Rat Stomping

Celebrations are a rare thing in the wasteland, family and friends might have a detail with you on your birthday or your anniversary but things like Halloween, New Year and other festivities aren't as celebrated as they were before the war. People are simply way too busy to stop their daily routine and work to throw a party, nowadays getting an entire settlement drunk and stuffed with food is nothing but an invitation for vicious raiders to invade, rape, destroy and enslave.

Today was different thought, the Rotten Gut bar was throwing a massive party with food and booze at 50% off. The people around prepared non sentient robots to work as guards and several automated sentry guns where installed around the perimeter of the island, all paid by Utah Johnny, the old Ghoul owner of the bar. Nobody knew very well why he was doing this but they didn't thought much about it.

The apparently random party brought people of all kinds in there, people like sailors, miners, adventurers, mercenaries, traders and even a storyteller or two. The bar was filled to the brim and its chitchatting noisiness was so loud that it even made several ghouls of the area feel nostalgic, they had never seen so many people concentrated and happily speaking in a single area after the fall of the bombs.

It seemed like the party would have gone forever, but suddenly Utah Johnny's voice cracked over the bar's speaker system and suddenly everybody got quiet. He got behind the counter with a mic on his hand.

"Alright folks, booze is running low so this is going to be the last round. It's all on the house but the instant its over I want you all out."

"C'mon man, I know you have way more booze down in the basement, the place is filled to the brim!" Asked a patron as he sit next to him.

He then cocked his shotgun and raised it high, with his other hand.

"It isn't a suggestion, it is an order."

What once was a deafening multitude suddenly turned into an awkward silence.

"Sorry y'all" Johnny said. "It's just... I'm going back home."

"Really? When?" Said more patrons, as they got closer to him.

"Tomorrow morning, as soon as you'all leave I'll start packing. I'll be gone by dawn."

Murmurs invaded the entire room, even the people who didn't knew the owner much were speaking in whispers and soft voices.

"But why?!" Asked a drunken girl, who was probably too young to be so drunk.

"As you might know I'm not from 'round here. I was born in Utah, hence the name. I was here as a tourist when the bombs fell, I then found this bar and yadda yadda yadda, the rest isn't important. There's also the basement, its...it's infested with rats, like, they are everywhere, and everyday they are more and more. This place isn't sustainable because these fuckers are eating all my food, drinking my liquors and shitting and fucking everywhere. I would deal with the problem myself but... I'm too damm old for that kind of shit anymore. I have a radiation bomb ready, it won't explode per-se but liberate a great wave of gamma radiation, I plan to throw it down and watch all the rodents die from radiation burns. The basement's lead walls should keep it contained. When they are all done I'll take all of today's winnings, then I go down and pick all the rats, along with all the surviving booze and start my journey. Perks of being a Ghoul I guess, I can drink and eat irradiated food without as much damage. So, last warning, you better end your drinks and get out of here or else you'll wake up dead and irradiated."

Once more several murmurs inundated the entire bar, this time louder, quicker and more intense. People were talking about what to do and what will happen after.

"So, what if we go down ourselves, those vermin won't much deal for us." Asked a roughed up man, strong and dangerous looking.

"Been there, done that. If you go with a big group the fucking rats hide away. I need a small group, about three persons or so... not gonna lie, these rodents are vicious fucks, if you go down I'll give you tonight's tip jar, there has to be at least a thousand caps in there, plus all the dead rats that you can carry. So...who volunteers?"

Truth be told, Akoni isnt big into the whole party scene thing. Ever since he was a kid, he never really went to anything social in nature. Only real reason he was even at that bar was because the liquor was cheap, and high proof. So in his mind it was the perfect opportunity to pick up some antiseptic for a couple less caps than usual. What he hadn't counted on was the amounts of people there. Maybe more than a hundred drunk, largely underage wasters crammed into a room screaming at each other. Hell, he saw some moron run full speed at a table, fling his body onto it, and snap the thing in half. Sometime along the way, Akoni got roped into some drinking game with cups and a pebble by a group of inebriated ghoulettes. Thankfully, he's a big dude that can largely hold his liquor. So, when 'Johnny Utah' made his big speech about rats and leaving and whatnot, he was only a little bit sauced.

Completely sober he probably would have done it anyway. Good chance to help out, and make some caps for more supply. Just so happens that at the time he was a bit laiden with extra ammo, which he had spend a few weeks savings on. Carrying out a little extermination work might not be such a bad idea. The man pushed through the crowd, doing his best not to step on any toes as he made his way to the front. As he neared the front of the wall of bodies, he drew his 9mm to check the action. Took some force to remove the magazine from its well, and the chamber was almost rusted through. Wouldnt last long, but rodents arent particularly sturdy to bullets. As he stepped up to Johnny, the eyes on the back of his head sent a chill down his spine. It took him a moment to muster up the words. Despite his gruff exterior, he seemed rather nervous about the whole affair, stuttering a little at most words.

"I may be able to help you, I beleive." Akoni spoke with a voice more fitting a gravel trail than it did a person. It was plainly obvious he didnt converse much. He carefully searched his vocabulary for every word, lingering on each sylable just a little longer than most people. His accentuation of words was off, too. Placing emphasys at the wrong places in the sentance. For such an intimidating guy, he's a really horrible conversationalist.

The noise coming from inside the bar was booming. Cheers, yelling, laughing; the sound seemed to ooze and seep through the walls of the Rotten Gut. Despite all this, Ronny sat out back, nonplussed by it all. He was drowning out the patrons with his little radio. Shoved up against his ear so tightly you'd almost think it was part of his head, the little machine played a crackled and fuzzy version of "Promised Land" by Chuck Berry. Ronny loved this song; it made him optimistic about a future where he would find his own Promised Land.

Humming and tapping his foot poorly in sync with the music, Ronny sat with his eyes closed, in a state of bliss. This is the closest he had ever gotten to people without them shunning him away or turning hostile, even though most of them were not aware of his presence. He was too frightened to go inside with K8-43, whom he had followed here. K8-43 and Ronny had met earlier that day. K8 did not treat Ronny with any contempt or malice. In fact, they had barely spoke at all, but Ronny had already regarded him as friend whether K8 knew it or not.

So after following K8, here Ronny sat, excluding himself from the party, but this was good enough. He had made a friend, and now he was at a party, he thought. Ronny would savor this moment.

From his dirt-covered skin to his choice in gear, anyone could see that K8 was an experienced scavenger. In the mix of body odor and alcohol laden in the air, his scent went unnoticed in the crowds as he passed through once entering the establishment aptly named the Rotten Gut. Few would give him a glance as he isolated himself from the crowd and allowed his keen perception to kick in, looking over the various patrons Utah Johnny was so graciously serving in his house of sin. Whenever somebody would introduce themselves to rope him in to anything considered 'fun', K8-43 would staunchly refuse until they left him alone.

Satisfied with the activity and the potential of work, he would leave the bar and position himself near the entrance, an ear to the hustle and bustle of the drunken crowds. He was a small distance away from the super mutant he had met earlier, whom he had exchanged few words with beyond a mere polite greeting and introduction. Ronny was holding a portable radio to his ear to hear the music, two lyrics of which caught the androids interest in the moment.

There's people there who care a little about me,
And they won't let the poor boy down.

K8-43 had taken notice after he met the feeble-minded mutant that he had followed him. For what reason, he did not know, but he couldn't help but sympathize with him because of his condition. Not many know of the terror of being dipped in the Forced Evolutionary Virus with guts, dead animals, and human limbs, among other garbage.

The fact that the mutant even came out as he did was a blessing, for the path that he heard members of the High Evolutionary must go through to serve Kunuilakea isn't a kind vigil. K8 knew scarce few super mutants that were friendly, even in the decades he lived in the dregs of society, but those incredibly rare mutants that were mentally stable (and remembered) told him of their trauma after a couple of years of being familiar with eachother.

The discrimination that mutants such as they face would be considered appalling in any society of the old world, but K8 had not the time nor the resources to tackle such a lofty ideal. He was no last, great hope of mankind. That did not stop him from feeling grateful that such a powerful companion had taken an interest in following him, however, when a looming threat was always in the back of his mind. In a twist of fate, K8-43's inner ruminations were interrupted when he heard Utah Johnny's raspy voice crackle over the speaker system.

A short period of time passes as the synthetic takes a few minutes to listen to what Utah Johnny has to say, taking mental notes on the developing situation as time went on, particularly of the first volunteer.

Turning his head towards Ronny, the stoic android would speak up to grab his attention. "You hear any of that? We're going to be doing some work, and you're going to get paid." He spoke in a cold, factual manner, gesturing towards the entrance to the bar before walking in, expecting him to follow suit behind him. As K8-43 made his way through the crowd and found himself in front of the counter, he would speak up to acquire Utah's attention. "Show us the way to that basement and we'll clear it out." If Ronny followed him in to the Rotted Gut, he would add the following. "Don't mind the green fellow, he is friendly."

Johnny saw the three men who approached him, two humans and a big and green super-mutant, all wearing wasteland gear of shoddy quality, two of them wearing firearms and the big one with a sledgehammer on his back.

"Alright, but try not to shot or break my barrels and drinks, I have some wine and scotchs down there that have been ageing for more than two centuries, I'll need them for my journey."

He then walked towards an old and broken Nuka-Cola machine placed on the furthest wall of the bar. Even if he was frail and decrepit the people around had a great amount of respect for the old man and they moved away, creating a path for him to walk. Without a second thought Johnny pushed a set of buttons on the machine and with a hissing sound it opened its heavy door and revealed a set of stairs that went down.

"Hahahaha! So that's where the stairs to your fabled basement are! I've been trying to locate your booze hoard for ages!" Mentioned an old drunktard psyker, multicolored sparks spewing out of her eyes with every guffaw that she had.

"I know Wendy, I know." His voice seemed kind of sad and melancholic, deeply inside he knew that he was going to miss all of his patrons, but still he missed his hometown even more. "Oh, and by the way, the Rad-Bomb is already down, so... be careful with that. In case you activate it the security measures will activate and the exit door will shut, sealing all of you down there, perhaps Mr.Big & Green might survive it, but you two smoothskins will die, or perhaps become like me, eh, dying its a better fate if ya ask me."

And with that said he moved away to give you three access to the stairs, the people around were cheering and hollering at your bravery and even several women and men had promised to reward you all with sexual acts if you returned in one piece.

"Technically speaking, we have a 1.6831 repeating% chance of surviving a large dose or gamma radiation without developing ghoulism or a form of cancer." Its not comforting, nor is it eloquent, but Akoni offers his version of encouragement for his new companions. The large man looks over the two with a keen eye, gathering as much information of the two as he possibly could at a glance. The mutant seems fairly normal for a supermutant, if a little dull. Not much of an issue though, and he'd offered to help patch up a few of his kind before. The anatomy isnt so far off. The man on the other hand, something was wrong with him. If it was his eyes or the way he moved, he couldn't quite place it. Still though, keeping a watch on his was probably a good idea.

Regardless, Akoni quietly followed the aging ghoul to the cellar, checking over his supplies as he walked. He knew it was a good idea to always keep a small medkit with him for this kind of situation. He had enough antiseptic, ibuprofen, and bandages to patch up himself and his companions if anyone was injured. A torn jugular maybe not, but scrapes cuts and bites he could handle. Akoni set his gaze on the dark stairwell before him, diving down into the cellar below. It was rather cool during the decent thanks to the concrete walls around them. The staircase itself was made from soggy, molding wood; as well as cinder blocks. He was careful to avoid any sketchy looking planks or crumbling steps on his way down. Once at the bottom, Akoni pulled up his homemade hazard mask. It was torn and crudely made; comprised of four rags packed with charcoal and tissues, as well as an old air freshener stuffed in for good measure.

"Exactly how many rodents can we expect down here, Mr. Utah?"

Ronny wasn't quite sure what was going on. He was simply following K8 while still listening to his radio. Playing over the small speakers was "Atom Bomb Baby" by Five Stars, though, walking through the inside of the bar he was having a lot of trouble hearing it clearly. Ronny was a tad frustrated by this, but as he made his way to the stairwell with K8 and this new person that he didn't know, he became aware that he had been dragged into something.

Ronny turned off his radio and looked around. Everyone in the bar was looking at him. He wasn't sure why and turned to K8.

"What happening? Why everyone looking at us?"

K8-43 took special note of how the crowds parted in respect for Utah Johnny as he walked in a brisk pace behind him, a casual tilt of his head being the only obvious physical cue he had offered in response. As the old ghoul revealed the location to the basement, the android reached behind him and took hold of the slung rifle against his back to bring it forward. Hearing of the dangers that lay ahead of the group, all he responded with was a simple nod. He was already invested in the job, and few people had volunteered. If anything, this would give him an excellent local reputation.

K8-43 would raise an eyebrow at the middle-aged mans attempt at encouragement, before hearing the concerns of the super mutant who had opted to follow him. Ignoring the variety of men and women mouthing off promises to worthless pleasures he wouldn't have time for, he turned around to face Ronny, and he would take a hand off of his rifle to gesture behind him, to the rat-infested hellhole below before he began speaking.

"These stairs lead to a basement infested with rats, and we have to clear it of them or else this bar won't be able to keep working the way it is right now." He paused to get a breath of air, and keeping in with his neutral tone, continued. "I'll give you a share of the caps we get from this job if we make it out. Be careful down here, we are only aiming for the rats." While he neglected to mention the radiation bomb, he doubted it would really matter in the grand scheme of things if the super mutant understood the only targets they needed to focus on. Setting his hand back under the rifle to get a stable grip on it, he would turn away from Ronny to walk down the dilapidated stairs, his Rangemaster pointed ahead of him.

He paused for a second to turn his head around to look at the mutant up on the stairs to add, "Call out anything that you see ahead of time to give us proper forewarning, and remember not to get cocky. Rats are terrible if they swarm, and they can kill even you." He found his way down the stairs and moved out of the way of the staircase to allow Ronny to pass, taking a knee and bringing his rifle up to bear, ready to defend himself in case of any attack by rats as soon as they entered.

Johnny looked down before sealing the door back again and gave some information to your questions and doubts.

How many rats are down there?:

What will happen if we set on the dirty bomb?:

What will be our reward?:

Who's gonna continue with the bar?:

What are you going to do after this?:

Any last warning?:

Nothing more to say for now.:

And with that said he locked the door once your three crossed the threshold and went down onto the dark.

The basement was incredibly ample, there were plenty of bulbs and lights down there that gave it an orange and warm light, there were several wood pillars with big mounds of moss and mold growing onto them. Between the pillars there were several shelves full of boxes with assortments of booze bottles, barrels stacked one on top of the other, dozens of boxes of Cheezy poofs and other pre-war foods, fruits of several kinds and sacks of wheat and flour. So far none of the rats made its appearance, but the sounds of chittering and quickly tapping feet could be heard from time to time, coming from all directions and inside the walls. The rats were now studying the newcomers, learning of their intentions and analysing the threat level. It wouldn't be much until they made their appearance.

Akoni turns to his fellow exterminators, cocking his head to the side a bit as he spoke "Guns are likely a bad idea, sir. I wouldnt try to shoot the rodents unless you have high skill with firearms. I'm Akoni." And with that he turns down towards the main room of the basement, scanning over the casks of liquor. He slides his SMG into its holster, thinking an automatic might be a bad idea in this situation, and opts to swing his rifle around and into his hands. Akoni smoothly checks the action for any jamming before aiming down sight into the murky basement before them.
"Given their size, try aiming for the heads. Massive trauma to the main body may result in viscera being thrown around the room, and disease being spread." With that he begins walking into the shadows of the cellar.

Oddly enough, the place was rather cool and dry. Enough to send a chill down the large man's back, actually. As he pokes the barrel of his rifle down the corridors of liquor barrels he mumbles to himself. Some kind of chant? Something about the knee bone and the leg bone. Its unclear. Anyway, Akoni looks back to the others with him, remembering he's actually got partners this time. He looks to Kane, and tries to manage a small smile. Obviously, he's forgotten he has a mask on. "Maybe stick to a knife, unless you're particularly good with that .223." He turns back towards the corridor he's peeking down. One or two of the rats they had heard to much about scurries across the floor, leaving little nicks in the cement floor. They're obviously sort of dangerous.

"Let us proceed with caution, mutant and shady man."

As Johnny closed the door behind them, Ronny let out a little whimper. He had heard K8's words, but now he felt stuck and claustrophobic. He still wasn't quite sure what was going on, he just wanted to pull out his radio again. Feeling frightened and a lack of confidence in how to conduct himself, he slowly and clumsily made his way down the stairs to the bottom of the basement.

"I no want to fight. I just want to listen." He pulled out his radio and motioned toward it.

He switched on the radio which was now playing "Sol Hoopii" by Lehua. It was a soft, calming tune, and Ronny almost immediately felt more at ease. He closed his eyes and began wagging his finger with the tempo. He then walked over and found a place to sit on the floor by some barrels.

K8-43 raised an eyebrow upon Akoni making the recommendation to use a knife instead of his rifle. "I'm not going to chance getting bitten by rats if I can help it." He replied in a vaguely annoyed tone, taking mental note of the fact that the stranger switched his sub-machine gun out for his rifle. "Aiming for the head instead of center mass on these rats would be very stupid when if you miss, this whole place blows up with us in it. I'd risk disease over being disintegrated any day."

He took a moment to lower his rifle and get up from being on one knee, returning to a standing position as Ronny found his way down to the bottom of the basement from the stairs. Presuming Akoni would be keeping watch, the android would take a few steps closer to Ronny as he spoke of his desire to be peaceful and pulled out his radio. His own shoulders tensing as the soft and calming music flowed from the device, K8-43 walked over to Ronny and put away his rifle to speak with him in a less intimidating manner. In K8-43's eyes, all it took was one missed bullet and the entire place would go up in flames. Considering the average super mutants strength, he could be the one individual that saves them from that fate. The less rats there are, the less ammo expended. The less ammunition expended, the more of a chance they make it through.

"Ron, we need your help to get through this alive." His tone and the general environment acted in contrast to the music coming from the portable radio, "If we don't have your strength on our side, this endeavor of ours could get ugly really fast. Those people up there? They didn't think much of you when they saw you. I guarantee you every last one of them saw you as a brutish hulk that shouldn't be allowed in that bar to begin with. If you help us here through your choice and strength of will, you are not only proving to them that you are different then your peers, you are proving to yourself you are better then them. Everyone will view you differently, and I mean everyone."

He paused to take a breath and to look down the corridor for a moment, making sure that nothing was bound to rush them in the next few moments, before looking at Ronny again. "I'll consider you my partner, and I won't rope you in to anything like this again without you knowing the full situation beforehand." Behind his words were a faint hint of desperation as he believed, if he failed in convincing the super mutant, they won't be able to get through this anywhere near as smoothly.

There was a small silence as Ronnie's radio ceased with its actual song, there was a small burst of static typical that meant that the DJ, Rainbow Jack, was changing songs and shortly after that Kyu Sakamoto's Sukiyaki song started playing, a song that despite being in a completely foreign language was beautiful and similar to the many american melodies that could be heard around. The song ended masking the ever increasing noise that the rats were making, as they became more and more numerous, the more rats were gathered together the bolder they became, and ultimately two appeared apparently from nowhere and attacked the peaceful Super-Mutant.

Perhaps they attacked him because despite being the biggest he seemed the least aggressive one, perhaps he unknowingly sat and blocked the entrance to one of their lairs between walls, or who knows, maybe these rats simply didn't liked him and his music. Whatever the reason was am eager rat jumped from one of the shelves and went straight to his eyes, its small claws and sharp teeth attempting to clench onto the many wrinkles and crevices of his face. These rats were fat and looked kind of diseased, with strange overgrown bumps and pulsating veins across their naked bodies.

Rat's Stats:

Melee attack formula:
ToHit = 1d100 + ((STR + LCK) x 10)

Using the Rat's stats:
ToHit = 1d100 + ((2 + 5) x 10)

Attack Dodge formula:
ToDodge = 1d100 + ((AGL + LCK) x 10)

Using Ronnie's Stats
ToDodge = 1d100 + ((6 + 4) x 10)

The member 'Overseer' has done the following action : Dice Roll

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'1d100' : 19, 72

Rat (Attacker): 19+70= 89

Ronnie (Defender): 72+100=172

Attack formula: ToHit - ToDodge = Attack

89-172= -83

Value is negative. The attack fails.

The rat loses grip from the Super-Mutants face and falls down onto the floor, rolling several times as it fell down onto his chest and legs, whimpering during all the fall but apparently unharmed from the whole ordeal. Soon after several other rats made their apparition, apparently attracted by all the yelling and whimpering from their companion.

Three rats accosted Akoni, two went towards K8-43 and another three ran towards the Super-Mutant, including the original attacker.

Akoni steps back a few paces and readies his rifle. The man aims for the nape of one of the rats' neck for a nice viscera free shot. Akoni fires the Rangemaster at the creature.
Akoni ranged To attack [1d100+120]
Rat To dodge [1d100+130]

The member 'Akoni Kahue' has done the following action : Dice Roll

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#1 '1d100' : 10

--------------------------------

#2 '1d100' : 70

Ronny let a squeal as the rat jumped at his faced. To his relief, it narrowly missed. Ronny jumped up in frightened excitement and reached for his sledgehammer. Screaming in terror and shock, he pulled back the hammer and slammed it down toward the rat that had just tried for his face.

[Ronny's Attack: 1d100 + 170]
[Rat's Dodge: 1d100 + 120]

The member 'Ronny' has done the following action : Dice Roll

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#1 '1d100' : 31

--------------------------------

#2 '1d100' : 71

Upon noticing the paparazzi arrive, K8-43 took out his rifle and aimed it at one of the two rats coming for him, firing a single round at the one closest to him.

[K8-43's Attack: 1d100 + 185]
[Rat's Dodge: 1d100 + 120]

The member 'K8-43' has done the following action : Dice Roll

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'1d100' : 93, 5

Dice rolling results

Attacking:
Akoni: (10+120+10)-(70+120) = -60
His attack fails.

Ronny: (31+170+15)-(71+120) = 25
His attack hits.

K8-43: (93+185+10)-(5+120) = 163!
CRITICAL ATTACK!

Now since there have been two successful attacks I have to do two 1d20 dice rolls to calculate the damage done.

The member 'Overseer' has done the following action : Dice Roll

---

'1d20' : 8, 2

Damage done:
Ronny: Melee Damage
1d20 + STR + WPN + (Level x 2) = Damage
8 + 13 + 15 + 2 = 38

K8-43: Ranged Damage
1d20 + PER + WPN + (Level x 2) = Damage
2 + 8 + 20 + 2 = 32x2 = 64