[tshiggins]

(Facets, session two, continued)

The SAR volunteers carefully picked their way to the top of the next rise, looked down, and saw that their suspect and a teenaged boy followed by a mongrel dog had set up camp in a mostly-ruined old adobe farmhouse, surrounded by the tumble-down remains of an old stone fence. Two nice horses and a pack-mule were picketed on the opposite side of the ruined structure, as well. Jamison and Lawrence decided to flank along the rise to the west, while Doc Bascher and Jeb Stuart flanked to the east. However, the dog scented the approach of Bascher and Stuart, and the alerted suspect picked up his thoroughly modern .30-06 bolt-action rifle and began to look around.

Deputy Torres tucked his badge into his shirt pocket, and then he, Dr. Johnson and Randy Shoop started down the slope. Señor AKA saw them from about 30 yards away, demanded they stop about 15 yards from him, and seemed shocked when he saw their modern hiking boots, gore-tex jackets and REI backpacks. Johnson immediately claimed the trio had gotten lost, asked if Sr. AKA had any water, and generally came across as a clueless tourist -- right up until the suspect noted that she and Torres both had pistols and became alarmed.

However, the group had gotten close enough, by then, to unnerve Sr. AKA, who demanded they put their pistols on the ground. Dr. Johnson complied, the unarmed Randy rushed forward and asked Sr. AKA to not shoot, and Deputy Torres drew his pistol and advised Sr. AKA that he had no intention of disarming himself. Right then, the dog spun around and barked at the back of the house, having scented Doc Bascher and Jeb Stuart again. The suspect spotted the flanking pair, started to raise his rifle, was ordered to surrender by Torres, and then tackled by the fast-moving Randy.

This unnerved the young man, who drew his Colt pistol, but then couldn't figure out who to shoot, since he was afraid of hitting his father (or the dog biting Randy). Then, he spotted Beatrice and Arthur coming up behind him and shouted a warning to his "Papa," who surrendered, ordered his son to do the same, and called off the dog.

Doc Bascher started to patch up the wounded as the group searched the camp and began to question Sr. AKA. The injured suspect (Randy's tackle had cracked some ribs when Sr. AKA hit the stoney ground) confirmed that it was, in fact, the year 1918, that local U.S. jurisdiction ended more than 100 miles east. Sr. AKA declared that the SAR team members were completely out of their depth and should just go home before nightfall.

Torres responded that, even if it all that were true, there was no way he would allow four military-grade, fully-automatic M-4 carbines to remain in the hands of a drug dealer. The suspect responded that he needed them, badly, because war between the United States and Spain would likely break out within 18 months, and he needed the weapons to protect his family. He said that, once the war broke out, the entire region would turn into a chaotic hell of bandits and broken troops, and he feared the worst.

The group started to sort themselves out for an overnight stay, while they discussed the unexpected moral quandary. That came to a sudden end as the Apaches opened fire on them. The raiding party had worked their way up to the top of the Western side of the valley, unlimbered their Winchesters and Spencers, took aim, and started to shoot.

A nasty little firefight immediately commenced, which resulted in a critically-injured Randy, seriously wounded Sr. AKA and Deputy Torres, and one bloody and seriously irate pack-mule.

The team gave as good as they got, as Deputy Torres put a .30-06 round into one Apache before he got shot, and the other team members returned fire enthusiastically with pistols and a crossbow that had little chance of hitting. Then, Beatrice and Arthur hastily assembled two of the M4s (both had the necessary armory skills), as the Apaches offered to let the group walk away, if they'd only leave behind the cargo, horses and their personal weapons. The group ended the firefight in an authoritative fashion, when Beatrice put three rounds into the Apache leader, and Deputy Torres (who recovered himself just in time to take the second weapon) fired up into the hillside, on full automatic. The Apaches hastily withdrew, and took their wounded with them, just as the sun set in the west.

Doc Bascher spent the next several hours patching up people and a cranky pack-mule, and at one point performed some emergency surgery on the critically-wounded Randy to stop internal bleeding. By the time she was done, Sr. AKA had recovered himself well enough to say he and the rest of the wounded badly needed modern medical care, and that the group should return via the portal, to the home of the SAR team.

The group readily agreed and planned to do so the next morning. The session ended as Deputy Torres asked, "What do we tell people, about all this, once we get back home?"

###

Funny quotes (I remembered, this time!)

Henrietta (upon spotting the petroglyphs): "Ooh! Shiny!"

Beatrice: "Randy's a lunatic. Don't we say that, every time?"

Beatrice (to Henrietta): "We are not takin' the Wal-Mart hams. Just sayin'."
Bascher (who overheard): "They're probably fine."
Beatrice: "Nooo, they're not! We're not taking them!"

Daz (the Apache leader): "Hey! Yanquis! You wanna talk?"
Henrietta: "Go screw yourself! We're way past the point of talking!"

GnAInc (OOC): "A 10 mm semi-automatic will blow a hole through a human being you can toss a cat through."

---

This session went pretty well, despite the rather late start and the need to pause for about an hour so the players of Beatrice and Doc Bascher could go rescue a family-member who lost control of her car. We've got a hella snow-storm hitting Denver, right now.

The rifle combat went much more quickly than I had anticipated, even though my dice got hot that first couple of rounds of rifle-fire, and I had brief visions of a near-TPK. However, the group made the good tactical decision to drag the wounded to cover and take cover themselves. Then Bernetta and Anten successfully figured out they could assemble a couple of the battle-rifles. That turned the tide.

I gave out three character points, for this session, for every PC whose player attended.