>>952725
Well, it’s clear what the MOST important question is. “How are you planning on getting out of here?” Never hurt to be specific.

Cain grins, his swagger back in full force. “Well, now, dear, initially we were worried that our little operation might’ve come to a screechin’ halt thanks to a certain fool native, but considerin’ your timely presence, I think we have ourselves a way out of this mess. Considering your combat ability, do you think you might be able to provide to us a strong distraction? Most of those folks out there ain’t exactly friendly with me, and the ones that are left mostly just enjoy the carnage an’ hate folks tryin’ to tell ‘em what to do.” He does approximate a veneer of humility, although you’re pretty sure it’s fake. Still, orders are orders.

“Alright. Is there anyone in particular you want alive in town after I’m done?” The way he looks at you is something you’re used to, as if he’s confused, skeptical, and touch concerned all at once.

“Well, I can’t say in particular, no, but I’d presume you’d leave the storefolk n’ normal peoples alone, yes?” The way he asks that is as if he simply presumed you’d do it anyway. Yeaaahh...no.

“Avoiding collateral is a flat 25% increase on top of the base contract,” you explain, much to his and Mr. Trench’s surprise. “More finesse and more work is reflected in the payment for services rendered, you understand.” He opens his mouth briefly, with a look of disgruntlement, before you cut him off. “You have until the first hostiles reach us to make your decision."

It takes a couple more seconds for him to recover. “Well, now, Miss, I wasn’t looking to flatten the entire town!” He has the gall to look a bit indignant. “I still need me some customers, and I can’t have that if’n everyone’s dead an’ buried!”

“Despite the fact that the mayor’s dead and the deputy mayor and all those behind ‘im said you’d get involved in this town over their dead bodies?” Mr. Trench snarks. Cain just looks back at him with a glare, causing Trench to grin. “If she can make it happen, frankly, I don’t see why she shouldn’t.” Cain looks at him for a moment more, before he sighs and turns to you.

“Look, I can’t say I care overmuch what happens to them rabble-rousers outside, and especially not that cud-eating lawman, but you jus’ make sure I still got buildings to operate out of at the end of the day, y’here me? If’n it costs extra, then so be it, but I’d best get my money’s worth!”

You nod. “Understood.”

>Anything else?
>Time to get to work.

>>952729
>>Anything else?
Mention the rival faction that Lorelei's off dealing with. It might be relevant to why exactly we're in this situation

>>952729
>Time to get to work
"Very good, sir. Any and all persons who attempt violence will be terminated with extreme prejudice. Building and infrastructure preservation is to be prioritized over all else."

Alright, so he agreed to the Collateral Damage Rider but with the stipulation that preservation of buildings and infrastructure take precedence over the lives of civilians.
Let's get this Balkan War Crime started.

>>952729
Got to inform him about Lorelei's sidequest. Just something quick before we leave to clean house.

"My companion is currently infiltrating a business rival of yours. She was approached by agents who offered very good money to join their scheme to sabotage your efforts in the frontier. She won't join back with us for a while."

Quick note about Lorelei, then we crash the block party.

Random fact: Miranda's not a great dancer. She's a shade less than okay, but it was never something she was particularly into.

>>952799
How good is lorelei at dancing? Because if I had to guess she'd be pretty good.

Time to initiate maximum oppression mode.

>>952825
She is. Also a good singer. One mission she staged a one-girl concert as a distraction for an infiltration team to steal a magical artifact from a would-be dictator. It included 'pyrotechnics', 'backup dancers' of her own making, and she sang.

She considers it the best mission she's ever done. She also tries to not talk about it.

>>952729
You start to face back front, before you pause. “Also, I should mention. Lorelei won’t be joining us for some time.”

“Oh? Why’s that?” Cain asks. “I was suspectin’ she’d be hiding out somewhere.”

“She currently infiltrating a business rival of yours,” you explain. You can see his eyebrows raise in curiosity at that one. “She was approached by agents who offered very good money to join their scheme to sabotage your efforts in the frontier. So she’ll be occupied for a while."

It’s interesting to see his face turn from confused and calm to a boiling red. “Abigail…” is the only word he mutters. Well, then. Interesting. But not relevant at the moment. Mr. Trench pulls that lever again, and you quickly move out- and the doorway slams past you. Seems like they’re not taking any chances.

“Hey! I heard something down thisaway!” Hm. Go figure. "If this is him I'll yell!"

As soon as he rounds the corner, sword in hand, you belt him in the gut- he doubles over with a grunt of pain- and that leaves you and him eye-level as you…

>Crack his neck silently- keep this simple, clean, and quiet until you can’t anymore.
>Punch him hard enough to implod his face messily. Might as well put some real terror into these idiots.
>Other

>>952944
>Crack his neck silently- keep this simple, clean, and quiet until you can’t anymore.

>>952944
>Crack his neck silently- keep this simple, clean, and quiet until you can’t anymore.

>>952944
>>Crack his neck silently- keep this simple, clean, and quiet until you can’t anymore.

Exploding heads is fun and all, but if our employer becomes associated with war crimes it's going to be bad for us.

Also I thought we were using codenames? I forgot what they are, but Cain doesn't know her as Lorelei right?

>>952981
Agh, yeah. Typo on my part, apologies.

>>952944
>>Punch him hard enough to implod his face messily. Might as well put some real terror into these idiots.
SHOCK
AND
AWE

>>952944
Had another idea.

>Other
Stick to looted weapons and go easy on the hand to hand. No reason to let anyone figure out that half the town was killed by a single person because their wounds were inflicted in unusual ways. I'm assuming someone is going to be a doctor or a priest, identify the corpses and all that awful business.

>>952981
>but if our employer becomes associated with war crimes it's going to be bad for us.
Maybe, maybe not.
If our client wants us to implement the Tarkin Doctrine, we can advise that we have rarely seen it work properly, but ultimately it's his call.

>>952944
Silence, then. Writing.

>>953015
Well sure if that's what he explicitly wants. Right at this moment some restraint is in order until we're clear on his real end game.

>>952944
...grab hold and crack his neck quickly- the sound is muffled, at least, and judging by the lack of shouts of surprise or anything, you weren’t heard. It’s not going to be easy to take out this number of people very quietly, and you’ll have to go loud eventually, but best to avoid causing any further commotion for as long as possible. A quick peek out the doorway down the hall, and you can see one man standing in the doorway to another room, backing out carefully with a knife brandished- with a single spring, you leap from one end of the hallway to the other as you connect with him, knocking the wind out of his chest. He thumps against the back wall as you quickly yank his knife from him and slit his throat with it. It’s a simple task to wipe the blade clean and continue on.

The first step is to clear out the house. You’re unsure of how many attackers are in here right now, but it doesn’t seem to be too many judging from the lack of massive commotion- the fight still rages on outside, but these folks may have just been something of an ad-hoc task force. Actually- you focus yourself and give a quick sniff. Seems like the hidden room is airtight, but the rest of the house isn’t. You can detect five others in the immediate vicinity. Two are down here, three up top...and you can hear voices nearby.

Fortunately, neither of them are difficult to handle- one of them you catch from behind with your sword as he’s checking out a back window. You made sure to get him through the lungs so that he couldn’t yell for help- although it caused a bit of a mess when he slumped over.

The second man nearly saw you as you entered the bedroom, but you’d cupped your hand over his mouth, and cracked his neck as well.

That only left the top floor. One of them in particular you can smell directly above you- two others seem to be in the mayor’s office.

>Handle the solo man first.
>Get the two in the office.
>Other

Posting may be slowed due to shonky internet.

>>953362
>Other
Can we punch a hole in the ceiling and kill him that way then go after the guys in the office?

>>953380
If people vote for it.

>>953362
>Handle the solo man first.

>>953380
But a punch through the floor would be loud.

>>953362
>Handle the solo man first.
I agree that going through the ceiling/floor would be fun but the noise might draw more people to this building.

>>953362
>>Handle the solo man first.

I did want to lightly beat the fighters and make them dig a ditch, then line up at its lip before we shoot them all with their own guns, but I don't know if we have the time to do that.

>>953362
Solo, silently.

Writing!

>>953362
You look up, mentally marking where he is, and you begin the process of making your way upstairs. You quickly pass by the sitting room where Cain and his are located, and take a leap up the steps, landing as lightly as possible. You can hear the two men muttering to themselves as you sneak past- one of them is leaning over the dead Mayor, while the other has a piece of paper in his hand. You’ll get back to them later, at least, but they’re too absorbed in what they’re doing to notice you pass by silently.

The end room seems to be a sort of washroom, and you can see the man in question, with a big hammer and an ornery disposition. He’s a big fella, too- at least seven feet tall if not more. He’s just looking at the mirror right now, checking his face. Ah, crap- you quickly flatten yourself against the wall- mirrors weren’t a good thing. At least not right now.

You hear him hum to himself, then take a few steps around. Suddenly a voice rings out from him, deep and baritone. “BUCK! BOSS!”

“YEAH?!” two voices respond.

“I DON’T THINK THEY’RE STILL ‘ROUND!” Geez, couldn’t be bothered to talk face to face, huh?

“MAYBE NOT, BUT KEEP LOOKIN’! ME N’ BUCK FOUND SOMETHIN’ INNERESTIN’.” Agh. Well, you’re gonna kill them too, no use in being too annoyed about it. “I’M SENDIN’ BUCK ON OUT, YOU N’ ME KEEP AT IT!” Ah, crap.

“RIGHT!” You can hear some grumbling as the massive man grunts with exertion, and you can hear steps coming from both close and far.

You only have a second or two to think- you’ll need to think fast. If they have guns, you might have an issue.

>Kill the big guy first. He’s closest.
>Go for Buck and whatever his intel is.
>Other

>>953735
>Kill the big guy first. He’s closest.
Try to keep Buck alive long enough for questioning.

>>953735
>Kill the big guy first. He’s closest.
Just kill overyone, as long as no-one gets out and it ain't loud enough to attract more people from outside.
Smash mirror guy's face through the mirror and grab the next who comes to investigate then chace down the third.

>>953735
>Kill the big guy first. He’s closest.

>>953735
Huge, huge guts, etc. etc. Writing.

>>953735

You quickly swerve for the big guy, catching him right before he comes out of the room- you collide into him as he grunts, and he manages to get out a quick ‘what th-’ before you cover his mouth and smash his head into the wall resulting in the masonry spiderwebbing. You hear a shout of concern, and rapid thumps as the man slumps to the ground. It’s not much longer before someone rounds the corner, a rifle already unsheathed.

You quickly shift to the side, and manage to grab the underside of the barrel of the gun- your relative size difference resulted in him aiming a touch high, enough for you to take advantage in stopping the shot- but not enough to stop a shot from going out at all, and his panicky firing results in the glass being broken and another yell coming out- “BOSS! WHAT’S WRONG UP THERE?!”

Before he can say anything, however, you’re fast enough this time to cup his mouth. He looks at you with a confused, but incredibly nervous look, and he rapidly shakes his head no in the universal symbol for ‘please don’t kill me I don’t wanna die’. Welp, sucks for him. A cut to the neck does him in, and he lays bleeding with his compatriot as you look to pursue the third man- who, you can see, had the bad sense to stick his head back up the stairs instead of moving on.

He sees you, and with a scowl grabs at his sword- it’s a short, blunt thing, strangely enough, too rough to really be called a sword- and shouts out an indignant ‘hey!’ before you’re on him. He gets all of one swing in; you duck under it before grabbing his wrist, twisting hard, and slamming him against the wall painfully near the top of the steps.

“Who the hell are you!?” he gets out. “Ain’t seen no girl what can move like that!”

>Just kill him and frisk him for whatever he has.
>Start asking questions (what?)
>Other

I'm done for tonight. Will resume Tuesday.

>>954231
>Just kill him and frisk him for whatever he has.
Now we can get on to the massacre!

Thanks for running.

>>954231
>Start asking questions
"What did you find?"
"Who started this mess?"
"Who's in control out there?"

Break bones as necessary to acquire compliance.

>>954231
>>Start asking questions (what?)
-what are you attacking this place for
-what did you find that was "innerestin"
-how organized are your men outside
-if I took that mask off, would you die?

>>954231
supporting both >>954484 and >>954268, these seem like valid questions.

if it looks like he's deliberately slowing us or simply straight up uncooperative then threaten him once. if he resists again finish him.

>>955362
>if he resists again finish him.
No, let's break his legs. Then we break an arm.
That's three strikes. Then we kill him.

>>954231
>Just kill him and frisk him for whatever he has.
There arent really any questions we need answered beyond "how fragile are their necks?"

>>956748
>There arent really any questions we need answered
Oh? Nothing like the interesting thing they said they found in the Mayor's Office?

>>957637
He's still got it doesn't he? We don't excatly need his permission to rifle through his pockets.

>>958406
One of them had a piece of paper and the other was looking at the dead mayor.
Just knowing what's on the paper won't tell us much if we don't know the context of WHY it's interesting.

>>954231
Get those questions going.

Questions are a thing. Writing in an hour. See you then!

>>954231
You press him against the wall a bit harder, ignoring his statement. “I’m asking questions right now. You either answer them or die.” Your voice isn’t overly threatening or malicious; it’s flat, strong, and to the point- you’ve found that tending to word things in a matter of fact way can often get more compliance than trying to intentionally appear threatening. “So what is it you learned? What was so interesting that you had to leave as soon as possible?”

“The hell do you care?!” He yells back. “You ain’t of this town, you got nothin’ to-” You immediately stomp on his foot- you have to muffle his yells of pain as you hear the bones crack, however. He barely tries to resist now before he starts tearing up in pain.

“Try again.” you offer. Not that he’d get too many.

Fortunately, he speaks up this time, although with difficulty. “Message towards...ngggg...someone we know is all! Nothin’ more!”

You simply start to press against the broken foot again, and he VERY quickly yelps. “Gah! Lady who brought this whole thing to light! Workin’ with natives, said they wouldn’t! They ain’t for nothin’! Them n’ the mayor was talkin’, apparently! Somethin’ about payments! I ain’t book smart, I can’t read all that junk too well!”

Hm. Alright. That WAS interesting. “Next question. Who’s in charge out there?”

He looks at you with hate through his pain-filled eyes. “Man what- damn, this this hurts- agh! went in the washroom after ya. Left things to folks themselves til’ he got back. Tall man named Jules was in charge til then. We ain’t nothin’ but some...damnit, some huntin’ folk and old hands at fightin’. Boss and him r’ the only ones what seen war up close!” He’s breathing harder now- he looks like he might pass out sooner than later.

“Fine. Last question- who set all this up?”

To that, he gains a white(whiter) pallor and shakes his head. “Like hell. I tell ya that, I’m a dead man anyway!”

Poor stupid bastard. “You sure about that?”

He’s got enough in him to glare at you. “You’ll see yerself, you keep tryin’ to follow this scent! I’ll see you in hell, you bitch!”

Hm. Fair enough. A quick enough movement, and before he can register it, he’s ran through on your sword. Has the audacity to smirk like he hid anything, too. You rifle through his pockets, and sure enough, there’s a letter in flowing cursive:

cont.

>>962523
To the esteemed Mayor of Motley:

[i/]It is my great fortune to be able to assure you that one Mr. Theodor Angus Cain’s insidious plot to convert yours and other prosperous, free towns into little more than mindless, constructing factory settlements is not going to come without challenge. I have assembled a good number of worthies both of proper men, and of more...primitive nature, to assist in this endeavor, thanks to the fortuitous meeting of one youth in particular. They have agreed to assist in gathering intelligence and in some occasions offering protection within their territories in return for supplies and aid on my own part. Whilst the men are unaware of this, I believe it to be no great concern to them- however, you should feel safe in all aspects, knowing that even the savages of the frontier have deferred to good wisdom and sensibility in this matter.

My compatriots will be arriving shortly after this letter, and should be well ahead of Cain’s own arrival. They will continue to be incognito, and should Cain prove too...excitable in his efforts once you turn him down, my men are more than ready to end his threat.

Best wishes, your benefactor,

AA

Well, now. That’d be something to share later on. But indeed, that’s later on. For now…

You’ve got some spring cleaning to do. A quick check of daylight...hm. It’s late afternoon/evening. Should be done by nightfall if you’re quick about it. He said buildings were his priority, but that didn’t sound like absolutely all of them…

>Be quick and clean, but not too thorough.
>Be thorough and clean, but slow.
>Be quick AND thorough, but fairly messy.
>Other

>>962531
>Be thorough and clean, but slow.

It's a pain if survivors run off and start more trouble.

>>962531
>Be thorough and clean, but slow.
But don't let darkness stop us.
We will kill everyone in this town that poses a potential threat.

>>962531
>>Be thorough and clean, but slow.

>>962531
Messy

>>962531
> messy
Guess we are going on an Abigail hunt.

> the fortuitous meeting of one youth in particular
I bet he has been going sound telling stories of the meany kill stealer

Thoroughness is the order of the day.

Writing!

>>962588
Do we kill him and leave the body for the scavengers, or make an example of him?
Miranda wouldn't derive any enjoyment from it, but she would choose the option that makes her job easier.

>>962531
Nah, he wants the buildings intact, then you’ll be sure to do so. It’ll be night by the time you make absolutely sure that everyone’s been exterminated, but hopefully it’ll be worth the effort- a lack of battle survivors is always a plus in these cases. You figure the man will be fine where he is for now- time for you to get to it. It’ll be a long few hours, at least.

You take a hop off the stairway, heading towards the front door, and prepare yourself. There’s going to be a fair bit of blood on the sand come nightfall.

Almost immediately someone rounds on you as soon as you get outside- there wasn’t too much sense in being stealthy about it- particularly since no one was really going around by themselves or heading down areas where you COULD be any sneaky about it. “The hell are you?!” the man says in confusion-no firearm, just a big sword. “Kid like you shouldn’t even be-” he doesn’t get much further before you gut him, your sword bursting through his back and then making a massive gash as you tear the blade free in a spray of blood. He drops without another word, and that’s your personal signal to get moving.

First is the perimeter, where people have been largely chasing down stragglers or cowards. You meet more than a few of them trying to get away from the fighting- and you’re sure to not let them. Several assault you near the west end of the city- one is de-legged as he approaches a rival with a spear-like weapon; the other man doesn’t get out hardly a sentence before his head gets removed via a leap and swing from yourself. Two others further down get their heads smashed in courtesy of fist and landing on the other after tripping them. This repeats for some time- no one’s really expecting a girl and someone of your size doing what she does. Tends to be a running thing in some worlds, you’ve noticed.

It’s about when you’ve nearly encircled the whole of the city and head back in that you start getting direct opposition- a crew of at least five- one of them with a rifle, the others with a pitchfork, sword, and two with hammers both try to surround you. The rifleman starts talking as he brings his gun up.

“Gotcha, you monster in girl’s clothi…”

Amazing how time seems to just slow down sometimes. Adrenaline is a hell of a thing.

>Magi-beam through the heart, and SPIN.
>Light Barrier. Let him freak out a bit.
>Just outspeed his aim…
>Wait, you still have that knife from earlier. He can have it.
>Other

>>962696
>Wait, you still have that knife from earlier. He can have it.
Remember, pace ourself. No sense being all dramatic with flashy magic if there won't be any survivors to talk about it.

>>962696
>Wait, you still have that knife from earlier. He can have it.

Easy on the mana

>>962696
>>Magi-beam through the heart, and SPIN.
beam spins are awesome

>>962696
>Wait, you still have that knife from earlier. He can have it.
In exchange we can take that guy's pitchfork.

>>962696
>Wait, you still have that knife from earlier. He can have it.

>>962790
I'd rather take the rifle.
We need some more trophies to put in our apartment/magical murder bag.

>>962886
We can loot the whole town later for cash and cool trinkets.

>>962896
We need a pistol so we can strike with the Flamebringer in one hand and shoot with the other.

>>962896
Oh, do we leave the bodies where they drop, or hang them across town as a message?
Cain was kind of vague on who to not kill; presumably we'll be killing most of the town as active and potential hostiles, and if there are going to be survivors we should consider the psychological warfare aspect of our pacification campaign.

>>962696
Your head spins through several options all in the blink of an eye, and in that same motion, you quickly decide on one. The knife you used earlier is still on you, tucked away in a jacket pocket. In an eyeblink your hand flashes out and the knife sings towards its target just as the man’s finished raising it to head level.

The blade is only in the air for a fraction of a second before it embeds itself in the man’s neck- you shift to the side instinctively and hear both a gunshot and a cry of pain ring out as you dodge out of his aiming path, allowing the poor fool behind him to take the bullet in your stead- one of the hammer users, apparently.

The whole quick exchange causes the remaining ones to pause for only a couple of seconds as both the rifleman and hammer user collapse into the dirt- that’s more than enough time for you, however, as you swing your sword into the nearest other man- the pitchfork user. Your strength results in his near splitting in two as the blade tears through his abdomen, and your momentum keeps your going, causing a slightly lesser impact into the other hammer user that was trying to hurried assault you from behind- he collapses into the ground, and you turn the rest of your body to face the sole remaining sword user.

You briefly lock eyes for a moment before shakes his head vigorously, and throws his sword down. “Hell to this!” he yells, and turns to flee. “Damn company can find some other patsies for their war!”

>Come again? (Catch him)
>Nope. (‘Catch’ him)
>Other

>>962936
>Write-in: Catch him and interrogate
Cooperate, and he gets to live. Resist, and he dies. There's still a lot more others in town we can interrogate if he doesn't cooperate.

>>962936
>Nope. (‘Catch’ him)
Throw the pitchfork at him.
We are just killing a shitty peasant militia, tedious.

>>962936
>Come again? (Catch him)

>>962936
>Nope. (‘Catch’ him)
'S obvious isn't it? Cain's got competition

>>962936
>Come again? (Catch him)

>>963118
Yeah, and where's their base? Who recruited them? Where was he recruited from so we know where to go next?

>>962936
>Come again? (Catch him)

>>963307
1. Lorelei is looking into it.
2. This guy is a mook, save your questions for the tall guy.

>>962936
>>Come again? (Catch him)
We should keep a survivor to interogate.

>>962936
>Come again? (Catch him)
what is this?

>page 10
[worry intensifies]