Selene relayed what the "ghost" told her.
"Underneath the moat house is a "secret door" that leads to a maintenance tunnel. There will be a maintenance car in there that we can take, which will transport us nearly to the central hub where A.C.E.R.E.R.A.K.'s core is. But, Acey will have that place heavily defended."
She got on the radio. "Illtharae - load the gear on the sled and meet us here. We're going on a train ride. Not sure when we'll be able to resupply."
"Copy that."
The team at the MoatHouse set up guards and patrols, and waited for Illtharae. When she arrived, the squad loaded up on supplies. "Third person - you get hump duty. Load up and let's move out."
As they started down into the dungeon, Selene placed Garran on point, with Team 1 behind him, Selene in the middle,Team 2 and then Illtharae covering the rear. They reached the dungeon - entering in the middle of a chamber. As Garrax cleared the bottom step, something fell on him from the ceiling. Landing squarely on his head, he didn't have time to scream before the slime aggressively ate through his flesh.
"Get it off him! Get it off him!" Tiber Holt called out as he took up a defensive stand, watching for any attackers.
Ingrid moved to help when Samuel - third person on Team 1 - called out "Shit! No! Don't touch it!"
"What?"
"Fire - Fire is all that will kill it. Touch it and it'll get you, too."
"Fire will kill him."
"He's already dead."
Ingrid took another look at Garran. He wasn't moving. She took out her medscanner - no heartrate.
"Fuck."
By this time, Selene was next to Garran, running her own medscan. She stood up. "Eyes on ceiling - everyone but Tiber."
The rest of the squad scoured the ceiling as best they could in the darkness. No other signs of the green slime that killed Garran.
"Samuel - how did you know?"
Samuel looked slightly embarrassed. "Well, LT, this station was apparently designed to run adventures for a fantasy role-playing game. I, uh, used to play. When I was a kid. Green Slime was a common 'trap'. Lethal unless you quickly burned it off, or had a cleric."
"A cleric?"
"A priest that can cast healing spells."
"Well, we don't have one of those."
"No, LT, and this killed Sarge much faster than in the game."
"Well, Samuel, you've just received a field assignment. You're still humping cargo, but you're our expert on this place. Do you know anything else?"
"Hang on, LT." Samuel said, as he pulled out his digital reader. "I, uh, have some of the books on here. Um, just for nostalgia."
"Nostalgia. Gotcha." Selene would have smiled if it weren't for Garran's body on the ground.
"Ok, the barkeep said something about elemental cultists, and this keep looked a bit familiar.... Hey! Found it! This is from one of the early adventures. Yeah, green slime. Ok, I have a path to where we should be going."
"Copy that, Samuel. New formation. Each team moves single-file, hand-to-pack. Front keeps eyes forward. Two watches ceiling. Three keeps their head on a swivel, and Four watches their back. Wherever possible, ten feet horizontal separation where possible. I will cover rear. Illtharae, send up one of the micro-drones. Scan for anything odd. Samuel - what should we be scanning for?"
"Concealed pits, trip wires, changes in temperature, breezes where there shouldn't be any."
"Got that, Illtharae?"
"Got it."
"Ok, advance. Call out anything odd. Samuel, swap with Miak. Lead us through."
The squad advanced through the dungeon. There were a few minor threats along the way - a mix of traps and 'monsters', but with Samuel providing guidance, they avoided any real risk. As they reached the place where the maintenance panel was, Illtharae called out quietly, "Hostiles."
The squad froze. Illtharae sent footage from the drone. "This looks nothing like the adventure" Samuel said. "Well, I guess good old A.C.E.R.E.R.A.K. decided to change things up."
"Rich folks probably didn't want to spend days wandering around in the dungeon."
A small flight of steps led down to a sub-level. Several medium-sized rooms, with braziers providing a flickering light. The drone revealed a group of cultists, a group of hyena-like humanoids "Gnolls", Samuel called them, and with the Gnolls, a human, wearing armor and holding a staff. His face was scarred. "Well, he was in the adventure. They call him Lareth the Beautiful."

In the center of the room was an unidentified heat source. Something large. Lanky. Ugly.

"Shit shit shit shit" Samuel said, "A troll. They regenerate from wounds. Fire or acid are what damages them permanently."
Selene grinned, but there was no joy behind it. "I'm betting a Fury Rifle will do it. Now, the ghost said the key was hidden somewhere down here, so squad member Four will search as we move through. I'll take point. I want to meet this troll."
Selene advanced into the room - she halted when the troll rose to its full height. As they advanced, a door to their right opened, and they got a first glimps of the gnolls and cultists.


The troll started to advance towards Selene. She smiled as she drew a bead on it with her Fury Rifle, but Miak fired his jets, flew past her and fired at the Troll, hitting it four times, but only inflicting a couple wounds.
[Note - I forgot to take pictures of Turn 1]
Miak continued to fire at the Troll, turning it into an icky paste. "Damnit, Miak, I wanted a piece of it!" Selene laughed. "It's right there, LT, if you're hungry."
Selene moved and fired at the first gnoll she saw through the open door, blasting it into paste. "No thanks. I have my yummy protein bars."
Zia moves a bit and fires a grenade from her launcher through the door. From the yelps, it was clear that she killed at least one, probably more. The rest of the squad and the gnolls move to engage. Zia took a solid hit from a war arrow, but her armor saved her.
Lareth pointed his staff at Selene and uttered words in an unknown language. Selene shrieked in pain as his "spell" hit her - it was only luck that she was able to stay in the fight. Another trooper tosses a grenade, dropping two more gnolls.

Illtharae and Miak move to guard the flank, where they could hear the cultists chanting. Selene fired at Lareth, but was clearly shaken and missed. Several other troopers moved and fired at Lareth, also missing. Lareth pointed his staff at Sev, and he fell to the ground.

The cultists advanced, one into Illtharae's line of fire. That cultist dropped dead. But the rest continued to advance, chanting all the way. One more cultists climbed from a hidden door in the floor, joining the mob.

Selene fired her fury rifle at Lareth again. This time, the shot landed square, blasting him into goo.

Miak fired at the cultists, dropping three. The rest of the squad advanced, firing along the way, but no other cultists went down.

As the troopers continued to advance towards the maintenance panel, Ingrid Asill noticed a suspicious urn, and kicked it in passing. A key rolled out. "Aha! Got it" she said as she scooped it up.

Miak dropped the last cultist as the troopers moved towards the maintenance panel.
But the alarm must have been sounded as ten more cultists climbed out of the hidden passage.

Selene moved back, and dropped one while Miak dropped three more. The rest of the cultists continued their advance, apparently ignoring the pile of corpses at their feet, while the rest of the troopers made their way to the maintenance panel.

As they continued on their way to the maintenance panel, Selene dropped another. The cultists continued to advance, and more joined them - but it was too late. The Troopers got through the maintenance panel and sealed it up behind them.
They had grabbed Sev and dragged him through. Once through, they checked him over. He was just knocked out and would recover on the train ride.
The squad had also grabbed a very decorative warhammer - well balanced for combat, but very decorative, with symbols highly reminiscent of the Saints Reborn logo. On the train, they handed it to Selene, saying "We think you should have this, LT."
As Selene hefted it, she once again cried out, dropping the warhammer and grabbing her head. As the squad gathered around her, they noticed that her nose was bleeding. She was saying something quietly. Faith moved her head close to Selene's to listen. "She's praying. No - she's preaching!"
"Are you sure?" Miak said. "Selene doesn't exactly pray."
"I'm sure. She's preaching the Saints' litany."
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know. Usually only our Mother Superior recites that. We haven't recited it since we met Selene - not even in the hospital. It's our most sacred prayer."
"Well, how does she know it?"
"I don't know. Sisters, Brothers, we must pray about this."

As the train continued its journey the three kilometers to the other end of the station, the Sisters kneeled together, praying. Miak went to Illtharae, "What do you think about this?"
"I think that unless Selene wakes up soon, we're dead."

Support: Platoon Leader

Dungeon terrain - the dungeon beneath the MoatHouse
Visibility 8"
High Magic

Special Terrain: Broken Statue


Battle Conditions: Independent Monster

Trap: Green Slime: Garran Tharn gets hit and dies. He's dead, jim.


Mob Size 6
Enemy: Cultists, including Lareth the Beautiful (champion)
Champions gain +1CS, +1 Resistance, 6+ Save
Mob 3 is warriors (no specific change)

Independent Monster is a Troll (Yay!) - snuck in for the hunting; will attack either side
Troll: Speed 4"; CS +2; Tough 4; Resist +1; MP 4; Knit Wounds
Regain 1 MP at end of each battle round.

Mob 1: Cultists (5)
Mv 5"; CS +0; T 3; Res +0; Champion 3+
Chanting: During each Aggression Phase, count the number of cultists on the table, then roll 3D6. If the roll is equal to or below the number, the enemy receives Aggression points equal to the lowest of the three dice.
+
Champion: Lareth the Beautiful
Mv 5"; CS +1; T4; Res +1; Save: 6+;
Cast Bleeding Curse every time they activate - hits closest visible target on 3+, regardless of cover and strikes with +0 damage. Ignores armor saves or resistance saves.

Mob 2: Gnolls (Beast Folk) - mixed archers (6)
Mv 6"; CS +1; T 4; Res +0; Champion 5+
Throwing Weapons: Each beast folk that moves into HTH combat when active will hurl a throwing weapon at the target before moving. Hits only on a natural 6 and is resolved like an archery attack. If their target is removed, they may attempt to charge a different soldier but cannot throw another weapon this action.

Mob 3: Guardsmen (6) (I don't know if I have them)
Mv 5"; CS +0; T 4; Res +0; Save: 6+
Cursed Weapons: You cannot use luck against their attacks.

Even tho Lareth is a Cultist champion, he will be with the Guardsmen mob. Cultists will deploy closest to Saints' position.