ND Cragsand S3E3: Random Raiders

:Return to character article: Sten Berglund
==Season 3: Neon Divide==
===Episode 3: Random Raiders===
====Lazybones====
Sleeping in by accident Sten rushes to grab some breakfast at the restaurant, finding the place packed with pillbugs and locals it seems everyone in town and then some had the same idea. One of the pillbugs offer him what looks like one of them "GEB Cubes", the artificial flagship food product of the GEB corporation, declining Sten gets some lizard kebobs and a cactus punch with some extra strong in it from Odd. 
:-400 credits food
Already seated are Willie, Torok, Zes and Maxie. Asking them if they found any work none of them have managed to get any. Torok have been trying to find a job for Zes, not capable of using any technology or doing heavy labor narrows it down. Clarifying the difference between corpses and "corpos" - those working for the corporations - the wage slaves - to Torok, he has an actual good idea and that is she could help Anna at the bar. It being closed two days in a row, Anna really needs to hire some aide, lest everyone goes thirsty. Zes tells that Anna did put radiator fluid in the food during the wedding, causing poor Jimothy to end up puking his guts out. That does sound like synth reasoning doesn't it... convince one not to put something inside a cake, and they put it in the drink instead.
Then of course, there's always value in bringing back materials from the wastes, which Sten will gladly pay for. Torok preferring to chomp em down needs constant encouragement to refrain from doing so and tells of Zes once diving inside his stomach to retrieve something he swallowed in the past.
====Over-zealous law enforcement====
Hearing gunshots Sten finds Deputy Herk and a gathering, with him accusing Phineas of carrying weird things in his backpack, suspecting that he might be carrying explosives. For always finding and selling useful stuff Sten takes Phineas side, arguing to Herk that it would be a stretch accusing him of such things and the overreaching officer gives up. Skully reporting an actual crime Herk finally leaves. Phineas only has a fishing pole to sell, which seems one of the most useless things to try and sell in the wasteland. 
Asked if Sten knows anything about bows, Ima shows off some of his cybernetics transforming into a weapon right in front of everyone. Seems his mysterious cybernetics have a mind of their own. Norbert expresses not knowing enough, Sten can bang bent things into place and Willie offers to cut anything off - that's about all the help the craftsmen can offer. 
====Inventory Check====
Willie lacking his heirloom gun, Sten offers him a revolver to keep as payment for his hard work at the smithy instead of credits and he accepts. Considering telling him about Fee-Bee breaking his heirloom revolver, Sten changes his mind. Her being away today on some business he tells Willie that she should be the one to tell him about her "progress" with the gun.
:-Revolver (as salary payment to Willie)
Resuming work on the guitar Sten goes to work while Maxie repairs his own cybernetics. His things do seem to require a lot of upkeep. Wondering what happened with that damages synth Midge, Sten informs both of them to catch her if they see her since she didn't pay up. Using the last remaining Iron Sten crafts a revolver. 
:+Revolver crafted
Going through the current store inventory with everyone they remark on being so low on Scrap Metal. Explaining that some were put aside for Hanz town security fund and giving up on the pipeline, Willie remarks on Henderson being a greedy oil baron when it comes to scrap. It does pose a problem that he claims things first then tries to resell them at a higher price. Henderson later comes by offering to sell some materials and although it's more expensive than usual it's needed and Sten agrees. 
:+4 Iron 2000 credits per from Henderson
:+1 Scrap metal 1000 credits per from Henderson
:-9000 credits for materials to Henderson
Savire also pays off 1/3 of the gun payment plan. Yuna will be paying the last part.
:+5000 payment plan 2/3 of gun to Savire
====The damaged synths====
Happily surprised to see her the very damaged synth Midge, she returns to pay off more of the gun she purchased 2 days ago. In her arms she is carrying another synth, looking even more damaged than her, covered in oil and sand. They make for a strange but fascinating duo. Chatting, he learns that the one lacking legs is over 5 decades old and has a marking on one shoulder saying "ReCON". Uncertain of how Midge can pay off her debt Sten suggests trade as an option aside credits. If they didn't get enough payment from scrapping, if they have any scrap metal or iron hed gladly take that off their hands. 
Looking at each-other the one without legs offers to some damaged parts dangling off on themselves beyond repair to be recycled. Asking to make sure that they don't actually need it, the synth explains that the legs are a lost cause and will need full replacement anyway. Scratching his head concerned, Sten goes to work, prying off the a broken part of a damaged leg to be recycled as scrap. 
:+4000 credits (4000/15000c of gun debt for Midge)
:+1 Scrap metal value 1000c (5000/15000 of gun debt for Midge)
The synth without legs asks what they can do to earn money. Sten looks them over making observations. Lacks legs, has just one arm, a functional voice box, a feminine design. After a look over, the synth assured that they're actually male. Thinking for a bit Sten suggests that even in his limited capacity he could still work a store, trading goods. Possibly assisting Anna in bartending. Later asking for Henderson Sten give them a short tour to the old council "palace", telling them to be careful along the walkways and informs that there is a charging station in the restaurant, for synths as well as organics. 
Maya runs off to gather something and returns with 2 extra pieces of scrap metal to help pay off Midge's gun debt. One of them smells terrible but if refined to iron it wont matter. Maya hops up on the counter and uses her ID, attached to a ring worn on one of her talons, very peculiar. When Sten tells that he will pay 5000 credits for carbon to Maya she seems suddenly distraught and for some reason walks off on her own.
:+2 Scrap metal value 1000c (6000/15000 of gun debt for Midge)
Fee-Bee not around Sten starts working on smelting down and processing scrap metal into iron. 
:-2 Scrap metal
:+Iron ore
====Down he goes====
Hearing a ruckus nearby by the scrap yard, the ambulance and hospital team consisting of Juno, her cactus cousins, Odd and Katherine. Asking what the fuss is about they tell that the blue haired pompadour guy Shura is fighting Skully. This is gonna get ugly. Remarking on the giant critters like the crabs supposedly eating scrap, the medics mention the giant hamster from way back and Stell tells the gathering he spotted it yesterday, wearing a bandage - so someone must have treated it he assumes.
Watching from a distance Shura takes one beating after another. The fight ends with the trap door at the bottom of the fighting cage opening up, Skully picking up the injured Shura and tossing him down in front of all to see, taking a fall to add to the injury. Going in for a closer look, Skully is malfunctioning making a lot of noise. From the sound of it Phineas bet on the right winner, taking some earnings.
====Future efforts====
Checking the bar AGAIN, it is still very much closed. Bad news turning good though Hanz comes running carrying lots of stuff. Having been to the city he's carrying two boxes as well as his pockets full with scrap. All for the town safety fund. Heck, this man, or elephant rather, is serious about his efforts. According to Hanz he found a lot of materials in The Row scrapyard left unattended. Remembering Dagu, the tiny creature who used to run the place last year, the scrap yard in the row gets some nice things occasionally. It has a chute leading all the way to the upper city where the rich dump their trash. Working on schematics Hanz approximates he will still need some Carbon for steel for strong foundations to the watch tower. Giving him a tour of the watchtower over at the dunewalkers camp he gets to work on making blueprints.
:+10 Scrap metal
At Hanz store Sten notices he has one of those bank ATM things. Thinking it would be useful to set up another credit chit for safekeeping his credits he asks Hanz if he can trust him. Promising to hold his word Sten tells Hanz that he has "a history" and wishes to avoid getting registered in any databases. With Hanz careful help walking him through it, he sets up another credit chit. Diversifying it seems wise to keep half of his credits hidden somewhere safe. A bank account could be good but way too risky, would have to store credits in someone else's name, maybe Willie would agree to it?
:-200 credits
Asking a man walking aimlessly what he's up to he says he's an unemployed tourist from the city, come there to watch the show at the Oasis Grille. Having seen the notice of an animal dance performance Sten offers him a look at his inventory but he ends up just window shopping. A real customer, a mercenary type, is looking for Titanium. Sten tells them that's what everyone is looking for nowadays. Wishing to organize an expedition they offers to share any Titanium finds and Sten agrees to join if he can gather a good crew of locals. When giving their name and moving to shake his hand, they reels away. Sten gives them a bow with his hand on his heart instead, as is customary in some cultures. The mercenary tells him that their name is "Scorch" and heads off to find Reeza. Gathering more interested in a longer expedition Sten spreads the word around. Toolbox vouched that he's a union man so seems like a worthy expedition.
====Enemy at the gates====
Interrupted by shouting coming from the gates Sten runs over, clasping his machine rifle. There Mercury and Herk are engaging, someone is pursuing Charles, returning from the salt flats. Meeting Charles halfway Herk shouts at them to get inside as a gunfight and chase ensues. Escaping from firing the gate closes in time as all return back in. Townsfolk gather and position themselves up on the gates but lacking any sharpshooter or sniper rifles they cant hit any of the hostiles. Gonna have to prioritize crafting those. Torok and Zes head out getting up close even, taking out 3 of them. The raiders eventually give up. 
:+Scrap Shotgun
A vehicle approaching, they shout toward the gate that they won't attack. Claiming it to have been "an accident" and that they just wish to collect the bodies of their fallen. Although it was clearly not any accident Scrap Towner's agree to let them do that. Carefully observing them as they leave. Troubled by the attack, the assumption is these raiders got ahold of the 50,000 credit bounty on scrap town locals and decided to try their luck.
Shura after recovering leaves his sword at the shop for Maxie to work at. 
====Gun thief?====
Checking the inventory a scrap pistol is missing. Not that it's worth much something unaccounted for with the door closed would mean that someone broke into the shop, stole it then locked up again. It would have to be someone skilled in decking. Spreading the word Sten speaks to Henderson, Mercury, Toolbox and Herk. Stationing himself a district away from the smithy door, Sten stands guard for a while, watching if whoever this thief is dare give it another go. Midge walks up to him and they both silently breach the door. No perpetrator is to be found but Sten thanks her for the assistance. A private detective for the union named Flint asks for some assistance in straightening out the barrel of a revolver. Sten obliging gives him an explanation of the theft but considers not hiring him. Toolbox takes a look at the lock but doesn't learn anything aside that the lock is simplistic and it might be worth upgrading. To learn if anyone actually comes back Toolbox recommends places something in a position in the door that it will fall out in order to learn if someone is actually entering. Sten places a toothpick in the door.
:(Repairing Revolver for +2000 credits on return)
A ruckus outside the Oasis Grille, looks like Sten missed the dancing animals show. Masaru and Trident corpos are also there, looking for some talent for a TV-show or something. Loud and obnoxious, one sure is Trident alright. Torok did some work for them in the past but from the sound of it, he got underpaid and scammed again. Spotting 2 more corpos leaving the councils "palace", they are escorted by not one but three scrap town security bots, all resembling Skully. From McCuldger's muttering ravings it's difficult to tell but seems like he made some sort of deal to keep them away. More worrying though, some sniper was taking shots at them previously. Hearing the news Sten nervously looks around at the roofs in town.
Torok on the hill atop Shilohs RV, everyone starts shouting for him not to jump. It probably wouldn't harm him but it would completely demolish Shilohs home. Causing a stir, it ends up he was just joking. 
Phineas spotting a strange slime looking creature and rather not liking the idea to touch it but wondering if it could be worth something, Sten empties out one of the cardboard boxes for him. Chasing after he actually manages to catch the creature.
:Next Episode: S3E4: Ambushed
==Inventory==
Inventory tracker after episode....
==Store inventory==
Store inventory tracker after episode....
==Links==
*Twitch VOD: Neon Divide Season 3 Episode 3: Random Raiders 
*YouTube VOD: Neon Divide S3 E3: Random Raiders
===Twitch Clips===
*Ima's cybernetics have a mind of their own
*Harpy Maya's payment method
*Door breaching with Midge
==Gallery==
Crag ND S3E3 1 Ima shows off his cybernetic bow.png|Ima's unfoldable cybernetic bow
Crag ND S3E3 3 Ima shows off his cybernetic bow.png
Crag ND S3E3 4 Damaged Synth ReCON (Kawten).png|"ReCON"
Crag ND S3E3 9 Damaged Synth ReCON (Kawten) .png|"ReCON"
Crag ND S3E3 23 Damaged Synth ReCON (Kawten) .png|"ReCON"
Crag ND S3E3 7 Prying off broken parts off ReCON (Kawten) for scrap.png|Removing damaged parts from "ReCON" to be recycled as scrap
Crag ND S3E3 8 Mide and Willie.png|Midge and Willie
Crag ND S3E3 15 Damaged Synth ReCON (Kawten) and Midge (1800HotBeef).png|"ReCON" and Midge
Crag ND S3E3 20 Damaged Synth ReCON (Kawten) and Midge (1800HotBeef).png|Midge picking up "ReCON"
Crag ND S3E3 18 Damaged Synth ReCON (Kawten) and Midge (1800HotBeef).png
Crag ND S3E3 24 Scrap Town Ambulance crew ready at the scrapatorium arena Odd Sera Katherine Juno Yuna.png|Ambulance crew, Odd Sera Catherine Juno Yuna
Crag ND S3E3 26 Hanz more scrap for the town security fund.png
Crag ND S3E3 28 ReCON (Kawten) and Midge (1800HotBeef).png
Crag ND S3E3 27 ReCON (Kawten) and Midge (1800HotBeef).png
Crag ND S3E3 29 Unemployed tourist.png|Unemployed tourist
Crag ND S3E3 31 Olm 'Scorch' Makker.png|Scorch
Crag ND S3E3 33 Junk Mart.png|Junk Mart logo
Crag ND S3E3 34 Junk Mart Hanz.png|Hanz at Junk Mart
Crag ND S3E3 35 Charles.png|Charles lost his hat
Crag ND S3E3 37 Scorch.png|"Scorch" at the Scrap Town Wall
Crag ND S3E3 38 Scrap Town gates guard.png|Scrap Town gates
Crag ND S3E3 40 Jeremy Chins.png|Jeremy Beaumont
Crag ND S3E3 41 Jeremy Chins.png
Crag ND S3E3 43 Scorch.png
Crag ND S3E3 44 Raiders.png|Raiders collecting their dead
Crag ND S3E3 45 Raiders at the gates Reeza Ront Herk and Ima.png|Reeza, Ront, Herk and Ima discussing raiders
Crag ND S3E3 46 Raiders Scrap Town gate.png|Sten guarding the gate
Crag ND S3E3 47 Raiders Scrap Town gate Mercury Ront.png|Mercury and Ront
Crag ND S3E3 48 Raiders Scrap Town gate Mercury Ront.png
Crag ND S3E3 52 Sten breaching the smithy with Midge.png|Breaching the smithy with Midge
Crag ND S3E3 53 Sten breaching the smithy with Midge.png|Breaching the smithy with Midge
Crag ND S3E3 56 Jeremy Beumont.png|Jeremy
Crag ND S3E3 57 Torok and Zes.png|Torok and Zes
Crag ND S3E3 58 Detective Bishop.png|Detective Bishop
Crag ND S3E3 59 Masaru Callope and Trident Conrad Corporate escorted.png|"Corpos" Callope from Masaru and Conrad from Trident 
Crag ND S3E3 60 Masaru Callope and Trident Conrad Corporate escorted.png
Crag ND S3E3 62 Willie and Henderson.png|Willie and Henderson
Crag ND S3E3 63 Henderson and Ima.png|Henderson and Ima
Crag ND S3E3 64 Willie Henderson and Maxie.png|Willie, Hendersson and Maxie
Crag ND S3E3 65 Ima.png|Ima armor
Crag ND S3E3 68 Skully Scrap Town bot Jeremy.png|Jeremy messing with Skully and the scrap town securty bots
Crag ND S3E3 72 Torok Zes Herk.png|Torok, Zes and Herk
Crag ND S3E3 74 Phineas catching a creature in a box.png|Phineas catches a critter
Crag ND S3E3 75 Zes flying.png|Zes mid-flight
Category:Neon Divide Cragsand Episodes