That is Knot Learning - RPLOG
Participants
Date
6/4/2014
Log
It was at the edge of woodfield, the stretching hills and wastes beyond the bubble a hellish bit of space compared to the tranquility of Woodfield and Fairhaven. The air was calm and crisp, spring well underway at least. There was a small camp, clydesdales and even an M1A1H dragging around a few wagons in preperation for what would come after if the team assembled was successful.
A human in military garb, male with an eyepatch over his left eye came up with a frown and cigar. His eyes flicked over the team as he started to wave the cigar holding and around to punctuate his talk. "Now look here maggots!" He starts, a passing insectoid infected coughing slightly to draw his attention. "I mean... cat, mouse, and human." The leader starts over, raising the eyepatch to show there was a good eye underneath as he rexamined everyone. "We have a situation nearby. Through this valley there is a small encampment we started after p-day. A chance for new life outside the bubble. With everything going on afterwards contact was lost and as we started to send out scounts once more we've found a set of humans moved into it and formed it into a sort of fort. They are holed up in the school in the ruins of the old town there and we need you to get them out. Any questions?"
Skade fires off a sloppy salute and grins. The cat girl is clad in quite normal, for her atleast, clothes. Tight fitting denim, a short leather jacket with a bikini top under it and for once, actual combat boots instead of her usual heels. Over her shoulder a rifle is slung, looking rather futuristic. Against her hip in a holster is another advanced looking gun.
"Right, Sir. Any idea how many there are down there, and if they're the angry shoot at you first types of fellows?" she asks, quickly followed up with another "Sir?"
Marshall coldly greets the male human, he is wearing not a armor or anything so protective, but some kind of tight and very flexible clothe that remebers a scuba suit covers his entire body, it provides free movements, and accentuates his body curves. The only weapon that he seems to have are his sharp claws, and nothing else.
The mice asks "Sir, the chances of someone dying in the process, are high or low, sir? And also, what would we be facing in the place that we need to reach?" the voice of the mouse is girly, but the serious tone of his words could easily make you forgett this.
While the briefing goes on, Dio reaches into his suit pocket and pulls out a small piece of food designed to toughen up the body a little. Not to be rude of course, but going outside the nantie bubble called for any protection possible. What a strange character, he thought to himself, peering at the un-needed eyepatch. "Of course sir," he says with a small dip of his head, stashing away his little snack and preparing for duty. "I believe I understand the mission details, but I don't think relocating them is quite necessary. I'm not sure where we would even ship them, as I don't believe putting them in the bubble is the best of choices, but they have the free will in the end to do such. If this area is an effort to create a new village, perhaps they can be integrated with some convincing." The lion reaches back and unstraps the riot shield he'd been hauling, eventually pulling it to his front.
"Unknown total composition, six confirmed. We haven't attempted to approach them prior to now but we've seen them shoot at any ferals getting close. From what we've observed they have primarily hunting rifles with a few carbines and one sniper weapon." The expedition leader showed no sign of offense at the sloppy salute or casual questions from Skade, likely one who had dealt with a large number of specialized 'agents' before. Full military discipline was a thing of the past for most these days for good or for ill.
Marshall, for his part, got a more appraising look from the man and a slight crease in his pants stood out as he muttered something about 'spartans doing it right'. "The potential danger is high. Mutant healing is limited but if kept stable until the bubble is reached again survival is likely. I wouldn't stand in front of a rifle and test it, stay low, fight smart if you have to."
His eyes move toward Dio next and an assistant nearby brings over a box so the commander can look the large male in the eye. "In truth we just need them out of they way. So long as we get what we need their fate isn't our concern. The village creation was a failed initiative and I haven't been informed of a restart of it yet. If you can convience them to join in then I'll pass that along to the higher ups and we can see what happens."
Skade flashes the lion a grin. "See, Dio? We'll be one happy, big family in no time! I'm sure you can talk 'em into it and we'll be back before lunch! If not well.. I'd be happy to provide some cover with my own sniper rifle. Still, a mode of.. approach would be nice. What do you say, sneak in, have ourselves a look from a very, very comfortable distance?" the cat girl says, putting her gauss rifle down, resting the butt of it in the dirt.
Marshall shrugs and says without giving much attention to the lion that just arived "Since you have said that they are shooting any approaching feral, there is no way to make such approach without having a bullet through the brain, our animalistic characteristics could cause the wrong idea, so I agree with the idea of attempting the contact with them before we do any move" his words float around the place as he nods in agreement to the team leader, he doesn't seems to have intention of interact with the other members of the team, unless it is needed.
Dio idly flicks his tufted tail here and there, listening in for the extra bits of information. "I shall do my very best, my lady," he says with another small dip of his head towards Skade. "I do hope I'm not rusty from a bit of time off, but we'll see what we can do." The lion pats his riot shield, giving off a solid and somewhat satisfying metallic clank. "I think I shall simply go forth right down the middle like a true fool. Hopefully a suit wearing lion carrying nothing but a riot shield shall at least make them hesitate a little while we can perhaps talk it over. Worst case, I get shot, die, and then you tell my wife I love her," he says with a slight chuckle. "Anyways, we should be off quite soon. I'm ready to go."
"I leave the final decision up to you. I'll be overseeing the preperations of the team to follow you in once the situation has been delt with or it's been deterimined the mission is to be scrapped." The commander says, saluting the group and hopping off the box. "Now get to work agents and make sure you don't damage anything on the roof of the school or blow holes in the walls. I know some people are overly fond of rocket launchers but if the building is compromised and everything in it broken the mission will be a wash. Good luck and Odin;s speed."
Skade salutes again at the end of their brief and turns to the other two members of the team. "Alrighty then. Lion front and center, I'll hide in the bushes or whathaveyou and.. er.. who are you, now again?" she asks the mouse.
Marshall nods to the male human and turns to Skade "Name's Marshall, call me Mars by the way." she stretch a hand and says while wait to the cat to react to his act of greet "So... The main objective is to try a contact, right? How are we going to do it? Any suggestion or idea?" his eyes locked at the cat in front of him, examining it body, as if she was a possible foe, or a very usefull ally.
Front and center! Dio clanks the base of his riot shield against the ground and lets out a small yet satisfying lion roar! "We're going to do it like this. Last one there is a rotten egg as they say." With a small smoothing of his suit, one must look presentable of course, the lion takes off and makes his way for the mission area, taking transport if required or simply walking there if it's close enough
There wasn't any transport provided, although the walk was long it wasn't more than an hour or two away. The path was winding, jagged peaks and some trees covering the path toward the town itself. It wasn't a massive city by any means although the school itself was two stories and large with a glint of shiny panels on the roof. The area around the school itself was bare, everything stripped clean, and a barricade of tires stood infront of the main school entrace. A few hundred feet from the school building were several houses, all looking rundown with a few missing walls or windows. The path down the street was clear, although in full view should one wish to take the clean obvious route directly in the line of fire. The maze of houses and rubble formed more precarious obstacle although far more cover and any other paths toward the school didn't appear to be casually obvious.
"Well, how quaint. So many ways for us to get shot.. Alright, I'm going to head break off and see if I can't spot that sniper. Or anything else they might have up their sleeves for us." Skade says, her feline ears twitching a bit as she's on high alert as they're getting closer. Her nose and well, most of the rest of her being human doesn't really offer any other advantages.
Skade skulks off, trying to find a good spot, perhaps in one of the abandoned buildings, after making sure she's not walking into an ambush that is. Said and done, she does her best to find a good vantage point through the scope in her rifle, aimed towards the main building.
Marshall looks around sighing "What do we have here..." the mice thinks to himself, he eyes the shinning panels at the scholl roof, trying to understand what they are and what are their use in a place like that, runined and destroyed, the city can be easily named as a ruin. Without waiting for his team mates, he starts to wander stealthly around the city, tring to find something usefull or some place that they can have a better look of the school, trying to avoid places where a ambush may happen. The maze of the city ruins seems to be endless...
"Very well," Dio nods at Spade while he gives his equipment a once-over. Heavy armor? Check. Riot shield? Check. Luck? He'll have to field test that one. The lion looks over the school house building, especially noticing the shiny panels. It seems everyone else is taking the stealthy path, so it was time for the lion to take the more foolish path. If anything, he'd make for a great distraction.
With a heavy breath, Dio steels his nerves and heads onwards directly towards the school in a less than subtle manner. He holds his shield out firm for cover and hopes dearly that seeing a single man taking an obviously deadly path might give them reason to reconsider shooting. "DO NOT FIRE," he bellows out, trying to make his voice sound friendly and reasonable despite needing to raise it so much. "I'VE COME ONLY TO TALK. I AM UNARMED."
The stealthy kemonomimi cat managed to flit through the houses quietly and if she was seen there was no indication from elsewhere. She managed to get into one of the closer buildings, able to see more of the lower front without anything getting in the way through one window. There were two men sitting behind the tire baracade with shotguns, apparently passing a small bottle between them while keeping an eye out on the open field. Above them in one upper window the real threat could be seen. One of the larger classrooms had a glint of a scope that caught her attention, a pair of snipers sitting up top to keep an eye on the area. One appeared to be the spotter with a hunting rifle, run down but servicable, and the other had a very heavy looking barrett m95.
As the mouse moved forward it suddenly occured to him where the sight of those things had happened before. Those were pre-pday tech, solar panels to be exact although how well they were working was anyone's guess. The thought was a bit jarring though and the slight crunch of a few bits of stray masonry under his foot sounded out. Between distance and the distraction outside the building any sounds he made were impossible to make out.
The men behind the barricade turned and leveled their shotguns, hidden snipers shifting to point at the shielded lion almost instantly. It was only due to the relative skill and apparently good fortune of the drink they had been having prior that saved him from incoming fire. Lucky day indeed. "DROP THE SHIELD AND STEP INTO THE FIELD WITH YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!" They yelled back, not trusting that he was unarmed without definate proof although he was far to well spoken to be a feral like the ones around outside.
Skade took a few deep breaths and set her aim onto the stupidly large rifle, or more aptly, the person behind it. Flicking on her coms, she whispers "Two snipers up top. One of them using a rifle. The other looks like something you'd see ontop of a tank. Try not to get.. you know, shot. Got 'em in my sights though." That said, she gets ready to make a neat little hole in the sniper if things suddenly seemed to turn sour.
Marshall's attention is suddenly grabbed by the yelling at the main path to the school, he takes cover behind a wall of one of those destroyed buildings, having a clear vision of the lion, the mice thinks to himself of how stupid Dio was acting right now, but can't blame him, afterall the lion's plan worked, and also created some distraction, but afraid that things can turn bad to the lion, the mouse start to scan the school, and the area that surround it, searching for a gap in their defense, the best he can do afterall is get closer and closer to the school building without being spoted, and wait till something happen, cause if a deal about moving the area isn't agreed then Dio will be in a really bad spot.
That's a lot of guns. Well, it's not like his shield would've actually helped much. Slowly and cautiously, Dio lowers his shield to the floor and raises his arms high in the sky. With slow, careful steps, the lion steps forward into the field and eyes the shotgunner speaking to him. Should anyone come to inspect him, they would find out that indeed, he is quite unarmed save for the tasty snack he has stashed away in his pocket.
"My name is Dio," he proclaims, hands still steadily in the air. "I assure you I mean no harm. If you don't believe that however, you are free to put a shotgun barrel at my back. I wish only to talk. I believe my words can be of benefit if given conference."
The plan did seem to be working and as Marshall observed the entire scene it looked like ten people were looking front, all focused on the lion now. All focused on the lion and not on the sides or rear of the building while the talk was going on. Up front one of the shotgunners, turned and called out inside, another person coming out and taking the firearm from him. The male pulled out a pistol, armed with nothing else as far as could be told, and he moves forward out of the line of fire of the rest to approach the Lion beast. There was a small patdown when he got close, pockets checked and snack discovered. "He's clean!" The man yelled out, taking the snack and starting to eat it as he stood near the lion. "Now who are you and what are you doing here? If you're looking for shelter go find it elsewhere. We've enough mouths to feed here."
Skade can't help but smile, thinking back on how she would have reacted if a big lion came up and tried to convince her he was harmless. She stays silent though, content in keeping watch over her friend. "Hey, mousey.. got any grenades or something? Could come in handy to lob one in behind those barricades, if things go wrong. Not that it will, with Dio doing the talking.. of course." she whispers over the coms.
Marshall ears move as the sound of Skade voice comes from the phone at his large ears "Nothing here, ma'am, I'm empty" he murmurs to his coms, the rat notices there is a way to easily reach the building but he have a chance of being seen, but not giving to much importance for the result of his actions the mice rushes toward the building, trying to reach the back side of it, where he does expect finding not a single problem while sneaking in. He runs, jumping and trying to avoid anything that can cause the persons at the building to notice his advance.
Being such a big lion and all most of the time, Dio usually relied on his words and appearance to get things done. After all, the first time he ever saw infected mutants was quite the experience as well, so it's hard to blame anyone for their reactions. The lion stands rigidly still as he gets a patdown, a small frown crossing his lips as his precious snack is taken away from him. It's an awfully long walk to and from and one is bound to build up an appetite... But if anything, the solider eating the snack might feel a bit stronger and more resilient.
"My name is Dio. Please excuse my animal-like appearance. I've grown quite accustomed to this form you see. But down to business. Perhaps you can tell from my suit, I come from somewhere that's arguably a bit better off. Food, water, and a safe place to sleep. The three necessities, but of course we have our own troubles. But let us talk about why I'm here. Currently, I'm on a mission from a company called RSX, a military contractor of sorts. Although they have shifted focus a bit. Their current initiative is to rebuild society. They have taken many steps to accomplish this, and one of those steps is to build and support villages. In this very location, RSX planned to create a village for people to live in, but it has since been stalled. I'm guessing that you all are survivors trying to rough it out in these hard times. If you perhaps want to sit down and talk, I believe I can help improve your situation."
"Ah, right you said that already." The human says, feeling invigorated and far more confident as the snack infused him with energy. It was almost as though he just went through a montage to improve himself complete with 80s soundtrack. He nods, listening and rather intrigued although his face turned to a scowl as soon as the company was named. "RSX? They dropped everything for this place a while back. What could they possibly want to do here anymore. I bet they are just after something again." He grumbles, stepping back a few steps and nodding his head toward the building. "I'll bite though. Come on in and we'll see what you have to offer. The name's Gino, those two with the shotguns now are Owen and Carter."
Marshall was able to take advantage of the situation, Skade providing overwatch still. The back of the building was easy enough to get into, an open window into an empty classroom that was currently unguarded thanks to the ongoing distractions. The sounds of movement outside did indicate that interest in the scene toward the front was winding down. Near the window entered there were two boxes of pistol bullets, one open and missing nearly half its contents.
Didn't seem like there would be any bullets flying soon. Still, might be a good idea to wait until Dio was inside and everything was.. cool, as it were. "Hey.. Dio. Think we should give away our positions out here? They don't exactly seem to be.. RSX fans. Sure this isn't a trap?" she whispers over the coms. Her jacket pocket bulging slightly from the Plushie Porcupine that she had in it. An angry porcupine, if things went badly. She could probably smuggle it past the guards. Maybe. But once you pull the pin from Mr. Porkie, he's no longer your friend.. "I don't think you should go inside. Maybe.."
Marshall examine the bullets and the place, it looks like a common classroom, except by the fact that it is heavily destroyed, it is really curious how they hace forgottn the window opened, but he suddenly is pulled back to the reality.
The mouse whispers on his coms 'I'm in, the place here is clear and safe, if you need some help Dio, just asks, and take note, they have enough bullets for killing us all... I'm going to follow Dio, if somehing happens I'll act.' the mice then peeks through the door, looking for any possible foe or something that can help him.
Uh oh, Dio didn't think these survivors knew about RSX. Looks like that little gamble failed, but perhaps still worth salvaging. "Of course. And it's a pleasure to meet you all." The lion dips into a small bow and follows along. If anything, at least he isn't shot! Yet.
"I shall be honest with you. I am not employed by RSX. Rather, I'm on a mission for them. Considering how many weapons you all have and such, you all are holding out the very best you can in the apocalypse. You could say I'm a negotiator of sorts. RSX claims that the project here has failed and that your camp here is a bit in the way. They desire relocation for your group. But let's be honest, you don't wish to do that, do you?"
The lion coughs and listens to his communicator, idly wondering if he should call for his partners to come in. Perhaps a little later while he smooths things out. "So I shall lay down a few options. When I spoke with RSX, they said they might restart the project here and support you all should you decide to help make this location into a full village. You could have farms, supplies, and perhaps fortification beyond tires. Another option is relocation to another village that's already established or you could come with us back home. However, I must warn you of the nanites if you aren't aware of those."
Bartolome had taken the contract from RSX on the grounds that sie wanted more experience working with local infected and disenfranchised... After coming to the realization that hir home was no longer Spain, but here, sie had resolved to make the place better, at all costs. Azure wings tucked tight to hir slender back, fluffy, skunky tail coiled around hir lissome legs in a skirt of sorts, sie moves purposefully for the school, striding with confidence and boldness that only made hir stark nudity seem... Noble, somehow. Aside from a sword belt, the skunkette is unclothed.
Sie does have some supplies with hir, for the sake of potential trade and show of good faith, but updates on mission status suggested sie would arrive near the closing of negotiations... One way or another. Rose petals drift in hir wake, tumbling from between hir feathers. Unlike the leonine Dio, hir form was hardly imposing. Sie considers the cover on approach, and sniffs the air, trying to determine the situation before getting any closer...
