THE NEW VANGUARD! HAUNT Issue #9 with Special Guest Star STEEPLEJACK!

The Haunt used his own speed to get where he needs to go in order to hunt the aliens.

Haunt/Cougar moved through the darkness aware that he stood out when he strayed from the shadows of rocks and trees.

The Advent group moved at speed but were still 'human' paced albeit with unending stamina supposedly.

They left a trail through the grass that was easy to follow and soon Haunt was in sight, albeit at distance. The group was six strong. As Steeplejack had explained, two were hulking, two tall and thin and two were regular human sized. Six. And these were some of the same type of aliens that depowered Haunt and cost him a year of his life. He had an axe to grind, a score to settle and meant to exact it, but he was unsure if he could take all six in this place at this time with his abilities reduced.

Had they suffered the same loss? That would be too much to hope for.

He was approximately half a mile behind but if they glanced over their shoulder they would see him. The moonlit plain offered no real cover aside from tall grass and his white clad form reflected the moonlight. Spooky? Sure. Good for hiding? Not so much. Did he hang back or get closer?

==========

Steeplejack/Doc moved closer to the fire on horseback and when a hundred feet away placed fingers to his mouth and blew.

Instantly those around the fire pulled weapons and stared into the darkness. Steeplejack stifled a grin. They were all young men and though watchful, had been staring into the fire which reduced their night vision! A rookie blunder, and it might have cost them had Steeplejack been an enemy!

"Who's there?" drawled one.

"Doc! Maybe we should..."

"Hush Henry! Those varmints woulda come in shootin, ah feel sure. Who's out there!" a voice called.

"Call me Billy." muttered the other voice.

Steeplejack could see silhouetted figures. They knew he was out here but couldn't quite see him yet. They'd all have guns drawn though. Was he still bullet resistant? He'd been shot before and aside from a sting they pretty much flattened on his super dense body. Left a mark for a few minutes, mind.

Shifting into the form a a cougar [or mountain lion, depending on where you are from], which should make him less noticeable unless they had that blankety blank powers detection device with them, in which case he would be noticed regardless but he had to try, he moved closer to them trying to figure out a good attack on them.

He weighed his options as he closed.
Maybe shift into a giant gopher, go underground and pull them down one by one to fight?
Shift into a cannon and shoot rocks and dirt at them?
Go with winged form and fly at them, grabbing one and flying up high into the air and then dropping them? Could they fly in this time period?
Go with stand-by giant mallet hands and rush in and pound them while surrounding them with fog?
Create a fog on the edge of where they were, stretch out and grab one, pull him into the fog and then pound him?
Try to stretch is body around all of them and then squeeze them?

ooc: Actually not sure what out of the above would give me the best shot at actually hitting and doing the most damage to them. Which one of the above choices would work best? And if some of them have the same chance I will choose between those. Also want to hold just a bit to give Steeplejack and Scalphunter a chance to get the others further away and then have Steeplejack come back and help out with the Advent.

Admin wrote:Steeplejack could see silhouetted figures. They knew he was out here but couldn't quite see him yet. They'd all have guns drawn though. Was he still bullet resistant? He'd been shot before and aside from a sting they pretty much flattened on his super-dense body. Left a mark for a few minutes, mind.

"Evening all, a mighty fine night, though a bit cold for my liking. Names Doc, Doc Holiday, just passing through and saw a friendly-looking fire and wondered if I could warm myself and tie up my horse for a while."

Doc was aware that Haunt was out alone hunting the aliens, but until he could be sure where they were himself, he wasn't about to leave the person they'd come to protect and stop these alien assassins from completing their mission.

OOC: Ok so assuming I can get to sit with these here, folk, I'll hunker down and keep an eye, from the way things seemed to be I can't imagine it will be long before the aliens open up a can of whooping on them and me. But that will be my cue to get to them and attack them and help Haunt.

Sj

"Hands up stranger! And leave yer weapons on the floor as you walk into the camp!" calls a voice.

Steeplejack glanced about. Scalphunter had done his vanishing act thing again...

As he walked closer to the fire Steeplejack saw the young men around the fire were not much older than boys. Early twenties. they looked ragged, worn out and scared. Twitchy fingers rested on triggers and they glanced about into the darkness expecting an attack or more men to come thundering out of the gloom.

"Doc!" hissed one. "he said he was a Doc! Maybe he can help Dick!"

One of the cowboys was laying by the fire, face grey and clutching a wound in his stomach.

"I swear mister, if you're plannin ta bushwack us ah ain't gonna hesitate in blowin ya to kingdom come!" said one, and he cocked the pistol as he walked forward with the gun pointing in Steeplejacks face.

"hush George! Let the man speak!" said another slightly older man, though probably only by a couple of years. "So what is it this time mister? Somethin' we done or not done? An' are you with them bushwhackers that bullets won't kill?"

The others paled and some glanced at the young man on the floor who was sweating profusely and had a pale face.

Admin wrote:"hush George! Let the man speak!" said another slightly older man, though probably only by a couple of years. "So what is it this time mister? Somethin' we done or not done? An' are you with them bushwhackers that bullets won't kill?"

The others paled and some glanced at the young man on the floor who was sweating profusely and had a pale face.

Doc made no threatening moves and lifted his long coat jacket turning slowly to show he meant them no harm no hard guns as he had left them 10' away as requested.

"Friends, I am skilled in one or two medical arts...and I'd be happy to take a look at our friend. We've got to stick together in these times, haven't we." Doc said making it clear he was a friend and not an enemy slowly moving forward and making it clear these times didn't ironically exclude him. "There are some mighty strange men walking these parts and I'm not talking Indians either. What have you seen, how did this man get that wound? You'd best tell me so I can help you. Looks like I'm the only prayer you've got right now."

Continuing to move slowly he came to rest within the circle of the fire and looked across knowingly at the man moaning to one side. He knew it couldn't be good his skills in medicine were not as good as some but he hoped he might yet patch him up to last another day or so.

Sj

Let's try the bird approach, it's how some predatory birds bust open clam shells and such, and see if it works.

Haunt will turn into a giant bird, the mythical American Indian Thunderbird should do it, fly up in the air, dive down and grab one of the thin men, fly up in the air some distance and then drop the guy and let him take falling damage.  If he hits one of his fellow Advent so much the better but I don't really want to try to actually hit one if it means a harder dice roll.

Use some HP to do this and leave the acrobatics points for defense.

The group looked unsure. "You're a doctor? Where's your bag o tricks then?" asked one.

"Hush Billy!" said another. "You come take a look at our friend, but be warned mister we're watchin' you. You boys spread out an keep an eye out there. Anythin comes out o the darkness, you shoot first and talk later!"

The man who'd spoken was a young cowboy like the others but slightly more authoritative.

"Who left you in charge?" said 'Billy'.

"Now Henry, or Billy, or William or whatever you callin yourself these days, ah know you want a reputation but ah'm tellin ya. This ain't no time fer fightin. Richard is wounded. If'n he don't get help he's gonna die, sure as the sun rises in th' east."

"Ah sure would love ta see the sun now." said another.

"Yeah, we're trapped here with a wounded man that can ride no further. Ah reckon these men huntin' us come to finish us off like they did John Tunstall. Damned if I didn't hit one of them square on, an nothin came of it. Might have been a dud or a blank or somethin' but this don't feel right." said the older man who seemed to be in charge.

He turned to Steeplejack then nodded. "You take a look at our friend, mister, an tell us what we probably already know." he sighed, then holstered his gun. "We're watchin' you, but out there's th' real enemy ah reckon. I'm Josiah Scurlock. The boys call me 'Doc' too."



Steeplejack got the strangest feeling in his pocket as the time stone seemed to vibrate...

=========

Haunt took to the sky as a giant white bird. He had the element of surprise but that would be lost after his initial attack!

HAUNT 194HP

OOC Spend 21HP for three extra attack dice... HAUNT HP 173

Dex 8 + Roll(5d12)+0: 12,10,10,9,2,+0 Total:20 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 7,2,+0 Total:29 (37) vs
Dex 12 - surprise attack 4 - blindside 2 - darkness 2 + Roll(2d12)+0: 7,7,+0 Total:14 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 1,2,+0 Total:3 FAILURE

Turns out I've been 'doing it wrong' for a while. In the original rules a double 1 AT ANY TIME indicates a failure. With our revised house rules that means a roll of 1+2 or 1+1 will fail and in this case that means an Opposing Value of ZERO. The surprise attack means the Thin Man cannot use Acrobatics (Danger Sense successful roll would allow this, but this alien doesn't have it...)

+9EV (to str 20) vs Body 6= 14 RAPs

Haunt swoops down, grabs up the Thin Man and there is a shriek as his claws pierce the aliens body! High up he lets go of the Alien who tumbles like a rag doll down to the ground far below.

The big hulking aliens turn to the sky and start shooting wildly whilst the other Thin Man pulls out one of those mean 'anti super' ray guns that zapped Haunt last time!

The other two were dressed in all black western garb and though haunt didn't get a close look, he was sure one was either a woman in disguise (as a man) or a very attractive fellow....

OOC initiative. This may well go south for Haunt... Just sayin! Five v one is mighty poor odds pardner...

Roll(6d12)+0:
1 Haunt (25)
3 Thin Man (27)
7 Muton (27)
1 Muton (21)
5 Mystery villain 1 (30)
7 Mystery Villain 2 (31)

The bad guys WAIT for Haunt to act then go... you're up. Literally. You're about 150' up in the dark night sky. One thin man is down (possibly killed from the fall) and the others have weapons out ready to start shootin'... Be very, very careful (because Haunt is not at full power...)

=========

Steeplejack leaned in to examine the young man.

OOC Int 9 + medicine three extra dice Roll(5d12)+0: 7,5,2,5,11,+0 Total: 10 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 10,2,+0 Total:22 (31) vs
OV5 + Roll(2d12)+0: 8,4,+0 Total:12 (17)

+5 EV (to 10 Will) vs RV5 = 5 RAPs.

The bleeding is stopped for 2 minutes (5RAPs of time) and will start again after that. The boy is delirious, unable to move and will die without surgery.

Steeplejack treats the wound as best he can, cleaning it up and plucking wood splinters out. It's a miracle the boy still lives with his wound plugged like a hole with cloth. As near as Steeplejack can tell the weapon that did this actually missed with the shot but punched a splinter of wood clean through the boys abdomen and out the other side. Mostly. It's bleeding internally and though Steeplejack would be able to change makeshift dressings and plug the wound (first aid) he'd need to do it constantly until the boy can be seen by a Doctor. Even then he's at deaths door and ghostly pale.

"That bad huh?" asked Scurlock. "Dickie here never did have much luck. We declare him leader o the regulators an' the first thing he does is go get shot. Heck, the way them fire lines made holed cheese of th' place it's a wonder we ain't all leakin! Good job we got out when..."

"We shoulda stayed an fought em off! Them boys done Tunstall in ah know an we coulda taken em!" said Billy.

Scurlock scowled. "More likely we'd end up like Dick. Use yer head Billy! Them boys were mighty quick ta track us down an ah saw no horses! our best chance was ta run an you know it!"

William Bonny (aka Henry Antrim) was about to reply and had his hand (dangerously) on his gun in the holster when there was a shriek from the darkness! The regulators were twitchy and pulled guns to point outwards from the fire. Steeplejack had to admit Billy the kid was fast.

"Ah ain't never heard nothin' like that fore" said one of the frightened cowboys.

Steeplejack knew Haunt had engaged the aliens. He glanced down at the cowboy. To save this boys life he needed urgent medical attention. Without the correct implements he couldn't do it but knew he was perhaps the boys best chance at life!

Admin wrote:"Ah ain't never heard nothin' like that fore," said one of the frightened cowboys.

Steeplejack knew Haunt had engaged the aliens. He glanced down at the cowboy. To save this boys life he needed urgent medical attention. Without the correct implements, he couldn't do it but knew he was perhaps the boys best chance at life!

Steeplejack did what he could for the lad, but if he didn't get to helping Haunt, the truth was a lot more than the lad would die this night and their mission would be for nothing. Whilst the others were distracted, Steeplejack sought to make a small defensive crevice off to one side, so that he could get the men to some sort of shelter, out here in the otherwise flat terrain. And hoped as he sought to use his powers in resistance of time, they didn't fail him.

OOC: Ok so I am thinking of a ditch or round type hole with raised sides so they could get in and fight out of without being sitting ducks. All the while trying to attend to our wounded. I'll then plug his gut as best I can to mean that I can last for more than 5 minutes. And tell the others that I nearly fell into the ditch in the dark but that it would be a better place to hold them off. I am hoping that with them in the hole, I will then volunteer to go take a look. Medicine is only one interest, and tell them to shoot only if sure its not an animal or a man.

Sj

The Haunt flies around looking for boulders. Even with his reduced strength he ought to be able to pick up a pretty large one and drop it on the aliens. Remembering Steeplejack can control the earth somehow, he flies closer to where he was with the outlaws. Staying high in the air in his giant bird form, he called out, "I need boulders. Big, wide heavy boulders."

DavidMcMahon wrote:The Haunt flies around looking for boulders.  Even with his reduced strength he ought to be able to pick up a pretty large one and drop it on the aliens.  Remembering Steeplejack can control the earth somehow, he flies closer to where he was with the outlaws.  Staying high in the air in his giant bird form, he called out,  "I need boulders.  Big, wide heavy boulders."

OOC: Assuming I can comply without giving too much away, I'll either go off to one side and form earth into a sizeable boulder for Haunt to take or dig up boulders as is appropriate.

Sj

OOC Earth Control 7 + Roll(2d12)+0: 8,1,+0 Total:9 (16) vs
OV6 + Roll(2d12)+0: 3,7,+0 Total:10 (16)

+0EV 7EV vs 6RV= 1 RAPs

With a struggle Steeplejack looks out into the darkness and moves just over a ton of Earth around 15 feet. It would have to be enough.

He scoops up the injured cowboy as one of the others asks "Hey do you want a ... hand?"

The other cowboys look at each other then follow him away from the fire.

"It's warmer by the fire. We should stay there." said one of the Cowboys. "We can..."

"It's making us easier to hit if those guys are out there." said Scurlock. "We need to get moving but until Dick is treated, we need to make a stand."

"The hell with Dick! He would leave us if he had to!" said William Bonny.

"No he wouldn't!" argued Scurlock. "Now get movin' Billy! Those other guys are out there!"

Billy the Kid scowled and Steeplejack noted his hand was rarely far from his holstered pistol.

"I need boulders. Big, wide heavy boulders." came a voice from the darkness somewhere overhead. Sounded like Haunt.

"What in tarnation was that?" spluttered one Cowboy and they all drew guns.

Steeplejack rolled his eyes and looked about. Though he couldn't see them, he could 'sense' rocks and boulders nearby and knew they'd be a struggle for him to lift with his reduced powers. Would that be enough for Haunt?

The White Eagle flew overhead and looked down. Near the fire he saw figures moving and figured those were the cowboys. He couldn't see exceptionally well in the dark but knew if the Aliens went near the fire they could easily follow the tracks as Steeplejack led them away. His partner lowered an injured cowboy down and stepped a little nearer to the light to point. A quick glance... aha! Boulders!

OOC Depends how big Haunt wants to go for. He'd have to move, pick up a boulder then move again next turn. Splitting movement is a bit of a no-no for me in combat otherwise we'd have the nightmare of speedsters being miles away before anyone could throw a punch, speeding in to punch and speeding off again. I like Speedsters but not enough to hand them that much of an advantage!

ooc: Kind of depends on the combat rules. I was looking for something that would be about 1 hex or square in size to give me a bonus to attack, causing the bad guy to have to leave his hex to avoid the falling rock that would cover that hex. WATCH FOR FALLING ROCKS!!!!! And yeah, I kind of figured this was a 2 round attack, flyover and get rock, fly back and drop it.

I want to target the other skinny gun with the power loss gun.

OOC the bad guys act while Haunt is swooping down to scoop up the boulder.

Haunt looks about and uses his tremendous strength to scoop up a ten ton boulder, the size of a truck!

His hands morph about the bulk of the rock and with a tremendous CRACK he prizes it loose from its age old moorings!

OOC Haunt can lift 50 tons without effort so a 10 ton rock even sunk in place by time and the elements won't prove much of a problem.

Whilst he's doing that there are blasts from the darkness and laser lights fire out towards the hero!!!

OOC Uh oh.

Mutons CAN see in the dark (Thermal Vision) and are taking pot shots at Haunt! However the fire is messing with ones vision so he can't see quite right and the other needs a trick shot to separate what the fire is doing to his heat vision with Haunts giant eagle body...

Of course our heroes don't know that...

Muton Dex 8 + Weaponry FIVE extra dice + Roll(7d12)+0: 12,12,2,1,10,2,5,+0 Total:24 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 10,6,+0 Total: 40 (!) (48) vs
Haunt Dex 8 + Range 4 + Trick Shot 4 + Acrobatics THREE extra Dice Roll(5d12)+0: 10,7,3,10,2+0 Total:20 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 3,9,+0 Total:32 (48)

HIT +0EV (EV13) vs RV11= 2 DAMAGE TO HAUNT!

Despite the fact that the shot was from over 100' away in the dark with the fire in the way and rocks about, the alien strikes true and a beam lances into Haunts torso! Another beam lances out and powders a rock, splitting it and causing what's left of the separate halves to fall away!

OOC Initiative...1,8,3,2,9

1 Haunt (25)
8 Muton (28)
3 Muton (21) GM NOTE: MUTON IS TIME AFFECTED THIS ROUND (-2 On all physical and -3 on powers)
2 Mystery villain 1 (27)
9 Steeplejack (35)

Steeplejack is FIRST to act next round and the Mutons are moving closer to get a shot off at Haunt!

Admin wrote:Steeplejack is FIRST to act next round and the Mutons are moving closer to get a shot off at Haunt![/i][/color]

Steeplejack could see the men were restless, spooked by all that was happening, but he had to get out and help Haunt, who was doing his best to flatten, literally the aliens who he could see by their weapons were drawing closer.

"Stay here and don't move, I'm going to see if I can use this distraction to take these things out."

Whilst he left the others to stare dumbfounded at his back as he left them to it, Steeplejack sought as best he could to move low to the ground and circle around on the position of the aliens. He knew that they may well have the capability of seeing in the dark, but hoped that Haunt was sufficient distraction for them not to notice a 'puny man' whose weapons they believed couldn't affect them. He had to get close, to make the most of the opportunity to strike and seek to take these creatures out before they succeeded.

OOC: Ok so I am going to try and be stealthy as possible. And circle around if necessary even move the earth beneath me to make a hole to dive in if I come under attack or anything. Or even jump from hole to hole as I circle around and try to make myself as unseen as possible. And the go for some attack depending on how things work or no in my favour.

Sj

Summon Fog while flying. I think it works against all vision bonuses except X-Ray/Penatra Vision. Not at my desk at the moment, I'm now working the front desk answering phones and letting people in so I don't have the PDF of the rules you sent us a long time ago. But I do not want to make it so large an area of Fog that Steeplejack can't see the enemy.

Action: Drop rock on skinny guy.

Steeplejack moves through the darkness to circle around the attackers...

OOC Muton Int 5 + Roll(2d12)+0: 1,9,+0 Total:10 (15) vs
Steeplejack Dex 8 + Thief extra four dice + Roll(6d12)+0: 1,6,1,9,8,8,+0 Total:16 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 1,6,+0 Total:23 (31)
Stealth SUCCESS

Moving through the darkness quickly but sticking to the shadows Steeplejack found himself around fifty feet behind one of the aliens, a hulking creature holding a laser rifle.

Meanwhile another Muton takes aim at the great white eagle that is scooping up a huge rock!

OOC Muton Dex 8 + Weaponry FIVE extra dice + Roll(7d12)+0: 5,8,4,6,5,5,8,+0 Total:16 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0:
12,12,+0 Total:24 (OUCH!) DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 12,9,+0 Total:61 (69) Uh oh. vs
Haunt Dex 8 + Range 4 + Trick Shot 4 + Acrobatics THREE extra Dice Roll(5d12)+0: 10,12,8,1,5,+0 Total:22 (38)

+8 EV (to 21) vs RV 11 = 10 RAPs (12 damage total taken). Haunt is STUNNED and must absorb at least 2 damage to stay conscious.


A shot catches haunt and sends him flying through the air! He thuds onto his back in the darkness in human form and looks up, seeing stars.

Steeplejack sees another 'Muton' moving through the darkness towards the fire and looking for the cowboys. He cannot see any of the 'Thin men' that were stalking about before but he can also see someone else, a human figure. Possibly a woman. She is glowing slightly green in the darkness and saying something about 'staying together or the magic won't work right'.

OOC Haunt needs to spend HP and has lost his dice action this round (stunned), Steep is in position to attack the guy who shot Haunt and the other Muton + mystery woman are heading towards the fire to look for the cowboys.

Initiative...

9 Haunt (33)
8 Muton (28)
4 Muton (24) (no longer time affected)
6 Mystery Villain (31)
7 Steeplejack (33)

Both Heroes act at the same time then mystery villain, Muton 1 then Muton 2. How much damage will Haunt absorb from the last hit? Enough to stay on 1 body or more?

It was now or never, Steeplejack thought and went in hard, hoping to take the group unawares, as he opened up a huge space beneath them to occupy them whilst he made His way to see if Haunt was ok.

OOC: OK so this is where I want to push the earth-moving power to basically open up a hole under the group who are largely staying together and have them drop into it. I'd like to make it as deep as possible so that it effectively stops them in their tracks and gives us a moment to regroup.

Sj

The Haunt wants at least 4 Body, so spend points to keep that much.  Not sure if regeneration is working or at what level it is working at.  Find gun guy.  Hit him with a rock.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4jxVP9v1gk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VXpMIasxWU

Admin wrote:My recommendation would be to buy a few dice for a push, push it, get more APs, attack with that and then buy some dice for the attempt as well as effectively you are making a 'trick Shot' to pop a hole under a targets feet, so it's harder.[/i][/color]

OOC: Thanks for the clarity there Paul, I think I'll buy 4 die, I want to make sure our 'targets' remain alive, and with Haunt down, a stray shot could do a lot of harm let alone these thin guys.

Sj

Admin wrote:OOC sorry Dave I'll make it a bit clearer:

Earth Control 7 isn't enough to scoop a hole big enough unless you get a BIG roll. That means either: buying dice for the Earth Control 7 or 'pushing' Earth Control 7 to something higher temporarily then adding a couple of dice to make sure the job gets done.

You're buying four dice, but to spend on what? A straight up Earth Control 7 and four extra dice vs OV 12 + modifiers (harder) and pray for a double? Or push (spend a couple of dice) to boost it then a couple of dice on the attack to push it over the line so to speak... Sorry I thought I was making things clear but looking back I should break it down a bit further as you aren't an expert on the mechanics and this is crunchy mechanic stuff.

We never had all these clunky bits with Golden Heroes but then you weren't moving anything bigger than say, a pushbike...

OOC: Nah it's not your bad, its mine, I should have said I want to push it and add dice as you suggest.

Sj

OOC Pushing Earth Control 7 + two extra dice (cost 13HP) + Roll(4d12)+0: 6,2,11,7,+0 Total:18 (25) vs
Earth Control 7 + Roll(2d12)+0: 7,3,+0 Total:10 (17)

+4 EV (to 11) vs RV7= 4 RAPs

Earth control is temporarily boosted to 11 APs

Earth Control 11 + two extra dice (cost 13HP) + Roll(4d12)+0: 8,1,1,8,+0 Total:16 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 11,11,+0 Total:22 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 4,10,+0 Total:52 (63) vs
OV 12 + Trick shot 4 + Roll(2d12)+0: 4,6,+0 Total:10 (26)

+9 EV (to 20) vs RV12 = 8 RAPs.

Steeplejack HP 97
Haunt HP 158 Body 4/11

Steeplejack grits his teeth. He'd come back in time and been weakened so much that he felt somewhat surplus to requirements! Not what he considered a great return from retirement!

Pouring anger, determination and a drive to succeed into his power he made a hole appear under the two hulking aliens and the human with them. There was no sign of the other three and now there was no sign of these three! They dropped into the hole with a thud and he hardened the earth he'd excavated into a solid mass before inserting it as a plug into the hole! The air in there would last for hours and they would be able to blast themselves out but for now they were buried in an instant hole!

Haunt staggers to his feet and tries to to clear the ringing from his ears. He looks out into the darkness expecting to get punched from his feet by another blast again but his companion Steeplejack jogs in from the darkness instead. There are muffled blasts coming from somewhere but he can't see from where in the darkness.

One of the young cowboys comes jogging over. "Mister... Dicks in a real bad way." The cowboy looked terrified and held his gun out ready to shoot at anything that came out of the darkness. "We need ta ride, get outta here..."

Steeplejack was concerned about where the other three of the hunting party were. In the darkness they could be anywhere. Their power, their technology, gave them a distinct advantage. The boy would need constant medical attention to save his life. He could be the one they'd been sent back to save, there was no way of telling at the moment. The sound of blasts from under the earth reminded the hero that time was of the essence...