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Soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGyQPdK2xOQ

You, your gunfighter friend Alex, and the safecracker Nick, are holed up in a neon-lit bar lounge. You're taking cover behind a couch, while the other two are behind the bar, along with the corpses of two Triad guards. You're on the 23rd floor. The vault is on the 24th, the top floor. You're waiting here for Ryuji, who you think might be an actual ninja, to finish scouting out this floor and report back to you.

Right now you're dealing with a bit of a problem with your escape route. Two Triads on the rooftop have found the rope you were planning to use to rappel out. Ryuji's uncle, Ken, is across the street watching them with a rifle scope. "What should I do?" he asks, his voice coming from the radio on your shoulder.

You say, "Is that rifle of yours suppressed?"

"It's the Springfield I used in Korea," he says. "So no. Just a rifle."

"All right, just let them do what they want. They're still in the dark about us, I don't want to give that up just yet. Get that helicopter ready. We might have to take the high road out of here after all."

"Got it."

You spend several tense moments in the lounge, trying to watch all the entrances at once. You're still holding your weapon of choice for this stealth mission, an antique crossbow. It's working out good so far, but it doesn't give you the same comfort as a gun. You take a moment to look at Alex and Nick. You can't see their faces behind the gas masks, but Alex gives you the "O.K." sign.

You hear a slight noise, and quickly aim the crossbow towards it. But it's just Ryuji returning. His sword is drawn and bloodied. His gask mask is off, hanging at his hip, one of the eye lenses badly cracked. He looks like he took a few punches to the face, but nothing worse.

"Hey, Ryuji," you say. "Welcome back. One of those guards give you trouble?"

"いつでも恋," he says. He walks to the bar, grabs a handful of napkins, wipes the blood off his blade. "戦いは終わらんけど ..." He grabs one of the surviving bottles of liquor from behind the bar, pops the top, and takes a long swallow.

"Fair enough," you say. "Good work out there. Let's keep moving."

The four of you move quietly up the east stairs on the 24th floor. You think about whether to proceed straight to the vault, or investigate the rest of this floor first.

>West: Directly to the vault.
>North: Offices
>South: Indoor pool and exercise rooms

>>933892
>South: Indoor pool and exercise rooms

>>933892
>>South: Indoor pool and exercise rooms

>>933892
>>933985
>>934092
+1

>>933985
>>934092
>>934097


You head south. If you remember the blueprints correctly, this is the way to the pool and gyms. Your companions follow you, the four of you making your way silently through the shadowed hallways.

You come to the pool room. Both this wall, and the wall against the side of the building, are glass from floor to ceiling. You can see through the pool room out over the city, the bright lights shining against the night sky. In the pool itself you can see motion. An Asian woman emerges from the water in a bikini, dark hair glistening, water running in rivulets down her athletic body.
Outside the room, down the hallway, you can see three Triad members. They haven't seen you, since they're totally focused on the view. Not the city of splendor below, of course, but the dark-haired woman in the pool room.

>Deal with them yourself, up close and personal
>Use your crossbow
>Use a tear gas grenade
>Get help from a friend
>Read the situation further
>Something else

As for the woman, you'll kill her the same way ...

>Just to be safe
>Only if you have to
>Under no circumstances
>Something else

>>934123
>Use a tear gas grenade
>Only if you have to

>>934123
>Read the situation further
>Only if you have to

>>934123
>Use a tear gas grenade
>Choke her out and prop her up on to the lounge chairs
Sup Raven

>>934152
>>934162
>>934165

Hey there.

2/3 votes for tear gas grenade, 2/3 votes for only if you have to.

Roll a d10 please, and let's see how you do.

Rolled 6 (1d10)

>>934209

Rolled 6 (1d10)

>>934209

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>934209

6 = Partial success

You take one of the tear gas canisters from your belt, pull the handle, then give it a good vigorous roll. The canister clatters as it bounces down the hallway, coming to a stop near the three guards. They hear it, but before they have a chance to react, green smoke is billowing out from the grenade, choking and blinding them. You hear them gasping and retching as they stumble through the green fog.

You pull out your meat cleaver and rush forward. Alex and Ryuji are close behind you. With your gas masks on, you can go straight into the tear gas fog and still breath. It's not easy to see, but you can see enough to find a Triad in front of you. You bring down the cleaver in one strong chop into his neck, almost beheading him in one swing. Blood spurts from his neck and mouth onto your sleeve.

Alex rams a bowie knife up under the chin of hers.

Ryuji is having trouble. Maybe he's having a problem in the tear gas with his cracked mask, or he was more injured earlier than he let on. His Triad has him grabbed by the wrists and is slowly twisting them. Soon he'll force Ryuji to drop his sword, or take it for himself. You aren't letting that happen, so you shoulder tackle the Triad--

Unfortunately in the smoke, you got your directions mixed up. You tackle the Triad straight into the glass wall separating the hallway from the pool. The glass wall panel shatters into jagged shards. The Triad lands on one of them, and it impales him, stabbing up through his chest, and almost taking your eye out on the other side. You recoil back from the all-too-near sight of a bloody glass point. You check yourself over. Your cool darker-than-black turtleneck is cut up a bit, but you're okay.

You look up to see the woman. Water drips from her body to land on the tiles at her bare feet. She looks down on you, her face expressionless.

You get up to your feet. She maintains eye contact. The corner of her mouth smiles, just barely. You get the feeling like she can read your face even through the gas mask. She doesn't attack, or shout a warning.

"Okay, so ..." You take a few steps backwards, shattered glass crunching under your boots. "We're gonna go now. Nice meeting you."

You rejoin your companions, hoping the noise of shattering glass hasn't given the whole thing away, and proceed ...

North: Vault
East: Stairs
Southwest: Gym
West: Meeting Room

>>934433
North: Vault

>>934433
>North: Vault

Enough messing around, you think. The noise of that glass breaking probably woke up half the people in the fortress. It's time to get down to business and take what you're here for.

Moving north into the central area of the top floor, you enter a large room of jade-colored walls and square stone pillars. In the north wall is the huge vault door, protected by an impenetrable grid of laser alarms. No guards are here. You and your friends hurry over to the vault door.

Ken's voice comes over the radio. "Johnny, those thugs on the roof haven't cut the rope yet. But one of them left to go back downstairs, probably to report. The other is still standing by the grappling hook."

"Okay," you reply. "We're about to set this bad boy off, which should stop all radio contact. So you better get that chopper in the air, and watch what happens. If you see us on the roof, running for our lives, that's the signal to pick us up."

"Acknowledged. Good luck."

With a grunt, you swing the heavy EMP device around from your back and onto the ground. Alex and Ryuji have their weapons ready, while Nick is checking over his power drill.

"Tools ready," says Nick. "When that goes, it'll take me a few minutes to get through all the locks. I'll be sitting right out in the open here by the door. So you guys better protect my ass until then."

"Once we set this off," says Alex. "All hell will break loose. Johnny, how do you want us to set up?"

Assign each of your three fighters a combat stance:
>Johnny, Alex, Ryuji
>Defensive, Flanking, Roaming

Also let me know any specific preparations or strategies you'd like to make.

Eyy mang I'm glad I made it this time.

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>>934759

>>934741
We go defense, we're the big guy

Alex goes flanking, she's good at that.

Ryuji goes roaming, he's hurt, and is kinda independent as a fighter.

>>934806
That works for me.

>>934806
+1

>>934806
+1

"Alex," you say. "Head over to that side, the east entrance. You should have some cover there behind that heavy desk, and good lines of fire. You can cover the stairs, and flank anyone trying to come into the hall."

"Got it," she replies. "Good angle for crossfire."

"Ryuji," you say. "I want you to roam around behind them. Catch them by surprise from someplace unexpected. Don't take any crazy risks, just keep them off-balance."

"水のように流れ," he says. "Okay, I go."

"What are you gonna do?" asks Alex.

"Well," you say, and unsling your Ultimax LMG. "Someone's got to take the front. Get into position, you three. I'm going to set this thing off."

Ryuji bows, heads off into the shadows of the west hall.

Alex says, "I'll keep an eye on you, tough guy. We're gonna make it through this."

"Hey," says Nick. "Keep an eye on me too, willya? I'm the one out in the open here. Ready when you are, Johnny."

You kneel down to the suitcase-shaped device. There's a small electronic keypad inset. You try to remember the code Catherine told you. What was it again? Oh, that's right. Just like the good old army. You punch in 0-1-2-3-4.

A weird silence fills the air. It was quiet before, but for a moment it's somehow more quiet than that. Like a negative sound. A bright flash of energy energy fires out in a circular wave, and you feel a strange heat as it passes through you. Your radio fizzles and dies. The room's lights turn dark. Then all the lights on the floor. Then all the lights in the building.

Nick's power drill whirrs to life. "Good thing I figured out how to shield this guy from the blast," he says. "Going to work now." The drill begins to grind, sparks flying from the vault door.

You get yourself into cover behind one of the solid stone pillars. You place one shoulder against the cold stone, and listen. From the three entrances to the room, you can hear shouting in Chinese. The Triads are coming.

Time to defend yourself. The first d10 roll determines your fate.

Rolled 7 (1d10)

>>935019
Here comes the fail.

Rolled 6 (1d10)

>>935019

>>935026
Eh, that's a decent roll. We're not gonna make it out unscathed, but we'll still be alive and kicking.

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>935019
Ye, made it live this time.

>>935026
Good job anon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CskRKJhQuDc

For several moments, nothing happens. You hear the sound of running footsteps, anxious conversations in Chinese. Nick's drill whines away steadily. You hear your heartbeat pounding in your chest.

Two guards enter the room from the south entrance. They don't see Nick right away because of the darkness, but they can see the sparks lighting up from his drill. They step forward, drawing pistols, challenging him.
Resting the LMG against the pillar, you draw the medieval crossbow. Take aim. Pull the trigger. A bolt fires through the air and plunges into the throat of one of the guards. He steps backward, gurgling.

Alex fires two shots from her supressed G3, both of which catch the second guard in the side of the head. They both drop to the ground. The only sound was the two loud "pops" from Alex's gun, which hopefully in this chaos might not be noticed--

You step forward to try and drag the bodies into cover, but another three guards enter through the same entrance. They see you out in the open and realize you're an intruder - the gas mask probably gives it away. They yank out their pistols, start shooting. A bullet whistles by your ear. You decide the time for subtlety is over, drop the bow, snatch up your machine gun, and return fire. The gun clatters and bucks in your hand like a gigantic version of the Chicago Typewriter. One of the guards jerks as the machine gun stamps a line of bloody splatters up his torso. The other two dive for cover behind the jade pillars.

One of them peeks around the pillar, about to aim, but his eye socket explodes as Alex picks him off.

The shouting in the rest of the floor has intensified. That definitely got their attention. You get back into the shadow of the stone pillar, just before another group of guards approaches. This time they're coming from the west entrance. And these guys stopped by the armory. They have vests and assault rifles. They don't see you, but they see the dead bodies of their comrades on the ground. One of them turns back, begins to shouting to another group. The other three move forward into the room ...

>Stand your ground, open fire
>Go aggro, rush them
>Stay hidden, wait for the right moment
>Use a tear gas grenade
>Something else

>>935243
>Use a tear gas grenade
>Shank them in the gas cloud

>>935243
>Stay hidden, wait for the right moment
Remember what our dad and our Staff Sargent both said about fighting: Patience is a virtue, but hesitation is death.
>Throw a tear gas grenade
When they get close, for the fear factor.

>>935243
This >>935261

>>935255
>>935261
>>935278

OK, you're going to wait until they get close, set off a tear gas grenade, and shank them in the gas cloud. Roll a d10 to see how you do.

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>935306
An awful lot of pressure

Rolled 10 (1d10)

>>935306

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>935306
Last roll for me, goodnight, Bossman.

>>935315
Noice

>>935316
Thanks for playing!

>>935343
Awww yea, get off work and get me some thug quest.

You remember the wise words of Sarge. "Patience is a virtue, Johnny," he said, the bombs exploding behind him. "But hesitation is death." Then he ran off towards the jungle to kill Charlies. And you followed him.

And now here you are, fifteen years later. You wonder what Sarge would say if he could see you now.

Soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzuPI7tk9B8

You stay hidden in the shadow of the pillar, waiting. The Triads slowly move in to the room, assault rifles at the ready, covering each other with their angles of fire. You carefully take out a tear gas grenade from your belt, trying to wait until the right moment. But just before you act, one of the Triads notices you. He shouts a warning, opens fire with a spray of bullets. Damn it! Should have taken Sarge's advice--

One of the bullets pings off the grenade in your hand. You wince, expecting it to explode and take half your hand with it, but nothing happens.

You scramble around the pillar to the other side to take shelter. You try to pull the grenade pin, but it sticks, and you realize that's what the bullet struck: the mechanism for actually using the damn thing. Grunting, you toss the useless thing away, pull out your third and last grenade, pull the pin, and drop it at your feet. A green cloud of smoke immediately billows out, filling the room. The three Triad guards start coughing, backing up, trying to shield their eyes and mouths. They start to retreat out of the gas cloud.

Oh no. You're not going anywhere.

Your knife is in your hands before you even think about it. You move forward into the gas cloud. A Triad is in front of you. You step forward, plunge your knife into his belly, rip it free. He grabs at the wound, trying to keep his guts in his body. While his hands are down, you cut his throat. He gurgles, sinks to his knees. You shove him over, move past him to his friend. You stab the knife between his ribs, straight into his heart, and give it an extra "thump" on the back with your free hand, just to make sure it penetrates. The warm gush of blood tells you it did.

The third Triad can barely open his eyes in the stinging gas, but he sees a dark shape stabbing his friends to death, and takes aim. Before he can fire, you throw the knife. It lodges in his eye, and he falls backward, screaming, unloading a random spray of bullets into the ceiling.

Alex is firing her weapon the other way, towards the east stairwell, forcing another group to keep their heads down as they try to make their way up the stairs--

Two more Triads appear at the south door. They level assault rifles, shouting. You're out of cover, don't have a weapon in your hands--

(Continued)

Slice! Shank!

The two triads groan and topple forward, deep slashes in their backs. Ryuji twirls his sword with a flourish, sheaths it, disappears into the shadows once again.

You get back behind your pillar. You pick up the Ultimax again. Your hands are shaking. "Nick!" you shout. "Tell me you're making progress!"

"Almost there!" he replies. "Just one more to go. Keep it up!"

"No problem, I mean, how hard could it be -- holy fuck --!!"

More Triads, this time from both the south and west doors, their muzzle flashes scattering light in the shadowed room as they fill the air with bullets, and you're out of gas grenades--

>Stand your ground.
>Rush them.
>Call for help.
>Something else.

>>935421
>Stand your ground

You have solid cover and a machine gun. Just take care to not get suppressed.

>>935421
>Stand your ground.

>>935421
>Stand your ground.
This is exactly what the ultimax is for.

>>935432
>>935439
>>935442

Roll a d10 to stand your ground, and let's see what happens.

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>935449
fuuuuck this is tense

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>935449

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>935449
Here's Johhny!

You're going to stand your fucking ground. You have solid cover and a machine gun. This is exactly what you brought it for. It's time to for them to say hello to the Ultimax.

The stone pillar shields you from the group at the south door. So you level the gun at the group at the west door and open fire. The machine gun makes a sound like thunder, like you're holding a storm in your hands and shooting lightning bolts. It cuts the Triads down like an angry thunder god striking down debased mortals.

A hail of bullets from the south group of Triad rifles continues to pour against the stone pillar shielding you. Half of it is reduced to rubble at this point. You hear it cracking under the pressure. It won't last much longer. You need to make a dive for the cover of a different pillar. You brace yourself and make the jump, but you're just not quite fast enough. You take a bullet in the leg. It feels like the stinger from a ten-foot bee.

"Son of a bitch," you growl, crawling behind the new pillar, propping your back up against it. You see blood smeared on the ground by your leg. "Son of a fucking bitch -- I'll fucking kill you--!" You stagger to your feet, high on adrenaline, and point the Ultimax at the south entrance, and open up. The storm of bullets begins again. You see a head splatter, a hand explode, a stomach rupture. Brutal carnage. Bloody mayhem.

Over the thundering chaos, you can hear yourself shouting, "Heeeere's Johnny!!" The gunfire and blood goes on.

At some point you realize there's nobody left to kill. You take your finger off the trigger. The machine gun stops. Your ears fill with a sudden silence. For a moment, nothing moves at all.

(Continued)

"Yikes," says Alex. She walks up to you. "That was intense."

"Yeah," you say. "I, uh ... yeah. Intense." You clench your fist, then open it again, trying to stop your hands from shaking.

Ryuji approaches. He doesn't say anything, just gives you a respectful bow.

Alex pats you on the shoulder. "It's just adrenaline, Johnny. Just ride it out. Nick? How we doing?"

"Good," he says. "Real good. In fact-" The drill slides home with a satisfying click. "We're done. This door is fucking open, gentlemen and lady. All we need to do," he says, packing away his tools and standing up. "Is to turn the handle. Johnny? Do us the honors, will you?" he says, gesturing to a large wheel device.

"All right, sure. One second." You eject the drum magazine on the Ultimax, slide home a new one, and sling the gun on your back. Then you step forward, take the wheel in your hands, and turn it. It's surprisingly light, turning easily.

The vault door begins to open ...

>>935523
inb4 we find Edna sitting inside, calmly rocking in a rocking chair and sipping on a glass of whiskey and tea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wod-MudLNPA#t=0m04s

It's everything. Everything you ever imagined could be in such a place. Paintings. Documents. Historical artifacts. An ancient suit of armor. Gems. Gold. A true treasure horde. And cash! Fucking cash! You never imagined so much cash could be in one place. Every type of currency, American and otherwise.

"Wow," says Nick, agape. "How much of this can we even carry? I'm regretting we didn't go crazy and take that plan that involved carting off this entire vault in a helicopter!"

"Stay focused," says Alex. "You guys load up on whatever looks valuable. I have a list from Catherine of some specifics. Let's get this done and get out of here."

You're finally looting the dragon's hoard.
In addition to cash, you have room for about 4 of these. Take your pick!

>More cash (can be taken multiple times)
>Important-looking financial documents
>Roll up a painting
>A strange sculpture
>A cool Chinese sword
>Gems
>Gold

You may also, if you choose ...
>Exchange your gas mask for an ancient Chinese war helm

>>935547
>A strange sculpture
It's in a vault, it must be valuable! (If it ain't, keep it for the sentiment.

>Get dat cheese, yo
Cash is always useful.

>Cool Chinese sword
Maybe not as cool as a Katayna or whatever Ryuji has but it's still cool as shit

>And More cash
The rest of the stuff needs to be sold, we can't risk fencing too much.

>>935547
>Important-looking financial documents
>Gems
>Gold
>More cash (can be taken multiple times)
Maximise money gain with minimum hassle of carrying it.

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>>935546

>>935547
>>More cash (can be taken multiple times)
>Roll up a painting
>Gems
>A cool Chinese sword

>>935547
>>More cash (can be taken multiple times)
>>Important-looking financial documents
>>Gems
>>Gold
No need for mysterious sculptures or cursed swords. We need more cash for our ranch.

>>935547
>Important-looking financial documents
>A strange sculpture
>Gems
>Roll up a painting
>Ask Ryuji about the sword and war helm

>>935565
Seconding this.

>>935557
>>935560
>>935561
>>935565
Dudes, gems and gold need to be fenced. Cash doesn't.

>>935573
Gold and gems hold their value. Cash doesn't.

Gold and gems can also be used to create tons of things.

>>935578
Like what? We ain't no damn jeweler. We just want to buy a ranch in Montana.

>>935547
>Important-looking financial documents
MOST IMPORTANT; these could save our asses one day
>Gems
>A cool Chinese sword
>Roll up a painting
We already have a mil sitting in the locker, we don't need cash as much as big-ticket items.
also
>Take the war helm

>>935554
>>935557
>>935560
>>935561
>>935565
>>935583

OK, calling the vote there. By my count our winners are:
Gems: 6
Documents: 5
Cash: 4
Painting: 4

A good mix of short and long term investments.

>>935590
but did we take the hat

>>935591
The hat was gay, we didn't need it.

>>935590
But what about the kickass sword?

>>935593
That hat might be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

>>935593
It's true that you've got an open melee slot since you left the meat cleaver embedded in that guy's neck back at the pool. I'll let you take the sword.

>>935591
>>935593

Next vote determines whether or not Johnny takes the hat.

>>935599
>we lost our lucky cleaver
fuck that sword, i voted for it but i want to go back and get that damn cleaver

>>935597
But it still looks gay. Can't change that. Besides, we've got a mill squirreled away.

>>935601
I'm sorry, anon, but cleaver-chan... had to go away. She's in a better place now.

>>935599
Fuck, we left the cleaver? That shit's got history.

I still remember negotiating Ken's brother in the face with it.

>>935597
I'll count this as a vote for "yes".

>>935601
>>935606

>your lucky weapon is the murder weapon of your ninja friend's father

There are stairs to the roof in that direction, it wouldn't be out of your way to pick it up if you choose to escape that way.

>>935609
I vote that we take both. Tell Nick to hold Cleaver-Chan.

>>935609
>>935614
I second this motion. Cleaver-Chan is cold; we should hold her.

>>935614
>>935619

This is not the waifu route I was expecting.

>>935614
Thirded.

>>935619
Should we trust Nick with the kickass sword, though?
>>935620
Cleaver-Chan and Alex harem route FTW

>>935620
True. I'm holding out for Alex myself. She's basically our murder soulmate.

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>>935622
I'm sure either Ryuji, Catherine, or Alex will take a shine to Jian-Chan.

>>935609
We're gonna put cleaver-chan on the mantle, and anytime someone asks, just look mysteriously off in the distance and smile
also supporting
>>935614

>>935628
Hmm. Best that we not let Ryuji get his hands on Jian-Chan, he's already in a relationship, but you know how much he loves swords.

>>935633
Yes

You examine the ancient war helm. Pick up the old sword. It's one of those heavy blades with a red tassel on the the end. "Hey, Ryuji," you say. "Know anything about this?"

He shrugs. "Not Chinese."

"Right, I just thought - never mind. You know what? Fuck it." You undo the straps on your gas mask, pull the mask off, attach it to your belt. Then you pick up the helmet and slowly lower it onto your head.

"I proclaim myself Lord Johnny," you say, tucking the sword into your grenade belt.

"Okay, Sir Lord," says Alex. "Everyone done packing? We need to get the hell out of here before-"

You hear shouting coming from the stairway. See a light that might be a searching flashlight beam.

"God dammit!" said Nick. "I thought that hacker fuck friend of yours said he would stop any phone calls out! How the hell did they get here so quickly?"

"Right now that doesn't matter," said Alex. "What matters is we need to get out. Now!"

"Which way should we go?" asks Nick. "We were supposed to go back down, but that seems like a really shitty idea at the moment--"

"We go up," you say. "To the roof, and the helipad. Ken will be ready with the helicopter. They won't be expecting it. And besides," you say, moving towards the vault door. "I forgot my cleaver in that guy's neck. That's my lucky weapon. And I want it back. It's on the way to the stairs up to the roof, so ... it won't be out of our way."

You look out into the jade hall, the walls blasted with bullets, the stone pillars shattered, the floor covered in blood and bodies and shell casings. No one's here yet. You decide to move south ...

>Fast and hard.
>Cool and careful.
>Something else.

>>935639
>>Fast and hard.
We do not have time to dick around

>>935639
>Fast and hard.

The time for being slow and careful ended when we got a bullet in our leg.

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>>935639
>Fast and hard.

Also confirming this: you packed into your heist bag a bunch of gemstone boxes, some of those financial documents, some extra cash, and a random Chinese landscape painting you rolled up and stuffed in there.

>>935648
Eh, as long as we get the sword, it's all good with me.

>>935639
Fast and hard baby.

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>>935642
>>935643
>>935645
>>935652

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>>935656

>>935639
>>Cool and careful.
Take our time. No need to get shot up on the way out the door.

"Let's move out fast. Or at least," you add, wincing. "As fast as I can go with a bullet in my leg. Take down anyone in our way."

You start limping south. The others follow you, guns ready. Alex asks, "How will Ken know when to pick us up? What's your signal?"

"The signal," you say. "Is us running across the roof in his direction, screaming at him and waving our arms."

"I still have a couple smoke grenades," she says. "We can use those."

"Okay, if we have the chance, we'll use them."

You make your way back to the pool area. The three Triad corpses are still lying among the shattered glass, where you left them. The woman in the water is nowhere to be seen.

"What a babe," says Nick, looking around for her wistfully. "I wonder where she went off to?"

"Who knows?" you say. "She was quite a woman. But I've found the girl I'm looking for." You bend down over one of the Triad corpses and wrench your meat cleaver free of his neck. "There you are. Hey, Nick. Hold onto this for me, will you?" you say, handing him the cleaver. "I'm trusting you with my lucky weapon here."

He takes the bloody cleaver. You can see the look of disgust in his eyes through the lenses in his mask. "What's so lucky about this thing? You use it for something special?"

"Killed Ryuji's father," Alex says, amused.

"What?" says Nick. "Have ... have you asked Ryuji how he feels about you carrying that around?"

"Well, I, er -- look, now's not the time for that, okay?" You've made it to the door to the stairs up. You swing open the door, start limping up the steps, Ultimax at the ready. "We've got important shit to do, like--"

The upper door to the stairwell opens. A pair of Triads starts to enter from the roof. You don't even wait for them to finish coming through the door before firing. The machine gun pulverizes them, and they fall back, leaving the security door open.

You exit the stairs out onto the roof, your friends behind you ...

(Continued)

>>935656
I meant all the suggestions for that haha.

File: rooftop.jpg (118 KB, 917x400)

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You emerge into some kind of courtyard of Chinese architecture, open to the sky above you. You search for enemies, find none. You search the night sky for the helicopter. You can hear it, that distinctive thumping sound, but you can't see it.

"We need to get to the helipad," you say. "It's on the west side of the building. Alex, get those smoke grenades ready." You move to the west door of the courtyard, open it, look around. A plaza stretches between you and the helipad. To the south, your left, is some kind of garden with a river and lake, shielded from the helipad by a wall. To the north, a pavilion. Still no-one in sight.

"Okay, follow me."

You take one step out the door ...

... and that's when the courtyard walls erupt in fire behind you.

File: fire3.jpg (69 KB, 400x467)

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You stagger forward, away from the flames, feeling the searing heat radiating outwards. You look back to realize the fire is cutting you off from your friends.

"Johnny!" you hear Alex shout over the fire crackling, the wooden walls snapping. "What the hell - I didn't see - I'll find another way around!"

A figure has emerged from the shadows by the pavilion. He begins to slowly walk towards you. His body armor and gas mask are illuminated briefly by a bright red burst of napalm fire from his huge flamethrower.

"Better make it fast," you reply. "I think I've got a problem."

>>935703
Shiiiiiiiit, this is one of them elements.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHecCiA4uQ8

To Be Continued

Thanks for playing Thug Quest, everyone. Follow my twitter to stay updated: http://twitter.com/ravenkingquests

>>935708
Thanks for running, boss, and nice cliffhanger!

>>935703
Shoot and move diagonally, then get up close and personal.

>>935708
Thank you for running, Ravenking!

My apartment self-destructed friday night/saturday morning, and I've been pretty stressed since it happened. This helped me relax.

>>935711
Thanks!

>>935712
I'll count this as a vote for "go aggro" next time.

>>935718
Glad I could help anon.