The Jaws of Life - RPLOG
Participants
Date
16/7/2016
Log
There was a light rain out in this early afternoon as the call came out for a private contract - asset retrieval. Details were sketchy, but the brief mentioned it being a job for a local contact of Zephyr's, and it came with a good reward tag to boot.
The contractor was one Branson Leyton, a former agent of Zephyr's whom had gone private some time ago, but somehow managed to maintain good relations with the oft-territorial megacorporation.
The small otter stood under an awning in the truck stop atop the nearby hillock overlooking their target building - the East Fairhaven Fire Department. One by one, the agents started to arrive...
Astara trots in, the large centauress only slightly armored despite the mission at hand. She approaches the otter wearing a light smile on her face. "Hello, I am Astara; I assume you are organizing the mission?"
Moondog follows shortly behind the centauress, not able to move as quickly as her since he's only got his two human legs! He is on guard after the trek through the potneitally dangerous city, not moving with the disinterest he usually has when in safe zones. Head on a swivel, he doesn't relax in the slightest until he's rejoined with Astara. He leans in to listen, not speaking yet.
Nayru felt uncomfortable as she stealthily made her way through. She was not a big fan of rain. Especially when her clothes weren't made to handle such things. Wet socks were just torture, and made the lop-eared bunny wish she was able to find a pair of proper shoes that fir her bunny feet. Yet that would have to wait. She stopped for a second as she ducked down and hid from a wandering feral, continuing on her path only once she was certain the coast was clear. It didn't take her much longer to reach the meeting spot. Seeing Astara with two others she did not recognize. "Hey." Was all she said while she waited for the rest of their group to arrive.
It'd been an uneventful week for one onyx-furred bunny, as neither his research, nor his ventures lead to any groundbreaking successes. No, the past few days were filled with either meetups with research and development of his crafting during the mornings, intense training with his closest companion and mentor in the afternoons, and drinking or socializing during the evenings. A tired look in his eye spoke of the nights as well, some as sleepless as his days, for better or worse, not even he knew exactly.
The light rain gently sprayed over the bunny as he made his way to the meeting point, light footfall impossible as his large bunny feet flopped over the wet terrain. He kept his paws in his pockets and his ears folded gently behind him, keeping his neck dry from the chilling water droplets. Every once in a while, he would look around to make sure he hadn't lost track of Alania, the feral margay which he'd taken a liking to. Sometimes she was far off in the distance, others she was practically pressed up against him, but no doubt a powerful feline like her had no issues what so ever tracking Otto's movements. Indeed, she would not be lost.
Rounding a corner, he spotted a small crowd of agents just before him. He turned to Alania and softly asked her to stay close and try to behave, though he was still uncertain if she understood him. As he approached, he scanned the crowd, spotting more than just one familiar face! While he had his reservations about the mission's being tied with Zephyr, the company of folks he knew was quite reassuring. "Good afternoon!" he greets everyone, shooting Moondog and Astara with a smile and a nod before glancing around the others.
Alania finds herself wandering through the rain, haplessly, the feral walking in on all fours like some dog or in her case a really large cat. The feline appears almost completely animal like in appearance then a woman but still bared afew resemblements of her once human frame. Her body being 7 foot eight with a slim hour glass frame toned in strong muscle her arms were limber then then her thighs or rather her lower body was clearly her strong suit. wielding powerful thighs and legs as if more adapt to running then anything else, she was built for speed and agility. And her body draped with bright tan fur all to warm and welcoming and she only seemed to want to play bouncing up and down among the tall grass teasing at Otto with her bright playful humor. The wet grass soaking down her fur from the legs down but she didn't seem th mind. The seemingly massive feline to busy playing by herself pouncing invisible things or generally jumping around beating up the grass to care about whatever it was Otto was off doing, though she followed him around none the less.
The otter turns to face the centauress, having to tilt his head up to look at her. He nods slightly. All of him screams 'wannabe secret agent', from the long duster hiding most of his form (apart from the tail poking out from underneath) to the well-tucked hat that hides the top of his head down to his eyes. He peers around suspiciously before answering. "Yea, I am. Name's Branson." He flicks his fingers over his comm unit before looking back up at her. "Target's down here. I'll give more details once everyone's here."
He takes a look at Moondog, eyeing the human up and down. "Nice, you came prepared. Last buggers I conracted showed up half-naked for some reason." He snorts derisively. "But it seems we might have a chance here." Nayru, Otto and his 'pet' are met with a curt nod, the otter giving them a smirk.
He turns around and gestures towards the crumbling building to the east, the East Fairhaven Fire Department's fire station. "Inside there is a device from pre P-day that I need retrieved. Chances are it has survived these abominable nanites eating it to bits as it was delivered to the station in sealed containers." He turns back to the group. "Your job is to get in there and get it for me, without opening the box. We need that thing to stay intact for as long as possible... assuming I'm right and the seals haven't been broken."
He turns around to look at Astara again. "The thing is called a Jaws of Life. Apparently some kind of rescue device used before P-day. It should be stored somewhere inside the building and probably still labelled. Check everywhere that makes sense." He nods at them again. "Alright, off you go. Uh.. and yea.. one last thing. Expect company. Every building in here is crawling with ferals. That one isn't going to be an exception." He nods and steps off, hiding underneath the awning and letting the group approach the building at their leisure.
Astara frowns as the otter seemingly makes fun of her under-dressed appearance, but quickly pushes that out of her head as she pays attention to the mission briefing. She turns to face her other members. "Nayru, Otto, Moondog... glad you're all here, always a good thing to do missions with people you know. Not to put you off, Miss Feline; after this, we'll know each other as well! I'm Astara, by the way; yours?"
Moondog allows Astara to introduce him to the people he doesn't know. He gives Otto a little faux-salute as way of greeting, being taciturn as he often can be. He listens carefully, hands held down by his sides as the otter outlines the mission parameters to their merry little band of misfits. He thinks, breifly, before beginning his lines of inquiry. When he speaks, his voice is slightly muffled by his facemask, but he compensates by enunciating and using a minimum of words.
"The motor whcih powers the hydraulic jaws, considered a seperate peice or something to retrieve?" After each question, he'd give the otter time to clarify, of course. He's not silly. "Is this location the place to deliver the cargo?" Oh, and he has a doozy to follow that one up. "Any intelligence on the makeup of the feral populations inside the building?"
He keeps his eyes on teh building, studying approaches, escapes, and layout as best he can as he talks. He doesn;t need to make eye contact with the little ottery agent in order to interrogate him. Besides, nearly dying in a building collapse has him greatly concerned with the structural stability of any structure he's about to run into pell-mell.
The otter perks up, raising an eyebrow at Moondog's clever question. "Motor's optional. We have other ways to power that but.. if you locate that, I guess that's bonus pay." He smirks.
"So grab the container that they are keeping the jaws of life in. Be wary of any roaming mutants inside. Sounds pretty simple." Nayru commented as she carefully examined the outside of the building as best she could. It were times like these she wished she had the buildings blueprints to better know what to expect inside.
Otto listens with rapt attention as the otter speaks to them. This seemed fairly simple, mere grunt work, run in to grab a payload and get out. He kept quiet, pondering his approach to the combat situation they may end up facing. Ferals were no issue to a well organized party, and Otto felt confident that his colleagues would easily handle a few, or even more. He was still new to healing, as most of his time was devoted to his machines, but he hoped that in the end, no one would be in need of that medkit he had packed.
His eyes dart to Astara once the otter was done speaking. "Ahhh, she doesn't, I mean." he clears his throat. "She doesn't speak, at least to the best of my knowledge." he flashes an earnest smile, then glances at his feral feline. Deep down, he felt concerned for her safety, but knew that once this margay set out to do something, there was no stopping her.
Looking back towards the otter, and then glancing towards Moondog, Otto took in the exchanged words, taking a note to keep an eye out for other valuables. His eyes roamed over the building, assessing it silently, not for weaknesses, but exploits. Quick escapes, fire exits and the like... What risks were worth taking? He scanned for just that, hoping there was a reliable alternate exit for them to take if things got... hairy.
Alania quiets up and freezes in place the moment she spots the otter or rather stares at him for a long moment before, she lays her front half down in the grass she was playing in to hide crawling acrossed the ground, her rear sticks out in the air tail waggling freely however giving her away easily. Not to mention her shear size alone didn't help hide her any. The margay seeming intent on crawling up to Branson attempting to get close enough to lick! Sneaking through the grass and prowling up to the otter as far as the grassline before bursting into the air to pounce at him!
Branson was looking out at the group as they began to move out, most of them immediately starting to assess their surroundings, scanning the buildings for points of entry.. exactly as he expected. He did not expect, however, to be pounced on by a feral cat. "Ack!" The otter is quickly tackled to the muddy ground and starts struggling to try and get out from under the cat and dodge the barrage of licks. "Get.. get OFFA ME! Ack!" He covers his face while calling out. "Get this cat off me now!"
The sky was just starting to clear up as the group began to descend the hillock, leaving the otter to his fate. The large fire station sat in a wide open area to the east of Fairhaven. It might have been freshly built just after P-day, but eight years of lack of maintenance and nanite degradation have rendered it into a ruin in record time. Several other buildings dot the area, the majority of which are two-story upscale domiciles that were still being built and are now little more than assorted walls and pillars, or ruined and water-filled foundations.
The fire station itself is by far the most imposing building in the area. From the main road it is easy to see the three large shuttered gateways that lead into the main garage and apparatus bay, the faint outlines of three once-new fire trucks visble through the laminated fiberglass windows at the center of each shutter. Next to the westmost shutter is the employee entrance, a sturdy-looking metal door that no doubt leads to the offices. Despite years of nanite degradation it still looks to be in good condition. Further out near the western edge of the building is the public entrance into reception. Above the reception door is a large sign indicating this to be the East Fairhaven Fire Department
Between those two entry points the building has collapsed into a pile of unrecognizable rubble, naught but concrete and rebar in a haphazard pile that once was the tower that sat above this part of the structure. It is likely that any rooms that once were underneath the tower have completely caved in, their contents reduced to little more than debris.
Astara sighs as one of their teammate pounces on the person who's actually giving them this job. "...Oh c'mon, you, save this for the other ferals out there." She goes up to the otter-feline pile, and wraps her arms around Alania. She tries her damnest to use her somewhat-larger height and much larger weight to pry the kitty off of the poor man. While doing this, she tries to strategize with everyone else. "So, what do we want to do first? I feel I'm not exactly, uh... prone to being stealthy, with my size. Or my hooves."
Moondog is bnot well suited to feral-wrangling, and leaves those duties to other people. He taps one gloved finger against the side of his 'muzzle' thoughtfully, the ballistic kevlar-laced plastic making a soft thump as he examines the building. His shifts his weight slightly to one side. "Logically the Jaws would be in or near the trucks. Unless ferals moved them - but why would they?" He considers the laminated fiberglass windows in the distance thoughtfully.
"Going through the windows will probably be loud, but direct. Otherwise its through the building itself. Either way, inside we could maybe unlock and open a shutter and roll the Jaws right out." He looks at that collasped section, not liking the look of it. "Go through a window, a locked metal door, or reception. I can do the last one easily - what about you all?"
Nayru approached the building as her eyes picked up on some of the details she's became accustomed in searching for. "Looks like we have three options to enter." She told the group as she stepped back. "This building is new. Like state of the art back before P-day occured new. The two front doors here are maglocked. Meaning we'll have to either trick the sys..." She was interrupted by the sound of the struggling otter. Turning around to see the Margay ontop of their client, licking him. With a sigh she turned back towards the building in order to continue her explanation, "Anyways. If any of you know how to trick the maglocks into opening, we can try that. If not then we can attempt trying to bust through one of these doors with brute force. Or we can look to see what type of back entrance this place has. Perhaps we'll get lucky and have an easier time getting through that way." The lop-eared bunny then pivot back around towards her group. "I personally don't see the windows being an option for entrance given our present company. I guess stealth isn't much of an option either. But what do you all think?"
Otto could only watch wih amusement as his feral friend licked the otter mercilessly. Hearty chuckles held back by his paw alone bubbled out of him until Astara intervened. He calmed down and returned his attention to the matter at hand. His colleagues seemed more than competent enough, but he had his say as well. Once they were both done speaking, he interjected.
"I agree that using the windows is begging for trouble. Glass shards just beneath and the tight opening would make for a bad escape option. Nonono, we should use one of the doors." he declares as they moved onwards. "Maglocks are child's play." he adds and rolls up his sleeves. "Give me a minute, and get ready. We don't know if something is gonna jump out." he says confidently, then makes his way to the appropriate magnetically sealed entrance. With a bit of ingenuity, he works with the delicate circuitry and mechanisms before him, pulling out a tool or two from his pocket occasionally to assist his work, before *Kssh* the magnetic seal of the door in question was released, leaving it easily openable. Otto stands back, looking satisfied with his work.
Alania more or less nuzzles up to Branson's neck and cheeks, purring and hugging his body into her rows upon rows of cleavage along the underside of her body, subjecting the otter to the softness and warm damp fur as she simply cuddles and purrs away. Not being one to even pay attention to some silly fire station or what's inside, perhaps even completely oblivious to the reasons why everyone was here to begin with she simply did as she wanted. However the seemingly large playful feline lets go of the otter without a fuss as soon as someone began pulling at her frame. Hugging Branson into the mud no more but giving his face a big parting lick before she bounced and leap back off into the grass to play again, quickly escaping Astara.
In the distance, Branson picks himself up and quickly exits the scene. He'll catch up with these 'agents' later, not to risk being jumped by their pet again.
The metal door is easily dealt with, and opens into a well appointed staff room, and were it not for the obvious nanite degradation of the furnishings it might make for a pleasant place to take a nap. A nonfunctional vending machine sits in the corner, next to a pair of ruined sofas, and across from an old TV set that is well on it's way to being unrecognizable junk. A small kitchenette takes up the southwest corner of the room, with long-junked food prep appliances like a kettle and a toaster, both looking rather eaten through by nanites.
A door to the west leads to the offices, and further down to the ruined remains of the corridor that would have connected back to the reeption area, now just a pile of rubble and rebar.
The only other exit out of the room is the door to the east. The plaque on the door clearly indicates that's the way to the apparatus bay and garage.
Astara peers around the room, trying to parse for anything that looks like it might be what they need... or signs of trouble. "Hrmm... perhaps we should go east after this?"
Moondog moves into the room close by his tauric 'partner' at a rapid clip. He's unslung his laser rifle from his back, keeping it at the ready as she sweeps across the room. He focuses his light on the plaque thats reads 'Garage' so that everyone can see. "That seems to be the first place to check." He stays on his toes, ready for anything.
Nayru smirked as the door opened. Pretty impressed with the other bunny's work. And with no feral jumping at them either. She followed the others as they walked in, taking in the environment as she did. "I agree. Better to go that way then exiting to try door number two." She mentioned, walking over to the door. Keeping a hand close to her weapons and an ear out for trouble.
As Nayru approaches the door, a rather unpleasant scent crosses her nose. There's something on the other side of that door that smells.. wrong, unwashed. Like a garbage bag that's been left out a bit too long. Luckily the secure and sealed fire doors seem to be keeping most of it at bay. The door itself is unlocked, and can be opened by turning the handle as normal.
Otto followed the rest, closely and carefully as his bunny ears swiveled from side to side, trying to pick up on the telltale footfall of ferals or other dangerous folks that may be around. He had naught but his bare fists and small claws to defend with, as being a pacifist, weapons were never really his favorite utility.
As he approached the door, his little pink nose twitched in surprise as he picked up on a rather maloderous stench. The smell of decay was present, though Otto was no expert on such things, he could deduce only one thing... "Pseeeew, that's disgusting." he whispered and waved a paw in front of his nose. As he stepped into the room, his blue eyes darted around every nook and cranny, acting on that mental note he'd made, to seek valuables.
The cunning bunny can definitely hear something alright. There's a light sound of dragging, something light on something hard, scratching and nipping. Claws on concrete, perhaps. The room they're in is a trove of terrible and discarded electronics, many of them little more than salvage at this point. The vending machine looks to be in decent condition, but the food inside has been exposed to the elements for years and is no longer really edible. There, in one of the corners, is also a fire extinguisher and a fire axe. The former looks past it's prime, the rubber seals having long since been eaten by nanites, the contents spilled out slowly and denatured. The fire axe, however, is inside a metal-and-glass container, and looks almost pristine.
Astara grimaces at the smell. "Gods, that /is/ awful..." She avoids exploring over there - at least until all other options are exhausted; she can't help but notice the fire axe in the corner, to which she goes up and inspects. "Hmmmm, this thing looks in good shape! But... I don't want to set an alarm off. It seems /too/ perfect; anyone want to help me out?" While she's looking over the case, she thinks she hears something faint in the distance... but she's unsure.
Moondog nudges a few of the discarded electronics with the toe of his boot, his skillful eye assessing their value - or lack of. He keeps on the move, tracking with Astara to take a look at the fire axe box. He lets the rifle swing down as he takes a closer look at it, gently taping the side. "Good find, Astara. I can open it the noisy way....looks pristine." He unsheaths his French Nail, and gently, quietly taps along the edge of the box and its lock. No wonder he wants it, the poor human's got a pitiful option for anything close and nasty. "Very simple lock on this. Amatuer locksmith could spring it."
Nayru was physically repulsed when the smell crossed her nose. There was obviously something on the other side of the door. All she could hope now was that it wasn't anything living. Putting a paw over her nose in a vain attempt to block the stench, she stepped back away from the door, her attention being pulled by Astara as she mentions an alarm. "Oh... I should be..." The bunny moved to help the taur, but the human beated her to it. So she just waited to wait for the human to try to open the lock. Hoping he doesn't end up activating the alarm.
Moving into the room, hand firmly planted on his nose, Otto brushed past the other bunny, and made his way to the center of the area. What a mess, everything looked withered, yet among this mish mash of plastic and decayed furnishings may well be a treasure trove of salvage! Perhaps if they-"Huh?" the bunny's ear perked up, detecting the faint sounds of scratching and nipping. "Hear that?" he asks Nayru, hoping her own ears had picked it up as well. "Oh, I don't want to be here any longer than I have to..." he says quetly and redirects his attention to his other companions.
Seemed they were trying to open a case with a fire axe within! It seemed to be in good shape, and Otto needed at least SOMETHING to defend with. Looked as though Moondog was trying to pick the lock, but was having no luck. "Hang on, let me try." he asks and nudges in to have a look at the case. "May I..." he whisks the French Nail from Moondog for just a moment, and carefully snips the wire connecting the case to the main alarm system. Handing it back to the human, he nods to him and says "Thanks. Alarm should be off, break it open if you want." he beams and steps back. "Though, if you have a spare weapon... I wouldn't mind having one..." he looks around nervously, as if expecting to be lunged at at any moment.
Alania soon trots her way back over to the building and Otto with a happy bounce after playing in a grassy field enough to grow bored of it, waggling her curled tail happily. Though the margay soon wanders up behind the bunny and roams behind him for a moment before simply walking up and sniffing at the rabbit's fur. Her cold nose pressing to it to hide the smelly thing whatever's around.
Once the alarm is dealt with, the glass case is trivial to smash open. A whiff of stale air comes out of the previously sealed glass case, and in short order the fire axe is retrieved, ending up in Moondog's hands after a quick discussion. With his guidance they also go through the electronics in the room, picking apart the choicest bits to carry back with them as extra pay after this is done.
"Well, shall we move on west? I think we've exhausted the options this room has, our package certainly isn't in here." Astara says, taking one last quick look around the room before starting to walk west (somewhat cautiously).
Moondog looks at the satisfactory haul of salvage they've managed to extract - rare metals and delicate components, rare and hardy stuff valuable to anybody. After that gets divided up he looks to the bunny again, remembering his plea for weapons. "How am I better equipped than you?" He reaches under his poncho and draws out the standard laser pistol, offering it to him. "Take this for range, and longear's choice for close encounters." After Otto takes the pistol from his hand, he holds out his newly acquired axe, and ye olde French nail. After his crewmember and possible friend makes his selection, Moondog slings the other back into its holster and follows with Astara to cover her.
With her allies deciding to continue on with the west door, Nayru decided to follow after. Her eyes only now fully noticing the door that was to the east. A plaque reading 'Garage' right by it. "Shouldn't we try the garage first? Or do you two really want to try getting past that smell?" She asked, not quite sure if trying the west door was the best idea.
Taking the knife from Moondog was something Otto graceously did, with a wide smile and a sincere thanks! The gun, on the other paw... once it was offered, the bunny immediately shrank down just a bit and mumbled something about firearms, and gently nudged it back in Moondog's possession. It wasn't much, but a knife was a versatile weapon, which doubled as a tool! The french nail was sharp, pointy and menacing all the same, so Otto gave it an experimental twirl between his nimble tinkerer fingers. He performed a practice jab forward and-"Gah!" he recoiled, flinching as he felt Alania's nose on his back, nearly dropping the knife.
Turning around, he happily wrapped his arms around the feline and snuggled her momentarily, speaking quietly to her "There you are! I knew you wouldn't just leave here." Noticing her distaste for the rancid odor in her attempts to mask it with his fur, he chuckles and nods "I know, that is repulsive, isn't it? C'mon, let's get away from it." he speaks warmly and nuzzles the feline, before returning his attention to his fellow agents.
"Moondog was dead right to think what we are looking for might be in one of the trucks..." he comments as he nears the others. "So East, but... checking the offices might be worthwhile. We've been fortuitous so far, why not have a look?"
Alania didn't pull her nose away from the bunny though she did purr at the hugs, stuffing her face up into whatever he was wearing. Otherwise the tan and speckled black margay did little more then meekly affectionate the bunny if not just to hide her nose from the smell, following him around without second thought. Though still wet from the rain, being a rainforest cat the water didn't mat her fur all to well if anything the water droplets sparkled like diamonds in her fur as though it wasn't going to sink in or her pelt were water resistance!
Astara paused for a moment, snapping her fingers, summoning a wispy ball of blue-fire; the new companion bobs through the air around her, waiting for any assailants that wish to harm its master. She also unholsters her laser pistol, flicking the safety off. "Well, we could check the offices. If the rest of you guys want to, I'm okay with that; that scent just puts me at unease, regardless if we confront it or not."
Moondog makes the decision for the rest of them. "As they said at Ramstein, lets get to ramming." He readies his laser rifle and gestures Astara into position to cover the doorway as he takes several steps closer to the office door, picking up something suitably heavy on his way. His face isn't visible behind his impact shield, but he has to be screwing up even his weak human nose. He gives her a last nod, and stands to the side as he flings it open. "GRENADE OUT!" He yells, as he tosses the random bit of debris in. Might buy them a few seconds of surprise.
As the door through to the offices is thrown open, the stench goes from nauseating to overpowering. The entire office area is overgrown with some manner of plant life that has taken over most of the division, seemingly after growing in through a large tear in the fiberboard ceiling. The abundant greenery is punctuated by dots of white, red and yellow, small mushrooms and other fungi growing out of the putrid mass. The only part of the room that is not completely covered in this rancid filth is the closest corner to the door that was just opened, which contains the Fire Chief and Chief Inspector's desks.
With the stench still bothering her, Nayru remembered a trick she knew that could. She took a second to focus herself. Then in that moment her breathing just stopped. Just in time too as that was the moment the human opened the door. With no air now going through her nose, neither was the smell. Something she was more then happy with. The lop-eared bunny decided to go ahead and take point. Her eyes examining every part of the office. Trying to see if there was anything of interest that she could find.
By the time Otto could react, the door to the office was flung open, and Mokndog's cautionary warning about a granade filled the room! Expecting a blast, Otto covered the wrong thing he should have covered... his ears. Once the repulsive stench invaded his nostrils, he nearly gagged as bile from his belly threatened to come up and out! Even so, he staved it off, and kept both his lunch, and his cool. *thwap* went his paw as it collided with his face, covering his nose in an instinctive attempt to douse the stench, but achieved very little. While he COULD have exhaled and remakned breathless, he swallowed the heavy repulsive stench and suffered through it's rut-wrenching potency, just so he could get air into himself, so as to not go mute. "SWEET IXCHEL!" he exclaims, teary-eyed from the gas "Stinks worse than death!"
Following his fellow agents closer in, he nudged past Astara and Moondog to check the room out. His mind immediately searched for an explanation. What was this fungus? Was it toxic? Did they have to worry? Eyes locking onto Nayru, he watched as she surveyed the room. There was so little to look at anyway, but he hoped that her risking going in there would not be in vain.
Alania didn't move from where she was the smell getting her to leave Otto's side and just lay down and cover her nose with her paws while she simply eyes at whatever was making that awful smell or what it was everyone was after. The margay seemingly wanting little to do with that room.
The stench in the room is absolutely overpowering to those who must suffer the tyranny of having to breathe. Those whose nanites can do the breathing for them are managing much better. The set of plastic keys sit tantalizing on top of the Fire Chief's desk, but it's fairly obvious that nothing else in this room is worth the trouble of dealing with that potentially deadly fungus.
Astara's eyes tear up at the cloud of malodorious air that enters the room upon opening, and it's not soon after she starts heaving, the poor girl caught completely by surprise with nothing to make it stop. Between heaves, she manages to sputter out "CLOSE. THE FUCKING. DOOOOR."
Moondog turns away from the door, full of regret! He can only hope that the others who can deal with the stench will get whatever loot is inside and return pronto! He staggers a few steps and crouches over an ancient trashcan, one hand pulling his helmet's facemask up in time. He makes a few gross noises, and coughs noisily. His hands are trembling as he pushes a bit of gauze impreganted with mentholated paste into his mask and pushes it back on. "Get the goods and get out.." He burbles, trying to keep a lid on himself.
Nayru grabbed the keys that she found on the desk. Examining them real quick before pocketing them. She wasn't sure what the keys were for, but they would hopefully prove useful. With nothing else of interest in the room, she quickly made her exit, not wanting to be in the overgrown room any longer. That was when she noticed her sick allies. Seems it was a pretty smart idea to turn off her breathing like she did. She shut the door like the pair asked before asking herself. "So should we try door number two?"
Otto looks nothing short of relieved once he hears that glorious *clack* of the door to the putrid death shroom room close. His eyes wander over his colleagues, especially poor Astara, who looked the worst off by far. Alania and Moondog were slightly better off, it seemed, and thank goodness for that! With a brisk pace did he go to Astara to pat her a few times, and check for any anomalies about her. Blue face, bloodshot eyes, anything really. "Whatever those putrid plants were, you can bet they weren't safe to be around. The room was probably flooded with spores, and now whoever breathed them in probably carries them, myself included." he explains as he attentively examines his tauric companion with concern. "In other words, I'd say we check door number two, pronto! Before we injest any more of those things' ...essance." he speaks the last word with disgust.
Alania remained unmoved laying on the floor and simply hiding her nose beneath her paws as she watched the everyone poke something clearly doesn't want to be poked. The margay would follow her instincts and just leave but stays if not for Otto.
Astara shudders and wipes her mouth as she recovers, standing up from the hunch she had entered beforehand. "Uuurgh... when we make our report later, we need to bring those fungi up so that that portion of the building can be razed and cleaned out." She blinks a couple time to clear her eyes, and then starts walking over towards the /other/ door. "Well. Here goes Door Number Two..." she grumbles, right hand holding her laser pistol, left hand opening the door carefully.
The eastern door opens immediately into the very large Apparatus Bay. Heavy equipment is strewn about the area, the greatest of which being the three fire engines that were narrowly visible from the outside.
As the group enters the large space several feral mutants rise up to their feet and turn to face them. They are clearly lupine in nature, their fur matted, filthy and unwashed. Three males - and they are clearly males - seem to take a dominant stand, the biggest of which growls at the intruders that have entered their den. There are at least half-dozen other mutants in the room. One watches the group warily from atop one of the fire engines. Two run to hide behind an assortment of crates and piled equipment. Three others mill about in the background, watching warily.
Down south there is an additional set of metal shutters identical and opposite to the north-facing ones. Next to them is a small door with a plaque indicating it's the way to the training room and dorms. On the east side of the room, opposite where the group entered from, is a large sign over a set of double doors that indicates that way is the motor pool's Dry Storage Area.
Moondog manages to recover in a timely fashion, looking towards the ring of keys that they were able to salvage from the fungus infected room. "These will come in handy. Put them somewhere safe - I have a feeling.." He pauses, to swallow back. "...That we'll need them." He walks across the room towards the other door, shouldering his laser rifle again. He follows through the door near the rear of their little column, with a practiced military step. The muzzle of his rifle tracks targets, and he draws a bead on the leader wolf-mutant. He holds fire , put keeps his finger on the trigger, ready to unload a lightshow of deadly energy.
Nayru looks into the room that Astara had opened. Seeing at least nine different ferals inside. "Uhh... Hello. No chance you all will back down if we say we came in peace, huh?" Nayru asked, knowing full well that the armada of lasers drawn wasn't going to help any diplomacy attempts.
As Nayru speaks up the male up front - perhaps the alpha - growls in response. The two lupines that fled behind one of the fire engines peek out timidly. The air in the room is tense, and it's obvious that the creatures are ready to step up and defend their den.
As Otto enters the room, his jaw practically drops as he glances around the room, filled with more than enough ferals to cause them all a world of pain. He swallows dryly and takes out his knife, ready yet unwilling to fight. His ears swivel towards Nayru as she starts to commune with the feral leader, and to his astonishment, her effort yields a response! He kept his maw shut, and tried his best to look nonthreatening. Glancing back at Alania, he hoped to dear ixchel she didn't aggrevate the ferals, and if it came down to bloodshed, that she would kick their asses extra hard!
Alania simply rose to her feet and scooted up behind Otto peeking around hip at whatever it was everyone was staring at. The margay doing little more then casting her hazel eyes up at the bunny man and down at the other ferals with bad tastes in places to den at.
The wolves seem to grow impatient as the standoff ensues. The lead wolf starts to prowl forward, sniffing at the air and snapping his teeth defiantly. One of his cronies is following alongside him, but the other is staying back for the moment. The fourth male of the group, the one atop the fire engine, seems to be hefting some kind of heavy object. It's a big piece of machinery, which he clearly intends to use as a blunt instrument to defend his lair with. The lead wolf keeps his eyes trained on Nayru, the one who spoke.. and seems ready to pounce on her.
Astara sighs. "C'mon, boys, calm down. We aren't looking for a fight; we're simply looking for a specific box with something we want in it." She then smirks, moving her hands to cup her breasts, jiggling them. In a seductive tone, she states "I promise there'll be something in it for you, Mister Alpha, if you comply~"
The lead wolf certainly pauses at that, as does the nearest cronie. He regards Astara as one would a piece of meat, and with a hungry lick of his jowls he starts to head for the centauress. If his maleness is any indicator, he's ready to accept the centauress' offer.. that is, until the third male, the one that had stayed back, jumps at his Alpha and attempts to wrestle him down. The next few seconds are a blur of fur, teeth and growls, as the two lupine males hit the ground, tussling with each other for dominance. The other two males are distracted by this unexpected turn of events, the one on the ground seemingly looking for a good chance to jump to his Alpha's defense, while the one lurking above jumps down from the top of the fire engine, hefting his held object - a forest rescue chainsaw that he's wielding completely in reverse, holding it by the business end and using the heavy motor-bearing end as the blunt end for his weapon.
Moondog watches cooly as the negotiations take a turn, the wolf ferals getting into a big kind of intrapack scuffle. That is just fine in the human's mind - it keeps them from needing to engage in combat with them at full strength. No matter who wins, they'll be weaker for the fight. "We should go around while they fight." He says, managing to be just loud enough for his crew to hear, but quiet enough to keep the plan from the feral pack falling to infighting. He taps Otto's shoulder, and Astara's flank, emphasising his words with a head cock and silent hand gesture.
Huh... Seems that Astara's 'negotiation' attempt has provide interesting results. With several members of the pack not fighting amongst each other. Nayru decided to take full advantage of the distraction. Lowering her body stance and trying to move unseen around the room. Hoping to quickly locate their target and get out with it without any of the ferals noticing her.
The three wolves are certainly distracted enough not to see this coming. Two of them are at each other's throats - literally - while the third watches on in helplessness, barking and whuffing at this unexpected third of events. The fourth male, however, is not fooled by these tricks. These creatures are trying to move around them, into the room, and towards their females. He bravely leaps at Moondog, the one that he perceives as being the invaders' alpha. He swings the blunt and heavy end of the chainsaw at the unsuspecting human, who barely has the chance to react as it comes crashing down on his shoulder.
Looking upon the scene before him, Otto imemdiately felt endangered when he saw the alpha approach Nayru with that menacing gleam in his eyes. The rabid animal looked as though it was ready to pounce right at her! Otto's paw landed on Nayru's shoulder as he reached into his pocket for something, ready to act, when suddenly! "What the..." he muttered to himself as Astara literally offered herself in exchange for their safety. Unsurprisingly, this got the lead feral quite intersted, but in mere moments a picture that looked as though it was a perfect shot of a happy concusion turned into a mushmash of pure chaos as the wolves went at one another.
Otto's fingers glazed over the device he'd been searching for. It was a strange gauntlet with a mounted keypad on the wrist, which he donned immediately. "Putting barriers up, just in case." he stated so that only his teammates could hear as he tapped a combination into the device, then with several flicks of his wrist, and a few fingerguns towards each individual party member, the bunny smiled lightly as his ears picked up the reassuring hum of the multiple barriers affecting and protecting his teammates, himself included.
In the nick of time, too! Within moments they found themselves facing one of the feral monsters, and before Moondog could react, it slung the heavy chainsaw in it's maw right at him, and slammed the blunt end right into his shoulder! The barrier crackled around him as it buffered out a bit of the damage, but it was certain, Moondog was in for a world of hurt... Otto reached into his pocket, feeling around for his next gadget...
<Player Judge> You are rewarded by Lilac for RP! You receive 5.09 general XP and 254 Freecred!
Alania is shocked by the entire turn of events though for a short Astara got even the margay interested! Not that the tan feline did anything opting to remain behind Otto if not almost attached to the body as he cotton tail. Sheepishly creeping after him, ducking down and hiding in plain sight if not hugging the nearest wall farthest away from the crowd. Freezing in her tracks the moment chainsaws were being flailed around!
The two tussling wolves continue to fight it out. At a point the challenging wolf manages to pin his Alpha to the floor, teeth to his neck, but he's quickly overpowered and thrown away. The one lupine brave enough to engage the group readies his improvised weapon again, growling menacingly at Moondog after that powerful smack. Of the rest of the wolves there's no trace. The presumable females have all gone into hiding in the farthest corner of the room.
Astara scowls at the sole wolfy attacker, and with a cock of her head, her wisp goes after him, engulfing the thing in ethereal blue flames. They don't quite act like normal flames - much less burning and singeing - it nonetheless causes no small ammount of surprise and quite a bit of pain for the poor lupine. Astara takes the opportunity of this, and fires a few shots towards the beast's hands that are holding the chainsaw.
The poor feral creature is incapable of comprehending what just happened. Suddenly he's engulfed in blue flame. Flame bad. Blue flame worse! He tries to shake his hands and pat it all away, dropping the arborist's chainsaw in the process. He quickly runs away in a panic, hiding behind one of the derelict fire engines.
Moondog would normally draw a secondary weapon with the arm not injured, fighting through the pain like a Real Man (tm) and delivering death blows even as his own life blood puddles on concrete. Its the sort of thing that a manly, masculine, virile, and handsome human would do! The whole supernatural fire, overwhelming force kind of takes the wind out of his sails. He allows himself to turn on a heel and flirt briefly with the concept of unconciousness before staying upright instead. He releases a stoic statement, "OH FUCKNUTS."
Nayru turned her head briefly as a wolf attacked the human. It seemed the wolf learned that this was a bad idea when Astara lit the wolf a flame. She just shook her head, going over to the back of one of the fire engines, peeking inside to see if the jaws of life were in it.
With the monster gone, Otto reaches into his deep pockets and pulls out a small metal box. Within it was a small metal flask and a lot of syringes, primed and ready for use. He looked over his falled comrade and notes the severity of the shoudler wound. It was not too significant, there was no dislocation or fracture from what he could tell, but he definitely wouldn't be using that arm, well... not without some help. "Dog, this might sting..." he warns as he flicks the needle of one of the syringes and primes it real quick while also feeling around for a usable blood vessel. Without warning, he jabs a quick adrenaline shot to the fallen human, then pulls the syringe away. Within moments, the man would feel immediate relief as adrenaline-infused numbness overtook the pain of his injury.
The bunny quickly followed up by hovering the device he'd used ealier, tapping in a combination to reorient it's purpose and apply it towards exciting the nanites within the fallen Moondog's arm and shoudlerblade, accelerating the healing process substantially. The entire process was done in less than a minute, and soon Otto was standing before him, with one arm extended to aid him to his feet.
Alania simply doesn't move ducking down and simply leaning up against the wall remaining closely behind Otto, should the bunny turn around and run she'd be easy to pass by given she's hugging the wall, remaining as far away from the fight and all the ferals as possible whilst following Otto.
It doesn't take long to locate one of the Jaws of Life inside one of the fire engines. Sadly, that one has been damaged due to the sealed container for it being breached long ago. The second fire truck the group checks, luckily, does have one which seems to have escaped this ordeal intact. The sealed container shows heavy signs of external degradation, from the discoloration to the rugged, powdery texture indicative of a material being slowly eaten by nanites - but luckily they have not gone deep enough to compromise the integrity of the seal, and the item within. They abscond with the heavy burden, leaving the tussling, injured wolves behind them.
Their payment would arrive the next day, after Branson hooked back up with them in the Zephyr building. Their second meeting with the otter was as short and blunt as the first, but their contractor did leave them with the promise for more to come 'if things pan out as planned'.
