options. 7-9, choose 2. On a 10+, choose 3.

* You're able to evacuate your allies (in this case, the Candies)
* You're able to evacuate innocents (in this case, your Big Rock friends)
* There's no blowback or immediate impacts to the surrounding area / it was a properly contained blast
* This impresses / dismays enemies for a generation.

On a miss, the MC will detail the disaster.

Good luck!

Adam

We hit Big Rock first... Believe me: there's nothing I want more than to just hit the Ascendant, and curl up in a ball with Rinny and my Honeybee; but if I go there now, I won't wanna leave... I've gotta do this. I've gotta get out there, and get the few innocent people who live there, and make sure they're safe. This is big — and if it goes wrong, it could be the worst thing I've ever done... I've gotta make sure nothing goes wrong.

I told Svenja to set the bomb long enough so that everyone could get away safely, with a bit extra in case something goes wrong. The intent here is to blow up the lake not the people... Hell, even the frakking chosen can run. If nobody can drink the water, it won't frakking matter whether they're around or not.

I'm driving up to the Big Rock clan's cave when Svenja's supposed to be setting the bomb's timer. I feel sick. This has to go down right. I'm cradling my belly, nervous as all hell, as I see the cavern entrance come into view... I repeat the plan in my head one last time for effect:

Get Bega, find the innocents, offer the chosen the ultimatum one last time, ride like a bat out of hell to get out of there. Don't tip them.

...

Get Bega, find the innocents, offer the chosen the ultimatum one last time, ride like a bat out of hell to get out of there. Don't tip them. Get Bega, find the innocents, offer the chosen the ultimatum one last time, ride like a bat out of hell to get out of there. Don't tip them. Get Bega, find the innocents, offer the chosen the ultimatum one last time, ride like a bat out of hell to get out of there. Don't tip them.

Adam

OOC: Setting off a bomb, hopefully... Roll+Weird.
(Rolled: 2d6-1. Rolls: 5, 5. Total: 9)

Adam

Boy, it was a good thing Ma' was here... Holy frak...

I dunno what it was, but she sniffed something on one of the "innocents" — Ma' was following him as we all walked back to the truck... We were loading them all into the truck, and we were just about ready to bolt when Ma' spotted this asshole with an old holdout pistol, about to shoot out the gas tank... We might've made it out of the blast range; but Svenja said if we didn't make it to the ravine, which they wouldn't have, they'd have all died of sickness anyway.

I remember hearing Svenja's rifle go off in a 3-round burst off in the distance, the sign that they were clear, and that everything was — so far — going according to plan...

OOC: Spending my bond with Zero to make that a 10. Options...
• You're able to evacuate your allies (in this case, the Candies)
• You're able to evacuate innocents (in this case, your Big Rock friends)
• There's no blowback or immediate impacts to the surrounding area / it was a properly contained blast

Rich

You, the OG Candies and the Big Rock clan, minus a few stalwart Chosen, are standing by the ravine, huddled by trucks and bikes and behind scrub when it happens.

There's a huge and sudden rumble. All the loose dirt on the ground whooshes forward at your feet like the gods whisked a big, invisible broom.

Then, form the area where the mountain was, a huge mushroom cloud billows out. Growing larger than the hill and out, then it floats slowly upwards.

Mallowcup is giggling and screaming her love to it, this devastation. Most everyone else is quiet, watching this unknown thing that has happened. Some of the Big Rock children cry and sob, women, too. Their home... gone.

As the mushroom floats lazily upwards, there is only quiet. Even Mallow shuts up. Your Ma is beside you, she takes your hand. She's watching the cloud, right there beside you. She seems awed, maybe impressed?

What do you do?

Adam

It's so big... Everything about it is just so ... so massive. Svenja told us all to look away until the flash hit, because apparently it could make us blind. I waited until I saw my shadow on the ground dance, then turned to watch the enormous column of smoke tower up towards the sky. My jaw is slack, and my eyes open wide, half-horrified, half-amazed at the scale of the bomb's destruction...

That's when the bang hit us. It was a solid, sudden sound — long enough after the blast that I almost thought it was a second bomb. I gripped Ma's hand a little tighter, and felt Leah jump in fear. I don't blame her. Everyone should be afraid of something like that. I stand there a while, not knowing what to do... How to move on... We've tainted the supply of those things — limited, if not completely eliminated, their ability to make new hosts. If there are any of them left, it'll be a more conventional fight — where death means something.

The crying in the background brings me back down to reality. These people are going to need a home. I'm not sure whether the life they had before all this was good — though I'd imagine living in fear of the chosen probably wasn't good — but I owe a safer life to these people... A part of me knows this was the right decision — but a better part of me, the part Dad raised, is screaming at me to make this right. I look up at Ma' with a new resolve, and whisper, "let's go back to the Ascendant for a bit... Get Stitch to look these people over... Then I wanna move south to Salt with you. I don't think I can live up here anymore. I don't like what it's done to me."

Rich

Your Ma squeezes your hand. "It's a hard world. You got hard for Leah. Had to be done." She's looking at you now, all serious. "I'm proud of you."

Mallowcup gives out a war cry and grabs one of the Prospects, lays a big wet kiss on her. The skinny girl jerks, but then she just stands there and sort of takes it. She knows better than to fight. Who knows? Maybe she likes it.

Kitty starts barking orders at the refugees of Big Rock, telling them to head to the Ascendant. Svenja adds that she'll help them build some homes, make sure they get food.

What do you do?

Adam

Had to be done... Yeah, I know. So long as that frakking lake was around, the whole of the flats was in danger. We used to be so small, up in the Valley. But when we moved out of there, and breeders started making babies, we started growing. We were bound to need that lake eventually — and when that day came, we'd all be frakked. This bomb means we'll need to move out of the flats if we want to grow, but that needed to be done anyway. At least now we'll do it without a crazy, mind-enslaving cult chasing us. I just wish I ... Uh... Wait. What did Ma' say?

Ma's proud of me?

...

I don't know what to say to that. Thanks? I kinda feel like I'm in the middle of doing something worth being proud of though... I've gotta make sure these folks don't get shafted. I've gotta make sure they can live out their lives, and benefit from this ordeal. Yeah, I did it for Leah — and while I wish there was another way, I would definitely do it for her again — but I'm not done yet. I have a sneaking suspicion I'll never be done...

A smile lifts the corner of my mouth. I always kinda thought that Ma' being proud of me was the goal... Like you work towards it, and then you achieve it, and think "what now?" — but I wasn't trying to make Ma' proud. I'm not confused — I know exactly what to do now. I'm going to keep doing what I do, and I'm going to do my best to make sure the people I love are safe. If that makes Ma' proud, then I guess that's a bonus.

I shuffle to face her, and wrap my arms around her tightly. "I couldn't have done it without you," even though I would have tried... I am where I am because of the people I know and love. Speaking of which... "Let's go home."

Rich

Your Ma hugs you back, then says into your ear, "You're frakkin A right about needing me. Franken truck was aces."

Then you turn to take care of these Big Rock folks and head to... home.

--END SCENE--