Recently Tyrman “Mad Dog” Bladebreaker hosted a team of gnomes to search the Deeprun Tram for “Subject 17”: a rogue robot loose within the tunnels. G4 Members Zonger, Rustrotor, Albér, Mitzie all attended and helped Tyrman. Read Part 1 here or continue on to enjoy the tale:
Operation: “Subject 17”
(Part 2)
Written by Tyrman Bladebreaker
The screeching of the carts careening to the next terminal woke Tyrman Bladebreaker as they exit down the tunnels. A soft robotic voice announcing the arrival of the next murmurs, almost inaudible as the brawler becomes more aware before dozing off while waiting for the others. He spent most of the night studying older maps of the Deeprun Tram. Despite knowing the tunnels have changed over the years, better to have outdated knowledge than nothing. Making a mental note of rats scurrying around, there seemed to be more than usual.
During the last session, Tyrman met up and tested a group of gnomes on their skills and teamwork. Impressed with their capabilities of combat wit, Tyr feels ready to hunt down the rogue robot hidden deep in the Deeprun system. “Subject 17” was programed to deal with the rat problem during the tram’s construction, however something went wrong and it instead attacked all but rodents.
Pushing up the wide brim of his weathered leather hat, the brawler notices a gnome approaching. He grunts and nods at the gentlegnome, taking note of their walking cane and their lack of eyes.
“Hail, fellow gnome.” The gnome greets.
“’Ey! How’s it going?” Tyrman responds. He may not recognize the gnome, but he wasn’t going to be rude.
“Not bad. I was told to show and show I have. Unfortunately, Dankey Krang needs repairs and upgrades or I’d have her with me.”
Tyr smiles and nods, finally realizing who this gnome is. Gnomeregan Forever, a renowned organization of proud gnomes he himself joined recently, was always recruiting talented gnomes frequently. He did his best to learn everyone’s name and face.
“Ah! You’re the new guy! Name’s Tyrman Bladebreaker. Here for the hunt, eh?”
“You must be Tyr then. I’m Rutger Rustrotor but most call me Rusty due to my hair.”
The blind gnome and the brawler speak of Rusty’s way of travel and his useful invention; Danky Krang. His mechanical gorilla guide who was unfortunately in the shop for sound dampening. Tyr found Rusty’s cane just as interesting. Despite the lack of his automaton ape, the sight challenged gnome seemed confident so long as he wields the device. Tyrman wasn’t going to question his skill, besides, where they were going there wasn’t much need for sight.
It wasn’t long before Mitzie Drew and of course his robotic partner, Gyr, arrived. Tyr was thankful to have Mitzie along for his expertise in case they do have a run in with Subject 17 quickly. Not to mention seeing Gyr and its new upgrades in action. Tyrman could tell its creator was hard at work making the little bot the best it could be, especially after Mitzie recently being hired as an engineer on Mechagon. The young robotics engineer and Rusty spoke at length before yet another new face arrived.
“Albér Rivetwrench, at your service! So, what’s the plan?!”
The eager gnome wore light battle worthy gear and green tinted goggles from what Tyr could see from a quick inspection. Along with explosives, a combat shield, and a sword on his belt; Tyrman knew a warrior when he saw one. Giving the green mohawk haired gnome a respectable nod, he addresses the gathered rag-tag group.
“This looks like enough to—”
“I came to see what the hubbub was about.”
Yet another gnome! Tyr recognized him immediately as Zonger Manaspoke. Wearing a robe fit for a gnome along with an impressive goggle hood combo with twirling cog pauldrons, the mage seemed to materialize from nowhere to join them. Having a wielder of the arcane, while Tyr found the practice unpredictable, was a huge benefit to the team. Even if he didn’t fully understand the use of magic, he welcomed anyone with such who could. Especially a trusted member like Zonger. Feeling confident with the unit, Tyr leads the small party to the nearest maintenance corridor stepping over the odd rodent. Zonger pointed out and cautioned everyone to watch out for traps. A gnome located in the center of the tram terminal made it his business to catch and exterminate Deeprun rats. Rumor has it once they catch them, he sells the meat to travelers passing through.
The deeper they go, the darker it becomes. Gyr’s headlamp eye sockets flicker on, giving the gnomes better visibility down the cramped passage. After Albér steps on a rat, causing it to shrill while running into the darkness, Rusty offers to use his cane to better view the surrounding area. Entirely made from reverbium, as Rusty calls it, is a composite material that can be used for blind people to better acclimate to society. Intrigued, Tyr asks the blind gnome to do so. After warning everyone to cover their ears he then grunts and swings, hitting the ground with his whippy hollow cane. Unleashing a hellscape of noise. It echoes for a solid minute and dissipates.
“Rats and something bigger is coming. Probably what we’re looking for.” Rusty responds. It wouldn’t be long before the others pick up the scratching of tiny claws on the metal flooring heading their way coming from ahead of them.Quickly, the group prepares for the horde of rats.
Gyr’s lights shine on the first wave of the rats. Tyrman charges into the swarm without second thought. Mitzie, with his trusty wrench and blow torch along with Gyr, rush in along with the brawler. Even Rusty joined the fray as he swung his cane, hitting a couple out of sheer luck. Albér lobs a copper bomb over the rushing gnomes. Bouncing it off the wall and detonating over the scrambling rats. Zonger spreads his arms outward to his sides and unleashes an arcane explosion, lighting up the tight hallway momentarily and finishing off the remaining rats. However, their conflict was far from over. There was only a moment of respite before yet more frantic rats leaped at the gnomes. Biting and scratching at them. Rusty was unfortunate, taking the brunt of the attacks, unable to dodge or block the tidal wave of vermin. When it was beginning to look bleak for the group, Zonger comes through with another arcane explosion. Vaporizing the agitated rats in a single swoop. Tyrman, as were the others, were covered in scratches and bites. Hastily tending to more serious wounds, deeper thuds were coming their way.
Gyr makes a sound in alarm- alerting the group. The light from Gyr catches a very, very large imposing rat looming into view. Thinking quickly, Zonger weaves a spell and points at the beast. With a snap of his fingers, it is polymorphed, buying the gnomes time to better prepare. The giant rat lets out a loud roaring squeak, turn into a “bleep!” It looks confused!
Each gnome laughs at the humorous sight of the large rat, now sheep, is dumbfounded. Grinning, Tyr doesn’t waste any time. Using this moment to charge in with his swords drawn. Mitzie and Gyr join in as well, managing to score a few hits before causing the spell to break! Before the sheep shifts back into a big fat rat, Albér unsheathes his conventional weaponry, and with a deep exhale charges at the beast, shield down, sword at the ready.
The thing growls deeply, seething with anger. A shield bash against its nose from Albér causes it to sneeze, rearing up and using its gait to slam into the front-line gnomes! Mitzie and Gyr manage to avoid the blow but Albér takes the hit head on and Tyrman has little room to move! He does his best but is slammed against the wall. Raising his shield to cover his chest and body, Albér taunts the imposing rat.
“C’mere ya big, UGLY beast!”
The rat rears its ugly head, attempting to take a big chomp out of the warrior. Bracing fiercely as the rat takes a chomp at his shield, its teeth scrapes away at the wood. Dropping his shield for a moment, he stabs the rat in the mouth his sword! Screeching in pain and shock from the surprise attack, it scurries off back down the tunnel leaving a droplet trail of dark crimson blood. The sight of blood caused Zonger to faint. While Tyrman checked on the mage, the others prepared to venture deeper. Despite their wounds, these vermin wouldn’t deter them from finding the rogue machine their searching for. Once everyone was on their feet, they moved forward following a trail of blood. For a time it was quiet, save for the screeching of the tram carts as they zoom by.
As they near a passage, Tyrman’s large sensitive ears pick up a struggle around the corner. Cautious, the others also hear strange noises along with rats. Drawing their weapons, they decide to investigate. Surrounded by a horde of rats, a snarling worgen cries out for help. The feral beast man looks unkempt, wearing only a tattered robe. His eyes a bright sickly yellow and fur dark and matted down.
“HELP US!” He barks.
It didn’t take long for the battle wizened gnomes to dispatch the swarm of rats and assist the worgen. Sword, shield, wrenches, blow torches, and magic obliterated them. Any remaining rats scurry away in fear, darting off into the darkness. Homeless worgen sniffs at the gnomes with hesitation, “We don’t know… Who are you?”
The gilnean sniffs again, more so toward Zonger as the mage offers something to eat, “We would like food…”
Conjuring a table of confections, the destitute worgen jumps back from the sudden table. After a moment of hesitation, he greedily takes an armful of mana strudels. While scarfing up their meal, Mitzie used his blowtorch to cook some of the fallen rats. Tyr watches the worgen, frowning. Reminding him of his own time living on the streets before asking their name.
In between bites, he utters, “Dog. We are called, Dog.”
After a few exchanges, Tyrman has an idea. It was clear “Dog” was living down here for a while and would know these tunnels. After the gnomes explained their purpose exploring the tunnels were and mentioning rats and Subject 17, “Dog” snorts.
“Rat?! We HATE rats! We see more and more every day. We run when rats come. But we hear something… Different before rats come.”
“Dog” finishes off the mana buns and looks at the gnomes with his glowing yellow eyes.
“You stop rats? Leave Us alone?”
Mitzie strategically offers his cooked rats to “Dog”. Their eyes widen before he scrambles to the cooked meat. Devouring them like a feral animal. “Dog” finishes the meal before backing away from the gnomes. Before they could ask, he adds, “Not now though. We need to rest. You need to rest. Many rats ahead. Many… Big rats.”
Grunting before sitting on a small section of blankets and precious belongings to the worgen, “Dog” says, “We rest now. Then we show you. Little people should rest too.”
“Dog” curls up, not much different from a wolf, and eventually falls asleep after staring at the group of gnomes. Each of the gnomes’ exchange looks before agreeing to leave him be and make their exit. Now that they have a guide, maybe their luck would shift in their favor in finding and dealing with Subject 17. Tyrman questioned the sanity of the wolf man but it was their best bet. For now, he and the others needed to patch themselves up. Zonger snapped his fingers again, conjuring a portal for their exit.